Friday, April 23, 2010

April is coming to an end

Last weekend, Joy and I took a drive up to Longview on I-5 and then back down the Oregon side of the Columbia. The weather was a mixture of pouring rain and sunshine--thus rainbows, too. We ended up at Bald Peak State Park just about sunset; we need to go visit there again sometime.

This is the start of the last weekend in April, 2010. John and I have multimedia duty tomorrow and then he is having some friends come over for a late birthday party--lots of video games, I'm sure. Joy is baking him a cake, so they will all be having sugar highs.

I'm ready for a weekend off for another photography excursion! Maybe, next weekend...

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A nice weekend!

On Saturday afternoon, we went up the Columbia Gorge with our friends Les & Keri. At Mosier, we got off of the freeway and took the old highway. We stopped frequently so that Les and I could take pictures while Joy and Keri chatted away in the car. One of the places was at the Memaloose Overlook, where I took a series of pictures to make a panorama. We then proceeded to Rowena Crest before getting back on I-84 heading west. After a stop for ice cream in Cascade Locks, we stopped at Horsetail and Bridal Veil Falls. It was nice to be able walk mostly normally again!

On Sunday, even though rain had been forecast, the weather turned out nice. I took a walk in Mount Talbert Nature Park, where there were lots of flowers.

http://picasaweb.google.com/rickh57/ColumbiaGorgeSpring2010#5458899480209431410

Monday, April 05, 2010

A Fun Easter Weekend

Thursday after work, I stopped off at the Oregon Zoo for a quick visit to see the lions and cheetahs. It was clear, but cool. I got many good pictures.

Yesterday, after a Son Rise service at PVC, I drove up into the lower Columbia Gorge and took some pictures. This was the first time that I've ever been to Crown Point when there wasn't even one other car in the parking lot. The wind was whipping past, though. I then took pictures at Latourell Falls and Shepperd's Dell. (Pictures)

In the afternoon, we got together for an Easter lunch with Joy's family--ate good food and visited.

Now, it's back to work Monday...

Thursday, April 01, 2010

Happy April Fools Day

April 2010 is already here. It seems like time is racing by.

The weather in Portland has been cool, cloudy, and rainy. The forecast for today is for a somewhat nicer day; if it is accurate, I'm going to stop at the Oregon Zoo on my way home and take some pictures at the new Predators of Serengeti exhibit.

I'm ready for some nicer weekend weather so we can get out and photograph some more of the Northwest's scenery.

Monday, March 29, 2010

A Quiet Spring Break

Joy and I had last week off for her Spring break. We did some yard work and organizing in the house, but also relaxed quite a bit.

We took a couple of trips to Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden (pictures), plus a Saturday afternoon excursion to Moulton Falls (pictures), near Battle Ground in Washington. It has been fun learning to use some of the features of our DSLR.

Now, it's back to work time on a very rainy Monday. Driving to work this morning, I had a couple of unpleasant encounters with other motorists. You'd think that people that live in Oregon would know how to drive in the rain, but apparently they don't; driving too fast and changing lanes on very wet roads is just crazy!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

New Camera!

We bought the Nikon D5000 camera at Costco. It came with two lenses, one a wide-angle to short telephoto, the other short-telephoto to medium telephoto. It has been fun to get out and take pictures of animals, birds, and scenery.

We have next week off for Joy's spring break. There is a lot of spring cleaning and organizing to be done around the house, but we'll have a chance to get out and enjoy some spring weather and take some neat photographs.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

A great weekend--and now rain

On Saturday, we went on a very nice drive up the Columbia River Gorge with our friends Les & Keri. The temperature was in the 60s and the sky and river were very blue. We saw wild flowers and waterfalls and mountains. The only problem I had was that I couldn't walk to see some of the waterfalls, so I had to stay close to the car. Oh well, at least I'm not still on crutches. A photograph from the trip. That evening, we watched The Ugly Truth with them, a funny movie.

By Monday, the weather had turned back to more normal Oregon weather, cloudy, rainy and cool. There was actually some snow on the hilltops for the first time since December.

I've pretty much settled on buying a Nikon D5000 DSLR camera. The reviews on it are very good and the price is significantly lower than the Canon I was looking at, especially with an instant rebate available through the end of March.