It’s hard to believe it, but until earlier this month, it had been over a year since I had been on a Northwest road trip. I usually find myself on one at least a few times a year, but circumstances and schedules this past year made such a journey impossible for a while. Getting out on the road and heading somewhere several hours away from the city is one of my favorite things to do. Sure, the destination is what draws us out on the road in the first place, but the trip there is half the fun–especially when the setting is as varied and gorgeous as Washington state.
It’s hard to capture the full beauty of nature from the car window, but I still like to try. If nothing else, the photos serve as memories of a dedicated time of hanging out in the car with special people, having great conversations or just enjoying the silence or music. These photos were taken a week and a half ago as we set out on our first road trip with our baby.
In the early days of my engagement and marriage, I remember glorious times in the car with my husband, heading to or from the Methow Valley, where we’d visit for a night or two. We’d listen to Nine Inch Nails’ “With Teeth,” Prodigy, or some other musical choice in the car as the landscape passed by. We’d talk about the upcoming wedding or our hopes and dreams for the future. I loved those trips.
In recent years, we started replacing the Methow with wine country. It all started back in May 2008 when we went to visit Dry Fly Distilling in Spokane and then ended up in Walla Walla. Dry Fly had recently become the first legal post-Prohibition distillery in Washington, and we wanted to pay the guys a visit. On that weekend we hopped in the car and made the nearly five-hour drive to Spokane, visited Dry Fly, then continued down to Walla Walla, another three hours away. We checked into the Marcus Whitman Hotel that night, visited some wineries the next day, then drove home.
I look back at that trip and am amazed we did all of that driving for one night out of town. It was definitely an adventure, and we had a fantastic time on the road. However, having just come back from a week-and-a-half long trip to the southeast corner of the state, with nearly 1,200 miles on the odometer, the experience is so much richer when you can spend more time at your destination and exploring its surroundings.
Still, the drive itself is part of the fun, and a big part of it if done right. It’s been fun to see the evolution of our journeys together over the years. In the past, I wanted to stop somewhat sporadically for food and bathroom breaks. My husband, on the other hand, liked getting to our destination as quickly as possible, foregoing sustenance for an efficient trip. These days we seem to be on the same page, with both of us realizing that stopping every couple of hours is inevitable but agreeing that each stop can be quick. Even traveling with a baby this time, we still managed to make pretty good time getting to our destination.
We got home from our trip late Saturday night and are still settling in at home. I have hundreds of photos that I’m excited to look through, and plenty of experiences to share with you in the weeks to come. In the meantime, will you sit back with me and just take in some of the beauty of this corner of the world–even if photographed from a car window?