The Other Side of the Mountain

We went for a ride Friday night to a favorite restaurant that's on the other side of the mountain.  It's a remote cabin in the woods in the middle of 'nowhere', yet a very special 'somewhere'.  There was a time we could simply drive over the mountain, a much shorter route, but the road has since been closed for many years; now we must drive a distance further, but following a route that affords a scenic ride--a great trade-off.  A heavy downpour of rain had just stopped and the sun had just come out.  Steam rose.  Fog fell.  Sun streamed.  Clouds puffed.  River raged.  Rainbow arched.  Leaves shone.   With my point-and-shoot camera, I snapped some pictures along the way from the passenger seat of our car.  

C'mon...!  Take a ride.....



       Each curve in the road provided dark canopies of leaves which made way for bright open light ahead.

Wicked storms carrying torrential rain earlier and the previous days let loose a barrage of water flowing through the river.  We drove over high, muddy water.

Having driven miles, we arrived on the other side of the mountain and now drove alongside it.  The thought of our home resting directly over the top and parallel to where we now were made me smile.  We were now in brighter, open space with low clouds dotting the landscape with cottony wisps.

A faint rainbow appeared!  (as well as a water droplet on my lens!)

This wreath of leaves seemed to be suspended in thin air, decorating the valley! 

Getting out of the car, I walked closer to position myself so the bottom of the rainbow appeared directly 'through' the center of the wreath, however in the few seconds it took to get there (and with the last drops of juice from my camera battery) the rainbow quickly faded until it became invisible.

We arrived at our destination already full.  Full of the splendor this part of our world provides.