Horsetail Falls

Horsetail Falls in the Columbia Gorge, between Portland and Hood River.

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Bloedel Conservatory

The Bloedel Conservatory is a domed botanical garden in Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver. It houses a wide variety of tropical plants. Here is one of them!

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Seascapes, Vancouver's English Bay

Here are three black and white seascapes taken over two days of Vancouver’s English Bay. The first image was an 8 second exposure, and one of the False Creek water taxis appears as a blur.

Canon 5D Mk 4

Monk's Hood

We discovered this very colorful flower while strolling the grounds of the VanDussen Botanic Garden. To quote Wikipedia, “Aconitum, … also known as aconite, monkshood, wolfsbane, leopard's bane, devil's helmet or blue rocket, … is a genus of over 250 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae. … Most Aconitum species are extremely poisonous and must be handled very carefully”. I am glad I did not try to sample it!

VanDussen Gardens

The fall colors are out in the VanDussen Botanical Garden in Vancouver.

Early Dawn, Vancouver

10 October: Early dawn, as it looked from our hotel 10th floor window.

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Starbucks on Vancouver's West Side

The local Starbucks at about 7:00 am on Canadian Thanksgiving Day.

I think I was channeling Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks on this one.

Canon 5D Mk 4.

Spring Hill Hike

We stayed in Mount Shasta (city) today and hiked a satellite cone of Mount Shasta called Spring Hill. It was about 3 miles round trip, with nicely spaced benches for resting and enjoying the views. There was a lot of manzanita on the hillsides, which is always difficult to photograph. However, I did get one image today that I liked. The other image is of Lily hiking with Mount Shasta in the background.

Manzanita

Sundial Bridge

October 4, 2023: I needed a driving break and the car needed a splash of electricity, so we stopped in Redding, California on our drive north. The car charging plaza is in central Redding near the Sacramento River. I took a short walk while the car was charging, and discovered this bridge! It is a cable-stayed structure built in 2004 (https://www.turtlebay.org/sundial-bridge/). It is a beautiful combination of art, architecture and civil engineering. The image below only shows the pylon part of the structure, with me looking up at it.

Hotel Mission de Oro

Found this nice place to stay in Santa Nella, CA. This is the interior gardens and courtyard.

Canon 5D

Ritter Range, Sierra Nevada Mountains

From a hike in early August along the San Joaquin Ridge out of Minaret Summit, Mammoth Lakes. The wildflowers were really nice!

Hasselblad 500c/m, Fujicolor 400

Crystal Crag

Also from a hike above Lake George, Mammoth Lakes, CA

Hasselblad 500c/m, Ilford HP5

Lake George Hike #1

Taken on a hike above Lake George, Mammoth Lakes, CA

Hasselblad 500c/m, Ilford HP5

The fog-bound beach

The weather continues to be cool and wet. This was my view of the pier on a Sunday walk, March 12.

The Winter Beach

The winter storms have had an impact on the beach in Hermosa. Here are some photos at the beach in February and March.

February 3: Footprints under the pier.

February 6: Looking south towards Palos Verdes. The sand berm protects the base of the Hermosa pier.

February 14: A big wheel unicycle out in high winds on the bike path in Redondo Beach.

February 25: Significant storm erosion at the base of the Hermosa Beach pier.

March 2: Midday winds were 30+ mph, gusts to 44, which flattened out the sand.

Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

31 May 2022:

We went for a walk in a nearby Minnesota State Park that seeks to preserve the historic forest in this area. There is a very nice falls within the park, and these purple flowers were out in abundance.

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Amari getting her picture taken at the falls

A Spring flower.

Riding Minnesota Gravel No. 7

28 May 2022:

Well, this was not a gravel ride, but the fat gravel tires really help on the frost-heaved pavement of the Twin Cities. Peggy, Bruce and I rode a 33 mile loop around and near the Mississippi on a fine day.

Downtown St. Paul and the Mississippi River.

Rest stop.

Lake Street Bridge over the Mississippi, Minneapolis. By Peggy Bartz

Riding Minnesota Gravel No. 6

27 May 2022:

Just an easy loop around the Carleton Arboretum and then down to Dundas. This is a pedestrian bridge over the Cannon River in Dundas.

Canon 5D Mk IV

Riding Minnesota Gravel No. 5

26 May 2022:

I rode west out of Northfield today on a route called “Northfield West Gravel.” It was a cool and cloudy day. Here are two images taken along the way. The creek, possibly Heath Creek, crossed gravel covered Baseline Road about 500m east of Interstate 35.

Canon 5D Mk IV