CAMERA  MAMIYA 645 PRO  FILM  KODAK EKTAR 100

I'm pinching myself. Did this happen? How did a routine photo trip to the high desert in central Washington get this crazy? The drama starts Saturday night. I arrive in the sleepy town of Waterville after a day of photography (I visit Dry Falls, above, near Coulee City, and the farm below off Highway 2). 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: one 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. The friends share hilarious stories about themselves. I laugh so hard I'm crying. Gary mentions he's friends with renowned 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 basement studio. He was kind and gracious.