From the Mountains to the Beach

It's high time for another blog post! Before I get started, though, a little side note... Some of you have mentioned not knowing when I had a new post up. Now, I know this is really my fault, because when I don't post very often, frequent visits to the blog aren't worth it. However, did you know that there's a handy little service that will send my blog posts to you by email? Just enter your email address into the "Follow by Email" box on the right, and you'll be signed up for updates whenever I post. That way, you'll never miss them. And of course, you can unsubscribe if you get tired of the updates (it's okay, I'll never know!).

Okay, now on to the fun stuff. August was full of lots of opportunities to get out and enjoy the beautiful place we live in. We have my cousin Amber to thank for a lot of those opportunities, because she came out and visited us. We wanted to take her to all our favorite places and in the process had a nice week-long "staycation."

Anyone who comes to the Northwest has to see Multnomah Falls, so that was our first stop. It was very crowded. I guess that's to be expected for a Sunday in August!

Crown Point, on our way home from Multnomah Falls.

We also went on a hike in the Gorge around the Cape Horn area. It was a lovely hike, even though the weather was a little cloudy.

Wild Columbine.

Fireweed?

The Gorge again. Such a lovely view!

Cigar Rock. Appropriately named, don't you think?

This thin, misty waterfall was a highlight of the hike. The trail passes behind it.

We also took Amber to Cape Disappointment State Park for a couple days of camping.

The moon rises as we get ready for our first night.

Amber, Christina, and Mom, with North Head Lighthouse in the bakground.

Pelicans

North Head Lighthouse in the morning

The North Jetty on the Columbia. We walked out on it a good distance. It was fascinating to see how the water was rough on the north side, but very calm on the south side. There were lots of birds and a few sea lions around it.

See-sawing on the beach.

  

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.

Another must-see for anyone visiting the Northwest is, of course, Mt. St. Helens, so this was our last excursion with Amber. We were really thankful that although it was a cloudy day at lower elevations, the clouds weren't too thick at Johnston Ridge.

Wildflowers! Still blooming in August.

We were so glad Amber could come out and stay with us, and it was very fun showing her around the area. The week after she left, we got to go to the Coast again, this time to visit the folks at our church's annual camp-out at Cape Lookout State Park. Again, we were blessed with gorgeous weather.

The beach at Cape Lookout, looking north.

Starfish!

Looking south toward the actual Cape Lookout.

It's been an exciting summer, and it's not quite over yet. Stay tuned for more. :)

Colville and PWP2

Wow... I haven't posted anything for a month.  Sometimes it's hard to know what impact my blogging/not blogging has on my readers.  Do people stop reading when I don't post anything?  How often do they check my blog? Well, if you're a regular reader, let me say two things: 1) thanks for faithfully checking my blog, 2) I'm sorry if you had to check multiple times before anything showed up! 

Last week was very busy for our family.  Mom and Christina went on our church's annual missions trip to the Colville Indian Reservation.  Dad also got to go for part of the week. The team came back with good reports.  To see more about WPC to Colville 2010 check here.

While I wasn't able to go on the trip, I did get to take the team picture before they left.

I wasn't able to go on the missions trip because I was at a photography workshop hosted by IPS.  IPS is a Christian photography organization.  I can say from first-hand experience that they provide very high quality instruction.  This workshop was Prizewinning Photography 2, which focused primarily on portraiture, workflow, and editing.  Some of the highlights were taking urban portraits in Portland, going to Multnomah and Bridal Veil Falls, and going to Cannon Beach.  And there was class time in there, too, so every day was really packed! 

After having said that we concentrated on portraiture, all I'm posting here are landscapes I took during the week.  I don't want to use the portraits on my blog without having asked my "models."  However, hopefully you will see the fruit of what I learned about portraiture in future blog posts.

Multnomah Falls (my second time there this year)

Bridal Veil Falls--my first time there ever

Cannon Beach (second time there this year as well) 

As you can see, it was cloudy that evening on the beach.  We were there to get sunset portraits, so that wasrather disappointing.  It was cool, too, so a nice warm fire felt really good!

For more on PWP2, check out the IPS blog. 

In the Gorge

After seeing the Coast on Friday, we took Uncle Dan's family to the Columbia River Gorge on Saturday.  If the weather was a bit cool and cloudy on Friday, it was just perfect on Saturday.  It was lovely and sunny all day.  First we took them to Beacon Rock and everyone hiked to the top.      

I just love this little arch in one of the rock walls on the way up.  I have no idea why they built this little arch there, but it just begs to have pictures taken through it. 

Uncle Dan, Aunt Rita, and family at the top. 

Our second stop was Multnomah Falls.  It was really crowded, as I guess we should have expected it to be on a sunny Saturday in the summer.      

We debated whether or not we should hike to the top of the falls. After all, we had already done Beacon Rock. In the end we did go up to the top.  Everyone hung in there quite well.  The sign at the bottom says it's only a mile to the top, but it feels like more than that.  Getting to look over the edge of the drop-off where the falls begin makes it worth it, though. 

Happy New Year!

It's been a long Christmas break, but I'm finally back into school this week. Those weeks off were eventful in their own ways. Christmas itself was quiet, though, and it was good just to spend time as a family. The day after Christmas we went on a drive down the gorge. We stopped by Multnomah Falls on the way home, which is where the shot below is from (with a little desaturating in Photoshop). The wind chill that day made it feel incredibly cold, and you can see the frost around the falls. I love the gorge, and it's always nice to get back out there.

It's hard to get back into a more structured schedule after quite a few weeks off, but it's also a good feeling to know that the day was full of mind-stretching work. Sometimes I struggle with wondering what my motivation to do college classes is--after all, I don't consider myself the "scholarly type." I can do it, but it's not my passion. I know, though, that God wants me to keep expanding my mind and gaining skills, and this is one of the ways I can accomplish that. So I will press on! I have yet to decide on a particular track, so right now I'm still taking this and that. This quarter I'm taking another online class from Clark: Introduction to Database Design Using Access. It's another computer class; enough said (I really do find it interesting, though). I'm also taking two Whitefield classes: New Testament Survey and Ethics. Altogether, I think these are going to keep me quite busy for the next few months!