Three days in Salem Oregon

We were settled into our spot at the Polk County Fair Park RV parking lot near Salem, Oregon by 2:30 PM on Friday.   That gave us just enough time to pop over to the State Capitol grounds and take a quick tour.

Although the day was cool, the sun was shining. The Capitol landscaping was interesting, but the flowering plants were just short of their peak. 

I enjoyed these very friendly giant beavers!











Every capitol building seems to have a dome. We have seen many. Most are versions of the dome in Washington. Oregon's is a unique design. The statue on the top is the Golden Pioneer.

This is the view of the dome inside.

We got lucky and arrived at the visitors information desk just as a small tour was starting. It's always good to be able to learn new information. We all learn about our home state when we are in school. I treasure the opportunities to learn about the other 49 states in our big country. A capitol tour fills the bill.

New travels = new socks!


They don't take up much room and are practical. Every time I do the wash I find I am reminded of places we have visited when I sort and match my socks.

I found these fox socks in the Capitol building gift shop. 

Who would have thought!


As we travel, we have visited many small and interesting museums.
On Saturday we went to a really odd one.

Do you remember the movie "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"?
It was filmed at Oregon State Mental Hospital in Salem, and in the old hospital building a small area is set aside as the Museum of Mental Health.

This image of the building is from the web.

The display areas contain a hodgepodge of items from the old hospital, posters that explained treatment procedures, and the stories of many of the inmates.

Soup kettle

Strait jacket

Equipment, stories, and statistics

If all the places we have been were put into a big collage, this one would be unique.

On Sunday we toured a more traditional historic location: the Bush house and museum.

Built in 1860 by Asahel Bush II, politician, founder of the Oregon Statesman newspaper, and wealthy businessman as a home for his family. In 1953 it was donated to the town of Salem and has been restored and preserved for the benefit of the people.

About 80% of the items in the house belonged to the Bush family.

This large room was very bright. It was the shared room of two sisters who were very close.

As I work on these blog posts, I try to select images that refelct what we saw and did. Some help tell the story, and some like the one below are just interesting.

I hope you all enjoy them too!