Things are looking up!

 

X Marks the spot...

 

So much beauty-- right beside the road!

 

Then there was that moment when the sun broke through and hit a giant spider web by a beautiful cedar tree.

 

Here's a lovely spot by the Toutle River. It's a great place for picnicking, fishing, or simply taking in the peaceful surroundings.

 

Her secret spot...

 

Reach for the sky...

 

Just an old snag... I think it's welcoming us to this part of the forest!

 

Relax! It's going to be OK.

 

The trees are so dense in places, sunlight can be quite limited. It can make some parts of the forest pretty spooky.

 

The end of the day on our little road...

 

They're on guard duty!

I don't know what it is, but it makes pretty little flowers!

 

A wild animal? A bear? No, just somebody's good old dog having the best day ever playing in the Toutle River.

Not much snow, but that doesn't keep Mt. St. Helens from looking grand in the early evening sunlight.

 

Bee happy!

 

This is real! I found this amazing display of flowers at a little park not far from where we live.

 

There can't be very many flowers more beautiful than foxglove (digitalis)! It just pops up in many places here.

 

With her wingspan of over 5 feet, the osprey is taking a fish she just caught home to the kids. I watched her swoop down from the trees to catch it!

 

Old pilings on the Columbia River--- Proof that things can grow on top of almost anything in this part of the world!

 

Like stars on a necklace...

 

An old tree (center), a new tree (left), and a lot of lovely flowers!

 

Walk with me...

 

No matter how often I go to the wetlands, I can still be very surprised by how beautiful it can be in July!

 

It's always good to see an osprey in the wetlands-- they are amazing.

 

Back home to the wet side of the state, this is a view of the wetlands just a few miles from where we live.

 

These trees are no longer alive, but they are still beautiful.

 

Do you sometimes get the feeling that you're being watched?

 

Glowing in the late afternoon sun, this is the bridge across the Columbia River near The Dalles Dam. A little shack from the old Shaker Indian Fishing VIllage is on the right.

 

Not far from part of the Oregon Trail, this old cattle loading chute has its own history.

 

Not much left, except a window...

 

The windmill stands proudly.

 

A wonderful little waterfall in a fantastic rock formation-- On the Washington side of the Columbia River.

 

Beautiful waves of grass, and a beautiful old barn...

 

This is the White River. For 50 years, it generated power at the White River Power Station just upriver from this spot. It supplied power for a large area from 1910 until 1960, when the large Dalles Dam on the Columbia River came on line. There are still remnants of the power station west of this canyon.

 

France? Italy? No, it's Maryhill, Washington, next to the Columbia River. It's just about a mile east of the Maryhill Winery. Lots of fruit comes from the "dry" side of the mountains.

 

Down on the farm... Oregon's Mt. Hood looms to the west.

 

Look out!

 

It's a bit spooky, but I like this old abandoned house in the Goodnoe Hills of Washington.

 

It's the road to... wherever you want.

 

Nature's own architecture! A remarkable spot on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge.

 

A giant wooden grain elevator, built in 1916 in Boyd, Oregon. The dirt road on the right is where the trains picked up wheat. The door to the left is where wagons, and eventually trucks, did the same. The old elevator is unused, but sturdy and likely to be standing another 100 years.

 

A BNSF oil train westbound on the Washington Side of the Columbia River. The Hills in the background are on the Oregon Side. Each state is divided by the Cascade Mountain Range with the green west side having more rain than the east side.

 

Just one of many rural 1 room schoolhouses from around the turn of the last century, the 8-Mile School, near Dufur, Oregon, was built in 1904. It served farm kids until the 1940s.

 

Summer on the dry side of the mountains...