Cruisin' Sherwood Snapshots

Last weekend I took Evan and his friend to Sherwood, Oregon, for their Classic and Custom Car Show. Evan loves this show because it takes place throughout the streets of this quaint small town. You wander through town, never knowing what you're going to find parked in front of the barber shop or the diner. Here are some of my favorite photos that he took.

The combination of the car detail with the reflection of the photographer really captures the mood of the day for me. Evan has a lot of friends, but very few who share (or even understand) his love and knowledge of all things automobile. It was so much fun to watch him and his buddy, both so enthusiastically finding the perfect positions to take pictures from. I tried to take a photo of the two of them taking photos. I ended up with a lot of shots of them walking away to the next vehicle. Stupid phone camera and its 5-second delay.

This classic VW bus was truncated to make it absolutely adorable. Evan quipped, "Oh, look, it's the first mini-van!" He cracks me up.

By the way, little tip if you're ever looking at cars with guys who love them: "Cute" and "adorable?" Not acceptable words to describe a vehicle.

It's just really not okay.

Unless you're the mom. Because the mom is not doing her job fully  if she doesn't provide opportunity for eye rolling.

I think this is a work in progress, but I just love this car's personality.

No, it's not "cute." Even I can see that. 

This fellow is a total bruiser.

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Tidepooling at Seal Rock

We spent a few days on the coast as part of a field trip through the online charter school we use for homeschooling. It was a great trip, complete with a 2-hour educational boat tour, a lab at the Marine Science Center, and spending a night in the shark tunnel at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. What I want to show you today is some photos from exploring some of Oregon's amazing tide pools. My kids have grown up with this and take it for granted, but we still find something fascinating every time we go. If you're in Oregon, Seal Rock is a few miles south of Newport, and is a wonderful tidepooling spot.

Here's the view from the top of the trail that leads down to the beach.

Wednesday morning was one of the lowest tides of the year. At high tide that closest line of rocks and all of the wet sand would be under water.

Once you descend to the beach, you can explore the rocks that spend most of the time under the sea, and the many animals that call them home. Chris took the photo below, looking back toward shore. The white crusty looking stuff that you see on the rocks in the foreground is a living colony of barnacles. They hang out inside their shells waiting for the tide to come in.

So much life in this picture. See it? 

I count 7 starfish (no--8, if you count the purple legs on the left) and at least 4 sea anemones (they look like green or pink squishy circles when the water is gone). Countless baby barnacles (they look like crusty white dots) are stuck all over the rock). If you sit and watch a pool for a minute the little fish and crabs start emerging from their hidey-places.

Below, you can see how the anemones start to emerge when the water flows into their home. There's one opening out, and then to the right is a closed one. If you touch your finger to the bright green part, you can feel the stickiness that is toxic to smaller creatures. Then they pull away from you, because they know you're not food.

Evan found a long piece of kelp and was dragging it along the beach for a while before we noticed all the shells stuck to it. The kelp isn't unusual, but I've never seen one on the beach with shells on it.

In this picture, we're watching in morbid fascination as the clam-like creatures stick out their little feelers and probe around, probably wondering what the dickens happened to their fancy condo in the kelp forest. Homeschooling at its finest! I was tempted to fling the kelp back to sea, in hopes that some of the critters could find a new home, but Chris reminded me that would be stealing some nice nesting sea bird mama's dinner. Circle of life, and all that.

To participate in Snapshot Saturday, post a photo that you or a friend took, and post the link at West Metro Mommy.

Snapshot: Old Lumber Mill

Here are a couple of shots from my birthday last September. We went on a bike ride that day, which ended up at an old abandoned lumber mill in the small town of Vernonia, Oregon. Can you see the tree inside, through the doorway?

We had a blast investigating this historic site, which has obviously been renovated by fairies in the intervening years since it was closed in 1957. Graffiti-artist fairies.

I happen to think that graffiti is beautiful, when done right. And, in this case, the fairies did not disappoint.

I've been intrigued about this spot and its history ever since our visit to this site. For a mere $45 I can order a used copy of this book that details the history of the mill. Or, I could get it from my library for free.

Life is full of difficult decisions (she said, as she donned her shoes to head to the library).

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by At Home With Books. To participate, post a picture that was taken by you, a friend, or a family member, and add your link.