Category Archives: travel

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So far

I made it to Brigham City last night. That was a long driving day, 503 miles. I tried to stop in Snowville, but the motel would not take cats.

The only weather resembling a deluge so far was from Seattle until I crossed Snoqualmie Pass. It rained and rained, sometimes heavily. Once over the pass, the rain disappeared and we lost the ocean smell again. Dry and more trees and desert and wheat. I counted mountain passes, six so far that listed the top altitude. Some had smaller passes between, three more. The first one yesterday had ice patches so I stayed in the right lane with the trucks. Less ice.

One more day, I hope.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: deluge.

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Day denouement

This is the sunset yesterday as I arrive in Pendleton, Oregon to stay the night. The first stage of the journey done. Sol Duc is ok with the car as long as it is not moving. When it moved, she objected, for much of the first hour. She stops when I sing to her, so I worked my way through many of the old folk songs that I learned as a child.

And today, dust and ashes with the news.

We will go on, though. Even as discrimination worsens.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompts: denouement and dust.

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Seven

This is Helen Burling Ottaway, my mother, in 1945.

The vest was red wool with embroidery. We had it still, when we were kids. We probably wore it out.

I am not pensive today, I am festive! And home! Three days of driving, with Sol Duc the cat objecting quite a bit, and we are home in Washington.

There are a LOT of mountains between Grand Junction, Colorado and Port Townsend Washington. Many passes as we drove northwest, over to Salt Lake City and then up through Idaho, part of Oregon and then Washington. There was snow on the first pass, but not on the road. We stayed in Burley, Idaho and then in Pendleton, Oregon. When I drove over Snoqualmie Pass, we drove into a cloud and rain and suddenly I could smell the sound! Salt and sea! It was raining in Pendleton yesterday morning but there was no ocean smell. Sol Duc continued to complain intermittently and got tired and slept a lot. Just wait, cat, we are going back!

It is fabulous to be home and see friends already! A friend came and made me banh xeo, Vietnamese pancakes, with spinach and salmon filling, and then I crashed to sleep.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: pensive.

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Studt’s again

Rake, huh? I thought, well, I am not sure if I have a picture of a rake.

But look! There it is! Along with the kids shooting corn bazookas at plywood farm figures. They must rake up the husks at night, ready for the next day of Studt’s Pumpkin Farm and Corn Maze, joyful, seasonal mayhem.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: rake.

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Devil’s Kitchen and No Thoroughfare Canyon

Sunday a friend and I hike in the Colorado National Monument again. I have not run out of trails at all! Two trails. Up the Devil’s Kitchen shorter trail, which requires some clambering. Fabulous rocks and fabulous views!

Next the No Thoroughfare Canyon Trail. It has falls and a pool: here is the pool.

It is a bit dry at this time of year. We did not do the entire canyon: we’re both traveling this coming weekend, so we needed time to get ready. Packing and cleaning.

It’s hard to see the scale in photographs. The rocks on the ground are as tall as I am. And that is the trail, winding through those rocks. Did the rocks wash down from further up? They do not look like the surrounding hills. Those are some serious boulders for a seasonal stream to carry.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: clamber.

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A nearby parcel

There is a parcel of land up the road from me. I noticed over the last couple months that it is blocked off so people cannot see in. But now I have been there: Studt’s Corn Maze and Pumpkin Farm.

Our Olympic Peninsula Corn Maze does not have a mechanical bull to ride, or Redneck Bazooka. There was also a kid game called jelly balls that had masks and guns, but I don’t think the guns actually fired at all. They just made noises.

There is a large hay slide, a large pumpkin patch and a very large corn maze. I found all the story sections but didn’t finish the mystery puzzle. There is an air filled bouncing place.

And a rather attractive petting zoo. Hurrah for the watchful goats!

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: parcel.

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10 rounds

Got sick in clinic yesterday, about 20 minutes after eating lunch. Abdominal cramping and lost lunch and lay down until I could drive home. Went to sleep for another four hours. I got up to hydrate slowly, some water with a little sugar, every 15 minutes. Taking it slowly is gentler on the stomach. I went back to sleep.

I got up at 11 pm and had a few crackers. This morning I am tolerating tea, but my body feels rather like it’s been beaten up. No clinic today, but I think tomorrow would be ok. We shall see.

I am not sure of the cause. I was given some gluten free donuts and wonder if one had gluten. Food poisoning is not very common in the places I have lived. We are seeing some people with Covid who have abdominal symptoms rather than upper respiratory, so I am debating whether I should home test.

It’s been a strenuous twenty four hours!

The photograph is from the Fruita Fair a few weekends ago. I really wanted to do this with the kids. Today even looking at the picture makes me slightly nauseated! Whew! They were in climbing harnesses and then attached to giant rubber bands and bouncing. Some were able to do flips, too. Not me, not today!

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: strenuous.

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Distant mesas

I have been in Grand Junction since the end of April. The Grand Valley really has amazing visual distances from one end of the valley to another, and even though it is a valley, it is at 4600 feet above sea level. It is surrounded by higher mesas and mountains in all directions.

Soon I drive back to Washington for a few weeks. That is a distance, too, 1200 miles with Sol Duc cat. She doesn’t really enjoy the car. I wonder if she will enjoy going home. Will she like the cloud settling over us, as if the bottom of it is grazing the roof tops? I did not like those clouds when I first moved to Washington but now they feel as if they enfold us and comfort us, an intimacy with the sky.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: distant.

We learned this song as kids: