Train Derailment

My brother and I decided to go for a walk in the woods this morning.  It was beautiful - stunning blue sky, white wispy clouds - it was gorgeous!  About halfway through our walk, we heard and felt a crash.  We looked around, but didn't see anything.  Everything seemed normal.  The cars continued as always on the freeway below.  We continued our walk into Hood River.  We needed to run some errands into a nearby community, and noticed a black plume of smoke rising from an area near where we had walked.  We both thought it might be a brush fire and continued our errands.  We finished our errands and decided to return home, but the traffic on the freeway was at a standstill.  So, we decided to stop and get some lunch.  While we were eating, we overheard a discussion about a train derailment.  I quickly checked the local news on my phone and found that a train carrying crude oil had derailed right below where we had been hiking earlier.  Eleven cars had derailed and at least one was on fire. 

After we finished lunch, we took the "back roads" home.  On the way, we stopped and took some pictures from above. 

Thankfully, there were no fatalities.  It could have been so much worse.  But it will be a day or two before the freeway will be open again.  So, our excursions will have to take new directions. 

Thank you all for your wonderful comments and stars!  It is nice to be back and welcomed so kindly.