It was Sunday morning after the concert, and I had a big decision to make.  I could either drive over two hours back to Seattle and take in the Mariners and Indians at Safeco Field, or stay in Yakima and sleep in a bit, and then head out to the Gorge for the final concert of Dave Matthews Band’s three night stand there.

I decided it wasn’t worth all of the driving to go all that way and then maybe not even see batting practice since it was a day game after a night game.

Instead, I slept in a bit, did a blog entry, and then left for the Gorge.  On the way there, I saw some signs for some State Parks, so I decided to check them out.

My first stop was Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park.

I was expecting to see some amazing trees frozen in time.

This sign lowered my expectations just a bit.

Then I made the precarious trip back down the hill, taking each step cautiously so I didn’t twist an ankle or fall.

On the way back down something made me stop dead in my tracks.  For some unexplained reason, among all the dead and dried out brush, there was a single plant that had flowers blossoming.

It reminded me of a version of Grey Street from 2000 where one of the verses is “Flowers bloom in the desert, only hope can come from that…”  The video of it is HERE and that verse is at 4:30 in.

It was about 3:30, so I drove into the town of George to see the sights.

It wasn’t much.  There was a George Washington bust:
I was really happy that it was conveniently located in front of a gas station too.

A fruit stand,

and a terribly inviting Mexican Restaurant.

The rest of it was basically farm land.

I had seen enough and got back on I-90 to head back to the Gorge.  (Notice their state highway signs is a profile of GW?)

My next entry will detail that night’s concert.