When I travel to exotic locations I’m always surprised when the locals express an interest in visiting here. Why would anyone in Paris or Costa Rica or New York want to come to our podunk little corner of the country? Seattle doesn’t have the history, the depth of culture, or the weather of the places that I like to visit. Although I’m happy to call the Northwest home, it’s sometimes hard to see why it would be a destination. This last weekend I took a trip that reminded me to look at both the forest, and the trees.

This was the long Memorial Day weekend and my husband and I traveled across the mountains to Tieton, a tiny town in Eastern Washington that is recreating itself as a center for arts and artisan businesses. It’s a noble cause led by Ed Marquand, a publisher of fine art books. It’s a leap of faith to see a vibrant center in this dusty and mostly deserted town but it appears to have taken root. It will be very interesting to see how it grows over the next 5-10 years.

 

I have three pieces in Salsa, a show in Tieton put together by the Contemporary Quilt Art Association. The opening of the show was a good excuse to make the trip across the mountains to check the Mighty Tieton out for myself. The long weekend, and the prediction of bad weather in Seattle, made it even more attractive. We had a good time: saw the show which is high quality and varied, got a tour of Paper Hammer and the Marquand Editions Bindery, ran into some old friends and made some new, drank wine into the evening, slept on the floor of an old church, and had a lovely breakfast with fellow fiber artist Jean Hicks and her husband Ross, an old friend and one of the creators of The Fremont Troll, and their son Asa. It was great to catch up with Ross, it has been almost 25 years since the adventure of building the Troll. That was a crazy time!

On our way back across the mountains we took a scenic drive through the Yakima Canyon. It was beautiful with rolling hills and a riparian zone along the Yakima River. My husband is a birder and we are a good match for pace as long as he’s got his binoculars and I’ve got my camera. The geography and ecology are so different there and yet it’s only a 2-3 hour drive away.

It’s always good to get home, even if you’re only gone overnight. Monday there was a minus tide of 3.7 so, even though it was damp and chilly, my husband and I went for a walk along the Puget Sound at Richmond Beach which is about a 20 minute drive away. That was a whole different kind of beautiful, and one that is very familiar. Vistas in shades of gray, a tapestry of multi-colored seaweed, crab molts and starfish, anemones and fish eggs clinging to a strand of seaweed, the shock of color of a wild rose all the more vibrant in the muted light. All of these provide a source of comfort and inspiration to me.

 

 

Travel always resets me. By stepping away, I’m able to re-see what’s in front of me. Experiencing the new helps me appreciate the familiar. And reminds me of just how much where I live has to offer visitors from any part of the world.