Goodbye Gorge....

Jeni Stembridge photography... Love you Jeni

I feel blessed in my life to have been able to see many parts of this world, so many places of beauty and magnificence. Places that have made me feel completely enamored and so ridiculously small in significance to the exquisiteness that was surrounding me. As I think about the Colombia River Gorge, this special place that is by far one of the most amazing places in this world, I smile to think it is this magical place that has brought together some of the most amazing, diverse, colorful, and beautiful people that I have ever met. As I get ready to say goodbye to my special place, I can’t help but reflect on the people that I have met along the way.



In the last few months I have met remarkable women whose eyes sparkle with a passion for life and for their art, which ranged with such a rich diversity. I have met men with the same sparkle in their eye, the love of water and their passion to see it all, makes them a continuous inspiration for those they meet on their journey. We all added something different, inspiring each other to see the world in a different way. We all are different, yet so similar, living life by the moment and taking it as it comes. Our distinct paths and unique stories created colorful relationships and one of the things we all have in common is we are completely in love with our little area of the world.



Our time is slowly coming to an end… the life of tents and wilderness, is reaching the closing stages, the time of moving forward. As Tom Petty puts it oh so well, “it’s time to move on, time to get goin”. Talk has slowly turned into what will become of the coming months, each of us a different path and a different direction. For some; months of travel to foreign lands and for others work is calling in other fabulous parts of this world. We will move on, see new life and feel new loves. We all will be a little different when we meet again, a little changed by life and our paths. We will have new stories to tell, all while making new memories as we tell them.



I feel more like myself when I am here.I will forever remember and describe this area as I did the first time I came here… when I am here... when I am laying on that dirt road, looking at the endless skies and the stars that seem to go on for miles, I still feel that I am in the middle of nowhere, yet completely in the center of everything.This place has my heart and now more than ever it holds a special place for the countless memories that have been made by remarkable people I have met in my middle of nowhere.