Category Archives: Travel

Greyhounds Used to Park – Now it is a Park

An overnight stop on our drive from California to Washington was Medford in Oregon. There were a few aviation areas of interest in Medford and they will appear in the blog in due course. (That may have influenced my thoughts on overnighting there but, to be honest, it was the best place for us to stop.). We went into the town to get some dinner and, as we walked back to the car, we passed a small park. This park used to be a bus station for Greyhound services. A small plaque showed some shots of how it once looked. An archway into the building had been preserved and now was free standing courtesy of a reinforcement frame. The color and style of the arch were clearly of their time but it looked rather cool in the evening light.

Mount Shasta

Leave a Reply

The move from the Bay Area to the Seattle area involved a two day drive. The first part of the drive north is pretty flat but, as you get further north, you get into the southern end of the Cascades Range. The interstate runs around the south and west of Mount Shasta. You first see it a long time before you are anywhere near close to it. These large mountains are not easy to miss provided it is a clear day and the weather was lovely on this occasion.

We pulled off the road briefly at a viewing location. We were still some distance from the mountain and the view was not unimpeded but I guess this was a better spot than was available further up. The mountain had plenty of snow on it. As you looked closer, you could see wisps of cloud above the surface. I couldn’t tell whether they were actual clouds or snow that was being whipped up by wind as we were too far away. It took a long time to go by the mountain. We came up the west side but for a long time it just was there. Eventually, it was behind us and we continued on to our overnight stop.

More Pretty Coastline Than You Know What to Do With

Leave a Reply

Our trip down the coast included some driving down the Pacific Coast Highway. This is undoubtedly a gorgeous place to be. Each turn in the coast brings with it another lovely view of rugged cliffs and crashing waves. Add some sun and it really is wonderful. There is little point in saying much more. Instead, here are a few shots to show just how great it is.

Rocky Point Restaurant

Leave a Reply

A favorite of ours for a while has been the Rocky Point Restaurant. Located on Pacific Coast Highway, it is not the greatest restaurant but it is so well located, you can forgive it many things. On our trip this time, we just stopped off for a drink rather than a meal. This proved to be a great idea because we we could wander down to the lower terrace to enjoy our drinks and watch the whales swim past. We first came here years ago when I was taken on a corporate event which included dinner here. Once we knew about it, we came back on a few occasions. These shots just show what a great place it is to hang out.

Abstract Earth Erosion

Leave a Reply

Driving south on the Pacific Coast Highway, I was quite taken by the patterns in the earth resulting from erosion by the rain. The soil is obviously soft and so has worn in patterns that are quite striking. I think we were driving south when the light was best for the patterns. The shadows were very pronounced. On the way back I stopped to take some shots. They were interesting but the light had moved to be more head on so the contrast was not as pronounced. However, I still think the shapes made some interesting abstract patterns.

Bixby Creek Bridge

Leave a Reply

Head south from Carmel along the Pacific Coast Highway and you will eventually come across Bixby Creek Bridge. This iconic bridge is a popular tourist attraction and also the feature of plenty of car commercials and movies. If you have watched Big Little Lies, you will have asked yourself why these people were driving over this bridge so often when it is a long way from where they live and doesn’t take them anywhere that they would normally be going.

We stopped off to check it out while we were driving south. There are some good places to stop just north of the bridge and lots of people are there taking their pictures. Unfortunately, the angle of the light is not good. This didn’t stop me taking some pictures anyway. However, on the way back north, I stopped short of the bridge to take advantage of the better light angle and I am glad I did. I guess most people aren’t bothered by the light. However, they could really benefit their tourist snaps from going to the other side. It would be fun to try this out late in the evening.

Seven Gables Inn

Leave a Reply

Monterey Bay is an area that we have visited many times but we have always made it a day trip. With the area shortly to be a lot less accessible to us, we decided to have a weekend down there so we could relax and enjoy the area without having to think about getting in the car for a drive back. Nancy looked at various places to stay and she picked the Seven Gables Inn. Located in Pacific Grove, it sits right on the shore road. We have driven and walked by many times but this time we stayed.

The hotel has a great location. They have a lounge area with views over the bay that you can relax in with wine and cheese in the evenings. Meanwhile, the breakfast room has a panoramic view out over the water. Sitting eating your breakfast while looking out at the bay is very tranquil. The original building is a Victorian structure while additions have been made to expand things over the years. It proved to be a great base for our weekend away.

Looking Down on DC

Leave a Reply

I had to make a quick trip across the country to D.C. recently. It was only a brief visit so I didn’t travel with any camera other than my phone. I originally thought the flight back was very early in the morning but it turned out I was mistaken and we took off once the sun had come up. We departed to the north from National which takes you towards all of the most famous views of the National Mall.

The flight path involves a turn away from the good view so you are fighting the appearance of the engine and the wing when trying to get a shot (and that doesn’t take account of the battle you have with the high quality windows of your average airliner. It is the best view you get of the area though so well worth a go. Shooting in RAW also helps to fix some of the issues you can get with a phone when the shooting opportunity is fleeting.

The Sierras Finally Have a Lot of Snow

Leave a Reply

Since moving to California, we have been in a drought. There has not been a huge amount of rain and, more importantly, the snowfalls over the Sierras have been very limited. Sometimes I have flown over the mountains and they have been pretty bare. Since the snow pack is a primary source of water for the reservoirs, this is a big deal. This winter has been different. We have received a lot of rain along the coastal areas and the mountains have been getting a decent amount of snow. I flew across a while back and, as we looked down on the mountains, they were totally covered. Normally the snow is clear but the other features show up well too like the forests. This time, everything looked white. It was one uniform texture across everything. I imagine that, not only had a lot of snow fallen but it had fallen recently and hadn’t yet shaken off the trees. It looked amazing out of the window of the plane!

The Highest Waterfalls and the Valleys of the Wet Side

Leave a Reply

The Big Island has dramatically different characteristics as you move across it. As we took our trip on the helicopter to see the volcanic activity, we continued up the east side of the island which is considerably wetter than the west. There are dramatic valleys and high cliffs. The terrain looks impressive from the air but I imagine it looks even more amazing when you are on the ground. Our pilot described hiking around some of these valleys. Crossing one ridge is apparently a six hour hike and that is if you are not loaded down with too much gear!

We flew in to some of the valleys to have a look around. The ground towered above us on most sides and you really felt in awe of the geology around you. Everything is so large, images don’t even start to represent what we saw. We also came in to the highest falls on the island. The largest of these drop over 3,000’ down the sides of the mountains. We flew in to a corner where these falls were raining down. The shots are not special but I include them to try and give an impression of what was there. The scale is impossible to judge and I also had plenty of reflections from the cockpit glazing but here they are anyway.

We buzzed around a number of these valleys always surrounded by lush, steep slopes. This is not an area for the faint of heart. We then headed back towards the west up another valley climbing towards the ridge ahead of us. As we popped over this ridge the green foliage was almost instantly replaced by the dry, brown landscape we had originally come from. The transition was instant and rather surprising as, while climbing up, you had no idea what was ahead. Then it was a straight run back to our base.