Paul

Just south of Portland is the scenic Willamette Valley and a string of wineries. We made it to four of them. This view is from the Anna Maria winery. The whole day was picture perfect!

Biking thru wine country just didn't sound as appealing as the limo tour, and wasn't as dangerous either! No navigating, no driving, just enjoying the time with some awesome friends!

Rialto Beach is one of my favorite places. The giant driftwood makes for excellent seating and is fun to paint as well. Our weekend flew far too quickly and we parted ways with our new friends after some fantastic times painting the dramatic scenery on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.

Day two of my workshop was much drier, even though we were in a rainforest. We had a blast painting amongst the giant spruce trees and all the moss and ferns.

This was the view for day one of my plein air workshop on the Olympic Peninsula. It featured some great atmospheric effects as it was steeped in fog all day long. The moist air made it tough for our paintings to dry, but made for an eery classroom and an awesome place to spend a…

One remarkable seastack makes Cannon Beach very recignizeable. We caught a very late sunset here, but enjoyed the bonfires on the beach.

This place holds special memories for me after our last visit. We found great sunset views here and neat rocks on the beach. Also there is a giant "Octopus tree" for those adventurous enough to seek it out.

On our last western adventure we followed the pacific coast from Vancouver BC down to central Oregon, but had to turn east after Coos Bay and head for home. We only saw it in the dark, but heard the sea lions barking in the moonlight. This trip I was determined to be in Coos Bay…