A couple days ago my wife and I were returning home from a wedding at The Butteville Country Store (now thats a nice story by itself — a fun afternoon with a really cool wedding ceremony).
Unusual for the past 45 days, the sun was shining, there was a healthy breeze, and I was quite sure the Cascade Mountain snow-caps should be visible from a certain point on Baker Road just a few miles from our home — I wanted to show that spot to my wife. We headed that direction and reached the stretch of road where you can see the Mountains: St Helens, Adms, Hood, and Jefferson all from the one high point — its just before you round the curve and go out of sight toward the town of Sherwood. Hood, the closest, was majestic and magnificent as usual.
We drove on westward and approached Ladd Hill Rd. I had wanted to look for and show my wife a wooded nature walk I had recently been told about… located just a little farther south. I’d been told it’s about a half mile beyond the old red barn I’d discovered and photographed the past two Summers. Here’s the barn…. and rusted truck.
Ladd Hill Rd Barn in the fall of 2010
Carlene had seen my photos but not the barn itself and as we got closer I said to her “it’s not far ahead, just two or three more curves” (Ladd Hill Road is a very picturesque and curvy road). And as we drove thru the last long curve I saw the nearby old oak and began to say something like “there it is” but….. THE BARN WAS GONE… and in it’s place was a pile of broken boards. I was flabbergasted with dis-belief. Here is what we saw today……
Remains of the Ladd Hill Road Barn; March 2012
Makes me a little sad to see the barn go down. Now… not any one can come around the curve from the south like I did 2 years ago and chance onto that beautiful and full-of-history picturesque barn. I’m thankful I got the images I did then. They’re mine to keep.
Gettin’ back to The Butteville Country Store (the historic Butteville Country Store) — it’s the oldest such business in the state of Oregon, dating back to 1863. For more info click here and here. The following are a couple photos of the store and the goings on this Saturday afternoon.
We had a great time. Thanks & our best wishes to Lisa and Walt.
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The Following… is not anything to do with red barns or Butteville weddings… what you see is a slideshow featuring a few of my most recent flickr.com posts. Enjoy.
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Very nice Marvin!
thank you Dick. A side note… I’ve had your Amish books out and going thru portions. I feel a need to meet you guys & return them to you but we likely will not get away for a while. Have a nutzoid busy month coming up with a family event here in 2 weeks and then to-Indiana after that. Hope all is well. Marvin