Old Cars in the Palouse

Besides old farm equipment being found in the Palouse, I was able to shoot some old cars and trucks as well. Here is the interior of an old Dodge 4-door sedan with a view of an old farm house in the window.
And who remembers the Ramblers?? Here is one with fresh ventilation - easy air flow in this model. I was also purchased in Spokane.

And here is the Dodge againg from a different vantage point and showing the farm house as well.

Train Tracks in the Palouse

The railroad played a significant part in the development of the Palouse which needed a way to haul the grain to market. Plenty of grain elevators and tracks are easily found in the Palouse. Here is a shot of several grain elevators:


This is the same area with train cars waiting to be used but not for grain.

And lastly, no yard is complete with out switches...

The residents of the Palouse use their vehicles for what appears a long time than other parts of the country. You can easily see trucks for the 60s still being used and older trucks as well. Many farmers have older equipment that, when asked, can be located and photopgraphed. Here are just a few of what I found in one day. This is a restored firetruck that the owner is very produ of:


The same own has a few other trucks that have not yet been restored but are in very good condition. Here is a GMS - General Motors Corporation stake body truck.



And here is the nose:

More Sunflowers

I was able to get back to the sunflowers this morning. It appears the spring weather with a lot of rain and then several weeks of +90 degree weather has stunted the sunflowers and causes some patches of flowers still trying to produce a head - in other words the field is not very even in a carpet of sunflowers. Their are many than are nice one-on-one.

Field of Sunflowers

Went out tonight to see how the field of sunflowers are doing this year - I think with all the early rain and recent weeks of 90+ weather, the sunflowers may not be as nice this year as other years. Here is a pano that I caught:

Lotus - Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

I went to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens (NPS) located on the eastern side of Washington DC on the Anacostia River. The lotus are blooming almost a month ahead of ‘normal’. Must be due to the two weeks of 90+ degree weather we been having in late June. I expect peak to be over in a week or so for what is blooming. There is a smaller number of heads that are not yet ready to open but this is the week to visit.

June - The Palouse, Washington

I went to the Palouse in Washington State this month and it was an unforgettable trip. I understand why people go back and back and back. The scenery is constantly changing as the

farmers plant different crop every year and every years crops 'bloom' into color at varying times. The tallest vantage point is the Steptoe Butte which rises out of the plain of the Palouse and can be seen for miles. The following shot is of a mustard field which many people believe is a canola field which has the same yellow flowers. No canola was found on this trip but two mustard fields were.

This year the Palouse received quite a bit of rainfall which caused the rust fungus to become active and attack the wheat crop. We spoke with an experienced farmer and he said this is the first time they ever had to deal with rust. For the more immature crops, they rust could be sprayed from a vehicle or tractor/crawler. Being immature, the crop will rebound and straighten itself. For the more mature wheat fields, ariele spaying is need and I saw up to 5 different biplanes spaying through out the region.