Thurs, Oct 7, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010 at 12:45AM Thursday, October 07, 2010
So far our room at the Quality Inn & Suites in Pullman, WA has the number one ranking for the trip. Besides being a comfortable and large room with a good layout etc… not only did they have a really nice continental breakfast but Wednesday night from 8:00 – 9:00 pm they had milk and freshly made cookies available in the lobby. I don’t think anyone is going to top that one!
The forecast for the day was for scattered showers. Unfortunately, it seems everywhere we went in the gorgeous hills of the Palouse Region the showers were not far behind. It never was a pouring rain but it did put a damper on the types of photography we could do. But, as they say, just do with what you have so we did.
We made trips to Kamiak Butte and Steptoe Butte which are both high buttes which overlook the rolling hills of the Palouse. Both of them have gorgeous State Parks at their summits and we enjoyed both immensely. Kamiak Butte State Park consisted of a nice size Pine forest with huge trees (something that is missing from most of the Palouse area). There were nice trails and a picnic area that was immaculate and peaceful. From the picnic area you could see across the Palouse rolling hills of combined wheat fields, plowed fields, and newly planted wheat fields. The only sounds were the drizzling rain, an occasional meadowlark or a hawk.
Just a short drive away we climbed up (in the Jeep of course) Steptoe Butte. This butte was very dramatic with a drive that wound around and around until it reached the top. The picnic area was down from the top and was full of a variety of fruit trees. The apple trees were loaded so we stopped and Charles picked a nice bag full. Due to the rain and dense fog at the top of the butte we didn’t tarry there long since we could just barely see the fields below us.
We drove thru a number of small gravel roads and found some interesting things to photograph but soon were aware there would be no lovely sunlit fields for us today. Still, there were, at times some nice vistas and a huge old barn and a house with the most beautiful flower gardens you can imagine. Not only was the entire front yard full of beautiful flowers but there was a garden of flowers by the barn as well.
After a nice picnic lunch, we continued to drive west and were soon leaving the wheat fields for a more desert environment with the wheat replaced by sage. I was driving and Charles was taking a well deserved nap. To my surprise, I spotted something in the road off in the distance. A had not seen any traffic on this particular road so thought I might be in a position to stop and get a quick picture of maybe a coyote. As I got closer I realized it was not a coyote but a badger. I woke Charles and got him to ready the big lens. Luck was with us again because I was able to ease up to the spot where the badger left the road and he was standing perfectly still with his rear pointed up toward the road. I focused on what he presented to me and waited and bless his heart he turned back and looked right at me before scrambling out of sight. But it was too late, I had a full head shot!!
In order to even get to an area with motels it was time to put some miles behind us and the rest of the afternoon was spent driving toward the Columbia River Gorge. We have stopped for the night in Toppenish, WA. The motel does happen to be a Quality Inn but I haven’t heard anyone mention milk and cookies. Oh well, I think I used all my luck up today on that badger.
We are well tonight and hope you all are too!
Peace, Hope, & Love,
Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger
Reader Comments (2)
Just wondering if this posting thingy works....
Looks like it does work! What a labor of love those flowers represent... Just beautiful! And that little badger fellow - can't believe he was so cooperative. Do you hold your breath when these rare moments present themselves? Big Hugs!