Hell Week

. . .but I just realized that Monday is a holiday. The first labor day of many where I won't be helping to put on a dog show. May is a much better month for dog shows. Yesterday it was 103 in Medford. Can't you just imagine a dog show in a ball field when it's 103? The weather did make for a spectacular rainbow last night as the sun was setting. It encompassed the entire span of the sky so we were only able to capture it in pieces.  

Astoria 08/17/07-08/18/07

Did I mention how much I liked Astoria?

 

View of the bridge and across the Columbia from the parking lot at the Astoria Column.

I could sit for days watching ships and boats navigate up and down the river. Tom took the pictures below at Warrenton.

Seabound Russian trawler.

And he takes the greatest bird pictures.

Cape Disappointment 08/16/07-08/17/07

Time to subject everyone to another day of vacation photos. The first stop after dropping Alice off at SeaTac was Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington. We had a campsite on the lake and it only rained at night. The campsite was a little open for my taste, therefore leading to too many children visiting the dogs. But it was still a pretty spot.

View of the Cape Disappointment lighthouse from the state park.

NOAA ship Rainier off the north bar.

Cape Disappointment is the end of the "Voyage of Discovery". It took us a little longer than it did Lewis and Clark. We left St Louis in May of 2004 and it took us until August of 2007 to arrive at the mouth of the Columbia. Life and jobs kept interfering.

 

Monument in the state park commemorating the end of the journey.

Two views of the lighthouse from the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.

We spent quite a while watching pelicans and cormorants fishing at the base of the cliff.

Terrific picture above credited to Tom Brown pelicans. The same flock would circle again and again.

Nesting cormorants.

 

Me enjoying the ocean breeze and the sun. Panorama of the mouth of the Columbia by Tom.

Vacation 08/14/07 - 08/15/07

The first stop on our vacation trip was to drop off Phoebe and Digger in McMinnville. I already published pictures of the Pembroke puppies. From there we took back roads to Forest Grove and Hillsboro, then followed the Columbia River on Hwy 30.

Approaching the bridge at Longview, WA.

 

View of the Columbia from the bridge.

Tuesday the 14th was our 36th anniversary. We spent the night in Centralia Washington. Mandy and perhaps some others who have attended the (cold, spring) show there may recognize the view from this fine establishment which accepts dogs. It's been freshly painted since the last time I stayed there several years ago, but it still wasn't up to the standards of the Motel 6 at SeaTac.

Lake in back of dog-friendly motel.

For our anniversary dinner, we went out to the Olympic Club, the McMenamin's establishment in Centralia. We actually ate out back on the courtyard, which overlooks the railroad station. Things learned: people commute from Seattle to Centralia via train. On August 15th 1971, we visited a volcano (Mt Lassen) on our honeymoon. With time to kill 36 years later, we decided that a quick visit to Mount Ranier National Park was in order.

Mount Ranier It amazes me when people have to be told this . . .

. . . at a place like this.

There are many places to stop and take pictures of the mountain. The view is always changing.

Climate change.

Butterfly on wild lilac.

Wild Flowers near Paradise Valley road.

 

The photographers at work.

 

The Tatoosh Range The pictures below are from a deep chasm caused by glacial activity. Looking down from the bridge can make you dizzy.

After leaving Mount Ranier, we managed to drive all the way up to Seattle avoiding I-5. It was interesting to see some of the small towns and countryside.