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.
