This is the time in the seasons when Leah and I feel like we are in need of a change in scenery. I can’t really say why this is so...why this desire to go someplace, this antsy-ness, seems to be autumnal in nature, but it is.
Maybe we sense the winter season is not too far off, and we know the rains will soon saturate the lowlands of the Puget Sound region and snows will blanket the mountains that surround us...all this meaning we’ll be spending more time than usual indoors.
Leah and I have found that the antidote to our itchy, fall wanderlust isn’t necessarily a long trip, just a trip: A three hour drive to the Washington coast will be fine, or, better yet, a road trip east to the rain shadowed, sunny side of the Cascades.
Earlier this week three travelers -- Leah, our friend Jim, and I -- drove east over the North Cascades Highway and into the Methow Valley, a place of incredible, high desert beauty. We rented a cabin that served as our base camp for exploration and good times.
We hiked picturesque trails and took in views that stretched from here to infinity; we stood in an open field one night and beheld a harvest moon that turned darkness into near-daylight.
We did this trip, intending perhaps to get away from it all, but finding, I think, great appreciation of the here and now.
