Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Tamanawas Falls

On our way to Seattle we made a stop in Oregon.
We visited Tamanawas Falls near Mount Hood.  It was 
spectacular!










It's amazing how the colors change depending on the angle you take the picture. 
It was another pretty place we have gotten to visit.

Only wildlife...chipmunks :)


I have been messing with my camera and the moon was full.  Thought this was cool



Blodgett Canyon

Greetings to all! We are well.
The weather has gotten nice here, so we have been able to stretch our 
legs and explore some more of our
surroundings.  Here is a place called Blodgett
Canyon in the Bitterroot Mountains.








There were some burned out areas, but a lot of shade on the trail.  

We found some morel mushrooms along the creek.


and off in the distance was a waterfall...


Not much wildlife.  We thought we might see some sheep, but only butterflies :)


I have lots of pictures to catch up on.  This is the most beautiful time of year here.
We just got back from Seattle and the International Convention
which was awesome.  Hope you are all enjoying your summer.


Monday, March 24, 2014

Mexico

Hello all!
Hope you survived winter. It is improving here
in the Treasure State. It seems spring is coming.
We had to get away...Mexico was the answer :)

Here are some highlights...


Monica's abstract shot...

She said I had too many pictures of her, but not enough of me. So she started taking
them everywhere...flattering or not.

The water was awesome...




 We found this cool beach with a rock ledge just above or below the water
depending on the tide. We set up our chairs out there. Pictures just don't do it
justice.










We went to a National Park called Cabo Pulmo.  The beaches were awesome.


but the road to get there was horrible!
This picture does not describe the poor condition of the road. Wash-boarded, dusty and rough.
It was literally out in the middle of the desert. Hardly any people.


The beaches and the water was nice though.  I would have liked to camp
here, but all the facilities were primitive and there are few trees
and lots of cactus so the "going in the woods" was not an option.




We saw blue or grey whales one morning.  These pelicans were cool.
Doesn't his eye look like he is looking right at ya?


Look at the red on his neck...and his creepy eye


This little guy made a nest in the palapas of our accommodations.


Goats and cows are like the deer here. They wander the streets and 
neighborhoods. You can hear the bells as they approach the house.




















We saw this bird in the surf one night.


We did get up early one morning to watch the sun come up on the Sea of Cortez


This was the view from our patio.




We met lots of friends at the local Kingdom Hall. The congregation was Spanish.
Here is the hall.


There is also a small English group. They meet in a little room on the
back of the Kingdom Hall. They have their own Watchtower, School and Bible Study.
We sat in on the Spanish Service Meeting.  I got very little out of it. Makes you
have empathy for the Spanish friends who come to English meetings
here in the states and get little out of it, but come anyway.


This was a giant tree I was amazed by...


Where we were in Baja there are what are called "arroyos." They are basically
dry stream beds that are overwhelmed in the rainy season. The rest of the year
they are dry and run back into canyons. We explored one.  In the
fall this would be filled with water.


This was a little trickle at the end, but apparently at certain times of the year
this is raging with water.


Lots of things changed in Mexico. Monica became an ATV chick.



We took the 4-wheeler everywhere.
To tell you how far south we were, we crossed the Tropic of Cancer. This little roadside
museum type thing was there.




There was also a little chapel-like area.  There is where I 
saw the monkey-on-a-cross.  Not sure what it means :/


We also made cookies in the Sun-Oven


and we made pizza in the pizza oven...


The architecture was cool. Some of the houses looked like they
were out of Star Wars. Doesn't it though???




















Monica finally got a picture...look at that sky and water...


and this little crab...


This was where I spent most of the trip...


We both came back refreshed and more convinced than ever that a break
from the winter "does a body good." We are back to 
work. We have a busy spring and looking forward to summer in Montana.

Hope you all are well.

Love you...