On The Way Home

August 7, 2011
By John & Cheryl Schmit


There were many pictures to take after the wedding ceremony. Of course the toasts and the cake cutting. Generally we tried to get pictures of everyone who attended. Finally, we were tired and it was time to go back to the motel. We packed the equipment and said good-by to the Bartons. It was a lovely wedding, indeed!

The ride through the country side in the area south of Spokane is just beautiful. The rolling hills and golden farmland was awesome. The scenery required a stop for pictures. We just had to take our time going back to the motel.

Soon it was dark in the little town of Cheney, Washington. We had heard of an eruption on the Sun a few days earlier and wondered if that would affect Earth. A widespread display of auroras erupted late Friday, Aug. 5th, when a double-CME hit Earth's magnetic field and sparked a G4-category geomagnetic storm. The show was not restricted to Canada. Northern Lights spilled across the border into the United States as far south as Oregon, Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska.

We drove about two miles north of Cheney and found a nice dirt road that was very dark. We stopped and got out of the car and waited. Soon our eyes adjusted to the night and we began to see the Aurora Borealis glimmering to the north. Lines of blue/green color stretched up from the horizon. There was a soft glow of color right where the sky met the ground to the north. While we were looking that way, several meteors streaked through the sky. Probably some early Perseids. With the glow of the Milky Way we had a wondrous night view.

After sleeping late we left for the ride home. We cut through town to see the school and found Eastern Washington University. The round towers looked like student quarters. It was a very nice looking campus!

After leaving the campus, we headed west to get on Interstate 90. As we headed to the freeway we came across an unusual mail box set up. What? Air Mail?

As we continued our journey we soon saw a string of multi colored parachutes coming down. Apparently we were just in time to see a half dozen sky divers land right next to the freeway. Not much further down we found a crop dusting biplane hard at work. He was taking tight turns over the road as we went by. We had to keep our eyes on the sky!

We stopped at the Columbia river to enjoy the scenic view and vista point at Wild Horses monument. Allen found the cliffs to be a lot of fun. The vista views are great there and Cheryl even found some strange colored rocks.

Almost to Snoqualmie Pass we picked up a six inch nail and shoved it in a rear tire. Yep, that meant we had to put on the spare. Unload the back and get to work. Took about half an hour and we were back on the road.

Actually, we made it home right about the time we expected. Now, a busy week ahead to clean up, repair and get ready for another adventure.

Click here to see the pictures.