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OUR DAY AT THE HIGH DESERT MUSEUM…..UPDATED WITH VIDEO

Almost as soon as we arrived in BEND, we purchased a membership at the HIGH DESERT MUSEUM. We’d been there before with Sophia, and it’s just a fabulous place to spend a few hours.

This weekend, Sophia stayed overnight with us and then we went to Sabbath School (next month, she’ll be four years old and “graduate” to Kindergarten!). There were only three children there (holiday weekend), and this time we didn’t go on to church, because there was a Raptor Show at the museum that started at 1:00, and we couldn’t make it by the time church was finished. So, we went home and made sandwiches (peanut butter and pickle, peanut butter and honey), packed apples, carrots, etc. and off we went to the Museum.

Out front is the trout stream, so we did the usual and fed the hungry fish with bread crumbs….extremely satisfying
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Yes, I realize that the photo isn’t all that impressive - but come back later for the video!

Once inside, we headed directly for the “lecture hall”
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and were mightily disappointed when it was announced that they were doing a “Desert Animals” lecture, postponing the Raptor Show until 3:00. BOY, were we glad we decided to stay, anyhow
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Any of you who take photographs will realize the problems of backlighting facing the photographer in this situation, especially with a point and shoot whose flash is anemic, at best. Ah well.
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The GREAT-HORNED OWL was really impressive, especially when Gail told us the story of being attacked by one when we lived in Modesto, on the campus of Modesto Adventist Academy. Then they brought out the RED-TAILED HAWK
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and actually flew it back and forth between these two posts - the crouching people putting little pieces of meat on top and signaling the hawk to come on over!

There was a BADGER on a leash, but no good opportunities for pictures. And then the PORCUPINE appeared
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This guy was very placid, allowing the visitors to approach quite close, and giving everyone a good look, and never shooting his quills at all! Heh.
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That was the end of a very good show, so we promised ourselves we’d be back for the Raptor Show at 3:00 and headed for the settler’s cabin and homestead, where Sophia pumped water
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which she used to water the garden - in fact, every plant within 50-60 feet of that pump had a big wet circle around it from all the kids doing their watering!

Next she washed clothes in the washtub
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and hung them on the line.
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She also spent 10 minutes scrubbing the porch, but Gail and I were playing checkers and I neglected to take a picture! Ah well.

Lest you think it was all “women’s work”, we next headed for the SAWMILL. It uses a CIRCULAR SAW, driven by a small STEAM ENGINE
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It’s pretty noisy - at first Sophia said she didn’t want to go over there, but she was brave and covered her ears the first few cuts, gradually getting interested and then ignoring the noise as she asked the man questions about the operations.

As we left the mill, we were intercepted by another man who insisted that we needed to cut some firewood, so we did
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At first, Sophia was clueless, as she walked the saw back and forth. But, the man was patient about instructing her, and by the end she actually had got the hang of it - the only real problem being her lack of muscle power for pulling that big saw.
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She was VERY happy with her “souvenir”, though….the little round of wood that she had helped cut off from the small log. It’s in a place of honor in her room, I suspect - wafting it’s piney aroma around the house, and (I hope) not getting pitch on anything important!

We went back to the homestead for a little snack, sitting on the table and watching the GOLDEN-MANTLES that swarm around the place.
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At one point there were FIVE of them drinking - the other big attraction in there is the chicken feed! Sophia was a bit apprehensive that they would be coming up on the table to steal her sandwich, but I shooed them every time they approached and she settled down and ate her snack.

Then, it was back for the Raptor Show, which we had jointly and severally build up so that our expectations were enormous….whereupon, we were greeted with our first raptor
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a darling, but distinctly diminuitive, WESTERN SCREECH OWL, all four ounces of him! The lady’s talk was very nice, and she answered questions, including the last one - Sophia’s…..“Are there going to be any more raptors?” There were not….it was the tiny hooter, a bunch of dried raptor feet, a couple of skulls, a wing and a tail, a fake owl, and that was about it. We were somewhat disappointed, but AWFULLY glad we had stayed for the Desert Dweller lecture at 1:00.

Nursing our hurt feelings, we headed out to dig for DINOSAURS
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although all the “fossils” appeared to me to be one sort of mammal or another…..but absolutely every kid who came by, and most of the parents as well, called them dinosaurs.

We also played badgers
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and bounced on the “spider web” of rope and net, getting thoroughly and gloriously gritty and dusty.

But, Grandmama had clean clothes in the back of the car, and after a quick change, we headed for home, where first supper was served, which quelled the grump that had begun to appear, and during which we all spent some “floor time” with Alana
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and then off to the bathtub…..here is the end result after the tub had drained
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It was a VERY good day….
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Once teeth were brushed, Papa and Grandmama alternated reading Dr. Seuss stories while Mommy nursed the little one, and when the books were both done, Sophia got up into her bed, swearing she would stay awake until Mommy came to read another story….uh huh!

So much running around, and digging, and pumping, and sawing, etc…..she was out like a candle in a thunderstorm.

P.S. Check back later, when there should be video of the trout feeding, of the porcupine, and of Alana.
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UPDATED:
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TROUT:

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PORCUPINE:

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ALANA:

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/05 at 09:18 PM

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OUR DAY AT THE HIGH DESERT MUSEUM…..UPDATED WITH VIDEO

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