Lincoln City, Oregon, US

My sister really wanted to fly a kite.  After about 45 minutes of trying to figure out how to put it together correctly so that it would actually fly, we launched it and boy did it soar beyond anything we expected.  All day we were watching other kites fly really high, and I know that it crossed my mind more than once that our kite could never get so high.  Well, I was wrong.  That is my sister in the picture.

Depoe Bay, Oregon, US

Along Hwy 101 (which runs straight through many small towns on the Oregon coast) in Depoe Bay were many little shops filled with Made in China trinkets and whale watching booths selling tickets to one hour cruises with no guarantee.  Some of the shops were filled with artsy things, some of them stupid joke things, and then some were cute businesses that sold their passion.  I would imagine that Jordy has a big sweet tooth.

Yaquina Head, Oregon, US

Over an hour wait in line and a hundred narrow steps will get you to the top of Yaquina Head lighthouse, where five more steps let you peer up by the light.  The nature of the reflection is pretty fascinating.  Even though the light is super bright at night looking from outside the lighthouse, the actual bulb isn’t very powerful or bright.  It’s the way that the light refracts/reflects through the brassy contraption that encircles the light.

Yaquina Head, Oregon, US

I don’t normally do black and white photography, not because I don’t like it–I love it–but I feel that it’s overused and it makes every picture needlessly dramatic.  Well, I made an exception for this one.  I loved the composition of the lighthouse, but it needed a little more.  I love this photograph the way it is now because there’s something about a lighthouse on the edge of a cliff–especially one as old as this lighthouse, which dates back to the 1800s–that represents a hope, the edge of civilization, and also a longing for those lost at sea.  The weather is often stormy (although it wasn’t that day) and portentous of things to come.

Neskowin, Oregon, US

These petrified tree stumps lay along the shoreline at Neskowin beach, just north of Lincoln City in Oregon.  The somewhat creepy formations dot the shore between the mainland cliff and then a huge ‘island’ rock that bridges the sandy beach and the ocean.  These stumps have become oases for life, with snails, krill and barnacles patiently waiting until the tide comes back in.

Newport, Oregon, US

The sea lions at Newport are too funny to watch.  They fight all day long about getting up into the warm pile of bodies in the cage that’s in the top of this picture, pushing other sea lions off or pushing their way in and flopping down so hard that the other lions can’t move and so they all give up and go back to sleeping.  Some of the sea lions had couple off, included this pair.  The lighter and smaller one rubbed his head up and down the other one’s body for an hour.  So cute.

Depoe Bay, Oregon, US

Cliffs plummeted to the ocean ten feet of lawn from the backdoor of my condo on the Oregon coast, and the sunsets were breathtaking.  The Pacific ocean delivered crash after crash of whitecapped wave while the clouds slowly encircled the setting sun.  So gorgeous.

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Yum!  Enough said.  I took this picture at the resort my friends and I stayed at.  We prepared a gourmet dinner followed by a gourmet dessert and drink — lots and lots of strawberries!

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

On the shores near Fisgard lighthouse, after trekking a mile or more along a road jampacked with cars, my friends and I stumbled on quite the sight.  It was Fleet Week in Victoria, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Canadian navy, and warships from many countries (including Australia, the United States, France and Japan) anchored in the waters off the coast.  The entire horizon was populated with the massive aircraft carriers and stalking navy ships.  It felt like a warzone…I had never seen anything like it before.  I imagine it would be what a blockade would look like.  Ironically, we were there to get tan and play in the water, which we did, as the ships slowly lumbered around.

Juan de Fuca Straight, British Columbia, Canada

The Juan de Fuca Straight, the major inlet into the Puget Sound of Washington and the strip of water separating the Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island proved to be a gorgeous ride.  Previously I had seen porpoises streaming along the water, and this adventure featured a literal line of clouds that, about halfway across the straight, stopped and opened up into beautiful sunshine as we barreled towards Victoria.  These ropes lay on the deck in front, drying in the bright sun after pulling up the docking loop.  The ship docks by roping that loop around a thick pole on the wharf.  The color of the ropes come after many nights spent sitting in the salt water of the straight.