Pictures are coming, I promise

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.
~John Lennon

It has taken nearly a week to recover from the jet lag. No, I'm NOT conplaining, but am asking for forgiveness for being so slack and not writing or posting pictures. I'm just starting to get back to "normal", whatever that is.

I'm actually procrastinating right now, because I need to pull together a presentation for Tacoman's class. His science teacher asked me to come speak about my trip, so I've been up since about 3:30 (am, yes, eastern time) wondering what I'm going to say. I don't know how Lucy (or anyone else for that matter) teaches. I definitely respect them for standing up in front of a room full of kids every day! Anyway, the class got the rocks (including a whole bag from the post office lady at Crater Lake - she was so thoughtful!) that I sent, so I'm trying to figure out where I was when we picked up each sample, so I can hopefully show them pictures and tell them something about each place.

At the same time I'm reading back over the posts to remember what we did and when, I'm going to try to upload some of the pictures of glacier bay that we took with "snappy". I still don't have everything copied over from the D200, but, I have managed to get some work done at the gallery, meet with Tacoman's principal, go to the orthodontist, exercise a little, make it to church, do some homework with the kids and help with a meal or two since we've been home. Okay, that's the end of my excuses. Here are some pictures for you Aunt Rocky. (smile) I'm going to finish my presentation for the class and then I'll get back to it.







More to follow - I better get ready for school.

Cruising back toward reality

“Disappointments are to the soul what the thunder-storm is to the air”

-Friedrick von Schiller



Yesterday's Misty Fjords excurstion was a bust, thanks to the weather. The whole wishin' for a sunny day thing was just too much to ask. Actually, we saw a little blue sky, but the wind had the Pacific Ocean kicked up so much that it was too dangerous for us to go where they wanted to take us.

Too bad we couldn't have known that earlier, considering that we were on the Gangway before 6:30 am (Alaska time) to board another Allen family catamaran and have another wildlife adventure, and also that we rode for about an hour before the captain could no longer be optimistic about the weather conditions. Don’t get me wrong; I’m all about safety and comfort, so I wasn’t upset by the decision to turn back. I did spend most of the return trip, however, wishing I hadn’t gotten out of bed.

We did take one small detour up into one of the inlets near the town of Ketchikan, and saw several bald eagles flying. Like pelicans, the juveniles do not have distinct white heads until after they are at least a year old. I took some pictures, but they were REALLY far away, so they’ll just basically be memories, not additions to my portfolio.

Anyway, the captain docked the catamaran at their dock, not at our ship (where they had picked us up). This gave us a chance to walk through town a bit. Some of these cruisers go NUTS over shopping, but many of the places seemed a lot like our “Wings” type stores, with stuff made in China that then had “Alaska” stamped on it. The only major difference was, instead of sea life rafts and cheap lighthouse t-shirts, they had killer whale toys, Eskimo dolls, and cheap salmon swimming upstream t-shirts.

We did get to see some salmon swimming upstream – the pink salmon were migrating through the town while we were there, and the little shops we stopped in were built on pilings and docks winding back and forth beside and over the stream. I noticed way more dead salmon than live ones. Someone said that they had exhausted themselves so much going upstream to spawn that they just perished on the way down. Uck.

After walking back to the ship in the rain and unsuccessfully trying to find Aunt Rocky some cold medicine that would work for her (frown), we ate lunch in one of the sit-down restaurants. I was looking around, watching people, and was amazed that I hadn’t noticed (during the first couple of meals in the Summer Palace) just how incredibly gaudy the decorations were.

Like I mentioned before (or maybe not), the carpet in our stateroom is pink, magenta and orange wavy stripes, with a hint of aqua here and there. Anywhere else but on a cruise ship, where everything is larger-than-life, or at least “bolder” than everyday life, this décor would be really tacky. Here, it’s just wild and fun.

I spent part of the afternoon after the excursion warming up in the spa. I am really going to miss that when I get home! But there are so many reasons I can’t wait to get there. A two-week vacation with two people I love dearly has been wonderful, but I think we’ve all hit the wall and are ready for it to be over.

We had a great dinner at “Mambos”, the Tex-Mex restaurant. We tried a couple of new flavors of margaritas. After dinner, we went to see “Sea Legs”, the ship’s version of a showgirl revue. It was fun to watch, and the dancers were really talented. I had made up my mind that I REALLY wanted to stay up for the late night entertainment I felt like I had been missing since we collapse into bed between 8 and 9 each evening. About half-way through Sea Legs, I whispered to Aunt Rocky that the late-night activities were a no-go. Oh, well…we’ve all enjoyed almost every minute of every day that we’ve been here. We’ve played hard and crashed harder, so I guess it’s not worth worrying about what we might have missed.

This morning, we woke up later than usual. Aunt Rocky said we had a bad storm last night and the boat was rocking like crazy. I am so thankful I slept through that! Today Mom and Aunt Rocky went to the “disembarkation talk” while I stayed here in the cabin to blog.

It sounds like getting off the ship and getting a cab to the airport is going to be a ZOO. We fly out of Seattle about noon tomorrow and get into Norfolk somewhere around 12 hours later. I’m tired just writing about it!

Meanwhile, we have one more stop in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I’m excited because that’s another country that I haven’t visited yet. Aunt Rocky has been there before, and says it’s a beautiful little town. I’ll write more about that later (but probably not tomorrow)…

Sensory Overload

Glacier Bay is our “outdoor museum of the wonders of nature”.
-National Park Service Ranger onboard the Norwegian Pearl

WOW! And a lot of other things that I can’t say on here! I need to write about the past two days, and our excursions, but right now I am sitting at a tiny desk with mom’s laptop, looking through the sliding glass doors as we glide slowly by the mountains and glaciers that make up Glacier Bay National Park.

We just pulled up in front of the Margie Glacier and the Grand Pacific Glacier. We pulled up as far as we could into Tarr Inlet to see them. And, from what the National Park Ranger who got on board as we entered the park and who has been giving commentary throughout the day said, we had a RARE view of Mount Fairweather (15,300 feet tall, and the source of the glaciers in this area), with the sun shining on its cap. Evidently it’s a lucky day just to be able to see the glaciers through the fog, and an AMAZINGLY RARE day to see Mt. Fairweather, and almost unheard of cruise where the top of the mountain also has blue sky around it.

As if that wasn’t enough for us to be amazed by, the Margie Glacier CALVED while we were watching – and I think I may have caught it in a series of photos. The sound itself was awesome, too. Oh, my, Gosh!

If ANY one of the hundreds of pictures I have taken today turns out, it will be so wonderful. I am so incredibly full of awe right now. Yes, where I live is beautiful, and I definitely need to be more appreciative of Hatteras Island’s beauty, but this is downright take-your-breath-away inspiring. Aunt Rocky is on the balcony now with binoculars, trying to spot a bear. (I took a picture of something that might have been a big boulder, and might have been a polar bear…hopefully it’s in focus so we can have the answer to that mystery.

Oh, I have to digress again on that segue – tonight, we signed up for a Murder Mystery dinner. Only 100 guests got to sign up. Tico would have been so proud of me; there were people who hadn’t been sitting in the lounge area as long as we had been, who tried to push to the front of the line when the crew member showed up to sign us up. I wasn’t about to have wasted the 30 minutes we had been sitting there, so I pushed right in front of them. Not rudely (well, not so much – but they were rude FIRST…) So, that should be exciting. We have had murder mystery parties with friends at home before, and it was so much fun. I always laugh too hard and have way too much fun. Mom and aunt Rocky haven’t ever experienced anything like this, so I can’t wait to watch them get into their characters.

Back to the present. Mom and Aunt Rocky just went up to the top deck at the back of the ship to see the view from there, and to get some coffee and/or hot tea. It is FREEZING here (obviously, since we’re basically surrounded by ice and in a glacier park in Alaska). Ha ha. We have the heat cranked up all the way in our cabin, and keep running in to get our hands warm, and then running back out, afraid we’ll miss something.

The water is a strange light greenish-gray from the run-off from the glaciers. The clouds and fog have started to move in more and drop down lower, so the mountains look less distinguishable and more like huge “lumps” in various shades of gray. And still, it’s amazing. (Yes, I’m humming “Awesome God” again). WHAT an experience!

I know how Master Po feels about crowds and organized tours – he’s not a fan – but I still keep wishing he could see this. The wake of the boat is making all these cool patterns in the cold water. The glaciers are full of brown stripes of dirt throughout the 350-feet-tall frozen rivers of (Carolina) blue ice. The craggy mountains tower over and around the glaciers and end abruptly in the bay. There are tiny floating chunks of ice, and miles and miles of frozen waterfalls cutting paths through the sides of the mountains.

It’s amazing, as I listen to the ranger, to realize that we’re actually in a rainforest. It’s so different from the amazing Redwood Forest that we were in just a week (although it feels like a year or two) ago. The major difference is that the elevation of these mountains guarantees that the precipitation falls as snow, not rain.

We’ve now passed a third glacier and are pulling up to a fourth. We’ll get as close to it as the icebergs floating in the water will let us. I keep shaking my head, overwhelmed with the majesty of it all. Today has indeed been a Gift that I will treasure forever. Thank goodness I have this blog and lots of pictures to keep the memory fresh when I get home and get into a cycle where I question my ability to be creative. I feel SO inspired right now!

Right now we are crossing over a tectonic plate. To our left, is the Pacific Plate. This plate under the Pacific Ocean is moving slowly to the northwest. We’re passing rock made out of marble, which starts its life in warmer waters as limestone. When the limestone is pushed below the earth’s surface and compressed it becomes marble. The ranger is speaking over the ship’s intercom and I’m typing as fast as I can. It is so cool that Tacoman’s class was studying geography and geology when I left home, and we can talk about all this stuff I’m seeing (and he can explain a lot of it to me).

One more digression for those of you who would rather laugh than read my gushing review: When we checked into our room there was a bottle of champagne waiting for us, compliments of NCL. Because Mom booked the cruise during a certain time and selected a cabin with a balcony, they were offering us the “honeymoon package”. The three of us got a laugh out of that.

About an hour ago, we decided to open the bottle and enjoy it to celebrate this wonderful day. Aunt Rocky got down the bottle and I got down the bucket (chiller) to put the bottle outside to get nice and cold on the balcony. Evidently they had delivered not only the champagne, but also a bucket of ice, when we checked in (four days ago). Can you guess what’s coming next? You win if you guessed that I dumped the entire bucket of melted ice all over me. So I changed into all of the shirts I’ve already worn. I don’t smell really great, but at least I’m warm enough to go back outside.

Anyway, we’re still checking out the glaciers and a couple of waterfalls. I just took some pictures of an iceberg, and about five minutes later, it broke up completely. We’re waiting for the ship to turn back around in about 20 minutes so we can have a view of the Johns Hopkins glacier. Meanwhile, I’m popping in and out of the room typing a couple sentences, looking up, “Oh, WoW!” and running back out again. The champagne is awful but it’s wet. Life is good. The only thing better would be to have the rest of the family here with me!

The ranger just told us that the best chance we’ll have of seeing marine mammals is in a couple of hours, when we get back to the entrance of the park and drop them off. I hope we do get to see some, but have to write about our whale watching trip, and you’ll understand why I won’t feel slighted in the bit if the sightings are all on the other side of the ship.

On Tuesday, September 18th, we got off the ship (after waiting in an awful line that wrapped down several floors of the ship. I was so thankful not to either hyperventilate or pass out.) We took a bus for about 20 minutes, past Juneau, and got on a two-story catamaran run by the Allen family (that’s what the guidebook said, anyway.) There was a guide named Kelley, who was absolutely wonderful. I wish I’d gotten her address so I could have sent her a cat clock from the gallery – I think she’d have appreciated it.

It took only about 20 minutes of riding until we came upon a pod of Orcas. I am not sure how they could tell male and female, but there was at least one bull, and several cows (one with a calf). By law, we could only get within 100 yards of any of them and are only allowed to stay with any one (or any pod) for 30 minutes. We moved on and next saw some Bell’s porpoises out front. They are black with a white stripe, and look a little like baby orcas. I didn’t get any shots of them, but they were fun to watch.

Next we came upon a channel marker with about four stellar sea lions napping on it. (Master Po will appreciate the fact that I knew exactly what settings I wanted to use on the camera, thanks to his tutelage.) I think I got a couple of good shots when the bell rang and one of them lifted his cute little head and looked at us.

After we moved on we saw some more orca pods but decided to keep looking for whales. We were NOT disappointed. Over the next couple of hours, we probably saw about 20 humpback whales at different times. I got several pictures of them as they “fluked” (dived deep for about five minutes, giving us a wave of their tail as they went under). It was one of the coolest things I had ever seen.

The day was capped off when, on the way home, we saw a couple of bald eagles in the trees on a little island in the harbor. They were kind of far away, but I still tried to get a couple of shots. The mates on the boat fed us some smoked salmon on Ritz crackers, which I loved (surprise, surprise). We docked and I just kind of floated off the boat, a couple of feet in the air. Mom was wishing that I had brought business cards – I bet she’d have handed them out to everyone who asked me what kind of a camera I had, and what size lens I was using. All of the staff on the boat keep talking about what good luck we had brought with us (all the cruise guests, not just the three of us,) because of the rarity of a sunny day in Alaska, and of sighting so many animals of any species, not to mention so many of several species.

We fell into bed that night, exhausted but smiling. I kept teasing Mom and Aunt Rocky about going to bed early, but I’m right there with them – no big shock to those of you who know me best.

The next morning, we woke up before the sun again and got in another line (not so bad this time) to get off the Pearl. We got on board the White Plains and Yukon Trail Train. The ride was about four hours. The weather was typical Alaska. Misty rain with very low cloud cover, and COLD. There were supposed to be wood-burning stoves on each train. Judging from the time it took for my feet to thaw, I really don’t think the train staff had the fires very well stoked. It was a beautiful ride, and I enjoyed the waterfalls and rapids immensely. I took several pictures of rocks (since we couldn’t get off the train to collect any for Tacoman, I thought I’d see if he could teach me anything from the pictures).

We went to the top of the 5,000+ foot tall mountain, then switched our seats in the opposite direction and exchanged seats with the people across the aisle from us. We sat for a couple of minutes and then headed back down the way we had come. It was neat to see the sights that we’d had to only hear about on the way up. The train squeaked, clanked, and perched on the edge of the cliffs as it jostled its way back down. I told mom and Aunt Rocky that I probably wouldn’t need to ride the train again if we ever came back (hypothetically speaking), but it was neat to experience once.

It was so windy and cold as we braced ourselves to climb back aboard the Pearl. Supposedly this is a great week to shop at the ports in Alaska because it’s the last week of the cruise season and everyone is trying to unload their inventory. I love to shop as much or more than the next person, but it was too cold for me to even be tempted in the slightest.

We came back to our cabin, shed the outer layers of clothes we’d been thankful to have, and put on our suits to head for..guess where..the SPA! I even got in the steam room and sauna, both of which I usually avoid for fear of getting too light-headed, to try to thaw out. We stayed up in the spa relaxing and reading for an hour or so until we felt better, and then came back to our cabin. We got dressed and, after wasting a couple of hours, ate what I think was the best meal yet on the trip. Italian, of course. I was so happy because the night before, at my suggestion, we’d eaten at the steakhouse. My steak was wonderful. Mom’s veal and Aunt Rocky’s salmon were both HORRIBLE. Such a disappointment for three women who take such pleasure in good food.

So there’s the saga of the last few days. Tonight we go to the murder mystery dinner and tomorrow we dock in again and take a tour of the Misty Fjords. I know it’d be a lot to ask to have yet another rare sunny day, but a girl can dream…stay tuned for that report.

I miss you guys at home, and will see you soon!

All Aboard! in Seattle

The motel in Port Angeles was by far the nicest of the entire trip. As usual, we were at the door to the breakfast room waiting for the meal to start. The difference from the rest of the trip was that we were joined by about 50 international travelers (we think from Germany and/or Switzerland) on a tour bus. It was quite a departure from our usual quiet, early start to the day.

We drove for about an hour and a half before reaching the ferry terminal. The ferry to Seattle was HUGE! They were serving breakfast and had big tables where we played a game of cards. Mom was KILLING us – especially me – but the ride was so short we didn’t end up finishing the game. (My competitive nature was unfortunately happy by that turn of events).

As we pulled closer to Seattle, we saw the Norwegian Pearl docked in front of the Seattle skyline. I was SO excited! (I’ll have to post the picture I took later, however, because the bandwidth on the ship won’t let me upload them.) We had been so efficient about getting ready that we found ourselves with several hours to kill before the scheduled embarkation time.

With me driving and Aunt Rocky navigating, we looped around downtown Seattle a few times until we found the Hertz rental car return location, another gas station to fill up the tank (yes, we pumped our own gas) and then made our way back close to the piers to park. We decided that we probably wouldn’t be able to check in early at the cruise ship, so we walked across the street to the Seattle Aquarium.

My first impression of the Aquarium wasn’t much; it seemed even smaller than the Aquarium in Manteo. We saw a few neat exhibits before we found the “how you’d look as an octopus” picture station. Aunt Rocky encouraged me to let her take a picture. I felt kind of goofy, but figured the kids would get a kick out of it. Aunt Rocky had seen the sign pointing to building 2, where the shorebirds and mammals supposedly were. We walked across the pier and into the birds exhibit. I was entertained by the cutest little mear (it looks like a miniature penguin, but has no white on its head). It was having the BEST time, and watching it splash around and flip and roll over and shake was definitely worth getting sprayed with the green water and feeling like I smelled like fish for the rest of the day! I was so captivated by him (no need to be politically correct here) that I noticed, but was not really phased by, the elusive puffins that were in the same display.

Around the corner we saw exhibits/tanks with sea lions, harbor seals, fur seals, and otters. They were all really cute. I had taken “Snappy” in with me, but there wasn’t even enough light for any kind of a decent picture of them (not to say that I didn’t try). We walked around a bit more and then decided to walk the 10 blocks or so up the harbor to the ship terminal.

When we got there, we were amazed to find lines of people already checking in and checking their bags. We left mom on a bench and Aunt Rocky and I speed-walked back to the car. We drove around, dropped off our big suitcases and passports with mom, and went to return the rental car. The six-story parking garage (Hertz was on the 6th floor, of course) was like a bad scene from Alice in Wonderland. I found myself ducking, because every level we climbed, the ceiling looked lower and lower. We managed to find the Hertz counter back on the 1st floor, turned in the keys, and took a relatively uneventful taxi ride back to the ship.

There were hundreds of people in line, but NCL (as Norwegian Cruise Lines likes to call themselves), was very efficient at moving us through quickly. We boarded the ship and enjoyed a complimentary lunch at one of the restaurants. It was good – not spectacular or anything (which concerned me a little) – and the view was wonderful. Our cabin was ready at 1:30, so we decided to check it out. Bear in mind that I’ve only cruised once before, onboard a Disney ship. When we took that trip I wondered why everyone was always complaining about how tiny the cabins are. I’m claustrophobic, and I didn’t find them too bad at all, especially considering we had five people in our cabin. NCL’s cabins, however, ummm…not so roomy…

Our room had one king-size bed and a purple and orange psychedelic couch-futon thing. In my mind, I have taken to thinking of it as sleeping on “the slab”. I’m not complaining, and I am thrilled that the bed that Mom and Aunt Rocky are in is pretty comfortable for them. Anyway, we decided right off that we wouldn’t be spending much time IN our cabin. We have, on the other hand, spent what must have added up to hours, FINDING our cabin. This ship is HUGE!

We decided to check out the spa first thing – because if you took the tour, you got entered into a drawing for $500 in spa treatments. (No, we didn’t win – although in slots, I’ve turned $20 into $63.50 so far). We did the tour and signed up for a couple of wonderful treatments (over the past couple of days, Mom had a seaweed treatment that I would have hated-but she loved, and a facial; Aunt Rocky and I had a facial and a massage). We signed up to use the thermal spa – that has been the best deal of the cruise.

There’s a huge “pool” thing that is the temperature of a hot tub, with amazing jets, a waterfall showerhead that massages your back, and a spot where you sit on PVC pipes, laid out like a lounge chair, and bubbles come up through them. There are also tiled, heated, “lounge chairs” – I want one at home – they are wonderful! I’m not so much for saunas and steam rooms, but theirs have wonderful, amazing views. As a matter of fact, the spa is on the next-to-the-top deck at the very front of the ship. There are places to just sit (inside) in beach-style lounge chairs, and watch everything that’s in front of the ship.

Anyway, we have obviously enjoyed the spa…that’s a foregone conclusion. Back to the food…we have managed to find and sample several of the restaurants. NCL does something called “freestyle” cruising, which means you can eat anytime, whatever you want to, basically. That has NOT helped my weight loss – it hasn’t even worked very well for me to not GAIN weight. I have used the treadmill for the last two days.

A few other highlights of the trip – we’ve seen the spray from pods of whales, and I saw a humpback’s tail as it went under. The scenery is beautiful – mountain tops with snow, and miles and miles of empty sea. Of course we’re not driving along the coast, so we have a better view that we did of California, Oregon and Washington, but the coastline of Alaska is by far our favorite. We’ve enjoyed a comedy show, and attended a martini demonstration (I do not feel the need to sample a dirty gin martini ever again, but the creamy chocolate one made up for having to try to choke down the first one). Too bad Tico isn’t here for the dancing – I haven’t been able to convince my two cohorts present to go. I did introduce Aunt Rocky to Long Island Ice Teas, though…but that’s probably a whole ‘nother story.

We’re getting ready to pull into Juneau, Alaska’s capital city. It’s actually a pretty day, which is a blessing, according to most of the ship’s staff (the typical forecast is rain every day…but they don’t put THAT on the web site). We’re signed up to go whale watching on a fast catamaran, so I’ve got the camera batteries charged. I talked to the kids today on the ship’s ($6 per minute – ARRGH!) phone, because I can’t get a cell signal. I miss them and love them bunches (and yes, you too, Tico), but am enjoying myself immensely.

I’ll add pictures after I get home…and THANK YOU to all of you who have been commenting on this blog. I haven’t had time to answer everyone (or ANYONE, for that matter), but I love reading your comments and really appreciate them.

Juneau, here we come (If we can figure out how to find the gangway that gets us off this ship!)…

"Beach logs are the bones of the rain forest, picked clean by the sea."
-National Park Service information plaque at Kalaloch, Washington


I checked the odometer against the rental agreement when we pulled into our motel this afternoon in Port Angeles, Washington. From the airport in San Franscisco, we had driven exactly 1,305 miles.


We woke up early this morning in Astoria, Oregon, and looked out the window. Until the sun came up we thought it might be a sunny day. No such luck We crossed the beautiful bridge into Washington State under overcast, gray skies.

We had anticipated a two hour drive into Aberdeen, Washington. This small town marks the start of the "Olympic Loop" around the Olympic Peninsula. Aunt Rocky and family had taken the loop during a trip several years ago, and remembered some beautiful beaches. We made it to Aberdeen in an hour and a half.

(And I digress here...) One of the interesting things about the driving we've done this week has been the "slow traffic pulloff zones". Because so many of the roads are narrow and winding, and because obviously passing is dangerous if not deadly, there are occasional "extra lanes" added on the right side of the road. The slower cars (including trucks and campers, which have a lower speed limit) are supposed to pull over into the right lane and let the faster drivers (including Aunt Rocky and me) go by. Sometimes, the pulloff zones are just a little bit of rock on a wider shoulder, where you can crank the wheel to the right and brake for all you're worth, in order to stop and let other people go by.

One of my pet peeves at home is people illegally passing on the right. Here on the west coast, it's not a problem, because the slower people have to pull over TO the right and get out of your way! As a matter of fact, in Washington, it's illegal NOT to pull over if you have five or more cars right behind you (on the open road, that is). What a concept!

I have also gotten a kick out of the signs. Given that we are constantly looking for places to stop, and one or two of us are navigating while the third drives, we've gotten into a habit of reading the signs aloud as we pass them. In Oregon, it's obvious that someone in the governor's office is related to someone with a sign company - you can't go more than 1/4 mile without seeing one. Washington shows a lot more restraint in the sign department. Many of the signs are blatant lies. For example. "ELK" on a caution sign. Um...nope, no elk. Another of my favorites, just before a sharp curve on a mountain, "CONGESTION". I still don't know where they were going with that one.

Since I'm already digressing from the day's travels, we wrote down a few things that will make US laugh really hard when we read this after we're home, and may make some of my other readers just shake their heads. For example, the turkeys that Aunt Rocky almost hit a couple of days ago. Mom and I were both looking down, and heard Aunt Rocky holler something (not exceptionally polite). I expected to look up and find the headlights and grill of a Mac Truck in my face. Instead, I saw huge turkeys running across the road. The last one was giving us a REALLY nasty look.

We've passed through a lot of farm country, full of horses, sheep, goats and cows. I was amazed to notice, as I looked at a bunch of cows grazing in a marshy area near the coast, that there was a llama in the MARSH. Not something you'd see in Hatteras. Also, this morning, we were once again lamenting the lack of wildlife, especially since we've spent almost a week in and out of National Parks and Wildlife Refuges. We were really upset about the lack of any puffin sightings. So, when Aunt Rocky pointed and said "Puffin!" this morning, I was really excited. Then I realized it was a huge crow carrying a hot dog bun in its beak. To her defense, she WAS driving (pretty quickly, too) and she couldn't have safely given it a "good" look.


One other thing we wrote down to be sure to mention (mostly just so we wouldn't forget it after we got home) are the Tsunami signs. According To the Newport News-Times:


"Already familiar to residents and visitors to the Oregon coast, these tsunami warning signs are now being used in Thailand. They were created by a designer with Oregon State University Extension Service. (Photo by Steve Card) "


What really cracked me up was the little guy being chased up the cliff by the tsunami wave. These signs were ALL OVER THE PLACE in Oregon - in Washington, they just post the Tsunami Evacuation Route sign, with the wave (but no running man).


Okay, whew. Back to the day.


We only made two extended stops today. The first was at Kalaloch, and the other was Ruby Beach. Kalaloch featured a wide beach with the sign (see quote at beginning) warning that beach logs are dangerous and even deadly at times of high tide. The beach logs are huge white bleached tree trunks. About 15 minutes before we reached the beach, once again, as requested, the sky began to clear. By the time we reached the beach, I was able to work on some pictures for about 45 minutes. It was so much fun! I was like a little kid with a new toy. Part of the reason for that was that I did get a new toy for this trip, a 12-24 wide angle lens, and love using it. I can't wait to get home to my Mac so I can see what I took (it's hard to tell sometimes just in the camera monitor).

At both beaches, I picked up more rock samples for Tacoman. (I was so excited to use a nifty machine at the post office tonight, that let me send them priority mail "self service" with a machine that weighed the package and sold the correct postage to me. I know, I need to get out more.) The skies stayed clear long enough for us to spend time enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful Pacific Ocean. As we moved inland to travel towards our resting place tonight, the gray clouds closed in behind us like the sun had never even been out for the day. Once again, I was amazed.

Across the Straight of Juan de Fuca, a few blocks in front of our hotel, is Canada. It feels like forever since I was in North Carolina!

Tomorrow we get up early to drive to the ferry that will take us to Seattle and to the cruise ship terminal. We're looking forward to massages on board ship, and more everchanging scenery.

Twenty minutes of sunshine

Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day.
~Author Unknown

Today was cloudy, gray and overcast, from the time we woke up (actually, from the time the sun came up - we woke up before that), and throughout the rest of the day. I did not even unpack the D200. I thought about it a couple of times, wondering how some of the scenery would look in black and white, but there just wasn't enough light. We did get some pictures with "Snappy" - my point and shoot. I'll share a few of those below.

First stop today was Wal-Mart (I got the blister Band-Aids, and a new pair of walking shoes) and the gas station. Did you know that Oregon was one of only two states in the USA (New Jersey is the other one) in which you are legally not allowed to pump your own gas? I didn't know that until yesterday, when the attendant came running out of the store, hollering, "I'm coming; I'm coming." So today, I sat in the car and did not even look at the pump.

Next, we stopped at the long-awaited Sea Lion Caves. Why it's called that, I'm not sure, because there is only one sea cave. As a matter of fact, there was only one sea lion in the cave. Evidently the rest of the hundreds of them were out "in the wild" fishing. The little gift shop was full of (low-quality) pictures of the sea lions laying all over the rocks inside and outside the cave. The cave itself was really neat to see. We paid $25 and took an elevator 208 feet down into the cave, even though the woman told us there was only one sea lion - we just didn't know what we might miss if we didn't stop.

We did enjoy the vies of the Heceta Head Lighthouse, Oregon's most powerful beacon and supposedly the most photographed lighthouse in the United States (I would imagine our lighthouse has to be up there SOMEWHERE!) By the way, this image has not been converted to black and white - that's the extent of the color of the day, pretty much! Aunt Rocky saw a whale blow at this stop, but other than cormorants and seagulls, I didn't see any other wildlife.

Next stop, Newport. This was a great little seaport with lots of galleries. We went in two or three of them. We saw some sea lions playing around on the rocks that defined the outside of the harbor, but again, they were too far away and there was too little light. We thought about stopping at a place called Agate Beach, where supposedly you can find little Agate nuggets just laying around, but we knew we had a long way to go.

We chose to drive the Three Capes Scenic Loop instead of staying on US 101. We made a quick stop at Cape Kiwanda State Park. I picked up a couple of rocks for Tacoman - but they did not look all that interesting. The cliffs there are beautiful red and yellow sandstone, but (yeah, you know, the light...) We were all amazed at the fact that Oregon had sandy beaches - yes, there were a lot of rocks, but there was also a lot of sand. We were not expecting that at all!

The second stop on the loop was Cape Lookout. We missed the turn - go figure - so we kept going. The third and last stop was Cape Meares State Park - featuring the shortest working lighthouse in Oregon.

This park is also the home of the "Octopus Tree". This Sitka Spruce tree has several limbs that reach out horizontally as far as 30 feet before turning skyward. When Mom read about this out of the guidebook, I knew I had to stop and see it. Somehow, in the last few months, I keep having octopus encounters. I caught three of them on two separate fishing trips, and my good friend has made them into art (more about that later).

I mentioned the experience to "Master Po", who has Native American roots, and he shared a part of his book about animal visits with me. Basically, it said I whould stop trying so hard to do everything perfectly, and should concentrate on the things I'm naturally good at (okay, family members, you can take a break and get yourself back under control). Anyway, we stopped in the parking lot and took advantage of the facilities (AGAIN!)

Then Aunt Rocky and I decided to take the walk up the trail to see the tree. It was SO worth the walk! Just as I got there, a little bit of clouds parted and a shaft of sunlight came through a tiny patch of blue sky. We oohed and aahed about the tree, then walked to the cliff's edge (carefully) to see an absolutely beautiful vista of miles and miles of coastline. The sun was out for about 20 minutes, then retreated behind the clouds. How amazing!

We folded ourselves back into the car and moved on. We made it as far as Astoria, Oregon, on the edge of the Columbia River.

We had called ahead for a reservation, thank goodness, since the poor guy working all by himself at the front desk was overwhelmed with checking people in (and, I think, turning people away). Aunt Rocky talked to another guest who had been driving "down" the coast (as we were coming "up"), and she said they had tried to get a room at several motels before finding this one, and it was almost full. We had dinner at a wonderful place on the harbor, called "The Cannery". Out of the window we were able to see a seal swimming back and forth.

We came back to the room and checked in. We started laundry, and I started to blog. Aunt Rocky had helped me by giving me an antihistimine, as I was having an allergic reaction to something. Keep in mind that Benadryl probably makes her hyper. The medicine for allergies does not make her sleepy at all. It KNOCKED ME ON MY REAR END. So...while Aunt Rocky and Mom finished the laundry, I left the blog in the middle and crashed. Unfortunately I didn't STAY asleep all night, so I did hear the elephant that was staying upstairs as he lumbered around during the night.

We're all a little tired today, but Astoria is another beautiful town full of history and scenery, and we have "a ways to go before we sleep"... It looks like the sun may be out today. Either way, we get on the ship tomorrow. Yay! Have a great day; I know we will!

"Oh, Wow"...Giggle...Silence (Repeat)

Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God

There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect.
-Gilbert Keith Chesterton

We're in a motel in Eugene, Oregon. I have just eaten four pieces of the WORST pizza EVER. It was horrible! Had Aunt Rocky not mixed a drink for me, I probably wouldn't have eaten it. The salad was good, though...

The combination of altitude, another day of driving 250-300 miles, and a nice toddy have made me a little less lucid than usual, but if I don't type this tonight, I'll never remember it tomorrow.

Today, we woke up before the sun and hit the road. We made a couple of stops before crater lake. At the side of the Rogue River, we found a few more rocks for Tacoman's science class and I shot a few pictures of some crazy looking ducks and a blue heron. We also saw the little mounds of salmon eggs, and enjoyed a bit of peace, and decided to move on.


Rogue Gorge was our next stop, where we saw a pretty little waterfall and lava tubes. Pretty interesting, but we were focused on our goal of a day at Crater Lake. The funny thing was that I realized, at this stop (when my teeth were chattering) that the great Tevo shoes I had bought for the trip had given me nasty blisters. Of course the blister band-aids (which are awesome, just by the way) were nowhere to be found. So I put my socks on with my flip-flops. I realized why Japanese women walk so strangely, trying to walk like that up and down a steep flight of log steps. (I did regain circulation in my toes, but it took a while).

Crater Lake, as promised, was absolutely beautiful. The water was the most amazing color blue/green/aqua. We had a great breakfast at the lodge...probably the best meal of the trip. We had wondered about staying the night up at the lake, so that I could get some sunrise pictures, but there were no clouds in the sky (for contrast), and although I enjoyed taking some pictures of the lake, there was no way to get any angles that were "different" from what every other person who visited the lake was able to capture. For me, the best part of photography is finding a view that is unusual in some way, and that's hard to do when you're at an elevation of 2000+ feet, with "vista points" spaced evenly throughout the National Park, and little opportunity to get off the beaten path.

I was especially hesitant to try to get a different angle when I saw the signs that said, "Caution! Falling may cause injury or death. Do not stand on cliff's edge." Ya know, up till that point, I was planning on hanging over the edge...but then I saw the sign, and had to think twice...thank goodness for the sign.

One of the neatest sights at the park was the Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels. I told KoKo Loco (D's self-proclaimed nickname for the purposes of this blog) tonight on the phone that I thought of her when I saw them, and knew how much of a kick she'd get out of seeing them...so this one's for you, sweetie :)

We did enjoy several of the vista stops along the lake, but once I realized it was not going to be a place where I was able to break any new ground creatively, and once we had enjoyed the beauty of this special place for a while, we decided to head back down the mountain and stop at several of the wonderful waterfalls along the way.
The picture at the right was my favorite stop. We had (according to the Reader's Digest Scenic Routes book) an "EASY 0.5 mile hike" to see this beautiful waterfall. I'd hate to see the moderate and/or hard hike. Actually, going down was easy. Going back up was hateful! I had to stop twice and get a breath. Granted, the air is a lot more thin that I'm used to, considering we live at (and sometimes below) sea level. But the view was worth it. The "Awesome God" song, of which I put the refrain at the beginning of this post, kept playing in my head. Whether you call him God, or Allah, or your Spirit Guide, or your Higher Power, the view of this amazing waterfall reminded me that someone greater than any human was in charge...nothing so beautiful could have ever been envisioned by mankind.

We drove a little farther than Mom and Aunt Rocky had originally planned, trying to get closer to the coast. Tomorrow we hope to see sea lion caves and maybe even puffins.

"Oh, Wow"...Giggle...Silence (Repeat) is the sound effect you would have heard all day today, had I been taping us. Oregon is a very beautiful, dry, state with awe-inspiring mountains, bordered by streams, waterfalls and lakes, with beautiful valleys full of vineyards and horse farms. We have one more day here, and will probably reach Washington tomorrow or the next day. Every day there's a new surprise around the next corner, and I can't WAIT to see it.