Five for this week

For Tricky's Five on Friday and Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday Five:

1.  I didn't get my watercolor done this week.  Too many things interfered...next week! 

2.  It's been terribly hot and dry in Central Oregon.  We've been going through wildfires for a while, lots of haze coming from areas miles away, but recently one of the fires came closer than any other, causing some concern.  They did manage to get most of it under control pretty quickly.

The smoke I could see from my front yard. 

The planes with fire retardant or water kept flying over.

3.  We dog and cat "sat" for our daughter, son-in-law and grandson for a week while they went back to Tucson to pick up a vehicle and see friends, and then do some sight-seeing in California and Nevada on the way home.  Didn't get any phots of the dogs, but here is the cat, Elvis, who was a little hard to photograph as he kept closing his eyes.  These are for Eileen's Saturday's Critters.

I love the TV!

4. Our neighbor lives on the road that goes down into the canyon...so this has to be a joke! :-)  I mean, I don't think I'd head down there if the volcano blows!

5.  So, three days till the eclipse...and Central Oregon is welcoming thousands of tourists to celebrate the event in a weeklong Solarfest...our little area can hardly handle all these crowds.  I'm staying home all week!

Land of the Giants

For Tom's Tuesday Treasures, one of America's greatest natural treasures...the Redwoods. A two hour drive south of Brookings led us into Northern California, and the home of these giants.  Also joining in with Susan's Outdoor Wednesday.

When I got my first glimpse of these giants outside the car window, I gasped.  They are so HUGE!

Interestingly, in some of the peripheral areas, some people have the trees (or stumps of them) in their yards!

This was such a treat.  I got out of the car to take the photos as Russell and his sister Barbara drove through.  It isn't the original drive-through sequoia from Yosemite National Park that one sees photos of Model T's going under, as that tree was destroyed in 1969 but this tree was opened to the public in Klamath as a drive-through in 1979.  There are apparently three different Redwoods that one can drive through, located in different areas of the California coast, and the sequoia is a different giant.
 

A little info on the drive-through trees from Wikipedia:

Giant sequoias[edit]

The other giant sequoia drive-through tree has also fallen:

• Pioneer Cabin Tree fell in 2017 in Calaveras Big Trees State Park^[12]

But two walk-through tunnel trees still stand:

• California Tunnel Tree in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park. The California Tunnel Tree's passageway was dug in 1895 to allow horse-drawn stagecoaches to pass through the tree.^[15] Today, people can walk or bike through it.
• A dead tunnel tree in Tuolumne Grove, Yosemite National Park.^[12] The dead tunnel tree in Tuolumne Grove was the first standing sequoia to be tunneled.^[13]

Coast redwoods[edit]

• Chandelier Tree – another tunnel tree, but a coast redwood, not a giant sequoia
• Two other drive-through coast redwood trees (taller and more slender than giant sequoias) still stand. These are along US 101 in northern California, in Klamath and Myers Flat.^[16]

After they drove through, I got in the car and got to go through myself. It of course is very damaging to the trees to have these cuts made, and that's why the original ones have been lost.

A view of the Klamath Tree, looking up.

In line to go through.  It's a tight squeeze so you have to go slow.

Inside the living tree.

Stopping for a photo op.

In Jedediah National Forest.  I would love to camp among the giants some time!

More of Stunning Crater Lake

Here, for this week's Through My Lens (with Mersad) and Tuesday's Treasures (with Tom) are more  photos taken at Crater Lake!  And looks like there will have to be a third post next time to share the rest of the photos! (If you missed the first post see it HERE)

A boat in the lake

Wildflowers next to a fallen tree

Loved the sculpture-trees!

Breathtaking Crater Lake!

I have some favorites of the beautiful natural sights to see in the U.S....the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley come immediately to mind.  The Smoky Mountains.  And now I have added one to a list of only about five real favorites:  Crater Lake here in Oregon.  The pictures do not do it justice, trust me!  As we left the confines of our car and walked up to the edge of the rim to see it better for the very first time, the view literally caused me to gasp!  If you want to read more about this amazing lake, go HERE. And HERE. But for now, I will give you about half the photos I took that day, to continue with the rest in another post and share with Mersad's Through My Lens and Tom's Tuesday Treasures.  Enjoy!



We were at an average of 6,173 feet (in places, over 7,000 feet) so we encountered quite a bit of snow



The lake was formed by an erupting volcano, producing the crater.  Mt. Mazuma is another volcano found inside the original crater.  This is the deepest lake found in the USA (at 1,949 feet deep) and the blue is like a lapis!  The views as you drive both west and east rims (though part of the east rim was closed when we went due to road repairs and snow) are just amazing!



Our friend gets a photo...note the summer clothes and sandals.  It's July!  The park is only open from July through October.

A close-up of the little turquoise pool seen in the photo above.



Poor Russell has a great deal of trouble breathing at those elevations so he opted to stay in the car.  You could see some of the partial lake views from the parking lot but not encompassing views, of course.  We are hoping to get him a portable oxygen machine just for such occasions.

Rare Arizona jaguar

For Saturday Critters I had to share this awesome video footage!  We've all known about our wonderful jaguar for years but this is the first footage of him in the Santa Rita Mountains just south of Tucson.  I just want him to be left alone, and hope he makes it to old age...hope he also finds a mate.  Jaguars used to roam freely in our area ages and ages ago but no longer, and his visit is one of about three that have been documented in the last couple of decades.  Thought you might enjoy seeing him!  I absolutely ADORE the fact that he is here!!!!

U is for UNBELIEVABLE!!!

I am very excited to announce that my hubby and I are getting each other this joint gift for Christmas! :-)  I picked it up at Costco and it's still in the box ( it's a Coolpix P520) but I know we will open the box and start getting familiar with it before Christmas so we can take LOTS of pictures!  Hey, no more weird photos from me!!!!

If anyone has this camera and can offer any suggestions, comments, advice or critiques, they will be much appreciated! I'll be linking in with ABC Wednesday as soon as it's open...great link!  Thanks to the hosts for making it possible...it's one of my faves!  Check it out!

Ground Control to Major Tom

Watch this wonderful music video, recorded from the Space Station high above our world!  It gave me chills!  Really awesome!