PNW2017 (days 5 to 8)

Our next stop was one of my favorite places in the world, the Hoh rainforest.

I'd never visited it in the middle of winter with snow, and it was a new and different experience.

With the temperature just below zero, the typical thick, foresty, musty feeling of the air was less apparent.

We got to see salmon swimming upriver to lay their eggs.

This is a natural colonnade of trees formed by a nurselog.

Next, we hiked the Ozette trail to Cape Alava, the westernmost point of the contiguous 48 states. Much of the trail was a boardwalk.

Here are some views of the coast at Cape Alava.

Then we drove up to Hurricane Ridge to get the real snow experience. It's a popular place for skiers but we just tromped around in the snow.

Our next destination was Seattle, which we reached by the Bremerton ferry.

Washington State Ferries is the largest ferry system in North America, and is publicly owned.

It gives a great view of the Seattle skyline.

To get a daylight view, we climbed to the top of the water tower in Volunteer Park, a free alternative to the Space Needle.

Plus, you get to actually see the Space Needle in the skyline this way.

Interior decorating with typewriters

Olympia SM9

I was leafing through my copy of The House Book by Terence Conran (1974) and came across this stylish setting and thought to myself "they picked that Olympia because it matched the color scheme" (even their stationary of choice is yellow to match the accent color!)

Hermes Baby

So I went through the book and found all the identifiable instances of typewriters in their various settings. I think this Hermes (or is it an Empire?) wasn't chosen to match the color scheme.

Olivetti Lettera 22

What's a stylish room without an Olivetti? Putty looks pretty good here.

Olivetti Studio 44

And for this second Olivetti, did they pick it because it matched the table and chair? Or did they paint their furniture to match their typewriter? Part of my hopes it's the latter.

PNW2017 (days 1 to 4)

Earlier this month, I, W, and two friends visiting from Europe went on a long road trip along the northwest coast, beginning in northern California and ending in an extended stay on the Olympic Peninsula and Seattle/Tacoma area.

This is a shot from the California redwoods.

These are some images of the southern Oregon coast.

I'm not good at identifying birds, so I call these carrot-beaks.

Sand dunes several miles inland from the Oregon coast.

The lighthouse at Heceta Head is in the distance; photo taken from Sea Lion Point, aptly named as there were dozens of them making quite a racket below.

Another southern Oregon coastal view.

Now in Aberdeen, Washington, is this, one of my favorite low clearance bridges. (Only 6'6" clearance on the left side)

Naturally fallen red alder trees (not to be confused with birch) in the Queets forest, Olympic Peninsula.

Some frost in the area, as the temperature hovered around the freezing point.

Plenty of good rocks for skipping.

We hiked along a road that was closed due to being destroyed by a landslide. This shows the aftermath, looking out towards the river from the new end of the road.

Now at the beach at Kalaloch, sea anemones.

Sunset and seagulls.

Windswept trees.

Typing is not this puppy's strong point

A friend of mine came across this adorable and hilarious article in the archives of the local newspaper today, and I knew I had to share it with you all! From this angle I can't make out the typewriter, anyone have any ideas?

Misty morning

W and I woke up before the sunrise and went for a walk in the park when it started to get light.

The misty morning twilight was a perfect setting for photography.

The pool (closed for winter) had some ducks in it.

While in the park, the sun slid just over the rooftops.

Sacramento nights

I haven't posted any travel- or nature-related stuff here lately, so I thought I'd use today, the final day of November, as an excuse to make a post this month. I've taken plenty of photos in and around Sacramento since we moved here, but it seems like my favorite ones are always night shots. The first one here is of a canal to the west of town with a nice moon reflection.

This one is of the decommissioned Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station. That has a whole sad history of its own, with some gross mishandling on the side.

This is a shot along one of the many levees overlooking rivers that are found in the delta region. Unlike most river deltas, this one reaches inland from the mouth, rather than spreading outwards.

And finally, a street scene at night with some light streaking. I took this photo the same night I attempted to capture the "supermoon" which really didn't look very striking in my situation.