One of the things I MUST do each summer is look at the stars. Since we live in Tacoma with lots of light pollution, this also means finding a dark and hopefully picturesque location.

Fortunately, we don’t have to travel too far to find good spots. There are a few national parks and wildernesses nearby with little to no light pollution and provide great options. I also like to have a location that offers a good experience along with great shots of the stars.

One year Scott and I went up to the Sunrise Visitor Center at Mount Rainier National Park to see the stars. I came back with some of my favorite star pics. The mountain is so close and the stars at the right time come right out of the mountain.

The Best Beach in the Northwest

There are a ton of beaches in Washington and Oregon. Which one is the best? Well, it depends on where you live and what you’re looking for in a beach.

How far do you want to travel?

Do you like tide pools?

Do you like wide sandy beaches?

Do you want a mix of the two?

Are you willing to hike to get to the beach?

Do you like to go to beach shops?

Do you want to surf?

Do you want to lay in the sun?

I love watching the full moon. I have many photographs of the full moon rising in picturesque locations. A couple of times I’ve made myself get out of bed to watch the full moon setting. This involves setting my alarm clock so it’s less appealing. Probably why I only have a couple of these shots compared to the many I have of the moon rising.

Scott and I were watching the moon rise a few years ago and there were these wispy clouds on the western horizon creating wonderful pink streaks in the sky. I checked my weather ap and it looked like the clouds would still be there in the morning.

I was already planning to photograph the moon setting, but decided to arrive a little earlier just in case the sunrise was also something worthy of photographing. So being the end of June I set my alarm for….3:50 AM. Yes 3:50.

Summer feels incomplete if I don’t go camping at least once.

My family didn’t camp much when I was growing up. It was mostly something we did out of necessity to save money as we traveled across the country to visit family. We always stayed somewhere with grass and washing machines, and almost never had a campfire. And we kids loved it.

Now Scott and I camp for fun and in a variety of ways and locations. Sometimes we take our trailer. Sometimes we tent camp when we explore Forest Service Roads in our truck. Sometimes we make reservations at a state park. Other times we find a dispersed camping site. This year we are going to try backpacking (we’ll keep you updated about how that goes). Any way we do it, it’s always something we look forward to and something we enjoy.

Eagles in Alaska

Remember when it was very rare to see a bald eagle? It still isn’t common but just being out and about we see several every year now. I’ll never forget the first time I saw them up close in the wild.

Scott and I were visiting our friends, Mike and Jan, while vacationing in Alaska. We were planning to drive to Homer Alaska the next day, and they suggested that we stop at Anchor Point - the most westerly point you can drive to in the continental United States without getting on a boat or airplane.

It was a clear sunny day, and as we drove out onto the beach the first thing we noticed was the awesome view of Mount Redoubt. The gorgeous mountain rose above the Cook Inlet and reminded us a bit of home.

Where are we going to watch the moonrise this year?

Every year as summer approaches, I get excited about watching the moonrise. It probably sounds silly to people who have more sunshine than we do in western Washington, but since we have clouds 9-10 months out of the year, summer is the only time we can really plan on seeing the full moon rise.

I start by checking the dates and marking them on my calendar. There are 3 opportunities in each cycle to see the full moon. One night where it is officially a full moon, along with the night before and the night after when it is so close it may as well be a full moon. Summer is busy, but usually I can at least catch one of the three.

Walking in the Redwoods

Yes they really are giants.

When I was growing up I saw the redwoods every time my family drove to the beach.  We lived in the southwest corner of Oregon and driving to our favorite beach in Brookings meant a drive down the Redwood Highway through the Jedediah Smith Redwood Grove.

A couple of years ago Scott and I returned to the area with our cameras. We stayed in Crescent City with the plan of exploring a few of the trails in the area. There are several very easy hikes that will take you through the woods, and we were eager to try them out.

The road was finally open!

Earlier this year we found an awesome forest service road that led us to an awesome waterfall and wonderful displays of moss and ferns. We found though that most of the road was closed for the season and were looking forward to returning when it was open. Finally, it was open, and we made the return.

What we found was amazing! A beautiful lake, 4 waterfalls, and several streams surrounded by bright green moss.

There’s nothing like the Palouse in springtime. Barns, granaries, fields of wheat, and rolling hills. These are a few of the things you can expect to see in the Palouse. And in the spring the hills are covered in green and there’s nothing else like it.

Chinook pass was finally open after being closed all winter. It was a clear sunny day, and I couldn’t wait to get a look at Tipsoo lake and Mount Rainier.  I wasn’t even sure if the lake would be visible at all or if it was still covered with snow. But we would find out.

We got there and found gorgeous views of the mountain, but the lakes were still mostly covered with snow. Several feet of snow. We could see how deep it was because here and there patches had melted away revealing spots of grass or lake below. This, however, would end up being a very good thing.