The West Coast

I took these shots near Anacortes, WA 

while I was waiting for the ferry.

Doe Bay is an isolated corner of Orcas Island. 

Very beautiful but deserted in November when I took these shots.

I took a broom making seminar with my friend Susan's basket weaving group.

I made a hearth broom, a cobwebber and 3 whisk brooms.

Heading south, I spent a week in Portland. Norah came down too 

for a few days. We had a fun time. Portland is a very cool city. 

And not just because they have no pro football.

Astoria, OR is at the mouth of the Columbia River and a 

treacherous area for ships. There are hundreds of shipwrecks.

A little farther down the coast, Cannon Beach is a 

little coastal community with a beautiful beach.

It was windy the day I was there and the dry sand being 

blown over the wet created some interesting effects.

Really, a gorgeous beach.

These haystack formations turned out to harbor all kinds of sea 

life in tidal pools. It was low tide so I could just walk right 

up to them. Mussels, barnacles, starfish, anemones and more.

Some very unexpected things at Cannon Beach.

Driving back from the beach I stopped at a fish hatchery with a salmon stream.

Some people had been there for hours with no luck, but this old guy 

got there when I did and within a few minutes had snagged this beauty.

The forests of the coastal range are very furry and magical.

Here's a new shot of the Oregon state capitol.

I stayed one night outside of Ashland, OR 

and woke up to a couple of inches of new snow.

I followed my GPS's directions back to the main road. The route took 

me up a little mountain road. As the elevation got higher, the road got 

snowier and then icier until I came to a pickup truck in the ditch. 

I stopped to see if I could help and the guy said TURN BACK. 

I almost slid off the road turning around. Possibly the scariest driving 

experience of my life. I drove back down that road at about 5 mph. Yikes!

I finally got to southern California and stayed a night 

at El Capitan beach near Santa Barbara.

El Capitan has the picture perfect campsite.

Now I'm in Slab City. More on that later.