On Monday evening, February 21, we went to Jenni and Will's house for an early birthday dinner celebration. Jenni had prepared a delicious dinner and also Ron's favorite little treat: Rice Crispy Treats. The table was even decorated with balloons and streamers. (and Preston even picked out the birthday card for grandpa.....because it had Dora the Explorer on it!)
Sometimes it's hard to figure out what to give someone for their birthday, but this year was easy deciding what to give to Ron. I complied a photobook of many of Ron's photos, and had it printed up. There are aproximately 80 pages of photos. Someday I wish that we could publish a coffee table book of Ron's photos that we could sell.
The following photos are just a few shots of the interior of the book.
On Wednesday we drove down to Pendleton to spend a few days with my mother. We wanted to try to take some snow photos while we were in the Blue Mountains, because it is SO beautiful there. We drove up to Tollgate area on Friday and explored a bit. We knew that we needed to get off the road to get a photo of pristine snow, so we strapped on our snowshoes and set out to explore.
It would be an understatement to say it was 'beautiful." Breathtaking would be more accurate!
My mother is 82 1/2, but there is NO WAY that you could keep her from going to the mountains when there is an adventure to be had! She borrowed some snowshoes from a friend (thank you Tami!!) and hiked through the snow right along Ron and I. She's a trooper, to say the least!
I should mention.......that the temperature we were snowshoeing in, was -9 below zero! The only way to stay warm, was to keep moving!
On Saturday, February 26th, Ron's birthday, we went back up to Tollgate early in the morning. We arrived before most of the snow enthusiasts arrived (around 6:30 AM) but it wasn't long before lots of snowmobilers hit the trails. (Below: my mom looking like the abominable snowman all wrapped up to stay warm...and Ron locking the truck.....honk, honk! LOL)
When we arrived, the sky was clear and beautiful. But shortly after we started snowshoeing into the spot we wanted to photograph, the clouds started rolling in......extremely disappointing to say the least. But the sunrise was incredibly beautiful.
One thing that I discovered on this little hike........neither one of my cameras work in -9 degree temperature! I took a total of 5 or 6 shots with my Nikon P80, then it quit on me. So I pulled out the Nikon D200 and took about the same amount of pictures, then it froze up on me. Ron lucked out however......his Nikon D3s didn't even flinch at the subzero temps.
Mom was able to take one photo of me before her camera froze up too. Then she put it inside of her coat next to her body, to try to warm it up......hence the one picture of me. I wish that we could have taken a photo of the snow depth.....there was almost 9 feet of snow, and even on snowshoes we were sinking about 8 to 10 inches, so it was not easy trekking. But it was fun, never the less.
Ron took this panoramic of pristine snow with a view for miles. The clouds were coming in too fast to get the photo he wanted. But it warrants another trip to get the light right.
The incredible beautiy is hard to describe.....the trees were so heavy laden, that they looked like snow-flocked Christmas trees which were frozen stiff. I doubt that we will have another chance to go to Tollgate again this year.....but at least we know exactly where to head next year!!) Ron took this photo below as well. Pictures just don't do it justice.
This entire tree was covered with not only snow, but also icicles. It looked like a partially decorated Christmas tree....all it needed was the colored lights.
My mom (Thelma Lindsay).
When you get a break in the clouds and finally see blue sky, there is nothing quite like the scene before your eyes........breathtaking! I love the Blue Mountains....they are so accessible. We have many fond memories of snowmobiling in this area. I think that next time we come, we need to rent some snowmobiles, so we can get back to the places we really want to photograph.......and not have to get so tired out snowshoeing!
All in all, Ron enjoyed his 60th birthday. When we got home that afternoon, we had strawberry shortcake for Ron's birthday......a perfectly sweet way to end a perfectly gorgeous day in the mountains!
3 comments:
hahahaha, sorry I am laughing so hard because I was going to leave a comment about how absolutely stunning the photo was of the one of the truck, with the pink sky in the background...and then I noticed Grandma!! Hahaha she has her face completely covered and her arms sticking out like the abominable snowman or like she is so covered in clothing that she can't move or put her arms down!! It was kind of funny so it made me laugh!! :) Hahaha!
We'd love a copy of your coffee table book of Ron's photos!
I can tell you guys had a blast! Go Grandma! Happy Birthday again Dad.
-9? Brrrrrrrrr......
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