We’ve spent the last week near the Pacific Coast, visiting redwood forests, exploring tide pools and taking a daytrip to San Francisco. I am amazed at the 40 degree mid day temperature difference between the coast and inland.

I took the picture above on our way back from the coast. It was an amazing sunset.

We are on a family vacation to Oregon and Northern California. Yesterday, we visited Crater Lake National Park. The lake was shrouded in wildfire smoke so it wasn’t optimal for taking pictures, plus we had some camera issues, but here are a couple of shots.

I have always been fascinated by auto junkyards and have wanted for years to take the time to photograph some. Here are a half dozen shots from a salvage yard near the airport in Salt Lake City.

I have gazed at this junkyard many times from the air because it is visible from the left hand side of the aircraft on approach.

The yard was closed so the photos were taken from outside the fence, which is fitting because one reason these places entice me is they seem off limits, as if I’m trespassing.

I’ve worked from this particular home office for three years. That adds up to many hours staring out the window as I participate in conference calls or think. Each season turns the hill a different shade. The June colors are my favorite.

A pair of red-tail hawks took up residence in a nearby tree this spring.

The Cotswolds are a range of hills two hours West of London. It is a land of sheep and limestone with quaint villages, narrow roads and stone houses. It is a wonderful place to drive around and get lost. Something Camden and I managed to do. I wish I could have taken my road bike and just explored for weeks.

Someday we will travel to a far away village and stay put for a month or two. When I lived in Mexico, that is exactly what I did, residing in one place for five or six months. That is sufficient time to discover a town’s soul.

At this stage in my life, I merely sample places when I travel. We stay a day or two or three, just to see if we like it and would want to return when we have more time. Sampling is good if that is all you can do, but I look forward to the day when I can stay for the all the courses a town has to offer.

These are the most interesting things I snapped with my iPhone this week. Above is a work called Chiaccere by Pae White that was on exhibit at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. It is a series of a mobiles made with cut paper and color thread. The Hammer Museum website quotes White as describing her work as “an exploration of movement contained.” Like “a waterfall on pause” the works are “a flurry of color and gentle movement, suspended for contemplation.”

I like the phrase waterfall on pause. It kind of describes my life right now.

The photo below was taken from my hotel room and overlooks the Mississippi River and the French Quarter in New Orleans. One of my meetings was held in a mansion amid the live oaks and trolley cars of St. Charles Avenue. The craftsmanship that went into houses like that amazes me-the inlaid patterns in the hard wood floors, the ten foot solid wood doors, the iron work around the light fixtures.

The French Quarter is one of my favorite neighborhoods to wander, taking special care to avoid Bourbon Street, which is a cesspool.

New Orleans was hot and Arizona was hot, but in very different ways. My sister-in-law once described humidity as a comforting blanket. I think it is an apt description. I don’t like heat, but if I had a choice I’ll take the heat with humidity rather than the dry blistering desert.

One of the more unusual towns we visited in England was Glastonbury. Its nearby lor (hill) is the home of many of the King Arthur legends. Wikipedia states it best, “Glastonbury today is a centre for religious tourism and pilgrimage. Diverse strains of mysticism and paganism co-exist alongside the followers of its Catholic heritage.” It reminded me of Berkeley in its ability to attract hippees who never moved on from the sixties. I loved it for its sheer funkiness.

Many of the pilgrims choose to climb the lor from its base. We were lazy and took a taxi halfway up the back side and then hiked the rest of the way. The view was incredible. For the record, we did climb down and walk back to town on our own.

Only the shell of the abbey remains, which makes it all the more mysterious. We met a visiting monk/priest who told us the story of how the monks were running short of funds to rebuild the abbey after a fire in 1184 so they a commissioned a dig to find the remains of King Arther and Queen Guinevere, who were rumored to be buried on the abbey grounds. When they found what they thought were the remains they moved the skeletons into the church, taking care to keep one of King Arthur’s bones out for visiting pilgrims to touch for good luck. Then they began marketing. They earned enough from paying visitors to rebuild the abbey. The remains have since been lost, yet the pilgrims including ourselves still come.

As this is Camden’s first trip to London, we visited the classic sites such as Buckingham Palace. What struck me about the guard outside was how young he looked.

More interesting, was the guard we saw being trained to hold his head high and walk a straight line.

And I never knew the puffy black hats the Queen’s Guard wear had handles.

Camden and I arrived in London today.  The first rule in fighting European jet lag is to spend the day outside in order to keep from fallling asleep, despite the restless night on the plane.

We ate lunch in Hyde Park, spent an hour touring Westminster Abbey and got a birds eye view of London on the British Airway’s London Eye, the worlds largest ferris wheel.  I actually had more fun taking pictures of the Eye itself rather than of what I could see from it.  Here are the ones in the series I liked best.