Road trip!

DH is the sweetest man in the world. Our friend RW has a friend who lives two and a half hours away, on wooded property that he would like to clear out a bit due to fire hazard. RW also has a woodstove which gets lots of use in the winter. So, RW asked DH if he would like to help glean some forewood. This work involves chainsaws, you understand. Noise, power, an element of danger, great GUY stuff. How could DH resist? So at 7AM we were on the road, driving East through the verdant Columbia River Gorge.



We passed many lovely waterfalls. (Disclaimer. These photos were taken through a car window at 65 miles an hour. Some blurring and distortion are to expected and only add to the charmingly naive amatuer quality of this whole production.)

The thumb of rock you see across the river is called Beacon Rock. The WPA many decades ago built a trail (of sorts) to the top. Two years ago, DH and I climbed it. It is much, much taller from the top than it is from this side of the river.

As the miles roll away beneath us, the geology begins to change. We transit the Cascade range and enter its rain shadow. Trees become few and far between.







In fact, things get downright barren.

Sere, and parched, even.

At last, we cross the river at Biggs Junction,

and climb up out of the gorge , cross the Eastern Washington scab lands, and head back west at Goldendale to where RW's friend lives . . .




Just at the edge of the rain shadow. In this cool, moist May, there is enough water for the lupines to bloom












And the black-eye Susans. It's quite like the area where we spent our summers. It smelled like home. I indulged in a completely childish bit of naughtiness and took a whizz in the woods.

Then DH cut wood,

RW cut wood,

And RW's 17 year old son and I carried the wood down to the trailer, truck, and explorer and stacked it.

MJ and second son showed up and helped us finish up. The lads worked hard, efficiently and reasonably cheerfully. We got done much sooner than I had feared and were able to enjoy a well-earned picnic amidst the wild strawberries.