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 |   A Journal to impart knowledge and facts |
*Trees* Fort Worden State Historical Park, Washington *Trees* There are miles of buried tunnels, dead ends, and old rooms beneath Fort Worden Historical State Park, a former military base that’s now a campground 60 miles north of Seattle. They say this site is haunted. Tell us what you and Andre encounter while exploring. Fort Worden: Dear Darla and Ned: If you view and aerial map of Fort Worden State Park; you will see landscape with a lot of bare sandy leveled ground. Clumps of growing trees and bush are centered near buildings. Andre’ and I stayed in dormitory rooms. The attendants were interested to see me set up the artificial tree with the Chimp sleeping nest in Andre’s room. There are 433 acres here to explore. The park is named for Rear Admiral John Worden commander of the famous Monitor of the Civil War. There was a lot to see in the park. We walked on some of the walking trails; meeting up with native wildlife. We rented a kayak at the marina and paddled along the shore for several miles and then back. It was a two-person kayak. I paddled Andre", waggled around trying to look under water and then trying to catch a fish. Needless to say, I did not go far from shore, since I did not want to have to swim far if Andre’ dumped us. In spite of a lot of waggling of the kayak we stayed upright. We also visited Point Wilson Lighthouse. Worden Park is located on the leeward side of the Olympic mountain range, so it gets very little rain every year. It is also located on the Olympic peninsula. Reverend John Alexander an Episcopalian minister, built a castle on the property, which still stands. At one time the Army built bunkers of cement there. The military base was meant as a protection of Puget sound, when it was first built. Later the guns were removed, but the army still used it as a training center for the military endeavor. In 1957 The state of Washington bought it and used it as a juvenile detention center for troubled youth. The Army guns and equipment were removed years before this happened. The site was turned into a state park in 1973. Because of the acreage it takes a couple days to actually investigate all the scenic areas. Army bunkhouses and officer quarters are rentals for tourists now. We saved the bunkers to view last. A huge amount of concrete went into the building of this area as a housing for military guns and equipment. It’s a cool place. At the main entrance there is a concrete amphitheater, which is overgrown with local plant life now. Andre’ has been cavorting all morning. When we entered the bunkers, he became solemn. He took my hand and walked quietly, peering around corners into different rooms and areas, as we walked he hummed quietly in his chimp language. There is are concrete hallways, that a bicycle can be ridden through. I actually saw someone ride down a narrow hall on a bike and disappear from view. Most of the tunnels seem to end at a window or at an opening large enough to walk through. One particular large room facing the ocean side had an opening running the length of the room. Without much imagination you can think of the large guns, that pointed through the bunker opening, aimed and loaded ready for the military men who were manning them to fire, at the first movement of enemies coming ashore from alien ships. Some of the hallways were dark. I brought a flashlight. Even so, every junction caused us to melt cautiously across branching hallways. Even though, we were assured before entering, no shots were ever fired from these bunkers, and the bunkers are closed at night. Our imagined ideas caused shadows ahead of us to move. Dead end hallways often had bars on the openings, so we would retrace our steps and stand still at times to wonder if what we heard were spirits lost in the cool concrete tunnels, or other tourists, who like us were trying to find a way to the next sunny doorway. Emerging from the tunnels, into sunshine was a relief. As we walked away, Andre’ looked back and quietly whined his impressions. He prefers open skies, high tree canopies filled with squawking parrots, to underground bunkers and concrete tunnels. If you are looking for a vacation place to spend a few days. Consider Fort Warden State Park, it is filled with history. It’s a very comfortable, interesting place to visit. Sincerely, Apondia and Andre' THE END Word Count by WDC = 760// I did the word count before I edited then added literal words when I changed sentences. So, it may appear off slightly. |
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