Blogs from Oregon, United States, North America - page 131

Dear all interested friends & family, After breaking every rule we had made before we began this trip: not driving more than 5 hrs. per day (we did 10), stopping by a scenic spot for a leisurely lunch al fresco (we ate quickly made turkey sandwiches in a gas station parking bay where the gas was $2.75), hooking up before dark (I held the flashlight), and various other infractions (not all minor) like going 70 mph on I-5 which was another no-no, we finally hit our stride, took a scenic by-pass 395, dipped into Nevada where the sky and sun were red from the Plumas Co fire, and ended up in Lakeview, OR on a working cattle ranch which is also a RV park during the nice weather. It's very nice and has all the amenities, ... read more

Hi. You should come look at this when I leave. I'll try to be good about it. ... read more

This morning, while Marc takes Alan to a secret coastal destination for a sunrise photo shoot, I blissfully sleep in. Alan meets Marc at a state park where they don headlamps and scurry beneath dense vegetation before scrambling down a steep slope to a narrow ledge overlooking the Pacific Ocean far below. Their destination? The cauldron. “If I had seen the trail in the daylight, I might have declined,” Alan says. They continue their journey, finally reaching the rocky shore. Alan makes it safely down only to slip on a rocky tidal pool meaning he spends the morning shoot in wet clothes. Luckily, his camera suffers no damage. From viewing the photos that Alan took, I can see the trip was worth it. Unfortunately, he is shooting in RAW format so no photos on the blog ... read more

When Alan arranged a one-on-one photography workshop with landscape photographer, Marc Adamus, he told him, “take us off the beaten path.” Marc took the comments seriously. Marc uses a 5.4-mile hike on the Nature Conservancy’s property at Cascade Head near Lincoln City to get acquainted with us. Although it’s Alan’s workshop, Marc graciously agrees that I can tag along. While Alan and Marc discuss photography, Marc judges our fitness level. When the hike begins on a downhill slope, I make a mental note that the uphill return will be a killer. The trail is shaded by new and old growth forest. We walk on a path cushioned by evergreen needles until it is necessary to negotiate mud puddles or large tree trunks that have fallen across the path. Marc points out an elk track in the ... read more

Deidre and I are packed and bound for Europe; Cologne, Germany to be exact. Towels in hand. Our flight leaves at 0730. We make a brief stop in Newark, New Jersey and fly over the Atlantic pond. Upon our arrival into Cologne, we go to the Dom Cathedral. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Europe's largest cathedrals. It is an excellent display of gothic architecture and contains both a 42 ton pipe organ and supposedly the remains of the Three Magi in a shrine in the east apse behind the alter. After a brief climb to the top of one of the spires, we head south to Koblenz to drive by (and possibly take a tour) of the Koblenz Castle. This castle sits upon a island in the middle of the Rhein ... read more