Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival 2017
Tulips never disappoint. And the Wooden Shoe farm is one of my favorite Northwest destinations...
Venice, Day 5: Giardinetti Reali
On day 5 of my Venetian adventures in December 2015, I visited the Giardinetti Reali. It's a wonderful little oasis of calm and greenery, steps away from the wild humanity of Piazza San Marco. The last time I was there the park was overrun delightfully with cats. The cats now though are all gone, as they are gone from every corner of Venice...
Venice, Day 7: Wandering Alone
On day 7 of my Venetian adventures in December 2015, I spent the evening wandering the glorious streets one last time before my plane took off in the morning. The city is so endlessly interesting to me, with its tiny alleyways, its abhorrence of 90-degree angles, its colors, its style, its life. I can't wait to return...
Opening Day at the AC Hotel Portland
I was invited to the opening of the new AC Hotel in downtown Portland, Oregon. They built it in what was a funny old vacant lot that everyone just used as a shortcut at a busy intersection. Now it's a charming place to stay steps away from the Pioneer Place shopping mall and other downtown attractions. The best part of it for me, hands down, is they have a bunch of local artwork and local food and drinks...
Camassia Natural Area, West Linn, Oregon
About 26 wooded acres nestled on a ridge overlooking Oregon City. There are wetlands and oak groves, with the whole area sprinkled with large erratics (rocks brought here by ancient ice-age floods)...
Oregon City Wanderings
Just after exploring Camassia Natural Area, I wandered around Oregon City, Oregon, in February 2017. It's a great little city, anchored by the mighty Willamette Falls…
Neon Fun in Oregon City
I came upon a fun old neon sign in Oregon City, Oregon, recently. It was too good not to grab some close-up shots of it with my 100mm lens.
Opal Creek and Jawbone Flats, Oregon
In January 2015 I explored Opal Creek and the quasi-ghost town of Jawbone Flats (population 5) in the central Cascade Mountains in Oregon. The area is thick with gorgeous fir trees, and the water in the creeks and rivers is crystal clear. It's so clear in fact that when it pools, it looks insanely, surreally blue...
Elowah Falls, Oregon
In December 2014 my friend Merry and I hiked up to Elowah Falls in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge. As we walked up all was bitingly cold rain, and then the entire falls area for a hundred-yard radius was black ice. So crazy slippery...
Glorious Sunset, Portland
I was sitting on my balcony with my kids as the sky grew darker with the setting of the sun, and a ruffly smattering of clouds rolled over our heads like a blanket. I glanced up and thought the day was finished and night was upon us. Instead, the last rays of the sun from beyond the horizon suddenly began bouncing off the clouds (causing me to grab my camera) and what followed was my favorite sunset ever in Portland. Breathtaking, with all the colors of the rainbow dancing overhead like our own Oregon aurora...