New Year's Eve with the Whales

We decided to spend new year's eve watching for whales at the pacific coast line. Tanner had seen a spot on the news about the whale migration and so being Texans, we decided to witness this great event!

On the way to our whale watching new year's eve!

Ecola view point where we watched for whales (mostly from the car). I was very excited about a "whale" I spotted until about 10 or 20 minutes later when I realized it was still in the same location, at which point I decided I was avidly watching a rock break the surface of the water!

It was a great day to see from a distance! This is a shot I took at Indian Beach of people walking on the shore.

The lighthouse was visible today. I finally spotted some whales........;)

Fall Color

Walking in the leaves by the Reed College pond.

Tanner and Jacques under a ginko biloba tree.

The pond at Reed College was photo-worthy!

We met this red tail hawk, "Seme" along the way.

Mt. Hood National Forest

Next to the streamwatch cascade trail was the wetland boardwalk trail which was very peacful.

We watched baby coho salmon swim in the stream through the viewing station.

We hiked at the cascade streamwatch trail on the way to Timberline and saw some beautiful sights!

It was a winter wonderland above around 4,000 ft. on the mountain.

We had brunch at the Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood.

Oceanside

We had a wonderful trip to the coast today. We went to a new spot south of Cannon Beach called Oceanside. There was a cave and tunnel that revealed a rocky beach on one side and a sandy beach on the other.

Building sandcastles on the beach...the weather was in the 70's.

We visited the light house at Cape Meares and the Octopus Tree.

Summer Flowers

This morning while Tanner was working, Jacques and I played in the gardens, enjoying all the flowers!

Forestry Museum and Visit with Family

We visited the forestry museum for the first time and Jacques had fun with the hands on exhibits.

We enjoyed visiting with"Papa and Mimi".

Eagle Creek

Punch Bowl falls pictured above.

Jacques inspects the rocks in the creek.

We took a hike to a new place called Eagle Creek. It was about an hour and a half to two hours away from the city. We hiked to punch bowl falls and back. We also enjoyed stopping at a stream so I could hunt for fossils...and yes, I found one.Beach party at community night in front of Kailash Ecovillage. There was ice cream, Tanner played music with Brian and Dwight while Jacques and I dug in the new sand pit.

Crater Lake

We drove down to Crater Lake on Monday to check out the deepest lake in the U.S. The water was crystal blue and the sky was so clear that we could see for miles!

Lavender Fields

It was a beautiful Sunday at the lavender farm. We had a nice time enjoying the smell and the vista!

Rachel and Jacques harvesting lavender.

Jacques watering our garden which has done well. We ate our first peas yesterday.