The Drive and the Scenery

We drove up to Idaho to attend Grandpa Zane's wedding the last weekend of our Summer Break.

The 10 hour drive was through the Oregon Gorge along the Willamette river and then through Eastern Washington to Spokane and East of Coeur d'Alene.  The scenery is so different from our Willamette Valley home.  The landscape is dry, barren, colorless, treeless with rolling hills and lots of sharp rock cliffs for most of the drive until the trees start to dot the countryside before Spokane comes into view.  I found myself thankful that I don't live in one of these little oasis towns along the highway...and that I had brought along my crochet to keep busy!


Bug spots through the window and sagebrush.

Nothing but dry grass and slopes. 

Barbed wire along the reservoir at a rest stop. 

One of the little oasis towns.

The terrain changed dramatically once we entered Idaho.  Lots of evergreen trees, mountains, and valleys.  The view from the mountain side property and the porch off the country cabin is spectacular.  I couldn't take my eyes off the winding the river, the clouds moving across the sky, the lighting as it changed from one minute to the next, the sunset.  It was really amazing and I imagined the winter storms that blow in through the valley dumping feet of snow. 

The valley looking South 

The valley looking North 
 
 
 

The swampy marsh lands along the lake. 

Waterways the feed into the river.
Posted by Picasa

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Boots

Image
Last week, was snowy and cold cold cold, then rainy.  I continued to work on getting the yard cleaned up.  I dug out the ponds and refilled the holes with dirt.  I loaded up rocks, pavers, and bricks.  I cleaned out the water features.  I collected the strawberry runners so I would have starts to plant.  I unloaded 2 loads of bark dust.  The children were a tremendous help.  They loaded an entire trailer of firewood all by themselves and then helped with another load of rocks and bricks.  I am amazed at how much there is to load and fix just in the yard alone.  It is a lot of work for the simple concept of "curb" appeal.   Waiting for the snow to melt so I can put down the bark dust. Even with two pairs of socks, my feet were freezing so I broke down and bought a pair of Muck Boots.  The funny thing is, 2 years ago, I really wanted to have a new pair of winter boots but I just couldn't justify paying so much money just to have ...
Read more

Then Came Dense Fog and the Thunderstorm

Image
Sunday, I woke up to a dense fog and smoke cover combination.  I think this is probably the densest fog I have ever been in. Before the sun came up, it was white.  Once it got lighter outside the smoke color showed through. On the porch, looking toward the swimming pool (North) but unable to see it or the goat barn or the walnut trees. On the porch, looking toward the barn, only able to see the garden before the parking area. Outside the window looking at the tree block, barely 30 feet away. I am not sure how I let Phil talk me into (trying) going to the store...but the fog was supposed to lift by 11:00 and we were scheduled to gather at the Rawie's for church and I needed ingredients to put together something for the potluck.  (We ended up having to cancel our homechurch.) Our mailbox, we couldn't see any cars, so we had to roll down the windows and listen.  I was already terrified at this point and didn't want to continue. After having to slam on his brakes multipl...
Read more

More Hats

Image
The Etsy shop is still a work in progress and unfortunately the name Over the Top is already taken.  I have been tossing around the names Tip Top and Whimsy.  I managed to get 7 hats made during the month of November.  I have a couple that I can put on Etsy when we are ready to list them and several Christmas hats made for the children.  I have been timing how long it takes me to make a hat and I am surprised (and not in a good way LOL) at the number of hours I spend.  A baby hat takes over 5-6 hours, a child's hat takes about 7-8 hours, and an adult hat 10 plus hours.  It takes even longer if I decide to tear out the stitching because it isn't looking the way I had imagined.  The more yarn variety I use, the longer it takes me to weave in the ends.  I usually spend over an hour just with a tapestry needle making all the ends secure.  Minimum wage plus materials puts the hats in the 50-80 dollar range.  Yikes!  I would never pay th...
Read more