Grave Creek

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Another shot from our Thanksgiving drive home. Heres a little background:

The Grave Creek covered span at Sunny Valley, about 15 miles north of Grants Pass, can be seen by motorists traveling Interstate 5.

Features of the wooden structure include six gothic style windows on either side, concrete abutments, a Howe truss, rounded portals and a shake roof.

The old wooden river crossing is the last covered bridge on the northsouth Pacific Highway system. Existing records on the Grave Creek Bridge show a contract awarded by the Oregon State Highway Department to J. Elmer Nelson in April 1920.

Just four months later, traffic passed through its portals. The 105-foot Howe truss is supported by "dumb bell" concrete piers. Total cost of the construction, including the engineering fees, is listed at $21,128.

When Interstate 5 was built nearby, ownership and maintenance of the Sunny Valley Loop Road, which includes Grave Creek Bridge, passed to Josephine County. In the late 1990s, the bridge was closed to traffic and was reopened in 2001 after repairs to the approaches and housing.

ABC Wednesday Letter "S"

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

"S" is for Shasta. Mt. Shasta that is. Mt. Shasta rises 14,179-feet above sea level(4,322 m) and is the second-highest peak in the Cascade range and the fifth highest peak in California. This picture was snapped during our 11 hour ride home from Washington state.

Spinning thingy

Outback on the relatives back porch they had this eye catching spinning thingy. It is meant to look like the ball is traveling up or down the spiral. I thought it made a interesting picture.

The lone leaf

Monday, November 26, 2007

During our Thanksgiving holiday in Washington state I noticed a tree in the backyard that only had one leaf left hanging from a branch. I liked the way it looks against the crisp and clear blue sky.

ABC Wednesday Letter "R"

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

"R" is for the Route we are taking today. We are on our way From Granite Bay Ca. to Camas Washington to celebrate Thanksgiving with Family. The ride will take about 10 hours and the car will be filled with many songs, laughs and maybe some naps. (the passengers of course) I will probably not be posting anything till we get back. Wishing all a happy Thanksgiving.

Flying South

lately we have had a pretty steady stream of geese flying over our house to their Southern Wintertime home. You can hear them coming long before you can see them.

Fall has Fallen

Monday, November 19, 2007

As you can see in this picture most of the colorful leafs have fallen from the trees, but even in a half naked tree their is beauty.

Fall in the water

Thursday, November 15, 2007

I noticed this lone leaf floting in the water with the reflection of the wispy clouds overhead. I thought to myself this might make for an interseting shot. I was pretty happy with the outcome. This shot was not photoshoped other than just one small shot of brightness.

ABC Wednesday Letter "Q"

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

"Q" is for Quarters from all 50 states. Since 1999 the US Mint has produced a different quarter every ten weeks. Over the last 10 years they have produced 45 different coins and only have 5 more to go. It is always fun to look at your change and see if you got a new quarter.

Gallop

We have a large open field behind our house with 5 horses that use the field to graze. I caught this one galloping back to the barn for dinner.

HOPEWALKS

Monday, November 12, 2007

This weekend our family participated in HopeWalks. You can find a great discripton on Photowannabe's blog. There were 800 people taking part of this event and I loved being involved.

God's artwork

Friday, November 9, 2007

Some times you just need to slow down and and look at the amazing detail God has created in our world. I guess that is why I love macro shots so much. My backyard has been a butterfly bonanza the past few weeks. At times I would have 10-15 of them fluttering around at once. Amazing!

Fall Beauty

Thursday, November 8, 2007

I love all the changes fall brings. So many colors and contrasts.

ABC Wednesday letter "P"

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

"P" is for pepper and pomegranate. I thought these peppers were so interesting. I found them during a walk through a garden during our Apple Hill trip. I never realized that they grew pointing up.

The pomegranate was picked from my parents back yard. I just loved the detail in top and thought it looked like a crown.

Enlarge for more detail

Happy Hummers

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

More from the blooming hibiscus. Even the Humming birds are happy!

Don't forget to enlarge to see the detail.

Still Blooming!

Monday, November 5, 2007

Even though we are in the month of November our Hibiscus is still blooming like crazy!

Calm and Cool

Friday, November 2, 2007

Durring our recient trip to apple hill we visited a apple farm that had a craft fair with various arts and crafts vendors selling their goods. I notice these two (yes there are two dogs here. one on top of the other) dogs sitting as still as can be in a chair. They were just sitting taking in the sunshine.

13

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Last Friday my oldest daughter turned the big 13. I can't believe we now have a teenager. Where does the time go? On Friday night we had a party for her and her friends. She wanted to have a birthday party with a theme this year and chose the theme of endurance. Those of you not familiar with the TV show endurance, it is a show similar to the show survivor but endurance is a show featuring teen's instead of adults. We set up six different endurance themed games throughout different areas of the house plus the backyard. They had a blast.

Our backyard already has a tropical feel to it so the staging of the backyard was easy. You can see them sitting in our "tiki hut" beyond the flame where they were having the elimination ceremony.