This spot is from a massive lava flow, surrounded by volcanoes on all sides. I wouldn't want to be here when the next one blows. Living in Florida, it's easy to forget there is a healthy amount of volcanic activity in the pacific northwest. It wasn't my plan to visit volcanoes, but little did I realize, most of the mountains in Oregon are. If I recall, Oregon and Hawaii are in the "ring of fire," and we all know Hawaii is quite active. When I first arrived at this spot, I was struck by how fresh the flows looked; I thought maybe they were ten years old. It was more like fifteen-hundred years, which, as we all know, is just a blink of an eye in geological terms. As amazing as it was, I was still glad to leave before mother nature decided to blink again.
I took a picture of this church along one of the lesser-known highways in Florida. I just thought it looked kind of old-school. When driving in the country, I look for things that stand out; this fit the bill. It was, in fact, a Sunday but late enough that it was empty. It doesn't look to me like it has airconditioning so, on a summer day in Florida, it's probably as hot as purgatory inside, give or take a few degrees. Not long after this stop, I started entering the suburbs of Orlando, and from that point on, everything is new-school. The only things that look old are facades made to look that way. So, getting out of the city to see throw-backs is pretty cool, even if it is hotter than the devil's den.
The water from this fall runs year-round and is fed by a spring. I would have gotten closer, but Instagramers were posing in front. I Photoshopped out the Instagramers because I kind of like it without them, maybe it's just me. Last year on the same day, I was at Mount Rushmore and encountered the same thing, hundreds of them. I need to start an Instagram of Instagrammers. Nevertheless, it was quiet and pretty here, which was at the top of a steep hike from the Columbia River. I had water but too much heavy camera gear, but I didn't realize I was going to climb the trail until I got there. As all of my hikes in Oregon, it was well worth it, and I'm looking forward to going back for more walks, Instagram notwithstanding.
