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I finally got around to putting the rest of our vacation pictures online.

The pictures we took at the Newport Aquarium can be found here.

The pictures we took in and around Lincoln City, OR can be found here.

While on our vacation, Heather and I spent a day tide pooling at the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. It seems odd to me that “Outstanding Natural Area” is part of the park name but the scenery and view of the Pacific Ocean was outstanding. It also features Oregon’s tallest lighthouse which was completed in 1873.

I took a bunch of pictures that can be seen here.

Last night we went up to Vancouver (WA) to see the Fourth of July fireworks at Fort Vancouver. One of my coworkers had told me it was the largest display of fireworks west of the Mississippi. It was a good show and from our vantage point we could also see many of the fireworks being shot off from around metro Portland. Since our pictures from last year turned out so well I tried to take a bunch this year. Unfortunately they didn’t turn out as well since we were much farther away from where they were being launched.

They can be viewed here.

I indulged Heather and we spent Memorial Day at the Oregon Zoo.

For me the highpoint of the day had to be going on the “Deep Sea the Ride” underwater exploration simulation. Essentially you get strapped into a seat and go on a pretend deep sea dive to find a giant squid. The seat is on motors and shakes and tilts based upon the on-screen action. The voice action was so over the top (ala Iron Chef) that the whole thing was hilarious.

I took a bunch of pictures during the day that can be found here.

I relocated our photo galleries to their new home @ spendy.org. I wrote a quick mod_rewrite rule so any direct links to content at the old URL shouldn’t be broken either.

I found some old photos Heather took from the 2002 4th of July fireworks celebration in Franklin, Wisconsin. They turned out pretty cool considering she isn’t a professional photographer.

They can be viewed here.

Since it is almost April I thought I should get around to posting our pictures from Christmas ’02. My in-laws were in town and we all decided to spend Christmas day by the coast. The pictures are kind of dark due to the combination of the overcast weather and my poor camera skills (so much for my career aspirations as a Penthouse photographer).

I also posted a picture of our short lived Christmas tree.

Today we went to the Japanese Garden in Portland which (according to the literature we were given when entering) is one of the best examples of a Japanese garden outside of Japan. The grounds were beautiful and offered a nice view of the downtown skyline and Mt. Hood. It amazes me how green everything was given that we visited in February. We plan on returning in the summer when more of the plants are in bloom.

We took several pictures that can be seen here.

I was cleaning up my hard drive and came across a bunch of photos I downloaded from my camera. They are from October 2002 when Heather and I went to a pumpkin farm near Portland.

You can see them here.

Heather and I spent last weekend in Washington. We spent the night at McMenamins Olympic Club hotel & theater in Centralia, Washington. It is an interesting historical building with each room of the hotel commemorating a significant individual from the Club’s history including “Gentleman Train Robber” Roy Gardner who was apprehended there in 1921. Today the site has the typical McMenamins style and atmosphere while maintaining much of its history. The rest of Centralia left a bit to be desired as Heather had left me with the impression of it being more like Gurney Mills, IL.

I took a few pictures while we were there.

On Sunday we took advantage of the good weather and made the trip to Mt. St. Helens. It was an amazing site to see and also afforded us our first view of show since moving to the West coast from Milwaukee. We plan on returning in the summer since the closest observation center was closed due to seasonal weather.

I took a lot of pictures.