Where did we go again? Act III
Denise, Ryan and I spent almost 3 weeks in August on the west coast. I had purchased these plane tickets back last year, so this trip had been planned for a while. It was a great bonding experience for three of us, with just a few arguments to pepper the fun. We flew in/out of Portland Oregon, staying at an Air BnB in the Northwest district for the first few days as we explored the now "weird" city that I remember from my childhood as a run-down logging town. It's very different these days. Portland is an amazing example of urban renewal.
The Statue "Portlandia" by Raymond Kaskey greets visitors to the Portland Municipal Building. ©2017 Images by Design
Hazy Mt Hood from Trillium Lake
Leaving Portland, we toured the Willamette Valley and Cascade Range. My photos from this area aren't what I was hoping for. An unseasonably dry summer made for many small forest fires which left a perpetual haze in the sky. I really had to bend the dehaze slider to get even this much of the mountain, yielding ghastly fringing. I'm not sure this is salvageable - perhaps with a couple of hours of work with luminosity masks.
South Falls. ©2017 Images by Design
The valley wasn't a complete bust, though. The Trail of 10 Falls in Silver Falls State park provided spectacular imagery and a great workout.
An overnight swing south to visit Mt. Shasta in the northern most tip of California yielded slightly better mountain vista results. And staying in Weed, California meant non-stop "dope" jokes.
Mt. Shasta at sunset. ©2017 Images by Design
Cannon Beach, Oregon. Haystack rock as seen from the ocean side. ©2017 Images by Design
When we got out to the Oregon coast (my old stomping grounds) the sky, kept relatively clear by the constant sea breeze, made for some wonderful landscape shots both from the ground and the air. The little foldable drone I brought along, a DJI Mavic Pro, really punches above its weight for usability and image quality.
I could have stayed on the coast the whole trip but we had family in Seattle waiting to visit so we headed north through the Olympic Peninsula and crossed the Puget Sound by ferry into Seattle.
Night time Seattle cityscape as seen from Puget Sound. ©2017 Images by Design
Twede's Cafe. Better known as "The Double R Diner" from the TV series Twin Peaks. "It's where pies go to die." ~Special Agent Dale Cooper.
My aunt Sylvia joined us as we played tourists downtown at Seattle Center and Pike Street Market. The next day we drove east to Snoqualmie and West Bend where one of my favorite TV shows of all time was filmed (and the recent "Return".)
We wrapped up the trip back in Portland at another Air BnB. This last one was above a coffee house in the Southeast part of town. Portlanders love their coffee. We may just have to move back here some day. I'll catch you all up on our September adventures next....