{"id":6881,"date":"2018-04-08T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-08T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/?p=6881"},"modified":"2018-04-07T16:12:24","modified_gmt":"2018-04-07T23:12:24","slug":"the-wet-and-the-dry-of-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/travel\/the-wet-and-the-dry-of-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wet and the Dry of It"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I grew up on the west side of Washington State, so I think of our state as being green and wet, ringed with mountains, snug up against the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n

But once you cross the mountains, things are different. The mountains on the east side aren\u2019t as steep, and the forests of cedars and Douglas firs have been replaced by stands of ponderosa pines. Before long, most of the trees are deciduous and they\u2019re hugging the rivers.<\/p>\n

By the time you hit Ellensburg, you know you\u2019re on the dry eastern side of Washington State in the land of deserts and irrigated fields.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This past Holy Week I took a break from writing. My youngest daughter, R, had flown in from Maryland, and I wanted to spend time with her and with T (daughter #2), who lives in Eastern Washington.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>R likes to drive, so on our four-hour trip from Seattle to T\u2019s house, I could sit back and enjoy the scenery. Driving through Eastern Washington, you can\u2019t fail to appreciate the importance of water. There are huge fields green with alfalfa, whole hillsides pink with cherry blossoms, vineyards and apple orchards and fields of hops preparing to bud. All of it dependent on irrigation.<\/p>\n

When the irrigation stops, all you see is sagebrush and dry grass and tumbleweeds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Okay. I\u2019m exaggerating. You also see rolling hills, canyons, fascinating rock formations, and rivers: the Snake, the Yakima, the mighty Columbia, among others. And also the Palouse, which we figured was worth a day trip.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Palouse Falls State Park has some spectacular scenery but not many visitors. It provides picnic tables, hiking trails, and a great subject for photography. My daughters and I took advantage of all three.<\/p>\n

Trails above the falls:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Top of the falls and a rock formation that looks like some kind of magical castle:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Looking down the canyon:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>More trails and picture taking:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Cute wispy bushes:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Have you taken any road trips lately?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I grew up on the west side of Washington State, so I think of our state as being green and wet, ringed with mountains, snug up against the Pacific Ocean. But once you cross the mountains, things are different. The mountains on the east side aren\u2019t as steep, and the forests of cedars and Douglas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[318,253,1659,563,1050],"tags":[1711,1713,1709,1341,956,1710,1708,1712,1344],"class_list":["post-6881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photography","category-travel","category-vacations","category-walking","category-washington-state","tag-canyon-in-e-washington","tag-day-trips","tag-e-washington-deserts","tag-eastern-washington","tag-hiking","tag-irrigation-in-e-washington","tag-palouse-falls","tag-road-trips","tag-sagebrush"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-1MZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5424,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/travel\/crossing-the-mts-scenes-of-eastern-washington\/","url_meta":{"origin":6881,"position":0},"title":"Crossing the Mts., Scenes of Eastern Washington","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"August 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 When I visit my daughter, I start out on the cloudy, sometimes rainy, side of Washington State. The side of cedars and Douglas firs, salt water beaches, and skyscrapers. I begin at sea level and head up into the mountains. The drive on I-90 takes me up 3022 feet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "photography"","block_context":{"text":"photography","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/photography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snoqualmie Pass","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Snoqualmie-Pass-e1470945455724.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1801,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/vanuatu\/vanuatu-vanuatu\/crossing-the-mountains-to-visit-daughter-number-two\/","url_meta":{"origin":6881,"position":1},"title":"Crossing the Mountains to Visit Daughter Number Two","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"May 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Two sides of Washington State. Driving to my daughter's house takes my sister and me away from the greener, more populated west side of Washington State, across the Cascade Mountains, and into a totally different landscape. We cross the pass, and suddenly the dense underbrush is gone, the Douglas firs,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "family"","block_context":{"text":"family","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/family\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"rhododendron, cedar and maple","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/IMG_0215-e1401320694460.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4362,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/travel\/in-praise-of-rest-stops\/","url_meta":{"origin":6881,"position":2},"title":"In Praise of Rest Stops","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"November 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"My daughter lives on the other side of Washington State, 243 miles and four and a half hours away. Four-and-a-half hours, that is, if you drive straight through. And I never drive straight through. On the trip to her house, I always stop once or twice at one of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "photography"","block_context":{"text":"photography","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/photography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snoqualmie Summit","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_0785-e1446161496301.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6565,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/home\/6565\/","url_meta":{"origin":6881,"position":3},"title":"Bookcases and Hot Air Balloons","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"October 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 This past weekend I drove across the mountains to spend some time with my daughter, T, on her birthday. When I left home on the coast, it was raining, sprinkling when I reached the pass. Even with the sprinkles, there was enough sunshine to bring out the colors. Bright\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/DCEC87D6-e1411154726296.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10899,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/vanuatu\/loving-the-beach-despite-sharks-jellyfish-sunburns\/","url_meta":{"origin":6881,"position":4},"title":"Loving the Beach \u2026 despite Sharks, Jellyfish, & Sunburns","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"July 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"All my life I\u2019ve lived close to saltwater beaches. In Western Washington, we have lovely beaches. They\u2019re great for picnics, beach walks, beach combing, sandcastles building, and testing your balance with driftwood walking. The area is a paradise for boaters and photographers and anyone who enjoys an ever-changing, long-distance view\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "beaches"","block_context":{"text":"beaches","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/beaches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG_0603-e1623290189279.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6909,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/travel\/day-trip-to-a-historic-little-town\/","url_meta":{"origin":6881,"position":5},"title":"Day Trip to a Historic Little Town","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"April 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0I enjoy sun-and-surf vacations. (See Images from the Bahamas.) And I like travel that includes hiking and scenery. (See The Wet and the Dry of It.) But I also like back-roads travel and little bits of ordinary history. During Holy Week, my daughter and I took one of those day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "photography"","block_context":{"text":"photography","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/photography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_0487-e1522881151985.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6881"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6936,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6881\/revisions\/6936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}