I have been without home internet for a month. It's so strange...the entire time I couldn't? I thought about how much I missed posting my adventures and photos. As soon as I could? It seems almost a chore.
I'm so weird.
Well, one I've been wanting to post and will now do so is my weekend roadie to see my family in Washington State. It has been a long while. And the road through my family drama for lack of a better word has been long and somewhat rough as well.
I love them so much but sometimes it's really hard to be heard and felt. I know they feel the same way. After much misunderstanding and hurt, I sinceriously hope that our relationships are healed and that the future holds much brightness for all of us.
I had planned to go to Washington on a weekend when I had four days. However, my mom being in the hospital put the kibosh on that. So, after talking to my niece, Angela, I decided to just do a quickie since it would be probably until the end of summer before I had any real time to spend.
The route:
I tried to leave at 5:00 a.m. but didn't end up getting gone until about 6:45. Even though it was a slam bam thank you man trip, I have to take some time to get out of my car every so often. I didn't used to have to do that. But I'm old.
My first stop was in Williams for breakfast. I also wanted to get a shot of the Sutter Buttes. I decided to do that first. There was a cool layer of ground mist that added something to what is mostly a fairly ordinary photo.
I tormented this gorgeous bird. I think it's a small golden eagle, but it could be a very large hawk.
I was literally tormenting him by taking photos. I was on this little farm road...probably private property. He was in a tree and he kept chirping me. Then he flew away to another tree.
So I drove down the road to that tree to try to get a better shot. But I didn't. Then he flew back to his original tree. But the only way for me to get out was to turn my car around and drive back down the road. Toward that tree. He squawked at me some more and then flew way, way off.
So I took this lovely picture of a muddy field and the sun.
Then I went to Taco Bell where I had an interesting run in with what appeared to be a homeless person. As I got out of my car, he was walking toward me and said something about it being Valentines's Day. So I said Good morning and he scowled at me and said, "Bitches ain't good for nothing! I never had a good morning or happy Valentine's Day." So I told him I was very sorry to hear that and quickly made my way inside to buy a waffle taco.
My next stop was when I saw Mount Shasta in the distance. It was soooooo amazing! I pulled off on a side road to get some great distances shots.
Aw how I love the open road. As the illustrious Goofy once said:
Every day another new adventure
Every mile another zip code
And the cares we had are gone for good.
I've got no strings on me
and I'm feeling fancy free
How wonderful to be
on the Open Road!
I stopped at the vista point and got this amazing shot. And it was really cool there. A train came rolling through below the walkway and blew it's whistle repeatedly. Awesome.
I continued on up I-5 to the back side of Mt. Shasta. I stopped at the rest stop there for "reasons" and took the opportunity to take a few more photos. I like this one through the trees a lot. I can barely see the mountain for the trees.
When I travel I take my trusty companion, Sport. He likes to get his picture taken too. (I told you I'm weird.)
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| via my Instagram |
That was my last photo op in California. I stopped in Ashland, Oregon to gas up and get some energy drinks. I love that they pump your gas for you AND the gas was about $0.20 cheaper than California.
From one interesting earthy formation to another...I saw this cool looking mesa in southern Oregon. I found out later that it's called Table Rocks and is actually a horseshoe shaped natural mesa. And there are two of them. I hope to go back this summer and hike them both. So cool.
While I was off on the side road taking photos, this little birdie landed on the wire above me. So pretty!!
I'm kind of fascinated by abandoned buildings. They have such a wild beauty and I would love to be able to explore more.
For this trip, I contented myself with this silo that, while not exactly abandoned, had a slightly decaying look. It was on an active farm though so I didn't trespass.
As I was tooling up I-5 in Josephine County, Oregon, I spotted a sign for a covered bridge. Not something you see very often in the West. So I thought I'd give it a look. It was pretty.
How very meta - here's a photograph of someone taking a photograph under the bridge...
where you'll find this beautiful little creek.
And this cute but serious sign which I totally agree with!
Before we left, Sport wanted to pose.
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| via Instagram |
From this point I didn't stop again for awhile because time was getting short. I did take a short break at the last rest top outside Portland. Gorgeous sunset. The long day was coming to an end.
When I got to Portland, though, traffic suddenly stopped. And I mean stopped. Right on top of the bridge over the Columbia River. I mean it was beautiful! The lights were so gorgeous I had to take a picture.
Turns out there was a broken down semi. I don't think there was an accident, but it did seem like it had exploded on the road when I finally was able to drive past.
In the meantime, when they got one lane open, there was a little accident right in front of me. The Prius that was in front of me, ran into the back of the semi in front of her. There was no damage, but I think the Prius driver was quite startled. lol Then we started moving again.
After I finally got across the river, I stopped at a McDonalds to get something to eat. Adrienne happened to call so I spent about 30 minutes talking to her after giving a homeless guy my dinner.
It was pretty interesting...as I was sitting in my car with my cheeseburger and fries, talking on my phone, this guy was sitting on the curb in the parking lot. He kept looking at me and we made eye contact several times.
Suddenly he got up and walked over to my door and knocked on my window. I asked Adie to hold for a minute and rolled my window down. He asked me if I had a dollar. I actually didn't because I was using my credit card so I told him no. He looked really disappointed but was extremely polite.
So I asked him if he just wanted something to eat and he said yeah, just a cheap cheeseburger. So I said that he could have mine if he wanted. He asked if I was sure and I said I was, so he took it. And was very polite as he thanked me.
Long story short, he disappeared with the bag and a short while later, he came walking back to the McDonalds with a very young, skinny girl who was eating my cheeseburger. What a nice dude! I mean he was skinny too, but he was taking care of her. I've never been so glad to help someone out.
Anywho, back on the road (gas getting cheaper and cheaper too!) I finally got off I-5 and onto the very foggy two-lane highway that would take me to Montesano.
I made it, although I was off by one street because all of Monte was blanketed with heavy fog. I wisely called Angela and she came and led me down to Grandma Ida's house where I was staying.
It's awesome.
Nighty night in Ida's room (she was recovering from a broken hip and couldn't get upstairs yet).
That's it for now. My day in Monte will be in the next post.
xoxo
