After a lot of fun in Grays Harbor and with the family at Tacoma's Point Defiance and the Satsop River, it was time to head back to California. I left at night because it had taken me so long to make the drive up and I had to get ready for work the next day.
When I got about halfway through Oregon, it was time to make a "rest" stop and I couldn't resist trying to capture the amazing amount of stars in the sky.
It was so cold and I don't know how people get all the colors into their night sky photos, but I was pretty happy with how these turned out. :-) You can see Orion's belt!
I also tried my hand at capturing some of the traffic passing by on Interstate 5. I really like this shot, but maybe it's one only a mother can love? lol
My next stop was at the 7 Feathers Rest Stop when the sun was just getting ready to rise in the east. This first shot is the mountain range to the east.
And this is the range that the rest stop is in, just to my back.
And here's a story for ya...
I purposefully stopped here because Mt. McLoughlin (which you can see here from my drive up) was ringed with fog at the top and looked completely amazing, so I took the exit and drove up a hill to get a clear shot. I took several which would have been so awesome! IF I hadn't forgot to check my damn metering in my excitement. I've been trying to teach myself to shoot in manual mode at all times and I would say I succeed about 95% of the time. But there are still many times when I see something I just HAVE to capture, and forget that my settings need to be adjusted. D'oh!
I only realized that I had shot completely white, overexposed photos when I stopped again a bit down the road to shoot this cool meadow with train tracks through it. But by then I just didn't want to backtrack up the hill to try to get the mountain again. Wah, wah, wah...
But I did get a great shot of the meadow with the contrails over the train tracks, which I thought was pretty cool.
I miraculously did not stop again until I entered California. By then it was full daylight so I stopped to walk around a bit by the Klamath River at the rest stop. I don't know why, but I've always loved this little rest stop (can you tell I've made this drive often?). But of course I love water so it's no surprise that I'm drawn to rest stops that have rivers running through them.
This is I-5, the main North-South artery through the Pacific West states, going over the Klamath River.
I was lucky enough to see some wildlife while I was stretching my legs.
Crow from below
Wood duck couple
Lizard
And some very cool looking wild grapes.
Alongside a curvy blackberry bracket.
This didn't turn out as clear as I had hoped, but I saw a little sheltered spot in the river that was home to a bunch of what we used to call "water skeeters". It's so cool how they skate on top of the water, with only their feet touching. That's why they create these crazy shadows with four circles.
As I came down out of the Oregon, which had been so clear and bright, I was really shocked at how shrouded in haze and smoke California was! This view from southbound I-5 Mt. Shasta overlook was so much worse than just a few days before!
These last few pictures serve to emphasize that California was tinder dry and burning up from the ongoing five-year drought.
Mount Shasta near invisible in the smoke.
Black Butte
And next thing you know, I'm home. Another fun trip in the books!
xoxo
