So I finally got around to rebuilding my computer last weekend with Windows 7, which also meant upgrading to Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5. It took sometime to re-import my existing pictures and then to import the 7492 new ones from my vacation with Mom.

But I'm starting to play around with some of the shots that I took. The boardwalk is the first. And this shot of the shoreline is the second.

I'm pleased that the HDR hasn't screwed up the water in the shoreline shot. I wasn't sure the whole vacation if those would turn out properly or not!

As I write this, waiting at the gate for our flight to board, I'm sad that vacation is over; Mom and I are also glad to be heading home. Traveling is wonderful, but there's no place like home.

Yesterday was a slow picture day. It was a foggy, rainy morning, so Mom let me sleep in. We still made it to the Space Needle in time for a nice brunch.

Brunch was s pricey but good: $45 for each person and includes an appetizer, entree, and desert. We had to take the desert to go because Mom's entree was enough desert for the both of us: Hazelnut crusted french toast with espresso flavored whipped cream. And really the view is worth it. You have to have a meal at the Space Needle at least once I think.

We had to cancel our sailing trip due to the weather, but spent extra time exploring the Pike Place Market. And I did actually get a picture of some native wildlife (picture 150). Much like the owl picture, I was surprised when I saw it, but then my camera-reflexes took over. My favorite thing about the market was the pepper store (last picture). If we didn't have to fly home, I would have bought some for sure. They did a beautiful job stringing them together.

Mom and I are on the plane now, so I'll publish this while I can. We upgraded to first class, so it should be a nice flight home!

Three new pictures.

I'm stuffed the gills. I'm stuffed fatter than a Thanksgiving turkey. I'm so full.

Mom and I had a wonderful dinner at the Metropolitan Grill downtown. It's right around the corner from where we're staying, so a short cab ride had us there in no time at all. Originally we were going to each here in the hotel. However, the restaurant didn't seem to care enough to have a hostess, the server was bothered by having another table, the menu wasn't exactly the same as we saw in the room, and basically we decided eating there was a great idea.

I am so, so glad we took the time to go somewhere else. A super-quick search on Google revealed the best restaurants, a couple calls shored up seating availability, and wow what a difference!

Besides ending on a high note, today was a lovely day. The weather was beautiful, St. Helens turned out to be quite nice, and we had a real treat driving out of the park: I saw what I thought might be a hawk. And so as we drove by, I kept a close eye out hoping to show it to Mom. I was very surprised when I saw an owl looking back at me! We turned the car around, managed to barely park off of the road in the grass, and got out of the car. The owl didn't fly away and we got some amazing pictures. (I also got quite a sting on the finger from unknown insect. But it was well worth seeing this beautiful owl in the wild.)

Our hotel has a wonderful view. I've posted a couple pictures of that as well. And tomorrow is our last day of the vacation. We'll be seeing the Space Needed, the Market, and going sailing. I can't believe the vacation is almost over! We've had a wonderful time.

Seven new pictures.

Our precious! Where is the fog? Our precious rain! We wants it back!

We no longer care for the sun! It came out today and it was harsh on our eyes. Too bright! It made our skin too warm. Wearing multiple layers of clothes was uncomfortable. We hates it!

Today was a very nice day. Well rested, we spent part of the morning doing some chores like laundry and getting the car washed, ready to return. And by the time our brunch was over the sun was coming out!

The old historic drive along the Columbia River Gorge is a charming road. There are waterfalls everywhere you turn, everything is lush, and the guard rail on many parts of the road is actually a very attractive old moss covered stone (picture 138). On other stretches it is an attractive white fence (picture 136). Neither detracted from the drive.

In the way of stories today, we were able to help some hikers get to their car. Part of their trail had been closed off and they couldn’t get across a bridge (there was nowhere for a person to walk at all). Their only two choices were to hike several hours back the way they came and risk it getting dark on the way, or to have someone drive one of them across said bridge (picture 131). . . As Carl would say, “Easy done.”

I had some trouble with some of the waterfall pictures. Choosing the wide angle lens, I got very close to the falls. But the spray was soaking me (not a problem), my camera (not so less of a problem), and the camera lens (a problem).

It’s funny how when I got my first SLR changing lenses was something that I really only wanted to do in a sterile environment – like where they make computer chips. And when I cleaned my lenses, it was as I imagine someone might polish a diamond. But several years later, I’m standing at the bottom of a waterfall, covered in spray, and using my sweater to wipe water off the lens, take a picture, wipe more water of the lens, take a picture. . .

Next time round I’ll use a “longer” lens I think, so that I can further away from the spray. But then again, there was a log at the bottom of Multnomah Falls (picture 135) that I couldn’t get any other way. Though still, I didn’t really get it because I think that picture had water drops all over it. I'll be able to tell once I get home and get view the pictures in detail.

Speaking of, I think all my pictures look too dark on the netbook. I'm going to be interested (or mortified) to see how they look on a real monitor when I get home. But I guess that's part of the "Raw" aspect of all this.

Tomorrow we hit St. Helens on the way to Seattle. And I think we’re going to try to do some whale watching on Sunday.

Eleven new pictures.

Today was something of an off day. I think there must have been some allergen in room due to years of no air circulation. Mom was sneezing relentlessly and both of us had restless sleep. We both were up at dawn for the sunrise, but peeked out the window at a solid wall of gray and promptly went back to bed. Getting up several hours later was an act of congress, and we've been exhausted the whole day.

Breakfast was good. The park lodges always seem to have great food. We grabbed a much needed sweater and gloves in the gift shop, and then proceeded to try to photograph the lake.

Most of the lake is still closed. Apparently it won't open up until the end of June at the earliest. So there wasn't any way to hike down to the bottom, and the drive around the rim was closed. Also, this late in the year the snow was dirty instead of fresh, so there wasn't much to be had in the way of pictures. I took shots of a panoramic from two different perspectives; but I won't be able to stitch those together until I get home.

But all that being said, I really enjoyed being up there. I think it was a nice treat, and I would have been happy to be up there an extra day with a book, some hot chocolate, sitting by the fire in the lobby, and looking out at the cold weather. Though with the musty room and the potential for sleepless nights, perhaps more than a couple nights would have been a problem. "Redrum!"

We took US 97 N out of Crater Lake, and it was a rainy, bleary, uninteresting drive the whole way. Compounded by a lack of sleepy, Mom hasn't had a very good day today. The landscape got interesting once we hit US 26 West, but the heavy fog completely obscured the views -- oftentimes we couldn't even see silhouettes of the mountains around us.

I've been telling Mom that this is part of the experience, part of the Pacific Northwest. But I think the rain and fog have caught up with her. She planned the trip meticulously, but nobody could have anticipated the weather this week. Everyone has been calling it unseasonal.

Tonight was a funny night too. Though I was able to pick up a new book at Borders, and something of a hat at Dick's (they had just sent back all their winter inventory), we kind of had a blah dinner and when I tried to get Mom a latte at Starbucks to cheer her up they were closed. What time was it? --Just after 8pm. We went to another, which turned out to be in a grocery, and they were closed. Anyway, by about the 5th one, I finally got her a latte. They have a lot of them in a small area around here; but not many stay open apparently!

After I post this we have to reconsider our agenda for the next few days. Tomorrow is definitely going to be rain, the next day (which was going to be a travel day) is going to be clear, and the third day is a 30% chance of rain. Mt. Rainier is nearly 100% chance for snow over the next couple days. But we'll figure something out.

This is the nature of road trips! I think they're supposed to be a little "come as you may". And I think Mom will feel better tomorrow after she's had a good night's sleep. We have nice room tonight.

One lonely picture of the lake.

Driving to Crater Lake was nothing like we expected. Whereas we thought we’d be driving a lone desolate road further and further into the snowy void, most of the drive was populated. And we didn’t hit snow at all until the last few miles. Mom said that they better have the whole park open because there is no way any of it is snowed in . . .

Well, our opinion quickly changed as small patches of snow gave way to larger and larger snow banks. Eventually we found buildings that practically had snow up to their roofs (Picture 128). When we got out of the car at the lodge there was a strong wind blowing, little bits of snow whipping through the air, and the temperature that was every bit as cold as you might expected. Picture 129 shows what the lodge looked like.

Getting to the lodge was a huge relief. Early we followed the advice of the GPS and turned off on a small road/trail. It looks like something that was scenic (which is was) and met up with the main road two miles away. There is a similar thing in Yellowstone, a beautiful drive, so we decided to take it. Well, this road got smaller and smaller. Still we didn’t mind forging on, there was nothing treacherous to worry about. (Picture 123: before the appeared to start going straight down.) Then we came to the first steep hill going down. Getting out of the car and surveying the situation (it wasn’t nearly as steep as some private drives I’ve seen out here) we decided to forge on. Then we somehow found ourselves with a drop off on both sides (i.e. no place to turn around) and a second steep drive. The trail was getting progressively worse as was our level of concern. Only .3 miles away, we decided to forge further. And we did finally meet up with the road again, a la Yellowstone. But this is not Yellowstone and after we kissed the normal paved road, hearts still racing, we were back on our way.

Those were the most notable parts of the day. Dinner at the lodge was excellent. We have no phone, TV, air conditioning, cell service, extra electrical outlets, or Internet in our “deluxe” room at the lodge. So though I’m writing this tonight, it won’t get published on the blog until sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Also, waking up in Crescent City was interesting. (They have a fog horn too, by the way.) We paid a bit extra for a hotel and room on the ocean. But what we woke up to was grayness. The water was gray. The sky was gray. The place where the water meets the sky was gray. It was pouring rain (as it does most days in Crescent City apparently). Bottom line, if you ever find yourself staying in Crescent City, don’t worry about hunting down a room with a view – it isn’t Key West. (I wore my sun shirt in protest.)

And that reminds me: I’ve been wondering if the sailors on the Pacific ocean are different that those that sail the Atlantic. Not that the north Atlantic can’t be a mighty warrior queen. But what we’ve seen of the Pacific ocean has been alien and intimidating.

So that just about wraps it up for today, except for the rain and fog. I told Mom that I haven’t minded it because it really characterizes the Pacific Northwest; I’m happy to be experiencing it. And it does make for good pictures as well. But there sure is a lot of it, this fog. This morning my mind kept trying to come up with a haiku, though it never really gelled. Maybe something like:

Gray wet sky and sea,
Lighthouse and fog horn, lonely.
A sleepy morning.

Or maybe:

Gray wet sky and sea,
A lighthouse and fog horn keep
lonely company.

And it seems we’ve moved past “Ondine” as our thematic piece. We’re now solidly into Ravel’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in G, second movement. (And of course performed by Martha Argerich.)

Ten new pictures.

The Pacific Ocean loves you. She wants to aloofly carry you away to her cold and lonely home, cradling you in her foggy arms forever.

Here at the Redwoods National Park, we finally got down to the water. It wasn’t what I expected.

The shore here is made up of crushed rocks, black sand closer to the road and small black pebbles closer to the water. There are small, beautiful pieces of wood that have been polished smooth by the strength of the tides. And walking down to the water was difficult because your feet sink quite far into the pebbles.

I originally intended to use my wind angle lens to get a broad picture of the shoreline, but as I came down the little hill I saw outcropping of rocks with green and red vegetation growing on the side, some kind of moss. The wide angle was definitely the wrong lens, but I didn’t want to take the time to go back to the car and figured I could just get up quite close for an interesting picture.

My tripod has been in the ocean current before. It’s even been in the river walk in Zion, which it fairly strong. But when I staked my little claim next to the rocks/cliff the Pacific Ocean yawned sleepily what I’m sure sounded like “Photographer, camera, appetizers, mmmmm.” Or maybe it was “whoooooosh”. Or maybe it was just the sound of the waves against the shoreline. But the pull of the ocean was surprisingly strong and my tripod was certainly not equal to the task.

I still got some pictures, but the strength of the tide was more interesting. When I got back to the car I noticed a sign warning about sneaker waves that I hadn’t seen initially. “We’re not in Kansas anymore!”

Mom and I had a full day of non-stop sightseeing. We got up early (dew drops on flowers!) and drove from Ft. Bragg to Crescent City, and the whole drive was beautiful. There are a couple of scenic drives that wind with US 101 going north, like the “Avenue of the Giants”. Further north we found a scenic drive that broke off from the scenic drive that we were already on. “A scenic drive within a scenic drive? Sure!” Soon we were off on costal drive, which was, in places, a steep gravel path. We were the only people out there (we later saw two other cars) and the view was amazing.

Tomorrow we’re going to head back to catch the things that we missed and then we’re headed up to Crater Lake, which is still mostly closed due to snow. But it will still be a wonderful stop.

There are always so many stories I want to tell -- for example, my impressions of the fine city of Garberville, CA -- but by the time I have a shower and get my pictures uploaded I'm exhausted. But speaking of pictures:

Twenty-two new pictures.

This morning we started off our day by visiting Saulsalito and the Golden Gate Bridge. Sadly the fog was too heavy for good pictures, but we had a very enjoyable lunch on the water and did some gallery hopping.

We took 101 North out of Saulsalito and said our prayers that we weren't going the other direction. I guess everyone was headed home from their holiday weekend adventures.

About that same time we realized that US 101 was not CA 1, and that we were missing our drive up the coast. We set the GPS to get us over to the Pacific Coast Hwy and had a very nice surprise drive from somewhere just south of Santa Rosa, through Occidental I think, then Guerneville, and finally to Jenner. This was mostly on Hwy 116 which was largely forested, lush, and secluded.

If I were going to live in CA, I think this would be the place to do it: close to SF, Napa, Sonoma, Pacific Coast Hwy, and with all the pleasantries of small town living. We stopped at a very peaceful coffee shop in Guerneville and got some pictures of small birds that were frolicking in the trees all around us.

Hwy 1 was gorgeous again. --Not as high up as we were outside of LA, but with lush flowers and vegetation on all sides. I'm waiting for the faeries or elves to pop out of the woods as we come around a corner up here. It really won't surprised me at all.

And as we made our way further north we began to see more redwoods. Mostly our drive was beset by heavy, heavy fog today, but there were some gorgeous shots that I was just dying to get -- and with no pulloffs to be had anywhere.

We stopped for an early dinner hoping the fog would clear in time for some sunset shots. That didn't happen and we later had something of what I think of as a "Lord of the Rings" (or any fantasy novel) experience that I'll try to relate:

For our last stretch of travel tonight we were in the dark, laden with heavy fog, on wet and windy roads, no other cars on the road, and passing through deserted towns that had long since closed for the evening. I was getting increasingly tired, needing to stretch my legs, use the restroom, and it looked like there wouldn't be anything until we found the hotel. And then, in another sleepy town, we came across a Bed and Breakfast/Inn with its lights on. We stopped and the inn keeper took pity on us, serving us coffee and desert even though she had just closed.

Other people in the inn were sitting around, talking quietly, telling stories. Someone asked Mom where we drove from and we where headed. The inn keeper/waitress/hostess was running around tending to everyone. And somehow it all just felt like something out of a book. If I ever mange to write one, I think I'll try to work it in somehow.

We're staying at the North Cliff Hotel in Ft. Bragg tonight, which is a lovely place indeed. I'd compare it to the Marriott in Marina del Ray, though they're kind of apples and oranges. The Marriott had its own nightclub; this place has a ton of a charm, and there is an honest-to-God fog horn in the distance. We have a fireplace and a complimentary breakfast waiting in the refrigerator, which looks as though it will be very nice when we wake up.

As I post this I'm listening my Zune, specifically to a recording of Martha Argerich -- my very favorite pianist (second perhaps only to Luis!) -- perform Ravel's "Ondine". I mention this because it's been playing in my head the entire trip whenever we're on Hwy 1 -- over and over and over like someone is playing it in my ear. Usually that kind of thing only happens if I have a bad fever (Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major was somewhat ruined for me by a bad flu several years ago), but I guess this is just the theme music for the vacation.

It's also worth mentioning because Mom and I found a place called "Ondine" in Saulsalito today. I thought it must be a divine omen and so we went in. Sadly, it was just a restaurant that wasn't open. But I guess I'm not the only one to match this piece of music with the Pacific coast.

Ten new pictures uploaded.