Columbia River Gorge, Sept 2016
In September I took Tiana Kai around the Columbia River Gorge to see lots of spectacular sights, including the Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint, the Vista House at Crown Point, Multnomah Falls, Latourell Falls, Wahkeena Falls, Horsetail Falls (and Upper Horsetail Falls), and Thunder Island at Cascade Locks. An excellent way to spend the day...
Coyote Wall, Washington, April 2016
Last April I went hiking with Meghan Sinnott and four-legged friends, Maddy and Journey, up Coyote Wall at the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge in Washington. The outing offered a great chance to try out my newly purchased Velvet 56 lens from Portland's own Lens Baby; the lens can do some really fun "velvety" bokah tricks (particularly along the frame edges) and looks nice whether you're shooting landscapes, portraits, or macros...
A Day at the Fair, Sept 2016
My friend, Rosemary Stafford, and I spent a seriously fun day at the Oregon State Fair in Salem, the capital city. There were many carnival rides, fried foods, happy fair-goers, musicians, artists, gorgeous show animals (like pigs, cows, rabbits, pheasants, horses), you name it. I wish it were going on every weekend! It brings up such happy nostalgia from my early boyhood on a Kansas farm.
Tacoma-Mount Rainier "Instafam" Trip Overview
I spent five packed-to-the-gills days in July 2016 for Travel Tacoma and Visit Rainier. Really fun. And so photogenic.
Here are links to all the blog posts from the trip...
Rainier Day 2: Sunrise, Washington
After our stop at Eunice Lake, we traveled onward to Sunrise, Washington, which is the highest spot in the park you can drive to. From its lodge, hiking trails spider off in all directions for easy hikes that all offer truly breathtaking views of Mount Rainier and its surrounding foothills. Cascade beauty! As we drove up to the site, a thick layer of clouds sat around the mountain, but as we started hiking the cloud cover quickly burned off.
Rainier Day 2: Eunice Lake
Early in the morning of our second day on Mount Rainier (after the actual sunrise, but on our way to the area named Sunrise), we stopped for photos at Eunice Lake. It was a little too windy for good reflections, but still so lovely!
Rainier Day 2: Enumclaw, Washington
Our "Instafam" tour wound its way off the mountain finally and stopped for a while in downtown Enumclaw, Washington, a fun little area of King county with chocolate shops, bookstores, bars, vintage shops, coffee shops, and more.
Rainier Day 2: Crystal Mountain Gondola to Summit House
For lunch on the second day in the Mount Rainier National Park area, we rode the Crystal Mountain gondola to the Summit House restaurant. The views from atop the sky slopes were breathtaking, particularly Rainier itself.
Swan Island Dahlia Instameet, August 2016
We in the Portland Instagram group had an instameet today at the Swan Island Dahlia Festival in Canby, Oregon. There we saw thousands of gorgeous dahlias in the blazing summer sun.
Rainier Day 1: Sunset Drive to Crystal Mountain
We ended a packed day of fun in the Mount Rainier National Forest by driving through incredible scenery to our hotel, the Alpine Inn at Crystal Mountain. The room was pretty small, but I had my own bathroom, and hey, we closed the bar that night. One thing that is for certain: the location is spectacular. Plus, we were a short walk to a host of ski runs. I'd love to return in the wintertime.