In Color...

Nelis Dutch Village, Holland Michigan

So I have discovered an online photo editor that I kinda like.  And I was playing around there for the last week or so, and have discovered that I really like pictures that are in both black and white and color.  This is what I have spent the last week doing, now that my semester is over.  Bringing the Pleasentville treatment to my photos.  Most are flowers, I found they were the easiest to work with, but I have some animals, and some landscapes.  Those with vibrant colors were the most fun.

Water Along the Gorge

I was going through some pictures last night, and chatting with a new friend online about some, and he mentioned Multnomah Falls.  I've posted a bit on waterfalls before, but haven't really given the Columbia Gorge its due.  Fall 2009, I road tripped through Oregon and our last leg in Oregon was The Gorge.  We were really just passing through, but we made sure that we took the Columbia River Highway.  It is amazing, the views, the waterfalls, Vista House, it was so much fun to drive.

On Top Mt. Hood

So I was going through some of my posts and I realized I haven't given Mount Hood much love.  Granted I haven't spent a lot of time there, but I did spend one lovely afternoon in search of it.  I say it that way because it was a bit of an adventure, my travels usually are.  We left Portland probably around 11 and at times it was clear and sunshiny, but other times it was raining and foggy.  While you could see it at times; the mountain was hidden.

  

Once we got to the top, there it was the peak of Mt. Hood!  The fog had cleared and we could enjoy a gorgeous view!  Timberline Lodge is atop Mt. Hood.  As well as a ski area.  Were were there in October, and there was quite a bit of snow up there, but the hill was not open.  We walked through the guest areas for the ski hill.  There were some great pictures and drawings of the skiing process (about the only way I can describe them) and a great statue of Smokey the Bear with skis!

Then we had to enter the Timberline Lodge.  You might recognize it from the Shinning, they used it as the outside of the hotel.  It was an amazing building inside too.  Very classy, but rustic and very fun inside.  It kinda reminded me of much large much fancier Snow White and the 7 Dwarf house!  Odd I know, but it worked! 

On the way back down we stopped at several little streams and tiny cascading waterfalls.  I am sure they get much larger during the spring snow melt.  They were adorable!!!!

Wild Thing: Sea Lions!

 So, yeah, sorry about the long time between posts.... Anyways on to the post!  So Oregon, I love Oregon.  The coast is beautiful simply beautiful and I love it, the California coasts (Monterrey in case you forgot).  Sea lions are everywhere on the coast!  This is a good thing in my world, even if they are loud little buggers.  But they are adorable, loud little buggers.






















So once I posted a post that mentioned sea lions and posted a video clip cause on the Oregon trip my camera was acting up.  I have some pictures from that trip, but I got a bunch on the Monterrey trip!!! So Monterrey, I think I walked everywhere for days, it was amazing, and there was a municipal pier about halfway between Cannery Row <3 and Fisherman's Wharf!

 

It was amazing about a half mile and there were some seals playing, and some sea lions just lying about.  And then at the end of the pier, there was literally hundreds of them.  It was a bit smelly and loud, but they were kinda cute just sleeping around.  The day before I left, I went whale watching, and as we were leaving the marina there were some just hanging out, playing and sleeping in the most adorable fashion.

Petals: Lan Su Gardens: Portland Oregon

Going back to the Oregon trip for this petals.  Are ultimate destination was Portland.  Bascially that was the turn around point and from there is was back to Minnesota.  In Portland we met up with a friend of the person I was traveling with.  We hung out for a bit, and decided to check out the Lan Su Chinese Garden.  It was pretty awesome, but I think most gardens are when they are smack dab in the middle of a city.  It is kinda like a hiding place or peace and quiet in a gigantic mess of city.

 It rained.  I know shocking, rain in the pacific northwest.  It wasn't bad, just some drizzles and an over cast day.  I was really impressed with it, as it seemed way bigger than it actually was.  There were a lot of really pretty buildings and really neat carvings.  I like the decorative door ways and windows the best.  Did I mention fishies, there were a lot of bridges that wove a path over a big old pond.

It was one of my favorite places in the Portland area.  There was something very peaceful about the gardens, it really was an escape from the city.  I could have spent the day there, just taking pictures and reflecting.  There were some beautiful parts that I know I didn't spend enough time in.  But alas, places to go, people to see and the like.  You can only spend so much time anywhere, and you always have to leave something unseen.  Gives you a reason to go back.

Jelly, Jelly, Jellyfish

Alright since water creatures make me really, really happy!  And in recent years, the good old jelly fishie has intrigued me.  They are floaty and kinda creepy.  There is something I like about them, something ethereal, something effortless.  But at the same time, there is something haunting about them.  Like ghosts of the sea, invisible, sometimes dangerous, something remarkably and wholly different.

A Light to Guide

What can a girl say about lighthouses?  Other than they rock!!!  So this love affair with lighthouses, I think it comes from my dad.  He is a history kinda guy.  He is a retired engineer, but always said if he would have fail engineering school then he would have been a history teacher.  I think he was much happier as an engineer with a history habit.  The man reads everything, coincidentally so do I (especially if it is nerdy!).  He is one of those people that can read a book and watch the history channel at the same time, and follow along.  He took us to see many a lighthouses in our younger years.  And even with a rather annoying fear of heights, I fell in love!

Oh My! Fishies and Sea Lions!

I might have mentioned that I took an Oregon road trip in 2008.  We spent a lot of time on the coast.  Sadly it was the rainy season.  But honestly I think that it made for a rare kind of pretty!  But one of my favorite places in Oregon is Newport.  There is an awesome aquarium there.  I have been to it twice and I love it.  Very in the elements, and doesn't have that confined feeling that they sometimes get.  It is not a big secret, that I love marine animals.

Petals: Shore Acres

This one might be hard to pin down into one post.  Shore Acres State Park in the Coos Bay Oregon area.  It is an amazing place, if you got a hankering to see hundreds of flowers at any time, I'd get my bum there if I were you.  It is like heaven!

Waterfalls, Waterfalls

  So I mentioned in a previous post, that Niagara Falls is on the top of my waterfall list.  In my travels I have seen many of them, I seek them out, there is something awesome about the sheer volume of power they harness.  Something primal, some connection with something greater than I.