And let the Vacation begin......

It's just so amazing how powerful nature can be!

Hey all! Sorry I haven't been around much Elizabeth! But I HAVE read each and every post! Just don't have the time to sit down and get invloved after I read everything
Looks like everyone is having fun! I think I might have to take a trip to Seattle one of these days!!! Its not tooooo far away

Originally Posted by ash_bct

Hey all!

Sorry I haven't been around much Elizabeth! But I HAVE read each and every post!

Just don't have the time to sit down and get invloved after I read everything

Looks like everyone is having fun! I think I might have to take a trip to Seattle one of these days!!! Its not tooooo far away

Click to expand...

Well goodness, Ashley, you just hosted so of course! and anyway, I thought I had just chased everyone off after saying I didn't drink and can't tell a margarita from a manhattan! But let me tell you, I do OTHER THINGS. And where is Ryan when I need to be snoooty?

Maybe it was the ghost. But i took the photo down.

Guys, you walking so fast!!! I have to read a lot of pages to reach you!!!

I love the Tulips fields.... I can't believe those pictures from Mt. St. Helens.

We're over the mountains on the other side now...
......check out the alpine lakes as we land.....Washington State has some of the prettiest lakes around on the eastern rim of the Cascades!





.....and we've got all kinds of critters watching our arrival on the plains of eastern Washington:


Coyotes and native to our area, the black fox. Notice the dryer vegetation, so different from where we were.


Wild peacocks are here, too!

Wow, love the alpine lakes.....I love the peacocks.

nice shoots Eli!
hi Tina!

We're going to hop a train for most of the afternoon....and you can just sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery of eastern Washington and have a BIG beer from the Rainier Brewery here in our area. We'll go to the horse races this evening on our way back to Seattle to fly to Sandra's overnight!

Here's our train now!


The view along the Columbia River...temperatures are much hotter here, about 105 dgerees in the summer!




See how dry the area is?
Rigel do NOT fall off the back!

Oky Doky!

That looks cool!
Nice view.

You still get the scenery but it's drier, and the vegetation is very different.
Farming is the main source of income, cattle, and beef. This is the backside of St. Helens.



Wineries and wheat farms....


Very dry!






Here's our tour guide for the afternoon. This is my good pal Brian. This is how people dress here, ALL the time. Outdoors, indoors...for dinner.....weddings.....ALL the time.

Wow! Love the Mt St Helen stuff -- I remember it well -- even at this remove we felt it. I was in the shower, and Rob was on the highway out to Hope to go flying.

What a difference from the coast to the interior, too! A beauty of its own.

Haven't been on a train for a lot of year, so I'm going to enjoy this (but I'm already trespassing on my emloyer's time, so I'd better go ). See y'all later.

So we'll just hang out a bit and relax. It's very warm and comfortable here.




The mighty Columbia River, source for hyrdopower, electricity, and most irrigation systems here. Also outdoor concerts!

What are we doing right now! I'm ready for an activity!

Everything is so beautiful, it brings tears to my eyes.

The black fox is so lovely!

Relax, yeah I like the sound of that.

Hi Jenny
Hi and Bye Fran, see you later tonight.

Originally Posted by Ilovecats

What are we doing right now! I'm ready for an activity!

Everything is so beautiful, it brings tears to my eyes.

The black fox is so lovely!

Click to expand...

LOL!! I have been wearing everyone out since they arrived!! LOL!

It's always windy out here. We'll stop the train and stretch.
We can go fly kites! This is just outside Walla Walla, Washington --the border at Idaho.

Wow, Elizabeth, what amazing pictures! I loved the tulips and Mt. St. Helen's, heck I loved it all!! I think a trip to Washington is in order (add that to my ever growing list of places to visit).

Now THAT was a bumpy ride over the mountains this afternoon, whew!
Here we are at Longacres raceway, called Emerald Downs. We can have tons of Rainier Beer and other local mircobrews, white wine from Eastern Washignton, and martinis here. Betting is legal in our state, but it's the jumping and tack that I like the best!

Welcome to The Promenade at Longacres!










and the best part....running free!