Hi,

On my way to Alaska, after a month I am still in the Lower 48. I've had a great time wandering up through Utah, Idaho, Montana, and especially NE Washington where I took a very loopy course through National Forests and Wildlife Refuges east of the Cascades. I hit Mt. Rainier National Park on a nice weekend, but did not even stop the truck -- all parking lots were overflowing with the road shoulders full of cars, and the sidewalks around the visitor center were a mob scene. But the scenery is still dramatic. I've spent a week and a half in Portland with family and old sailing friends, and am about ready to head north again. I've even had great luck with the weather, mostly it's been cool and sunny.

Of the first 50 photos I've tried with the spotting scope, I finally got one good one, of a Great Blue Heron -- they tend to stand still which helps a lot. A couple more, of turtles and geese 50m yards across a lake, came out useable. After 6 months and 2400 photos I think I am finally starting to know how to use the camera effectively and Photoshop rudimentarily.

E.V. joined me from Portland for a weekend in the Cascades, and we lucked-out in finding a great camping spot on a dead-end logging road with a great view of Mt. Rainier. We kept finding new flowers to photograph and identify, and one hike was especially interesting with the ground covered in a thick layer of pumice fragments from the Mt. St. Helens explosion.

A slideshow is available for download on a broadband connection; depending on your broadband speed it may take a few minutes or possibly as long as an hour to download. If you would like me to mail you a CD of the slideshow, just let me know via 1-970-250-9809, it is very easy for me to do. The address is: http://www.firestardesign.com/johna
Click on 04WA.exe, and if using Internet Explorer you can either choose OPEN to view the show once, of choose SAVE TO DISK if you want to have it your hard disk.

Right-Click or Spacebar will advance to the next picture
Left-Click will return to the previous picture
Pause will pause the show
Esc will abort the show

If it doesn't work for you, please let me know!

Regards, John Armitage