Northern California, Oregon and Washington, after leaving the CA Bay area and family there.

'Hello' from the Seattle, WA, area.

Left the San Ramon area for grandson Chris' baseball tournament, Sat 16th July---and 107 degree temperatures! Have no idea how the boys played in that heat but play they did--Chris' team lost one , won one,and were due to return on Sunday to finish the tournament. But I couldn't handle the heat, so, after wishing everyone goodbye, left for the CA coast--and very welcome cooler temps, with FOG---the CA coast air-conditioning, welcomed by all locals and visitors like me!!

Along with the fog, came the rocky coast and the Coastal Redwoods--tall giants that are very hard to capture on film--they're too tall--but I tried. Mendocino and Humboldt counties were familiar friends--unbelievable land that really(again) has to be seen to be believed. The 'pics' I took don't begin to do it justice but I'll post anyway, just so you can try to 'see' what I saw.

I spent several days exploring, then moved up the coast, leaving the redwoods behind at the OR border.

I entered 'river' country. Many rivers enter the sea at ports along the OR and WA coast. Where the rivers do this, towns have sprung up,( since the early days of the 'gold rush') and now have created a tourist mecca. One of these is Gold Beach where the Rogue River meets the sea. There I went 'jet boating' up the Rogue 104 miles! Great fun!! Not the same as whitewater on the Colorado but skimming over the shallow waters, spinning 360 degrees, even creating our own 'whitewater' wet experiences was a lot of fun and a great day on the river. Unfortunately, my digital camera wasn't waterproof, so didn't take any pics of this experience, sorry.

After exploring the OR coast, headed inland to Eugene, where a cousin lives--had a too brief visit---and headed for Mt St Helens National Volcanic Monument in WA, off I 5, about 50 miles over the OR border. This I did photograph but hardly did it justice. But even the postcards don't capture this volcano!! I had visited in '99 but there has been a lot of volcanic activity even since then---the big one, of our generation, was in 1980--and it was astonishing to see recent changes. It even vented steam while I was there--shooting clouds hundreds of feet into the still air overhead, then dissappearing, as though nothing had happened! Quite a sight! The visitor center, at Johnson's Ridge, has recordings of even very recent activity, as well as a simulation of the 1980 blast itself. Then survivors tales, as they experienced the traumatic event, are shared too. I was glad I'd stopped.

Now, I'm here in the Olympia/Seattle/Bellingham areas ready to explore but will post first. I intend to be on the water again, visiting the San Juan islands. The heat of summer hasn't entirely left me alone here in the Northwest, as I'd hoped, so my land explorations will probably not happen--I don't do well in heat, remember?

But here are the pics thus far--ENJOY!!