June 6, 2022 – Salem-Oregon State Capitol

 

Title: June 6, 2022 – Salem-Oregon State Capitol

Hike Info : Description 

Hike Info:

Type: Walking

Mileage: 2.4 miles walking

Description:

Salem in blossom

Usual morning routine. I think I woke up before most of our group, except for Lawrence who needed to go to work. We loiter around, not really much direction for today’s activities. Andrea will need to go to work later, so it is not a day for a long adventure, more close by gawking. We talk about the State Capitol building. She is not sure if it is available. But it will be a nice walk anyway, even if it is not open to the public.

More Blossoms

Sherri and I ended up wandering by ourselves as Andrea decided that she needed to go back for her raincoat-it looked threatening. In our wandering, we enjoy the streets around Andrea’s house. As we get closer to the Capitol, we see a building called the Willamette Historical Center

. Looks like an interesting place to explore. Later on Andrea makes a connection for me. The other day at the library, she checked out something, which turned out to be an entrance ticket for locals. I now put together what she was trying to tell me. 

 

 

There is a flower garden around the Capitol which we enjoy. The building comes into sight. The exterior does not speak of majesty, more of practicalness. Turns out it was built in the 1930’s. The most prominent part of the building is the Gold Man on top of it.

By the time we walk into the capitol building it is noon. We wander around a bit and then ask the information person about tours. She says she leads them. The next one is at 1pm. So we waited around, studying intently the various posters in the hallway.

At 1pm, the lady starts our tour-there are four of us: Andrea, Sherri, myself and another person. The guide lets us know that at the end of June, the capitol will be closed for renovations for the next two years. So we are fortunate to have come when we did. We see both sides of the legislative bodies. In both rooms there are the names of prominent Oregonians painted on a banner around the room. It is a good way to be reminded of what Oregon stands for. We also go down a hallway of governor paintings. Some of them I recognized as Oregon has been very influential in trying to preserve both its natural and human heritages.

 By 2:30, we are back at Andrea’s place for lunch. Andrea leaves shortly afterwards to work at REI. So Sherri and I are on our own until Lawrence comes back. A good time for the old people to rest. When he does, we have leftovers and talk. Andrea gets back by 9pm. We talk a bit more before going to bed.