Project 48 ~ 30:48

1. Reflections at Rimrock Lake

2. Water Like Glass

3. Clear Creek Falls

4. Mt. Rainier

5. Mt. Rainier with Wildflowers

6. Loaded Truck (The Reason for the Trip)

7. Sunset over the Columbia River Gorge

These are all scenes from Monday.  We started the day in camp at Rimrock Lake.  We woke up to water that looked like glass.  The reflections were incredible.  After coffee and breakfast, we broke camp and headed down Highway 12 to Longview.  Scott was a great sport and he pulled into every scenic overlook along the way.  We saw Clear Creek Falls and Mt. Rainier, where the wildflowers were in bloom.  In Longview, we picked up our load of concrete statues - it WAS the reason for the trip - and headed home.  It was a late night, and when we stopped at the rest stop just past the Gorge, we were treated with a spectacular sunset.  Enjoy!

Project 48 ~ 29:48

1. Square Sunflower

2. Rimrock Lake, Washington

3. Awesome Sky

4. Dr. Seuss Hat

5. Green Against Blue

6. Smoke Moving In

7. Late Afternoon Sun

Hope everyone is enjoying these last days of summer.  You can see that the sunflowers have started to bloom.  I'm sure that's just the first of many sunflower photos you'll see here.  Sunday, we traveled to Rimrock Lake in Washington, as the first leg of our journey to Longview.  Scott had some custom orders to pick up from a wholesaler, so we turned it into a mini-vacation.  We stayed at Rimrock Lake Resort and I have to say it's the prettiest place we've camped so far.  The lake is drop-dead gorgeous, no matter what time of day and we were lucky enough to have the whole point to ourselves.  The shots from this week are afternoon to evening shots.  Towards evening, we started to see evidence of the fires near Cle Elum.  Stay tuned next week for some morning shots as well as from a few other picturesque places on our journey.  Enjoy!

Project 48 ~ 28:48

1. Evening Sky

2. Morning Sun

3. Liquid Fire

4. Cliffside Rapid by Scott Rudy

5. Counting Crows, Festival at Sandpoint 2012

What a week!  Washington, Idaho and Montana are on fire, and it made for some memorable sunrises and sunsets.  When the red morning sun hit the fountain at the shop, it made liquid fire!  Scott came home from his week-long float trip on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River with some awesome photos - I've included my favorite of Cliffside Rapid.  We rounded the weekend out with an overnight trip to see the Counting Crows at the 30th Annual Festival at Sandpoint.  It is a breathtaking venue and we had a blast listening to the Crows and watching the people.  Have a great week, everyone.

Project 48 ~ 27:48

1. Coneflower Watercolor

2. Golden Wings

3. Three

4. Peppermint

5. August Promise

6. At The Dying End Of The Day

I'm posting a little early this week.  I have finished all my chores and plan to have a beautifully unstructured rest-of-the-day.  We are in the dog days of summer.  It almost feels like summer just began - it started pretty late here in the Inland Northwest.  It was mid-June before we had summer-like temps.  And yet, when I switched the calendar from July to August, there was a sea-change.  It was subtle.  It's still hot - supposed to be in the 90's here today.  It's still summer - school doesn't start for anyone until the end of the month or later.  And still, there's a hint of sadness in the air.  The days are getting shorter once again and there is just a hint of what's coming.  Let's enjoy the summer just a little longer, shall we?

(1) The watercolor is a happy little experiment in Photoshop.  I hoped that the color and composition would work well with a watercolor treatment and I was right.  What do you think?  (2) The blazing stars are blooming and the honeybees are all over them.  I stood and took pictures of dozens of them for quite a while yesterday.  I liked the shining wings on this one.  (3) One of the "rules" of photography is to group things in threes.  I usually have a hard time with this one, but the Black-Eyed Susans cooperated this time.  (4) The peppermint is blooming.  It smells even prettier than it looks.  (5) In August, there doesn't seem to be much promise in the garden.  Most everything is blooming or dying.  But not the sunflowers...  (5) And finally, my favorite, taken at the end of the day when the light was heavenly.  Enjoy.