Category: walkabout / local

This afternoon I walk down to the old workplace to investigate why my VPN (virtual private network) connection is failing.  On the way, braving strong winds and expecting the dark skies to erupt in rain at any moment, I am compelled to make many photographs of the cloudy conditions.  And I catch some traffic and streetside scenes along the way.  When I arrive, Maury shows me his new old Dodge truck he found/stole in Idaho via Craiglist, and David works the phones.  On the return, I note some wind damage half a block from home, but arrive in time to find Kim and Ivi, not surprisingly, in the kitchen prepping dinner.

 

 

Up at 4:30am.  From Foothill Road.

Almost four hours tromping about the mountains and forest this morning.  Started with a jaunt up Looking Glass Hill Road, going as far as we could before 4WD was even inadequate to the task, spotting an old IH pickup and viewing the remote forest estate of Kim’s doctor along the way.  Then Kim and Ivi decided we should revisit the Oregon Trail Pass area again for mushrooms. But this time we went up side logging trails, going deep into meadows and draws and dense foliage where we came upon exotic logging equipment, a few ticks and, yes, even some mushrooms.  Charlie enjoyed every minute.

 

 

Beneath blue skies (and highline wires) we make a brief incursion into the local farmers’ market.

 

 

Walking downtown just before noon to confer with ex-colleagues, I encountered rich blue skies and white clouds of the highly fluffy variety.  But as I was headed back an hour later, the blues were turning gray, then nearly black.  Not long after my return, a thunderstorm burst forth, and — you guessed it — another gush of basement flooding.

Before …

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After …

UPDATE – THE RAIN:

A few more from the camera of LEH during this morning’s hike … 

 

Up Bushnell Lane this morning,  where Kim takes camera in hand to document the wildflowers and whatever else strikes her fancy.

 

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And the results?

 

 

This morning, it is a drive twelve miles out of town into the national forest area.  Finding our intended destination not open until Memorial Day weekend, we hike along side roads.  At one point we encounter weekend walkers with their own young aussie sheep dog (elusive; not pictured).  And Kim penetrates deep into the shadows and unmarked zones to find some mushrooms that have emerged after the rains of this past week.

 

 

Today we visit the opening day of the local farmers’ market, then visit the library across the street.

 

Cold and windy.  Another morning jaunt around Morgan Lake.