CAMERA  MAMIYA 645 PRO  FILM  KODAK EKTAR 100

I'm pinching myself. Did this happen? How did a routine trip in 2014 to the high desert in central Washington get this crazy? The drama starts Saturday night. I arrive in the town of Waterville after a day of photography (highlight is Dry Falls above near Coulee City). I stop at a restaurant that is unusually busy. Table for six opens. Two couples ahead of me are next in line. They invite me, a stranger, to join them. Over dinner I learn: the older woman is a senior world-class swimmer. Her husband worked on oil rigs in the North Sea and survived a 50-foot wave. Great time. Emails exchanged (group shot upper left). I head to my hotel and find three guests – Gary, Ron, Pablo – sitting on the front porch. I'm invited to join them. They share hilarious stories about one another. I laugh so hard I'm in tears. Gary mentions he's friends with renowned wildlife photographer Art Wolfe and invites me to Wolfe's holiday party in West Seattle. Wife Alisa and I attend the party in December. We pose with Wolfe in his home studio. I still wonder: This happened, right? Below: the motel sign was shot in Coulee City, and the antique shop in Waterville.