Portland to Salem - Capitol #4

Today we left Damascus,OR (just outside Portland) and headed toward the capital, Salem. On the way, we were able to stop by Scott's cousin's house and play with more cousins! They are a baseball family, so all our kids had a go at pitching, batting, and catching which they enjoyed. Their cousins, Hayden and Colin, were pretty patient with their lack of baseball skills. (:

Side note: I have seen a little "house library" like this on the Internet, but I was super excited to see one in real life. Kik actually spotted this one as we drove by and I just had to get a photo. People can just put a box, or in this case build a box, outside their house and anyone can drop off a book and take another! You can find one near you at littlefreelibrary.org. (:

After a few hours of fun, we headed toward the Capitol building where we found nothing unusual - which was relieving after the last couple capitols.  

We enjoyed our tour and the history of Oregon that we learned. Scott was able to recall some fun info from when he toured the Capitol as a child. One odd fact: the governor's office location is a secret. Weird. We were in the "ceremonial office" where there was one man available to tell us about the office and answer questions (other than where the governor's office actually is.)

In the house chamber there were names of people who were important in Oregons history listed in the wall. One name was John Quincy Adams and we spent a bit of time trying to figure out when he was president and how he could have made an impact while Oregon was barely a territory - or was it? (That was school for the day. - in case you're wondering, it turns out that JQA led negotiations on the Treaty of Ghent and helped establish the Oregon territory as part of the U.S.)

Next stop was in Corvallis. We stopped at Avery Park to make some dinner. His is where Scott played as a child AND where we took a family picture 7 years ago when we came through. Check it out here: 

 same photo - much younger children! So fun!