California Trip

I have begged everybody I know to take a picture of the ocean and give it to me. So far, no one has done that. I finally got a few that might work. I will post a couple of different posts because there are so many pictures. First of scenery and then some of the kids that I took on our California trip this past week.

We arrived in California last Thursday afternoon. We stopped by Bill and Diane's house (and saw our old house and the Children's Receiving Home - just for David) first. We visited with them for an hour or so and then went on to Adam's place. We had only given them a day and a half notice that we were coming because we didn't know we were going until Tuesday morning. We left on Wednesday afternoon and stopped in Sparks, NV for the night simply because I was too tired to go on. Adam and Amy let their kids miss school on Friday so we could take a little trip to Armstrong Woods and Jenner which is about 30 miles easy of the woods. I wish we had known they existed when we lived there because I would love all of you to see them. The kids were really good on the trip and seemed to have alot of fun hiking through the woods. It was clear and beautiful there. By the time we got to Jenner, it was very, very foggy which disappointed me but I guess it just added a mysterious feel to the waves and cliffs. We worked our way down to Bodega Bay where the kids were able to play for a few minutes on the beach.

It rained all day Saturday so we just hung out at home and watched the kids play. On Sunday, we attended church and enjoyed that experience. After church Bill and Diane came over and ate with us and met Amy and the kids. I think they had a good time although Bill could not win Hannah over as hard as he tried. Monday morning we left from our motel and stopped in Auburn to visit with Sam and Joyce Roskelley for about 20 minutes. And then we were on our way. It was a quick trip but I'm sure glad we were able to go. Here are a few pictures.

 Our old house. I still like it.

Diane and Bill

 It's difficult to get a real perspective as to how tall these trees are - and there are a lot of shadows.

Jim standing in front of one of the largest trees.

I love texture and small details - like this mushroom growing out of a fallen log.

Another upward view.

I loved the play of light and shadow.

This is called a burl. I used my telephoto lens to get this. It's probably 80-100 feet up on the tree. Sediment from the forest fills in the burl and plants (poison oak, ferns and even a little tree) are growing on this thing.

 A fallen tree. Notice how really large this is.

Again- some texture that I like.

I call this one Gracie's throne. It was at the end of the hike. Grace instantly sat on the grating and dubbed it her throne. I thought it was pretty adorable.
Pictures of the ocean will come on tomorrow.