Share where you live... A bench with a view

It took an hour to drive to this spot, high on a bald hilltop in the mountains east of  Rockaway Beach. Farm land, then a river valley, higher and higher through active logging areas, climbing saddles and ridges until one last dizzying climb up a hogsback with a spooky drop off both sides, and we were there. From here, a 360-degree view of the mountains, and to the west, the Pacific Ocean shows as a dark blue band.


Explore a park, find a bench | #3

On the rocky edge facing the west, someone had cut two logs and fashioned a rough bench, and built a firepit of stone. Although I can't imagine driving up this road after dark, I can't imagine a better place to come watch a sunset.



This is #3 on the @twistedroadstudio summer photography scavenger hunt

Getaways...

It was one of those impulsive weekend getaways that I love... this time, heading for the Oregon coast to meet up with one of DW's Colorado cousins, and a friend who's been working in Portland. We'd been thinking about spending a couple of days in Tillamook this summer, to find a couple of very old geocaches and maybe do some hiking. So when we found out that Ranae was heading that way too, we made sure our plans meshed with hers.

So yesterday we took our time getting there, searching for caches and photo ops in Washington, then driving the long way through the Coast range and exploring some logging roads before checking into our hotel in Tillamook. It was late, and we were starving, and we found great crab cakes and a comfy place to hang out at Pelican Brewing.

This morning we met the girls for breakfast at a cute diner in Tillamook, then headed into the mountains. Our route took us up the Trask River road, and high into the Coast range, following the river through a narrow valley. When we turned off onto a logging road and crossed the river, we stopped to take photos. The light was so beautiful, the greens so green, I didn't want to leave. 

After we found our first old cache, we parted company. The girls headed back to the ocean to explore, and we headed deeper into the mountains to find more old caches. Driving up a different river drainage, the road was narrow and windy, high above the valley floor. Distant views of pillow basalt cliffs were amazing.

We made it back with just enough time to change and drive north to Garibaldi for dinner at Pirate's Cove, a small restaurant right at the water's edge, looking south over Tillamook Bay. We snagged a corner table, with a view of the entire bay. As the light turned toward dusk, the view was amazing. 

We left around sunset, stopping in Garibaldi to look at the old steam locomotive near the marina. The light was changing fast, but I had time for a few photographs.

I've driven through Tillamook so many times, but this weekend was the first time I'd stayed here and really took time to look around. We saw lots of barns and farms and barn quilts, drove lots of back roads through the dairy and farm lands between the Pacific and the mountains, and drove high into the mountains for some really beautiful views.

Pulling weeds...

We had breakfast with a friend this morning, then home to mow the couple of acres that DW's expanded the lawn to. I pulled on my gardening jeans and a t-shirt, and started pulling weeds in the new perennial garden. The new perennials are doing well and starting to bloom, and it's good to have Rudbeckia, Purple Coneflower, and Scabiosa back in my gardens again.



The back corner is waist-high in Rose Campion and it's beautiful right now, but I'm thinking of relocating these plants to the border behind the garage. This big corner is where I want to put an Adirondack chair and a table, a place to sit with my book and mug of tea on nice mornings. As I worked my way into that corner, cutting the blackberries and the wisteria, I was thinking about how to finish this corner. Maybe a pair of Adirondack chairs, or just one chair and a small table? I also want to move some of the planters into the corner. Or maybe this would be a good spot for one of the new lavender plants.

As I worked, toward the corner, a Towhee flew up into the lilac bush and started giving me grief. The more I puttered, the louder it got. So I gave up. I figure there's a nest in there somewhere, so I'll give the babies time to fledge, then I'll finish.

Foxglove...

They grow everywhere, in the forest and the clear cuts, and along the highways. From the ocean to the Cascades, foxgloves are everywhere you look. This year, they are especially thick and lush. So prevalent in fact, you'd never know they aren't native.

My favorites are the white ones, because they aren't as common, but both the dark lavender and the white grow in my gardens. But today we went for a walk in an open area surrounded by forest, and I saw something amazing: pink foxgloves. I've never seen this color before.

Paws...

She sleeps all day... except when she's eating. Four years in, and she still won't jump up on my lap and take a nap. But she'll stay a while, if I scoop her up and settle her there. Especially if I set her down on top of her favorite blanket. She'll stretch her paws down toward my ankles, lay her head down on her paws, and fall asleep with a big, big sigh.



After four years, she's learned that if she follows the sun, she'll always be warm. So when I put her tower in the window, and pull up the blind, she comes running. One day, maybe when she's old, she'll come running for a chance to sleep on my lap.



I'll keep you posted.

Cache machine...

Up at 4:00 this morning, and on the road. Not out of town this time, just a day wandering around Monroe with a bunch of friends, finding geocaches.



From Monroe to the cliffs above Index, we spent the day walking and driving from one beautiful place to another. There is much I don't like about my birth state anymore, but I can't fault the scenic beauty.

On a back road, on the south side of the Snohomish River, we followed a trail down to a beach full of cliffs and boulders, and still clear water.

Share where you live... Green

It's not hard in this part of the world, to find green everywhere you look. Even in June, when it's starting to heat up, the woods are still brilliant green.

For this entry in the Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt, the task was to find five different leaves. In this wooded park between Hwy. 101 and the Pacific Ocean, I didn't even need to move my feet.

Go on a nature hike... find five different leaves | #1

This is #1 on the @twistedroadstudio summer photography scavenger hunt

Normal...

We get up early to meet caching friends for coffee, have breakfast at a nearby cafe, then come home for chores (does the laundry ever get completely done??). I see a flash of brilliant color through the cedar tree, and finally drop everything and go out with my camera to capture it.



I finish the blocks for a new quilt, and make a miniature block for the label. An old friend has returned to posting photos to her blog every day, and I am pleased. She is has an amazing eye for photography, and I've missed her daily writing and pictures.

Bubbles...

In a small waterfront park, in a small town... really, really big bubbles.

Share where you live... sign collector

After an hour or two walking the old streets of Port Townsend, I spotted these paintings on the side of a brick building, and stopped for a photograph. Then I spotted the arrow. Since I always take pictures of these old murals and signs, I didn't need the hint. Then I realized that the arrow pointed the way to where I'd parked.

Arrow... where does it point?

This is #11 on the @twistedroadstudio summer photography scavenger hunt

Reflections...

It's hard to pass by any reflection, especially when I find a river that flows so slowly, it mimics a lake. This is the Hoquiam River in the late afternoon, full of shadows.

We recently spent a whole day driving along the Washington coast, stopping at Forks and La Push and Rialto beach, and deciding spur of the moment to stay for another night before heading for home.

Share where you live... Shadows

On our way home from the ocean, we were still chasing a few more geocaches before we lost the light. And when we got close to the abandoned cooling towers at Satsop, DW hopped off the highway and drove across the river to take a look. All those years driving past, and it's the first time I've been up close and personal.

Ladder - show where it leads | #25

I stood in the weedy parking lot, so close I had to crane my neck to see the top of the 480-ft. tower. And all I could do was wonder how many steps were in this staircase... and be glad I would never have to find out first-hand. I love how the late-afternoon light created beautiful shadows from this vertigo-inducing ladder. 

This is #25 on the @twistedroadstudiosummer photography scavenger hunt

Misty grey...

On this grey, grey June day, the only color was the grass along the river, and the distant evergreens on James Island and his much smaller siblings.



The wind was blowing, and the clouds were full of mist. Being there brought back so many memories of family time at the ocean when I was growing up. Especially the mist and the grey... picking the right time to be at the beach is a crap shoot, especially in the days before webcams and weather predictions on a smart phone.

But the sand between my toes and the sound of the waves are part of me, deeply ingrained. So I don't mind when the sun doesn't show its face. And I take off my shoes and walk to the edge of the water, and love every feeling that rushes through me.

Share where you live... yellow in a garden

A weekend on the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula... to pick up wine and enjoy live music, do some geocaching, and shop for new lavender plants for the garden. The lavender farms are just starting to bloom, but Sequim is full of gardens in full bloom.

Visit a garden or greenhouse, find something yellow

Share where you live... flags

My blogging friend, Sarah of Twisted Road Studio, is doing something fun this summer: a photo scavenger hunt to to give us some inspiration to get out with our cameras, but without the stress of a doing a daily post. And I decided to play along. There are 28 prompts, and we have until the end of August to finish the list.

Find a flag | #7

This approach is perfect for me. I've tried following daily prompts in the past, and it just doesn't work for me. I always get sidetracked by quilting or gardening or geocaching, and hate when I miss a deadline, however minor. So I'm going to have fun with the list.

I'll post my photos here or on my Instagram page, Pennylane_53 (or maybe both places).

Do a search for the hashtag #sharewhereyoulive2019 to see what others are posting.
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This is #7 on the @twistedroadstudio summer photography scavenger hunt