October 26, 2019  Trout Lake, WA

Back from adventures beyond.  The weather forecast was for clouds and rain...and for the most part it delivered.  Our cabin is listed as a partial mountain view...

Trout Lake Cozy Cabins are cute, with modern amenities and humorous accents which we played up...

The stuffed bear is mine, you may recognize him from prior posts, as you can see it was a budding friendship between these bears (the honey bear didn't quite make the cut).

 Our partial view, only seen one day, occurred at the break of dawn. Realizing that there weren't clouds as I looked up and out the window I jumped up with a gasp, opened the door, quickly shut the door, grabbed my camera and some shoes and was out clicking away.  We drove a mile down the road and already the clouds were moving in obscuring the very top of the mountain.

We had several adventures that 3rd day of our stay but the beauty of the mountain was definitely a highlight.








There was wine tasting...and more wine tasting...and more wine tasting...and then there was a move to harder stuff.  In between was a visit to Mary Hill's stonehenge, a museum and an animal sanctuary.

There was also appreciation over specialty made wine furniture made from wine barrels and definitely designed with a wine drinker in mind.  Curious as to the complete construction of the bench, a top to bottom examination was completed by one in our group.

Caught in the act!

An interesting place.  The purpose of the replica is a bit of a mystery.  The man, Sam Hill, who commissioned the work believed that it had been used as part of human sacrifices and was connecting it to the lives that had been sacrificed to the god of war in WWI.  But one of the plaques says it is a monument "erected in the hope that others inspired by the example of their valor and their heroism may share in that love of liberty and burn with that fire of patriotism which death can alone quench."  Would a man who is a Quaker and a pacifist, a man who likened those who died as a sacrifice to the god of war want to encourage patriotism?  Seems off.

Meanwhile, to the north, is a museum which houses an eclectic collection of works by artists in different mediums as well as antiquities and native American artifacts.

This was a fun one, two men on a stationary bike would generate electricity to dry 160 coiffures (hair dos) every day.  Quite fit young men.

 Also displayed was a number of dioramas featuring women's fashion.  Lot of time and effort to...?

No trip of mine would  be complete without a picture of feet.  This is in the Rodin exhibit room.

In the morning we had watched a video of Oprah and Dr. Oz talking about poop.  Yup, we went there.  He brought in a couple of samples of intestines and had Oprah and audience members feeling them.  We go to the museum and in the Eskimo display see this rain proof jacket... see display description in picture below. LOL!

There was a stop at a park near a river.  A rock that looked like a shark's nose has a hole that runs all the way through and water would spit out.  It is a place where a touching moment was shared, a treasure found, a story that is not mine to tell...

Some funny animal shots...I will let you come up with your own captions.

These little cuties were barely visible.



And there was plenty of fall colors to admire.

There was a beautiful large patch of this in a stand of trees off the road, we didn't stop to go investigate it but found this along our trail.  "Leaves of three, let it be" may indicate it is poison oak.  Regardless it is beautiful in the fall.

There is a wildlife reserve not far from town, we went the first day, it was misty and we went a little too late in the day to be able to hike to a viewing platform and then be able to hike back out in the light.  We only made it a little further than this bend and had some difficulty finding where the loop was indicated on the map.  Ended up crossing this field and walking out a driveway back.

 A morning of mist arising from the crevices above, and enjoyment of the sun paying us a visit.

Fall makes for a cacophony of color and textures.  This time of year has always been my least favorite as it signals the death of summer and the onset of winter with its grey and dreary skies that were a hallmark for the Oregon coast.  As I am in the fall of life I view it with a different set of eyes and an appreciation of the song it sings. 

October 15, 2019  And beach life continues to change...

This group of pelicans has stayed around longer than most, but as of today there are just 3 left here at the little piece of river.  The geese have remained at this point...

I was struck by the intricate coloring of male seagulls come of age and how much their youthful coloring is a great match for the sand on which they spend so much time...

Birds continue on despite disabilities, interesting huh?

Lastly, this heron seems to be contemplating life or the waves that seem so large but reduce to almost nothing before reaching it...

Well that's what I have for now.  Will be heading to Trout Lake, WA and will post pics at some point. I haven't forgotten about the sand dollar.

The beach yields yet more sights and beauty...

Tuesday this week was a bit on the stormy side with wind blowing the sand as tumultuously as the waves of the ocean.  This little lady took advantage of my car to escape the sand, although she still had to brace herself against the wind from under my car...

Later that day was a spectacular sight. A short video of the wind and sand

 

When you decide to dress differently from the crowd, lol.  An oddity, this tern was the only one among the seagulls.

Sea foam is in abundance right now due to the breakdown of algae blooms and other dissolving organic matters.

This video is a group of sandpipers that appear to be playing with the waves.  Interesting fact, watch a group of these delightful little bundles of energy, you will often see them hopping around on one foot.  The reason is to conserve heat that escapes from their unfeathered parts.

Have you ever wondered where baby sand dollars come from?  Working on getting some pics to go with the answers. LOVE THE BEACH!

More on the coast...

One July evening, a fire on the beach with friends.  The following is a Kaleidoscope of the colors at sunset the same evening:

Was surprised to see that had caught a pelican in this shot.

More shots in August...

 One day the air over the ocean became a busy hwy with pelicans and other birds flying south.  These took a short stop to turn and grab some food.

 

Time for a little learning.   This is an osprey, most apparently don't sport just a hair style, this one is obviously a trend setter. 

The osprey or more specifically the western osprey — also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk — is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than 60 cm in length and 180 cm across the wings. Wikipedia

Mass: 3 lbs (Large Adult) Encyclopedia of Life

Scientific name: Pandion haliaetus

Conservation status: Least Concern (Population increasing)Encyclopedia of Life

Rank: Species

Phylum: Chordata

Did you know: Ospreys hover over the water, plunging feet first when they spot prey. 

 

 This little one seems to be a Semipalmated (wading birds that have toes webbed for part of their length) Plover (a short-billed gregarious wading bird, typically found by water but sometimes frequenting grassland, tundra, and mountains). 

 

Next to apartment in Astoria, this mom and twins have been hanging out and the cat dreams of grandeur.

Bald eagles are a regular sight here.

 Elk on the beach have become more common, apparently.  It was a first for me. Had seen them in the distance but didn't make it in time to see them at the surf's edge.

 Per usual, my photos again have a lot of animal bums. Elk bums are very photogenic at least.

Several young ones in this heard, some still will spots.

 Apparently this is the "king of the hill".  There were a couple of bull elks but with smaller racks.

 It can be difficult to eat breakfast in piece with a determined seagull around.  He would not be budged despite efforts to shoo away and off my car.

 Huge jelly fish have been on the beach.  The clear one is called Aurelia aurita, or Moon Jelly.  Can survive in a great variety of waters more common in tropical waters and can be 4' in diameter and sometimes larger.

The orange colored one seems to be a Pacific Sea Nettle and tentacles can still sting even after death. 

Just after telling a friend that I had never seen a whole flock of pelicans on the ground I came across this long line. A few seagulls in the mix.

The beach has been a constantly changing adventure both in terrain and what happens to wash up, land or wander on to its sands.

I am very thankful to be able to spend a good amount of time on it.