The Hoh Rain Forest

No trip to the Olympic Peninsula would be complete without a visit to the Hoh rain forest.  It is named for the Hoh tribe of Native Americans.  It is also somewhat ironic that HOH is the chemical symbol often used to designate water.  This area receives around 140 inches of rain a year.

 As you might imagine, there are many huge trees here, like this big Sitka Spruce.

 Witches hair grows everywhere.

 Often the witches hair is joined by moss and ferns such as these growing on a living tree.

 This area was full of large big-leaf maples.  It was so green it was almost surreal.  You almost expected an elf, wood nymph, or vampire to spring out of the bushes. Parts of the Twilight movies were filmed near here.

 Here, a huge Sitka Spruce has fallen.  We were able to walk off 190 feet before the tree was cut to accommodate the trail.  It was still at least three feet in diameter at that point. 

 Trees such as the one above become nurse trees as they decay.  The abundance of rain in these areas quickly leaches nutrients from the upper soil layers, thus the importance of the nurse trees.

 Here are some larger trees that started on a nurse log years earlier.  You often see more or less straight rows of trees that give evidence of the contribution of a nurse tree to the flora (and fauna) of the area.  These rows are know as collonades.

 Eventually, the nurse tree decays away.  Here a goose pen straddles the last remains of what must have been a much larger nurse tree.

Eventually, the nurse tree decays completely away leaving large trees such as this one.

Old trees also fall across living trees causing them to form unusual shapes.  It appears that a tree that has since largely decayed away fell across this maple when it was young causing it to form an arch.

Coming and going we passed through Forks, Washington where some of the movie "Twilight" was filmed.  Sadly, the View House, where the prom scenes were shot, burned this summer.  It was across the Columbia River from our house.  It was also the scene of the retirement party for Mike and Penny.  We watched the fire from our back deck.

Cape Flattery

This summer, we had the opportunity to go to the Olympic Peninsula with friends Mike and Karen.  One of the first trips we took was to Cape Flattery.  

 The trip down is through old growth forest full of interestingly shaped trees.

The walk down is easy and beautiful.

 

 The Cape is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places you could ever hope to see.

 The cliffs are undercut by numerous sea caves.

 The lighthouse is across the strait on Taloosh Island.  It was built in 1834 at the exorbitant cost of $39,000.  At the time it was the northernmost point in the United States. 

 There are interesting shore birds like the harlequin ducks,

 and these oyster catchers.

 This starfish appears to be hanging onto the cliff side for dear life.

 Even the decay organisms offer their own kind of beauty.

 Then, after you've spent a while drinking in the beauty of the Cape, you have to walk back up to the parking lot.

It's still a fun and interesting trail, but it is up.

This is one of those places that once you visit, you'll never completely leave.

January through March 2011

When this is the view from our back deck, it usually means that winter is coming on.  We enjoy holidays with our kids, then our thoughts begin to migrate to where the weather is warmer.

In January, so do we.  We arrived in Palm Desert, California on January 4th.  Setup was quick so we could spend our time enjoying the sun.

This golf hole was in front of our coach.  No comparison to the view from our back deck, but still not bad, and much warmer and drier.

We stayed at the Emerald Desert RV resort, and it was a resort in every sense of the word.  It was beautifully landscaped. 

The walks were lined with citrus trees with ripening fruit available for the picking.

Several of the neighbors in our little cul-de-sac were from Oregon or Washington including our friends from Vancouver, Jim and Diane. There were regular happy hours. In addition, Pen's cousins from Illinois overwinter here. They were great fun. Her brother lives a short drive away. Several friends from the Portland/Vancouver area also spent winter vacations here. Really increased the appeal of spending winter here.

Just because we're living in the RV, there was no reason to change our activities a whole lot, we just stay warmer doing them.  Here, Penny works on a quilt.  She has a sewing machine dedicated to the coach.  Ted has a complete tool set that stays in the coach including some woodworking tools. 

It doesn't have to be a slacker lifestyle.  The resort has an excellent workout room which we utilized almost every day. 

While the area is very different from what we're used to, the desert has its own charm.  In the background is the city of Palm Desert.  Lots of interesting activity, excellent restaurants, and big name entertainment at the community theaters and surrounding casinos. 

During the time we were there, much of the desert was in flower.

From our coach we could see snow in the mountains during our entire stay.

If we really started to miss winter, we could go to the snow and ice, then return to Palm Desert and change into shorts and short sleeved shirts.

Our New House

As many of you know by now, while we were in Portland spending Christmas with our kids, we also bought a house in Washougal, Washington, a few miles east of Portland, Oregon and across the Columbia River.

What first struck us was the fabulous views from the house. From the perspective of our back deck, a rainbow appears to end near downtown Washougal.

As if the Columbia River wasn't enough, we even get to watch traffic ply her waters. Here, two tugs head upstream. Often in the evenings, we see tour boats carrying people out to see what we get to see all day long.

Even at night, we get excellent eyewash. Across the river is Troutdale, Oregon. The two elongated light streaks you see are airplanes coming into Portland International Airport. The house itself had many of the basics, and is still a work in progress, but we feel that it is now at least somewhat presentable. This is our great room. When the weather isn't suitable to eat outside, we take our meals at the bistro table in the foreground or on the island to the right. Out the window you can see the table where we dine most this time of year. In the background, you can just glimpse the Columbia River.

We spend a lot of our time in this room. It is the meant to be a family room, but we call it our hobby room. Ted made the double desk with computer keyboard trays and a drawer. He reconfigured my sewing table on the left to match the desk. Mt. Hood can be seen out the window in front of the desk. There is a second deck off this room with more views of the river.

Back upstairs is our kitchen. It is well enough arranged that we can once again cook together, something we both enjoy.

Should you come visit, this is your bedroom. It is off of the hobby room. You will have a full bath and exercise room.

Our bedroom also has stunning views of the Columbia, a walk in closet, and a very comfortable bath with an over-sized tub that has surrounding windows with more views. The over-sized shower and toilet have a separate room.

We've already made a lot of improvements including replacing all but one of the light fixtures, building a storage room in what had been called a crawl space, sewing curtains and pillows, and many more things. Our son, Brent is doing a great job of landscaping the place during his days off. We'll include a few shots of the outside in a future posting. We'd love for you to come and see us in the beautiful Pacific Northwest or if you are already here, come on up the ridge.

Mt. Hood

We live in a beautiful part of the world. Because of that, we spend a lot of time on our back deck. From there, we can see many things. All of the photos below were taken from there.

We live in a place called Lookout Ridge. From here, we can see the weather coming in from the West long before it hits us.

We can watch the neighbors, like this killdeer foraging. It appears that she's working on her second brood of the season.

Across the river in Oregon, we can see the mouth of the Sandy River as it flows into the mighty Columbia.

In the other direction we can see the beginning of the Columbia Gorge National Scenic area. It is a panorama that we can stare at for hours. We often have dinner on our back deck with this in the background. Easy on the digestion. The most spectacular thing we see from our deck, however, is Mt. Hood.

Sometimes, she only reveals her peak to us.

Sometimes we get to see the lower slopes.

Sometimes she shares her beauty completely with us.

Every time we see her, she is a little bit different. Here she is at 5:00 am. Note the condensation plume from her peak. This often happens when there is relatively humid air with strong winds aloft. It is a phenomenon similar to the condensation you see when high flying airplanes go over.A few hours later at 9:00, she has changed completely.

Here she is at noon.

By 3:00 pm, the shadows are beginning to lengthen.

By 7:00 pm, shadows have lengthened a great deal. Note how much brighter the peak appears due to the low angle of the sun which shines at full intensity at her peak, but not on her lower slopes.

By 8:30 pm, the change has become quite marked. Note the reddish cast of the peak which is now much brighter relative to the lower slope.

As we watch beautiful Mt. Hood change through the day and from day to day, it seems to put the world into perspective. We've been in our house now for four months, and are still inspired every time we look at her. May our souls never be so dead that she fails to move us.