Montana Camping 2014 Day Two

Yep, it was a long night. I think I slept a total of  three hours. It will be a simple fix.

On cue Mariah asked to go shopping.  The zombie shopping virus took over.   Must...shop...must...badger...mom...until...she...caves...

I was weak and caved. In my defense it was a really strong zombie virus. The zombie came back with a green bandana that she wore for the rest of the trip.

Note said green bandana

Since I had the brilliant idea of camping during a heat wave we had to go to Libby for ice. As soon as we entered, the sky opened up and the heavens sang. There before us was the Deli To End All Delis.  And the Best. Bakery. Ever.   We came out with a whole bunch more than we'd planned to get (hey, we are on vacation, right?) Let me tell you we savored every bite of that epic yuminess.

I had an apple fritter but I LOVED the ants on watermelon cookies!

We decided to try Ross Creek Cedars this trip since we had been denied by the ice in May.  There was a spot of road construction on the way but not too bad, (Little did I know the construction horror that awaited us later.)

Note: The guy driving the Corvette was very impatient.

We made it up the narrow road with no problems. I have an irrational fear of meeting another car and having to back down the mountain to a pull out-the road is that narrow. The parking lot was busy. I wasn't pleased-yes, I'm selfish that way-especially when it's a place I love so much.

This is one narrow road!

The creeks were low but nice. There is a trail that I started to walk with Kaley and Mariah but I had to stop right after we got started. Talk about embarrassing.  I told them to go on and went back to the car. Took a few shots and sat in the car frustrated.

Mariah playing in one of the creeks.

They came back a few minutes later and told me that there were benches along the way and I decided I NEEDED to do this.  I grabbed my cane and we were off.  It was so worth it.  The trees were amazing; some were hollow and you could climb inside of them. Mariah was afraid at first but climbed in with some encouragement.  She was so proud of herself!

Squeezing in.

She did it!

Took a quick break and met Gracie, a Catahoula leopard dog. She is absolutely gorgeous but a bit shy.  

Gracie

The lighting was strange and I forgot to use my polarizing filter but it wasn't a total fail. I did get a nice panoramic shot of the Cabinet Mountains on our way down.

Cabinet Mountain Range

We went back to camp and I sat in the shade and read a book. I moved the beds around before it got dark and was looking forward to a decent night's sleep.

We had a 'one log' fire that night. Vera ( owner's daughter) brought Mariah twigs for kindling, which she happily accepted.  The fire burned  high so I tossed water on it. I told Mariah that I wasn't interesting in burning the forest down so we would save the wood for another camping trip.

Tiki came over to visit with Mariah and take her nightly walk.

Oh wait-I never told you about Tiki!

Remember when I thought that the deer was a good omen? 

We met Tiki last night before going to bed. She belongs to a couple traveling the country in their ginormous RV from Florida. Her owner walks her nightly on a leash and it was love at first sight for Mariah.  Tiki had a thing for her as well. Tiki is a five month old Main Coon mix and one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. The key would be to keep Mariah from invading their space too much. It turned out to be no problem at all.

Tiki-what a gorgeous girl! Very sweet, too.

Went to bed and sank into blissful oblivion in my nest of blankets....and mocked the tree root that no longer had power over me...and I  mocked the rock that was next to it as well.

Thus ends Day Two.

Until next time,

Robyn :)

P.S. Enjoy a few more photos from the day's adventure!

A small island.

 

I loved the reflection 

 

A tree had been struck by lighting many years ago.  Names are etched all over this log.

Another tree that had been struck by lightning

This was such a peaceful place. 

When Can I Go Again?

I thought it would be a great time to post today. 

This weekend is filled with events around the local area which have driving me to seek refuge in my own home. We have Hoop Fest in Spokane, which touts itself as the world's largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament. This year over 27,000 players are signed up with another 250,000 expected spectators. 450 courts. The entire downtown district is shut down.   

Tomorrow we have Iron Man here in Coeur d'Alene.  That will be a day long event as well and downtown is already overflowing.  I used to live on the course and am so glad I don't now.  It was fun to watch once but....

I really enjoyed blogging over my vacation and have decided to try and blog regularly-maybe not daily because my life is actually pretty boring, but a couple times a week because I'm sure I can eek out five hundred words here and there about something in that time period.

So I've had a couple of days to relax and unwind and believe it or not, I'm ready to go again! 

 Granted, it's nice to have the familiarity of home but I'm also quickly reminded of why I wanted to get away in the first place.  Everything  I left is still here now that I'm home. Laundry. Litter boxes. Many other things that begin with the letter "L."

Feel free to insert an epic face palm at any time. 

Time to toss on some music-I think I will blog to Daughtry today.

I find myself really restless, and it's honestly unexpected.  It couldn't be that Mariah immediately reverted to the child that I suspect has an alien living inside of her.  It could be the fact that one of my cats  (Caspian) is now plotting my demise because I dared show affection for a feral cat-you know, the one I've taken care of for four years.

 I don't see what the big deal is-she actually wanted to come inside for once and Kaley and I let her in on different nights-only for ten minutes, mind you.   You would have thought that we had tortured, abandoned, and tossed him away like a used tissue the way he responded. Just because Jude decided to play with Caspian's catnip toy he repaid Jude's visit by promptly peeing in  one of the bathtubs. I can't leave out the mournful meowing and pouting. 

I had planned to take a lot of pictures while on this trip but due to some unexpected circumstances I focused on simply visiting and spending some quality one on one with Mariah and my relatives.

Speaking of photography, Art Wolfe ("Art Wolfe's Travels to the Edge" on PBS),  whose work is amazing, is offering a FREE online day course on July 18th and I was able to sign up before it was filled-I admire his nature landscapes so much. I am over-the-top thrilled that I am going to be able to participate. I'm sure I will take a bajillion notes.

Being the paranoid individual I can occasionally be, I will make sure I have a couple of computer backups in case any of mine decide to give me grief. If you are interested in learning more about who he is and what he does, or maybe even sign up to take the course, go here.  

I am in the planning stages of a short camping trip and am probably going back to Montana.  I really want to get back to the Ross Creek Cedars area-the one that was too iced-over to get to last March.  I did a bit of research and there is a really neat interpretive trail I'd like to shoot.

I've selected a couple of favorite ocean wave shots to share with you. The focus I had this year was the reflective quality of the waves and the spray that crested them from the wind. I've decided to print a couple out and send them to my parents and aunt & uncle as a thank you for such a nice time.

I'm ready to go and truly relax and enjoy the woods.  The smell of a campfire. Watching marshmallows burn and morph into science fiction creatures. The damp morning dew. Sunscreen. Bug repellent. The sound of my flyswatter, which will joyously be destroying the mosquitoes that will not be able to resist me. A flyswatter battle might even break out between Kaley and I.

 You just never know.

 I will be checking with the Forest Service over there before I decided on where to camp.  I'm down for a lot of things, but bears in camp isn't one of them. I'm thinking the area around the Yaak River or Bull Lake. I'm even considering going back to the Kootenai River Campground.  

One of the things at the top of my list is to see if I can find the amazing wood carver I blogged about on my last camping trip over there. This time I plan to buy some of his work if my mission is successful. 

I'd like find out what his story is-I just know it would be amazing. Who knows-maybe he will let me interview him. I shall keep you updated on this upcoming trip that is supposed to be simple and will probably end up being carried out like an international coup.

Until next time,

Robyn

What I’m Up To & Where I’m Going

Hi everyone-I hope this finds you well. We are nearing the end of another school year and The Midget has it figured out down to the hours until she’s done! She’s grown pretty restless over the last month and we are both looking forward to being able to stay up a bit later and sleep in a bit more.

I'm taking part in a read along for one of my favorite book series and I'm kind of excited tbh, because it's something I've not done before. My inner child really wants to win one of  the prizes but that's a blog post for another day..

We had a really cool thunderstorm yesterday-one of the things I love about late spring here in the Northwest. Granted it's nothing like the larger and more dangerous storms that take place around the country but for our area it was a pretty intense one.

Coming down in buckets

Hail in one of my planters

What I'm Up To

Back in 2009 I co-wrote a book with a good friend with plans to publish but I started dragging my feet and it ended up being shelved for several years. The other day we had a long conversation and she called me out for the epic stall.

 I decided it was time to pull my feet out of the mud and have taken the plunge into editing. We are in the process of making it nice and shiny and we hope to publish this coming July. I will keep you all updated on its progress.

I’ve got several books in the works I just need to get busy and finish them. Our first release will fall under the New Adult section and the next few of my solo efforts will fall into the Young Adult slot. I’m the most comfortable with writing in this genre as well as the fact that I just simply relate well to it. The current working title is “Of Squalor and Ashes.” Some of you may be familiar with it. 

Where I'm Going

I set my camera down for awhile to regroup and figure out what my projects will be for the coming summer.  I’m getting ready to take my Nikon body down to a camera shop and get the main body cleaned (I won’t touch it) and stock up on good quality lens cleaning supplies.

 My first adventure on deck is a trip down to the Oregon Coast.  I will be off on a three week adventure to visit various family members. I plan to shoot wherever the wind takes me. 

Gleneden Beach sunset

I will be visiting the Corvallis, OR area as well and plan to check out a pioneer cemetery I remember seeing years ago, along with going to check out Alsea Falls. There is a lot of history in the area and I look forward to sharing it with The Midget. We will be grabbing some much-needed mom & daughter time. 

She’s caught the photo bug and will be taking one of my digital point and shoots.  She’s quite the vlogger and if she records anything that won’t cause motion sickness I might post a couple. Her insights can be both profound and amusing.

I plan to return to Montana now that the snow has melted and revisit a place I really want to shoot more extensively. I’m always up for location recommendations in the Oregon/Idaho/Montana areas.

I’m planning to do some camping again and I’m sure I will have camera in hand for the spontaneous stuff.  I never really have a ‘set’ plan-I lay out a general idea and location but am prepared to follow spontaneous leaps of photographic faith.

I’m working on a couple of covers for a friend’s book, and that is going to keep me busy as well. I’ve finally broken down and decided to get some decent editing software.

Summer is finally upon us!

See you next time,

-Robyn :)

Nostalgia

 

"Whats wrong with a bit of nostalgia between friends?

I think nostalgia sometimes gets too much of a bad press."
-Terry Eagleton.

I'm feeling pretty nostalgic this afternoon. Not the wistful, regret-filled diatribe that's so common in today's society. Not the 'what should have been'  or 'I wish I would have' variety but rather the nostalgia that is filled with good things. Nostalgia that is filled with contentment, joy, and a sense of rightness that the past was fulfilled in the way it was intended. A more clichéd metaphor could describe it as a soft warm blanket, soothing to the heart and soul.

 

This weekend the weather has been inconsistent, moving from sun to rain, thunder, hail, and a mix of clouds playing out in a typical early-spring pattern. I revel in the warmth when the sun peeks through for five minutes and shiver when the dark clouds creep over for twenty.  Coda (my puppy) couldn't care less and just gives me that 'puppy face'-you know the one- when it's time to go in.

I finally got started on my big project to find, edit, and upload older photos to my Flickr.



Not all of the photos are of the best quality but I posted them anyway as they are a good benchmark for me and the progress I've made so far and a reminder that  I've still got so much more to learn.  I will admit up front that there are a few that have me wondering "What in the world was I thinking of?" when I took them.

I  realize that to get where I want to be I will need to invest some concentrated time in learning how to use my old Adobe Elements (version 5) that I picked up at school one year and never installed.  Once I get comfortable with that I will make the decision whether or not to upgrade to the newest version of Elements or take the plunge and pickup Photoshop CS5 (or whatever the current version will be at that time). The financial investment is a concern, but if it's meant to be it will happen.

 "One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself." -Lucille Ball
 

 

 

 
I'm back to my normal, hopelessly optimistic self these days. It was about time, don't you think?

 

 

My morning started off well enough-I wanted to continue my editing  from last night's session. I was looking through my hard drive for good editing music and realized I hadn't listened to 'Fly to Paradise', the Virtual Choir 4 project  created by Eric Whitacre, a modern composer extraordinaire. I sang in VC4 and the experience was amazing.  It still brings tears to my eyes and I can't wait until this year's project is announced.

 
 

Of course this led me to find some great mood music and I've been off and running all afternoon.  I really enjoy editing my photos because it brings back the moods and feelings I had when I took them. I'm sure it's different for everyone, but I'm pretty visceral and it's almost tangible as I sharpen, contrast, and play with the saturation.  I get a similar feeling when I'm working on a chapter on one of my books in progress, creating something to convey emotion.
 

 

 

The next big project is to figure out which ones to print out and hang in my house.  I have to be selective to keep the result from being a chaotic mess.

I thought I'd share a few of my recent edits with you since I haven't done a photo post in awhile. 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed them.

Until next time,

Robyn :)

 

 

Look Into my Camera Eye

Yes, amazingly enough-a double post! 

I hope this season is finding you well. Normally I am a basket case and SAD kicks in.  I've got good people around me and I've only had one dark day this season so far.  I even got my Christmas lights up outside.  Yes, my tree has been up all year but now it's fully decorated and pretty. I do plan to take it all down on January 1st.

I thought I'd be crafty and make my own 5 x 7 cards this year. It was great until I realized I needed to send out around 90 cards-I printed out 40 and then ended up getting some basic cards and mailed them with smaller 4 x 6 prints I'd had left from a shoot this summer. A bit of a costly lesson, but oh so worth it!

The cards:

 

 

 

I am getting the occasional commission now and it makes me feel both excited and fearful-what if I screw up?  What if I've somehow represented myself to be something I'm not?  And cue the ages old self-doubt I've blogged about a while back.

It's all a learning process for me.  I continue to learn from my mistakes and I really do ask for critical comments from others because it's how I learn.  Next up I'm going to take the foray into macro work.  I was going to buy myself a basic introductory macro lens but realized I already have a 4 lens kit.  It's a bit more work to experiment with it, but I have to start somewhere.

As a Christmas gift, I put together a really neat photo book for my parents. As dysfunctional, messed up, and painful as our relationship has been over the years, they have always supported my photography, and I thought it would be the perfect gift.

I should be getting it any day and after proofing it, will get it shipped of to them hopefully by Christmas.  It's a bigger, leather bound one and I'm pretty excited.  If I'm really happy with it I might treat myself and order a basic copy for myself.

I thought it would be fun to share a few from the book-I would love your honest (and gentle please) criticism and comments. Please note that these are low res versions or it would have taken FOREVER to upload them.

I wish you all a Merry and Bright Holiday Season!

Robyn :)

These have various copyright names as they were taken from 2005-2013.