Much Needed Rest

Chrissy, taking a break in our hotel room at Seaside, Oregon, near the end of our trip to the coast.

Voigtlander Nokton Classic 40mm f/1.4

The Oregon Coast, Part I

Chrissy and I (and Pretzel) finally took some time off and made it down to the Oregon coast this past week. We traveled to the coast down through Portland, and then west. Our first stop was Newport, OR, where we stayed for a couple of days.

 Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Our first stop was Beverly Beach, which lies north of Newport and south of Otter Rock. We wanted to stretch our legs a bit after finally reaching the coast. An old wooden chair awaited us on the cliffs down to the beach.

 Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Oregon is extremely dog friendly when it comes to beaches, so Chrissy and Pretzel did their Bo Derek thing. You can see the Yaquina Head Light to the far right.

Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Chrissy's reflection and shadow on the wet sand.

Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

We made it to our hotel, which lies right next to Agate Beach. While there were plenty of people at the beach, we saw only a few people swimming. Apparently, the ocean was deemed too cold to swim in by the tourists and locals, but that didn't stop us. Years of swimming in Lake Huron as kids has turned our blood blue. Afterwards, we hit the streets to get some seafood.

Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

After getting some cod, fried Yaquina oysters, and chowder from the Chowder Bowl in Newport, we headed back to our hotel. We were met with somewhat of rare sunset over Agate Beach.

Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical.

We went out onto the dunes of Agate Beach and watched the sunset. All in all, it was a great first day in Oregon.

More to come...

Rainer, Part II

Another, much closer shot from our visit to Mount Rainier National Park this past weekend. Taken from the road just south of Paradise.

Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4

Rainier

From Mount Rainier National Park.

Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4

4th of July

I posted a previous picture from this group a while back, and finally got around to posting the rest. Since it was so hot, and I had work off, we spent the weekend on the Snoqualmie River just outside of North Bend. Because of the little snowfall this winter, the river is lower than normal, so there are a bunch of sandbars to lay on. We picked one up river that required us to travel across river a few times, but this ensured we were alone most of the time. We even got to see some fireworks that someone was shooting off further up river.

My 3 girls: Pretzel, the beer, and Chrissy | Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

The spot we picked is near the base of Mount Si, so there's a great view of it and Little Si. I also got to test out my new hiking shoes which are made for fording. They held up great.

We spent most of the time just lounging around. | Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.4 lens.

I decided to take the risk of bringing my camera into the water to get some photos. I figured I had already risked it by taking it across the water to get to our spot. I think it paid off.

Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Chrissy, just before going under | Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical.

Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical.

We had a nice relaxing weekend. And by staying out all day, our apartment was cool when we got home. A win-win situation. Check out my Flickr page for more photos of our trip.

Chrissy with Little Si (the first mountain on the left) in the background. | Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Chittenden Locks

I had work off on the Friday before the 4th, so we decided to head to the Chittenden Locks in Ballard. The locks allow boats to pass between Lake Union and the Sound. There's also a fish ladder nearby that allows larger fish to swim up past the locks, with a window to view them doing so. That day, the Sockeye were running, and a couple of Sea Lions were hunting the schools.

Some kayakers and boats in the locks. | Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

The real reason we like to visit is that there's a really good seafood restaurant, The Lockspot, right next to the locks. They have the best fish tacos in the area we've found so far.

Chrissy & Pretzel on the steps leading down to the water. | Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

 It's really a pretty cool place. There's a botanical garden next to the locks, and you can enjoy a raising train bridge, float planes overhead, and Great Blue Herons roosting near the water.

At the River

4th of July weekend was pretty hot here in Seattle, so Chrissy, Pretzel, and I pretty much spent the entirety of the weekend on the Snoqualmie River cooling off. Even got to see a few fireworks there.

More to come.

Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical lens.