Smoke 'em if you got 'em: 2016

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Thanksgiving

As has been the custom of late, I took the week of Thanksgiving off for a little adventure. I drive up to Salem, Oregon every year and I like to take the long way around. My plan was the good old stand by route, Salem via Redwood and Olympic National Parks.

Mount Shasta, CA

It was not to be.

My dad had a mild heart attack the weekend before Thanksgiving and had a triple bypass on Monday. Instead of a leisurely drive up the coast I bombed up I-5 on Sunday.

Yet another family emergency. That seems to be all I blog about these days.

American Kestrel -- Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge, OR

On top of all the time spent in the hospital, it rained most of the time I was up there. It wasn't the kind of rain you can just button up your jacket and go out for a hike in, either. It dumped buckets for a good part of the time I was up there. Pongo and I drove out to the coast anyway, but it was too wet to do anything outside. We got some smoked salmon at Barnacle Bill's and some cheese and fudge at the Tillamook Cheese factory but stayed in the car for the rest of that afternoon trip.

Bald Eagle -- Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, OR

The Willamette Queen -- Salem, OR

Salem, OR

Actually, we had one good day for getting outside. It was Black Friday. Based on the crowd at Silver Falls State Park, the stores probably weren't as crowded as they have been in the past. Dogs aren't allowed on the Canyon Trail where most of the waterfalls can be experienced, but they are allowed almost everywhere else. I wore Pongo out hiking on some of those other trails. Poor guy.

South Fall -- Silver Falls State Park, OR

There is a quarter mile trail to the Upper North Fall that dogs are allowed on, so we were able to see one of the waterfalls up close. I took some pictures there that all turned out blurry because I couldn't keep the lens dry from the mist and the rain.

Lower North Fall -- Silver Falls State Park, OR

Upper North Fall -- Silver Falls State Park, OR

For the record, by dad is doing well. He was on his feet the very next day after surgery and was at home watching John Wayne movies and football on Thanksgiving day. He's grouchy from being bossed around, but he's just going to have to deal with that for a little while.

Silver Falls State Park, OR

Soundtrack:

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
The Police - Message in a Box [1]
Pearl Jam - Ten
Pond - Pond
Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Wilco - The Whole Love
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

Monday, October 24, 2016

Newport, Oregon

October 15, 2016

This was not a road trip I had been looking forward to, but it was probably inevitable. An uncle of mine had been fighting cancer for a few years and he finally succumbed at the beginning of October. I was down in Nevada at the time and I didn't think I'd have a chance to make it up for the funeral. However, things worked out in terms of scheduling and I was able to attend.

California Sea Lion -- Newport, OR

California Sea Lion

I drove up to Salem on Friday night. I got in around 1:30 or so in the morning. The next morning we drove out to Newport to meet up for breakfast with most of our extended family. After eating and mingling, we still had some time before the funeral. My brother, nephew and I drove down to the wharf to see the sea lions. A big storm was blowing through. The waves were crazy and the sea lions were feisty. The photos I took there were just about all that I shot on this brief trip.

California Sea Lion -- Newport, OR

The sea lions in these photos are all males, or so my brother tells me. The ladies all stay down in California while the males come up to Newport to hang out. I suppose they may be found on other areas along the coast as well. They're a rowdy bunch, I can see why the ladies don't bother accompanying them.

California Sea Lion -- Newport, OR

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Road Trip 2016: The End of the Road

October 7, 2016

Friday was the last day of our trip. I took a few final photos of Red Rock Canyon, most of which ended up blurry because I'd been shooting stars with the lens set to manual focus the night before and forgot to change it back to auto focus. D'oh. I lucked into a couple of in-focus shots, though. That'll teach me to wear my glasses, you'd think.

César E. Chávez National Monument, CA

We bumped into the César E. Chávez National Monument on the way home, so we stopped for a quick visit. It was quite early, so the visitor center wasn't open yet. César and his wife appear to have been laid to rest there in a beautiful garden area with a couple of fountains. It's an unusual little park.

César E. Chávez National Monument, CA

From there, we bombed our way back home. Of course, Pongo was very excited to see my wife and our other dog Charlie. I was expecting to find one or two foster dogs in the house, but for the first time in over a year there was none. Hooray! Pongo ran crazy for about five minutes then curled up in a ball on the couch and went to sleep. I did pretty much the same thing.

Interstate 5, CA

Soundtrack:

Jeff Buckley -- Mystery White Boy

Friday, October 21, 2016

Road Trip 2016: Death Valley National Park

October 6, 2016

It's about a nine hour drive from Las Vegas to home for me. It takes about the same amount of time to get from Death Valley to home. So, it might seem a little weird that I would go through Death Valley on my way home knowing full well that I'm no closer to getting home from Death Valley than when I left Las Vegas. It's a drive I've done before, though, and one I really enjoy. If I could pick one park that I consider MY park, the one park I would choose to visit if I could only visit one, it would be Death Valley.

Las Vegas, NV

It felt strange to leave Las Vegas having not set foot inside a casino. I enjoy casinos. I have a fairly low, hard limit ($200) for losses in a night of gambling which I've never actually reached. I don't think I've been to casinos more than three times in a single year. It's fun, though. Drinking. Gambling. People watching. I'm usually ready to shed myself of this town when I leave, though. This time, I could have spent another night.

Rhyolite, NV

We stopped in Rhyolite, NV before entering Death Valley. It's a cool little ghost town with a nearby large sculpture exhibit. The idea of visiting a Wild West ghost town is cool. This one doesn't quite live up to what I imagine a ghost town should be, Still, it's a fun stop.

Death Valley National Park, CA

So, what is it about Death Valley that I like so much? Part of it is the devastating solitude. All one has to do is stop just about anywhere in the park and walk a couple of hundred yards away from one's car. It's easy to imagine that no one has ever stood exactly in that spot. Then the quiet hits you. It's like no where else. All you may hear is wind, and if the wind isn't blowing it can be dead silent. In certain spots you might look around and see not a single, solitary living thing for miles in all directions. It's an amazing feeling to be that isolated and yet out in the great wide open.

Death Valley National Park. CA

Death Valley National Park, CA

Meep! Meep! -- Artist's Loop, Death Valley National Park, CA

Artist's Loop, Death Valley National Park, CA

Artist's Palette. Death Valley National Park, CA

It's also interesting to imagine what it must have been like for people trying to traverse this place in wagon trains. To have crossed the Mojave just to run into this? I can't imagine. Even worse, to somehow get through Death Valley and over the Panamint Range and then through Panamint Valley and over the next mountain range only to run smack into the tallest section of the 10,000 foot tall, 200 mile long, 60 miles wide sheer granite wall that is the Sierra Nevadas? Poor folks.

Death Valley National Park, CA

Mesquite Flat Dunes, Death Valley National Park, CA

I saw three coyotes coming down the mountains and into Panamint Valley. They all seemed to be begging for food. I'm guessing people feed them on the roadside. Jerks.

Coyote -- Death Valley National Park, CA

It wasn't quite 4:00 when we hit Panamint Valley, so I decided to drive on a little farther to Red Rock Canyon. It has a camp ground I've been wanting to stay at. That turned out to be a pretty good decision. The night was warm and there was little wind. It was very quiet, with only a handful of other sites being occupied. We had a nice dinner while listening to the baseball playoffs on the radio then slept soundly after the game.