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Tag Archives: Winthrop

Up, Up and Away

From black and white to so much color it could make your head spin!

Ken and I received a gift of a hot air balloon ride for a wedding present. Three years ago. We tried to schedule it but the weather would not cooperate or Ken’s job didn’t cooperate or something or other. This year, it all fell into place. On the day following our third anniversary, Kurt and Melinda of Morning Glory Balloon Tours took us on a beautiful airborne tour of the Methow Valley; this place we call home. It was peaceful and stunning. The weather was perfect. Blue skies, green hills, snow-capped mountains. Exactly what we had hoped for.

Kurt readying the balloon
Looking from the top to the bottom of the balloon ‘envelope’.
Ken and Kurt admire the colors
Melinda holds onto the bottom edge of the balloon envelope
Ready to fill it with hot air
up
up
Up it goes!
Inflated and ready for us
With little fanfare we were suddenly floating above the tree tops. Looking down valley.
Mount Gardner looming above Sun Mountain Lodge
The Methow River with the highway bridge at Winthrop near the top.
Winthrop looks bigger from up above.
The Sawtooth Mountains above the western edge of the valley
Did I mention snow-capped mountains and green hills?
Kurt Oakley, pilot and co-owner of Morning Glory Balloon Tours.
Ken enjoys the view
Tree shadows along the river
Shadows are really interesting from above
Looking up valley towards the North Cascades
Higher still above Winthrop
The North Cascades
The Sawtooth range above Twin Lakes
Just about all of the upper valley
Looking down valley towards Twisp
Above Harrier Hill. Studhorse Hill is in the background with Pearrygin Lake just to the right of it.
Our house! You can see the beehives on the right
Some steep hillsides
The chase crew waits for our landing. We ended up in a different field. There’s no steering up there.
Landing shadow!
Down it goes.
They are pretty quick deflating the envelope and getting it packed up for another day.
Kurt even has a matching shirt for the balloon!

Many thanks to our dear friends and this wonderful gift!

My World in Black and White

On May 31st there will be a reception for three featured artists at the Winthrop Gallery. Don McIvor‘s woodwork, Katie Swanson‘s textiles and my black and white photography will make up the exhibit. I am very excited to show my black and white images from near my home and in the beautiful Methow Valley where I live and play.

The show will run from May 28th through July 7th. The Winthrop Gallery is located at 237 Riverside Avenue in Winthrop Washington and is open from 10 am til 5 pm, seven days a week.

Spring Aspens

We hope to see you at the reception on May 31st from 5 til 7 pm or stop by during the day sometime while the show is up.

 

Random Images

There was a nice morning walk with the dogs. I saw quite a few bird species – the most so far this spring. Here is the list:

Canada Goose
Mallard
Dusky Grouse
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Mourning Dove
Rufous Hummingbird
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Say’s Phoebe
Black-billed Magpie
Clark’s Nutcracker
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Pygmy Nuthatch
Western Bluebird
American Robin
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Brewer’s Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Cassin’s Finch
Red Crossbill
American Goldfinch

Then a brief stop at a yard sale and a walk through Winthrop looking for images.

A good morning
The currants are leafing out
Ponderosa pines in the morning sun
A true garage sale find. I did not buy this.
Violets in bloom in a Winthrop alley

November is Over

Snow fell last night and turned to rain and now it’s snowing again. Some of us feel that the snow is a little late this year. The pass out of here to the west closed this afternoon and it might not open again. So that brings us to ‘the end of the road’. Winthrop celebrates this during Thanksgiving weekend with Christmas carols, bonfires, Santa’s arrival and my favorite – winter fireworks! We watched last nights pyrotechnics from one of Winthrop’s pedestrian bridges and enjoyed their reflections on the Chewuch River. Friday we went to the mountains to get Christmas trees with our friends and we also found snow. There are few birds around these days. The local wintering species are few and far between and the interesting migrants from the north haven’t arrived. Well not at my house, anyway. And the puppy keeps growing.

She might be a good tumbleweed retriever?
Clark’s Nutcracker
Sky puts the sneak on Luna
Playing
Pygmy Nuthatch
Black-capped Chickadee. Most of our chickadees are Mountain.
Little dog likes big sticks
What was that?
Scott got a lovely tree, not the Charlie Brown kind.
Sky helps. Not.
Ken hauls our tree down the hill. Don and Mary already had theirs.
A successful Christmas tree hunt shared with good friends.

After the dry and sometimes gray November it is time for a change of scenery.

 

 

Winthrop Vintage Cars and RV’s

I’m a bit behind with photos these days. Seems like I’ve been working non-stop since we returned from Canada and then when I do have a few moments for fun, I come home with more photos! Maybe someone should stop me…..

Last weekend was the vintage car/rv/bicycle event in Winthrop. The RV’s were in the Pine Near RV Park and part of the main street was shut down for the cars. I never did get to see the bicycles. We had lunch in town with friends and saw some of the specially cared-for vehicles. Like a packrat or magpie I seem to be attracted to bright and shiny objects. Don’t ask me any info about the models or years – I really don’t anything about these things. They are just pretty shiny things.

 

This one doesn’t quite belong in the set.
My favorite of the vintage rv’s. Very luxurious inside.
Watching the people watching the cars from the balcony at Carlos’ restaurant.
There’s something I’ve never seen before. And notice how she’s practicing her parade wave!
My favorite hood ornament