Weekend Hike-Tolt Macdonald Park Carnation

Gramma packs the BEST picnics! Nice little afternoon along the Snoqualmie River, except for the mosquito bog!

Potholes Weekend Getaway

What a tremendous weekend in Eastern Washington (once we escaped the terrential downpour over Snoqualmie Pass)! I was astounded at the beauty of lots of BROWN in Vantage, WA. John went to the Gingko Petrified Forest State Park as a child and has always wanted to return. I had about zero interest, but I'm SO glad we did it!

We drove through Vantage, stopping at the Gingko Petrified Forest State Park visitor's center. The Columbia River is breathtaking and we took a short hike along the rocky shore and saw deer! The Wild Horses Monument had amazing vistas over the entire gorge. Sarah loved the wind and we saw a cool lizard on the return trip.

We drove for what felt like FOREVER to Potholes State Park, stopping at the local grocery store which had a really COOL (!) ice ROOM (not to mention the refrigerated BEER ROOM)! We all thought it was just about the most charming little store EVER! We stayed one night at Potholes State Park in a cute one room cabin, using the new campstove John received for Father's Day. The sunset was so beautiful Saturday night.

On Sunday, we explored the state park and boat launch and then took off for home. Of course, with us, that is never a direct trip and we stopped to swim and picnic at Wanapum State Park and then hiked the Gingko Petrified Forest State Park interpretive trail. What a beautiful rocky trail. They have large petrified wood specimens contained in sunken holes that we enjoyed. Daniel planned our route which turned out to be perfect, missing the steeper trail.
We headed home after the hike, stopping at Lake Easton State Park, which we finally left at dusk. I loved the clouds in Eastern Washington!

Nature At Potholes

I kept the camera on the dashboard and got some AMAZING shots while driving! Dusk photo is Lake Easton.