Oregon Trail Interpretive Center

Remember those wicked sprinklers?  They were the motivation we needed to get an early start to hit the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, Oregon.  We needed that early start, too, because driving through mountains with an RV is slow-going.  The kids have far exceeded my expectations on how well they handle long drives though!  We stopped along the way in Walla Walla at a park for lunch to break up the drive, but we had a lot of miles to cover still to make it to our stop for the night close to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.

We arrived after 3:00, & they close at 6:00 (you have to be out of the parking lot, down the hill past the gates at the bottom of the hill by closing time).  Hindsight is always 20/20, but I wish we had another hour there.  The girls were super interested in everything, especially since Steve told them that they were to write a composition, first person, about being on the Oregon Trail.  They were also trying to complete the requirements to be a Junior Pioneer, & they were to watch the well-done documentary that lasted 45 minutes.  It would have been better to forego the Junior Pioneer program, I think, so they had more time to focus on what was interesting to them to help them write their papers.  And, we should have eaten snacks before going because between the time constraints & nothing to eat since an early lunch, they both burst into tears as they were trying to hand in their Junior Pioneer booklets.  We simply ran out of time, so they missed the chance to play in the playroom for more than five minutes.  To say they were bummed we weren’t going back is an understatement.  They thoroughly enjoyed our time there & learned a ton!

  

And…in light of the last few days, I had to chuckle at this quote from one of the pioneer women on the Oregon Trail, “I am very weary of this journey, weary of myself and all around me, I long for the quiet of home where I can be at peace once more.” ~Agnes Stewart Warner, August 21, 1853  No doubt, their journey on the Oregon Trail was a much more dangerous undertaking than what we are doing today over 150 years later, but our journey also involves risk, and when things are not going so smoothly & I desperately need sleep, I completely identify with this lady’s sentiments!  When Steve asked the girls if we had lived back then, would our family go on the Oregon Trail, they answered, “You’d probably want to, Dad, but Mom would say ‘No’!”  LOL  However, considering one in ten died, I’m thinking I would indeed have to say “No,” despite having said “yes” to this current adventure!  

Wagon ruts