Category: Photography

April Flowers

Published on by admin

The Pacific Northwest is known as always being cloudy with lots of rain. It hasn’t seemed so bad since Lori and I moved up here, in fact, it’s been a pleasant change from the yearly 270 days of sunshine and 4.5 inches of rain of our last home in California. All the same, when the sun shines here in Port Ludlow we love to get outside and take it in. Lately, we’ve been enjoying the sun while sipping coffee, tea or other beverage on the back deck of our home. They say April showers bring May flowers but this April was pretty dry and the flowers in our backyard bloomed in April. 

There’s a tulip festival in Skagit Valley every year. The festival was cancelled this year due to Coronavirus so we had our own mini tulip festival. Our dear friend (and realtor) Vickie gave Lori tulip bulbs with flowers of various colors. They came up in grand fashion so Lori and I have had our own tulip festival.

Not long after moving up here, my cousin Barb gave us a large pot of several different flowers as a housewarming gift. One type has bloomed every year since then but we’ve never been sure of what it is. Barb remembered it as a tulip, but not the exact type. After some internet searching I decided it’s either a Cynthia Tulip or a Tubergen’s Tulip.

Rhododendron are very popular around here, so much so that Port Townsend has an annual Rhododendron Festival, except this year, of course. Our yard is full of rhododendron, these were the earliest to bloom.

We also have a couple small magnolias in the backyard, one with white flowers, the other red. They came out to join the tulips and rhododendron.

To learn more about the Skagit Tulip Festival visit https://www.tulipfestival.org
To learn more about the Port Townsend Rhododendron Festival visit http://www.rhodyfestival.org
To see all of my backyard flower photos, Skagit Tulip Festival photos and more visit https://jmacdphoto.com/flower-photography/
Start at my home page,  https://jmacdphoto.com/ , to visit all of my web site.

Alaska Adventure

Published on by admin1 Comment

Lori had been to all of the states in the USA with one exception: Alaska. I’d never been to Alaska either, so in September of last year we jetted up to Anchorage for some exploring. Our first stop was the AirBnB that would act as our base of operations. It was a small apartment in the basement of a house that we enjoyed. Until evening when it sounded like furniture was being moved. Every evening.

We got up early the next day and drove to Whittier for a day long glacier cruise. It was a beautiful drive southeast on the Seward Highway along the edge of Chugach National Forest on the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. Plenty of turnouts provided ample opportunity for photos.

The Portage Glacier Highway took us into Whittier. But before getting to Whittier you have to pass through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, also known as the Whittier Tunnel. The Whittier Tunnel is a 2.5 mile long, one lane tunnel through Maynard Mountain. The tunnel is shared between cars and trains. Passage through the tunnel is scheduled, something you have to take into account when traveling to and from Whittier.

There are about 200 permanent residents in Whittier, most of whom live in the same 14 story building, and it seems to be primarily a tourist destination these days. Our glacier cruise with Phillips Cruises set sail from Whittier for a 5 hour cruise.

The cruise took us on Prince William Sound into College Fjord, Harriman Fjord and much more. I was too busy taking pictures to take notes so I’m not sure which glacier is which.

Wildlife sightings were limited to Stellar Sea Lions, Harbor Seals and Sea Otters. Well, there was also a bear sighting but I was on the wrong side of the boat and it had run into the woods before I could get around to that side. 

We started day three with a walk on the Tony Knowle Coastal Trail, a 22 mile long trail along the Anchorage waterfront. We started at Kincaid Park, the halfway point, sharing the trail with other walkers and bicyclists. After an hour or so we decided to explore outside of Anchorage.

We then headed north out of Anchorage without a destination. Along the way we decided to to have lunch in Wasilla then hike the Chuoilintnu/Wasilla Creek Trail in the Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge. Lunch was at the Cadillac Cafe, a small diner attached to a gas station. The food was the best we had in Alaska, thank you Yelp for your guidance.

It was a beautiful hike on the Chuoilintnu/Wasilla Creek Trail, or at least we thought it was. After a half hour so, the trail we were on didn’t seem to match the description of the Chuoilintnu/Wasilla Creek Trail so we turned back. Shortly after turning around we heard some yelling. “ Hey! Hey you! What are you doing here?” Looking back up the small hill we’d just come down was a man carrying a rifle in front of a truck. In the short discussion that ensued we did determine that we were not on the correct trail but on private property and that we were not welcome there. Apologizing profusely (he was carrying a rifle after all), we quickly walked back to the trail head and got on the right trail.

The rest of the hike was uneventful, fortunately. A quick stop at Bearpaw River Brewing Company to wet our whistles then back to Anchorage.

On the fourth day we headed home, our Alaska adventure complete.

Click on the links below for more information on places we visited in Alaska:
Anchorage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorage,_Alaska
Whittier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whittier,_Alaska
Wasilla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasilla,_Alaska
Phillips Cruises https://phillipscruises.com/cruises/26-glacier-cruise.php
Tony Knowle Coastal Trail https://www.alaska.org/detail/tony-knowles-coastal-trail
Chuoilintnu/Wasilla Creek Trail http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=palmerhayflats.access
Cadillac Cafe https://www.yelp.com/biz/cadillac-cafe-wasilla
Bearpaw River Brewing Company http://www.bearpawriverbrewing.com

To see photos of other places visit https://jmacdphoto.com/gallery-places/

Start at my home page,  https://jmacdphoto.com/ , to visit all of my web site.

Port Ludlow

Published on by admin

Port Ludlow, “A Village in the Woods by the Bay”, was a logging and sawmill community in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Port Ludlow became the site of a resort, marina  and several planned communities in the late 20th century. Home to around 3,000 people, including Lori and me, it is also home to a vast array of wildlife including deer, raccoon, possum, bobcat, bear and cougar,  all of which have visited our yard. Deer frequently walk onto our back deck to get apples higher up in our trees. And birds too numerous to mention. Our house is surrounded by tall trees, cedar, fir, pine and aspen. We literally live in the woods. Lori and I moved here from the Palm Springs area almost three years ago and haven’t looked back since. 

Our village is situated in the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula on Port Ludlow Bay, an inlet off Puget Sound, and just south of Port Townsend (see my Port Townsend blog https://jmacdphoto.com/port-townsend-waterfront/). “Downtown“ is a gas station with a mini mart post office, medical clinic, a couple restaurants and several small businesses. “Uptown” (across the street and uphill) has a church and several businesses. The marina area has, yes, the Marina but also the Resort, Yacht Club, Beach Club and condos, many of which are vacation rentals.  There are also incredible views of the Olympic Mountains from the marina. Port Ludlow is on the edge of the Olympic Rain Shadow, a phenomenon that spares us from much of the rain northwest Washington is known for. This means we can enjoy the 30+ miles of hiking trails in the village without getting as wet.

Here are a few photos of our Village in the Woods by the Bay.

  • The Yacht Club
  • Yacht races on the lagoon
  • The Olympic Mountains

The trails

  • One of the many trails
  • The Port Ludlow Waterfall

A sample of the wildlife (haven’t gotten pictures of cougar, bear and bobcat. Yet.)

  • In our front yard

To learn more about Port Ludlow visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Ludlow,_Washington

My friend Bryan Diehl also has great photos and incredible videos of Port Ludlow and the surrounding area, look him up on Youtube.

To see photos of other places visit https://jmacdphoto.com/gallery-places/

Start at my home page,  https://jmacdphoto.com/ , to visit all of my web site.

Port Townsend Waterfront

Published on by admin

Port Townsend, at a population of roughly 10,000,  is the “big city” near our home on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Just a 20 minute drive that Lori and I love to take, Port Townsend has annual events like the Kinetic Sculpture Race, a small boatbuilding center, a modest shipyard, restaurants and micro breweries. The downtown area is a National Historic Landmark District with Victorian buildings and houses from the late 19th century. Also in Port Townsend is Fort Warden Historical State Park, a WW I army facility and great place to hike and camp. Being in the Olympic rain shadow, Port Townsend is often sunny and clear when it’s overcast and rainy at our home, adding to our love of visiting the “city”. I particularly like the Port Townsend waterfront, these photos are from our last visit.

To learn more about the Port Townsend area visit Port Townsend www.cityofpt.us, Fort Warden parks.state.wa.us/fortwarden and Kinetic Sculpture Race www.ptkineticrace.org

Our favorite Port Townsend restaurants/breweries are Quench www.quenchwaterfrontbar.com, Dusty Green Cafe www.dustygreencafe.com, Port Townsend Brewing Company  www.porttownsendbrewing.com

To see photos of other places visit https://jmacdphoto.com/gallery-places/

Start at my home page, https://jmacdphoto.com/ , to visit all of my photography web site.

Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve

Published on by admin

Earlier in the month, Lori and I travelled to the San Diego area to visit Kyle, Brittany and our five grandkids. It was great spending time with them, especially getting to know the twins, now three month old. While there, we did a few fun things including an open ocean kayak tour in La Jolla Cove (great fun, Michael and Friends Kayak Tours operating out of Everyday California, check them out at everydaycalifornia.com) and hiking in the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. The Reserve is one of two places where you can find the Torrey pine, Pines torreyana. The other is Santa Rosa Island near Santa Barbara. The reserve offers eight miles of trails, we chose the Beach Trail, 3/4 of a mile with, as the sign said, over a hundred steps. Lori stopped counting at 150. These photos are from that hike.

Flat Rock from the beach.
Flat Rock from the trail.
There were strategically placed benches along the trail. I took this while resting on one of those benches on our way back up the trail.
This little fellow was on the wall in the visitor center. In California they’re called mountain lions. In Washington they’re called cougars. Included here because Lori saw one of these beautiful beasts stroll through our backyard a couple weeks ago and we weren’t quick enough to get pictures then.

To learn more about the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve visit parks.ca.gov, then select Find Parks and scroll down to Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.

To see more of the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and other places, visit https://jmacdphoto.com/gallery-places/

Start at my home page, https://jmacdphoto.com/ , to visit all of my photography web site.

Tongue Point Bald Eagle

Published on by admin1 Comment

Yesterday, Lori and I took the van out to the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula in search of camping areas we’d want to spend time at. The weather was rainy and cold, but we did find a couple areas that we will visit in better weather. Because of the weather, my camera stayed in the van. Until our final stop. We walked out to Tongue Point to see the view and found, sitting atop the remnants of a tree on an island about 200 yards away, a bald eagle. I ran back to the van, collected my camera and managed to get a couple good shots from different angles.

To see more of my wildlife photos visit https://jmacdphoto.com/wildlife/(opens in a new tab)

Start at my home page, https://jmacdphoto.com/ , to visit all of my photography web site.

Deception Pass

Published on by admin

Deception Pass is a waterway between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands in Puget Sound. It’s also Washington’s most visited state park with campgrounds, hiking trails, beaches, picnic grounds and more. It also has a bridge with spectacular views. Lori and I have taken the ferry to Whidbey Island, driving over the bridge to get to Bellingham to visit our granddaughter Aly, camp in British Columbia and see the tulip fields in Skagit Valley. Each time we’ve said “we need to stop here sometime.” I recently went that direction for an appointment and took some time to get a few photos. 

I caught a pre-dawn ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville on Whidbey Island, so I got to see the sun rise while on the water. This is Mt. Rainier in silhouette, the sun still below the horizon.

Below are views from the Deception Pass Bridge, still getting some color from the rising sun. That’s Mt. Baker in the distance.

From the other side of the Deception Pass Bridge.

For more information on Deception Pass, as well as other Washington State Parks, visit parks.state.wa.us

To see more of Deception Pass and other places visit https://jmacdphoto.com/gallery-places/

Start at my home page, https://jmacdphoto.com/ , to visit all of my photography web site.

Bodie California, A Ghost Town

Published on by admin

Usually Paul, Al and I spend our annual camping trip near a creek or lake. Fishing and photography during the day, fine dinners and guitar playing at night. Last year, however, at Paul’s suggestion, we spent an afternoon at Bodie, a ghost town. 

Bodie began as a gold mining camp in 1859, boomed from 1877 through 1880. Mining operations continued until 1942. Bodie was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961 and became the Bodie State Historic Park in 1962. It doesn’t cost much to enter the park, but remember, your National Park Senior Pass is not accepted!

Today, the state keeps Bodie in a preserved state of “arrested decay.” Building interiors are as they were left so long ago. The grounds are littered with the remains of every day life.

To learn more about Bodie visit https://www.bodie.com

To see more of Bodie the ghost town and other places visit https://jmacdphoto.com/gallery-places/

Start at my home page, https://jmacdphoto.com/ , to visit all of my photography web site.

Super Blood Wolf Moon

Published on by admin

Last night was a Super Blood Wolf Moon. Super because it was at its orbits closest point to Earth, Blood because of the reddish color caused by light refracted through Earth’s atmosphere and Wolf from the Native American nickname for the first full moon in January. The next one won’t happen for 18 Years.

We were lucky, the Pacific Northwest clouds cleared last night and the moon was visible through the tall trees surrounding our home. This gave me the opportunity to practice astrophotography, something I’ve limited to the Moon and the Milky Way with mixed results in the past. Here are a few from last night.

To see more of my astrophotography and other things visit https://jmacdphoto.com/gallery-things/

Start at my home page, https://jmacdphoto.com/ , to visit all of my photography web site.

Lighthouses

Published on by admin

Like many folks I have a fascination with lighthouses and have had the opportunity to visit several in the last few years. Here are some of my lighthouse photographs.

The Pensacola Lighthouse is on the naval air station in Pensacola Florida. Ian was finishing training then heading to LA for his next assignment. I flew in there to help him on the long cross-country drive. While he was finishing his final day I wandered around the base, visited the Naval Air Museum and, of course, the lighthouse. The climb up the stairs was long and steep but worth the effort.

  • Pensacola Lighthouse, FL
  • Pensacola Lighthouse, FL

The Dungeness Spit Lighthouse is at the end of a six mile spit in Sequim Washington. A year ago, Lori and I hiked to the lighthouse with our friends Karl and Holly. The stairs weren’t as bad as the Pensacola Lighthouse’s but still tough after the hike getting there. I have to admit, we weren’t ready for a twelve mile trip, but are glad we did it.

  • Dungeness Spit Lighthouse, Sequim, WA
  • Dungeness Spit Lighthouse, Sequim, WA

The Cape Flattery Lighthouse is on an island off Cape Flattery. Lori and I drove out there on a day of adventure. A bit 0f trivia, Cape Flattery is the furthest western point on the contiguous US. It’s a short, beautiful hike to that point and is definitely worth it. The lighthouse is one of many great views from the point.

  • Cape Flattery Lighthouse, WA
  • Cape Flattery Lighthouse, WA

Lori and I went to Vashon Island for a day of adventure on our anniversary. Getting there involved a ferry ride, which we enjoy but this ferry loaded the vehicles on backwards. Interesting. We loved the whole island; the town, the parks and the lighthouse. It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary!

  • Vashon Island Lighthouse, WA
  • Vashon Island Lighthouse, WA

Fort Worden is on the outskirts of Port Townsend, WA. Port Townsend is an artsy community near us that Lori and I love to visit. The lighthouse is not open to the public but, as you can see, the gulls spend a lot of time hanging out on it.

To see more of my lighthouse photographs and other things visit https://jmacdphoto.com/gallery-things/