Ho Rain Forest - Olympic National park

The only park where we have seen

a. snow covered forests
b. green rain forests
c. beaches
d. meadows
e. snow capped mountains
f. hurricane ridges
g. rivers
h. streams
i. Lakes
j. hot springs

etc. etc. (we have not fully gone on all roads within the park by van, so there is no talk of things not seen by foot)

is Olympic National park. Truly beautiful.

On our last trip the able adults who had any strength left (or were desperate to take photos) went on a trail into the Ho rain forest to see the Moses trees. The entire area of trees is covered in a thick green Moss and reminds you of Jurassic Park. The ferns growing everywhere give you the added effect of being in a primordial place. Truly scary and awe inspiring at the same time.

Here are five of my photographs from the Ho rainforest (taken about three weeks ago.. It feels like three months ago already!).

Talking of going by foot vs. going by car/van or caravan, there will be a post tomorrow on the public transportation system in the US of A!

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Remlinger Farms - Day trip from Seattle

We had half a day to spend with the kids before the entire group showed up at Seattle two weeks ago and that meant a local visit to some form of amusement.

Remlinger farms was highly recommended by our friends in Seattle and off we went.

It was a really neat place with lots of rides for kids including a cute mini roller coaster... (trains, cars, mini boats)

carousels, ferris wheels, pumpkin rides...

Little displays of tribal Indian stuff (carvings, tepe's etc.), a haystack maze, a little sing along concert (which the kids really enjoyed) etc. etc.

and of course pigs, turkeys, sheep, etc. etc. The FARM ANIMALS!

That turkey was the safest for daddy (well enclosed!)

Daddy did blotch it by trying to feed the farm animals and got allergy symptoms for the last hour of the trip. On hind sight, should have just disappointed the kids when they asked me to feed the animals.

Note to family...

Superman : kryptonite :: Sundarman : pygmy goats

The grand finale for this farm trip was the pony rides. The little one went for back to back trips and even memorized the names of all the ponies there. Both kids had a really good time and the adults were happy to see them giggle with glee.

On the whole, this place is strongly recommended for a bright sunny day in Seattle!

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Remlinger Farms - Seattle

Happiness is going on a little boat with your sister and watching plastic fake duckies swim in front of you.

More on Remlinger Farms later. It was a fun place for a half day trip near Seattle. The kids and adults enjoyed it.

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Woodland Park Zoo - Photoblog

There comes a time in every mans life when he starts straying.. and gives in to temptation. You have been faithful and loyal to what you thought was a "vision to behold", the "apple of your eye" etc. etc. only to find by chance that sometimes you might just have missed out on a lot of fun.

Okay. We are not talking about my woman here, though god knows that Seattle women who come to the Woodland park zoo on a summer weekday can make you doubt your own resolve. That zoo can as well market itself as a pickup bar! As usual we digress, especially after a whole post has been dedicated to this topic already..

Now that you have guessed the names of all those animals from their butt shots, here are their portraits. But before going further, we have to clarify. The Canon digital rebel with the simple 28-80 (non image stabilized) lens is not exactly zoo material, except for low light shots.

The BIL has recently acquired a Nikon D40 with the works (body, wide angle, telephoto, tripod, etc. etc.). He had the 55-200 lens on his Nikon and in an impulsive move, I grabbed his camera to take a shot, simply because my camera couldn't zoom that nicely. Lo and behold, what a shot!

The rest of the zoo trip, would borrow his lens at every opportunity.

Love my Canon. This is not a camera limitation. If the old Tamron 18-200 lens was there, it would have done the job. There are no imminent zoo trips, so the wait for the lens will continue.

All shots taken with D40 except the snakes which were taken with the Canon.

Finally, our wild ones..

At the end of this trip when we were driving back, one thought kept crossing my mind. Human beings, inspite of all their flaws are the most fascinating of creatures.

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Mendocino Coast

The last time we were there to take in the sunset at the glass beach in Fort Bragg, San was 7 months pregnant and it was going to be our last trip before Jr. was going to make her grand entrance.

After almost 7 years, we revisited Fort Bragg, the Mendocino coast in northern california (3 hours north of San Francisco) and a bunch of memories.

Had a great time with the kids. Now that all that non stop driving on windy roads for hours on end is over, it is time to literally chill with my girl Volini.

Leaving you with the panorama shots. Like the saying goes, a stitch in time..

Tried that one lying down on the ground under the bridge on the sand sweeping from left to right. Next time, have better ideas for this shot.. there are very few places where there is such an opportunity to be directly under the bridge to take a panoramic shot like that.. (just have to pick a cloudy day..)

Except for the botanical gardens which closed so early we saw all the main points of interest over the 25 or so mile coastline.

It was a strenuous trip but we made it back within two days and still had a day to recover!

We have some choice glass pieces to show for the trip as well. Here is a shot of the glass on the beach (all courtesy of old glass bottles dumped thirty years ago on the shore and letting the waves do their job).

The glass beach is strongly recommended!

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