May 26, 2022
The last morning. It’s always a bittersweet morning this last morning of a camping trip. So far, I’ve loved everywhere I’ve camped and haven’t wanted to leave. And yet, the comforts of my home (and friends there) call to me, too.
So let me share just a few photos from the past few days … photos of things we saw this past week that didn’t fit into a larger “report” or their own blog post.
The four photos below show a field of plants that we passed any time we drove west of the Mardon Resort. Many of the plants were covered by this gauzy white material. Since we were here in May, it wasn’t hot yet as it would be in the summer, so we didn’t think the cover was for shade. Maybe it kept the birds off? There were acres and acres of the white gauzy cover. It seemed to cover younger plants, since you can see that more mature plants don’t have the cover.
I liked the absolutely brand new sprouts of plants in the photo above, just poking their green shoots up into the air. Life is so wonderful.
On a different day and on a different road, we saw this enormous field of plants in the two photos below. The field seemed somewhat separated into rows, but in many places the plants seemed to be left to grow wherever they wanted to grow. What are these plants?
And then on another day, we drove through thousands (millions?) of acres of fruit trees … peaches, pears, plums, and cherries (anything else to make us all merry, one for Peter two for Paul, three for him who made us all … oops, I slid into Christmas mode there, sorry). Anyway, there were probably more types of fruit trees than just those … and all manner of varieties of each type of fruit.
Again, above, more white gauzy material covering some of the mature plants … or is it covering the aisles in between the rows of plants?
I’m adding the photo below to remind myself to tell you a couple of stories. The first one happened in the photo below. While my friend and I were standing where we were standing (below), we were looking to the left, but then I just happened to turn and face the water and at that exact moment a large dark brown mammal swam past, really close, just at the edge of the grasses in the water. “WAIT! Let me get my camera out! WAIT!” Well, it didn’t wait. And no, that brown spot out in the water is not that little person who swam past. I suspect it was a beaver since there are lots of them hereabouts.
The second story (no photo) is that we were driving along on a paved road that passed between two large waterways (one on the left and one on the right). We came around a curve, right in between the two waterways, and saw, right in front of us, crossing the road from left to right at a surprisingly fast clip … a large dark brown beaver, for SURE this time, with its wide flat tail. Again, I couldn’t stop the truck and get my camera out in time. But my friend and I watched it waddle across the road, fairly quickly, then head into the bushes on the right, and then we saw it slide into the waterway to the right. Both sightings were so surprising and so special.
And then there was our last late afternoon, back at the Mardon Resort after another full day’s outing and adventures. My friend walked from her cabin down to my trailer and we sat out at the table talking and reminising about the week and enjoying the bird sounds.
Then one of us looked up into the tree right next to us … !
Finally, I’m presentable!
This Bullock’s Oriole was pruning and preening and cleaning and tidying itself up for quite some time. It was in that tree for quite awhile before it finally felt the job was done, and then it flew away.
That was thrilling, but then 15 minutes later, just as my friend was getting ready to walk back to her cabin, another visitor stopped by (below) and sang his heart out. A Western Meadowlark for sure.
Our trip to Potholes was amazing! An absolutely favorite destination for me.
So now, getting back to this last morning, I hitched up the truck to the trailer and then picked up my friend and her belongings at her cabin, and then we headed home. What a great week. What a great world.
We almost never wanted to leave a campsite either. Part of it maybe was the work of packing up and hitching up. But also, like you, we rarely found a campsite we didn’t thoroughly enjoy, so leaving was always as you say bittersweet. But then comes the fun of the next spot and what you find there. Super photos!
Absolutely, the work of packing up and hitching is never very appealing. But yes, the next spot coming seems always appealing! Thanks Marge.
Hubby and me too, Marge. We never wanted to leave a campsite. All the work, as you say, and also the sometimes tedious driving ahead of us that wasn’t always very appealing depending on our route. But yes we always looked forward to a new place and new adventures. Bittersweet indeed. I guess that’s what a whole lot of life is about, the leavings and the arrivings. Great blog, Ann, thank you! Best one we know of. 🙂
And yes, a tedious drive, especially if on a major busy freeway or a drive that lasts many hours is never something I look forward to either. Nice comment about life’s leavings and arrivings. Thanks Wanda. 🙂
That Bullock’s Oriole is gorgeous. I used to think birds were boring. How dumb is that?! 🙂
Ha! Not so dumb, Emily. Not knowing stuff means we all get to learn. 🙂
You find such good stuff. We don’t know what the white gauzy stuff is, or why it’s there. Or what that huge field of dark green plants is. But we love the beaver stories, and that Oriole is gorgeous. Wish you had captured the sound of the Meadowlark — next time, ok? What a great week you had.
Jim
Ok, Jim … you are tough. Next time I’ll video the bird and get the song, I promise. 🙂
Just read this blog post and noticed the new header. I know it changes every so often so a comment here won’t necessarily relate to whatever photo is up there in the future, but I want to say how much I LOVE the header photo of the barberry. I checked the link to you page “header photos” for a description. You have great plant friends. I think it’s a Pink Queen too, perfect fall colors for that variety, and so pretty. Ok, the birds are great too. 🙂 But I alwasy love looking at plants and foliage and no I don’t have a clue what field is of those dark green plants. Someone help us please! 🙂
Thank you Ruby! Thanks for a wonderful comment. 🙂
Just lovely photos and wonderful tales of your travels.
🙂 Thanks Susan.
Mint! I’m 99% sure that the dark green leaves in that huge field are mint. They harvest in late summer, so in May when you were here they would still be watering them and letting them grow.
I didn’t know mint was grown in Washington so I never would have guessed. But now that I look at online photos and do the research, this field of plants sure is mint. Thank you Paul, thanks for the help.
The beaver stories were great, made me go look up how beavers walk and then learned other stuff about beavers. The birds are terrific. Thank you.
Thanks Greg. I think it’s fun to learn about things in the world.