Destination Two

Chopaka Lodge, Palmer Lake, Near Loomis, WA June 21-23, 2005 Site 4

definitely in the Washington "outback" here...the campground has water/electric and has very quaint log cabins with fireplaces...there are walnut, pecan and hazelnut trees the owners harvest...campground is right on the lakeside...internet and cell phone don't work out here but tv satellite does!...the lake is very calm, with mountainous terrain on either side...thought I heard a woman screaming but it was only the resident peacock...never actually saw the bird but heard it often...walt and brother-in-law mike caught 6 kokanee (salmon) one day and 4 the next...(always getting that word kokanee mixed up with kootenay, which are mountains in canada)...lots of sage-colored sage bushes, hehehe...walt's sister bev cooked up some fantastic fried chicken...impressions left with me as we traveled to this area:

washington has a multitude of fruit orchards...much more than I ever conceived

there is enough vacant land in washington alone for every person in the united states to have a "lot"

the harvesting of round bales of hay instead of rectangles

silver and red tin foil streamers in the cherry trees shimmering in the wind as they catch the light of the sun to scare away birds-mesmerizing to see

huge piles of weathered sticks that hold up branches laden with fruit were a picturesque testament of what abundance can mean

the occasional yet consistent distant "booms" of the propane out in the orchards

learned about the open range area with cattle guards built in to the roads to keep the herds in the area where they belong

abandoned gold and silver mines

north of pateros the conglomerate of white military satellite dishes (what are we listening for exactly?)

wild white daisies, black eyed susans, french bearded irises, california poppies and every color rose imaginable

what kind of festival does apple country have? why apple pie, of course

Molson, WA-population 35 but with an interesting school museum and outdoor (life in other times) museum

seeing about 4-5 majestic california big horn sheep (awesome!)...the ones that have horns much bigger than what it looks like their heads can withstand

albino jackass-now that certainly was a horse of a different color

for your amusement: late one evening i got to videotape 3 mule deer munching on tender grape leaves right across from our campsite...much later in to the nite i was up watching an old movie from 1946 (the razor's edge) with a small window open...i started hearing branches cracking and breaking in the distance from out of that window in an otherwise silent nite thus far...now it was pitch dark out there...and there had been a black bear attack up the road involving a resident and his dog...so i'm thinking is it mule deer walking thru these dryed branches or a BEAR?...i turn on the amber porch light which was totally useless...but i'm too afraid to shine a flashlight out there in case the "bear" happened to be right outside my window by now...after all, i had eaten bacon that morning!...listening intently with my finger on the mute button of the remote control, i can just start to somewhat discern something... soft laughter between two male homo sapiens!...not long after, i started to witness the nice campfire they built because of their midnight hunt for seasoned wood...boy did i feel dumb!...ah, adventure

©2005 Debbie Ballard