6/8 Champoeg State Park, OR

Champoeg was a town founded in the mid-1800s along the Willamette River, which eventually flows into the Columbia River in Portland, OR.  The settlement started out as a fur trading post of the Hudson Bay Company, but soon attracted a lot of farmers because of the excellent soil. The only problem is that when you have excellent soil, it is often because the land is in a floodplain.  The inevitable flood occurred in 1961 and destroyed the town, although some farms survived that were further from the river.  

It is now a state park with a visitor center/museum, campground, paved bike trails, and access to the river.  I stayed her a few weeks ago, and was back for just a couple of days.  This time I was able to visit the museum, shown here:

Here are some photos of the displays: 

On the outside of the building, these barn owls were busy building their nests and possibly laying eggs.  No evidence of chicks, yet, but it is still early.

Here are a pair of builders.  

And behind the museum is one of the oldest barns in Oregon--built in about 1860, which would not be considered very old east of the Mississippi.  

The state park has rebuilt the kitchen garden of the long-gone farmhouse, based on guesses on where it would be and what plants it would contain.

These are Oregon grapes, which are not really grapes at all, but are related to the barberry family, as you can tell by the leaves. They are very common in this area and are edible.  This article says they can be used for jams or fermented for wine, and also has medicinal uses.  Frankly, the ones I saw looked as if the birds were eating them as quickly as they became ripe!     https://www.growforagecookferment.com/foraging-for-oregon-grape/ 

I had a nice campsite and was able to get my bike out and clean it up.  Some friendly neighbors helped me put the chain back on when they saw me struggling.  (Tip: If you are an older woman traveling alone, it always helps to visibly struggle with tasks!)