Exploring Oregon

 
Highway 242

On the trip to and from Prineville we drove by way of Highway 242, perhaps better known as the "old" McKenzie Highway. This "highway" is a two lane winding road, a beautiful scenic drive that is closed in Winter thanks to snow. It has a very colorful history, and was once the only route between Eugene and Sisters.

At the summit of the McKenzie Pass, in the middle of a massive and old lava flow, stands the Dee Wright Observatory. An amazing structure of lava rock and mortar, with a winding blacktop walkway. From the Observatory, you can see an impressive number of mountain peaks throughout the volcanic Cascade Range. On a clear day, you can even see the top of Mount Hood.

The Observatory has two levels: A single room, with windows directed at various peaks, the size of the window only large enough to isolate the one feature; and an open deck with a lava rock pedestal in the center, topped with a large bronze "peak finder," which points to the various peaks and other geological features within view.

I love this stretch of road, through the lava fields. The stark contrast between the black lava, white sun-bleached trunks of long dead trees and the verdant new growth never fails to touch my soul. I find it hauntingly beautiful... The persistence of life in the face of death and destruction.

Update: You can see these pictures larger by going to my new MySpace Blog, Look for the entry dated July 18, 2006.

 
Apparent Hiatus

Last summer, I tried really hard to add a post to the blog about once a week. It worked for a while. But I soon found myself mired down by a backlog of looming deadlines, necessary web site updates and new clients. One thing led to another, and the next thing I knew it was the end of the year, with no respite in sight.

I did manage to fit in a Photography Seminar in March. A one day event up in Portland. More on that later.

A few days after the seminar, my annual check-up with the eye doctor revealed an urgent need for surgery. Turns out I had a very aggressive form of cataracts. With surgery scheduled only three weeks later, (both eyes, two weeks apart,) my focus (no pun intended) turned to wrangling up the money to pay for it all. Thank God for home equity!

The two weeks between surgeries were incredibly long and frustrating. There's a story in it but, for now, let it suffice that I got virtually no work done during that time. That put me right back in catch-up mode. Not particularly good timing, as Llama and I were scheduled to take our first vacation in nearly six years, (if you count our honeymoon as a vacation.)

As it turned out, of the 10 days we had "scheduled", we spent two nights on the coast and made an overnight trip to Prineville (combining familial obligations with photographic opportunities--we spent the night at Llama's mom's and took photos along the way, both there and back, with a three hour detour to Smith Rock State Park on the way home!)

With a couple hundred new photos to play with, all digital, you should see some activity on the blog as I share some of the more interesting images.