Sunday, March 25, 2012

What I Love and Miss About WA...

On a three week visit to my homestate of Washington, I was reminded of my family and what I miss and love and all the things my brother and I had to leave behind to move here in 1997....

  • Our birthplace of Davenport, our first hometown of Wilbur, our family in Almira and that fateful day at the Reardan payphone on Christmas Eve.
  • Grandma and Grandpa Painter
  • IGA trips
  • Grandma and Grandpa's willow tree and all the beatings I took from it from my brothers.
  • Our red berry tree fights in the yard.
  • Wind!! Wind so strong, up to 75 mph....often.
  • Getting ready for prom and having my hair blown sideways. :)
  • Wheat fields...bright green...rippling in the wind.
  • Mt. Adams views whenever we wanted.
  • Mt. St. Helens views.
  • Mt. Hood views and ski trips together
  • The magnificent Columbia Gorge and it's beautiful waterfalls, blue water and verdant green splendor.
  • Dust devils in the dry heat.
  • Summer forest fires, Smokey the Bear and signs stating the days fire potential.
  • Wishram fires.
  • Dry heat and cool temperatures in the shade.
  • Dressing for 105 degree weather and 40 degree weather, all in one day...
  • Pine trees as far as the eye can see.
  • Crisp, clean air.
  • Jet skiing on the Columbia River.
  • Fresh fruit stands.
  • Wineries
  • King City Chocolate Factory
  • Spokane and all our family there.
  • Auntie Jeanne
  • Sheri and Ghassan's house and all the memories of hospitality there.
  • Lebanese/Armenian garlic-filled food!!
  • ZaZa and Rima and their servant hearts.
  • Screen doors and being able to use them! Feeling the fresh air coming in the windows and hearing the breeze outside.
  • Playing and laying in the grass without chiggers.
  • Lake Roosevelt and Jones Bay
  • Randy and Sandy, Erin and Travis, Samantha and all our dear friends
  • Our camper.
  • Mom and Dad of course!!
  • Clint, Kirstie, Wyatt, Amity and family
  • Our family...our roots.
  • Lake Chelan
  • Lake Couer d'lene, ID
  • Mt. Spokane
  • The South Hill
  • All the different locations and trips I puked on as a child.
  • The Columbia River and how it's weaved into most memories throughout the state and throughout the years.
  • John Day Dam
  • Grand Coulee Dam
  • The Wild Horses statue at Vantage Bridge
  • Coulee City, Moses Lake, Ephrata
  • Uncle Orville, Aunt Kit, Graydon and The Ranch
  • Uncle Slim
  • David, Judy, Lani and DJ
  • Ice skating on the tennis courts in Almira
  • Jerry Emerson
  • Appaloosa horses
  • Leavenworth and Wenatchee
  • Your 1968 Chevy Stepside Pick-up
  • Remote, rural towns
  • Incredibly unique starry nights
  • John Day River
  • Rock formations along I84
  • The heiroglyphics at Horsethief Park.
  • Finding crystals in the rocks near Rufus and Biggs.
  • All your hometown gigs and barfights you watched from the stage.
  • Driving over Biggs Bridge in the wind.
  • Now...the windmills...
  • Being in WA and seeing hundreds of miles of OR farmland.
  • The Goldendale Golf Course
  • Combines
  • Big trucks, big cowboy hats and cowboy boots...the real cowboys.
  • The Demolitian Derby and Mt. Adams views
  • Rodeos and the "Ring of Fire"
  • Beer Gardens
  • Licorice, salt water taffy and Dehart's Brach's candy by the pound
  • Icicles
  • 602 E. Collins
  • Camping in Trout Lake
  • Huckleberry picking with cougars and bears and dangerous logs...filling our buckets.
  • The pine beetle in my hair.
  • Your campfire serenades and guitar playing
  • Huckleberry cobbles and muffins by Mom
  • Christmas feasts by Mom
  • Grandma's chocolate chip cookies
  • Trains all over the gorge.
  • Wild horses on Highway 97
  • Moms tacos!!
  • Auntie Jeanne's perfume
  • Antique hunting and family treasures
  • Community Days Parade
  • Dad standing and saluting the Veterans as they go by in the parade...always swell with pride seeing him do that.
  • Your Mother's Day swing on the island.
  • Rattlesnake hunting
  • Classmates and reunions

Thankful for all the memories and the love I still have for my wonderful home state.

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