Journals--Day 10 Boys

Friday, June 30--On the Road Trip Day 10

I woke up around 8:30am and I thought that I am very late but it is not. I am very lucky because we will leave here at 10am to go to Fort Vancouver to learn something new about this place. We were still tired and we felt like we don't want do something but we still have to do the journals about today. We went to the van and we just arrived at Fort Vancouver in just 5 minutes. This was a very short ride and we would be in Fort Vancouver for one and half hours because there was nothing much to look around and we can have more time to pack, clean, and do our journals about today.

We were walking on the trail and read the history of Vancouver Farms. It explained about that place before it had the farms and we noticed that volunteers were digging for the artifacts from the past. We walked through the gardens and it has beautiful flowers and some plants that grow for food and seeds. Nancy explained these plants and it seemed that she knew well about the plants. I saw the statue of the compass and I found the east direction of where we will go to home tonight.

We were walking to the National Park service to access to see Fort Vancouver and we just showed our golden access passports to a ranger. We walked to the fort of the fur trading and it was interesting because people and Native Americans can trade with each other by sign languages and the beaver furs can be used as the dollars and can buy whatever they need. I really love to feel the animal's furs because it was very soft and some rough furs. I did feel the wolf fur and it was little rough and I really want to pet the elk fur because I never pet the elk fur but it seems it was not allowed. Then I saw many stacks of furs from Hudson Bay Company and it was very important for trading in Fort Vancouver.

A little while later, we moved to another exhibit of archeologists and we saw a lot of old things that they found such as forks, glass bottles, and dishes. People who tried to clean to become to be shiny or can see the old things and it impressed me. Then, we walked to Bastion and we did see a lot of cannon balls and it was very cool! It has many little doors to the view of Fort Vancouver and it seems very clever to do that because people cant see the door and it could have good defense for the enemies. Later on, we went to Captain McLoughlin's house to look around and there were very fancy rooms and one thing that I really love was the room of the four children because I really like to see old beds with blankets and old toys. The beds were smaller than I thought and I felt bad if one child is very tall than the bed and have to sleep on the floor. The dining rooms are also very fancy for men and women but they were eating separate because men were mostly discussing with each other about the plans. Soon after that, we went to the bakery house and we saw a lot of barrels of wheat, barleys, and beans. The barrels looked like it was filled up as stuffing and very huge!

The ranger explained to us about the food that Captain McLoughlin eats and showed us the bread that people ate in the past. We were looking around the rooms where the baker slept and keep storage of the silverwares. It was very interesting because England did remake the teapots for show us to imagine the past.  Then, we went to see the old bathrooms from the past and it was very fascinating because I saw the urinal on the wall and it went down on the ground and I could imagine if men did that.

Then we took the pictures of Day ten and it seems very good picture because we took the picture near the cannon. That is why we did pick that! Then, we went back to WSD and I really missed to visit all of sites that we visited! I hopefully that my cold could be heal very soon!! Have our last enjoyable journals! ( I really want to stay one more week without the work!!! I really did learn a lot and I was really thank to my teachers who teach me a lot of the sites! I really love to visit Washington again! I really want to thank to WSD to use their cottage to sleep there and it was the nicest place ever I had stayed at! Thank you so much for giving me a pen and a calculator!!

Friday June 30, 2006-- On the Road Trip

In the morning, Richie asked me to wake up him after I took a shower. Soon, Michael told us that we will be departing approximately next half hour. Ahh, today was our visit to Fort Vancouver to see how people lived in the fort and to trade with the Indians. It was very interesting to imagine what people were doing here while the real life happened so long ago. We were tired on the other hand and this was the last place to see.

Once we arrived at the Fort Vancouver, it was pretty fast compared to other trips that we went before. Today was short day because we had to pack and clean our cottage after the trip. It was about one and half hour to observe around the Fort Vancouver. It’s a bit different than other trips that we experienced.

We walked through the beautiful garden which was nearby the Fort Vancouver. We finally entered the National Park Fort Vancouver and show my Golden Pass to cut my price. The volunteer explain that the Fort Vancouver was very well-known and a very big farm in the whole of Washington. Fort Vancouver was meant to trade the entire world by the Columbia River and with Indians In most time. Also the scientists dug deep the ground to find the old and many artifacts which was used in the past. I had noticed that Nancy Zurek love smelling and seeing the colorful flowers and that she had knowledge. She also wants to become the National Park Ranger in the future. That’s great for her to work after she retired and enjoy her life as a ranger.

We entered the trading store. We had notice that people in the Trading store don’t use the cash or dollars to trade for the furs and other things. They used things to trade with other tribe or troops and they often  brawl over the trade. How can they communicate with each other if they were different cultures? They use the Indian’s homemade sign language and gesture. They could trade more easily if they use same language and understand each other. I can even imagine how they can communicate because I am deaf.

I loved to feel the animals’ fur and it felt like it’s real and gentle. The trade often put together and it can be up to about 270 for whole one bag. The whole one bag was called HBC (Hudson Bay Company). Whoa, I could not believe that the Fort Vancouver could store the most animals’ furs.

Next house we went to the archeologist and it seemed have a lots of the archeology things that they keep in the storage. It’s very amazing to see the old stuff around the building such as forks, plates, jewelry, glass bottles, and dishes. It was much different from past to present. Nancy told us that the archeologists who tried to find, clean, research required lots of thought was very tough mission. I can’t imagine the person who dug gold and founder other things.

Later, we went into the defense house and it was much smaller. It has the small door because person who shot the rifle, they can shot easily so people who are outside couldn’t shot through the small door. It has many cannon balls to defend their fort during the four seasons. So the people who lived in the Fort Vancouver were clever to build like that.

Subsequently, we went into the Captain McLoughlin’s house to see what the house look like. I felt I already see the old house with old furniture before but I can see it again anyway. The volunteer explained about the diner room was only for the men to eat supper and the women and children ate supper in another room. At that time, the men were like leadership and had more knowledge than women and children. I have noticed that in each room usual to be fancy and neat, we don’t do that today. My favorite the room to visit was in the boy room and it has many toys and smaller bed.

Soon we move into kitchen. It has weird style way morethan our current time. The man explained how bakers in the past make the food and where to eat. Long story to say, but some of the cool facts w ere they always collected the Chinese plates and make the foods in different way than our way. Then we walked to the next the bathroom which was nearby the kitchen house. The bathroom was very interesting and strange way how these people in the past do it. It has two holes for men and women and also were children.

After that, we picked the cannon ball for our picture – “Day Ten”. We took thr picture by Nancy and Barbara. We departed after we reviewed the whole thing we learned recently.

Now we can pack a bit more and clean around the cottage. Its took us long time to clean around cottage and pack our luggage and backpack. Steven showed us his first design of the ASD blanket which id on display and reflects the ASD history. It was nice to see it.

Finally, we departed our Cottage and I was very disappointed because we just wanted to stay few more days. But we had to go back to our home sweet home. After we arrived at the Airport and hopped in the airplane. It goes off quickly because there was no plane traffic in the Portland, Oregon which was good. Late at night, I take advantage my time to type my journal while we are on the airplane.

I must thank to the Washington School for the Deaf for giving me the wonderful gifts such as the calculator in the notebook and pen. Also our teachers gave us a geode and they told us that we can break it with the hammer so we can see the cool things inside the stone. Again, I must thank to the WSD and our teachers for the wonderful trip in Washington and Oregon. I appreciated my time in the northwest of the US.

Friday, June 30, 2006: Day 10

Today is our last day here at Washington before we fly back to home tonight. It is very disappointing that we all had to leave Washington. I will truly miss Washington because it has became my home for the last ten days. But sometimes you have to let something off and continue on your life. That’s what I’m doing right now. I’m starting to miss home as well. But that all will change as I get home tomorrow morning.

This morning, I got up at around nine and got into shower. Our plan today was to go to Fort Vancouver which was only two miles from WSD then come back to pack and finish all of our work. We all ate breakfast and sat around with the teachers. They gave each kid a present which WSD has got for everybody. We each got a pen and small notebook with calculator. WSD was really thoughtful of us and gave us all presents. We all will send something from ASD to WSD with our gratitude for their hospitality. After opening the WSD gift, Ms. Nutt gave us a gift as well. She has bought several geodes and Lewis/Clark pins for each of us. We all thanked her for giving us gifts.

After breakfast, we drove to Fort Vancouver. The previous night, we learned that the campus of WSD was where the fort was first located. Fort Vancouver later moved near the Columbia River because of trading and transportation. We arrived at Fort Vancouver and saw that it was a National Park. Some of us forget our National Park card which can get us into any National Park for free. But we were fine because we got in. The first thing that we saw at the site was tents on the outside grounds by the fort. Nearby these tents were a group of archaeologists who dug the ground up and tried to find something. We all assumed that there were some artifacts still around the site of the fort.

We all walked through the garden outside the fort where all of the flowers, vegetables and plants grew around. Ms. Zurek and Ms. French showed us around the garden and acted like they were botanists because they seem to know everything about flowers and plants. After walking through the garden, we all got into the fort. But we all stopped at a house where we all had to flash our National Park cards so we can get in free. Some kids forget their cards but they borrowed Ms. Zurek and Ms. French’s.

The fort itself is bigger than what I thought. It is much bigger than Fort Clatsop when we visited there the previous couple days. I would say that the fort was about the size of a supermarket like Costco or BJ’s. We all walked into a huge building where we saw a trading store. A ranger was there and we all listened to his explanation and description of this trading store. It was interesting that the trading store don’t accept money but furs of animals such as beavers, weasels, bears, and wolves. The fur of beaver is considered more luxurious and more preferred for trading. It can buy or be traded for everything that was in the store. Inside the store, you can find everything from muskets to beads to blankets to supplies. A couple of beaver furs can buy a musket or blanket.

After observing the trading store, we all went to a “warehouse” where all of the furs were stored. There were probably over a hundred of different animals’ furs ranging from fox to wolverine to bear to beaver. Also on hand was a ranger inside the building. She told all of us about the importance of trading with furs and how they move it around. About two hundred seventy pounds of furs would be stored in a bale. The furs would be sent back to England where the furs will be conversed into hats, clothing, etc.

As we got out of this room, we went into other room where all of the archeologists were cleaning and preserving all of these artifacts that they had found around the fort site. We all saw a group of people working behind the windows. They were cleaning and working on artifacts. We all walked through the room and saw displays about the process of preserving and cleaning artifacts. Nearby was a display of many different things that were found around the site such as china plates, beer bottles, beads, etc.

We all went into a guard tower at the corner of the fort. It was really interesting that the fort only had one guard tower although the Native Americans around here aren’t hostile. The guard tower was about two or three stories high and had a small opening on the bottom of the floor where all of the cannons were by. There were also small and horizontal windows which were used for defense for the soldiers to shoot their muskets and the narrow window would protect the soldiers from being attacked because it is so small that only few arrows or bullets would get through.

  Afterwards, we all visited a building which was used for jail. Prisoners lived and stayed in this building during their incarceration. Inside this building was empty but just a couple of shackles lying around and benches where the prisoners slept on. We all went to a woodshop next door. It was really interesting to see a small coffin inside the wood shop. None of us can fit inside this coffin because this coffin is made for a small child. We also saw a yoke which is mostly used on cows and oxen.

After viewing the jail and woodshop, we all went into a house where the superiors like Dr. McLoughlin lived at. It was the most nicest and luxurious house in this fort. Other commanding officer also lived with him along with his family and Dr. McLoughlin’s family. The house itself was very fancy and Victorian-like. One family lived on the right side and other on the left side. On the middle was a huge dining room where the men would meet and discuss some business. The two families had their own chefs (I’m not sure that they used this term in the past) who cooked for them. The chefs had to cook when the families felt hungry or wanted to eat. Right by the house was a small house where all of the cooking was done. The chefs also lived inside this house and did the families’ laundry as well. A typical meal could be beef, turkey, fowl with bread, vegetables, etc. It would be very hot in the kitchen because the chefs had to cook three meals for both families.

As we got out of the kitchen, we all went to the area where all of the outhouses were at. It was really interesting to see these bathrooms because I had never seen this kind of wooden urinal inside the outhouse that the men use. We all also saw a well beside the outhouses. By the time that we were done with the touring of Fort Vancouver, we decided to go back to WSD so we can start on that packing and cleaning,

Back at WSD, we all started to pack everything out of out closets and cleaned up the room. We all loaded the van and made sure everything was clean before we start leaving. When it was time to leave, we all said good bye to WSD. We all went to eat out at a restaurant where we all eat well and had a lot of fun. Afterwards, we all drove to the airport and got on the airplane to start out journey back to home.

We all had lots of fun here at WSD and Washington/Oregon. It was such a good experience for us all. I would like to do this experience again. I would like to thank WSD for providing us a cottage to live at while going out to many different places. If it wasn’t for WSD, this trip will not be possible for us to go. Thanks to Ms. Nutt, Ms. Zurek, Ms. French, Mr. Meehan, and those people who made this trip possible. If it wasn’t for their hard work then I wouldn’t be able to have this wonderful experience and my mind would still be a little closed. This trip to Washington definitely opened my mind up. Good Bye to Washington and Hello to Connecticut.