Being outside can inspire. It can remind you that you are, in the greater scheme of things, tiny.  It can make you marvel.  While you don’t need to travel cross-country to experience that feeling, the Cascades have given us a chance to reconnect with the outdoors.  This is wild country.

Today, we drove past tiny, old coal mining towns with little bungalows dwarfed by giant pines.  Eventually, our cell phone service disappeared.  The road turned to dirt.  We had arrived.

We hiked along the Cooper River Trail, in the Wenatchee National Forest.  Bambino spotted salmon in the river.  As the water coursed through the rapids, it changed color.  We were in the middle of “nowhere,” and in the heart of everything.

After a well-earned lunch, we took a swim at the resort.  We’re now all sprawled on the couch, soaking in a sunset. 

Don’t get too domesticated, friends.