In autumn, I often think of Jane Austen's England. I can just see Elizabeth or Marianne walking through the leaves, up a hill, or among the hedgerows.
If I was as great a walker as Austen's heroines, I may have tackled theses hills. Instead I enjoyed a drive through them.
Where do you think it could be? Looks like a lonely lane in Europe, perhaps? Maybe... England?
The Yorkshire Dales?
Could it perhaps be somewhere near Scotland?
Perhaps it is the Lakes district -- maybe we are in Beatrix Potter's country. This could be the pond that Mr. Jeremy Fisher lived in!
Well, I wouldn't really know if it looks like England, as I've never been to England. Didn't you notice the lack of sheep dotting the hills?
But it's fun to pretend.
No, it's just the Wide, Wild West.
Old wagons, houses, fences, corrals...
...old barns...
...and an amazing view.
When you are up here on top of the world, you think about how vast this land is. There are many thousands of miles of land there is to the east, north, and south until you get to an ocean again (the Pacific is just west of here, though, maybe another hundred-and-some miles).
You know, at one point all this land was claimed by Great Britain. I wonder what they would have done with it? If they had thought of building castles out here, I think the structures would have been quite dwarfed by the landscape.
We are climbing higher, and looking back can see the Columbia river.
Oh, look! an old abandoned farmhouse in the trees. All it needs is a new roof, new floor, new walls, windows, doors, porches, and a working kitchen, and wouldn't it be a nice place to come to for a Thanksgiving dinner?
It is part of an old homestead on a hill.
The old house is hidden in the trees at the right of the photo. The property looks like a wild-west pioneer- style estate. I'll take it, if no one wants it anymore!
These pictures were taken while driving through The Dalles Mountain Ranch (now a park) in Eastern Washington.
(These photos are from Thansgiving-time last November, but were never posted. It was such a lovely drive to take on a dull, cloudy day, I thought I'd share it anyway!)