Fri - Aug 7 and Sat - Aug 8

Duke Point, Vancouver Island, BC to Silver Creek, Wa.

Weather: overcast Fri, temps in the mid 70’s (22C)

Weather: cloudy and cooler Sat, temps in the high 60’s (19C)

All packed and ready to go…10am. All we need to do was check the ferry and see when we could board…10:45 tonight!!!!!! Racine checked out the reservations schedule and found out we could get on the 5:45pm. Oh boy, we just saved five hours. We did a little more organizing, took a nap and off we went to arrive one hour before sailing. Ooopppps… made the reservation for 50 feet long, but did not note the vehicle was over height (darn Internet reservations system!!!). Sigh…had to miss the 5:45pm and caught the 8:15pm. Oh good, it was the new ‘Super’ ferry with lots of room and new things to see. Ha, Ha,..we did no exploring, we slept in Gus (the motor home) all the way over.

Went right through customs (only took ten minutes to get through) and looked for a store to pick up some munchies for the drive to the family reunion ( about three hours south). Ha, Ha again…the gas station was closed as were two others across the street. So I checked the car dolly and found a minor problem…I forgot to make all the adjustments and the Red Rocket (our Yaris) was almost off the dolly. Forty stressful minutes later (around midnight now) we started down the freeway...stopped at the rest area north of Burlington to get some coffee and gathered ourselves (about 12:45 or so)…decided to nod off for just a few minutes. We woke up at 4:45am. Wanting to get through Seattle with a minimum of difficulty (heavy traffic) we left at 5am after getting a refill on coffee at the rest stop. Seattle…it was a breeze, no traffic to write about.

A couple of hours later we pulled into one of our favorite Wal-Mart Super Stores and got some vittles (we shop for food after going through the border…fewer problems that way), and picked up some needed repair hardware, then it was off to the reunion. We arrived around 10am, said hi to everyone, off-loaded the Red Rocket, unhitched the tow dolly and set-up Gus for the stay.

Oh boy…we were all set up, and, figured it must be about time for the evening family gathering and potluck. Ha, ha, ha ,ha…it was only 11am!!. Man…were we tired. Having had about three hours of sleep in the last 24 we decided to fix a quick lunch and take a nap.

The potluck was good and then we all sat around a magnificent fire pit and gabbed until 10pm. Off to bed and day one, or was that two???..,yes, day two was all but over and the adventure has begun.

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Mon - Aug 10

Silver Creek, Wa to Randle, Wa.

Weather: cloudy/scattered showers/sun breaks low 70’s (22C)

Up early (7am)…had breakfast and a much needed cup of coffee, then we started breaking camp and got ready to head to our next stop…Randle, Wa. Amazingly all went well and we were packed and ready to go in record time.

We said our good-byes and made arrangements for a get-together on Wed evening with some of the relatives from the interior (commonly known as the dry country, or Eastern Washington).

Off we went to Randle, a few miles to the east…but not far enough to get to the dry country, actually just a bit deeper in the Cascades to insure we will get any moisture that might be in the area, meaning any weather on or near the wet coast. It worked….we found our camp ground, got settled and it started to drizzle. Drizzle…commonly known as ‘miserable precipitation’, or ‘too wet for an unprotected camera, not wet enough for a warm jacket, but enough to fog your glasses’.

That’s ok; we decided to check out Packwood, the next town up the road. There was still off and on rain…we spotted elk here and there, but the lighting wasn’t the best for photo shoots. We located the restaurant where we plan to meet the relatives and discover the next door neighbors (or the city lawn mowing unit) are four young bull elk…the rain stopped, the lighting improved and we took a few photos.

When we reached home we spotted several Cedar Waxwings (birds) next to Gus and we grabbed a few shots of them too. Then it was dinner time, download/sort time and finally time for bed. The adventure continues…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

To see more of our images of perching birds click HERE

Wed - 12 – Wed

Randle, Wa.

Weather-scattered showers-low 70’s (22C)

Woke up to clouds and rain, which didn’t inspire us to rush around to much. We had breakfast and then planned out the day’s agenda. There are several loops of varying lengths that wind through the area around Mt Rainier and we decided on one that was fairly short (it was a long day yesterday) and lower in elevation...with the rain and clouds mountain viewing was next to impossible.

There were a few historical sites, old churches, old railway equipment, old buildings all scattered along the way as we ventured down the road. Occasionally a spot of sun would shine through the clouds and enhance the photo ops.

Most of the areas we have been travelling through have been dry and brown, however today we drove on a back road between Ashford and Packwood that was so lush we could hardly believe the temperatures last week were 111F or 48C. As we entered Packwood the local lawn mowers, resident elk, were everywhere. We stopped for just ‘a few’ shots and then went back to Gus to get cleaned up for dinner with the relatives at 6pm.

Had a wonderful dinner and gab fest and headed back to Gus. The elk really started coming out of the wood-work…we saw over 70 on the way home and despite some poor lighting we managed to get a few decent shots. When we got back home it was download/sort photos and off bed...a full day. The adventure continues...

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Fri - Aug 14 – Fri

Randle, Wa.

Weather-cloudy/no rain

Up again at 7am (not sure we can handle these early hours too many more days in a row) to partly sunny skies. We drank the essential cup of coffee and then organized our day.

We’d planned on a second trip to the Ridgefield WLR today, but the weather wasn’t cooperating and the light was poor, so we decided to postpone Ridgefield until tomorrow. This gave us a chance to catch up on some of our electronic tasks.

Unfortunately the wireless Internet connection in the park doesn’t quite reach our site so we hauled our two laptops up to the club house, connected and spent some time catching up on our website, email and various other items that needed attention. Sure do miss having on demand Internet access…even on trips it’s become a necessity for us.

We fixed lunch and prepared to explore some new areas and hopefully find some sunshine. We headed east and along the way met two elk crossing the road, but we didn’t stop (surprise!) as we wanted to get to our destination...Naches, near Yakima, in eastern Washington. We were looking for fresh fruit and vegetables, mostly tomatoes. Once we crossed the summit of White Pass into the eastern part of the state the sun came out and things started to warm up…it really felt good! We took a lot of scenery shots along the way and eventually ended up at a fruit stand…loaded up on cantaloupes, tomatoes, and fresh sweet corn.

As we turned back to the west and drove up highway 410 on our way back to Randle the skies started to cloud over. The road wound through a nice valley and then began to climb, as we neared the first pass (Chinook , elev. 5,432 feet) the scenery was magnificent, when we reached Cayuse Pass we crossed the Cascade Crest Trail and found scenic overlooks all along the roadway. WOW!!! ... but there was a small problem, the darkening skies settled in on top of us and we’re in the clouds, could barely see in front of the car and could just make out the side of the road. Oh well…until then the trip had been great. Up the road not too much further we noticed another road to the left...there were no signs, everything was fogged in, so we pulled off and realized it was the road we were looking for to get home. Off we went and eventually (with only a few stressful moments) came out of the clouds into a forest with a lush green floor and beautiful, magnificent cedars, firs, and hemlocks were all around us.

When we neared Packwood we made some guesses as to how many elk we would see on the way home…50? 60?...turns out we only saw three, but the skies were clearing and tomorrow looks promising. Once home it was our basic routine, download/sort and crash. We’re hoping for sunshine and looking forward to a big trip tomorrow. The adventure continues…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Sun - Aug 16

Randle, Wa

Weather - mostly sunny, warming to mid 70’s (24C)

Ahhhh…there was sunshine to greet us this morning, maybe the mountains would come out of the clouds and let us see some of their majesty. This was our day to revisit the summits of Chinook and Cayuse Pass (last seen in thick fog) and check out the vistas we missed on Friday, then we planned to swing back and venture off to Paradise Visitor Centre on the South side of Mt. Tahoma (Rainier).

The weather stayed clear for the Chinook and Cayuse summits and we had beautiful views of both the east and west side of the Cascade Range. On the way back towards Mt Rainier the clouds settled over the top of the mountain, but it was still a majestic sight. We got several photos of the base of the mountain, along with mountain meadows, glaciers, slides, nearby peaks, and flowers.

Then we turned onto the road the went to the Paradise Visitor Centre. The speed limit was 35mph, only if you dared to go that fast. It was full of potholes, ruts, bumps, slough-offs, and fallen rocks that kept us awake to be sure. When we turned into the entry to the visitor center there was a three mile long, stop and go line for parking. Did we mention that this was a free weekend for entrance into the National Park and it looked like every one in the northwest was taking advantage of it. We made it through the line (took about 45 minutes), and took a few photos (mostly of the lineup of cars), then headed home by way of one of the roads we had taken before, only this time there was sun not rain. We took pictures of the Devil’s Club berries we’d missed the first time through, and with the improved light we missed the bumps and holes we’d hit the first time through too.

As we travelled back on highway 12 we only saw one elk, however this one had the largest rack (four point) we’d seen and it was all slicked up and out of velvet.

Got home just pooped, but had seen lots of new sights, taken lots of photos and thoroughly enjoyed the day. The adventure continues…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Tue - Aug 18

Neskowin, Or

Weather-foggy with temps in the high 60’s (19-20C)

What? Carl is up at 6:45 for the low tide...I wanted to get some morning light on the area’s famous ‘Ghost Forest’. The 2,000 year old stumpy remains of a forest once consumed by a tsunami. Racine looked out the window, said good luck and went back to sleep.

Two problems: one - must cross a 60 foot wide creek; and two – it was really foggy on the beach. I wasn’t prepared to cross the creek and I couldn’t even see the standing forest through the fog, so I settled for other shots. The fog provided some nice atmosphere and I think I got some good shots. Spider webs are great in the fog and I did manage to shoot three of the stumps from the Ghost Forest.

The remainder of the day was spent doing laundry and finding the necessary parts needed to fix the sewer problem. Laundry went well, but no parts for the sewer.

Lunch was at the 60’s Café next to the Laundromat…one thing they do have here on the Oregon coast is GOOD clam chowder! We also enjoyed the atmosphere (yes we are of the 60’s generation), the music was great and they even had cherry cokes…oh for the good old days.

We saw a major new casino in Lincoln City, Chinook Winds. It had a great view of the surf, and a wonderful play area for the kids to spend some time in while the parents enjoyed other activities in the casino.

Full day…we need some rest. The adventure continues…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

To see more of our images of saltwater scenes click here: Salt Water Gallery

Thur - Aug 20

Neskowin, Or

Weather - a bit of drizzle with a higher ceiling but still cool and foggy (high 60’sF or 19/20C)

It was a quiet morning, with Rae working on the web site and me gabbing with some of the folks we’ve met. Around noon the weather improved and it was time to go out and see what the world had in store for us today.

We decided to head north and as we approach the turn to Pacific City we notice a road sign that said “Info Center Lft ½ Mile”. We’d looked for the info center yesterday and found that it had been closed, so when we saw this sign we were sure the Lft meant Left Out (just another great Oregon sign experience).

Just north of Pacific City we stopped at a State Park and NWR. I decide to take the one point four mile trail through the NWR. Just not like good old Cowichan Bay…no birds, one rat (too slow to get a shot), three chipmunks or maybe squirrels that were only heard but not seen, some really nice dewed up spider webs, dry lichen, one dead mushroom, some flowers that I couldn’t identify, beach shots, trail shots, and some shots of the river flowing into the sea.

Wait…..was that an owl I heard? I listened…again, is that an owl? My blood started to rush, the adrenaline started to pump….oh, it’s my bronchial tubes sucking wind from the walk. Hmmm…guess I really was desperate to see some wildlife.

Back to the Red Rocket and Racine and we started out towards the exit, but as we were just leaving the park we noticed some Great Egrets off to the left. YESSSS…birds and big ones! Off I went into the field and was able to get fairly close, snaped enough shots of the egrets to keep me busy sorting for awhile, also saw a blue heron flying by and got some shore bird shots that looked so crisp and clear I could hardly wait to see what they were. Ha..ha again…good shots, we just can’t identify them with any of the multiple field guides that we have.

Once again it is late in the evening after a full day. The adventure continues…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

To see more of our Wading Bird images click HERE

Sat - Aug 22

Neskowin, Or

Weather-cool but clear with a breeze high 60’s (20C)

There was sun this morning!! First morning since we arrived that we weren’t greeted with fog. This was are last day for exploring along the coast, we’re heading south to see our daughter and son-in-law in White City, Or., tomorrow. Our goal was to see as much as possible, but to be back by 6pm to get everything ready for an early departure.

We wanted to go back to Tillamook Bay for some more shots of the Brown Pelicans and we wanted another chance to see the area along the way, since it had been too foggy to see much on the last trip. It’s about 30 miles north of our campground to Tillamook Bay.

After four hours and 15 miles, and at least 400 snaps each, we figured we’d better head on up the road or we’d never make it to Tillamook Bay. What took us so long…photographing four people on Seadoos playing in the surf. We got ‘um upside down, right side up, crashing, diving, and having lots of fun. The surfers with boards weren’t out today because the conditions weren’t too good (we were told the waves were too close together), but that sure didn’t stop the guys with the machines!

Further up the beach we watched the waves breaking and the wind blowing the spray across the water...a wonderful chance to try our hand at ‘wave photography’. It was here that we parked on the side (wrong side) of the road and I got out to take some photos to the rear of the car (south) and Racine was shooting out the driver’s window. We were parked on the edge of a 100 foot cliff, along with some other cars. We were both totally engrossed in finding subjects and getting the correct focus. Suddenly, I hear Racine yell: ‘Carl, move….a flock of pelicans is flying by’. I turn just in time to see this little old lady raise six inches off the ground as she passed the car window in Racine’s line of sight. As I approach the car Rae looks up at me and says: ‘Oh, that wasn’t you?’ At this point we can barely contain the laughter and the little old lady can’t seem to get away from the car fast enough.

Going up the road we turn to Sand Lake Recreation Area. No idea what it is, and what a surprise. One-thousand seventy-nine acres of sand and sand dunes, covered with dune buggies of all sizes. All camping and day use areas are FULL and parking was nonexistent, but the Ranger in charge let us up park in the reserved area for the park rangers. WOW, great shots for the taking and as soon as anyone sees the camera, they light up and make sure to show their best side…works for me. We could have stayed all day…but the pelicans are still waiting.

When we finally made it to Tillamook Bay, the tide was in and the pelicans were not too close, we but did manage some shots and enjoyed watching them skimming over the water. The fog began to settle in and our watches said it was time to go…so we bid farewell to the pelicans and headed back south.

We almost made it home by 6pm and drove the Red Rocket (our Yaris) right up onto the tow dolly, strapped it in and we were almost ready to leave early tomorrow. After dinner we did a little more packing up and then I turned on the TV to watch some local bird program about Sea Hawks. :O) Seattle’s pro football team. The adventure continues…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Tue - Aug 25

Klamath Falls, Oregon - Tule Lake NWR, California

Weather - HOT, low 90’s (34C)

On the Great Adventure 2008 we spent several days in Klamath Falls and in the National Wildlife Refuges just south of there along the California border. Since that trip we’d purchased some new lenses and had been dreaming of a revisit to reshoot some of the wildlife. Today was the day! It turned out to be 12 hours long and was filled with lots of shooting, lots of travel and lots of excitement.

We (Carla, Rae, Carl – and all our equipment) left early to travel to Klamath Falls, just a little over an hour away. Our first stop was along the southern edge of Klamath Lake where we saw trees and water FILLED with White Ibis...they were quite a distance away from the road, but an awesome sight never the less. Carla got so excited I wasn’t sure that we were going to be able calm her down.

Next stop was Moore Park in Klamath Falls, a great lagoon along the lakeshore and across the road beautiful groomed playfields and picnic areas that stretch back into the hillside. The lagoon was our priority and we saw American White Pelicans, Green Heron, grebes, egrets, a mink, and other little critters. Bonus!!!

A quick lunch in the park was next, where we saw deer, ground squirrels, tbb’s (tiny brown birds) and did a little people watching too. Then on south to the Tule Lake NWR, an area filled with birds of all varieties. One of the highlights was ‘The Great Black Ibis Hunt’, when Carla and I followed four Black Ibis along the shoreline trying to get that perfect shot. Well almost perfect…. birds never do quite understand that we’d like them to stop and pose for us poor photographers.

For shooting this was a bonus day: osprey, Great Egrets, Lesser Egrets, pelicans, mink, Black Ibis, White Ibis, Red-tailed Hawks, ducks of many kinds, Green Herons, Blue Herons, American Bitterns, stilts, several kinds of grebes, quail, squirrels, lots of deer and shore birds we’re still trying to identify.

Far be it for me to get lost, but I did try, unsuccessfully, so we eventually made it back home. We made one more stop for Carla at the White Ibis gathering at the end of Klamath Lake...still an awesome sight. At one point as we headed home, we came around the west side of Klamath Lake and we were successful in getting more bites than the fisher people from the day before….problem was our bites were from mosquitoes.

Big day, fun day, full day, lot of photos to sort through and three happy photographers! The adventure continues…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

To see more of our Pelican images click here: Miscellaneous Birds

Aug 26, Wed - day 20

Rogue Valley, Oregon

Weather - HOT!

After a long day yesterday Racine decided to take the morning off from travelling and work on her photos, along with the tedious cleaning and straightening that needs to be done occasionally.

Carla and I, never having our fill of new adventures, traveled east and then south through the pine forests to Howard Prairie. We told Racine we¡¦d be back around 2:00 pm. Nice thought, but how do two photographers manage time when more and more photo ops keep popping up? Well we didn't manage the time well, we travelled onward to visit another covered bridge, saw streams, ponds, lakes and abundant wild life including: several osprey, deer and some Acorn Woodpeckers.



We were into shooting an osprey on its nest high, in a Ponderosa Pine, and thought we'd better check the time...oops, looks like we won't make it home by 2:00 pm. Close, we were close, how about 4:30 pm? It would have been earlier if we hadn't stopped for some cute little donkeys, more osprey and a few red-tailed hawks. (Can't say that Racine really expected us at 2:00pm...matter of fact I'm sure she'd have thought something was wrong if we'd arrived on time.)



When we got back it seemed like a good idea to go out, grab a bite to eat and then what else was there to do but take off to look for some local deer and take in a spectacular Rogue Valley sunset.



Another busy and fulfilling day...I had a great time with our daughter, Racine was happy with what she'd accomplished and Carla was just trying to keep up with us. The adventure continues...



To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE



To see more of our images of perching birds click here: Perching Birds Gallery

Aug 28, Fri - day 22

White City, Oregon

Weather - warm mid 80s (30C) with some high clouds

Today was a catch-up day…..we needed to catch-up on laundry, catch-up on grocery shopping and then catch-up on some needed rest from our ‘intense’ (but oh so enjoyable) shooting schedule.

Around 2:00 pm a ferrier came to clean and trim a couple of the stallions’ hoofs. Carla held the horses while the hoof work was done; all the while I was trying to stay in the background and get some good angles (and light) without spooking the animals. It wasn’t easy, the lighting was poor and the subjects weren’t always in the right spot, but then I needed to remember they weren’t posing for portrait shots! All in all it worked out well, the horse’s feet were done, I got some shots and nobody got spooked in the process.

After the ferrier left Racine and Carla decided they wanted one more shoot before we left so they ventured out again to visit a wildlife area we’d seen last year. Its main feature was a large pond. Racine and I’d visited the pond earlier in the week, when we were on laundry patrol. We’d left the cameras at home, as we thought we’d travel right back to Gus when the laundry was done. Ha ha ha…yaaa right…we no sooner pulled into the pond parking lot than an osprey hit the water diving for fish, but not just once, at least six times. Of course every time there was a perfectly clear shot….with no camera in hand we were SICK.



So today when Racine and Carla went out to the pond there were no osprey but lots of geese and ducks and some egrets. Oh yes, and as someone (and I will not divulge Racine’s name) tried to shoot, the camera said” NO CHIP” and they hadn’t taken their spare chip with them. It seemed like the pond had dealt us a double whammy, however Carla got some great close-ups of the ducks and geese.



While they were gone I worked at getting things ready for the trip tomorrow. Of course it was getting hotter in the late afternoon, so attaching the car dolly and loading the Red Rocket was a little sweatier than I had envisioned…needed a good wash when I was done. Finally loaded and packed up inside, Gus was ready to roll tomorrow morning with only disconnecting the electrical hook-up.



It was a very nice week shooting and visiting family in Southern Oregon. Now we just need a good nights sleep and ……oh my, to catch up on the blog. The adventure continues...



To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Aug 30, Sun – day 24

Burns, Oregon to Mountain Home, Idaho

Weather – getting hotter again then to end the day with a nice high 70s (28C)

We’ve been lucky with the weather during this section of the trip. As we pull into Idaho, on I-84 east of Ontario, Oregon, to stop at the rest area, we find that yesterday the temperature was 100F or 38C in the Boise area. Today, not so hot and when we pull in to the RV park (elevation near 5000 ft) the temperature has dropped to the high 70s (28C) from low 90s (34C) yesterday. That was great for us, we’re not hot weather lovers and had had about as much as we could take during our stay in White City.

We spent a bit of time worrying that we would get lost and not be able to find the RV park, but with a little help from the gas attendant when we filled up Gus, we headed out feeling a little more confident. We basically drove right to it, 23 miles northeast of Mountain Home, down a three mile dusty dirt/gravel road and there it was, an oasis on the top of a hill in the middle of sage brush county. A lovely spot, nice and quiet, with the morning and evening fly by of hundreds of Canadian geese (honk-honk), the cooing of gazillions of morning doves, the evening cricket serenade, and a soft rustling of the wind easing through the trees in the park.



Gus has been set up, Racine has fixed dinner, and we can hardly get off the internet/e-mails trying to catch up from a week of cyber-space deprivation...although we did take just a short drive to check out the evening photo opportunities. We discovered we were in an open range area and met a few of our four legged neighbors during our expedition. The adventure continues…



To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Sept 1, Tue – day 26

Mountain Home, Idaho

Weather - mild mid 70s (23C) and clear with a breeze

Waking to the music of a few hundred geese flying over is a nice way to start the day. As I walked over to the washrooms (bathrooms) I saw the neighbor’s ducks were out for a walk with the family, ½ mile walk actually. As it turns out the ducks only walked 100 yards or so, then were carried the remainder of the way. On their return, it was splish-splash, swimming time in the pool.

We took the day off from photo shooting, just relaxing and enjoying the park…..until the deer come by late in the afternoon and put on a demonstration on how to drink out of the lawn sprinklers. Interesting adaptation of the sprinkling system…I must have taken well over 100 shots that will prove that fact!

After the ‘wildlife’ shoot was over and dinner was finished, it was time to start packing up for the trip tomorrow, a somewhat dirty and sweaty process. Once everything was dumped, unhooked, loaded, etc., I headed to the park shower building for a much needed rinse.

As I started up the steps to the building it was apparent that some kind of horny toad, or a toad/frog of some kind, was stuck to the outside wall just below the light, getting it’s fill of moths and other unlucky bugs (time is 9:30 pm-dark). After finishing a good shower I came out of the building and the toad was still there. Ah-ha…a nighttime photo op….so off I go to get my camera. On the way back, camera in hand, I was startled by a black creature that seemed to be hopping across the road. As soon as I made contact with the road again, I set the camera’s shutter speed for 1/1000, hit the flash button, used a little flashlight to locate the creature for focus and ZAM, I got a nice big toad. Whew, this night time shooting was getting exciting….on to the showers….too late, the dang thing left the area, but a smaller, nicer looking frog was there, so I shot him four times and that was the end of another full day. The adventure continues…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Sept 3, Thur - day 28

Yellowstone National Park

Weather-scattered clouds – temps 15-22C (59-72F) with sprinkles of rain

We had a good nights sleep, due in part to temperatures at night in the high 40sF (13C). We woke up to the tiny pings of rain on the roof....sweet.

I left Racine sleeping while I looked up the manager to pay our bill and get the access code to the wi-fi. Oooooh…it is nice to have GREAT wi-fi service. Also scouted the town for a car care place to do some minor work (oil change) on the Red Rocket. Stopped by the Yellowstone Park info Center and picked up a few park flyers, maps and other miscellaneous free handouts.

I found that there is one major project that is going on right now in the park, there is road work on the Madison/Norris road and that part of the Park hi-way is CLOSED until next spring. A bit of a bother as it makes the route around the park longer because you have to do a lot of backtracking, however the repairs will be appreciated next year.

Another item I picked up on was that the wolves have had a major effect on the Madison elk herd. After the wolves were removed from the park in the 1920s the elk slowly moved to the Madison Valley and flourished there as it was a nice place to winter with no predators. Wolf packs were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park starting in 1995. Since they’ve been reintroduced elk numbers have declined appreciably. There are two wolf packs that have moved into the Madison area, one on the north side of the valley and one on the south side. The elk and their calves have been easy prey for these two packs and herd sizes have been shrinking. The impact of wolves on the park is being closely monitored by fish and wildlife.

Then it was back to Gus, to find Racine up and about, but not quite awake yet. We’re finding it hard to take it easy, but today we started out into the park at noon (home at 6:30). We saw one bald eagle, about a dozen osprey (no action today just sitting there), about a dozen bison, one of which was 10 feet from the door of the Red Rocket! We saw it grazing along the road and pulled ahead 50 yards into a car pull-out to wait for him to saunter by, which he did, a bit closer than we expected.

We saw lots of elk, several cows and calves, only three bulls. One is close to a royal rack, but his 6th tines were only 2” - 3” long. I got some great shots of foolish photographers within 50 feet of this bull. When the Park Ranger arrived, she went something less than berserk. She stated screaming in her bullhorn “EVERYONE BACK TO THEIR CARS!”

As one cow started to cross the river, the bull followed and turned her around. Yes, the rut has begun. The cow turned back and followed the others across the road. It was at this time I thought that I may get my National Geographic PHOTO OF THE YEAR (I keep trying). The bull scrambled up the bank toward the onlookers and people were moving faster than, well lets just say the roadside trees spewed people on the run, not gallop…run. The Ranger was still having fits and was still screaming into the bull horn, but the bull stopped, grabbed a chew of grass, then proceeded to slowly cross the road proudly holding its head high, displaying the attitude ‘ This is my domain’. I missed the shot due to crowd excitement, the elk melted into the bush, the ranger shook her head and got into her truck, the people returned to their cars seemingly unfazed by the potential danger, and quiet settled on the river. (Photo is the bull, bugling a challenge while he gathered the cows.)

Tonight was a full moon, however it was too cloudy to shoot and we were fairly tired anyway, so it was dinner, sort photos, work on the blog, and then to bed. The adventure continues…

PHOTOGRAPHY NOTE: We LOVE our new lenses!!!

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

To see more of our elk images click here: Animal Gallery

Sept 5, Sat - day 30

West Yellowstone, Montana

Weather-low 45 (8C) high upper 70s (27C) cloudy with gusty winds

It was a long day yesterday so we tried hard not to over do ourselves today; we headed out around 12:15pm. Lots of cars were on the road, lots of people were enjoying the three-day long Labor Day Weekend.

There were Elk on the Madison River, we think they were the two cows and two calves we’d seen previously with the four point bull, he was nowhere to be seen. Just a mile or so up river there was another elk jam. A huge bull was lying down on the other side of the river; we couldn’t determine if it was the same bull that we’d seen with the cows and calves or not.

Rut is just starting for the elk, some bulls are collecting cows and some just seem to be uninspired as yet. This was one of the uninspired looking bulls, in fact some of the bystanders thought it just might be dead; it laid its head and antlers on the ground and didn’t move for several minutes.

Not more than a mile up the road and there was another elk herd with about 12 cows and calves and a bull, but they were a long way off on the far side of the ever widening valley. We didn’t join the jam, just drove on through wondering what the animals were feeling about all the intense watchers that had suddenly shown up.

We saw osprey here and there, but no divers or fliers, just perch sitters today. Fishermen and fisherwomen were scattered along the river, some fishing, some taking a break…it looked like a lazy day for about everyone we saw (except for the animal jammers…they were pretty excitable). We did see one kingfisher hit the water but couldn’t tell if it got anything, nor could we get any kind of a shot of them.

It was a fairly short drive and we headed home feeling rested and assured that there were still some animals around, despite the huge population boom over this weekend. When we got home the wind had picked up, so I put the awning on Gus away….preventative maintenance to keep it from getting ripped off the side of the motor home. The adventure continues…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Sept 7-Mon - day 32

West Yellowstone, Montana

Weather - low 45 (8C) to high 60s (19C) cloudy with gusty winds (rumors of freezing temps tonight)

Last night there was a beautiful sunset; old mariners rule is “Red sky at night sailor’s delight, red sky in morning sailor’s take warning.” How true, the way the wind was blowing today any mariner would have loved it and got a lot of mileage out of it too. :O)

Housekeeping day today…attacked the laundry and finished it along with some other tasks. We surprised ourselves (well sort of) by still managing to get out for three-hours in the late afternoon. The weekend tourists seemed to have vacated West Yellowstone; the traffic in the park settled down…the holiday was over.



We saw one osprey, several elk, three bison, a mystery hawk and I missed a snake I was trying to shoot. I spotted the snake about fifty feet away, jumped out of the car to get a shot, and that sucker was having nothing to do with getting its picture taken. Dang, missed that one….know for sure it wasn’t a rattler (no buttons)…. its tail was long and pointy.



The thrill for today was rounding a corner and seeing a bison 150 yards up the road heading for us AND we had a wide pull-out so I turned in. All in position (in the car – no way we were getting out) and Racine starts snapping, while I leave the car in gear with my foot on the gas. The bison is now running at us, kicking up dust and Racine says, “Carl…CARL” (still snapping shots of course). As I quickly pulled towards the road the bison ran past us, leaving just a couple of feet between it and the us. Lots of adrenaline pumping that time!



Up the road we went, and we finally found an osprey in not so good light. We spent some time trying to get a photo, finally gave up, and turned toward home as we wanted to catch-up on the blog and photo postings.



Along the way home we spotted a hawk, a variety as yet unseen by either of us. Not a red-tailed hawk, much too large, not an immature eagle, a bit too small. We are currently checking all our bird books and the Internet. The images we got were poor, it was a long way off …oh well, we can only hope to see one again on another day.



Despite the stops we really were getting closer to home…..at the Madison junction we saw what we believe was the bison that set our adrenaline pumping earlier. It covered a lot of ground and we still have no explanation why it was running. Saw a few more elk on the way home and another day ended. The adventure continues…



To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE



To see more of our animal images click here: Animal Gallery

Sept 9, Wed - day 34

West Yellowstone, Montana

Weather-low 27 (-2C) to mid 70s (24C) clear

Slow start, not wanting to overtax ourselves, but feeling rested after a good nights sleep we just pointed the Red Rocket (Yaris) toward the Park and went. One thing about the Park is you just can’t go far without seeing something to shoot: bison, osprey, mystery hawks, people, dogs, car jams, frantic Park Rangers, people fishing, ducks, geese, wading birds, thermal features, forests in an ever changing mode, and of course, elk which are showing up more frequently in the Madison Valley each day. We have yet to see bear, wolves, coyotes or cougars but we have hopes that before we leave we’ll get a shot of some of them.

Today we were able to get some better shots of our mystery hawk and really thought we might catch an osprey diving for fish. We did manage some decent shots of one osprey sitting in the river, apparently drinking (water). We saw another osprey, not diving but working its way down the river looking for a fish. A good deal of time was spent following the bird and waiting for some action. The lighting conditions were great, we had our fingers crossed for some action, and the darn thing still wouldn’t dive.

While I was hiding behind some trees, with an open shot, didn’t matter if the osprey flew north or south, some Northern Flickers showed up wanting to share the tree with the osprey. I passed up shooting them, stayed focused on the osprey. Minutes later I heard a Belted Kingfisher working its way down stream. Not wanting to be left out, the Belted Kingfisher decided it wanted some space on the tree the osprey was sitting in.

Now there had to be an opening here for some kind of shot….but not today. The flickers flew away, the kingfisher took off downstream and while I was trying to get a shot of the kingfisher, the osprey flew upstream. Feeling somewhat defeated, I crawled through the brush and got back to the car. Racine had a decent shot of the kingfisher that she was reviewing and I had zippo. In the car, off we go and WHAT! Just fifty feet in front of us the Belted Kingfisher lands in a dead tree. It was looking upstream, but eventually it turned around into great light and snap-snap-snap, finally a decent shot, at least I like it. You just never know when something will turn up.

We head for home, the adventure continues….

To see more of our Yellowstone National Park images click HERE

Sept 11, Fri - day 36

West Yellowstone, Montana

Weather - low 27 (-3C) to mid 70s (24C) clear

In line with our resolve not to kill ourselves we tried some new scheduling and split the day….6am to 11am morning shoot, then back home for a rest and an evening 5pm to 7:30pm shoot.

In the morning we saw the large herd of elk we’d spotted before; they were at the lower end of the Madison Valley. There was lots of action, lots of shots and some challenging lighting…oh and it was cold too. Staring just before sunrise, with temperatures well below freezing, allowed for lots of misty river and thermal shots(at this time of year the early morning thermal spots really stand out). It also made us realize a warm pair of gloves and a hat for warmth, rather than to keep off the sun, would have been nice!

Sooo…..we were tying to pace ourselves with an easy morning, we made it home before noon (just a smidge longer than proposed) and then we were back out around 5pm for just less than three hours. Wait…. doesn’t that add up to 8 hours? Weren’t we were supposed to take it easy today because we wanted to have a bigger day tomorrow? Well yes…but it was an easy 8 hours. :O)

Oh well, evening had its own set of possibilities. Good light, different direction of light, and another view of everything. Rounding a corner in the road we saw a line up of cars and sure enough there was a bison in our lane….dead center. The traffic behind it didn’t want to zip by, bison can turn on autos and create a great amount of damage. We slowed and pulled right next to the center line, since there was a wide spot on the right for the bison to walk around us. NO….this wasn’t happening, the bison closed in on us…. only 100 feet away, it just kept ambling up the road but kind of veered towards us, not around us. Now this was interesting….two photographers with three cameras, five lenses, and all we could think about was where we could go—NO WHERE! Oh dear….the bison was closing in, my foot was on the gas, the Rocket was in reverse, thoughts of the videos of bison encounters they’d showed us at the Park Info Center were flashing through my mind, and finally the bison stops….with its head and chin whiskers just over the front of the Rocket’s hood. It seemed the darn thing couldn’t see us. It looked to its right, into the eyes of the traffic in the other lane, who were by this time enjoying every second of the moment, then lazily looked to its left and all the room available there, seemed to stare past us, and then it decided to walk around our car, right next to my window, and folks I mean RIGHT NEXT to my window. Now we didn’t know whether to take a shot with the camera or crawl out Racine’s side of the car. No problem for the bison, it just moved down the road as if we weren’t even there. As it passed by, we saw some of the people in the oncoming lane…..tears of laughter were rolling out of their eyes, I hope they didn't wet their pants. As the bison passed and we pulled away we burst out laughing too, shaking our heads in disbelief at another unbelievable Yellowstone moment (no shots, but lots of memories).

It was after the bison encounter that I spoke with a Park Ranger and learned that one of the most dangerous times for this kind of encounter is during the fly season. This is because, when walking by vehicles a bison will swing its head to shake off the flies and in doing so break windows and put large dents in the cars, all unintentionally. Good thing it isn’t fly season right now.

As we headed for home we stopped for a few shots of one of Yellowstone’s fantastic sunsets. Since we had a fairly easy day today we plan on getting up early tomorrow, two hours before sunrise, passing all the usual photo ops in the Madison and Firehole (in the dark that shouldn’t be to hard) and then set up in an area where some bears have been seen and just spend some time there. The adventure continues….

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Sept 13, Sun - day 38

West Yellowstone, Montana

Weather - low 27 (-3C) to low 70s (22C) clear

We said this would be a day off, a chance to get some rest and regroup after an intense week of travel and photography. We tried, what it actually turned out to be was a catch-up day….catch-up on laundry, catch-up on emails, catch-up on some computer work, catch-up on some cleaning chores….only thing we didn’t catch-up on was some sleep!

In the spirit of our intent for the day the blog is brief and we will catch you up on anything that you missed another time. The adventure continues….

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Sept 15, Tue – day 40

West Yellowstone, Montana

Weather - low 35 (2C) to low 80s (28C) cloudy with sun breaks

Today we had morning and afternoon shoots of Madison elk and Firehole thermals. Several of the thermals on the Firehole were producing some exciting spurts and we were able to capture them.

We’ve noticed a lot of Canada Geese in the park, on the rivers and in the fields feeding on the grains and grasses. These appear to be the larger, Branta Canadensis, variety of Canada Goose. This morning there were groups of these geese gathered in the large meadows along the Madison River. At first sight they looked disembodied, with only their heads sticking up out of the grass as they moved through the fields.

Going on along the Madison we encountered a bull elk on one side of the road and his harem on the other side. There were lots of people (major car/elk jam) and no Rangers yet. The bull went up and down the side of the road looking for an opening and found none. At one point, I took a shot through a pick-up truck window with the bull’s nose almost in the window on the other side. The people were local residents and stayed calm. The bull moved back, went up along the road, saw an opening and finally crossed. It was a road savy elk and followed the traffic rules, it looked both ways before it crossed, moved slowly and cautiously across the road, and then it ran like heck and disappeared up the hillside.

The adventure continues…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Sept 17, Thu - day 42

West Yellowstone, Montana

Weather - low 35 (2C) to mid 80s (30C) sunny

We traveled to the Tetons in search of the elusive moose today, so it was an early 4:00am start (these early mornings may catch up with us). We would have been happy just to see Bullwinkle. :O) There was a nice crescent moon in the pre-dawn and beautiful sunrise over Yellowstone Lake; a lovely start to the day.

As we crossed over the continental divide (third time this morning) and down into the Lewis River valley and canyon, the fall colors were just outstanding. Fall seemed much more present to the south of the park, probably due to the prevalence of Aspen and other deciduous plants. After we passed through the South Entrance to Yellowstone and into Grand Teton National Park we were greeted with eight miles of major road repair…we’d braced ourselves for the worst after hearing stories from other travelers. Surprisingly it wasn’t too bad. We arrived when the road crew were starting their work day and they had just finished watering the road as we pulled up, reducing a lot of the dust issues we’d been warned about. Our line was on the move and we didn’t experience the 30 minute waits that had been advertised.

Just beyond the road work we got our first glimpse of Jackson Lake. The lake is up to 15 miles (25 km) long, 7 miles (11.25 km) wide and 438 feet (134 m) deep. The water of the lake averages below 60 degrees (15 c) even during the hottest summer months and can freeze to more than 6 feet (1.8 m) thick in the winter. The lake is natural, but the top 33 feet (10 m) was added in 1911 for irrigation needed in Idaho.

The first animals we saw in Teton National Park were two antelope, about 300 yd away, then saw two more, but this time very close to the road. The temperature was about 90F or 32C and we noticed that the heat waves created from the high temps were affecting our photos. Beautiful scenery, lots of traffic, quite a few horseback riders, several hawks, more antelope (48 in one group), and hundreds of bison gave way to many photo ops.

Because we’d entered the Teton area early in the morning the light was optimal for photographing the mountain range. It was mid-day by the time we arrived at the ‘moose’ hang-out areas and most moose migrate to the cool bushy areas and were not visible. It was a hard choice, whether to stop and shoot the mountains or rush to get to the moose…the Tetons won out hands down this time.

After spending a good part of the day in the Tetons, we turned for home and the road repair. Again, we hit it just right and moved almost straight on through the construction. We made a much needed stop at Grant Village and learned that a large bull elk had been killed in the campground the previous night, due to injuries acquired during a contest with another bull over the possession of his harem of cows.

One more stop on the way home. When we approached the turn-off to Firehole Lake Drive there was a coyote near the road and Racine got some shots. There were lots of elk on the Madison, but all were a good distance away and we just drove on by. There was still a lot of traffic in the park today, but less than last week.

Only 12 ½ hours today, not exhausted but definitely tired, we climbed into Gus and rested. The adventure continues…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Sept 19-Sat-day 44

West Yellowstone, Montana

Weather-low 35 (2C) to low 90s(34C)

We heard the elk calling us so we jumped out of bed about an hour before sunrise in hopes of getting some action shots, good light and an early return home.

Our hopes we high when we saw elk all up and down the Madison. All the herds seemed to be heading for cover and the sun has not even risen yet…hmm this is different. Could it have something to do with the weather , it was forecast to be in the low 90’s today? We weren’t sure, however all the elk are heading for the timber, and we haven’t seen this behavior since we arrived.

As we moved up the valley to where the Gibbon and Firehole rivers meet to form the Madison we spotted a bull elk in the meadow. Then, one by one the cows started coming out of the meadow, crossing the road and heading for the Madison Information Station, but the bull remains 300 yards out still in the meadow. Then, in less than two minutes the bull disappeared and reappeared on the roadside, trying to cross. By this time a car/elk jam had formed lining both sides of the road. The bull began to cross the road, a car pulled up and parked directly across from it and surprise, it retreated back into the forest beside the road. Suddenly the bull appeared back in the meadow, crossed it, climbed a hill, crossed 200 yards up the road, went behind a small hill and reappeared to the west. How nice, it’s now in the open with the best of morning light conditions. Several people with cameras didn’t even see the bull, as they were still focused on the meadow to the east. He made a beautiful sight with the rising sun and mist coming from the Gibbon River. After many shots we drove up the Firehole in search of osprey, bison, and anything else that might appear.

Success again, we saw the young osprey we’d been watching the past few days, along with another mature osprey, neither of which seem to be interested in fishing at this time. As we pulled back on the road we were greeted with a mile long line-up due to some 40 to 50 bison moving across the road near the Fountain Flat road. Seems everyone is getting some snapshots of the bison as no one is moving and the bison are taking up a major part of the road.

We finally made it through the car/bison jam and on up the road were the four Sandhill Cranes we’d spotted before. They were closer to the road than usual but still too far off for a decent picture. There were more bison on each side of the road, but no traffic stops as we neared the Fountain Paint Pot section of the Firehole, where we turned around for home.

The elk had moved into the trees and were staying in the forest cover; we saw an osprey, and several single bison along the Madison. Also, the young bald eagle we’d been watching made an appearance and was perched on a snag across the Madison River.

It was about 10am and there was a noticeable increase in traffic in the park, even more than we saw over Labor Day Weekend. Guess everyone was trying to get in one more weekend of sun before the weather changes…we’re looking forward to a thinning out of visitors next Monday.

It was a good morning; with six-hours of good light, plenty of photo ops, and when we got back to Gus we both decided we would take a long, restful nap….the early mornings and long days finally caught up with us. The adventure continues….

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

To see more of our Osprey images click HERE

Sept 21, Mon - day 46

West Yellowstone, Montana

Weather - low 26 (-3C) to high 60s (19C) clear and sunny

The day started at 4:00am, I made a sandwich, and off I went (by myself) to wait till sunrise and see if any wolves or bear have visited the bison carcass. Racine decided to sleep in, stay warm and work on photos. It was the coldest morning yet.

It was dark and I only saw a cow elk and her calf on the way to the upper Firehole. There was only one other vehicle there when I arrived, so I got a good viewing spot. As I opened the window (still predawn and quite dark) I could hear the bugling of elk. Excited, I started scanning the area (meadows and hillsides) with our binoculars. It wasn’t too long before I spotted an elk on the distant hillside, a long way from the bison carcass and further up the valley.

It was getting light fast and before long the whole hillside had elk on it. Now the tripod came out, binoculars were set aside, and the camera, tripod, and I headed across the road to see what could be captured.

Constant resetting of the camera was required since the light was constantly changing. BINGO…. there were two bulls, lots of cows and calves, and one bull was driven up the hill by another. Not much conflict there….wait….what’s this? Another bull approached and a discussion of presiding authority commenced. Dang… the sun isn’t up, the bulls are more than a quarter of a mile away. Then I could defiantly hear the clashing of antlers and saw the dust fly as they went head to head, battling for breeding rights. What a sight….it lasted less than five minutes and I was carefully working with the camera settings all the time. Once again, the dominate first round bull stayed on sight as the other one moved at a steady but not running pace up the hill. WHAT? Another bull approached, there was an exchange of bugling, and this latest bull decided now was not the time to challenge the winner of the previous battle. In the mean time the cows and calves were running, yes running all over the hillside. Wow!!! What a sight…I was just hoping some of the shots would be bright enough to show up. The sun finally sent its early morning rays into the area, and with nothing in sight around the bison carcass and the elk had dissolved into the trees, I headed for home.

As I turned to take Firehole Lake Drive, I saw a large bison coming across the meadow, when I stopped it just kept coming at me. Good light, nice bison, lots of shots….it got a bit too close for comfort and wasn’t slowing down, it was time for me to move on.

The temperature was well below freezing, the thermals were putting on a frosty morning display and I stopped to shoot some of the frosty scene before moving on. I left the Firehole Lake area, and turned the Red Rocket for home happy with a great morning of opportunities.

No sooner had I pulled on the main road, rounded the top of a hill and the view of the Fountain Flats revealed a few dozen bison and several dozen onlookers. Once again you could see bison on the left, bison on the right, bison on the road, bison crossing the road and people and cars everywhere. It took a little while to work my way through the car/bison jam and down the river I went.

The morning light was great and I made one more stop to get a shot of the Firehole River. Oh nice….what’s that just down stream? It’s the young osprey we’ve been watching the past few days. I Pulled up to a convenient spot, stopped the car, and behind the cover of some pines, eased closer to the osprey. I watched for several minutes and there wasn’t any action…then it just took off and flew upstream a few yards. The light was still good, with some intermittent shadows coming from some of the taller pines on my side of the river. I picked out a portion of the river that looked like a likely spot for the osprey to hit from a dive for fish and I focused a on that spot. After several minutes the osprey dove, I shot, and KAZAM….I snapped several photos that are the best I’ve ever shot of an osprey fishing. The young one has defiantly improved its fishing techniques, it once again snagged a good sized fish.

As the osprey flew downstream the tripod and camera get put back into the car and I too depart, headed for home….with the inevitable one more stop to see the young eagle and its parents. gosh, it’s only 9:30am. What a morning.

Then it was time for some domestic chores that took us to a late evening shopping trip and we left the cameras in Gus. Yes…. you guessed it, the absolute most beautiful sunset since we arrived in West Yellowstone and we didn’t get it…..but we really enjoyed the sight. The adventure continues…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

Sept 23, Wed - day 48

West Yellowstone, Montana

Weather - low 32 (0C) to high of mid 70s (24C) clear and sunny

Racine knew that once Heidi and I got into the car we would probably be out till dark, so she decided to take a break from roaming through the park and let the two of us be adventurers for the day. We left before dawn and made it to Yellowstone Lake just after the sun topped the mountains on the east side of the lake. We pulled over, double checked our equipment, took a few shots and then continued down the road. As we passed Lake Village a large bull elk was herding his harem at the edge of the meadow. It was still quite cool and we were able to photograph the hot steam spewing from its’ nostrils.

A little later, Heidi spotted two Blue Grouse (we are pretty sure they were Blues not Spruce Grouse) and we both took some shots. While shooting we were joined by another photographer, Jeff, from Arizona. About 25 cars passed us while we were shooting the Blues. They would stop and ask what it was we saw, and after finding we were only looking at birds, they disgustedly moved on. (I guess some people don’t think birds count for much when they can see big game.) After a lengthy chat with Jeff, we all moved on to our next adventure.

As we rolled into Mammoth we noticed the elk had vanished. We chatted with the Rangers and found out why the situation had changed: the weather was too hot, so the elk moved to the campground just below Mammoth (down the hill). Off we went in search of the elk and on our way we saw an antelope and then some big horn sheep (first time I’d been this close to sheep in the park…wow, how good can it get!).



We found the elk, they were happily, and coolly, lounging around several camping units. As we drove past them we saw the bull, just a few feet off the road….Heidi got some awesome close-ups. We hadn’t seen the park Ranger when we entered into the campground, however, when we paused for a photo we realized they were there as we were loudly told to keep moving…so on we went. When we rounded the end of the campground there was another bull, much smaller, coming down the hill, apparently headed for the campground area. We didn’t see or hear any battles between the bulls so the smaller one must have gone further down the hill to the river…smart move on his part. We stopped and parked above the campground and watched the big bull get up and coral a couple of cows that had strayed and we got a few more shots. It was nice that the bull stopped in the sunlit areas so we could get some good shots.



We looked in another area of Mammoth, near the hot springs, didn’t see any animals or birds so we headed for Indian Creek Campground, hoping for the possibility of grizzly bear or wolf sightings. None,…and the campground had closed down for the season (could this mean the snow and 40 below weather was coming…ugh!). We passed meadows, the Obsidian Cliffs, and Norris, and then we turned and headed for Canyon Village and on towards the Mt Washburn area, where we searched for the eight grizzlies that were seen there earlier today (We weren’t meaning to be greedy, even one would be just fine!). The grizzlies had been working their way to the White Bark Pine trees that produce the much valued pine nuts the bears eat in preparation for the winter. No bears for us today….a bit discouraged, we headed for home.



On the way we encountered the usual bison/car jams, elk/car jams. It was just an hour before sunset, we were getting close to home, and when we crossed the bridge at the west end of the Madison meadows there were elk and people everywhere; the bridge had standing room only. A large bull had crossed the river and had entered into the general vicinity of a smaller bull, with two cows and two calves. We pulled over to watch and during the next 45 minutes saw some amazing interactions and posturing between these animals. The event ended when the larger bull ran the smaller bull back across the river and claimed the two cows as his own. As for people, this was probably the largest crowd that I’ve seen at any one place watching the animals.



WOW, another full day, we headed for home and the adventure continues….



To see more of our Yellowstone National Park images click HERE

Sept 25-Fri-day 50

West Yellowstone, Montana

Weather-low 32(0C) to high of high 70s (25C) clear and sunny with smoke sifting in from a fire in Yellowstone Park

Ahhhh….rest day, doing the blog, going over the photos and did I say resting? Oh, and the Pbase site has been down for 24 hours and we’re not sure when they will get it fixed so it won’t be possible to see the blog for --?

Whoa…..3pm and it was time to go to the park. We drove out the Madison, up the Firehole and into Firehole Lake Drive. We arrived just as one of the largest geysers was about ready to show off. It was well worth the 30 minutes we waited to see the show. The geyser’s eruption was apparently only 75% of its normal height, but it was impressive as it exploded time and time again to heights of over 100 feet. Ooops… I got so involved with photographing the geyser that I forgot to get some shots of the spectators getting soaked. The wind was blowing hard enough that it carried the water from the eruption towards the benches and completely soaked most of the ones that were filled with spectators. Oh well, Racine was shooting from another direction so we had good coverage.

We left the Firehole and chased the sun on the way back to West Yellowstone. We just missed the evening light in the Firehole Canyon, when we got to the Madison the sun was disappearing and as we headed toward West Yellowstone the sun had almost set. We made it to the west end of town just in time for Racine to get a few shots of spectacular sunset.

We wanted to fill the Red Rocket with fuel for tomorrow’s drive and as we drove towards the gas station we saw a fire truck and firemen lighting a huge bon fire in an empty field. It was for the West Yellowstone High School Homecoming Weekend celebrations. Now this was exciting…..some new subjects and different lighting challenges. After about an hour of shooting, the fire started to die down and the celebrates started to leave, so we returned home, anxious to download our photos. You just never know when you will get photo opportunities. The adventure continues….

To see more of our Yellowstone National Park images click HERE

Sept 27, Sun - day 52

Weather - low 34(0C) to high of mid 60s (18C) clear and sunny with no smoke and breezy

Image: Photo of the area between Gardiner, Mt and Livingston, Mt, seen on our last trip through Yellowstone National Park.

After yesterday’s adventure we had a big sleep-in, then we started to prepare Gus for the next move. With snow and 20F (-7C) temps forecast for Wed and Thur, Monday seemed like a good day to travel out of the 6,667 foot altitude of West Yellowstone and head for the warmer temps of eastern Washington.

So today it was unhook the sewer, move Gus ahead, put the car-dolly on Gus, and then put the Red Rocket on the car-dolly. No problems, I just drove the Red Rocket around the block and then through the driveway of the house behind us and right onto the car dolly. (‘You gotta love it when a plan comes together’.) All went well, then it was just re-hook the water, cable, and electrical and we were set for this evening and an early start tomorrow morning.

Next was the laundry, and then it was rest time and hope that Gus would start ok tomorrow morning (I didn’t want any repeats of the thrill I got at Mt. Home).

The adventure continues….

To see more of our Yellowstone National Park images click HERE

Sept 29 (Tue-day 54)-through Oct 7 (Wed-day 62)

Cheney, Washington

Weather-low 23(-10C) to high of low 70s (12C) frost most mornings with clear to partly cloudy and dusty skies

We settled in, checking out the area and anticipating a nice warm sunny day. Unfortunately the temperature dropped all around us, with wind and clouds….it felt like we were on the wet coast again, even though we were in Eastern Washington.

During the last ten days we’ve explored a good deal of South East Washington, from Cheney south to Steptoe Butte, then west to Palouse Falls, and north to Ritzville. Our adventures led us to several trips through the Turnbull NWR (just south of our RV campsite). We were still hoping to see a moose on this trip, and the NWR Ranger said they had just completed an aerial survey and counted 30 moose in the NWR, so our antennas were up for any large, dark, ugly animals. We saw lots of beautiful scenery, but no animals.

As luck would have it, later in the week, we did spot a bull moose just a few minutes south of Cheney. It was late, almost dark, and “Bullwinkle” ambled across the road in front of us. That was cause for lots of celebration and laughs at how far and long we had travelled before seeing one.

We’ve also seen a bald eagle (really didn’t anticipate seeing one here), several hawks, many pheasants, quail, a porcupine, about 50 deer a day, numerous coyotes, a totally unexpected pelican, a huge set of tracks that belonged to the BN & SF railroad, abandoned Milwaukee rail lines, wheat fields in various stages of growth or harvest and many old barns and abandoned farm buildings. There was so much to see we kind of fell into the trap of staying out until there was no light left, then we photographed the moon.

Photographing the animals in this area has been challenging. From the birds to the deer they all are very shy and disappear quickly at any sign of people. Most of the animals that we’ve seen are a fair distance from the roads and with the whole region either fenced or posted with ‘No Trespassing’ signs getting close to them is next to impossible. The other challenge has been the lighting. Passing clouds create shadows, dust is often rising from the fields, the fields, canyons, and gullies all are a similar colour and it makes it difficult to get good sharp contrast and depth. In short, you couldn’t ask for a better learning experience!

On Tuesday, Oct 6th there was a great dust storm that caused the closure of the I-90 freeway between Moses Lake and Ritzville for about 17 hours. There were several accidents as visibility was ZERO at some points. We’d noticed the windy conditions, but at the time were near Steptoe Butte and the dust wasn’t an issue there. On Wednesday Oct 7th we were near Ritzville and saw the dust coming so we headed east. We checked with some of the local people to see if we should expect a problem….their response was “it gets dusty this time of year”. No storm developed, so guess it was a fairly normal occurrence.

Three times we’ve visited my Aunt Babe and we had some great chats with her. She’s 100 years, 8 months old, still lives alone and cares for herself. We enjoyed a few hands of pinochle, her favorite card game, and she beat us handily. She’s a great lady and it was a treat to spend so much time with her.

One thing we’ve really enjoyed about the Palouse is all the back roads we’ve been able to travel on and the minimal amount of traffic we’ve encountered. Another has been seeing all the old barns, equipment and historical buildings. The Palouse is full of contrasts, old and new overlapping into a blend that makes the whole work for the people and the times. The adventure continues.....

To see our images of Southeast Washington click HERE

Oct 9, Fri - day 64

Cheney, Washington

Weather-low 23(-5C) to high 50 (10C) frost, clear to partly cloudy and dusty skies - Windy

Due to the wind and dust storms in the area we decide to explore to the east side of the Palouse and avoid any unneeded sandblasting on the Red Rocket.

Today we saw two really exciting and unexpected things. The first we found as we pulled over to shoot a red-tailed hawk. The hawk flew away before we could get set up, but there was something else in the tree….a large unidentified object. Whoa….a great horned owl! Thirty minutes later, after several shots from the tri-pod, we left the owl still sitting in the tree, keeping a somewhat sleepy eye out for some quail and squirrels that were in the area.

Later, as we were driving down one of the roads, we came upon a private, family run museum. WHAT a find! We met the owners and they let us in to an absolute wonderland of historical items. There were photos of the first farmers in the Palouse using teams of horses to pull the thrashers through the fields, farming hand tools that had hand carved handles and much more. We spent a good deal of time there, looking and talking to the owners. Racine found out that a number of photographers (30) were scheduled to show up on the tenth, 15 were from BC. I was jealous, but we had our visit. I’m sure the visiting photographers will have a great shoot and should go home delighted with the variety that they’ll find at the museum.

We planned well, there was no dust on us today and we had a beautiful sunset to end another day of our Great Adventure. The adventure continues…

To see our images of Southeast Washington click HERE

Oct 11 (Sun-day 66)

Cheney to North Bend, Washington

Weather – low, 17(-9C) to high, 45 (8C) with frost, clear and cold to start, warming to a balmy 32 (0C) low and 50 (10C) high west of the Cascade Mountains

Image: Bridge crossing the Columbia River at Vantage, Washington

We left the 17F temperature of Cheney at 8am after, fueling Gus and getting a coffee at the truck stop. Our move to disconnect the water line last night to avoid possible freezing of the pipes seemed to work, the water was running just fine....wish we could have figured out something equally as effective to keep the chill out of the old bones when we had to step outside!

The wind picked up early in the morning, but fortunately it was all tail wind and there was no problem driving Gus down the road. Between Ritzville and Moses Lake there were several spots with blowing dust (really thick blowing dust) but nothing to the level of the storms that occurred earlier in the week.

After days of seeing animals everywhere we had our hopes up that we would see at least a few deer along the freeway. We sit nice and high in Gus and the view is perfect for spotting wildlife…. there were no deer, no pheasants, no coyotes, but we did see some awesome scenery. The fall colors were a bit dull until we reached the Snoqualmie Pass where the vine maples were displaying their brilliant red and yellow fall colours.

The closest we came to seeing elk was when we pulled into our next destination. The elk had been trying to eat out of my brother’s vegetable garden not too long before we arrived.

As we settle in at our new location near the foot of Mt Si, we’re looking forward to lots of visiting with family, a few hands of pinochle, beautiful scenery and more wildlife viewing. The adventure continues….

To see more of our Central Washington 2009 images click HERE

To read more about our travels click 'The Great Adventure 2009'

Oct 13 (Tue-day 68)

North Bend, Washington

Weather - intermittent showers and windy, low 36 (+2 C) high low 50s (12C)

Today was a day to stop the turning wheels, regroup, relax, work on puzzles and sort/edit photos.

In the evening I went out with brother Harold while he tracked some collared elk that were part of the herds in the Snoqualmie Valley. It was wet and dusky, but I managed to get a few decent shots as we watched a cow and two calves put the big munch on some apples in an abandoned orchard. Racine opted to stay back with Carol and enjoy the warmth of the wood stove instead of braving the wind and rain.

When we got back we played a few more games of Pinochle and the evening ended with the two teams tied and looking forward to breaking the tie tomorrow night. The adventure continues….

To see more of our animal images click HERE

To see more of our Northwest Washington images click HERE

To read more about our travels click 'The Great Adventure 2009'

Oct 15(Thu-day 70)

North Bend, Washington

Weather- showers with sun breaks low 40shigh low 50s (+5 and 12C)

Image: Meadowbrook Slough, Snoqualmie Valley, Washington

We seem to be in the big day, easy day mode and today was and easier day, we rested a bit and still got out to take a few photos.

We went for a short drive around Snoqualmie Valley and visited Meadowbrook Slough, where we used to fish for bass in our younger years, the mill pond from the Weyerhaeuser Mill where Carl used to work and then went on to skirt the base of Mount Si, the 3,800 ft mountain that dominates the Upper Snoqualmie Valley.

My how things have changed….Meadowbrook Slough no longer has a thick perimeter of brush and weeds, but has been cleared and sits alongside a huge dog park that serves dog owners from as far away as Bellevue and Seattle; the mill pond now sits deserted and empty of logs and the Weyerhaeuser Mill was closed in the 90’s; the area around the base of Mt Si has gained some beautiful estates and homes….but one thing has stayed the same, you can still sit at the base of the mountain and spot mountain goats sunning themselves on the steep cliffs.

We stopped to do some grocery shopping, one of those necessary tasks that doesn’t quite rank up there with laundry, but is a real detractor from our fun and games. Once we sorted ourselves out and made it through another strange (unknown to us) set of store isles we finally found what we needed and headed back to Harold and Carol’s.

We downloaded our images, oohed and awed over them a bit, and then it was time to tackle the puzzle that Carol and I had been working on…..we finished it too….while Racine to worked on some of our images and up-date the web site. Then it was time for some cards and conversation. The adventure continues…..

To see more of our images of freshwater scenes click HERE

To see more of our Northwest Washington images click HERE

To read more about our travels click 'The Great Adventure 2009'

Oct 17 (Sat - day 72)

North Bend, Washington

Weather - cloudy with heavy showers at times, windy temps mild, 50F (10C)

Image: Experimenting with adjusting the focal length during a slow speed, and getting our niece to pose (equally as experimental).

It was a morning drive off to Issaquah today with Heidi and Carol and we were treated to bright and colorful sugar maples, broad leaf maples resplendent with yellows and browns, and some other non-native trees and shrubs all with their fall colours. The heavy winds and rains had removed some of the leaves but certainly not all.

Later in the afternoon Heidi and I headed up the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River, planning on doing some tripod work and getting in some concentrated practice with our timer and various lighting setting. The drive started out well, just as I was getting into the car I spied a group of Shaggy Mane mushrooms and got in a few shots before we left the drive way. It was fairly bright as we headed up the road and turned darker the farther we went, as we neared our destination we had mixed lighting, with the sun playing peek-a-boo with the clouds. Just what we needed to get in the desired practice, however when the occasional rain clouds dumped on us I began to wonder if we were getting some great learning opportunities or just out there catching a cold.

It's true one never knows what opportunities will present themselves during a shoot. Once the rain stopped we were treated to a small waterfall, a multitude of rain drops on the bushes and trees, mushrooms, slugs, the river, multi-colored hillsides behind Mt Si, and a setting sun that brought on darkness and the end of the shoot. Our goal was achieved, all the shots were done on a tri-pod and we experimented with various light settings along with some time lapse shots.

We returned home a bit later than expected (no surprise there), thankful for the warmth from a wood stove and a hot drink, and settled in to review our photos. The adventure continues....

To see more of our Northwest Washington images click HERE

To read more about our travels click HERE

Oct 19 (Mon - day 74)

Camano Island, Washington

Weather – overcast - temps mild, 50F, 10C feels like fall all right

Today I took Jack (Rae’s father) for a ride into North Seattle, then north to Everett, east to Hi Way 20, north through Darrington and on to the North Cascade Highway, as far up as the second Dam on the Skagit River.

The colours were just great. Along the way we spotted nine elk in a pasture, four bulls and five cows just enjoying the day. An eagle was in the trees along side the road, it was close, probably only 50 feet away....lucky for us it wasn’t put off by people stopping for a photo. However, some of the commercial truck drivers weren’t too happy when people stopped and didn’t park fully off the road. I confess, we were the first to see the eagle, we parked well off the road, but when I got out with my camera a car jam started as more and more people wanted to stop and look (memories of Yellowstone came to mind).

I don’t get many chances to get out with Jack and just enjoy the countryside and it was a great day. We arrived home just before dark, regaled Rae and her mom with stories of the day’s events and then sat down to a tasty and enjoyable evening meal. The adventure continues.…

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

To see more of our Bald Eagle images click HERE

Oct 21(Wed - day 76)

Camano Island, Washington

Weather – rain - temps mild, 50F, 10C

They certainly need rain on Camano Island, this summer has been one of the driest in recent memory, and they got their wish…it rained all day, with a capital R. We stayed in and visited, then went to Stanwood to take care of some business.

Despite the rain we found a few things to take photos of….at a stop for coffee at one of the local coffee drive-thru stands we found a bird feeder that must have been feeding a large number of the TBB’s (tiny brown birds) in the town. We enjoyed a good show while we waited in line for our coffee. It was a good thing we filled our cups because our business in town ended up taking over two hours and by the time we were finished it was getting dark and time to head for home.

A piece of added information to help maintain positive ‘family relations’: During the entire stay at Rae’s parents we played pinochle every night. The first two nights were not so good for Rae and her dad, as her mother and I sort of um….beat them badly…he he he (we may have rubbed it in just a little). On the second night we scored my first 1500 trump hand (for non-pinochle players that is often considered a once in a lifetime happening). That was fun…with a capital F…. he he he (and I may have gloated a bit much). Well…as a card playing rule things have a way of evening out and by the last night we were all tied up for games won/lost (and they may have rubbed back at us with that fact). There was lots of competition and good fun.

The day ended with the rain still coming down and we went off to bed looking forward to some clearing in the morning. The adventure continues….

To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE