Abe's vision ~ posted by Melissa

Of all the forces of nature, I should think the wind contains the largest amount of motive power - that is, power to move things...As yet, the wind is an untamed and unharnessed force; and quite possibly one of the greatest discoveries hereafter to be made, will be the taming, and harnessing of it.     

~ Abraham Lincoln (1860)
 

One of the most incredible things that we saw on our camping trip was at the Washington-Oregon border.  As we crossed the bridge over the Columbia:

 and looked back to the Oregon side of the river this is what we saw:

and we were able to pull off the highway into a scenic rest stop so I could take pictures (lots and lots of pictures) of what is on the Washington side:

Something about the time of day, the unusual cloud formations and the low setting sun made for some gorgeous colors and shadows on the rolling hills, and the stark white of the painted windmills standing as majestic sentries over the river was absolutely awe inspiring against the terrain and the oddly colored sky which is still recovering from the massive wildfires we've had this summer.  We had seen these wind farms on our way to Oregon four days earlier but the air was stagnant and smelled of smoke and the few mills that were spinning were barely moving at all.  It was a welcome sight to see sunshine and blue sky and every windmill hard at work.  If you ever get the chance to see these, it's worth the drive.  These pictures do not do their enormity justice. 

And just to tie this post in to knitting, this scenery was the last of at least 3 things I saw on our vacation that gave me ideas for color combinations and maybe even an inspired design.  How can you not think about crafting when you wake up in the morning and see picot clouds in the sky?