My book group’s selection this month is The Shack by Paul Young which I just finished (3 days early) this morning. It’s an intriguing tale of forgiveness, faith, and learning about God, set in a place that I had the incredible privilege to visit five years ago.
When Peggy Fine first asked if I was available to speak at the Oregon State Grange Session in Joseph Oregon, she described the area as the most beautiful place in the world. It was hard to argue about that!
Joseph is a tiny town nestled in a valley of the Wallowa Mountains of Northeast Oregon. It’s not easy to get to – by air or automobile – unless you have a lot of time to get there. I flew into Spokane, Washington, skirted Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, (which has a lake that rivals the beauty of my own Canandaigua Lake) and headed south. My first destination was Lewiston where the Clearwater River joins the Snake and whose sister city Clarkston, Washington across the Snake River gives a pretty good clue about the area’s history. I stayed right on the Lewis and Clark Trail on the bi-centennial year of that amazing trek.
From Clarkston, one can travel – if you’re adventurous – through Rattlesnake Canyon on Route 129, where a sign warns you that there’s no gas, for 70 miles. There is, however, ice cream at the bottom of the canyon where the proprietor assured me it stays a comfortable 70 degrees year-round. And incredible sights that take one’s breath away – as do the hairpin turns going down and then up through the canyon.
From the south rim of Rattlesnake Canyon, you come out on a high plateau that offers a first view of the Wallowa Mountains. As you follow Oregon’s Route 3 south, you descend gently into a broad, fertile valley with picturesque working farms and amazing snow-capped peaks beyond.
That’s where I picked up the trail of The Shack’s main character Mack and his family who drove from near Portland east along the Columbia River Gorge and nearly six hours east through Enterprise and Joseph to camp at Wallowa State Park. I won’t say more about what happens there because you can read the book!
But since I was there – and since I took about a million pictures of this most picturesque setting – I thought I’d show you just some of what you can see in Northeast Oregon, Joseph, the Wallowa Mountains and their evirons. I tried to include the pics that show what Paul Young tried to show in words – and then I just couldn’t help adding a few others that captured me.
I hope you enjoy a little armchair travel on this Monday. And that you have a chance to travel down some lane of your own memory that gives you as much pleasure as I’ve had re-living my visit to the most beautiful place in the world.
Sally
When Peggy Fine first asked if I was available to speak at the Oregon State Grange Session in Joseph Oregon, she described the area as the most beautiful place in the world. It was hard to argue about that!
Joseph is a tiny town nestled in a valley of the Wallowa Mountains of Northeast Oregon. It’s not easy to get to – by air or automobile – unless you have a lot of time to get there. I flew into Spokane, Washington, skirted Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, (which has a lake that rivals the beauty of my own Canandaigua Lake) and headed south. My first destination was Lewiston where the Clearwater River joins the Snake and whose sister city Clarkston, Washington across the Snake River gives a pretty good clue about the area’s history. I stayed right on the Lewis and Clark Trail on the bi-centennial year of that amazing trek.
From Clarkston, one can travel – if you’re adventurous – through Rattlesnake Canyon on Route 129, where a sign warns you that there’s no gas, for 70 miles. There is, however, ice cream at the bottom of the canyon where the proprietor assured me it stays a comfortable 70 degrees year-round. And incredible sights that take one’s breath away – as do the hairpin turns going down and then up through the canyon.
From the south rim of Rattlesnake Canyon, you come out on a high plateau that offers a first view of the Wallowa Mountains. As you follow Oregon’s Route 3 south, you descend gently into a broad, fertile valley with picturesque working farms and amazing snow-capped peaks beyond.
That’s where I picked up the trail of The Shack’s main character Mack and his family who drove from near Portland east along the Columbia River Gorge and nearly six hours east through Enterprise and Joseph to camp at Wallowa State Park. I won’t say more about what happens there because you can read the book!
But since I was there – and since I took about a million pictures of this most picturesque setting – I thought I’d show you just some of what you can see in Northeast Oregon, Joseph, the Wallowa Mountains and their evirons. I tried to include the pics that show what Paul Young tried to show in words – and then I just couldn’t help adding a few others that captured me.
I hope you enjoy a little armchair travel on this Monday. And that you have a chance to travel down some lane of your own memory that gives you as much pleasure as I’ve had re-living my visit to the most beautiful place in the world.
Sally
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