The Panoply Of Pretty Pictures
At some point in 2024, I will be ending my business. It was a ten-year run of being underpaid and the slow murder of small Hondas. I drive a lot. When I am done, I will have likely circumnavigated the earth 9 times or so. My day trips averaged about 100 miles, and my big travel days, to get to the work area, could be 300 miles. I spent a small fortune on gas. Almost the same amount on coffee.
I’ve driven on every major highway in the Pacific Northwest. Besides a 16-mile stretch between Waldport, OR and Newport, OR, I’ve traveled the entirety of Highway 101 from California to the Washington panhandle. I’ve been to every major city, I’ve seen every college campus, and spent time in most of the small towns. I’ve been on the bridges, the ferries, and a couple of dams. I’ve seen hundreds of deer, a few dozen elk, a few egrets and eagles, a bunch of coyotes, and two wolves. One million cows and goats and horses and chickens and donkeys and turkeys and sheep and alpacas and dogs and cats. Peacocks as pets. A butterfly sanctuary.
The coast, the piney forests, the mountains, the high desert. The rushing rivers and tiny streams. Farmland, the Palouse, apple orchards, fields of roses, marijuana farms. Hot and dry. Cold and rainy. Green and picturesque, brown and flat.
In my first year, I had a farmer pull me out of ditch with a tractor when I had my old Chevy. I skidded through an intersection during a light snow. I never hit a deer, but I hit a bird as I flew down a windy road. Sorry, bird.
We moved out here in 2005 for a few reasons. One of them was the beauty of this place. I had no idea I would travel to every nook and cranny. The job was a desperate attempt to make money. I took pictures of homes and businesses for my job, but sometimes I would take photos just for me. I kept most of them and shared some sweet ones on Facebook. It was a lonely job, with just me and my podcasts humming along. The photos helped me mark the good trips and bring something home with me.
I have some favorite and some not-so favorite places.
Southeast of Bend, OR there is a small area known as Christmas Valley. It’s where the mountains and greenery stop and the flat, lifeless, brush of Central Oregon begins. I have no idea why anyone would live there. It’s like buying a house at the beach that doesn’t face the ocean.
Speaking of the ocean, the Oregon Coast is superior to Washington’s coast. Not even a contest. Half fairytale land, half unreal meeting of mountains and sea. Washington’s is pretty cool, but it is flatter and muddier.
The high flat desert might be better in Central WA because of the Columbia Gorge that winds through it. Acres of apple orchards line each side. When the Gorge hits the state line between OR and WA, it might be one of the best sights in the entire area.
The San Juan Islands, particularly Orcas Island, is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It’s stupid gorgeous. The Mount Hood National Forest might be my favorite place. It’s accessible and I’ve found so many new little pockets of scenery every time I go.
I’ll have the rest of my life to enjoy this place but the days of me seeing all the little nooks and crannies will draw to a close. My cramped legs will thank me for less driving. But there will be some things I will miss. At least I took a lot of pictures.
(These three are my favorites.)
