Roadtrip season is here!

A recap + some happy news

Apr 30, 2024

It’s that time of year again: Roadtrip season! Admittedly that’s a thing only in my mind because you could take a roadtrip any time of year but I prefer to drive when the weather is better. Bodhi is a great travel buddy so starting in March we drive to explore nearby dog friendly destinations. Now that we’re in the Pacific Northwest there’s no shortage of amazing places to see so here’s a recap of the last three places I’ve visited.

Othello, Washington

How do you know when someone is really into birds? They randomly identify the call of a passing flock. That’s what happened when my friend Alicia was visiting in March—she heard sandhill cranes. We Googled and learned that nearby, in Othello, in March, is the Sandhill Crane Festival where apparently nearly 35,000 sandhill cranes stop for a few weeks during their migration. From the festival website:

The largest concentration of sandhill cranes migrating in the Pacific Flyway are attracted to Othello's rich croplands and wetlands.
After their few week stop in the Othello area, the sandhill cranes continue their migration north to their breeding grounds in south-central Alaska, specifically in the Matanuska River Valley and Bristol Bay areas. In the fall, the sandhill cranes will migrate through Eastern Washington again, back to their wintering grounds in California's Central Valley.
Its hard to believe, but they can travel up to 400 miles per day when the conditions are good.

We traveled to Othello about a week before the festival and got to see and hear the cranes. They make a very distinct sound! Sadly they were still in the fields as the sun was going down so we didn’t get to photograph them but it was really cool to hear and see them just the same.

In Othello we also had the opportunity to see, hear, and photograph snow geese! I have never experienced anything like this. It’s unreal when so many birds take flight at the same time—the sound is difficult to describe: it’s like a roaring engine but much more exciting. They landed and took off from the same lake several times and often flew over our heads.

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Haystack Rock has been on my photo bucket list for years. Even though it’s been photographed a million times I wanted to see it, and shoot it, for myself. My first impression was that the rock is so much bigger than I imagined. You can see it towering behind the buildings before you even get to the beach. It had been a while since I’d been to a beach and being there was so healing.

It was Bodhi’s first time on a beach and he seemed to love it too.

Cannon Beach has that casual and relaxed beach atmosphere that I live for and we stayed in the perfect dog-friendly spot (Lighthouse Inn) just a couple of blocks from the beach. The weather was also just right.

We visited a couple of other spots along the coast: Ecola State Park and Indian Beach.

Woodburn, Oregon

Tulips are an important seasonal thing in the PNW. There are two festivals at about the same time: one is Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival and the other is Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Although it seems like the festival in Washington is better in terms of acreage and variety, the one in Oregon is more dog friendly so I chose that one.

When we got there Friday evening there was just enough time to walk out on the fields towards the tulips and get a few shots before sunset. It’s really quite impressive to see so many acres of tulips in colorful rows. Best part? I got a rainbow!! I was so excited I was hopping up and down (on the inside).

We returned on Saturday and in classic PNW style, it rained all day. Oh well! It made for good closeup shots. It also gave us the chance to go into Silverton for lunch and back to the hotel for some rest.

The weather improved so we went back on Sunday morning before leaving. That’s when Bodhi decided he wanted a souvenir from his travels… he laid in the mud. 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🤷🏻‍♀️

And the happy news

One of my images was selected for a show! My first PNW photo show will be at Black Box Gallery in Portland: Field Work: Trees and Water. My image Reflecting will be on display from May 1-20th.

Thank you for reading Photographs and Stories! If you enjoy my work, here’s a link to where you can shop my images. You can also contribute to what I’m creating by getting a paid subscription (button below).

PS: I’m working on something really cool for paid subscribers. It’s called The Book Report and it’s a continuously growing list of book reviews, interesting classes, and other resource recommendations. Upgrade your subscription to get access as soon as it launches!