Rural Thursday - The Palouse

The Palouse is a majestic wheat growing area in Eastern Washington. The wheat fields extend into Idaho and up into Canada. There are miles and miles of fields, running up and down on the rolling hills or spread out flat. There are other fabulous sights there, waterfalls, unbelievable canyons dug out by rivers, rock formations to stun and amaze you - but today we concentrate on the wheat growing area.

There are massive pieces of farm machinery that you will pass on the highways - they are going from one field to another. This one has the sides of it drawn up so it can move down the road. The farmers are always polite, they will wave as you pass, and they always pull as far to the right as possible so you can continue on your journey. Their machines are slow, but they get amazing amounts of work done on these big machines. We stayed behind this one because I wanted to get a picture of just how big they are. The tires on the tractor are taller than our car.

There are some interesting small, abandoned buildings . . .

And some large - which have been replaced by newer, more modern facilities . . .

And they grow other things besides wheat in the Palouse. We began to see onion skins all over the ground when we would stop to take photos, and this is why - a big truck full of onions going to the processing plant. We saw dozens of these trucks while in Eastern Washington - must have been the height of the onion harvest.

Have you been to Eastern Washington? It is a spectacular area, and we plan to go back soon.

Joining A Rural Journal for more interesting Rural Photos and Recipes.