This Shutterbug Is Happy At Last!

My Dear wonderful Husband Dan bought me a early birthday present.....A NEW Camera!!!

Thank-You Dan!! I Love You!

It's the Sony DSLR-A100 10.1 megapixels.( Digital Single Lens Reflex). My little Olympus 3.2 mega pixel camera bit the dust so I needed a new Digital. The Sony is the best of both worlds to me because it is compatable with my lenses from my Minolta Maxxum 300si film camera that I adored but it is very costly for shooting photo's. The last time I had film developed it cost me $325.00!! I shoot ALOT of photo's so Digital it had to be and not cost a fortune! The Sony is 10.1 megapixels so the photo's should turn out great!

I have 3 lenses now......18-70 macro/wide angle.....35-70....and the 75-300 Zoom, I also have several filters for each lenses to do different things to the photo's. I shoot alot with the 18-70 and the 75-300 lenses.

As you can tell I love Photography! It is a passion I can't live without! I love bird watching and wild animals so I shoot with the 75-300 Zoom alot. Love getting close to a Bald & Golden Eagles in WA or Wild Buffalo in South Dakota . I also LOVE flowers and cactus in bloom.

I love the fact I can shoot automatically or use it like my manual Minolta and really get creative.
So ,I am a VERY Happy Camper again!!

I wanted a new camera before we went on our Mexico trip in February and before we take our Alaska Trip sometime in the near future. Now if only I had a adaptor ring for my Spotting scope to my camera I would indeed be a VERY happy Camper. My spotting scope can get me very close to objects very far away, much closer than my zoom lens. I'm on a Mission to find it!

If you ever have seen close up photo's of wild animals, they were taken with special powerful zoom lenses or spotting scopes to the camera's.
I cringe when I see someone trying to get a close up of a bear or Buffalo, they don't understand these animals will charge you! Best to buy a expensive lens and shoot the photo from a safe distance.

One of my photography teachers thought he was a safe distance from some wild animals, he was low to the ground hiding in some tall grass. He was pretty scared when a Moose suddenly came out of no where and jumped over him!
YIKES!!

Testing out the new camera, Ivy growing everywhere! 

This is our Alfa friend Angie Radosevic, she's a Sweetie!

Angie cooked us a delicious Mexican dinner one night. Had a blast playing card games with Angie & Rick at Tall Chief. We carpooled together over to Sid Zielke's 60th Birthday Party of over 100 people in Snohomish on Sun 20th . Had a good time and partied with a large gathering of Alfa owners.
The night Angie made us dinner we watched the funny Movie "RV" with Robin Williams outside and we were all laughing till our sides ached!

Rick Radosevic our Alfa friend who was staying at Tall Chief Resort while we were here.
Now Rick and Angie are touring Europe and we'll see them next month in Sept when they get back before we leave for Yuma AZ. 

We've moved On

Our time was up at Thunderbird, we had a great time soaking up the sunshine and watching the glorious Sunsets. We had a great barbecue on Aug 5th with Mom, Dad ,Sister Sheryl & Family and Brother Kevin and Family.
I got some really sweet corn at one of the farms close by. I remember the sweetest corn we had ever eaten was from Canada around the Chilliwack area. It was called Peaches & Cream and it was yellow & white corn mixed and the best!!

Cats were in Heaven to get a huge yard to run around on, Biff Houdini was being his usual self a Houdini so we gave up putting him on the harness and Leash. We just kept an eye on him, he knew he had to stay on one side of the motorhome and not wander out of his yard.

The Skykomish River was very low so alot of people were floating down the river on all sorts of rafts & inner tubes. Noticed a neighbor would bring out a large raft with a picnic table, chairs, barbecue and such and the guy would go up and down the River having Happy Hour on the raft with all his buddies. I finally did get a photo of the " Redneck Party Boat" but since it is a film Camera I cannot post the photo yet.

Went to our favorite Restaurant Ixtapa a couple times. Dan and I really like the one in Sultan. Went to the Monroe one with Metro friends Larry & Cheryl Walkden.

Dan got his exercise riding his Bike everywhere.

Aug 13th we went to our dear friend Bob Morgan's retirement party, Bob worked 27 yrs with Dan. Bob & his wife Sue are our camping buddies, they are anxious to travel a bit more with us now, although Sue will work 1-2 more yrs.

I got quite a surprise at the retirement party when I saw a long lost friend Karen. Karen and I met when Jeanevee was born, we shared a room in the hosp. We exchanged phone numbers but lost touch and then I started to go to one church and low and behold there was Karen! We had alot of fun together till I divorced and moved to Federal Way. So we lost touch with each other again. Found out She also got divorced, left the church ( like me) and remarried and we BOTH married a guy named DAN who works at METRO Transit!! Small world!!

We moved over to TALL CHIEF on Aug 15th, had a bit of a scare coming over. Some how one of our Tow Bar arms came unbolted from the Jeep to the motorhome. We had to come to a slow stop to keep the Jeep from hitting the motorhome. Dan did just perfect keeping it under control...he is such a Pro! As soon as we stopped I jumped out to direct traffic around us. Amazing how wearing a bright orange safety vest people stop and don't get angry with you!! We got the car disconnected and then I drove the Jeep to the campground. So that will be one of the things we need to fix before leaving the Northwest!

Alot of our friends are in the park so we are enjoying chit chatting with everyone , we'll spend time with family too. Got the funny movie "RV" with Robin Williams...it's hilarious!! So we are going to have a barbecue at my Sister Sheryls house and have family night watching the movie.

Awesome view in Monroe WA

We Arrived to the Thunderbird Thousand Trails Park in Monroe WA on Tuesday Aug 1st. We were very surprised and elated to find that the best site of the whole park was empty. We quickly disconnected the Jeep and got parked before someone else could snatch it! Glad we did because another couple was walking around and wanted it too.

Is this not the most beautiful view of the Skykomish River! Every night we see a sunset over it and in the mornings we can watch the flow of the river slowly drifting by. Leaves fall from the trees and slowly glide away or you'll see a fish jumping and making endless circles. High up in the nearby tree you can hear the slurred chirp and ascending squeal of two Ospreys as they scan the water for breakfast .The Ospreys then dive and swoop across the water grabbing fish in the slow currents below.
Hard to believe my eyes can behold such a majestic view.....and to think some people pay BIG bucks to have a home here and I am paying very little...lucky me!

I have been watching the Ospreys with my Spotting Scope. My dear friend Bob Difley told me how close I can come to the birds with one . Bob was right I can feel like I am so close I could touch them but I'm not. Bob has written many articles & taken photo's for different magazines . He also teaches at the Life On Wheels Conference on Camping in National Parks and Deserts and Wildlife watching. Bob was so happy that I love the spotting scope. I truely love to watch the birds. Over Memorial Day I saw a Golden Eagle, he was SO awesome with his Copper feathers. I was close enough with the spotting scope to watch him blink his eyes . Several Crows were dive bombing him to get him to let go of the prey in his Talon. The Eagle did not let loose. And where was my camera then! aaaaugh!
As you can tell I am having camera withdrawals!!

Here is the view we see across the Skykomish River from us. Please note though that the trees are changing color, this isn't happening.... I took this photo last Sept 2005 

On The Lake in Easton

Dan and I had a great time with our friends Jim Baker & Diane Fisher, Gordan & Laura Bornckamp up at the lake.

We also got the chance to drive to Ellensburg to go visit friends Don & Lynn Kneebone . They have a beautiful home there. Don used to work with Dan. Don & Lynn have a Winter home in Yuma one mile from our lot. We'll see them again this winter. Lynn cooked us a delicious meal when we went to their home. We saw two deer near their fence as we were leaving to go back to the campground.

Before leaving Lake Easton I was able to get the kayak out on the lake. Boy did I get a work out because it was windy. Quite a challenge getting across the lake to the beach area ( two mile) and back but I did it! Water wasn't smooth like the last time I was on the lake and a Eagle swooped down and grabbed a fish out of the water! Such a awesome sight to behold then. This time it was a struggle with the wind & Waves, hum....now I know what it feels like to go over small rapids .

Washington is lush with ferns in the forests, I liked the flowers too. 

Sailboat on Lake Easton