70 Places for 70 Years: How Margot Kravette Turned Milestones into Masterpieces

This week, Scott sits down with Margot Kravette, an inspiring photographer and blogger who turned her milestone 70th birthday into a journey across Washington State.

Margot shares how her lifelong passion for photography—sparked in the 1970s at Walter Reed Hospital—led her to create InspiredJourneys.live, a website documenting her exploration of Washington’s most unique and captivating locations.

From photographing majestic snow geese in Skagit to discovering hidden gems like the Western Flyer boat and the Georgetown steam plant, Margot’s stories are filled with adventure, nostalgia, and creative inspiration.

Whether you’re a photography enthusiast or love learning about new places to explore in the Evergreen State, this episode has something for everyone.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How Margot rediscovered her passion for photography and why she chose Washington State as her canvas.
• Highlights from her project are photographing 70 locations to celebrate her 70th birthday.
• Why Cappadocia, Turkey, remains one of her all-time favorite photography destinations.
• Insights into her current mission to document something unique in every one of Washington’s 39 counties.
• These are fun, behind-the-scenes stories from Margot’s travels, like visiting the International Mermaid Museum and capturing the beauty of barn quilt trails in Kittitas County.

Links & Resources

• Visit Margot’s website: InspiredJourneys.live
• Explore the Northern State Hospital: Read More on Margot’s Site
• Learn about the Western Flyer Boat Restoration: Read Margot’s Blog

Margot Kravette Episode Transcript

Scott Cowan [00:00:04]:

Hello, friends, and welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. My name is Scott Cowan, and I’m the host of the show. Each episode, I have a conversation with an interesting guest who is living in or from Washington State. These are casual conversations with real and interesting people. I think you’re gonna like the show. So let’s jump right in with today’s guest. I’ve been sitting here before the recording button with Margo Kravette. Margo is a photographer.

Scott Cowan [00:00:32]:

I’m gonna call you a photographer and a blogger. And you run a website called inspired journeys, and it’s dot live.

Margot Kravette [00:00:41]:

That’s right.

Scott Cowan [00:00:41]:

So it’s inspired journeys dot live. And you had reached out to us saying, hey. I think I’d like to, you know, sit down and you subjected yourself to this willingly, I guess, is what I’m trying to say. And and so scheduling conflicts, and now we’re finally getting to do it. So, Margo, welcome Welcome to the show.

Margot Kravette [00:00:58]:

Nice to be here.

Scott Cowan [00:01:00]:

And so from for my audience who and first off, I’ll get this all out of the way right away. Number 1, in the show notes, there’ll be a link to the website. In the show notes, there’ll be a link to the social media profile. So as we reference them throughout the the show, remember, there’s there’s links below, folks. You can you can you don’t have to write it down. You’re driving, whatever. Just go back and look at the page later. So, Margo, you were telling me, for your professional career, you were in the in the medical in in medical industry in a in a capacity.

Scott Cowan [00:01:30]:

What got you interested in film and photography? That’s question number 1. And then the follow-up question, which I’ll ask in advance is, and then what inspired you to start doing this photography of Washington State as you’re doing it now?

Margot Kravette [00:01:45]:

Okay. So, it’s interesting. In the seventies, I was working as a nurse at Walter Reed Hospital in DC, and, there was a physician there who was a big photographer. And he introduced me to the cameras. And that’s what got me started. And after that, I just fell in love with it.

Scott Cowan [00:02:15]:

So I gotta ask you. So back in the seventies, you know, we’re talking, you know, Motorola or Nikon or Olympus. I I remember always being I had a friend that was a few years older than me, and he was into photography, and I always just thought this gear was and that probably was my introduction to gadgets, if you will, because, you know, oh, okay. So do you remember your first camera?

Margot Kravette [00:02:40]:

I do.

Scott Cowan [00:02:41]:

What was it?

Margot Kravette [00:02:42]:

It was an Olympus.

Scott Cowan [00:02:44]:

Alright.

Margot Kravette [00:02:45]:

And it was a point and shoot.

Scott Cowan [00:02:47]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:02:47]:

And I actually used the point and shoot for a number of years until, you know, I got more serious about my photography. But, yeah, it was an Olympus point and shoot.

Scott Cowan [00:02:59]:

Were you developing your own film, or were you taking it to Fotomat? Remember Fotomats back in the day?

Margot Kravette [00:03:05]:

Yeah. I did not take them to photo mats. I took them to serious print places. Yeah. I and I definitely didn’t develop my own.

Scott Cowan [00:03:14]:

So that that that that part of the of the of the bug didn’t get you. You you didn’t. Okay. So your first camera was an Olympus point and shoot. What was your first, 35 millimeter camera?

Margot Kravette [00:03:28]:

Like, a Canon T3i. So it was it was a good camera for beginners

Scott Cowan [00:03:37]:

Mhmm.

Margot Kravette [00:03:38]:

Because you are a beginner when you start using a digital camera.

Scott Cowan [00:03:43]:

Right.

Margot Kravette [00:03:43]:

And, yeah. So I used that for many, many years. That was, like, like, 2013 that I got that camera. And then I upgraded in 2021 to my current camera,

Scott Cowan [00:03:56]:

which is And your current camera is?

Margot Kravette [00:03:58]:

Also a Canon, a 90 d.

Scott Cowan [00:04:02]:

90 d. Okay. Yeah.

Margot Kravette [00:04:04]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:04:05]:

I don’t remember off the top of my head. Is that a full frame camera?

Margot Kravette [00:04:08]:

It’s not. It’s a cropped camera.

Scott Cowan [00:04:10]:

It’s cropped camera. Okay. So I I have Nikons and some Sonys. And, my friends that are into photography all have Canids. And it’s so the investment in lenses keeps you on a platform. How’s that?

Margot Kravette [00:04:28]:

I mean,

Scott Cowan [00:04:29]:

it just it just whatever brand you pick, and I don’t think there’s a bad choice, but whatever brand you pick keeps you you’ll you’ll be Canon probably in perpetuity or until you win the lottery and then you decide maybe you wanna jump to to Sony or something.

Margot Kravette [00:04:44]:

Well, it also keeps you from it it kept me from going to, mirrorless, actually, which was probably a mistake. And that was, you know, three and a half years ago. So I thought, oh, no problem. But it’s I still love my camera, so it doesn’t matter.

Scott Cowan [00:05:05]:

I mean, I I reference this frequently. You know, Ansel Adams was using a brownie, and he created some of you know, it it it it’s the camera has some advantages, but it it really is your the artist’s view of the world that they’re taking that is independent of what Yeah. Camera equipment you’re using. Well, you’re a Walter Reed in the seventies. When did you get out to Washington state?

Margot Kravette [00:05:29]:

79.

Scott Cowan [00:05:30]:

K. What and what brought you out out here?

Margot Kravette [00:05:33]:

My husband had wanted to move to Oregon. And back then, Oregon was like, did they have cities there? You know?

Scott Cowan [00:05:43]:

Come on. Don’t you’re you’re setting me up. I’ll get in trouble. I pick on Portland all the time, but oh.

Margot Kravette [00:05:48]:

So,

Scott Cowan [00:05:50]:

I I don’t I’ll be nice.

Margot Kravette [00:05:51]:

I had just gotten my master’s degree in pediatric kidney disease. And so that’s what I had been doing. And, I said, I’m not going to Portland. And but Seattle actually was really big in kidney disease, and it was close to Portland. So that’s how we ended up here.

Scott Cowan [00:06:13]:

Okay. And and when you moved out here, where did you where did you find work at in 79?

Margot Kravette [00:06:19]:

Were you at Children’s Hospital? Not yet, but I was at Group Health.

Scott Cowan [00:06:24]:

You’re at Group Health. Okay. Yeah. And did you did you work at Children’s Hospital at any point?

Margot Kravette [00:06:29]:

I did. My last job for 20 years was there.

Scott Cowan [00:06:32]:

Okay. I just the pediatric kidney thing Yeah. Kinda made me think you had end up.

Margot Kravette [00:06:37]:

But I wasn’t a nurse there. So You

Scott Cowan [00:06:39]:

were okay.

Margot Kravette [00:06:40]:

I was an administrator. So Okay. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:06:44]:

That’s a that’s a really to me, that seems like a very specific niche of of medical expertise?

Margot Kravette [00:06:55]:

Yeah. Well, I started it at Walter Reed. Mhmm. I was working in the dialysis unit there. Whenever we got kids, I was the one that took care of them. And then, after I left there, I went to Georgetown and, was the head of their pediatric kidney program.

Scott Cowan [00:07:16]:

Okay. Well, it’s funny because this is called exploring Washington state, but we could almost turn it into an exploring Washington DC episode. I I I’ve been in Washington DC once in my life, and I think that was in 1972. And the my takeaway was that we, my parents and I, we went to the Washington, monument, and they had some I don’t know. They probably weren’t very old, but if I’m 10 or 12 years old, I’m 10 years old. They they were bigger than me and scrubbing graffiti off the or they had gotten caught, vandalizing, tagging the the the the building. That’s my that’s my big takeaway. That in the Smithsonian is amazing.

Margot Kravette [00:07:59]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:08:00]:

And and I want to go back to that.

Margot Kravette [00:08:03]:

Yeah. It was a hard move for me.

Scott Cowan [00:08:06]:

Was it? So where did you grow up?

Margot Kravette [00:08:10]:

I grew up in New York.

Scott Cowan [00:08:12]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:08:13]:

About an hour upstate, Newburgh, New York.

Scott Cowan [00:08:16]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:08:17]:

But I love the city. So

Scott Cowan [00:08:19]:

Mhmm. But Seattle’s a city.

Margot Kravette [00:08:23]:

Yeah. It’s more of a city now than it was back then, but it was it was perfect. It was just fine. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:08:31]:

I I lived in Seattle in the mid eighties. It was like for after college, I moved to the Seattle area, and I I loved living in Seattle in the in the mid mid eighties and mid nineties. Yeah. I publicly have said, you know, I think traffic’s crazy in satellite. It stresses me out to get there Yeah. These days, but it’s still it’s still a lovely place. Alright. So all these years, you started photography at Walter Reed.

Scott Cowan [00:08:58]:

You moved to Seattle. And you didn’t have a website when you moved to Seattle.

Margot Kravette [00:09:05]:

No. I actually I actually stopped taking pictures for quite a few years. It I, you know, I was married, and I had children and then more children, and I was working full time, and photography just sort of fell by the wayside.

Scott Cowan [00:09:24]:

So what got you back in?

Margot Kravette [00:09:25]:

My children were all gone. I just I missed it. And so I picked up a camera and just started playing and started traveling Mhmm. Traveling abroad, traveling around the United States and loved taking pictures.

Scott Cowan [00:09:46]:

Alright. I’m gonna ask you an impossible question. This is gonna be right up there with asking you which one of your kids is your favorite. I mean, it’s like it’s I know it’s impossible. But in all your travels, for you at this moment in time, where’s the best place to take pictures that you’ve ever been?

Margot Kravette [00:10:04]:

That’s a hard question.

Scott Cowan [00:10:06]:

Yeah. I know.

Margot Kravette [00:10:07]:

But I’m curious. Turkey.

Scott Cowan [00:10:10]:

Turkey. Why?

Margot Kravette [00:10:13]:

It’s so unique.

Scott Cowan [00:10:15]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:10:15]:

It’s absolutely so unique. Okay. And one of the scenes that I took pictures of was in a place called Cappadocia. Cappadocia. Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:10:29]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:10:30]:

And I was on a hot air balloon and taking pictures from the hot air balloon. And, it’s just just very cool place. I mean, that’s the first place that comes to mind, but there are so many places.

Scott Cowan [00:10:45]:

Alright. The opposite of the impossibly hard question is, in your opinion, and there’s no right or wrong answers here, What’s the most overrated place that people talk about? You know, like, they say, oh, and I’m gonna just insert, let’s say, Rome or Paris. Let’s just use those as a placeholder. But for you, you’re like, yeah, it just didn’t work for me. I just didn’t find what I was connecting with.

Margot Kravette [00:11:07]:

Mhmm. I don’t know. I think I’ve been able to for for the photography piece of it, there’s something everywhere.

Scott Cowan [00:11:16]:

Okay. So I was teeing you up. You could’ve said Portland. It would’ve been fun.

Margot Kravette [00:11:19]:

I haven’t been to Portland more than once. So Really? Yeah. You haven’t?

Scott Cowan [00:11:24]:

Okay. You you moved here because your husband wanted to move to Oregon, and you haven’t been to Portland more than once?

Margot Kravette [00:11:29]:

No. I don’t know. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:11:33]:

Oh my gosh. Okay. Portland’s a cool city. It really is. Alright. So the kids are the kids are grown.

Margot Kravette [00:11:42]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:11:42]:

You pick the camera back up. You’re taking photographs digital. Are you how much processing are you doing after? I mean, are you are you one of those people that sit there in Photoshop or in Lightroom or in some other app and constantly adjusting color and texture and all that? Or what’s your style? What’s your technique?

Margot Kravette [00:12:03]:

So I’m a Lightroom user, but I have a philosophy about editing. And my philosophy is that any editing that I do is only to make what I’m make the image look like what I saw. So I don’t do any changes in color and things like that.

Scott Cowan [00:12:27]:

Okay. You’re just making air quotes. Let’s say you’re cleaning it up a little bit just to to okay. Alright.

Margot Kravette [00:12:35]:

You know, sometimes the lighting isn’t quite right or, you know, that’s a good example. So

Scott Cowan [00:12:42]:

Yeah. Okay. Pick the camera back up, get started, etcetera, etcetera. What was the impetus for launching the website?

Margot Kravette [00:12:54]:

Very easy. I was turning 70. K. And it was during COVID. Right? And I couldn’t have a party. I always have a big party on the every 5 years. So that was a year, and I couldn’t have a party. So I thought, what could I do to celebrate? You’re laughing.

Scott Cowan [00:13:19]:

I’m I’m I’m not laughing at you.

Margot Kravette [00:13:21]:

I I know that.

Scott Cowan [00:13:22]:

I’m amused by this in in in many, many ways.

Margot Kravette [00:13:27]:

So, I thought, what can I do to celebrate? And I thought, well, I could take pictures of 70 locations in Western Washington and create a website and share it all. And then it turned into the writing as well. So, that’s how it happened.

Scott Cowan [00:13:50]:

That’s so obvious, and I didn’t make the connection between your birthday and the number of locations. Like, I didn’t that’s why I’m kind of laughing. Alright. I I love this, by the way. I I for, for my 60th birthday, I got a dog. So, I mean, I guess I’m kinda chuckling. I kinda like, and, my my wife threw a surprise birthday party for me, and, and I got a dog. And,

Margot Kravette [00:14:19]:

Yeah. I’ll pick the photography over the dog anytime.

Scott Cowan [00:14:23]:

The dog’s the dog’s awesome, though. I mean, he he’ll probably come bursting in any minute now just the way he does. But, anyway, I’ve I’ve chuckling because the the milestone events, you know, we people tend to do things for my oh, I’m turning 70. I’m turning 60. I’m turning 16. Whatever it might be. You know, they we kinda tend to memorialize them in some ways.

Margot Kravette [00:14:46]:

Well, I do wanna give credit to my friends who actually made a birthday party for me on Zoom. So I did get to have both the party and the photography.

Scott Cowan [00:14:57]:

So Alright. Well, that’s that’s that’s awesome. Good friends. So what was the first location you went to?

Margot Kravette [00:15:03]:

The first location I went to was the Snow Geese, you know, up in Skagit.

Scott Cowan [00:15:10]:

Mhmm.

Margot Kravette [00:15:11]:

And I’ll I’ll just never forget that day. It was, you know, I left really early so I would get there early. And, you know, when I was setting up my camera and I was sort of thinking, looking around the environment, and it was early. It was, like, 7 o’clock in the morning by the when I got there. And I just had this overwhelming feeling that I was in the right place doing the right thing at the right time.

Scott Cowan [00:15:47]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:15:47]:

And I wrote that in in the blog, and it was just really amazing. It was so perfect.

Scott Cowan [00:15:55]:

How long did it take you to do the 70 locations?

Margot Kravette [00:15:59]:

It took me, two and a half years.

Scott Cowan [00:16:03]:

Two and a half years. K.

Margot Kravette [00:16:05]:

It’s a

Scott Cowan [00:16:05]:

pretty good clip.

Margot Kravette [00:16:07]:

It was 2 a week 2 a month rather, and Yeah. I just kept going. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:16:13]:

That’s a pretty good clip. Okay. We can’t talk about all 70. We’d be here. Pick some highlights out of the out of the first 70.

Margot Kravette [00:16:24]:

Okay. What do you say? There were lots of them.

Scott Cowan [00:16:29]:

K.

Margot Kravette [00:16:31]:

The kite festival in Long Beach, the trolls. You know that our trolls?

Scott Cowan [00:16:39]:

Yes. I do.

Margot Kravette [00:16:41]:

They were fabulous.

Scott Cowan [00:16:42]:

Now did you go to all 5 of them?

Margot Kravette [00:16:44]:

I did.

Scott Cowan [00:16:45]:

So you how we have an article on the website. One of our authors went and visited all 5 trolls in one day.

Margot Kravette [00:16:53]:

Yeah. No. I didn’t do that.

Scott Cowan [00:16:55]:

And she’s she’s kind of she’s kinda crazy that way. How long did it take you to do the 5 trolls?

Margot Kravette [00:17:01]:

I did it in 3 separate days. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. The first day, I really worked hard, and we got to 3 places. Okay. Then I had the other ones I’ve just tagged in.

Scott Cowan [00:17:15]:

Out of those trolls, any any favorites?

Margot Kravette [00:17:19]:

The one in Vashon.

Scott Cowan [00:17:21]:

You like the one in Vashon? Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:17:22]:

Because it’s the biggest one, and it’s just so cool. It’s 20 feet high and plus it was the first one. You know? So it was very exciting. Yeah. That was the first one. Very exciting and, really enjoyed that.

Scott Cowan [00:17:37]:

Had you been to Vashon previously?

Margot Kravette [00:17:39]:

I had. That was actually, one of my first visits.

Scott Cowan [00:17:44]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:17:45]:

I think number 3.

Scott Cowan [00:17:46]:

Alright. Oh, I have a question. So when you decided to do 70, what were the criteria? How did they get selected?

Margot Kravette [00:17:55]:

Well, I sort of I sent out an email to friends and put stuff on social media and said I was gonna do this project and ask people to send me their favorite places that they’ve been in Western Washington. And then I started just researching different places, and I signed up for emails from all the different counties, which I have added on to because that’s where you get the best information. What’s happening there?

Scott Cowan [00:18:32]:

Your inbox is never empty.

Margot Kravette [00:18:34]:

This is No.

Scott Cowan [00:18:34]:

But I

Margot Kravette [00:18:35]:

have a separate inbox for that.

Scott Cowan [00:18:37]:

It’s never Yeah.

Margot Kravette [00:18:38]:

That’s right. That’s right. So I just started with that, and, there is no particular order.

Scott Cowan [00:18:46]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:18:47]:

At the beginning, I think it was just more I can’t say close to home because I started with the snow geese, but I don’t know. They they just came.

Scott Cowan [00:18:59]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:18:59]:

They just came.

Scott Cowan [00:19:00]:

So so there was no real it it has to meet these criteria to to make the list. It just had to be interesting to you.

Margot Kravette [00:19:08]:

It had to be kind of unique.

Scott Cowan [00:19:10]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:19:10]:

Places that, most people would not go to.

Scott Cowan [00:19:15]:

Okay. Well, the trolls are kind of a exception to that because everybody’s going to the trolls, it seems like.

Margot Kravette [00:19:20]:

You would be surprised how many people I talk with who have no idea. They say, oh, you mean the one in Fremont under the under the highway? Right. I said, no. Different different trolls.

Scott Cowan [00:19:32]:

So interesting to me. Okay. Well, but what other highlights out of the out of the first seventy being it?

Margot Kravette [00:19:39]:

I did one day that was really, really hot in the summer.

Scott Cowan [00:19:44]:

Mhmm.

Margot Kravette [00:19:45]:

And I didn’t have air conditioning at that time. So I went underground and did I photographed the art in the light rails.

Scott Cowan [00:19:55]:

Oh, okay. Alright.

Margot Kravette [00:19:57]:

In in the, the underground mezzanines. Mhmm. And you can the platforms, you can see so much.

Scott Cowan [00:20:07]:

Right.

Margot Kravette [00:20:08]:

And everyone’s different. There’s each one has a theme. I found things that I never could have expected. I learned to look up. I was in one place. I think it was the Othello stop, and it just I didn’t see anything. And then I looked up, and there were those gorgeous, gorgeous, sea creatures that were huge. And Interesting.

Scott Cowan [00:20:37]:

I haven’t been to that that station. So okay.

Margot Kravette [00:20:41]:

Alright. So that was another favorite. Another one was the library, the central library.

Scott Cowan [00:20:48]:

Mhmm. K.

Margot Kravette [00:20:49]:

Have you been there? You can remember.

Scott Cowan [00:20:53]:

I yeah. I don’t think I’ve been there since it was, you know, this is I was probably there in the seventies. So, no, it’s not the same the same. That’s why I was like, yes and no. I’m on your website right now, and I haven’t clicked on this one yet because I was gonna bring this up. I hadn’t seen that you I was gonna bring this up as, hey. If you haven’t been here, you should go here, but on your website, the, the Northern State Hospital.

Margot Kravette [00:21:17]:

Oh, yeah. That was one of my favorites actually.

Scott Cowan [00:21:21]:

You know what I find so interesting about the Northern State Hospital is in today’s safety first sanitized world. You go there, and there’s broken glass. There’s pipes hanging out of the ceiling. There’s you know, it’s it’s, it’s creepy as all get out. I mean, it just it just is. I was there on a beautiful morning and walked around and it was just an unplanned visit for me as I was going over the North Cascades. And I was just like, this is crazy. How in today’s day and age, you can walk around into these buildings that are they’ve been vandalized, they’ve been stripped of everything.

Scott Cowan [00:22:16]:

They’re so cool.

Margot Kravette [00:22:17]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:22:18]:

And you’re not looking at it behind plexiglass or anything. You’re actually there. It’s it’s raw. It’s it’s real.

Margot Kravette [00:22:24]:

You can’t go in those buildings, though.

Scott Cowan [00:22:27]:

Oh, but no. You across the street where all the dairy farm is, did you go over there?

Margot Kravette [00:22:31]:

I did.

Scott Cowan [00:22:32]:

You can walk in those buildings.

Margot Kravette [00:22:34]:

In those buildings, you can.

Scott Cowan [00:22:35]:

Yeah. Not not not in the not in the dormitory rooms, if you will, or the the building’s people.

Margot Kravette [00:22:40]:

Spittle. Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:22:42]:

But the but yet I found a way in unintentionally too. There was a door, and it was popped open. I didn’t go in. That that kinda bothered me. But there was a door at one of the hospitals that was popped open that day. But the buildings, the barns, and all that are the ones I’m talking about. It’s just like I couldn’t quite it just didn’t sit it was great. Don’t get me wrong.

Scott Cowan [00:23:03]:

I’m not but it was so weird to me that I’m walking through and I about and I’m pretty tall. And I about hit my head on a pipe that was hanging down out the ceiling because I wasn’t paying attention. You know? And that just today’s day and age, everything is so safe and secure that you can’t touch anything. That facility and the story behind it is quite interesting. Did you and I’m I didn’t look at everything in your side, obviously. Have you gone over the North Cascades?

Margot Kravette [00:23:35]:

No. Then going over the North Cascades would take me into Central Washington.

Scott Cowan [00:23:40]:

Right.

Margot Kravette [00:23:41]:

So It’s okay over here. We like it over here. You’re welcome. Come on over. Well, so I hadn’t for the project. Okay. And, I’ve got I spent a lot of time in Skagit. Mhmm.

Margot Kravette [00:23:54]:

And the closest I’ve gotten to the North Cascades was, taking photos of the eagles, which was really quite an interesting time because it was we got on boats, and it was pouring rain, and it was freezing cold. And the the eagles liked staying in the in the trees. They weren’t interested in coming out.

Scott Cowan [00:24:22]:

Because it was raining and

Margot Kravette [00:24:24]:

forth. It was cold. Blame them on what what we’re doing out there in the middle of the the water. Right. But it was sensational. We did get some good pictures and, yeah, so that’s how far I’ve gone, but there’s so much up there that I wanna see. And now that I’m finished number 70 Mhmm. Actually, I’ve gotten up to 77 as of today.

Margot Kravette [00:24:51]:

And, I have gone over the passes and started taking pictures over there.

Scott Cowan [00:24:58]:

So the latest one on the website is the Ellensburg Rodeo.

Margot Kravette [00:25:02]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:25:03]:

So that’s Central Washington. Yeah. Vantage.

Margot Kravette [00:25:08]:

Yep. Grand Coulee.

Scott Cowan [00:25:12]:

Yeah.

Margot Kravette [00:25:14]:

I’ve been to Palouse once, but I’m going back in the spring. K. So

Scott Cowan [00:25:21]:

So where else in central and e okay. So you did 70 for your 70th birthday.

Margot Kravette [00:25:27]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:25:28]:

K. You accomplished that in two and a half years, which makes you approximately 72 to 73 years of age. I know. We never tell what our ages are. I’m sorry. But are you going you’re you’re not gonna just do 1 a year. Right? What’s your what’s your what do you wanna do now? Now that you’ve completed the project, you’re not done. So what’s what’s the near future look like?

Margot Kravette [00:25:52]:

So I have a new goal, and the goal is to have photos and stories about something in every single county. Oh. So that’s what I’m working through.

Scott Cowan [00:26:06]:

Alright. So you got 39 counties.

Margot Kravette [00:26:09]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:26:10]:

Okay. Put you on the spot. What are you gonna do for Pend Oreille County?

Margot Kravette [00:26:15]:

I don’t know. One of the things I looked at, however, I’ll tell you, was Sorry. Going to a ranch and

Scott Cowan [00:26:25]:

Yeah.

Margot Kravette [00:26:26]:

Riding a horse and bringing in the cattle or the sheep or whatever they bring in.

Scott Cowan [00:26:33]:

There’s a couple of big ranches out there that you know, dude ranches up there. That’s a good point.

Margot Kravette [00:26:38]:

Yeah. K. That’s on my list.

Scott Cowan [00:26:40]:

Alright.

Margot Kravette [00:26:42]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:26:42]:

Where have you been so far east of the Cascades? You’ve been in Ellensburg. You’ve been in Grand Coulee. You’ve been in Grand Coulee.

Margot Kravette [00:26:50]:

For photos. I think you’ve got them.

Scott Cowan [00:26:55]:

Okay. Alright.

Margot Kravette [00:26:56]:

And the Palouse. I did go And the Palouse. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:26:59]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:27:00]:

Which is also, I might say, one of the most beautiful places to take pictures ever. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:27:07]:

It it it is as a kid, I grew up in Tacoma area. Right? And when you’re a child, you, at least I was, you know, you weren’t particularly aware of things outside of your neighborhood, if you will, the town. And so Eastern Washington was I just had this mental image of it being flat. Boring flat.

Margot Kravette [00:27:33]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:27:34]:

Then I went to college in Central. And Ellensburg’s a I I love living in Ellensburg, and it was just too windy. But certainly not flat. I mean, it’s flat, but there’s the hills and the Ashtosh and all that stuff. And then as you go further east and as you’re going down 90 to Spokane and, honestly, to me, about the time you hit George, from George to Spokane is pretty pretty dull, pretty uneventful road, I mean, if I’m being honest. But the Palouse is amazing. Walla Walla is amazing. If you go up north into you know, I was, up in Lake Kurlew earlier this year.

Scott Cowan [00:28:10]:

Have have you been to Lake Curlew?

Margot Kravette [00:28:11]:

No. Not yet.

Scott Cowan [00:28:13]:

Beautiful. It’s just beautiful up there. There is so much across this entire state, there’s there’s really not a bad region to find interesting things

Margot Kravette [00:28:24]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:28:25]:

To to document. Now you’ll I think your challenge will be more, like, narrowing it down for what’s it gonna be for this county.

Margot Kravette [00:28:32]:

Yeah. I can do more than one thing in each county. Already Kittitas already has 2 or 3. And Right. The next one that I’m writing is, something I discovered just a few weeks ago, which is a barn quilt trail.

Scott Cowan [00:28:48]:

Yep.

Margot Kravette [00:28:49]:

You know?

Scott Cowan [00:28:50]:

And Each Kittitas?

Margot Kravette [00:28:51]:

Any kid attest. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:28:52]:

Mhmm.

Margot Kravette [00:28:53]:

So I photographed those, many of them.

Scott Cowan [00:28:56]:

How many of them did you do?

Margot Kravette [00:28:57]:

15. Okay. 7 hours.

Scott Cowan [00:29:01]:

Yeah.

Margot Kravette [00:29:02]:

Yeah. So they’re really unique and Mhmm. Great stories.

Scott Cowan [00:29:07]:

Absolutely. I mean, that’s very cool. And then, you know, Cle Elum’s an interesting area.

Margot Kravette [00:29:14]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:29:15]:

I joke, you know, there’s, when you drive through Cle Elum, you go to Owens Meats and they have a vending machine full of meat out in front of the store. It’s just kind of kind of kind of funny to me. It’s just kind of this this Yeah. When they first did it, they were actually selling because they’re refrigerated units, they were actually selling steaks and all that out of the vending machines. They’ve they’ve kind of since gone to more, like, packaged stuff. It’s just kind of a to me, it’s kind of a chuckle. Yeah. And they’ve got them around the state now, so it’s not, you know, as unique.

Scott Cowan [00:29:40]:

I really like this idea that you can do every county though. And, I think that’s and I joke about Pend Oreille because, you know, with with our site, we try to cover every county too, you know, in some capacity. And the Pend Oreille, what we’ve been, we we there was a a an old fashioned steam locomotive ride you could go there.

Margot Kravette [00:30:00]:

Mhmm. Okay?

Scott Cowan [00:30:03]:

And for whatever reason, Google seems to think we’re the authority on this particular topic. And the train has stopped running. Nobody knows why. No one we can’t find out any information. It’s just stopped. And yet it’s not at least once a week, I get a phone call. Hey. We’d like to book train tickets.

Scott Cowan [00:30:24]:

The article says train is closed. This is just for a story. Train is closed. And we can’t we can’t escape the train in in, Pend Oreille County. And I hope they open it back up because I wanna go for a ride. I think that’d be kind of fun. It to for me, it’d be a fun journey to go from, it being open and closed, and then let’s get it back open again as a touristy type thing.

Margot Kravette [00:30:46]:

Well, maybe it’ll be part of the post. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:30:51]:

You know? So how do you do this? Do you do you try to go over and back in a day? Do you okay. So yeah. Well, you need to see the look on her face that she just made when I asked that question. It was it was sorry that this is audio only, but that was a great look.

Margot Kravette [00:31:06]:

Well, I don’t like driving.

Scott Cowan [00:31:09]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:31:10]:

So, anytime I had to stay overnight or drive more than 2 hours, I had people come with me.

Scott Cowan [00:31:20]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:31:20]:

Often, they drove. And I did discover that I don’t mind driving when other people are in the car with me, but I hate driving by myself. I Okay. Try to get sleepy and Sure. You know? So, anyway, I’ve collected this group of 4 people that have come with me, throughout, and it’s just been a ball. It’s just been a ball. And, actually, we did a celebration on, number 70. We all went to a bluegrass festival.

Margot Kravette [00:31:54]:

Oh, okay. And I did that Darrington? Yep. No.

Scott Cowan [00:31:58]:

I shouldn’t say it.

Margot Kravette [00:31:59]:

Sorry. Not Darrington. In Deming. In Denning. Okay. Outside of Bellingham. And so, we celebrated up there, and that was the post for number 70. And we had some live music on the post and Very nice.

Margot Kravette [00:32:15]:

Really great. Yeah. So, yeah, I don’t go by myself. And it’s fun to go with other people too.

Scott Cowan [00:32:21]:

Oh, would be. Do you have a timeline of when you want to accomplish post for every county?

Margot Kravette [00:32:30]:

Nope. K. But I am trying to do 1 a month.

Scott Cowan [00:32:34]:

Okay. So so a little over 3 years then at that rate.

Margot Kravette [00:32:37]:

Yeah. Well, not only that. In the winter

Scott Cowan [00:32:40]:

Mhmm.

Margot Kravette [00:32:41]:

You know, unless somebody is driving over the passes with me, because I’m not gonna drive over the passes. Yeah. I don’t

Scott Cowan [00:32:47]:

know about it.

Margot Kravette [00:32:47]:

I’ll still be doing east, Western Washington.

Scott Cowan [00:32:51]:

Right. Right. Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:32:52]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:32:53]:

Yeah. Yeah. I can think I mean, there’s I can I can not that my opinions count, but I can think a lot of really there’s a lot of really cool you got a lot of really kind of fun spots to go check out? I mean, you know, you’re gonna have a you’re gonna have a really good time. You’re really gonna have a good time in in parts of Eastern Washington that you may have never been to before. And, I think you’re gonna be pleasantly surprised. Like, Walla Walla is a great little town. If you’ve never been to Walla Walla, it’s it’s lovely.

Margot Kravette [00:33:24]:

I have been there.

Scott Cowan [00:33:25]:

You have? Okay. Have you been now this is Western Washington, but, like, Port Townsend’s a wonderful place.

Margot Kravette [00:33:31]:

I have 3 posts on Port Townsend.

Scott Cowan [00:33:33]:

Yeah. It’s just it’s just such a photographer’s dream into me. Port Townsend is, yeah, lovely.

Margot Kravette [00:33:41]:

Actually, we had a pretty unique experience when I was there. You know, there’s this big boat yard, and there’s a little eating place right inside the gates. And my friend who actually lives in Port Townsend and I were there for breakfast, and a man came by, and he was just wearing a cool t shirt. I don’t remember what it said on it, but I asked him about it, told him I liked his t shirt. And then we started talking and asked him if he’d worked in the area, and he said, yes. Actually, I work right over across the way here, and we’re working on a boat that was, rented to John Steinbeck.

Scott Cowan [00:34:25]:

Wow. Wow.

Margot Kravette [00:34:27]:

So it was actually a very famous boat called the Western Flyer.

Scott Cowan [00:34:31]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:34:32]:

And it has an amazing history, this boat.

Scott Cowan [00:34:36]:

Did you get did you get a tour? Yeah. Did you get to

Margot Kravette [00:34:39]:

I asked. You know, I’m not afraid to ask questions.

Scott Cowan [00:34:42]:

Oh, that’s awesome.

Margot Kravette [00:34:42]:

So I said, well, can I see it and take pictures of it? And he gave me the number of somebody to call, and within 15 minutes, we were over there and had a tour of the boat, and somebody gave us all the information, had all kinds of photos. There’s a post on it. It’s called the Western Flyer. Okay. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:35:04]:

That’s see, because you’re not afraid to ask. That’s the thing. It it it I know me well enough to know that I would’ve I might’ve made a hey. That’s a cool shirt and, you know, said hello or something. I and I might have found out that he was working in the area. And I might have found out that he’s working on a boat that was rented to John Steinbeck, but I probably wouldn’t have asked for a tour. So that’s the a difference between you and me. And so good on you because that’s that’s that’s great that you’re doing that.

Scott Cowan [00:35:37]:

Alright.

Margot Kravette [00:35:38]:

Otherwise, you’re missing opportunities. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:35:41]:

Well, what’s the worst thing could happen? I’m sorry we can’t do that. You know? It’s not like he’s gonna,

Margot Kravette [00:35:46]:

you know,

Scott Cowan [00:35:46]:

stomp off in a huff and say, how dare you ask me for it to be on the house.

Margot Kravette [00:35:50]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:35:50]:

No. I I get my own way sometimes if I’m being not that this is therapy, but let’s it can be. I mean, we’ve been doing this 300 some episodes of this now. It’s interesting. Never never a dull moment for me, which is kinda fun. I think what you’re doing is really cool, and I think that, the website, I like the fact that, you know, I I’m just gonna randomly I’m gonna scroll. I’m just gonna randomly scroll. Okay? This is, actually, I have to get the right mouse onto the right why why did that mouse go there? Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:36:24]:

Randomly scrolling. I’m gonna click older posts. We’re gonna go back random. Gonna click older post twice. Okay. So now I’m at here. And the International Mermaid Museum

Margot Kravette [00:36:42]:

at Westport.

Scott Cowan [00:36:45]:

I interviewed the woman who has who runs that. So that’s I’m gonna click into that one.

Margot Kravette [00:36:50]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:36:52]:

I I like the fact that it’s not just photos that you’re you’re you’re documenting your experience here. And what did you think of that space when you were there?

Margot Kravette [00:37:04]:

So, I was on my way to Westport.

Scott Cowan [00:37:08]:

K.

Margot Kravette [00:37:08]:

I mean, I knew I was gonna stop there. That was the goal, but then I wasn’t gonna spend the weekend at the museum. So Okay. So I went to it, and I didn’t really go through it really well because I was too interested in taking pictures. And so I didn’t really stop to read what they had posted. And so I wasn’t really sure how I felt about the experience. So on the way back, I stopped again. And it’s amazing.

Margot Kravette [00:37:47]:

What they have in there, it’s not really as much about things that I took pictures of. But as I’m sure this woman told you, for each different, let’s say, sea creature, they talk about what it is in our language

Scott Cowan [00:38:08]:

Mhmm.

Margot Kravette [00:38:09]:

That we typically use and what it what it is in mermaid language. And I thought that was just fascinating.

Scott Cowan [00:38:20]:

It’s it’s a really interesting idea. And as you pointed in your article, it’s one of only 2 mermaid museums in the world, and that’s just kind of it kind of, it it went here it is in in Westport of all of all places, you know. But the other one, I didn’t know this, and I’ve never heard of the town in in Maryland called Berlin. I never heard of that. So, alright, we’re gonna spin the mystery wheel again.

Margot Kravette [00:38:45]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:38:47]:

Oh, where are we gonna go? We’re gonna go older yet. We’re gonna go we’re going back. In there, here’s the western flyer boat, which we’ll skip because we talked about this. I’m chuckling at the edge at your Georgetown, and I just see the main photo with the the hat and boots. I’m just laughing at the hat and boots there in sale. I I let’s talk about actually, we’re gonna do this one. Well, let’s talk about your West Seattle post for a second.

Margot Kravette [00:39:16]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:39:17]:

And, you know, at at the time that you wrote this, seems like your daughter lived in the area. I don’t know if she’s still there.

Margot Kravette [00:39:22]:

Still does.

Scott Cowan [00:39:23]:

Still does. Because she’s trapped because the bridge won’t let her off.

Margot Kravette [00:39:25]:

No. I’m just kidding. It’s where my grandchildren are. So, you know, I go there regularly.

Scott Cowan [00:39:32]:

Go there regularly. How and how old are the grandkids now?

Margot Kravette [00:39:34]:

Those grandchildren are 35, but I have other grandchildren that are older. Older. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:39:42]:

I’m looking at this, and I used to live in West Seattle. And I don’t remember are you sure this is the same West Seattle I lived in? I used to live down by, by the ferry landing. And, I mean, the Alki part looks looks looks like this to me, but I’m where did I I missed this. Where’s the Seattle Chinese Garden at?

Margot Kravette [00:40:09]:

Isn’t that amazing? Yeah. Where where It’s right it’s next to South Seattle College.

Scott Cowan [00:40:17]:

Really?

Margot Kravette [00:40:17]:

Yep. Beautiful. It is beautiful. I had no It’s kind of attached also to, this really gorgeous area of gardens. Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:40:32]:

Okay. What you’re doing is very cool, and and I think, you know and and because

Margot Kravette [00:40:38]:

Thank you.

Scott Cowan [00:40:40]:

A lot of people do this type of stuff, But they and I don’t mean to dismiss it when I say it like this, but they post it on Facebook, they post it on Instagram or something like that. And it’s it’s a few photographs with a paragraph, hey. I was here today, da da da da da. And photos are nice, and off we go and forget about them. You’re you’re taking the time to archive them if you will, and you’re taking the time to share some backstory to it and making it relevant and have some evergreen nature to it versus the very temporary scroll on Facebook or Instagram. So I like that. And building a website’s fun and exciting, isn’t it? Super easy. You never have any problems.

Margot Kravette [00:41:18]:

Yeah. Right.

Scott Cowan [00:41:20]:

Mhmm.

Margot Kravette [00:41:20]:

It has been pretty easy if you follow the directions. Right? Okay. Where we are?

Scott Cowan [00:41:29]:

I’m really not gonna agree with that right now because it’s been miserable for me for

Margot Kravette [00:41:33]:

I’m sorry.

Scott Cowan [00:41:34]:

Oh my gosh.

Margot Kravette [00:41:35]:

I’m sorry.

Scott Cowan [00:41:36]:

No. It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m doing I you know, it’s self inflicted.

Margot Kravette [00:41:40]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:41:41]:

Now I’m gonna I normally ask my guests a couple of questions. I wanna start with my normal question, but I’m hoping you’ll play along. So the question I always ask a guest is where’s a great place to get coffee near you? So in the Seattle area, where do and refresh me because I don’t remember this. Are you a coffee drinker?

Margot Kravette [00:42:03]:

I drink decaf every day.

Scott Cowan [00:42:06]:

Okay. Well, I saw the I saw the Starbucks mug. You were, and I’ve never seen a Rhode Island Starbucks one before. So

Margot Kravette [00:42:11]:

It’s not Rhode Island. It’s Rio de Janeiro.

Scott Cowan [00:42:13]:

Why did I think it was Rhode Island?

Margot Kravette [00:42:15]:

Because you probably saw the r.

Scott Cowan [00:42:17]:

Yeah. Okay. So it’s Rio. Alright. Did you get that in Rio?

Margot Kravette [00:42:22]:

No. I have a collection. I have I’ve gotten them in in many places, but my friends also bring them to me. I’ve stopped collecting them now because I have no more room for them. But

Scott Cowan [00:42:35]:

yeah. They yeah. Okay. So you drink decaf. I don’t. But you drink decaf every day. But it and it’s hard to get decaf out and about. I just Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:42:49]:

Decaf in a coffee shop is there’s a reason people don’t drink decaf from a coffee shop because it’s never very good. But where do you go in your area for coffee?

Margot Kravette [00:42:58]:

My kitchen.

Scott Cowan [00:43:01]:

I deserve that. Okay. And what what type what brand of decaf do you like?

Margot Kravette [00:43:06]:

I don’t actually remember the name of it, but it comes from Italy.

Scott Cowan [00:43:10]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:43:13]:

So I actually order it from Amazon.

Scott Cowan [00:43:16]:

You’ll order it from Amazon? Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:43:18]:

Yep. Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:43:19]:

And how do you prepare it at home? Just like a a a traditional coffee maker? Or are you one of those people like me who has all the coffee gadgets in the world and you’re tinkering? Or do you just, you know, is it quote unquote the Mr. Coffee Machine in the morning?

Margot Kravette [00:43:32]:

It’s an espresso machine.

Scott Cowan [00:43:34]:

Okay. Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:43:35]:

Just a single cup and use you know, it’s not laughing because it’s like skim milk and Okay. Decaf and yeah. Mhmm. So

Scott Cowan [00:43:48]:

So you’re not probably gonna play along with part 2 of the question, which is in all your travels, where where have you been finding coffee around the state? Because I’m always looking for coffee shops.

Margot Kravette [00:43:56]:

I actually have the answer to that question.

Scott Cowan [00:43:58]:

Oh, okay.

Margot Kravette [00:43:59]:

I do. I listened to a few of your posts. So

Scott Cowan [00:44:03]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:44:03]:

Kinda knew what you’re gonna ask.

Scott Cowan [00:44:04]:

You’re the one listening. Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:44:08]:

Right. So there’s a place in White Salmon, which, is just you know, it’s a very tiny town, and everything’s right there on the street within, say, 3 blocks. And, we stayed in an Airbnb there and walked right there, and there was a on the street.

Scott Cowan [00:44:32]:

Do you

Margot Kravette [00:44:33]:

remember the even have to go into it. Nope. And I looked on I looked on a map to see if I could figure out which one it was, but I couldn’t.

Scott Cowan [00:44:41]:

That’s a beautiful little town. White Sands is kind of a fun little place. It is a

Margot Kravette [00:44:45]:

beautiful town.

Scott Cowan [00:44:46]:

There’s a really for me now, if you go to Stevenson up the road, there’s a a gas station that’s been converted into a a coffee place, and they do a really nice cold brew there that I really like. Right, when I drive the Gorge, it’s one of my stops that I’ll tend tend to pull in and grab coffee at. White salmon. I like that.

Margot Kravette [00:45:06]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:45:07]:

Thank you for thank you for bringing up a community well, no. See, especially when I when I talk to guests from Seattle, it’s and Seattle has, you know, coffee shops, you know. I think if you turned around and looked out the window there, you’d probably see 3 of them from the window of your house. Right. And just, you know, okay. And I always joke when I when I prep a guest saying, please don’t say Starbucks. But and there’s nothing wrong with Starbucks. It’s just it’s so easy of an answer.

Scott Cowan [00:45:33]:

It’d be like, you know, where’s your favorite hamburger? Oh, McDonald’s. Okay. I mean, it’s just kind of like, I like a little bit more thought. And I love it when a guest brings a off the beaten path thing. So white salmon. Excellent. Yeah. That’s actually good choice.

Margot Kravette [00:45:53]:

Thanks.

Scott Cowan [00:45:55]:

Now going back to Seattle, and and I’m probably gonna ask you this phase 2 because you’ve traveled the state a little bit, so you might be able to give me more than one answer here. I’m looking for lunch. Where’s a where’s a good lunch spot?

Margot Kravette [00:46:08]:

Close by, you know, it was University Village, and there are just many, many places there. Yep. I think if I had to pick just a single restaurant, I would say Miloposto, which I can walk to.

Scott Cowan [00:46:22]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:46:24]:

There is there are Milopostos in several different areas in Seattle, but there’s one

Scott Cowan [00:46:29]:

sort of food do they serve?

Margot Kravette [00:46:31]:

It’s Italian, and they have lunch, you know, small pizzas and a salad for lunch. Okay. So I think that’s where I would go. Right. And Very, very good food.

Scott Cowan [00:46:42]:

Okay. Have you stumbled across any interesting places in your journeys around the state?

Margot Kravette [00:46:46]:

Of course. So the one that I thought of, was is in oh goodness. I knew I would forget the name of this

Scott Cowan [00:47:00]:

town. It’s all okay.

Margot Kravette [00:47:02]:

Okay. But I’m being recorded here. So

Scott Cowan [00:47:05]:

Yeah. It’s okay.

Margot Kravette [00:47:06]:

Alright. It’s where the logging festival was. And Morton? No. Starts with an s. I’m really embarrassed.

Scott Cowan [00:47:15]:

Well, I just said the wrong place too, so it’s okay. We can be embarrassed together. It’s okay.

Margot Kravette [00:47:19]:

But, anyway, there was a ta a tamale truck.

Scott Cowan [00:47:24]:

Mhmm.

Margot Kravette [00:47:24]:

And that was the best lunch that we had in all of the travels.

Scott Cowan [00:47:31]:

Did I see have you been to the tamale place in Union Gap?

Margot Kravette [00:47:38]:

No. I haven’t been to Union Gap yet. Well, Union Gap and that whole area is very famous for their tamales.

Scott Cowan [00:47:45]:

Yeah. There’s a James Beard award winning place in Union Gap.

Margot Kravette [00:47:49]:

Is that right?

Scott Cowan [00:47:50]:

And it is nothing to look at, but the tamales are amazing. Yeah. They are amazing. Yeah.

Margot Kravette [00:48:00]:

There’s actually one in Ravenna right now.

Scott Cowan [00:48:03]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:48:04]:

And I’ve gone there once, and it’s not even a restaurant. You order in advance and pick it up at a window, and we’re delicious. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:48:13]:

Okay. Where’s your next journey? As we’re recording this in middle of November, what do you got what do you got planned?

Margot Kravette [00:48:23]:

Vancouver.

Scott Cowan [00:48:25]:

Okay. And what do you hope to see in Vancouver?

Margot Kravette [00:48:27]:

Well, it’s a lot of history there.

Scott Cowan [00:48:29]:

Mhmm.

Margot Kravette [00:48:30]:

And, I wanna document they’ve got a lot of, displays there and a lot of information about the history, and I wanna go there. You know, it’s right on the Columbia River. I’ve done 2 or 3 posts on the Columbia River. And but we didn’t get as far west as Vancouver. So I wanna go there and perhaps go a little farther west. I’ve been as far as at the end. You know? I take disappointment. But, in between, there are some counties there that I haven’t gotten to.

Margot Kravette [00:49:09]:

So

Scott Cowan [00:49:12]:

If you like the story in the history of the Columbia, Sacagawea State Park is a really there’s a really nice little museum there Mhmm. That you can go through and the exhibits are really nicely done. And, it’s kind of a good place to go check out when you’re in the Tri Cities area.

Margot Kravette [00:49:32]:

I read about it recently. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:49:34]:

Yeah. It’s it’s kind of a it’s kind of a and they do they do a really nice job of of the of documenting the history of Lewis and Clark in that area in in their in their time there. Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:49:46]:

Oh, Shelton is the name of the town.

Scott Cowan [00:49:49]:

Oh, Shelton.

Margot Kravette [00:49:49]:

Tamale truck was, and they have it every year. It’s very, very, very cool forest.

Scott Cowan [00:49:56]:

Oh, what’s it called? I’m drawing a blank. I wanna say Forest Days, but I know that’s not it. But it’s

Margot Kravette [00:50:02]:

It’s like that.

Scott Cowan [00:50:03]:

Shelton Loggers Festival or something to that effect. Yeah. It’s it’s

Margot Kravette [00:50:06]:

a festival. Yeah. Forest Fest. Yeah. Forest. Right.

Scott Cowan [00:50:10]:

What’s next for the website? Do you have any aspirations of what you want it to become? And do you are you gonna add any like, a lot of video to it? Do you wanna I mean, are you you don’t you don’t have to. I mean, that’s something Well I don’t wanna say. I’m just asking if you have any aspirations.

Margot Kravette [00:50:30]:

Yeah. Well, what one of the things I wanna do with it actually is to make it easier for people to find things that they might be looking for. Because right now, as you scrolled, that’s the way there is a search bar on the front page and which works very well. But if somebody

Scott Cowan [00:50:51]:

search bar, you gotta know what you’re looking for kind of, you know.

Margot Kravette [00:50:54]:

Right. But that’s one one way people are you know, just don’t wanna go to this place. So I wanna put in, like, an index by county.

Scott Cowan [00:51:03]:

Mhmm. Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:51:05]:

So that takes some work because you have to enter all that information into each of the posts. Other than that, really, what, I wanna do is actually do more with, social media.

Scott Cowan [00:51:21]:

K.

Margot Kravette [00:51:22]:

Because right now, I just put something up every time I post something on my website. So it’s just, like, once a month, which isn’t very much. So I’ve looked through some other social media sites, and I think I can do much better with that.

Scott Cowan [00:51:45]:

If you want my opinionated opinion, and since you hadn’t asked for it, I’ll just give it to you for. Social media can be a great way to get introduced to a bigger audience so that, you know, they can find you and you you Right. The goal is to bring them back. And you have a newsletter. So how often are you publishing on your newsletter?

Margot Kravette [00:52:05]:

No. I don’t have a newsletter. I thought you did. I do not. You did. Well, I put something out when I post. Right. I have I have, a list, you know, of over 400 people.

Scott Cowan [00:52:22]:

Right. That’s why I thought you had a newsletter. It’s the way you described you had a list. Okay. So you’ve got so you you’re notifying so you have an audience that you’re notifying whenever you’re publishing something new.

Margot Kravette [00:52:30]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:52:31]:

Great.

Margot Kravette [00:52:31]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:52:32]:

K. Social, you know, social can be useful for because there’s, like on Facebook, there’s a lot of groups about Washington state. There’s all sorts of groups about Washington state. And contributing to those can be a good way of getting awareness of what you’re doing out there and then, you know but this is and I don’t wanna say it’s just, and I don’t mean that’s not meant to be a dismissive word, but this is a hobby for you. This is your it’s a passion project. It’s Right. You’re not, at least I don’t think that you are, trying to monetize this and turn it into a, you know, a a a booming, thriving online, you know, the next Amazon.

Margot Kravette [00:53:16]:

You’re right. You’re right. I want to enjoy it. You know, this is my retirement, so I don’t wanna get stressed about it and Right. Just wanna enjoy it, which I do every minute of it.

Scott Cowan [00:53:28]:

Okay. Excellent. As we wrap this up, I’m gonna encourage everybody, remember, it’s inspired journeys. Live that people should go check it out. And when like I once again, I’ll say it’s in the show notes. Good. Click below. And you’ve got your social now when I just clicked on your social profiles, your Facebook profile wasn’t available.

Margot Kravette [00:53:48]:

I don’t know why.

Scott Cowan [00:53:49]:

Okay. And your link and your Instagram was set to private.

Margot Kravette [00:53:53]:

So So I obviously have to do something with that. Right? No. There’s

Scott Cowan [00:54:01]:

always something to do with

Margot Kravette [00:54:02]:

the online stuff.

Scott Cowan [00:54:03]:

You you just it’s never gonna be done. So you you just have to go, oh, okay. Cool. I’ll do it.

Margot Kravette [00:54:08]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:54:09]:

What didn’t we talk about that we should have brought up?

Margot Kravette [00:54:16]:

I I thought about that question. Again, I did my homework. You didn’t ask me if I ever photographed some place that I didn’t enjoy and didn’t create a post for.

Scott Cowan [00:54:29]:

Oh, yeah. That’s a great okay. And I’m normally the negative guy. Why didn’t I think

Margot Kravette [00:54:33]:

of that?

Scott Cowan [00:54:33]:

Yeah. So where where did you go and you didn’t enjoy it?

Margot Kravette [00:54:38]:

I went to the Georgetown steam plant.

Scott Cowan [00:54:41]:

Okay. It didn’t work.

Margot Kravette [00:54:45]:

Just didn’t work. It’s a very cool place, but I found myself taking pictures of, like, the stairways and the jackets from the firemen. And, you know, I couldn’t relate to the knobs and the pipes, and and I’ve gone twice. I’ve tried it twice.

Scott Cowan [00:55:05]:

You tried you see?

Margot Kravette [00:55:06]:

You at least tried again. I did. I mean, I have pictures of everything that’s round. I did it that way. I was trying to create something with it, but it just Okay. Alright. But it is very cool, and it’s got very cool history. Who knows? It might get up.

Margot Kravette [00:55:28]:

You never know.

Scott Cowan [00:55:28]:

So so one of the one of the jokes that we kinda have internally is that and I’ve said it publicly, so this isn’t gonna you know, I’m not disclosing anything here that’s like, oh. But one of our the unofficial tagline of explore Washington state is our focus is ignoring Seattle. And it’s kind of a, you know, kind of because Seattle is so there’s so much about Seattle. And

Margot Kravette [00:55:54]:

Right.

Scott Cowan [00:55:55]:

It’s so to me, it’s so hard to come up with an angle that hasn’t been come up with before, and it’s so noisy to compete with, you know, the 100 other people that are writing about Pike Place Market. So we never really talk about Pike Place Market or the Space Needle, these two iconic Seattle things.

Margot Kravette [00:56:20]:

Well, I do wanna interrupt that if I may. Go. And I did a post on the underground of the Pike Place Market.

Scott Cowan [00:56:28]:

Okay. Yeah.

Margot Kravette [00:56:29]:

Alright. So Down Under, it’s called. Yep. Yep. So just

Scott Cowan [00:56:33]:

Okay.

Margot Kravette [00:56:34]:

To comment on that.

Scott Cowan [00:56:35]:

So we, you know, we tend to we we’ve got some content on Pike Place, but we’ve tent we’ve avoided the Space Needle.

Margot Kravette [00:56:41]:

Sure.

Scott Cowan [00:56:43]:

On the show, the episode that came out we’re recording this on a Monday, so last week on a Wednesday because episodes come out on Wednesdays. We published an episode with a gentleman who has been a bartender at the Space Needle for 43 years.

Margot Kravette [00:57:03]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:57:06]:

I sat with him, in person in Seattle and he regaled me with stories of the space needle. And I learned something about the space needle that I I was, like, kind of dumbfounded. The space needle has a basement.

Margot Kravette [00:57:30]:

Who knew?

Scott Cowan [00:57:32]:

And it’s where they keep, like, furniture and all the supplies. And and so if they’re, like, moving furniture around like, back when the restaurant was there, the the the the kitchen department was running food up and not food, but, you know, some, you know, raw goods up in there. I’ve thought that the Space Needle was in a giant bolted to a giant concrete block. I never thought for a moment that there would have been a basement underneath the space needle. So even though we’ve avoided things like that, there’s still always interesting things. My my one goal and I’m putting it out here to anyone that’s listening and to you, I would love to find someone if they’re still alive who worked as an ironworker and was working on the building of that of that I think that would be a fascinating conversation. Yeah. That would to me.

Scott Cowan [00:58:26]:

So that to me is the angle I would take for the Space Needle versus talking about the space needle. Okay. So what else didn’t I bring up to you?

Margot Kravette [00:58:37]:

That’s all I could think of.

Scott Cowan [00:58:38]:

Alright. So now as I’ve warned you, and if you’ve cheated, you already probably know the question. But I warned you the very hard question that we always end the show with. And you have to answer it. You have to give me a reason why. Are you prepared? I am. Cake

Margot Kravette [00:58:53]:

or pie? Pie.

Scott Cowan [00:58:56]:

And why?

Margot Kravette [00:58:57]:

And the reason is that it’s filled with really delicious fruit usually.

Scott Cowan [00:59:02]:

K. So follow-up question they’re beginning to ask people. In your childhood, the household you grew up in, cake or pie back then?

Margot Kravette [00:59:13]:

Pie.

Scott Cowan [00:59:15]:

See, I think what it is is how we’re raised. I think the answer is if you grew up in a household that had cake, right, you probably even a cake person. There’s no wrong answers, by the way, you know, other than pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie is wrong. Just period. Just that’s just no. No. End of conversation.

Scott Cowan [00:59:33]:

Pie. Because it’s still fruit. Putting you on the spot further, what pie? What type? Do

Margot Kravette [00:59:41]:

I like?

Scott Cowan [00:59:42]:

Yeah. What type of pie?

Margot Kravette [00:59:44]:

I like blueberry pie.

Scott Cowan [00:59:46]:

Blueberry pie.

Margot Kravette [00:59:48]:

Okay. Alright. Wanna say that, when I was growing up, the the pie that we had was lemon meringue pie.

Scott Cowan [00:59:58]:

That’s what I grew up with.

Margot Kravette [01:00:00]:

So it doesn’t have anything to do with the pies that I would eat now.

Scott Cowan [01:00:05]:

I still I still love lemon meringue pie.

Margot Kravette [01:00:07]:

Oh, yeah. They’re delicious. But yours is my favorite. It’s blueberry. Blueberry.

Scott Cowan [01:00:13]:

Interesting. Yeah. I you know, it’s so funny to me whenever I ask this question. You know? Everybody some people and it’s getting easier for people because I think people are listening ahead and they’re like, I know the answer to the question, so they’re not hemming and hawing. You’re cheating. I gotta come up with a new one. No. It’s just it’s fun.

Scott Cowan [01:00:29]:

Some people have just had really, like I was asking them to to cut off their left or their right hand. They had to decide. It was, like, a life altering question, and it’s designed just to be kind of fun and humorous. And and some people are like, it’s I’m just gonna arbitrarily say, it’s cake, and everybody else is wrong. I mean, they’re just, you know, they’re just camp cake, can’t get me out of there, period. Camp pie, can’t get me out of there. So it’s so funny. But I wanna thank you for taking the time to sit down with me.

Scott Cowan [01:01:00]:

I think what you’re doing is really, really cool, and I love the fact that you started this as a way of celebrating your birthday and doing something because you couldn’t do what you wanted to do, so you came up with an alternative and it’s grown, and you’re still doing it. It sounds like you’re having a lovely time. And when you get over to Central Washington again, let me know, and maybe we’ll go out and take some photographs together, and we could have

Margot Kravette [01:01:28]:

That’d be great.

Scott Cowan [01:01:29]:

We can have some fun. And, but but thank you for taking the time today.

Margot Kravette [01:01:33]:

It’s my pleasure. I had a great time. Thanks so much, Scott.