Dolly's Last Day in Washington State – Dolly Travels

Saturday I was ready to go. A friend of Patrick’s, Mike, joined us for this ride. We headed north to Mt. St. Helens area. Although it was cloudy here, the further we went north, the more clear the sky became. However, on reaching the highest point of the Mt. St. Helens road, the mountain still had clouds in her hair, denying us the picture of her summit. It was interesting, though, to see how much destruction the eruption of that volcano had caused. Most of the forest has been replanted. Although the hardwood trees came back on their own, all of the evergreen forests have had to be planted again by hand. On Sunday, we took a car trip out into the farmland northeast of La Center, and visited Cedar Creek Grist Mill. This mill has been in operation since 1929, I believe. The mill is powered by a waterwheel, using water from the creek. This was such a peaceful sight. Inside, one of the volunteers showed us how the mill worked by grinding some corn into flour, then some soft wheat. He packaged the flours into paper bags that we could take if we wanted them. We each put a donation into the box and went home with freshly ground flours. Yesterday, Monday, Randy and I took a motorcycle ride east. We left La Center going south, turned onto Washington State Highway 14 and followed that road until we reached Maryhill, Washington. We drove along with the Columbia River on our right, forests on our left. The further east we went, the more dry the area became. Looking across the Columbia to the town of Hood, Oregon. There were many wind surfers on the river. The wind constantly blows down that gorge. We eventually reached our destination, Stonehenge Memorial, near Maryhill. This was built by a Quaker pacifist named Samuel Hill to honor soldiers from that region of the country who had died in World War I. Mr. Hill started the memorial in 1918 and completed it in 1929. There are 13 plaques in the stone, with the name and years of birth and death of these young men. Most of the men were 18 or 19 years old. The memorial is an exact replica of Stonehenge in England, in size and form. Very impressive. By the time we had visited this, we needed to start for home, as the afternoon was growing late. We returned home by the same route. We got home in time for dinner that Cindy had prepared for us. I was pretty tired, so I turned in early. I don’t know why I was tired. All I have to do when we ride is sit comfortably on the back of that big bike and enjoy the scenery. Today, Randy added up the mileage we had put on the bikes. I am proud to say, I have ridden exactly 600 miles this week. What a blast! I am ready to do more. I am eternally grateful that my son was willing to take me on these rides. Thanks, also, to Patrick for carting his grandmother around. Many thanks, also, to Cindy, for loaning me her riding gear, giving me tips on how to be a good passenger. This is a week I will always remember. Until next adventure, goodbye for now, Dolly]]>