749. Stevenson, Skamania County (WA19)

As we all know, I’m not a big fan of modern courthouses, but this one is nice. Simplistic and to the point. I wonder what kind of older courthouse was here before (I have no doubt there was one) or what happened to it. In the end, that’s not really important, I guess. This one is more than adequate for somewhere this small.

I stopped at an ice cream shop across the street for a minute to get a chai milkshake. That was, perhaps, the best decision I made in this county. I don’t know why this isn’t a thing in other places, but I’m more than happy to evangelize for them.

We picked up the cache on the way into town at the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum, where I popped in to “tour the facilities.” The museum building was lovely, with glass both outside and within.

I hate looking for magnetic things on trains because there’s just so much iron, but the hint really cut down the search area vastly. In this case, however, all glory goes to Buckandi for the find (though do not mistake me: he deserves a good amount of glory for many other finds, too) because he snagged this one while I was “touring the facilities.” He did all the hard work. I just stood around and looked pretty (and enjoyed the gorgeous view). Not for long, though. Chai milkshake aside, the allures of Stevenson were lacking for one such as I.

The road led on until I noticed something. It was taking us on a long route that made little sense. Soon, I realized that my philosophical aversion to tolls was to blame! Once I adjusted that, we turned onto another, slightly less scenic bridge, paid a toll, and parked in…