I did IT!

What was it? I think you can guess. I experienced a whole new world. I made it to the sand without getting stuck. I owe this to the confidence Roy has instilled in me and the ability of the ibot. Check out this video.

I was relieved, amazed, in awe. I spent almost an hour enjoying being at ‘ground level’. My perspective has changed for the longest time or since I’ve been at the coast and in a chair, I have been looking down on the beach. I’m ok with that perspective but I’ve added another perspective (ground level) to my photography viewpoint. I guess for me it was like I was able to get closer to the action. I can describe it as running down a hill to get to the bottom of the action and joining your friends.

What made it practical and possible for me was a sand mat. Some local communities here on the coast of Oregon will lay out mats so it goes over the soft sand to get to the hard sand.

I am very thankful for the opportunity to get closer to the sand. I need a little more confidence before I totally attack the sand with no training wheels so to speak. The facts are simple, yet I keep going back to my joy and exuberance and feeling of escaping the restriction of not being able to get close to the shore.

Just the power of sitting in front of the ocean. I watched this girl who was running on the wet sand and the joy and surprise that was on her face when a small wave rolled up on her feet. You can tell she wasn’t expecting it. I am so thankful to be able to see the joy and body language up close.

I saw her and her family later in the day when they were walking past me to head up the beach. I asked her if she enjoyed herself and if that was her first time. The answer she gave me was yes to both. It felt like I was experiencing a first with her. I asked them to pick up a rock for me as a memory of my first trip to the beach.

After my excitement settled in, I sat there and waited. I waited for the birds that I knew would come, the people that walk down the beach, and a few landscapes change when the surf rolled in. After snapping some pictures enjoying the breezes, it was time to head back to the parking lot and load up the chair and head back to Brookings from Gold Beach.

Perspectives change and develop when you embrace new tools in front of, or underneath you.`

Clawing through the day

I have enjoyed just hanging out at the mouth of the Chetco river, this is the end of a 56 mile stream. So when low tide is happening and we have finished our errands for the day I see what the river has to offer. Friday the 30th of August I knew that this was probably going to be my last day to hang out before we head out. So we decided to hang by the mouth of the river.

There is a spot near the south Jetty of the Chetco river, where if the tide is low enough and the rocks are exposed. Pelicans love to hang out there. Further down the jetty near the harbor is the area where people crab. They actually are able to crab all up and down the river, but prefer the area near the Coast Guard station. If the wind is up, Danny from Brookings Kites will fly some of his gigantic kites. Today was not the day for his kites.

Here are some photos of the pelicans hanging out. I understand that the pelicans were here to eat the bait fish in the river. I don’t think these pelicans were interested in eating.

Off we went to see if there were any crabbers by the Coast Guard Station. As luck would have it, a family had just started to crab. They set up a fishing pole trap and a round castable crab trap.

I asked if I could hang out and take some pictures. It was also an opportunity to get a quick course on how it is done. The fishing pole trap is one that you have to pay more attention to. Once dropped it opens up on the bottom of the river, exposing the bait. The crabs come in and pick at the chicken leg; they can pick it clean quickly because it just lays on the trap. You pull this up, the trap closes and you are left with a crab in the trap. If it is close to a keeper, you measure it. If it is not a keeper, just open the trap and let the crab fall back in the water. Check out this method in action in these pictures. If you notice, the chicken leg stays in the trap.

If they do get a keeper or one they have to measure there is an added step or two. They dump the trap on the dock, check to make sure if the crab is the right size which is 5 3/4″ or more.

They also make sure it is a male. You have to release the females and the undersized. Follow this link for more information on how to crab in Oregon.

The round castable crab trap needed a good discus thrower. I say this because you want to get it out a bit from the dock area. The chicken leg is encased in a mesh compartment which makes this trap able to stay on the bottom longer to attract more crab. Both traps will fold up when raised off the bottom of the river. Any crabs sitting on the trap get a ride to the surface.

Once the trap is up, the fun begins. Looking at the trap once it is brought up you can kinda tell which ones might be keepers. So, you know what ones to measure once the trap is open. I did two things when the trap was open 1. tried and stay out of the way 2. protected my feet. (images of a crab clamping on to my toe were dancing in my head.)

Just a few more interesting tidbits I learned when a crab claw is lost or broken they have the ability to regenerate the limb.

When a crab is dropped back in the water, it sometimes floats and looks large enough to be a keeper.

The fog decided to roll in which meant it was time to head in for us. I sure enjoyed crabbing with this family. When I left they had three keepers.

‘The Thing’ was……

I was able to get up close and personal to a tide pool and the ocean. I will say that it took me a couple of days to recover. How did I do it and why did I do it? I had my cane, a friend, determination, and grit. That is the how; the why is that I wanted to see a Sea Star (starfish), feel wet sand, and do this before there was no possible way I could.

After I told Roy what I wanted to do, we went back to the trailer, and he worked his magic with Google. Amazing skill he has; just by looking at a satellite map, he is able to figure out if this is a viable spot for tide pools or whatever. The plan was to figure out if it was possible for me to do the walk out and still take photos. We decided to head down to Lone Ranch Beach to see if I could actually make it down to the beach. I did grab the cane and my Nikon. Armed with Roy’s Google knowledge, I headed down the path at a very slow rate of speed.

Once arriving on the beach, I realized that I had chosen the wrong path to walk down, putting me in the middle of the beach. I thought it was a long way to walk to reach the rocks. I also realized that I have a really long zoom camera, so not much walking was needed today. It was an interesting feeling to be this close to some powerful waves and the sound of the ocean. I did ask a few people on the beach where I could find sea stars or anything today. Unfortunately, the tide was not out far enough.

The next morning, I invited Meagan to join me in enjoying the tide pools and helping me navigate the area. I am one of those people who love to hear and watch nature but am not a touchy person. We start down the new trail and right off the bat Meagan sees a snail.

She picks it up and moves it further along the trail so I can take the picture. She also touched the tide pool and made a fish move. I am thankful she did that because if not, I would have missed some pictures. She then discovered the crab; this made me more aware of what hangs out under the sea.

My takeaway from all this was that these sea creatures, plants, and rocks are exposed to people only when the tide goes out, and then it depends on whether the tide goes far enough out.

I had a feeling of wonder and awe. I was also reduced to a few words, sometimes just a few sounds, like “oooh” and “aaaah.” Check some of these out.

It was about this time as we were out in the ocean that Meagan said the tide was coming in. I grudgingly decided it was time to head back to dry land. I have a feeling that this is not my last tide pool visit. The only requirement is that it will have to be closer to the shore.

Chickens in the ‘Wild’

I am so glad we did not go any farther down the dirt road we were on. Had that happened, I would not have photographed the chickens. Towards the end of our afternoon drive, we were headed home when the car was actually being chased by a dog, and that is what I was paying attention to. Roy, on the other hand, was paying attention to whatever moves. In this case, it was some movement on the side of the road. Roy said, “I’m sure I saw chickens,” and I’m thinking, “Okay, if you say so.”

A u-turn occurred, and the dog resumed its chase. He found the movement and made another u-turn. I pulled out my camera, and Roy straddled the road so I could take some pictures of the chickens. Realizing we were in the middle of the road and there was traffic coming down that road, the photo op was finished. We did flag down the car to let them know chickens were on the side of the road. The other driver said, “I will call the owner and let them know their chickens are loose.” The chickens were the end of a fun road trip down a dirt road up an elevated dit road. The start of this was watching kites trying to fly.

Sometimes when you are waiting for someone to come back and they don’t, you have to change plans. We needed to talk to the office where we are staying, but it was closed. A whole afternoon of free time. Our normal routine is to drive through the harbor to see if the kites are flying, then park by the river that drains into the ocean to see if there are any egrets or maybe common murres or pelicans. This day, however, the only thing flying was a solo light green kite.

We needed to explore something different, of course it was sunny and that in itself is rare. Down Winchuck River Road or the Oregon Redwoods Trail, time to see a few large trees. This is also where we saw the chickens. The road itself was a maintained county road until it wasn’t. I will say, on a side note, that this summer the forest service roads are in better condition than in the past. We did take the paved forest service road until it turned into gravel.

The first road had a bridge over (not troubled) water. I was able to take advantage of the sunlight falling through the trees onto the river. It was great to stay in the car and just shoot from the passenger side of the car. Not wanting to go any further down the road because it had turned into gravel, we started heading back to civilization. Before that happened, I suggested let’s head up to the Ludlum campground; it is only 2 1/2 miles up another road. This road quickly turned into a narrow, one-lane gravel road with nowhere to turn around. (Not one of my better adventure ideas.) We were able to find a wide spot in the road to turn around.

Roy is always paying attention to the environment I do not notice as much as he does. I am learning. I mention this because the pictures below are of a fallen tree with its root ball intact and all of the tiny trees and brush growing out of the trunk. Mother Nature’s nursery.

In my opinion, the forest is peaceful and a tad unnerving. The quietness is deafening until you start to hear the sounds of the forest. Just about then, I’m out of the car taking pictures, looking over my shoulder for the bear or bobcat, or maybe a mountain lion. I saw or heard none of them. I did end up jumping though and getting scared. It was caused by Roy and his horn. As I went to the other side of the car after lovingly telling him he was #1, he pointed out how high above the river we were.

On the way home and after we ran into the chickens we went to see Oregon’s largest Monterey Cypress. This tree than 130 feet tall. I had trouble fitting it in the farme. It is interesting what gems are hidden in plain sight.

With a full day of no fog it was great discovering the area.

They Hang Horse Thieves.

Lucky for me I just got to ride it for two hours. Actually, this summer I rode a horse three different times. My first trip was an hour long and, in my opinion, it was too short. So, what did I do I booked the two hour trip. The rides were amazing. I see know why they say horse therapy is good for MS. I think I will look into that when I get home.

I will say I felt like someone had beat me up the next day. I will have to learn moderation. The funny thing is Roy never took any pictures of me until the last one. I am proud of him he learned how to use my phone for a camera.

I was challenged by the river crossings I did a total 14 crossings. I was an old pro by the end. It was so peaceful and calming just because there was no car traffic or man-made noise. On the ride we caught sight of a deer and lots of wildflowers.

I did not take any pictures on the trail because I would have dropped my phone.

This was at the Blue Bell stables in Custer State Park.

A Few Sunny Days.

Sturgis was interesting this year. We had more rainy days than usual so there was less bike traffic I did however get a few pictures of mascots on the back of a few bikes. The unfortunate thing was where we were camping the rain put a damper on the beer drinking. So, a big two weeks of revenue for them fell a little flat.

We did not go into Sturgis. However, we did head into Custer which was set up for the influx of bikers. (Sturgis is about 65 miles from Custer and the drive to get there is very pretty.) Every year Custer allows bikers to park in the center of the street. Quite the sight to see.

We spent an afternoon with Roy’s scooter and my chair hanging out in Custer and even did some shopping. (Yes, I did get a t-shirt). I was able to buy some Sturgis gifts for people back home. It was Sturgis without the crowds. Roy was trying to make friends with a buffalo.

On the sunny days we saw lots of bikes out and about.

The last day of Sturgis found us heading to the Badlands to take pictures of the meteor shower. (My night photography this year is a whole another story). We and numerous bikers were caught in a hail/snow storm. Never in all my time growing up in Wisconsin had I ever seen something like this. The interesting thing was seeing groups of bikes on the side of the road and the riders all huddled under trees. The biker in the video below did finally give it up and parked his bike. One word for this was INSANE!

It wasn’t all about balloons

Ok, it was mostly about balloons if I am honest. I loved being able to get up close to all the action. That being said Saturday was a full day for us. After chasing balloons Roy and I had worked up an appetite. Lucky for us the Lion’s were hosting a pancake breakfast. We were able to fill our bellies so we could watch the parade, visit vendors, see the car show and enjoy the day.

After breakfast we did a quick spin around the scaled down farmer’s market (the pancake breakfast took up a bit of space). We were able to get a tomato, an onion, lettuce plus stuff we will never buy again. Sourdough cinnamon bun, scone, and banana bread, they just did not taste like we thought they would.

So, off to the races and the car show. It’s funny how many times Roy leaves me in his dust with his scooter because he has the faster motor. Here is a rare shot of him at a standstill. I actually told him to stop. Side note: getting his scooter and my chair has made this trip so much more enjoyable.

On the way to the car show I rolled up on a lavender plant and there were bees flying around. So, I had to experiment trying to capture the flight path of a bee. One thing I have to say are those suckers are fast. Most of the pictures were blurry here is one though I think you’ll like.

At the car show which was right down the block I got to see a 57 Chevy just like his second car he owned. He however owned a bronze version that he had repainted white. (He does love his white cars.) I am having a hard time adjusting to the fact that some of the cars from the 80s and 90s are now classics and antiques. Yes, there were still the old classic cars from the 50s and 60s.

Check out the slide shows of the car show.

The parade was hot and sunny we were able to find shade but our view was a little obscured. What I would do is run up to the street in the sun take a few pictures and beg for candy from the kids that ran out to pick the candy thrown from floats. Yes, this was a parade where candy was available. After the parade we decided it was time to head home and do lunch. One of the rare days where we had our adventure in the early morning.

Up Up and Away

We woke up early and got to see two deer on the way out the drive, a doe and a fawn crossing the road plus two deer on the side of the road all before the first balloon launch. Click here for the videos. I do know Roy saw an elk but we did not get it captured on dash cam.

After shooting everything in sight yesterday today was all about picking certain balloons to concentrate on. I changed camera lenses to my wide angle so I could take in the whole scene. After we get Roy’s scooter out, I head up the little hill and start taking pictures. The sun had just risen so there were sun beams to take advantage of.

I was taking pictures from a distance and a woman came up to me and stated if I wanted to get closer I could. The balloon she was crewing for is called Morning Manna. (They will also be at the Hotsprings balloon festival in August.) I did journey closer to the balloon and took some pictures of the flame from a close distance.

When the crew told me to come closer. I do have to say that I would not make a good balloon crew member it was too hot. I enjoyed getting close enough to see all the way up into the balloon.

Most of the morning was spent chasing the balloons after lift off.

We decided to follow Morning Manna to see where the wind would blow. It would be a journey of 14 and 1/2 miles as the crow flies. This is where the game lodge is and the landing zone for multiple balloons. They all seemed to go in every which direction you could imagine.

We had to wait at a few different turn outs for either the balloon to catch up to us or the balloon to radio down to the chase car what direction the wind is carrying them.

Once we got to the landing zone there were other balloons touching down. There was a moment when it looked like a balloon was coming in for a hard landing. The hard landing wasn’t as hard as it could have been because of the fast thinking of the ground crew. Everyone was ok just a little shook up.

Last balloon standing. The balloon touched down at the landing zone then lifted off so we followed it. It was cool how they had to walk the balloon to the edge of the road so, they could pack it up.

Looking forward to more balloon chasing in my future.

Full of Hot Air

Roy seems to think I am. I said no it is the balloons that are filled with hot air. I was able to witness how much hot air goes into a balloon this past weekend at Custer’s 100th Gold Days. Saturday was a full day that included the balloon launch, the chase, pancake breakfast, a parade, a car show and a carnival. The highlight for me was getting up close and personal to the balloons. Like anything I do that is new the first day I was timid and not sure what to shoot there was action everywhere. One of the sponsors of the balloon launch and participant was Black Hills Balloon

Roy positioned the car perfectly for the filling and lifting off of the balloons. I on the other hand, was on Roy’s scooter and was mobile. I did not move around as much as I could. I could not believe how massive these balloons were. I guess they would have to be big considering how large they look when they are in flight. The size of the balloon is just one of those things that the mind doesn’t grasp until you actually see it.

It starts with the basket coming out of the trailer, then you have to spread the balloon out, attach the basket and then it is time to add the hot air. I am not sure that I would get that close to an open flame.

Once there is enough hot air in the balloon it is like magic as you watch the balloon lift and pull up on the basket and all it takes is a lot of hot air.

At this point I was not sure where to look everything was blowing up and lifting off, there was so much color around.

It seemed so surreal watching them lift off and just hearing a slow hissing sound of the fire heating the helium to get lift.

So off to the races so to speak. It seemed to me that the balloons were moving slow when in reality they were moving quite fast.

Well like everything there always has to be that one. The one that has to be different or a little difficult. I am not sure why the basket and balloon could not get airborne. It was interesting watching it try to take-off. I was able to catch some interesting looks on the riders faces during this whole process. I am not sure I would have continued with the flight. (Who am I kidding I would have never got into the basket to begin with.)

They were able to get airborne and catch up with the group. We decided to follow the balloons to the landing zone which was fairly close to the lift off zone. The drive over was one of I wonder where they are going, they are headed with the wind.

They went through the trees around the trees and finally in front of the trees all to reach the landing zone.

We had a front row seat to the almost choreographed landing of three balloons right in succession and so close together.

There was a balloon having trouble landing. I did not realize that it was the same balloon having the landing issues that also had the take-off issues until I was going through the pictures.

The hard part about landing seemed to be the wind. You know the general area to come down in. I was a little worried when I saw this balloon descending almost on the roof of our car. I thought I might be able to reach out and touch her. I think she was thinking the same thing.

I had so much fun that I knew getting up tomorrow morning and chasing balloons would be worth it.