Walker Lake in Nevada, taken in January, 2007 on our way home from holiday celebrations in Arizona.

It was [...]]]> Some friends and I went to visit the Mission Mill Museum – an historic woolen mill – in Salem this week. We had a docent take us through the mill portion and I’d really recommend this (though we did push the limits of patience of the two small children with us).

It was a really enjoyable day. The only thing I’d say, if you’re planning a visit,  is to pack a lunch or head out somewhere local… the cafe seemed a bit overpriced to me.

I didn’t bring the Nikon, so these photos are just from the phone camera:

We decided to get away this weekend and not dwell on the empty spot by the fire (*sniffle*)… so we packed a bag and headed up the Oregon coast and partway into Washington. The photo above was taken at Black Lake in [...]]]>

We decided to get away this weekend and not dwell on the empty spot by the fire (*sniffle*)… so we packed a bag and headed up the Oregon coast and partway into Washington. The photo above was taken at Black Lake in Ilwaco, and this was pretty much the best shot I could get of these two bald eagles (can you see the one on the left?). They were flying around the treetops when we pulled over, and then settled themselves there for the duration of our visit.

Black Lake is a really pretty spot and, while we were there, a woman pulled over and got out to talk to us. She was looking for the swans that winter there — through March, according to the site linked above — but we didn’t see any sign of them.

Saturday we stayed in Astoria. Got to dine at our favorite restaurant there, Fulio’s, and we stayed at a hotel that is right under the bridge (a Holiday Inn Express… it was a lot nicer than you’d think). Here was the view from our room. Pretty, eh? I thought maybe the bridge would be annoyingly noisy, but it wasn’t. We even had the window cracked open while sleeping.