CASCSADES RAPTOR CENTER

While in Eugene, Oregon, I visited a facility that cared for injured or sick raptors. They had on display some 30 birds.



 

 

 

 The aviaries were large and although outside and under thick canopy of trees which cut off most of the sunlight, I was able to get some nice images. This was a test of what I could do and not do with my camera.

 

They were showing off one of  several varieties of falcons that were there.

According to their web site, several varieties of owls also call this place home.

 

Below is a White-tailed Kite

 Three of our National Birds were located at their facility.

 

 

 

 

 

Golden Spike Rally at Garibaldi, Oregon

A group from our Golden Spike train fan club met in Garibaldi, OR to take in the sights of the Oregon Coast in that area. One of the places we attended was the Tillamook Air Museum.



They claim this is the world's largest wooden building.

 

 

I just HAD to CHECKOUT the F14 that was on display. This is one of the few F14s that I have seen that still has the engines and at least one of the Air Inlet baffles in the intake duct. They say this one can still fly.

 

 

 The doors are 130 feet high and the building is 1000 feet long. You can fit 9 football fields inside.

We camped at the Old Mill RV Park in the heart of beautiful down-town Garibaldi.

 

 The sunsets were beautiful even though there was fog rolling in.

HECETA HEAD LIGHTHOUSE

While in Eugene, Oregon on a nice sunny morning, I decided to drive to the coast and go to the recently renovated Heceta Head Lighthouse. When I arrived at the lighthouse at 9:00 am, it was surrounded by thick fog.

While waiting for the fog to lift, I took the lighthouse tour. The lighthouse had reopened after a two-year, 1.6 million dollar makeover on June 8th of this year.

I climbed the stairs to the ever rotating Fresnel lens with its powerful 1000 watt lamp.

After the tour, I spent some time watching the Common Muers and Cormorants that were nesting out on the adjacent rocks..

 

 Every ten seconds the lens will rotate from one target on the lens to the next.

Watching the waves crashing against the rocks is always interesting.

Even with all fog it was a very interesting day at the Heceta Head Lighthouse.

NEW CAMERA

Not long after arriving in Salem, OR, I purchased a new Nikon D7000 DSL camera with an 18 to 200 mm zoom lens. During the past four and a half years, I have taken almost 45,000 photos with my small Cannon PowerShot SX110 IS camera. It has served me well, but I felt the need for better lenses and sharper images. Made a good deal on the camera, not to mention no sales tax here in Oregon.

The following pictures were taken here in Hee Hee Illahee RV park where I am staying for several months this summer. I took a few test photos with the Nikon to see what it could do right here around the rig.

Even at dusk and at night I was amazed!

My neighbor's dog however, was not interested at all in the camera.

LAS VEGAS TO SACRAMENTO Part 2

After leaving Goldfield and spending the night in Tonopah, I continued my journey north on US95. I was amazed at the bareness, but yet in its own way, very beautiful landscape. The first city that I came upon was Hawthorne. This town supports the military base located here at the southern end of Walker Lake.



 



Upon arrival in Fallon, NV, I headed west on I-80. A few miles west of Reno I stopped for the night at the Gold Ranch RV Resort. This was about two miles from the California border.

Text morning, I continued over Donner Pass to Sacramento.

Along the way a caught a glimpse of Donner Lake.

On the mountain just south of I-80 one can see the show sheds for the Union Pacific Railroad.

From here, it was all down hill all the way to Sacramento. I spent one week camped at the California Expo Fairgrounds. I visited the Leland Stanford Mansion and the Sacramento Old Town including the Underground Tour.