Tags:   Oregon bird

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I'm mobile again, meet Rocinante, my new workhorse. I don't have Fridays off anymore so I'm going to have to find a new way to get in hikes and still not miss time with Darling Tonia, but somehow, some way my camera and I should be getting more time together soon. If you see this baby comin', get off the sidewalk!

Tags:   subaru crosstrek limited Mount Saint Helens Washington State used cars the expanse Rush Signus x-1 Rocinante Don Quixote Rich Border Rich Border Dawn

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I've seen pics of this waterfall over the past few years and subsequently learned that due to land erosion caused by folks who want to see it that the location of this and all waterfalls that don't have maintained trails has been expunged from the NW Waterfall survey. They point to the loss of moss on the rocks around Panther Creek Falls as well as the erosion to the hillside as to why this decision has been made. I believe that something this beautiful should be seen, but now that I've seen the 'trail' to get there... I've decided to not divulge the name of the falls either. It is steep and it doesn't end well unless you like diving into boulder littered creeks of shallow depth... What I was standing on looked like Earth, but my tripod kept sinking so I suspect it was an ancient rotted log. There was nothing but air to my left and a muddy slope to my right jutting away at about a 75 degree angle.
This beauty is fifty feet wide and drops 143 feet into the narrowest of canyons that is steep on all sides and thankfully can be heard from a quarter mile away as I had lost the trail on the way back and used it's siren song to guide me back so that I could reacquire it and then reclimb the steep (dog gone) cliffside again.
With all of that said, after snapping a few shots I stood there wishing that I could stand there all day. The spray on the chilled breeze didn't even deter, so magnificent she was and even after two years of digging and one failed attempt at finding it, it was worth it.

butt in the car: 3:40am
boots on the ground: 6:40am

Blow it up large, and Franky, no cell phone peeks... :)

psss
next pic will be a used car, bound to be 'splored. :)

Tags:   Waterfall Washington State lush Rocks devils club Moss Curly Creek skamania county Columbia River Gorge Rich Border Rich Border Landscape vertical creek

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I turn 58 in a few days and I'm starting to feel it. I've been an empty nester for several years and won't be getting any grandchildren, we've a former president who's called himself a dictator running again and half the country says yes, and the world appears on the brink of a third world war......
and then there is this....
I'd like the world to blow this up as large as they can and stare at it for ten minutes and reflect on what's actually important. For me, it's the infinitely patient woman in the camp chair behind me wearing a trench coat and wrapped in my blanket, the only part of her that is visible is her huge beautiful smile.
Let's stop arguing and start talking, let's stop thinking of ourselves and start thinking of each other. We are only on this planet for a blink of an eye so hugs people, make love not war.
{End of speech, Rich steps down from his soap box and returns silently to his den)

Yesterday was the 33rd annual shove the tree up the angels' arse day so I've got some catching up to do, see ya soon although I may be done for the year or there won't be anything to put under said tree. :)

Tags:   World Peace Oregon USA Pacific North West The Great PNW Beach Rock sea stacks Sunset burn glory cloud porn Darling Tonia Rich Border Rich Border Landscape seascape vertical Reflections sunburst Pelican Brewery Haystack Rock teapot bird sanctuary waves Pacific Ocean West Coast Oregon Coast Cape Kiwanda YBS23Landscape Crepuscular Rays

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I don't know how many other people grew up in a house with a human history book, but if you give my dad a date he can tell you what happened, he could have been a professor, but preferred being a cop. Anywho, the rest of us can and should remember December 7th, 1941, those folks are almost all gone now and I've been wondering about the Japanese pilots since the day that I took this. They attacked from four aircraft carriers, all of which were sunk. Did any of them live to tell the tale....

as it turns out, the answer is yes, you can look up Takeshi Maeda and read about his efforts at reconciliation if you like.

Tags:   Infamy December 7th Pearl Harbor Zero Betty Dive Bomber torpedo air show McChord AFB Rich Border Rich Border fighter prop

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