Spent a week enjoying the Pacific Northwest. It was a delight to get away from the stifling heat and humidity of Florida summer. Did some hiking around the Olympic peninsula. The region has been suffering from extreme drought and there were numerous wild fires burning throughout the state. Luckily none near me!

Elwha river



My first Washington snake, I think it is the black morph of the northwestern gartersnake.



Chestnut-backed chickadee



Next stop: Lake Crescent







Douglas Squirrel





Spent some time watching a family of Gray Jays. The adult was teaching the young one about caching food.



Sunset, moonrise, and a delicious dinner of pacific cod at the lodge. Lovely!



Early morning rainforest hike







Dungeness Spit. The longest sand spit in the world.





View of Mt. Rainier



Port Townsend tide pooling





All too soon, it was time to head back across the water to the airport in Seattle.



Back at home now and enjoying a free sauna treatment every time I go outside! It is good for the pores.

Made a couple of trips to Colorado for work recently. Making power out of thin air!





On my last trip, I took a day to visit Mt. Evans. For the first time, the road to the summit was open while I was in town, so I had to take the opportunity.

Summit Lake





Big Horn Sheep





You Shall Not Pass





Onward to the summit... lots of mountain goats up there!













And a marmot



View from the top



That is summit lake down there



Stopped off at the bristlecone pine forest on my way down. These are some of the longest living trees on earth.





That night, I headed down to the Red Rocks Amphitheater to see the Colorado Symphony perform Video Games Live. I'd never seen a show there before. The sound quality was impressive!

Getting ready



The show begins



What a great way to end my visit to Colorado!