Driving home from Christmas

We spent the Christmas holiday up in Spokane, Washington, celebrating with my family and staying with a dear friend. Our departure was timed perfectly, just as the temperature changed to chilly (very chilly, 16F!). Driving home the sky was blue and I was enjoying the view so much I started snapping photos just out of Spokane, as we headed southwest on Interstate 90.

This one further west, as we neared Ritzville, Washington. 

This is wide open farm country.

Now we've left I-90 and are on 395 headed towards the Tri-Cities area; Kennewick, Pasco, Richland.

We've just crossed the Columbia River and are back on the Oregon side, about to turn and head west, still another 178 miles to Portland.

The first few miles in Oregon are a bit inland from the river.

But then it reappears and Interstate 84 follows along the Columbia River Gorge all the way back home to Portland. Oregon on the left, Washington on the right...

Looking towards Washington.  

Wind turbines along the ridge.

This view never gets old.

There's snow on them there hills! (Washington)

Andrew wanted to get a closer look at Multnomah Falls (the tallest waterfall in Oregon at 620ft), figuring with all the rain that's fallen recently the show would be a good one. We pulled off I-84 and realized most everyone else passing that way had the same idea, as the line of cars hoping to park was backed up almost onto the Interstate. Since it didn't look like we'd score a parking spot I took this shot out of the open sunroof, yes it was cold.

But we got lucky and were able to park and walk up to the falls.

This is Multnomah Creek as it heads away from the falls. The two silver spots in the water, towards the bottom half of the photo, are large salmon (dead). 

I also snapped a few photos in my mom's garden...

This was fun to see, a gardening friend who lives in Spokane gave me a bunch of tiny seedlings from her Helleborus foetidus back in 2023 and I planted a few in mom's garden. The ones that lived are about to bloom.

This dignified fellow has acquired a nice smattering of lichen.

Lots of things in the garden were colored up nicely, cold weather will do that. Sempervivum...

Mahonia

Bergenia

Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'

And Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard'... it was a good visit.

The Bit at the End

Today I'm giving a shout-out to Kris at Late to the Garden Party, a faithful commenter here on my blog and consistent voice in the garden blogging community. Kris published her first blog post on this day back in 2012, which means today is her 13th anniversary—or blogoversary. If my math is correct, she's written over 2,095 posts in those years! If you attended the 2017 Capitol Area Fling, the 2018 Austin Fling, or the 2024 Puget Sound Fling then you might have met Kris. I visited her garden in Rancho Palos Verdes (southern Los Angeles County) about this time of year back in 2019. It was just as fabulous as I thought it would be. So those are the details, but what I want you to know about Kris is that she's an extremely supportive, kind, and humble human. The dialog we have back and forth on each other's blogs is a meaningful part of my garden blogging experience, Kris always has something positive to say. The humble bit is how low-key she is about her garden and all that she's built there, she's got vision, creativity and isn't afraid to work hard! Thanks for blogging, commenting on my blog, and being a friend Kris!

 —   —   —

To receive alerts of new danger garden posts by email, subscribe here. Please note: these are sent from a third party, their annoying ads are beyond my control.

All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.