Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The drive to Uclulet, BC, was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It was beyond description. Majestic mountains blanketed in thick, thick fog, all the while being misted with gentle rain, creating waterfalls and rivers flowing strait down the mountain, completely traceable with the eye. The mountains were steep, making the tall, tall trees seem like a thousand foot tall wall. Rivers, bridges, a watery opening to the Pacific Ocean. A bald eagle flew right alongside our van.
Our new residence, which we will be using for 4 days, is a few hostel buildings that we have all to ourselves. Uclulet is this beautiful, little town with some great shops and really friendly people. The people we’ve met have already invited us to the local happenings. I’m really excited to photograph here.

Monday, May 31,2010
Happy Memorial Day! First time in another country today. I was exhausted this morning, but I’m glad I stayed awake for the ferry ride. We boarded with our vans on this huge ferry into the San Juan islands, which was like traveling back in time to New England, with the forests and lonely isles enveloped in fog, everything grey.
We are now in Victoria, which is turning out to be pretty cool. The architecture is very European and there are some really great shops here. I’m trying to be prudent, though!
We finished the evening with 3 hours of swimming in this HUGE pool complex that was apparently used for the summer Olympics once. It had this massive water slide, and of course the 10 meter diving platform, which some of us couldn’t resist.
We are in another hostel, which isn’t too bad! I kind of like it. The one in seattle was better, though.


Sunday, May 30, 2010
Awesome: Pikes Place Market at 7 am, before the huge crowds.
Awesomely more awesome: Seattle folklife festival . Me and some peeps got it down to some ethnic beats into the night.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
On our way to Seattle, we stopped in Astoria, Or. Which is this cute town with lots of Antique shops and Victorian-style buildings. We stopped at the Goonies house, and had some random adventures there.
Drove to Seattle, and got there at 5. We had a brief look at the market. We are staying at the Green Tortoise hostel, which is literally on Pike and 1st, super close to Pike Place Market. After we all got settled in (it’s a pretty decent hostel) we all went to the waterfront to eat some Alder’s Smoked Salmon, which was way decent, but not as mind-blowing as I’d hoped. From there, we walked up and down the streets, went to H&M and bought some stuff, and kind of wandered around aimlessly, which was WAY frustrating to me, as I really wanted to go to the folk festival and a reggae show (and possible Talib Kweli) but, sadly, I had to stay with the group. But we did end up playing Truth or Dare Jenga at this one Café.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Woke up early and had a wonderful morning, then went down to the local café to take pictures, which was followed by some art making, then another trip in the afternoon to this cool dining and cooking school thing. Then that night we had a critique that was very motivating. I realized I got a lot of more work to do!
Thursday
Bikes! And Glass Blowers!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Watched some glass blowers at this local gallery. I was so fun! I can imagine how much upper body strength one needs for that. We also took some reclining bikes all along the beach.

Dancing Beaches

Wednesday

• Another early morning photo trip to Multinoma and Winnachee Falls (sp?), then night doing light painting on the beach. I tried some really experimental things with movement, and I really like how they turned out.
  
• My yoga pays off.
  

Pot of Gold

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Against my better judgment, I woke up before dawn with John Telford and a group of people to go to Haystack Rock in the wind and the rain. And once again against my better judgment, I decided to walk to the north end of the beach to take pictures of rocks there instead of photographing Haystack Rock. It was a lot longer walk than I anticipated. Long story short, I finished that morning with no pictures and really, really wet.

But, after a glorious nap, I got a tour of a glass blowing studio and had some AMAZING tea at this café. T

Then there was another photography disappointment.

But, thankfully, I saw the most incredible sunset of my life today at Haystack Rock. It all payed off.

The first post about my life on the road.

Monday, May 24, 2010

We left at 8am from our Yurts, and started the journey from Tugman State Park to Cannon Beach, into this GORGEOUS house will everything we’d ever want. I can’t wait to cook.

This morning, we all had breakfast at this natural food store/restaurant that specialized in gluten free food! AH! It was so overwhelming! I had some zucchini and potato pancakes and then bought a loaf of bread, date bar and brownie. It was amazing.

We also made a stop at a beach, and at the Tillamook Factory, and got some ice cream that tasted incredibly fresh, probably the freshest I’ve tasted.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

I woke up early, and took a photo walk along the lake. Went to a church in North Bend.

Afterwards, we ate then went to Shoreline (?) Gardens in Shoreline state park, then John, Valerie and I explored some other spots and met the bunny lady! She was surprisingly normal, but apparently she organizes a yearly easter egg hunt there and the fire chief dresses up in a bunny costume she made.

Then we had an intense critique, but I realized I need to do some more work.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Went for a morning run around the lake, and it was amazing. We then went to seafood and ice cream in Winchester, where I had grilled crab for the first time. It tasted like ocean, but with a bit of tartar sauce it tasted great. We then went to a lake in Oregon which had a massive dune going down right into the lake, and some guys were sand boarding there. I got some great shots of them! It’s incredible the kinds of landscapes you find here! They are constantly taking my breath away.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Critique in the morning (4 hours!) then Coos Bay by day. It was incredible rainy and then the sun came out bright against the dark clouds, and it was perfect lighting. I feel that that is kind of a theme for this trip. We ended the day with night photography at the beach and then home.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Laundry day! I’m looking back so my memories are jumbled at this point. We photographed the dock this day and spent the day in Winchester. What a cute little town with a bunch of cool boats, both old and new.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Overall…

John Telford is the funniest man. Ever.

Our vans are hereby named :

John’s – Silver Fox

Joe’s – Vanjo. (named by his kids Hanna and Ethan)

Macsen’s – The Beet (or Beat)

Amy’s – Henri (pronounced French)

Traveling with Joe is funny. I feel like he gets really motherly to me, and will definitely get a little worrier on us. Other times, like today on the beach on the way to the Mansion house, he acted like a total kid, and so did John. But every group meeting we have, Joe has to give us some kind of death warning, as in “Don’t do ________ or you will die.” It’s even gone so far as to be: “leave a dish lying around, and you will die.”

The group is really coming together, I’ll make sure to take pictures of our fun times and not just our landscapes J. Some are not even art majors, but all are great people. I’m really happy with the shots I’m taking, but then again it’s hard to make bad photographs of some of these places!

I’ve eaten some really great food on this trip. FRESH food. Like fish and crab, cheese, milk, produce, fudge, honey, etc. I also feel like I would love to live in one of these adorable Oregon coastal towns. And I’m in the presence of immense beauty constantly, and every day is so full of wonder, and we’ve seen SO MUCH. I can’t believe it’s been 11 days already, and how it all started in Gerlach in a dirty motel and sleeping under the stars.

Glimer of Hope