A Great Year for Storms

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I LOVE thunderstorms!

The past couple of years were really disappointing for me. The few storms I remember passing through were too far in the distance to be very exciting and none were worthy of a midnight drive or even sleepless night of window gazing.

It felt like it had been forever since we had a truly inspiring thunderstorm.

Then it happened! The 'storm of the century' hit two Sundays ago, and wouldn't you know it? I was out of town!! ...and to add insult to injury, the next morning I was ruthlessly tormented on Facebook with story after amazing story and countless, unbelievable photographs.

I tried not to express my disappointment too aggressively, considering the fact that I was visiting my mom. I didn't want her to feel that I would rather have seen that storm than spend an extra night with her, because that's not true, but I'll tell you, I was really, REALLY bummed out!

It turns out that that storm was just the beginning of a long, awesome series of pretty decent storms, though, and last night I finally got to experience a window-gaze-worthy exhibition. 

Here's to more beautiful, summer thunderstorms! Bring 'em on! 

(Minus crop damage and wildland fires, of course!)

Curves Ahead

My family is originally from Vancouver, Washington. We moved to Yakima when I was seven years old, but I remember that for a few years we would take trips back to Vancouver almost every weekend. (My mom despised Yakima.) I got to know the Columbia River Gorge pretty well! 

I remember my mom telling me stories of the countless trips her family would take through the Columbia River Gorge, when she was growing up, to visit her grandmother in Toppenish. She said that she had driven the Washington-Side of the river so many times that she could practically navigate the curves with her eyes closed.

I thought about that, often, as Adam and I learned how to maneuver through the Pine Canyon curves. Over the years, we've become so accustomed to that road that I can completely understand what my mom meant.

It really hit home this week once the big paving project was finished. Muscle memory really is an amazing thing! Our first trip down the newly-lined road felt just a little weird. We could tell that the radius of some of the curves had been changed ever-so-slightly and it took us a couple of trips to readjust. 

The new road surface is wonderful, though and I was impressed with how quickly they got the job done, even considering the days they couldn't work due to rain and/or excessive wind.

It's especially nice that that huge, badly-patched pit on the big curve at the top is gone. That was never very fun to encounter on a motorcycle.