Washington County

Polk County will not be seen at it's regularly scheduled time due to a Washington County special report.

We went north for a Polk County adventure.  Our destination was a company town that was abandoned around 1984.  A gate across the road (speculation was the fire danger level caused the road to be closed) set in motion my back-up plan: Head to Forest Grove to visit McMeniman's Grand Lodge.  It was originally built in 1922 to be a rest home/ retirement community for aged Masons and Eastern Star members.  It is "re-purposed" as a hotel, bar, restaurant and for weddings.

I was looking forward to walking the grounds with the dog and then enjoying dinner with a few beers. An employee notified us that pets are not allowed anywhere on the grounds.  We later saw the sign that also forbade picnics.  We took that to mean that having fun for free on the property was not allowed. Fair enough.

It's much smaller than Edgefield but it felt similar.  Friday night appeared to be bustling with several weddings in stages of production.  Dinner was pub-style mini-pizzas and burgers in the outside dining area.  Beer was a tasty seasonal Copper Moon ('it's in the IPA style but not as hoppy').

I used to drive around Forest Grove in the early 90's and haven't been back since.  It has grown a bunch, but the downtown is still worth a visit.  They had 2 old theaters that appeared to still be in operation: "The Forest" and "The Grove".

Driving back to Eugene down 99W was the cat's meow.  The setting sun's long shadows brought out long shadows of windrows of hay, clover fields, mountains and trees.  I do miss those old days of working for Agripac, when I spent a summer in this area.