Driving home from Christmas

We spent the Christmas holiday up in Spokane, Washington, celebrating with my family and staying with a dear friend. Our departure was timed perfectly, just as the temperature changed to chilly (very chilly, 16F!). Driving home the sky was blue and I was enjoying the view so much I started snapping photos just out of Spokane, as we headed southwest on Interstate 90.

This one further west, as we neared Ritzville, Washington. 

This is wide open farm country.

Now we've left I-90 and are on 395 headed towards the Tri-Cities area; Kennewick, Pasco, Richland.

We've just crossed the Columbia River and are back on the Oregon side, about to turn and head west, still another 178 miles to Portland.

The first few miles in Oregon are a bit inland from the river.

But then it reappears and Interstate 84 follows along the Columbia River Gorge all the way back home to Portland. Oregon on the left, Washington on the right...

Looking towards Washington.  

Wind turbines along the ridge.

This view never gets old.

There's snow on them there hills! (Washington)

Andrew wanted to get a closer look at Multnomah Falls (the tallest waterfall in Oregon at 620ft), figuring with all the rain that's fallen recently the show would be a good one. We pulled off I-84 and realized most everyone else passing that way had the same idea, as the line of cars hoping to park was backed up almost onto the Interstate. Since it didn't look like we'd score a parking spot I took this shot out of the open sunroof, yes it was cold.

But we got lucky and were able to park and walk up to the falls.

This is Multnomah Creek as it heads away from the falls. The two silver spots in the water, towards the bottom half of the photo, are large salmon (dead). 

I also snapped a few photos in my mom's garden...

This was fun to see, a gardening friend who lives in Spokane gave me a bunch of tiny seedlings from her Helleborus foetidus back in 2023 and I planted a few in mom's garden. The ones that lived are about to bloom.

This dignified fellow has acquired a nice smattering of lichen.

Lots of things in the garden were colored up nicely, cold weather will do that. Sempervivum...

Mahonia

Bergenia

Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'

And Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard'... it was a good visit.

The Bit at the End

Today I'm giving a shout-out to Kris at Late to the Garden Party, a faithful commenter here on my blog and consistent voice in the garden blogging community. Kris published her first blog post on this day back in 2012, which means today is her 13th anniversary—or blogoversary. If my math is correct, she's written over 2,095 posts in those years! If you attended the 2017 Capitol Area Fling, the 2018 Austin Fling, or the 2024 Puget Sound Fling then you might have met Kris. I visited her garden in Rancho Palos Verdes (southern Los Angeles County) about this time of year back in 2019. It was just as fabulous as I thought it would be. So those are the details, but what I want you to know about Kris is that she's an extremely supportive, kind, and humble human. The dialog we have back and forth on each other's blogs is a meaningful part of my garden blogging experience, Kris always has something positive to say. The humble bit is how low-key she is about her garden and all that she's built there, she's got vision, creativity and isn't afraid to work hard! Thanks for blogging, commenting on my blog, and being a friend Kris!

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The next Study Weekend garden; Wynton Pajunas

This was the third garden I toured during last June's Study Weekend in the Portland area, and like the last garden I'd been here before—for the 2014 Garden Conservancy event.

From the garden description: "Our home and gardens have undergone great transformations in the 18 years we have lived here. The yards were initially primarily lawn, and the house was white. The ranch style of the house creates the opportunity to interpret the garden styles in many ways. We didn't start out with a style in mind, but over time we have come to define it as "Wild Urban Modern.""

"We built our gardens together. Mike removed the lawn by hand in the rain and built all the stone pathways., which were designed to look like riverbeds. Marina designed the layout in the front and back yards. Marina dreamed of the curvy steel vegetable beds one night, and the next day we installed them together. Rain gardens to manage storm water runoff, native hedgerow for privacy, water features for the birds, and sunny front yard planting beds indulge Marina's desire to experiment with plants and indulge her fascination for the incredible variety of perennial flower structures. The backyard is Mike's territory, and it illustrates his love of the natural world, plants, and gardening. Mike was inspired one day to build the boardwalk along the back property line: a shady walk and sitting place among nature. The backyard oasis is where we hang out, take naps, entertain and chase our dog around."

The mentioned curvy vegetable beds...

I love how much Marina and Mike have packed into their small space. In my prior post on the garden (here) they reference having a smaller than average city lot. There's is 55 ft wide x 87.6 ft deep, standard for Portland is 50 x 100 (ours is 45.5 x 111).

This shady pathway leads to the boardwalk that runs along the back of the property.

In my prior post I shared photos inside the sweet little hideaway at the end there, this time too many people were crowded in to take photos.

To help you get a sense of the space, if you look below the umbrella on the right you can see the curvy vegetable beds against the west-side fence. The boardwalk is behind me on my right, the hideaway is directly behind me.

It looks like a rock puzzle below the manzanita.

No space wasted! This is the east-side fence with storage on the right.

Looking back at the storage side.

I took a lot of photos looking down. I didn't want to miss a single detail.

And with that, this visit is fini!

The Bit at the End

If you attended the 2024 Puget Sound Fling may have met Grace Hensley. She is plant and garden photographer (among many other things) who grew up visiting Heronswood Garden with her photographer mother. In this short (32 minute) video—a presentation she gave for Bainbridge Island Senior Community Center—Grace shares some of her gorgeous photos of Heronswood and gives tips for really seeing a garden and taking great photos: A Heronswood Journey with Grace Hensley.

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Wishing you...

 A very saguaro Christmas!

That's a drawing Andrew did, we decorated bags for a friend who was making bagged lunches for charity. I loved this one so much I had to scan and share. Happy Holiday!

It's Christmas Eve, and so I can't resist

Let's face it, not much gardening is happening in the Northern Hemisphere on December 24th, so I'm gonna go ahead and let my Christmas joy take over today. First up, the Santa Clones. For several years now I've shared photos of the 400 blow-mold Santas that gather somewhere around Portland. Their location always a bit of a mystery and to find them you follow the clues. I set out to hunt them down on a night we had an incredible sunset. As I drove I watched people stop and turn west, phones held high, it was great fun. This is the best shot I got.

Once parked I beat feet to where I thought the clones were this year, only to discover I was wrong. Not too far off though, since this is what I saw.

Thankfully I've been at this long enough to know that looking up and scanning for the red glow will usually pull you in the right direction. The large shiny face is Splash by Michael Benisty.

The clones...

The clone gathering began in 2010, this is their 15th anniversary.

Andrew asked me why I needed to go again this year. Hadn't I already seen them?

Yes I have. Many times. But I will continue to go every year. Isn't that the point of having an annual holiday tradition? The repetition marks the season and the celebration. The family or community involvement brings people together. I've had many interesting conversations with strangers while visiting the Santa Clones over the years.

Looking back to the building where I thought the clones were hanging out. It's a 1940's Pepsi Cola bottling plant.

Speaking of tradition, yes of course I did a Grinch drive-by!

I love him so!

New this year, Andrew and I finally took a stroll through the holiday lights at The Grotto, after talking about doing it for (nearly?) 20-years! "The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother, The Grotto, is an internationally-renowned Catholic shrine and botanical garden located minutes from downtown Portland, serving over 300,000 visitors annually" (from their website). Andrew and I had visited once before, back in 2010.

The purple lights illuminate the cliffside that separates the upper and lower parts of the garden. The cave itself (the grotto) is some 30' wide, 30' deep and nearly 50' high. I read somewhere that it was carved out of the face of the cliff in 1923.

We got there just after opening at 5pm but the crowds were already intense, on a random weeknight! I took a lot fewer photos than I normally would have, simply because of the number of people. This was a calm moment in the crush.

Truth be told I was extremely bummed when I learned the event (and thus all visitors) was restricted to the lower part of the garden. No taking that bizarre elevator up to the heavens above.

Their lights were done up nicely though and it was good to finally see what we'd been missing all these years.

Back home I'm thrilled one of my neighbors has put up her own Christmas Grinch, and his dog Max too! However you're spending the holiday (if you celebrate) I hope you have a warm and joyful day.

The Bit at the End

Perhaps you've already seen this short on Instagram, after all it has nearly 1.5 million views. It makes me smile every time I see it, just a group of Scottish school boys ringing someone's doorbell and singing Last Christmas to get them in the Christmas spirit. 

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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.