Isha

Joe and I marked another thing off our bucket list

(not that we won't do it again) -

we paid a visit to Isha.

Wow!!!

The centerpiece of this 1200 acre retreat on Harrison Ferry Mountain

is Mahima Hall -

a 39,000 sq. ft. free spanning dome -

the largest mediation hall in the Wesstern Hemisphere!

It is unbelievably big and beautiful.

I took some pictures,

but alas, was informed that that is prohibited.

It was with great sorrow that I deleted them.

From the outside, it's big.

When we peeped through the windows,

we discovered it is massive.

It is amazing that something like that has a McMinnville address!

Not only did we oooh and aaah over Mahima Hall,

we also went on a hike.

The trails to the waterfalls were blocked due to renovation,

but we were able to take in the cliff views.

There were some pretties along the way -

Mountain Laurel

Lots of beautiful ferns,

including huge Cinnamon Fern

 And there we were just walking along,

"When what to my wondering eyes should appear?"

Lady's Slippers Orchids! 

Pure joy! I could hardly believe it. I haven't seen any in YEARS. When I was a young girl, every spring, we would gather these flowers by the dozens from the woods around our house. We would make lots of bouquets to enjoy and to share. The flowers were a marker for me that warm weather had really arrived. Truly, one of my sweetest young girl memories.

So many of them have been dug and sold that in many areas they are very endangered. They are quite particular about their growing conditions and are very difficult to transplant. So, what was often the case, they were dug to be transplanted - with the common result being that when they were removed from their natural habitat, they died. Clear cutting has also been a major culprit.  They are so unusually beautiful.