Travelogue: Washington Wanderings

If you're looking for a horsie post, you can skip this one (though there are two rather large equines towards the end). I'll be back tomorrow with some silly Sunday videos.

Al and I went away for sort of a mini-second-honeymoon last weekend. It started out as a trip to see Jackson Browne in concert, and ended up being a very pleasant meander through south-central Washington. We left Ellensburg about noon, after determining that Jackson's (the colt, not the singer/songwriter) butt swelling was somewhat benign. We headed south through Yakima and turned south-west at Toppenish on Highway 97.
After leaving the wheat fields of the Goldendale plateau, and the main road, we came over this hill....
...into the Klickitat River valley. TREES! First some sort of oak, reminiscent of the live oaks of central California. Then a nice mix of pines and firs as we moved farther up the foothills of the Cascade range.

This was a fairly open area.
A little ways further and we discovered the valley had become somewhat of a canyon.
(Hey! Who's that under the tree, and what's he shooting?)
(Oh, just some gal taking pictures of the canyon.)
Then suddenly, the road emptied out into this plain and gave us our first really good shot of Mount Adams to the west.

And Mount Hood off to the south.

Quaint little motel/inn in Trout Lake, at the base of Mount Adams, where we stayed Friday night.
Each room has it's own special bear.

The morning view out our window--better than any motel I've ever stayed in before!

Our porch, with guest.
Our gracious host, Dave, and his daughter, Sarah (who makes killer sweet potato waffles for the continental breakfast).

The next day we wandered south toward the Columbia River gorge.
We're getting closer to Oregon: Mt. Hood over the rooftops of White Swan.

We stopped at a rest stop overlooking the River.
Can you say "The Bridges of Klickitat County"?

This old tree caught my eye.

On it's other side a sign that says:
"I am approx. 300 years old."

We putzed around the rest stop for about an hour, hoping to catch a train on it's way through one of the tunnels on either side of (and directly under) us.
No trains, but Al caught this guy swooping through.
(If you en-big-gin the photo, you'll see that his head is red and featherless--some sort of vulture?)
We had to settle for a train on the opposite side of the river.

This fellow was biking from Astoria, on the Oregon coast, to Green Bay, Wisconsin! When Al said he'd always wanted to do something like that on his bike, but figured he'd missed his youthful chance, the fellow reported that he is 54 years old!! We had passed him before the rest stop, and he passed us again when we arrived in Lyle, but I never got a decent shot of him riding.

We took the time to explore the "Old Hwy 8" route that went above the River.

We passed this cute carriage, pulled by two monstrous draft mules.

The only photo I got from the front--a quarter mile later I wished I had stopped.

Coming back down to the water,

we spotted this humongous kite! (The handler is down on the sand bar, behind the bluff overlooking the River.)

The highway bridge at the confluence of the Klickitat River and the Columbia.
(There's that cute photographer guy again!)
The little railroad hotel that we stayed in after the concert on Saturday night was a bit of a disappointment: a cute concept, but it couldn't seem to decide if it wanted to be a posh gourmet hideaway, or an out-of-the-way bed and breakfast. It was so unremarkable, we didn't even take any pictures.

Leaving town the next morning, heading north-east up the lower end of Klickitat River.

Whose that sharing the roadway? This little herd of deer, two does and their three fawns, still with spots, were coming down the hill towards the river. They had steep basalt cliffs to their right, and a drop off worthy of a guardrail to their left. They could have scrambled out either direction, but it would have been difficult.

What do we do, mama deerest?

Should we jump over the side here?

No, I think we're okay going a little farther.

Here's our regular path to the river, kids.
Thanks for waiting, humans.

It was nice to be able to just turn off the engine and wait for this group to pass. How pleasant, not being in a hurry to get anywhere!

Back over to the dry side of the state!Al and I were in denial about heading home, so we made a brief side trip...

We visited this State Park at the site of an early military post.

A replica of an old log barracks. I love the symmetry.

Well, we couldn't stall any longer; it was time to head for home (and a waiting puppy dog).
One thing that grows well in the lower Yakima Valley is hops (for brewing). Very few people would know what this crop was, suspended from guy wires....
Dropping down into the green of the Kittitas Valley.

Mount Stuart just visible through the haze (from recent brush fires).

They're here!

Al gets mobbed.

Happy puppy!

Good to be home!

Boo-Boo Baby Butt (update)

The little gal who was caretaking the horses for our weekend getaway was worried that Jackson's hematoma was not getting any better. But, of course, she was looking at it twice daily.

Upon returning after two and a half days, I could definitely see some progress, albeit, slow.

B.B.B. (Before Butt Bump)

Thursday AM:

Friday AM:

Sunday PM:I'll continue to monitor it for an abscess forming, but I think the little butt is going to be okay.

As for our weekend, I'll have future posts on the trip, but the concert itself was outstanding. Browne sang a nice mix of old hits and new songs, and had an outstanding band and two gloriously talented back-up singers.
The only things that marred a wonderful evening were related to site management screw-ups: the major one being their shifting policy on cameras. Originally (on their website) they said "No cameras of any kind." While waiting in line however, the sign said "No professional cameras." (emphasis mine). When asked by a nearby concert-goer what they considered "professional" they said "Anything that the lens detaches from." So Al went all the way back to the car and got my little Canon point and shoot. But as we were entering the venue, we watched as two different guys brought in their big digitals, basically convincing the gate folks that "I'm not a professional." And we saw several more inside.
I was pissed!
Primarily because, with my (Al's) Nikon D40, I could have gotten much nicer photos than these two:

Half the shots I took, I just deleted; even of the ones I saved, most are fuzzy and dark and distant. Last night, after I down-loaded them, I fired off a somewhat irate email to the management. But I'm having to work hard not to let it spoil the [largely undocumented] memories.

Second Honeymoon!

Allan and I are coming up on our 16th anniversary (which officially passes crazy first marriage). In those 16 years, and the previous two of our "courtship," all of our vacations have been spent with relatives: mothers/mothers-in-law, children, grandchildren.

This weekend we are sneaking away for a long weekend to southwestern Washington.
Wandering down back roads towards Mount Adams, possible stop at the Goldendale Observatory.Friday night at a ranch-themed motel which reputedly serves melt-in-your-mouth sweet potato waffles in their continental breakfast.More leisurely wandering Saturday morning (or maybe not 'til afternoon). Check into an historic railroad hotel on the Columbia River. Then pack a picnic dinner and head to the Maryhill Winery's natural ampitheater, overlooking the River Gorge,

for a concert by one of our all time favorite performers:
We saw Jackson in Spokane 12 or so years ago, and stayed afterwards to meet him on the loading dock. He was a gracious man, who signed Allan's copy of his very first album (original LP!)
Allan's comment to Jackson at the time was:
"Your music got me through my 40's."
Here is a nice video of my favorite Jackson song, which you may not have heard on regular air play. At first it seems like a bit of a downer, because it related to the death of a dear friend.
But the final stanzas are full of Hope.

[If you want to see the lyrics, double click the video to go to You Tube, then click "more info" in the upper right corner.]

Spotty baby at home got his barn name because I was planning this sojourn about the time he was foaled. His registered name may very well be "A Joyful Sound" or possibly "Jubilate."
After the concert, back to the hotel for a cozy night's sleep.

Then Sunday we'll wander back up into the hills along the Klickitat River towards Goldendale, and home.