As I was driving along Highway 101 to my new temporary home town of Arcata, California, I stopped overnight in a charming fishing town of Newport, Oregon. Besides great CouchSuring hosts, another highlight of Newport was the Oregon Coast Aquarium, with their Passages of the Deep and the Sea Bird Aviary. Even though it was January, and the birds weren’t in their bright mating outfits, […]
OK, so it’s actually the Pacific Northeast, from the Pacific point of view, you know, but I’ll leave that for another discourse. There is something about lighthouses and waterfalls that stand out as destinations for so many people. Personally, waterfalls have never been a draw for me. I would rather have a trail end at a tree – or a so much more useful tree
One of the largest mammals of North America are a mere half-hour drive from Arcata, northern California. Roosevelt Elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti), the largest sub-species of elk, can often be spotted between Humboldt Lagoons and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Parks. In fact, after the Redwoods, they are the easiest to spot drive-by attraction here, spending most of their time grazing in open pastures or resting
The biggest celebrity in Juneau, Alaska is arguably the Mendenhall Glacier. A white-bluish tongue sticking out from the vast Alaska-Canadian icefield, it is one of the most popular and interesting places to explore. Commercially, bus loads of tourists are delivered to it many times a day to snap photos from a designated photo point. Formations of helicopters buzz back and forth, taking better-paying clients to
Long nights, late sunrises, and early sunsets present a wonderful opportunity for little-ambient-light photography. It’s such a pleasure to wait for a sunrise at 8 or 9 in the morning, late enough to sleep in till 6 and have a cup of freshly brewed tea before heading out. A fresh breeze, a new blanket of snow and the star-dusted sky has greeted me in the