South Central, Washington State

Third day I got down to the Ginko Petrified Forest area, some nice stuff but not sure it's what we had in mind. Lots of desert brush but it's greenish and about knee high. So would make some good shots, but probably not the best terrain for the entire flick. This takes us east of Seattle on the east side of the mountains. Once I got thru this area, then to the mountains and the search is finished, no more flat land. The best area in this place was at the top of one of the largest hills, where it flattened out so you don't know you're up so high. BUT, there's a freaking windmill farm up there!!! Quite beautiful as far as renewable resources, as there must be a hundred of them up there - but doesn't help with the shot. Anyway, you can shoot 180 degrees and not see any windmills, and I don't seem to hear them at all, they're far enough away for sound. There's a dirt road off the highway that goes much deeper thru the range, it is blocked off for vehicles till May so if we were interested we could drive in deeper next month, further from the windmills. But I'm not sure the terrain is completely suitable. Here are the pics.

See the windmills in the background

Dark and rainy, but you can see the terrain

See my bag, perspective for the size of the plants

Freaking windmills

Shot of the terrain and the flatness

This sign was 100 metres from where I camped the night - in the back of the jeep, of course. BTW, rattlesnakes
are in this terrain - we'd wear boots on this shoot. Ranger said they're not much of a problem, but...

Osoyoos, and Washington State

A better day today. Looked at Osoyoos, some nice desert but there always seems to be a vineyard way in the distance that would ruin the shot. We COULD make it work if we had to, but it would restrict the camera angles all the time. Talk to the First Nations in Oliver and had a look at their desert land, best I've seen yet in Canada but hydro poles, horses running around, and a highway down the middle would again make limit camera angles. They're deciding whether they would allow it and how much.

Then into the U.S. Very promising. Got to get south to get away from the hills and farmlands. See the pics. The most promising is a piece of land for sale, 100 acres, so I thought I'd contact the seller to see if we can use it. Campsite with electrical hookup just down the road from it. At Soap Lake.

I'm now down much more south closer to Seattle but on the east side of the mountains. Talked with quite a few people from different Visitor Centers along the way, all were very willing to help and excited when you start talking about filming. So that got me south, as well as what Peter saw on Google Map images. I'll be checking out the Frenchman's Coulee and the Petrified Forest State Park in the morning. Hell of a lightening storm just now, bunch of kids in baseball outfits came into the store to take refuge from the rain, I heard them say that something in their field was just struck by lightening, they were in the dugout at the time. Great ... do I really want to camp tonight?

Also, we could do most of the principle photography in one area that's better accessible for the crew, equipment, etc., and then we could do long shots only another time at a different, less accessible location that we like without requiring the entire crew and equipment, if it matches the landscape.

Till tomorrow.

Osoyoos First Nations land

Osoyoos with limited camera angles

Scablands, Washington. Limited camera angles, hydro in back, near highway

Possibility, and following photos are same land as this

Same land as above possibility

Same land as above possibility

Same land as above possibility

Same land as above possibility

Kamloops, West, then South to Osoyoos

Bit of a fail day today, 800 km and I found all the places we won't be shooting. Even the places BC Film suggested are too hilly, or too close to highway, hydro wires, etc. The flat areas are mostly being used by farmers to plant, or full of cows in pasture, so we're left with the hilly stuff.

Cache Creek

Near Ashcroft

Outside of Kamloops

Planning a trip this week to check out locations. Going east to Kamloops and check out Cache Creek and the surrounding area. Then south to Osoyoos. This is all desert area. Then if time permits and haven't found what I'm looking for, south into US to Scablands near Spokane, and south to east of the mountains near Seattle to see Frenchman's Coulée and the Ginko Petrified Forest State Park, the Boulder Coulée.

I'll post pics as I go, please comment if you want me to drill down into any specific areas after seeing some photos of them.