Palouse Revisited

Nothing is better than visiting a place and yearning to return some day. You made amazing memories and want to relive the experience once again, right? Well, why not return during the same trip? So, I did just that. I headed from Kalispell to Spokane, Washington in hopes of visiting the Palouse region once again.

It was exciting to see how much had changed from June to July. The bright green wheat fields were now changing to a beautiful champagne color.  So, once again, I couldn’t help but spend countless hours taking as many pictures as I could.

I am so excited to share with you what I saw. Please enjoy.

This last pic was a reminder that the wheat season was ending and the fields would be prepared for their next bounty.

This place is ever-changing and so inspiring as each season enters and then exits.

A Beautiful Drive

Screen Shot 2016-06-29 at 9.42.05 PM

Some may find that the long drive from Redmond, Oregon to Kennewick, Washington long and boring.

Highway 97-4

Highway 97-5

Not so with this road trip gal!

Highway 97-3

Highway 97

I felt as if history was flashing before me as I drove each mile.  Along with the roadsides of dusty rose-colored flowers and distant mountains are old homes and buildings of long ago.

Many buildings are disintegrating into the ground as nature takes its course, however, each one possesses a story.  As I drive, I find it is fun to imagine what that “story” would have been. What were the people like? How did they live? My imagination soars as the miles pass by me.

Highway 97-2

Highway 97

Highway 97-3

 

 

Screen Shot 2016-06-30 at 4.25.39 PM

 

 

 

 

Takin the side road…

My friend Pam has been telling me all about this beautiful back road she takes from Antioch to Brooks. So, getting up with the roosters, she took me along this wonderful country back road starting at 5 am. Here are some pics we took along the way:

We saw beautiful sunflowers:

We enjoyed California’s golden hills:

Here are a few pics that I am playing with via multi-medium technique:
IMG_2799

kiloki

Thank you Pam for showing me this beautiful area! If anyone out there wants to suggest other places I should travel to take photo’s, I would love to hear from you!

A quick trip…

to the mountains.

My mom wanted to take a trip up to Yosemite so of course, I agreed that we should go right away. 🙂

Look familiar?

We decided to go up, up, up along Highway 120. We stuck to the upper ridge above the valley floor on the Tioga Pass.

We visited Mono Lake. If you ever go to Mono Lake, you must visit Whoa Nellie Deli! Be sure not to drive past the Mobil gas station or you’ve missed it. This lovely yummy gem is inside the gas station! The food is delish and you get to eat it outside looking at the beautiful Mono Lake and listening to a local band.

Mono Lake View:

We visited the Tufa along Mono Lake just in time for sunset. The word Tufa may sound like a name out of a Dr. Seuss book but these beautiful looking sculptures are formed from alkaline waters, supersaturated with calcite.

We stayed at a motel in Lee Vining…won’t give mention of motel here due to no air conditioner in the middle of summer….lol I will give mention to the attached coffee shop, Latte Da Cafe, because they had my two favorite things, baked gluten free items and organic coffee. Yum! It was a great start to start our adventure to the Bodie ghost town!

Only an eighth of the town remains but the rangers there are doing a great job conserving the past. I can’t imagine how incredibly difficult it must have been to live there during it’s violent heyday. A murder a day and -30 degrees in the winter was no place for families, yet young children did live and go to school here right beside the miners.

As I end this post, here are a few pics of what those brave souls saw during the summer.

IMG_2765

IMG_2766

IMG_2767