Winter has finally come to Wenatchee. Thanks for visiting Winter, we need to break up. It's not me, it's definitely you, now, buh-bye!
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A few random snaps from last week when we road-tripped it southeast to the center of Idaho, where my parents have a house, in Challis. Small town that gets busy one weekend a year when the Muzzie Braun family hosts a 3-day country-western music festival. And as they say: a good time was had by all.
Did you Eastern Washingtonians know there is a "pass" between the upper Entiat Valley and Twenty-Five-Mile Creek in Chelan that goes up and over those incredible mountains? Called Shady Pass, it is "rustic" to say the least (dirt, bumpy and narrow.) It felt like we were on top of the world. We intended to drive to the top, park, then hike to the summit of Crow Hill which sits almost 7,000 vertical feet directly above Lake Chelan. We were thwarted, however, by snow. In late July. Snow. July. We hiked around a bit, as much as we could (which included one gnarly hill that, at 6,800 feet, had us gasping like mad and our hearts pounding through our chests. Yes, I said gnarly. I grew up in the 80s.) Some of the views below. That water below is Lake Chelan. If you know how big Lake Chelan is, you can tell from this photo how high we were.
I was in Seattle for the last few days to attend a few things. My oldest daughter is interested in the "Specialty Desserts and Breads" AAS degree at the Seattle Culinary Academy, so we toured the campus and program. I can tell you this, there are some amazing looking pastries and cakes coming out of that school. Since one of my loves is food photography (and especially baked goods) it's no stretch to say I am as excited about her interest as she is. And as a lover of baked goods, LOL, well, that's just a bonus!
I also spent a full day at the Washington Convention Center absorbing, like a sponge, everything I could from the fertile minds of Joe McNally and David Hobby, both photography masters and wizards of light ("small lights", AKA flashes or strobes.) Seattle was stereotypically rainy and windy (that's not unusual for March) but it still seemed like a nice, long few days of fun and good food and good movies. We love the movies and always take in a couple wherever we are (and usually one each weekend at home.) The best one we saw was The Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Really enjoyed it. Matt looked as handsome as ever. He seems like such a likable, down-to-earth guy in real life. One of the reasons I respect him. I like very few celebrities, they all seem so worshipped for no good reason. But he seems to keep it real with the correct focus on what's important. Anyway, if you're looking for a flick to catch, that's a good one.
Wow, a new year already. I took my dog, a Golden Retriever named Gator, for a walk this afternoon. To say it was brisk would be an understatement, but once we got going, I was actually pretty warm. I did have to take off and put on mittens several times to keep my fingers from feeling real pain, but a cold shooting hand is a necessary evil in outdoor winter photography. I had slip-on metal grips on the bottoms of my shoes and felt pretty safe on the icy path and frozen snow. Poor Gator had a few cartoon-style spin outs on the ice but he quickly figured out that walking in the snow kept him on his feet and the two of us plodded along, picking our paths in absolute silence. It was just what I needed to start the year.
