Meriweather Glacier

On the Alaskan cruise we went on during our wedding, we spent one day in Glacier Bay and one day in College Fijord. This is Meriweather Glacier, which I believe was in Glacier Bay. Both days were rather overcast, but there were spots of blue sky and sun in Glacier Bay. It was a bit warmer that day, too. In July, I was able to just wear my sweatshirt with NO COAT. :)

First Beach

Sunset at First Beach on Washington's Olympic Penninsula. I love west coast beaches with the sea stacks, the driftwood, and the steep headlands.

Discovering Cake

This is my niece, Caroline, discovering how good cake tastes. It was so cute. She'd taste the cake, say "mmmmm", look at her parents to see if they were going to take it away, take a bigger handful, say "mmmmmm", and clap her hands together. It was all good until she got it in here eyes. :)

Cameron Valley

Sarah, Jen O, Ian, Gavin, and I went backpacking in Olympic National Park over Labor Day. We started from the Obstruction Point trailhead and camped in Grand Valley at Moose Lake. The next day, we hiked up to Cameron Pass. This is the view from the pass down into Cameron Valley. I'd been encouraging a packing trip in the Olympics for a while. Sarah seemed lukewarm, though. When we finally got there, I found out why. Apparently, since the peaks are only 6000-8000 ft high she'd been picturing old, rolling, Appalachian-style mountains. As you can see, that's not quite what they're like.

Akaka Falls

This is Akaka Falls on the big island of Hawaii. The walk to the viewpoint is only a few tenths of a mile on a paved path. The waterfall is about 800 ft high. There is another tall waterfall in this little state park, too. Unfortunately, the viewing area for that one has kind of a profile view of the fall. You can see some water falling down the hill, but it isn't as impressive as a full-on view.

Peruvian Clouds

Gavin took this picture on the Inca Trail last fall. This kind of weather was pretty much the norm while we were in the Peruvian Andes. This picture very nicely illustrates how the steep slopes would peek out from behind the clouds. The bottoms of these valleys are probably at about 6000-8000 ft. The tops of the ridges just around the trail are probably 8000-14000 ft. These pictured are on the lower end of that range, probably. (No snow.)

Elphaba x 2

My friend Debbie and I both dressed up as the Wicked Witch of the West for Halloween on Monday. I decided to go "classic costume" this year partly in honor of our impending trip to see the musical Wicked tomorrow. I had trouble finding green makeup, so I bought some foundation and dyed it with food coloring. I was a bit nervous that it wouldn't wash off, even though I tested it on my arm. Fortunately, those worries proved groundless.