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All About Max

New camera shots

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Pam and MaxWe’ve picked up a new camera for our yearly Caribbean excursion, and we’re test driving it around town this week. After doing a lot of research we decided on the Panasonic Lumix TS2, which has a lot of features, along with an underwater mode.

BlackberryWe went up to Tynehead Regional park hoping to see some salmon in the streams, but no salmon have shown up yet. Not sure why – I thought they would be here by now.

It was a nice fall day, warm and a little humid. The picture of Pam and Max was in the offleash section of the park.

The camera has an interesting macro mode, allowing you to be within just a couple centimeters of item and still focus well. I want to experiment with that, so that hopefully our fish pictures will be better this year when we are in Aruba and Curacao.

GrasshopperThere is a High Definition movie mode that is really amazing. I’m looking for a converter to get them on the web in high-def, but I haven’t found a good one yet. When I do, I’ll put a movie up. It really is a remarkable feature of the camera! The movies are truly amazing.

All About Max

New Look

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On the Chickadee LoopWhen we were in Calgary for my Dad’s 80th, my sister gave us a little present for Max.

Max had been staying with Anna-Maria, our wonderful dog sitter while we drove to Calgary. She had taken him for a walk and he kinda overdid it, so we haven’t taken him out for a couple days. We’ve let him recuperate at home, but yesterday he seemed ready and eager to get out and about.

Max's new scarfWe took him down to our “fave park of the minute,” Sunnyside Acres Urban Forest, and we took a spin around Chickadee Loop trail.

Doesn’t he look sharp in his new outfit? I think he was getting tired of the green scarf! haha It’s a cool kinda scarf – it has a plastic snap clasp like a lot of dog collars, so it’s even easier to “tie on.”

Max says “woof woof!” Which apparently translates to “Thanks eh? Makes me look sharp!”

Something About Us, Vacations

Coming through the Rockies

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Big Horn sheepWe drove home from Calgary yesterday. The roads were very good, and we made very good time. The construction didn’t really affect things, even though there is a lot of roadwork going on just after Banff. As we approached Golden I noticed a herd of Bighorn Sheep and we quickly pulled over as soon as we could.

In the RockiesI was able to get a short movie of them. It’s a bit jerky, but fun nevertheless! Where you see them jump over the barrier, one of them ran across the road and up a steep slope. The traffic all stopped to let him go across.

herd_of_bighornAt the end of the movie, you can see several of them looking across the highway. They were looking for the single guy who ran up the slope. They waited for him on the side they were on, looking quite concerned, until he came down the slope and scampered across the road to rejoin his mates! Quite sweet…

The whole bunch of them then left the highway and descended quickly down a slope.

Something About Us

My Dad's 80th Birthday

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Karen and DadWe drove to Calgary to be with my Dad for his 80th birthday celebration. We took two days to get there, and it was a nice easy drive. The roads were good, and traffic was light.

The cakeKaren had arranged a great get together for the family and close friends at the Calgary Winter Club. It was held in a great room with a terrific view of the downtown Calgary skyline. We started with a couple drinks, milling about and chatting. It was good to see the family after such a long absence.

Dinner was a great three course meal, served by professional staff. David emceed the ceremonies, and everything went smoothly. Loreen had a terrific cake made with a picture of Dad as a young man, looking sharp! A very fitting end to the day!

It was a nice time, and I’m really glad we managed to get home for it.

Congrats Dad!

Vacations

Whales in Newport

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Pulling crabsToday we decided to do some “crabbing,” a popular activity here on the Oregon Coast. There is a long dock here at the resort, dedicated to crabbers. So we got our ring, attached some raw chicken and tossed it in the ocean. Every 5-10 minutes you pull it up and hope you get some Crabsdungeness crabs. There are always a lot of crabs in the net, but most are red rock crabs, not the greatest eating, but still lots of fun and excitement every time you pull up the crab trap!

WhalesThe talk of the day though, was the pod of killer whales who made their way through the inner harbor here in Newport. It had the town in a tizzy, that’s for sure! All the locals were in shock… one guy told us that he’d been here twenty nine years, and no whale had ever been in the harbor, let alone a whole pod of orcas!

Whales tailThe whales were right off the break water, less than 30 feet from us on the crab dock! They were obviously hunting, looking for the seals that are all over the harbor. I tell you, it was really amazing to see them so close. I’ve been to orca shows, but nothing comes close to the experience of seeing them “in the wild” so close, you could almost touch them.

WhalesWhales breachAfter they moved off down the harbor, we came back to the room, and were getting ready to go for dinner, when the pod came back into sight, moving back towards the harbor exit! They smacked their tails on the water, breached and rolled and came so very close to our deck it was unreal! Totally fascinating to see whales, just unreal.

After the “show,” we headed to dinner and our waitress wanted to know if we’d seen the whales! She talked about what an honor it was to see them, how she’d lived here all her life and never seen a whale in the harbor. It was a really special day, that’s for sure!

Vacations

Exploring Newport

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Yaquina lighthouseWe explored Newport today, taking in some of the sites around the town. The main street in the downtown area is being repaved, so we first went to a park overlooking the Yaquina Bay Bridge. The park features the Yaquina Lighthouse, one of many lighthouses that dot this area. This areaMemorial is very windy, and very rugged. The coastline has some amazing beaches, long and sandy and windswept!

The town has a lot of public art. Lots of buildings are painted with amazing murals, mostly on a nautical theme. The old man in the sea, battling rough waves is very common. They have a couple of Wylund wall murals, with his beloved whales prominently featured. There are some amazing sculptures all over the town, too. Seems every time we turn another corner, another statue is there for us to examine. I’m willing to bet Newport has more public art per capita than any city in North America!

Seal pupWe had been hearing sea lions barking all day, so we knew they were around somewhere. We finally stumbled on them, lounging on one of the docks near the fish processing plant. There is a small rocky point that is totally covered with them too.

Heron in flightJust up the road from us we came upon a stretch of beach that was totally packed with herons. Not sure why they liked this stretch of beach, but we saw dozens of them looking for dinner along this one stretch.

HeronThey are pretty nervous birds though. Every time we got close enough for a decent picture, they took off! They are a very cool bird in flight – but it really seems they are just too big to fly!