The Friend-Shaped Car has been repaired, and I think I have the wherewithal to tell the last bit of my travel tales over a week after I actually got home.
After I left the Maryhill Museum of Art, I drove a couple miles down the road to see Maryhill Stonehenge. Sam Hill dedicated the site on July 4th, 1918, several months before the ceasefire on November 11th of that year. At the time, Stonehenge was still widely thought to be a site of bloody human sacrifices by ancient pagan people, and while this is now generally discredited, I sympathize with Hill's latent Quaker opposition to war and the pointless sacrifices of young men to the god of war.
The names of Klickitat County war dead illustrates how their lives were cut short by pointless European wars and Woodrow Wilson's arrogant and senseless involvement of America in that conflict. They thought it was "the war to end all wars" at the time. If only that were true.Since then, the end of World War I just set the stage for World War II, the Cold War, the rise of the American empire as the global police, NATO expansion after the fall of the Soviet Union, and now a possible World War III emerging from the Russo-Ukraine War or the middle east.
Mars still demands sacrifices. Will we learn to question jingoistic warmongers before humanity destroys itself?
It was a good day for driving. The Columbia River is spectacular whether down in the temperate rainforest gorge near Portland, or in the high desert of eastern Washington. I wish I could have seen it over a century ago before dams changed it into a series of reservoirs. The paintings at the museum often depicted waterfalls and villages which no longer exist thanks to the Army Corps of Engineers and Federal Power Commission.
As I returned to the Tri-Cities, I diverted off the main road to find an alternate bridge to avoid the traffic jam from the outbound leg of this trip. Mission accomplished, I returned to Spokane just in time to hit the first bit of rush hour traffic on the freeway. I made it through town, topped off my gas tank for a final mileage check (over 30 MPG!) and stopped at a friend's place for our weekly game night with a nice dinner from his wife.
I enjoy driving, following whims where they lead, and seeing new places. I like catching up with friends and family I haven't seen in years. Unfortunately, this was too late in the year to comfortably camp anywhere, so like the eclipse trip this Spring, I didn't get a chance to properly test camping as a viable alternative to motels. If I can buy groceries instead of restaurant food and sleep in a tent, I might be able to travel for little cost beyond gas. I think finding opportunity to try that is my next step in escaping the mundane routines and stress of everyday life. But I can't claim any special enlightenment.
People seem to expect me to have an epiphany or otherwise unlock some deep insight from travel. I'm not sure that works for me. Have you been on a literal journey which also constituted a metaphorical journey of self-discovery?
Wrong Turns
OMSI
Throwing Sparks
Maryhill
