Monday, August 2, 2010

One thing I love about this is the abundance of paddling opportunities. There are flatwater lakes, swift moving rivers, and challenging open water courses. I never get to do as much kayaking as I would like when I’m up here, so this time I decided to make sure I got to paddle at least a little bit. I booked a five-hour tour with Anacortes Kayak Tours before we left South Carolina.

I set out early, planning to catch breakfast in one of my favorite joints in Anacortes before starting the tour. The bay between Samish and Fidalgo Islands was completely fogged in, but it looked like skies would be clearing. When I drove onto Fidalgo, the fog really set in. I found my way to my restaurant and had a fantastic breakfast while also putting out fires at work over the phone. So much for vacation.

I headed on over to the kayak place. I had been another another tour around Hat Island several years ago, but it turns out that it was a different group. This place not only had kayak tours, but also offered whale watching tours.

I was early, and got my instructions to meet the rest of the group on the other side of Fidalgo. Since I had some time, I stopped by Washington Park, which is just past the Anacortes Ferry Terminal. This early the road around the park was closed to auto traffic, so I walked around and took a few shots.

Pretty soon it was time to meet my group, so I headed to the Skyline Marina on Burrows Bay. In addition to myself and the guide, Ken, there were three others – Robbie from Tasmania, and sisters Sue and Carolyn. Robbie and I got single 17 foot Necky Looksha sea kayaks, and the two sisters got a tandem kayak. All of us were experienced kayakers, so Ken gave us some obligatory brief instructions, and we set out across the foggy water.

Our route would take us out around Burrows Island, with a stop at the lighthouse there. We would paddle on around Allan Island, then out to Williamson Rocks if we had time. Read the rest of this entry »

NOTE: Just catching up with blogging after traveling around the islands. Things are a bit post-dated right now.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Yesterday we followed the Skagit River through Mount Vernon and out to its confluence with the bay. Today we decided to head the opposite direction and follow the river upstream. Our route would takes up into the North Cascades National Park.

We started on the Skagit River Road along the south side of the river, away from the more crowded Highway 20. The road twists through farms, runs through large stands of trees, and crosses many tributary streams. The last time we were up this way we found several access points that let us get down to the river for a better view. This time we couldn’t find the same access points, so we kept driving.

Near the town of Concrete we crossed the river and picked up Highway 20. The road crossed the Baker River, where we found a nice dirt road leading down to where The Baker and Skagit Meet. Read the rest of this entry »

You see those mountains out there? They aren’t just mountains, those are islands!

So said my soon-too-be father-in-law, Jim Wright, as we drove across The Flats for my first visit to Samish Island in 1988.  The reclaimed farmland that connected the mainland to the island created the illusion that we weren’t close to water at all.  It wasn’t until we gained a bit of elevation that I saw that we were, in fact, surrounded by it.

From that moment on, I was hooked.  There was so much to see and do, and it was all so different from where I lived.  Over the years, and with subsequent visits I’ve built up an ideal of life in Skagit Valley County.  It’s an ideal of a slower pace of life, filled with cool weather, incredible scenery, wonderful coffee and fresh baked goods, produce from the local farms, and fantastic seafood.  Each quaint little town is filled with curious characters and Victorian architecture.  Travel up the Skagit River, and you enter the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, with soaring trees and volcanic mountains and lakes filled with glacial waters.  Head two hours north or south, and you have the cultural vibrancy of Seattle or Vancouver.  If I were to move from South Carolina, I think this would be where I’d want to settle.

Read the rest of this entry »

SHREK: For your information, there’s a lot more to ogres than people think.

DONKEY: Example?

SHREK: Example? Okay. Uh… ogres are like onions.

DONKEY: They stink?

SHREK: Yes. No!

DONKEY: Oh, they make you cry?

SHREK: No!

DONKEY: Oh, you leave them out in the sun, they get all brown and start sprouting little white hairs.

SHREK: No! Layers! Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers.

DONKEY: Oh… you both have layers… You know, not everybody like onions. Cakes! Everybody likes cakes. Cakes have layers.

SHREK: I don’t care what everyone likes. Ogres are not like cakes… You dunce, irritating, miniature beast of burden. Ogres are like onions. End of story. Bye bye. See ya later…

OK, you may be wondering what Shrek has to do with photography.  Actually, it’s more about layers – specifically, layers in Photoshop.

I had been working with layers ever since my friend Duck Hunter showed me the technique.  The process can add interest, texture, and even change the mood of a photograph.  The process is simple enough…

1.  Open a photograph in Photoshop or your image editor of choice.

2. Find an interesting texture, such as the ever-popular “Pollution” texture from Jerry Jones, , AKA Ghostbones, AKA SkeletalMess

3.  Resize the texture to match the base photograph, then copy it into a layer on top of the base.  Change the blend mode of the texture layer from “normal” to “overlay”…

…and the result is an image that combines aspects of both layers.  You can change the opacity of the upper texture layer to increase or decrease the effect. Read the rest of this entry »

Been a crazy, crazy week, both at work and at home. There hasn’t been much time to paddle, take photos, or chase down fire towers or old schools. Here’s a brief rundown…

Work

Our computer shipments have started to arrive. We’ve ordered far less than we usually do, but there were still pains. Our normally wonderful system integrators, CSI Technology Outfitters, let me down this year. Because we couldn’t get the deployment sorted out in time, I had to cancel my SCETV workshops for this summer. That prompted a very painful phone call to my friend Debbie Jarrett to let her know I wouldn’t be there to do the Google Earth workshops this time.  Disappointments all around.

Between Friday’s off and furlough days, the summer has been quieter around the office, now the mad rush toward the start of school begins.

Home

We got new carpet.  That meant moving everything except the furniture (the installers do that) and getting the rooms ready.   When the installers removed the carpet in the den we uncovered gorgeous hardwood floors.  We almost sent the installers home.  However, there was some damage in the dining room that would have required quite a bit of work, so we had them go ahead and install in a manner that wouldn’t damage the floors, should we change our minds.

Moving everything meant disassembling our television and entertainment system.  It was a great chance to evaluate our system and make some changes.  We replaced our aging CRT television with a new flat LCD TV, and upgraded to Charter DVR.  The whole system looks a bit cleaner now.  The big old TV has been lugged down to the basement so we can play Wii.

Play

Saturday evening we saw Inception.  Absolutely fantastic movie!  There are lots of Matrix-like elements to the movie, but the concept is original, and pulled off brilliantly.  The weird dream-state physics actually hold together and make sense.  The acting is excellent, especially young Ellen Page, who to me is the real star of the film.  There’s lots of action violence and gun play, but no gore.  I’m not sure I heard a single word of profanity the entire film.  I think this one will wind up in our DVD collection.