We headed almost 3 hours North to the Northern State Recreation Area (NSRA) This is a 726-acre portion of the former Northern State Hospital. It's located on the eastern edge of the urban growth area of Sedro-Woolley in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
Here's a link giving some history about Northern State Hospital
Located on the 726 acres are a number of abandoned buildings that people can check out.
The cluster of buildings we check out first are the dairy barns that were in use many years ago. As you will soon see, they are in rough shape and we were surprised that people are allowed to check them out.
Here are some interesting links about the site:
As we usually do, we bring just D'light along so we can scope out the environment for Viva.
D'light says "What on earth is this place!"
It was a beautiful day!
We go inside the above building...
D'light takes in his surroundings and then the smell grabs his curiosity.
The buildings are clearly falling apart and missing parts of their structure
D'light's brain is loving all the smells
And Mr. Brave boy crawls under that beam...
to sniff some wild animal scat that you find throughout the building.
There was a large "beware of bears" sign near the parking lot.
A solo sign telling us about the buildings
So much to take in
Brett says "Let's go"....
D'light's response is "Here I come dad!"
The guys check out more of the structures
A stable where some cows were kept
D'light's nose was in overdrive
He had a great time moving in and out of the structures. It was chilly and you can see the frost on the ground and the roof is in bad shape.
"What's over there?"
Part of the roof has collapsed
So much to smell
"Should I climb up there?"
"Nope, I'll just let others know I was here!"
D'light did well with all the different structures
He did have some times of being a bit nervous notice that raised paw.
And he worked through his worries about the new environment and found lots to check out
I can't say I blamed him for being unsure, I was a bit creeped out with some of the structures and stuff laying around.
D'light would have loved to find a critter and he was looking all around for them.
Time to check out one of the biggest structures
It was beautiful inside
D'light and Brett move on to check out the milking parlor
Just weird!
Lots of stuff around and D'light navigates it well
"Mom, this room is creeping you out isn't it!"
I didn't like the milking parlor so I left while the guys explored it.
Here they come!
"That place was cool! Come on dad, lets go find some other stuff to check out"
"Any critters hiding in here?"
Off he goes and he's relaxed and having a good time.
"Where to go next?!"
We walk the grounds
And find this cluster of stuff
"Come on!"
Up he goes to get a better view
"What's over there"
"Gotta check it out"
I was surprised he ventured into this rather dark and tight space
"Look at this section!"
So much to take in
Another building and D'light is happy to check it out
Moving on...
"What happened here?"
"Nothing worth exploring in that mess"
This was popular spot as D'light wanted to keep going back to explore the area
One more structure to check out
"No critters"
Time to go check out the 700+ acres!
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