Us

Got a chance to work through some 5 year anniversary shots I took a couple weeks ago in the backyard. Turns out that jump shots are harder to time on the camera's self timer than I would have thought.







We gave up

Iphone

I dig the new Iphone4




Accuterra app map overview of the Diablo/Ross lake trip. Zoom in to see our trip path(we didn't actually paddle across the land towards the beginning there, I closed out of the app by accident for that stretch) For the interactive map, including iphone photos along the way,
click here

Overview

Diablo/Ross Lake Canoe trip. July2010 last post

The ladies joined us and we headed over to the far shore



Found a nice little inlet to explore





The end of the inlet. Nice.



Coming back out




Clear water



Not a reflection, you can see to the bottom




Morning- leaving our island.



Peaceful paddling




Coming up on Ross Lake Resort to order our shuttle truck



Back to Diablo Canyon



Pool water in the canyon




A relaxing way to end the trip



If you'd just like to look at big photos without all the writing, go here

The end

Neighborhood summer nights

Tumwater has "Screen on the Green" on August Friday nights. They put up a giant blow up screen and play family friendly movies. Last nights showing was Blindside. We loaded up the bikes and neighbors.

Pelligrinos has a summer special from 4 to 6PM - 9.99 includes soup/salad/dinner/dessert and it's right on the way, so we made that part of last nights outing

Stopped for dinner



I like these people



Arrival at Tumwater Golf Course.



Got there a bit early, so the kids played some Danish Rounders to kill time

Diablo/Ross Lake Canoe trip. July2010 Part 7

We setup camp, and just as we were finishing lunch the rain came. When I say rain, I mean monsoon. Fortunately we saw it coming and were prepared, all cozy in the tents. One thing I really enjoy is reading a book while rain is falling hard outside and I drifted off to sleep listening to this fine sound.

A couple hours later the rain stopped, we peeked out and were presented with a fine evening for another cruise. Jenny and Jennifer claimed to be too comfy to get out, so my sweet sweet wife and I had the lake to ourselves.



For most of this trip, the water was just unreal. I found myself thinking about a wakeboard. If only they made quiet towboats.




We couldn't keep it to ourselves, so we headed back to our island to roust the womens.


If you look closely, you can see our other canoe on the island on right, birds still hanging out to the left of the smaller island

Diablo/Ross Lake Canoe trip. July2010 Part 6

The girls got tired of waiting around on photos and cruised on ahead



The sweet sweet wife was stuck with me though. You marry a photographer and you just gotta put up with it





She does have her limits, this is her secret code that it's time to move on.




Moving on



The ladies headed for land to the sounds of rushing water. Pulled into a cove and hiked a bit



This was the only time we ran into mosquitos the entire trip and they weren't bad but we didn't want to have to spray on deet or cover up, so I took a couple pics and we headed back to the water




Ominous looking clouds started rolling in so we booked it back to the camp, packed up gear and headed for our second nights stop- Cougar Island.

This was previously my favorite spot to camp as it is a small sland(about 200 yards long 100 yards wide?) There are only 2 sites on the island but we always get it to ourselves.. The south side gets the weather, the north side has a nice calm little pool even when the weather gets crazy. It also has a little sister island to the east that it's fun to swim or boat to.

Arrival at Cougar Island. If you look closely you can see a flock of birds hanging out on the sister island.

Diablo/Ross Lake Canoe trip. July2010 Part 5

I'm a big fan of glassy water in the morning(or anytime really) At the risk of sounding fruity, there's something almost magical about gliding through flatwater in the wilderness, taking in the sounds of silence and sharing those moments with friends. Even better when the water is so clear you can see to the bottom as you move over the water. I had all the glass I could want the next morning and I rousted people out for an early morning glide.

The campsite is just behind the girls and canoes. I'm out on the tip of Roland Point here.



Turned around and looking South here. When it gets windy, it blows all the driftwood/water debris to this side of the island.



Then we were off






For some reason the hill in the center strikes my sweet sweet wife as funny, she still giggles every time she sees it.



One thing I can watch for hours is the "paddle art" on smooth water.

Drips



Whirlpools