My Mother's Day gift

A week ago Friday we drove to Spokane for my dad's memorial service. It was a beautiful day for a drive, especially through the scenic Columbia River Gorge. When Rick turned off our route, I wasn't totally surprised because of some cryptic conversation between him and Brian earlier. My guys had conspired to stop at Maryhill Museum of Art as an early Mother's Day present for me, since I've wanted to visit it forever (well, since we moved to Oregon in late 1989)! The building and the setting are spectacular, with outside installations wetting one's artistic appetite.

Once inside, we went first to the library where an OPB documentary on Sam Hill, the man who dreamed up Maryhill, was playing. Watching it made the rest of our visit that much more meaningful; I would highly recommend it.

I didn't take many photos inside, although photography is allowed without flash. The main floor is mostly dedicated to Queen Marie of Romania, who came to the Museum's dedication. I took a photo of some of the royal wedding gifts:

There is an extensive, comprehensive Native American Gallery that features displays from many North American tribes, from ancient artifacts to modern examples.

There is an Auguste Rodin gallery that ties into a Loie Fuller exhibit; I was familiar with the former but not the latter and enjoyed learning about this pioneer of modern dance.

There is an impressive gallery of international chess sets; this is only a small sampling:

And there was much, much more!

My guys were very gracious in indulging me this memorable experience. Brian did his part by being quite patient in letting me look at my leisure, with only one or two "Are we done yet?" type questions. ;-)

For Mother's Day itself, we took my MIL out for breakfast (so I got taken out, too). Now I need to go get greasy and shear some sheep!

That's it for now from . . .