Summer Adventures!

So my resolve to post entries more frequently has been put to the test--and defeated--by Life Stuff. But not snuffed out! Allons!

I also realized that photo organization takes up a lot of my time. I have to "lay them off" as the pros say from my camera into iPhoto, then edit and download them onto my desktop, then upload them to Flickr, and then upload some of them to a post here and finally to the Blurb book project. After that, posting a blog seems to be quite out of reach. Keeping it all straight is by no means easy either, even as organized as I am. First World problems, to be sure, and my current excuse for not putting digital pen to digital paper more often of late.

Since pictures are worth 3-4 figures of words, I give you my summer so far in photos.

Julian graduated from high school, and we celebrated with him, family, and friends.

Mom turned 75 and we celebrated with her and even more family and friends.

I went to a conference in San Francisco at the end of June. It went well. It ended.

Kalyani, Hannah, Jo, and Susi drove out from New York. We camped in Lassen. It's been a long time since we've camped!

Mark and I hiked to the top of Cinder Cone. The views alone were totally worth the steep, sweaty climb. We paced ourselves.

We had most of Butte Lake campground to ourselves. The lake level was quite low, which meant it was better for kayaking than swimming.

M and I hiked to Bumpass Hell. Pretty amazing place. Driving through the park was great - such vistas!

It rained pretty steadily our last afternoon there. Luckily the canopies provided enough shelter for games, conversation, and dinner. It was not a restful night for me, however - too damp for a good night's sleep. Despite reveling in the complete lack of connectivity, I was ready to leave. I hope it won't be another two years before we camp again, however.



We then rendezvous'd up on the coast. We had enough time to take a walk on the Stornetta Public Lands and visit B. Bryan Preserve, where we were "kissed" by giraffes. They are pretty amazing creatures.

I had a conference in Portland, so was there all last week. It's been in Portland for a dozen years, which has been wonderful occasion to see Lloyd, Jacque, and the cousins. Next year it will move to Austin, so I'm glad that I'll have a chance to see Dad & Ginny, but will miss the Portland pilgrimage. Lloyd and Jacque took me on a tour of the Columbia Gorge. We saw Multnohmah Falls, had lunch at Skamania Lodge, then stopped to see Herman the Sturgeon!

I did have some good meals at Ox, Noble Rot, and Farm Cafe during the conference. I also had a few hours after the conference ended to take in the International Rose Test Garden.



I'm really glad to be home. No more conferences until the end of September! The garden is going great guns and is a source of deep satisfaction for me.

Bonus adventure: Have you ever seen a steam roller be a tool for art creation? We did in June.