Print of the Week

Two frequent subjects combined - a great blue heron and sunset reflections. I like how the darker water frames the heron on the right. And the wonderful detail in the reflections.

Sunrise, Sunset

Sunset

Taken with my phone on an after supper walk. Victoria doesn't get a lot of colorful sunsets like this. In the summer it tends to be clear skies and in the winter thick cloud.

Road Trip Day 2 to Cape Lookout

At this rate it'll take me forever to cover this trip. Shelley is doing a lot better at keeping up. Nonetheless, I'll continue to post as I have time. The nice weather held another day and we continued down the coast, first stop Elixir Coffee.

This small bay was covered in birds so I pulled over to photograph them. The traffic going by didn't bother them, but as soon as I walked over with my camera they all took flight. Zooming in on the photo I think they are Northern Pintail ducks.

Cannon Beach is another favorite stop, first for a walk on the beach with views of Haystack rock, and then to refuel at Insomnia Coffee.

We ended up that night at Cape Lookout State Park where we enjoyed another beautiful sunset on the beach.

Walking back to our camp site we came across this Greater White-fronted Goose.

See Shelley's post

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Road Trip Day 1 to Kaloloch

I'm already a week behind on posting photos from our latest road trip. I just keep taking new ones and don't get around to posting the previous ones. It doesn't help to be camping where often the only internet is on our cell phones. And brief coffee shop wifi isn't enough.

We caught the 10:30 Coho car ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, ate our lunch at Lake Crescent, and stopped for the night at Kaloloch, on the west coast of the Olympic peninsula.

There was a short nature trail across from the campsite. It was late afternoon and the light was going so I didn't take a lot of photos. There were some good ferns and mushrooms.

There was a sign for a lodge just .5 km down the road so we walked down there to check it out. Crossing the bridge over the river I had to photograph the reflections.

We had a glass of wine and a cheese plate with a view of the ocean. The sun was just going down as we left the restaurant.

We walked back along the beach to the campground. The sun was down, but there was still color in the sky.

See also Shelley's post

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Sunset

A rare colorful sunset in Victoria.

Sunset on the Beach

More from the way home from our last road trip. After crossing the Sierras over Tioga Pass via Tanaya Lake, we made our way west, arriving back at the coast at Fort Bragg. (Not to be confused with the military base in North Carolina.) We camped overnight just north of there, at MacKerricher State Park. Stretching our legs after a day of driving, we walked down to the beach just as the sun was going down.

I was a little disappointed to identify this plant as invasive Highway Iceplant. But the colors were still pretty in the warm evening light.

But mostly it was just the waves and the gradually setting sun.

And the beach itself.

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Zihuatenejo to Manzanillo

We headed to the coast, to Zihuatenejo, to do some scuba diving. (More on the diving later.)



We found a nice looking AirBnB right close to the dive shop. The location was perfect, the view out over the bay was fantastic, and the architecture was unique. But unfortunately, it was not well maintained. When we arrived there were half empty beer bottles, overflowing ashtrays, and dirty sheets on the bed. There was dirt and grime everywhere. The lock on the door didn't work, but that was mostly irrelevant because the rooms were open on one side so it would be easy to get in regardless. Supposedly the place had private parking (one of our criteria) but that turned out to mean parking on the street. At least it wasn't a main road. It worked out ok for our stay, but we wouldn't go back.



Of course, one of the first things I look for is a good coffee shop. (The mark of a caffeine addict.) We found Cuattro Cycle Coffee and Tea. It was a bit of a walk away from the tourist beach area, but that kept it a bit quieter.



We haven't seen an abundance of wildlife. Mostly just the usual suspects, pelicans, frigates, grackles, egrets, and herons. We had a few geckos in our AirBnB, but I only saw them in the early morning as it was getting light, and they disappeared right away. The Snowy Egrets are easy to identify with their yellow feet and black beaks.



This is some kind of flycatcher, probably tropical. It looked very yellow from certain angles.



And a squirrel of some sort. Funny that squirrels are regarded as "cuter" than rats. (At least in Canada and the USA)



Of course, where there's water, there are reflections:



From Zihuatenejo we were headed further north up the coast to Manzanillo. It was a bit far to drive in one day so we looked for somewhere to stop. That stretch of coast isn't very populated or touristy so there wasn't much. (We drove 3 hours at one point with no cell service - unusual even in Mexico.) We found a reasonable looking place in Caleta de Campos - Hotel and Villas Partour Caleta. There was a small restaurant at the hotel, but when we asked about anything vegetarian they just said "no". All we could find in town were beach restaurants serving seafood. We ended up with scrambled eggs and french fries. (Which is also all we could find for lunch the next day.) On the positive side, the room was nice, with great views of the beach, which was also nice.





And even some wildlife:



And signs of wildlife (some kind of crab presumably):



And another nice sunset:



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Lago de Chapala

From Tapalpa we moved on to Chapala. We splurged a little to stay at the Villa 1927 Arthotel right on the water. It was very nice, but a bit hard to find. There was no sign on the street, and I had to "sneak" in when someone else opened the gate. Then someone parked in front of the gate so we couldn't drive in. Eventually we got settled. They even gave us a free upgrade on our room.



There are lots of birds around the lake - egrets, herons, ducks, coots, and white pelicans like we get in Saskatoon. I wonder if any of our Saskatoon pelicans winter at Chapala?







Of course, being on the water, I couldn't resist a few reflection shots.



It was nice being right on the lake to watch the sunset while we enjoyed a glass of wine.





In the morning we took advantage of the walkway along the shore to get out for a run. Although it was less than a kilometer long, so it took a few laps to get in 5k. And afterwards, good coffee at Coffee Hour.

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