Abandoned storefronts along US-20 near Foster, Oregon
Shortly after we stopped to take the photo of the sailboat in the previous post, we stopped at a roadside park to take a photo of a covered bridge. The covered bridge paled in comparison to what was across the road!
Abandoned storefronts along US-20 near Foster, Oregon
I don’t even know what to call this. It was definitely a facade of some kind, but I’m not sure what it was hiding – the Google satellite view is inconclusive, and we didn’t cross the road to investigate. It was a little creepy, actually. But made for some interesting photographs! 😉
Abandoned storefronts along US-20 near Foster, Oregon
Someone appears to have a lot of time on their hands and a very active imagination!
Abandoned storefronts along US-20 near Foster, OregonAbandoned storefronts along US-20 near Foster, OregonAbandoned storefronts along US-20 near Foster, Oregon
Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon
One of my most-looked-forward-to stops was the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. The highlight of the visit was getting to see Howard Hughes’ H-4 Hercules aircraft, most commonly known as the “Spruce Goose.”
Wikipedia has a good summary of the aircraft and how it ended up in Oregon for anyone who is interested.
Remarkably, this is probably one of the clearest photos I got of the actual coast of Oregon. Taken near the Cape Mears Lighthouse. Fortunately, this pretty much matches what I thought the coast would look like, so I wasn’t too disappointed. Although I will be happy to try again on a future visit!
Abandoned sailboat along North River Road along Foster Reservoir near Foster, Oregon
You never know what you will come across while exploring some random back road. No idea what the story behind this boat is, but it was sitting alongside a gravel driveway a quarter mile or so from a really nice lake.
Inn at Cannon Beach Hotel in Cannon Beach, Oregon – photo pretty close to how it looked
Smoke gets in a few other places too, yikes!
Before & after comparison of color corrected white balance and original, accurate color
Several folks have expressed concerns about our well being, and I thought it would be best to assure you that we are carrying on quite well, thank you very much. I haven’t posted for a couple of days, but we’ve actually been quite busy. I’ll catch up with some Postcards shortly but wanted to give this short update.
Port of Garibaldi and Garibaldi Marina in Garibaldi, Oregon
While we were in Cannon Beach, Oregon, the smoke moved in with quite a vengeance. And it stayed with it throughout our visit to McMinnville in the Willamette Valley. But other than keeping us from seeing a lot of the beautiful Oregonian scenery, it hasn’t slowed us down much. Tonight (Sunday 9/13) we are in Bend, Oregon. While still in the smoke a bit, we aren’t anywhere near the flames. Rest assured that while we probably passed within 25-30 miles of some of the fires, there is really little danger here unless you are actually close to the fire. The rest is mostly an aggravating, stinky fog, and pretty easy to fix with the right white balance setting in Lightroom! 😉
Port of Garibaldi and Garibaldi Marina in Garibaldi, OregonPort of Garibaldi and Garibaldi Marina in Garibaldi, Oregon
Monday 9/14 we head to Elko, Nevada where the forecast is for sunny skies, with perhaps a little sun but temperatures in the low 90s during the day. We can put our long pants and sweaters away for a few days!
Port of Garibaldi and Garibaldi Marina in Garibaldi, Oregon
Haystack Rock at sunset over the Pacific Ocean from Cannon Beach, Oregon
We left Cannon Beach Friday morning but I am getting closer to “real time” with my posts! We encountered a lot of fog along the coast but got into a lot of smoke as we headed back inland toward the Willamette Valley.
Rural scenery in The Palouse area of eastern Washington north of Pullman
There are some places you can go where the secret to making decent photographs is simply being willing to stop the car. The Palouse region of eastern Washington state was such a place for me.
I tend to steer clear of photographic icons for the simple reason that it is hard to do anything original there. That plus the fact that standing at an overlook with a bunch of other photographers isn’t my idea of a good time. But on this road trip we are concentrating on doing our own thing.
Rural scenery in The Palouse area of eastern Washington north of Pullman
We only had two nights devoted to the Palouse, staying in the town of Pullman, WA. When we arrived at our hotel we were informed that a group of National Guard personnel were due to arrive the following day to assist with testing of University of Washington students because the campus – surprise, surprise – had become a hotbed of Covid cases. Swell – so much for distancing.
Rural countryside along SR 26 in southeastern Washington
We limited our public stops in Pullman to two mostly empty restaurants and a grocery store. We drove the first evening on mostly deserted back roads, got the car filthy dirty but saw some nice scenery. The second day we awoke to the forecasted high winds and dust storms, so that limited our activities that day. But in 200+ miles of driving around the area we went from places we weren’t willing to get out of the car to places that were clear as a bell, just windy as heck.
“Wheel Fence” at the Dahmen Barn along US-195 in Uniontown, Washington“Wheel Fence” at the Dahmen Barn along US-195 in Uniontown, Washington
One of the meccas for photographers is Steptoe Butte, a high spot overlooking the undulating valleys. We had planned to go there but nixed the idea due to the high winds and dust. So instead we did the sensible thing and sought out a small local restaurant with excellent food and wine. The photos can wait for a return visit!
Rural scenery along US-195 near Uniontown, WashingtonRural scenery along US-195 near Uniontown, Washington
I think I did a pretty decent job of finding “my own” version of the Palouse region. I have hundreds more shots but this is a sample of my initial favorites.
Rural scenery along US-195 near Uniontown, Washington
Yellowtail Dam area in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Montana
I’m not sure how it compares to Glen Canyon size-wise, but it was among the tallest I’ve seen. There is a truck parked in front of the red building that will give some scale. You have to go there on purpose – the dam itself is about 50 miles off of I-90 and the lake extends into northern Wyoming. You can’t (easily) get to the southern end from the northern except via boat.
