Before I Forget Everything... Portland/Seattle Trip Continued

Seems my Flickr addiction is seriously interfering with blogging... so before ALL the memories of my early April trip to the Northwest to visit family and see spring beauty have completely faded away... I'm here again to reference a few photos from the trip and tell a story or two (maybe)...

Sunday, April 5, found us en route to Seattle, WA by way of Tacoma, WA where we stopped to see the Museum of Glass, visited the exhibits and the Hot Shop to watch glass blowers ply their art (live demonstrations can be viewed here when the Hot Shop is open), wandered across the Glass Bridge (featuring marvelous Chilhuly glass creations along the bridge walkway) and generally had a wonderful time.

Glassblower at work	Chilhuly glass art

On arrival in Seattle, Lauren (my niece) put us to work in the kitchen assisting with dinner preparations. (she did allow me a short get-acquainted visit with her fiancé Justus before assigning us all tasks) Dinner was a wonderful group effort featuring tacos, rice, black beans, guacamole, sauteed peppers and onions (my task) and beverages of choice with the meal. Seems we were all having too much fun to take photos that evening... but here are a couple from the next morning.

Early morning sunlight on downtown Seattle	Distant mountains from Pike Place Market

Since it was Monday morning, everyone in the group house was off to work so we went off to have breakfast at the Pike Place Market and do a bit of shopping and looking at the many shops there. It's quite a place to visit and I'm sure I'd be shopping there for fresh fish if I lived in Seattle. The flower vendors and vegetable vendors are pretty fabulous too...

Our visit to the Weyerhaueser Bonsai Garden (planned stop for our return to Portland) didn't pan out. (Weyerhaueser has closed the garden for lack of funding to maintain it.) So what else could we do but stop at McMenamin's on the Columbia River for a micro brew and a bite to eat. The views below were taken from our table while seated outdoors to take advantage of the balmy spring weather. The grackle was dining on a french fry tossed up on top of one of the umbrellas sometime earlier in the day. The folks sitting underneath the umbrella when I snapped this had NO IDEA why I was taking the photo.

Sobering Thought

Found this video via a delightful blog I follow written by a woman I met online through photos she posts to Flickr... it moved me enough to post it here in the hope that others will watch and spread it more widely.

The journey continues to Wilsonville, OR

After spending the first two nights at my nephew Dan's house (with his wife Wendy and son Elliott), Saturday morning found me on my way to Wilsonville (about 20 minutes south of Portland) to spend some time with my brother Larry and his wife Chris. Dan, Wendy and Elliott showed up in Wilsonville not long after I did ... we grabbed some sandwiches at a nearby sandwich shop and headed for the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm hoping to see fields of tulips during their annual tulip festival.

It was a beautiful spring day, blue sky and warm temperatures. BUT, on arrival at the tulip farm we were disappointed to discover that there were almost NO tulips blooming in the fields due to the unseasonably cold (and snowy) winter as well as the cooler than usual spring weather. Not to worry... there were many potted tulips in bloom and we saw many other beautiful bulb plants blooming as well. And the view of a snow-capped Mt. Hood against the blue sky was spectacular! The potted tulips were quite nice as well.

Snow-capped Mt. Hood	Zombie (that's their name) tulips

We saw a notice at the tulip farm that the nearby St. Josef's Winery was having a tasting with MUSIC and souvenir glasses... so off we went over back roads in search of the winery. We did our tasting, then bought another glass of wine and sat outside listening to the band play and enjoying the sun. Great-nephew Elliott doesn't much care for bright lights and the sun was VERY bright... so he was wearing his shades. The fabulous Mr. Elliott definitely appears to be considering an important deal. (record contract or who to whack?)

Let me think about it	OK... let's do it

At the end of an afternoon of adventures, Larry, Chris and myself headed home to Wilsonville and dinner out nearby... Dan, Wendy and Elliott headed home to Portland. Tomorrow... off to Seattle with Larry and Chris to see Lauren (their daughter, my niece). I'll be staying in the group house guest room... AND I get to meet Lauren's fiancé Justus too!

Spring in Portland, OR

Hmmm... been back already for 11 days and still haven't finished posting about my wonderful journey to Portland and surrounding area to meet my great-nephew Elliott, visit other family members and take a side trip to Seattle (with intermediate stops coming and going) to see my niece Lauren and meet her fiancé Justus. Where DOES the time go? (Seattle Story will appear in separate post)

In the interest of getting SOMETHING down before I forget everything... brevity is the watchword of this post...

Friday, April 3... morning spent babysitting Elliott (easy job) included wheeling him around the neighborhood during a misty rain (no worries, fancy buggy had a rain shield)... he slept while I snapped photos of spring flowers.

Star Magnolia Blossom	Euphorbia Blossom with Raindrops

And mustn't leave out one of Elliott napping...


Friday, April 3... afternoon spent at the Japanese Garden of Portland, took a guided tour that was great (docents are volunteers), then wandered on my own to snap a few more pictures of the lovely gardens... rain off and on didn't interfere with my enjoyment of this beautiful place as evidenced by photos below.

Anthuriums in Ikebana Arrangement	Reflections of Sky in Pond

Getting a bit long so will continue with Saturday adventure to the tulip farm (not many tulips but fun anyway) in a separate post. (maybe will post tomorrow but don't count on it!)

Family and Flowers

Weather in Portland, Oregon is iffy in the springtime. Since my arrival Thursday afternoon, clouds, rain, sun and cool temperatures have been the norm with sunshine one minute and rain showers the next.

Purchases at Powell's Books (first stop after arrival Thursday afternoon) included a book on Pacific Northwest flora, fauna, birds, etc., travel guides for my next trip, and, of course, some fiction for pleasure reading. Dan worked away at the gelato place (free wireless) across 11th Street from Powell's while waiting for me to finish my Powell's adventure and capture a few street scenes with my camera.

Downtown Portland adventures done, we headed to my home away from home. Larry and Chris were the first to arrive at Dan and Wendy's for our evening adventure in dining out nearby. After Wendy arrived home from work with the little bundle of joy, my great-nephew Elliott, we discussed dining options and settled on New York, New York... a nearby Italian eatery serving NY style pizza, Italian food specialties and, on Thursday night, crooning Frank Sinatra style by local performer John English. Here he is singing to Elliott while Elliott goes after the microphone.


Signing off for now... Flowers are part of Friday's adventure which MAY be posted sooner rather than later.

Pending Trip to Portland, OR and Seattle, WA

Bright and early tomorrow morning, my friend Karren will be picking me up to take me to BWI airport for my NWA flight to Portland, OR (arriving ~1:15 pm local Portland time). Nephew Dan (wife to Wendy and father of Elliott... all of whom may be seen here) will be picking me up when I arrive. Even before going to their house, Dan and I will be visiting Powell's Books. If you are ever in Portland, it is a MUST SEE destination... a truly amazing place where one can while away HOURS of time. The biggest problem with going there is that I'm a bookaholic and must constantly remind myself that what I buy, I must carry home or pay for shipping it!

My first two nights will be spent with Dan and Wendy so I can get acquainted with my great-nephew Elliott who arrived on Nov 3, 2008. I'll also be spending time with Larry and Chris (brother and sister-in-law, parents of Dan and grandparents of Elliott) the first couple of days and then will head out to their place in Wilsonville (suburb of Portland) on Saturday morning.

Early Sunday afternoon (approx) Larry, Chris and myself will drive up to Seattle, WA so I can meet my niece Lauren's fiancé and his dog as well as most (or maybe all) of her house mates. Sunday is her night to cook for the occupants of her group house.

I hope to capture Elliott on camera (maybe get some REALLY great shots with my Nikon D90) and and also hope to get some lovely shots of the beauty of the Portland and Seattle areas and places in between. We plan breakfast at Pike Place Market on Monday morning before heading back to Portland via some other stops along the way. Abstracted from Wikipedia: Pike Place Market is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Market opened August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continually operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It is a place of business for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants. Named after the central street, Pike Place runs northwest from Pike Street to Virginia Street, and remains one of Seattle's most popular tourist destinations.

The Market is built on the edge of a steep hill, and consists of several lower levels located below the main level. Each features a variety of unique shops. Antique dealers, comic book sellers, small family-owned restaurants, while the area contains one of the few remaining head shops left in Seattle. The upper street level contains fishmongers, fresh produce stands and craft stalls operating in the covered arcades. Local farmers and craftspeople sell year-round in the arcades from tables they rent from the Market on a daily basis, in accordance with the Market's mission and founding goal: allowing consumers to "Meet the Producer." ... (go here if you'd like to read more about it)

Depending on time and photo opportunities, I may post while on travel or MAY wait until my return.

Photograpy Class Outing - March 21, 2009

Since retiring at the end of February last year, I've found time to rediscover a love of photography and have been going a bit nuts with digital cameras. (last day of work as a federal government employee: Feb 29, 2008, hereafter referred to as "leap for joy day" in our house)

But back to photography... after using film cameras for 40+ years (favorites being my first SLR, a Nikkormat and a newer Nikon SLR camera used more recently), I fell off the wagon (to borrow a phrase from my fiancé) and started using digital. My fiancé Mike is actually the one who led me down the path to digital photography because he bought me my first digital, a Nikon Coolpix P1 in spring, 2006. Since that first adventure in wasting photons, another of Mike's favorite phrases, I've moved through using a Nikon Coolpix P4, a Nikon Coolpix P80 (gifts from Mike) and recently purchased a Nikon D90 kit with 18-55mm and 55-200mm VR lenses. This purchase was my motivation for taking a couple of photography classes through the REI Outdoor School (great classes, BTW).

Back to the P80 for a sidetrack... it is the camera I used most on my trip to Costa Rica because the 18x zoom was quite good at capturing much of the natural beauty we saw there. But I don't think I'll ever go on a guided bird outing without my P4 (which I'd taken along for quick snaps). Our guides had bird scopes and one brought along an attachment that allowed the P4 to 'mate' with the bird scope and capture REALLY close up shots such as the one shown below of a Scarlet Macaw chowing down on berries.


Finally, a few words about the photography classes I took this past week through the REI Outdoor Photography School. After my Costa Rica trip, I started posting photos to Flickr and found so many quality photos from others that I started getting frustrated with the limitations of the point and shoot digital cameras I had. So I signed up for REI's very reasonably priced Intro to Digital Photography class (2 hours - one evening) and their day-long Outdoor Digital Photography class (also reasonably priced at $50). Both were taught by working professional photographers (Carl Bruce is a Washington Post staff photographer and Vickie Fruehauf teaches Photography at Georgetown University) and both were excellent instructors. My Nikon D90 was purchased about ten days before the first class with the hope that I'd quickly learn how to use it.

The classes exceeded my expectations and I'm SO MUCH more comfortable now with my newest digital camera. I've been photographing spring flowers and buds/blossoms on trees as they are now starting to sprout in our area. If you'd like to view the class photos and a few taken since the class using techniques learned in class, they are on Flickr and can be viewed as a slide show. I'd taken my Nikon Coolpix P4 to the outdoor class also so there are a few pictures using it in the slide show, but most were taken using my Nikon D90 with the 18-55mm lens. (photos in the slide show that occur after the one below were taken with the D90 using either the 18-55mm or a 70-300mm AF lens formerly used with my film camera)

I'll leave you with one more photo from class... our last photography assignment on our outdoor shoot at Seneca Creek State Park, Clopper Lake, playground and boathouse areas. We were challenged to imagine that we had 20 minutes in which to take ONLY ONE photo and to make it our best shot. I got lucky and noticed a fisherman in a kayak coming in just as I was about to snap my photo of the boathouse reflections in the lake. See what you think of the result. :-)

Rascally Squirrels

For the longest time after I put up bird feeders in my yard, the squirrels left them alone. But this past year was apparently a bad year for the oak trees in the Greater Washington, DC Metropolitan area (which is where we live), so the squirrels have been pretty desperate for food. As a result, we (the squirrels and I) have been having a running battle... I've been trying to keep them from the bird seed and they've been coming up with ever more creative approaches to get to it in spite of my efforts.

One of my feeders is a wooden house feeder which the squirrels first learned they could dine from by hanging upside down from the wooden roof as shown below.

First he grabs some seed...	and then he hangs around eating it!

I've posted an album of Rascally Squirrel photos on Flickr and expect that more photos will be added as the show continues. Meantime, enjoy the show (I'll be back to edit this post sometime later but it's time to organize dinner now!)

Final Impressions of Costa Rica Trip of Jan 3-17, 2009

This trip was a first for me... traveling with a group tour instead of with my significant other. I was asked to join the group when someone else dropped out. Our group consisted of my first section chief (Micah) from my employment at the National Institutes of Health, his wife Elaine (both of whom I've known since 1971), their son Evan, daughter-in-law Nancy and granddaughter Aliza (who was my roommate), their daughter Tamar and son-in-law Mike, Len and Leslie (husband and wife whom Tamar and Mike have known since college), Mark (Audubon tour guide and long time friend of Mike and Tamar) and his wife Paige. Our other group members were Niño (our bus driver, bird spotter and source of local information) and Charlie, the amazing naturalist who joined the group for the second week of our trip.

Tamar and Mark were the chief organizers of the tour, doing much planning in conjunction with Costa Rica Expeditions to ensure that everything about the trip went smoothly and that we visited interesting and beautiful places while traveling around the country-side. Words aren't sufficient to explain how invaluable Mark, Niño, Charlie and Costa Rica Expeditions were to our group's enjoyment of Costa Rica. Our group was treated to many wonderful tours, bird and animal sightings, heard many stories about local culture, ate wonderful food, saw beautiful scenery, experienced both locally run and internationally run tourist locales and came away with an affection for both the country and its people.

Impressions of Costa Rica and its people... the country is clean and very beautiful... its people are very friendly and we can learn a LOT about good conservation practices from this country. Signs posted in bathrooms everywhere we stayed reminded us to conserve water. Cans labeled with the type of recyclable 'trash' that can be disposed of were pretty much everywhere we traveled.

The Costa Rican people are justifiably proud of their country and happy to share their knowledge with tourists. If I recall correctly, 93% of the population is literate and their school system has a very low drop-out rate. The country has no military and no enemies (we should be so lucky). Costa Rica has a population of around 4 million in a country the size of West Virginia and produces coffee, bananas (and other fruit), chocolate products and other items for export. There is no oil or coal in Costa Rica and they are working on becoming self reliant for energy by taking advantage of wind, hydroelectric, solar and geothermal methods of energy production.

Costa Rica is on a major fault line which contributes to the large number of volcanoes (some still active) and can result in earthquakes. On January 8, 2009, there was an earthquake (6.2 magnitude) that greatly affected one of the areas we visited three days after we had been there. Many lives were lost in the area of Costa Rica most heavily affected by mud slides caused by the earthquake. The La Paz Waterfall Gardens, one of the major tourist attractions near the epicenter of the earthquake, has closed for 3 months to conduct repairs (no lives were lost at La Paz). The Costa Rican population rallied to provide relief by conducting fund raisers in town squares and setting up on-line sites for donations.

The slide show currently running on my blog is a summary of the best photos taken while on this trip. If you want to view a day-by-day account of the trip, please check my January 2009 posts.

Costa Rica - Departure (Jan 17, 2009)

We are all sad to leave Costa Rica. This has been a truly marvelous experience and we all vow to return to Costa Rica one day. I start my day by taking a few last minute photos at Borinquen, one of which is shortly after the last sunrise seen this trip.

From Costa Rica - Departure

We arrive at the airport to find no lines at the windows where we must pay our departure tax of $26/person and too early (around 10:30 AM) for check-in for those on the earliest flights out of Costa Rica. But by the time we've all paid our departure taxes and filled out the required paperwork for departure, Len and Leslie are able to check in. American Airlines agents finally open for check in (for Mike and Tamar), after staff have thoroughly cleaned all counter surfaces which anyone might have to touch! Once the early crowd has checked in, we head for a local tourist trap, a souvenir shop where we can purchase last minute items for ourselves or to give as gifts. We also take more photos... some gender-bending photos using the 'head shot' board at the shop and a few photos of our trip leaders, Charlie, Mark and Niño, all of whom contributed greatly to our enjoyment of this trip.


Shopping done, it's back to the airport to bid good-bye to Len, Leslie, Mike and Tamar. The DC area six (Micah, Elaine, Nancy, Evan, Aliza and myself) check in next after which we have about 90 minutes to go for lunch. And then we too bid good-bye to Costa Rica, Charlie, Niño, Mark and Paige as we head for our flight to the cold north.

Costa Rica - Day 14 (Jan 16, 2009)

Our last day in Costa Rica turns out to be our most strenuous adventure of the trip (at least, the most strenuous one where we all participate). Shortly after breakfast, we all pile onto the bus for a ride to Rincon de la Vieja Park nearby. We see a double rainbow along the way, the end of the prominent rainbow seems near enough to the road that we might be able to find the pot of gold. We also see a very young gaucho roping a horse (he succeeds).

From Costa Rica - Day 14

On our arrival at Rincon de la Vieja, we venture forth on a hike to view some of the geothermal features along a trail that winds around about half-way up the volcano slope. The wind is howling and it is raining as we exit the bus but once we are into the rain forest, the wind dies down and we opt to shed our rain gear in favor of remaining cool as we continue our hike. The first third of the trail is relatively easy along level ground with few obstacles in our path. We see mud pots, hot pools and fumaroles, familiar sites to those of us who have been to Yellowstone Park but made interesting by the differences in the landscape around this park's geothermal features.

We decide to continue on the trail rather than retrace our steps and this is when we encounter river crossings, up and down portions, rocks and tree roots and water hazards (real muddy spots) as we continue our hike. Some of the river crossings are quite challenging for most of us while they are easy for others. Wherever the trail becomes treacherous, Charlie arranges support as we continue our hike.


Our trickiest river crossing occurs at a spot where the original trail was recently washed out (left photo below), requiring us to either wade through hip deep water in the pond above the wash-out or find an alternate way to cross. We find a way most of the way across by walking along a rotting log (right photo below). The last part of the crossing is done over a hastily built "bridge" of rocks and tree branches made by some of the men in our group.


We are relieved to finally exit the rain forest after encountering still more obstacles (steep steps, rocks, roots) after our last river crossing. We are happy to be able to eat our box lunches on Niño's spotless bus while heading back to Borinquen for much needed massages (for some) or naps (for others), showers (for all) and a marvelous facial for me! This hike took longer and was harder than most of us expected so relaxation time is great.

Dinner our last night is a festive affair as most of us have agreed to dress up with some of us wearing items we purchased at Villa Lapas. It took two photos to get all of the group 'visible' to the camera and we all agreed that we'd had simply marvelous adventures and made many wonderful memories over the past two weeks.

Costa Rica - Day 13 (Jan 15, 2009)

Today is our first full day at Borinquen and the group has various plans for how they are spending their morning after our breakfast gathering... some are riding horses to the waterfalls and then to the zip line tour, some are being driven (by Hummer) to the start of the zip line tour and some are hiking to the start of the zip line tour for photo opportunities (this is my choice).

Our hike takes us up the side of the mountain to the end of the paved road and continues on a dirt road through a cow pasture to the start of the zip line tour. It is very windy high up on the mountain and once I see the first platform, I'm happy that I've opted out of this adventure. The first "zip" is over a very deep chasm in the rain forest and looks extremely scary to me and the others who have opted out of zipping along down the mountain through the rain forest. Paige is happy to be having no part of zipping as others mill about getting their gear checked and being instructed before setting out on the zip tour. Mike has perfect form and Tamar goes tandem on the first of 9 (or 10?) zips on the return to Borinquen.


From Costa Rica - Day 13

After all the "zippers" have taken their first step on the zip tour, Elaine, Micah and myself opt for a ride down the mountain in the hummer... a bone rattling experience! Then it is off for a quick hike on the Petroglyph Trail through the rain forest for the three of us... we want to be back in time to greet the crowd doing the zip tour when they return via the last zip line which ends near the stables. The guides encourage upside down zipping at the end of the tour and all our crowd does this.


The afternoon is spent by some lounging in the hot pools or around the swimming pool while others take advantage of the mud baths and/or massages in the spa. My choice is to relax, take a nap and then go birding with Charlie and Niño from ~3:30 pm to sunset. This turns out to be a great adventure because I have them all to myself and Charlie spends a great deal of time capturing bird photos for me on my Nikon P4 which he uses paired with the bird scope to get closer than I can with my Nikon P80. We have very good viewing of some birds I'd seen before but not seen well and spot new birds (new to me on this trip) also. It's hard to choose the best photos from the many taken today by Charlie... but I do like his "extreme close-up" of the Turquoise-browed Motmot and the Double-striped Thick-knee we saw. Additional photos (both by Charlie and by myself) are in the complete album from our thirteenth day in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica - Day 12 (Jan 14, 2009)

Our day starts with great views of the Scarlet Macaws dining on berries high in trees on the grounds of Villa Lapas. Travelers who have been to Costa Rica previously are amazed that we are seeing them so close up. They really are spectacular birds. Both Charlie (using my Nikon P4 and a bird scope) and myself get nice photos.

From Costa Rica - Day 12

Today is a fairly long travel day so we stop for lunch and a walking break at a delightful restaurant along the Pacific coast. The food is wonderful and the gardens are pleasant for our bit of exercise. We encounter some heavy traffic on the road after lunch and arrive at Borinquen, our last stop on our wonderful tour around 4 PM. This place is an elegant retreat with spa facilities and lovely grounds. Our rooms are wonderful, furnished with two double beds, a writing/computer desk, a wet bar (we don't touch it), a small table with two chairs, two comfortable chairs (one a rocking chair), TV (we don't watch it) and a bathroom with a nice large shower. We also have a porch which is separated from our neighbors (Aliza's parents, Evan and Nancy) by a flowering hedge. Special touches include towels folded as swans with a fresh hibiscus flower. The windows are screened so we can take advantage of the cross breezes instead of using air conditioning. We unpack, relax and shower and change for dinner. We each take photos of the sunset from our porch.

Costa Rica - Day 11 (Jan 13, 2009)

Our day starts VERY early so that we may be the first ones to the Canopy Tour at Villa Lapas. There are five suspension bridges, some crossing high above the rain forest below can be pretty scary. It is best to be on the trail soon after the sun rises, before it gets too crowded and before the jungle gets too hot. We have coffee and pastries in the dining room and get onto the bus bright and early. Our day starts with sightings of the Scarlet Macaws dining on balsa flowers and flying across the skies high above us. Once on the Canopy Trail, we see army ants, leaf cutter ants, birds and more as Charlie and Mark are sure to point out interesting sights.


We learn that Leaf Cutter ants will go up to 1.4 mile from their nest to search for leaves to cut and bring back to the nest (top left photo below), following pheromone trails through the rain forest. One trail we see crosses our path 4 times as we descend down the many switchbacks at the end of the trail. Once across the trail, they go straight up the side of the hill to the next switchback and so on until they return to the nest. They carry out their waste (right photo below) and pile it up a few feet away from the nest until the pile gets too big and then they will relocate. The bottom left and right photos show the ants carrying leaves and a traffic jam caused by a leaf that has fallen across their pheromone trail back to the nest.


From Costa Rica - Day 11

After we return from our Canopy Tour, we have lunch and free time until 3 PM. Some rest, some take walks in the rain forest and some adventure forth to do the zip line tour at Villa Lapas. I walk with the zip group to their first station and get videos (short ones) of each of them on their first zip through the jungle. Then I wander back through the rain forest, taking a wrong turn at one point which I correct once I realize I'm not on the same path we took earlier. The Tarcolito River bank beckons me and I capture several photos of butterflies along the river before heading back to our room for a short nap.


At 3:00 PM, we assemble for a short bus ride to the Tarcoles River for our "Crocodile Man Tour." We not only see crocodiles on this boat ride, but also have sightings of new birds, the Roseate Spoonbill being the most beautiful, as well as some we've seen before and now recognize easily. We end our day on the river watching the setting sun before heading back to Villa Lapas for dinner and packing up to head to our next stop in the morning.