Oregon - Infinity Loop, Painted Hills, Crater Lake

Oregon is one of the most diverse states as far as variety of landscapes is concerned. Within an area of 400 sq. miles, one can find snow clad mountains, dense forests, vast deserts, beautiful beaches, sand dunes, lakes, fossil hills .... you name a landscape and you'll find it here. Its a state that is in true Pacific northwest spirits. If you're looking for options to spend a long weekend or so in summer, I would strongly recommend a trip to Oregon to experience the splendid north cascades.

When visiting Oregon, there are some places that *MUST BE* visited and just cannot be missed. These places are the Infinity Loop (Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah falls, Mount Hood), Painted hills, and Crater Lake. Then there are some other places that are also very beautiful but you *may* find similar or better spots than those elsewhere. Such spots include Canon beach, Japanese garden in Portland, the sand dunes near Florence etc. Depending on how much time you have, you may want to do some or all of these spots. Typically, even with a reasonably hectic schedule, it would take at least 3 days to do the 3 *MUST DO* spots I mentioned above. If you're willing to plan an extended trip of about 5 days then you may also be able to cover the rest.

Typically, to avoid taking a lot of vacation, I plan trips of mostly 3 days duration. Such trips can typically be done on one of the long weekends in the summer or by taking just 1 day of vacation adjoining a weekend. Because of this personal preference, I describe below a 3-day plan for an Oregon trip that can typically be followed over a summer weekend. Infinity Loop, Painted hills, and Crater lake are the places covered (in that order).

In short, the plan should be to reach Portland on day 1 and do the Infinity Loop. On day 2, drive to Painted Hills, spend most of the day there and reach a lodging place close to Crater Lake for that night. On day 3, drive to crater lake, spend most of the time there, and return to Portland by late evening. See the map below, starting from Portland. If you're driving to Oregon from an adjoining state such as Washington, you still have to go through Portland. And if you're flying to Portland, the map suits you perfect.

When's the best time to do this trip? I would say July is the best month to do this trip. Why July and not any other month of the summer ? The main reason I say July is because its mostly in the first week of July that Crater Lake roads open completely. Crater Lake region gets very heavy snow and it therefore takes as long as July for the landslides to subside and the roads to open. That said, the snow also melts quickly and Crater Lake is at its best when some snow is around the rim, making July the best month to visit this national park (NP). Anyway, more on that later.

Day 1 - Infinity Loop

On this day arrive in Portland first. If you're driving from Seattle, plan to start from there at about 8 in the morning. If you're flying from a distant state , try to take a flight that gets you to Portland before 11. The idea is to be at the head of the infinity loop by max 12:30 pm (the head of the loop is about half an hour from Portland airport). Once you arrive in Portland at about 11, treat yourself to a heavy lunch. Also stuff your car with a lot of food items: Food options along the infinity loop are quite limited and expensive. Noon-ish, start driving towards Infinity Loop i.e. towards I-84 exit 17.

So what exactly is Infinity Loop ? The infinity loop is a scenic drive that starts at I-84 exit 17. Columbia river gorge, Vista house, Multnomah falls, and Mount Hood are some of the places that can be visited when driving along this loop. Below is the map for infinity loop taken from http://www.mthoodcolumbiagorge.com/ . The complete loop is very long and given the limited on hand, covering the complete loop is not really possible. The portion of the loop that can be covered has been boxed in the map below. In my opinion, covering only this boxed portion is enough to get an overview of the region and it covers most "photographic" places.

So then, from Portland, start driving along I-84 and take exit 17 towards Troutdale to drive along the historic columbia river highway. Along this drive can be found amazing views of the Columbia river gorge. The Vista House (Crown point) is worth seeing. Continuing along the historic columbia river highway takes us to Multomah Falls, which is also quite splendid. Below is a picture I took of the Columbia gorge. Unfortunately for us, it was raining and moist at this time so the picture hasn't turned out great. But you can't control the elements can you!

If you start the infinity loop at about 12:30 in the afternoon, it would take about a couple of hours to do the 3 places we stopped at: Columbia River Gorge, Vista House and Multnomah falls.

Post Multnomah falls (which is along I-84 exit 47), the infinty loop continues along I-84 until exit 64. Taking exit 64 and following along Oregon 35 (and then US 26) takes us to Mount Hood. After taking exit 64, the views of Hood along Oregon 35 and US 26 are simply breath taking. These routes are lush with dense forests and driving here is an un-describable feeling. See it to believe it, simply should not be missed :)

Just within a mile of the intersection of Oregon 35 and US 26 goes a small road (on left) towards Trilium Lake. Again, do not miss this. Trilium lake lies almost at the base of mount hood. The view of Mount Hood from this lake is awesome. If you're lucky, you may see a reflection of the mountain in the lake. Below is a pic I took from the lake. Again, hasn't quite turned out of the world .... but you can get an idea.

Fyi, when I was doing this trip, we'd started from Multnomah falls at about 2:30 pm and when I'd glanced my watch at Trilium, it was 4:30 already (we'd stopped for coffee in between for about half an hour I guess).

Another good place to see is Mount Hood reflection in Mirror lake. This lake is just about a couple of miles from the Trilium Lake diversion at US 26 and should also not be missed.

Oregon 35 and US 26 are very well marked roads. Once on these roads you would see signboards for Lake Trillium as well as mirror lake.

From mirror lake drive up the mountain to Timberline Lodge. Timberline Lodge is as high as you can go up the mountain, as far as vehicles are concerned. Views of vistas from the mountain are serence and view of the mountain summit itself is quite beautiful.

Remember that you are going to spend a lot of time taking pictures along Oregon 35 and US 2, then along Trillium and Mirror lakes, and also at Timberline. Therefore even if you reach the mount hood area at about 4:30, you end up being at Timberline even post 7 pm or so.

That's it for the day as far as site-seeing is concerned. Now some big questions start to come: Where to have dinner ? Where to refuel the car ? Where to spend the night ?

Dinner options: Didn't I say pack some food when leaving Portland :) .... Kidding! Timberline Lodge has a very good restaurant of its own. I am not very sure until what time it is open but I believe it is until 9 pm in summer. We had a sumptuous dinner at Timberline at about 7, 7:30 pm during our trip. Remember though that Timberline is an expensive place. If you prefer keep things cost effective, it is always a good idea to dine in on the extra subs and stuff that you would hopefully have carried over from Portland.

Fuel: Going west, there is a gas station at US 26 right after the turn to head over to Timberline. I think gas at this place is expensive but there really aren't too many options :)

Lodging: During our trip, post dinner, we headed back along US-26 east and Oregon 35 to a bed and breakfast place called "Mt. Hood Hamlet Bed & Breakfast" where we stayed for the night. This B&B is about 45 minutes drive from Timberline Lodge (towards I-84 exit 64). When I was searching for accomodations online for this night, I wasn't able to find too many options so had to go with this B&B even though it was a tad expensive. But the B&B is very much worth its price: It is perfectly located with stunning views of Mount Hood and Mount Adams, the breakfast there tastes out of the world, and the owners are very courteous and helpful. Plus, the cosiness of this B&B is just what you may need after a tiring day of site seeing. During our trip, we had driven about 300 miles (starting from Seattle) on Day 1 and had stopped and photographed all of these places along the infinity loop. We were extremely exhausted and were in bed even before the clock had ticked past 10 pm :)

More information about infinity loop can be found in the pdf guide at http://www.mthoodcolumbiagorge.com/loopguide.pdf

Day 2 - Painted Hills

Plan to get ready and check out of the B&B at about 9:00 am. We'd asked Diane (our host at the B&B) to have our breakfast ready at 8:30. Enjoy your breakfast, it is just amazing at "Mt. Hood Hamlet Bed & Breakfast". It would make you feel that the hotel is really worth all the price paid :)

After breaking-fast, start driving towards Painted Hills which is about 150 miles from the B&B. The drive starts again along the same Oregon 35 towards Mt. Hood but then you need to take US 26 east (instead of west which goes towards Hood and Portland). Mt. Hood national forest appears to get even denser as we descend the mountain and after the descent, the drive seems to be going through a desert like terrain. Then suddenly, you get to see the 3 sisters on your right which appear almost as big as Mt. Hood.

Once you pass Madras and head west towards Painted Hills, there is a sudden dearth of restaurants and gas stations. Therefore, pack some sub's/sandwiches to take care of your lunch at Painted Hills.

Painted Hills appear simply magical because of the delicately colored stratifications in the soil. The yellows, golds, blacks, and reds of the Painted Hills are best seen in the late afternoon. Tones and hue may appear to change from one visit to another, as the claystones differwith ever-changing light and moisture levels. Good information about these structures can be found at Painted Hills Information.

If you'd left the B&B at Mt. Hood at 9'ish you would reach painted hills at about 1 pm. Take some time for rest and lunch, and at about 1:30 begin exploring the hills. As I said earlier, afternoon is the best time to see the hills. During my trip, I had not done much research about which trails to hike, what to see at the hills etc. For painted hills, such research is really not needed. You can just head to the painted hills parking lot and at the notice board plenty of information along with maps can be found.

Explore the hills between 1:30 to about 5:30. You'd spend time taking lots of pictures, the hills are really fabulous and feel completely out of the world. The striking feature about the hills is that they are so very different from the landscapes that we come across often. And that is exactly the point I was making about Oregon: The diversity is just unbelievable. From the forests and snow caps along Inifinity Loop to the fossilized painted hills within a matter of 3 hours is an unbelievable transition. I highly recommend exploring the Painted Hills when in Oregon.

As the light starts to fade a little bit, begin your drive ..... drive to Crater Lake. Ideally, one should wait at Painted Hills until sunset. But painted hills to any lodge near crater lake is atleast a 4 hour drive and therefore, its advisable to start your drive well before sunset.

Most lodges very close to Crater Lake are expensive. I had therefore booked a motel in Chemult, which is about 40 miles north east of crater lake. We'd started from Painted Hills at about 5:30, stopped on our way to Chemult in between for a coffee break near Madras, and reached the motel at about 9:30 pm.

The lodge in Chemult (Chemult Motel) is not exactly great but good enough to spend a night. And that is what is required: An inexpensive place, close to Crater Lake, to just have a good night's sleep. Also, there is a subway, and another good cafe opposite the lodge which would save your day as far as dinner is concerned. During our trip, post dinner, off we'd gone to sleep at about 10:30 pm, it had been another hectic but well spent day ..... 350 more miles had been driven.

Day 3 - Crater Lake

The next morning, plan to check out from Chemult motel at about 8. As I said, there are a couple of restaurants in Chemult which which should take care of your breakfast. There is also a gas station right next to the Chemult motel. Refuel and get ready to enjoy the ultra amazing crater lake. Its about a 45-minute drive from Chemult to Crater lake north entrance. Try to get to the lake by about 9, 9:15 in the morning. My personal opinion is that Crater lake is at is best between 9 am to about 12 pm.

When you first see Crater lake, the feeling you get simply can't be put in words. Its absolutely jaw-dropping. We were totally stunnned, left completely speechless, on getting the first view of the lake. Never ever had I seen, leave alone seeing, never ever had I thought that water can be sooo blue, deep blue. Who on earth can say water has no color! The huge, deep blue lake combined with the snow along the slopes of rim drive is a view that I would never forget. And its a view, that would make me visit Crater Lake several more times. Stunning, gorgeous, out of the world it was. I'm just out of adjectives. To top it all for us, it was a completely cloudless day with clear skies .... tailor made for a crater lake visit.

Once at Crater Lake, you don't really need a guide to explore it. The lake lies all in front of you, inviting you, enticing you to make loads of pictures. The lake is bordered, all along its circumference, by a road called the rim drive. I think the total rim drive length is about 30 miles. There are numerous points/overlooks for visitors to stop by, make pictures and appreciate the magnificence of the unbelievably stunning crater lake.

Below is the map of the crater lake rim drive.

A few important tips when visiting crater lake:

1. When driving from Chemult, you would enter the park from the north entrance and thus the first point that you end up being at is the North junction (pointed in the map). Make sure that you drive the rim in clock wise direction. That way, all view points are easily accessible, and I think you reach at every spot at the perfect time of the day

2. I said at the start of this blog, July is the best time to visit Crater Lake. Crater Lake would only be half as beautiful without the snow along its rim. In an intense summer, almost all of the snow may melt away by mid August. Also, in my experience, 9 am-12 pm was the best time to visit the lake. For some reason, the water did not appear as blue to me post noon as much as it had appeared to me in the morning.

3. Every lookout point along the rim drive is very beautiful. But if I have to pick a few points that should just not be missed, then they are the Wizard Island from Watchman overlook, Pumice and Palisade points, and the Phantom ship overlook. Then again, you get some amazing views of Wizard island from another angle from the rim village visitor center.

4. You may be forgiven for forgetting to get food when coming here, you may be forgiven for forgetting to bring water when coming here. Thats fine. But there is one thing that you should just not forget: A mosquito repelant. Just like I had not seen water as blue as that of crater lake ever before, I had not seen mosquito's of such big size and such big in number for a long long time. They'd make your trip miserable if you don't have a repellant. Just no excuses for forgetting it.

5. Wear blue colored clothes when visiting Crater Lake. Trust me, your photos at the late would come really good with those :)

6. With reasonable number of stops, it takes about 4-5 hours to do the complete rim drive. Thus, if you started at about 9:30 am, you should be done with one round of the drive by about 1 pm. Thats a perfect time to have lunch beside the lake at the cafeteria at Rim village visitor center. I quite enjoyed the sandwich here, maybe because it was very tasty or maybe because I was very hungry.

The waters of the lake are just too beautiful and one just doesn't feel like leaving this place. One just feels like taking more and more pics of the magnificent lake (if you're someone as addicted to a camera as I am).

But about 2 pm is a good time to leave for Portland. I've heard that sunset is also quite beautiful at the lake but I never got a chance to experience it myself. Then again, Crater Lake to Portand is about 4 hours drive and therefore, because of the limitation of just a 3-day trip spending time at the lake post early afternoon is a luxury people like me cannot afford.

During my trip, we left Crater Lake at about 2 pm, reached Portland at about 6 and I was in bed at my home sweet home in Seattle at about 10 pm. For guys wanting to fly out of Portand, there are quite a few late night flying options out of PDX.

More details and a more complete information about Crater Lake National Park can be found at http://www.crater.lake.national-park.com/

What next

For a long time now, I've been thinking more and writing less. One thing that I think a lot about, one thing that a major chunk of my time and money is spent on is travelling and tourist-ing places. Planning trips has become a major hobby for me. The US has such diverse landscapes and places, there is so much to do and see, I feel sort of an emptiness if I don't plan and make atleast one trip every month or so. For the past few days I've strongly felt an urge to document all the research that I do and all the work that has gone in to plan some memorable trips. And this space seems to be the ideal forum for me to put down all of that. Even though there is a lot of information available out there, I still felt while planning certain trips that I could not locate the exact to the point details, (such as best time to visit, points/landmarks/things not be missed when visting that place, cheapest accomodations around etc), which could have helped me plan the trip better. In that regard, maybe this information might even help someone else, or maybe even myself if I wish to re-do those places, to plan things better. Rather than putting these details on trip advisor or something, I just thought I'll put them here.

The trips that I plan to document are both, the short one's: 1-day trips that can be/have been made to some wonderful places in and around Seattle, as well as the long one's: 2-day or 3-day trips that can be/have been made to states other than Washington, and hence those that could have been planned and made even if I was NOT staying in Seattle.

Because the number of 1-day trips done in the past year or so is way too overwhelming, I'm going to start writing about the longer trips: Trips done to places outside of Washington. Then, gradually, I would move to documenting the trips made within Washington itself.

Hopefully, this new found hobby would be an urge strong enough for me to visit here on a regular basis and put down things on my mind more frequently.

Mission I-90

There are few times these days that I get so excited to express something: The 10 day road adventure of driving to Boston turned out to be something un-forgettable. Before the trip we were warned, it would get too tiring. Driving for 10 days would get boring and monotonous. Could there have been a more stark contrast! We enjoyed every bit of the 4000 odd miles driven, never for a moment did it feel like we were overdoing it or we did not want to do it. Yes, we were sleep deprived at times, yes we were forced to lunch-brunch-dine on sandwiches and burgers most times, confined to our "house on wheels" all the time, but to hell with it .... nomads we were and like nomads we lived. A week of excesses it was and all the excesses were totally enjoyable. There was a simple, fixed routine to follow the whole week: Check into a hotel late at night, relax, chill, chat etc., catch whatever night sleep you can, get up at 8 in the morning, get ready at 9, have breakfast by 10 and then hit the road. The routine almost sounds monotonous, but the places we went to and through had an amazing diversity: Cities, towns, forests, glaciers, caves, prairies, water falls, 4 presidents etc. for the record. Irony though was that the best time we had was not spent at/in any of those places. The best time we had was the time we spent in the car: We danced, sung, screamed, laughed, partied, talked non-sense, laughed more. The kind of bullshit we talked, all the silly jokes that we made up, cannot be put or explained. Its just that everything was incredible fun.

Now that the trip is over, it feels like a lull after the storm. Terribly miss our life on wheels. Not that I'm complaining though. In fact, this trip has kind of provided a motivation to plan out similar trips in both the shorter and longer term. As one of us aptly said, time's just right to plan another big one!

Cricinfo Quotes

Some hilarious fan comments on cricinfo during the recent India-SL test and ODI series, much more entertaining these days than the cricket itself:

"I wonder if this Test was just a big plan by Sri Lanka to see whether Randiv has the stamina for Test cricket"................ (opinions galore about the feather-bed in SSC, 2nd test)

"Idea to keep test cricket alive: In a situation like this, bowling team can choose one from viewers in the stadium to bowl...it will increase the number of ppl that come to stadiums and of course the bowlers get some rest from thrashing. " ..................... (a brilliant idea comes up as India struggle to bowl SL out in the 2nd test)

"Its not fair to demand for seaming pitches like in England. Bowlers then get used to getting wickets very easily. If you keep on grabbing mangoes just by jumping a feet high, u can't learn climbing trees ever!" ................... (another interesting thought comes out)

"Looking at the state of the match the discussion of mangoes looks more interesting, my favourites are the alphonso one, can jump 2 feet for that." .................... (the conversation gets interesting)

"My grandma makes the best mango chutney in the world" ............... (mangoes surely are a topic to discuss)

"The only way India is going to take 10 Sri Lankan wickets is by convincing Di Caprio and Co. to plant idea's in the Sri Lankan batsmen's minds" ..... (now the inception fever catches on)

"A Friday morning muse... "Wonder what happened to Jacob Martin... What is Sujit Somasundar doing now..Vikram Rathore... O, Brother art thou?" ........... (some dude gets nostalgic of the 90s)

"Jacob Martin and Sujith Somasunder are at this moment having a few beers with Devang Gandhi, Debashsish Mohanty and Prashant Vaidya."............... (more 90s nostalgia)

"Vikram Rathode is in training department of HCL technologies, as a domestic market specialist.. i attended his special session last week on "How to rule the domestic market"........... (the guy elaborates how Vikram Rathore has moved on in his life)

"Sri Lankans are a bunch of SORE LOSERS. If i was the Indian Captian, i would walk my team out of the series and go back home" ......... (someone's not impressed with SLs strategy of denying Sehwag a 100)

"Ravana bhakts have decided to emulate the Pakis!" .......... (more like it)

"Curious: Why do they call it a 'cow corner'? Randiv: That is the area where the bowlers get milked the most by the bastmen!" ........ (Randiv is a hot favourite among Indians these days)

"India's WC prospects depend heavily on Jadeja's performance in the upcoming matches, worse he performs, better would be India's chances, as they surely would do better without him" .................. (and Ravindra Jadeja is not too far behind)

"Ravindra Jadeja is Dhoni's surprise weapon for the World Cup. He will persist with him till just before, and drop him for the Cup. Then the other teams won't know where to run!" ........ (another Jadeja fan)

"Jadeja has taken out 1 nail from his own coffin and has put it into Kapugedera's coffin" ....... (who is better is the topic of discussion, just after Jadeja gets the wicket of Kapu)

Smitten by Office Space ....

.... a few quotes that I can't get over .....

**********************************

Bob Slydell: You see, what we're actually trying to do here is, we're trying to get a feel for how people spend their day at work... so, if you would, would you walk us through a typical day, for you?

Peter Gibbons: Yeah.

Bob Slydell: Great.

Peter Gibbons: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh heh - and, uh, after that I just sorta space out for about an hour.

Bob Porter: Da-uh? Space out?

Peter Gibbons: Yeah, I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.

Bob Porter: Ohhhh

Peter Gibbons: The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.

Bob Porter: Don't... don't care?

Peter Gibbons: It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my ass off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime, so where's the motivation? And here's something else, Bob: I have eight different bosses right now.

Bob Slydell: I beg your pardon?

Peter Gibbons: Eight bosses.

Bob Slydell: Eight?

Peter Gibbons: Eight, Bob. So that means that when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my only real motivation is not to be hassled, that and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired.

**********************************

Peter Gibbons: What would you do if you had a million dollars?

Lawrence: I'll tell you what I'd do, man: two chicks at the same time, man.

Peter Gibbons: That's it? If you had a million dollars, you'd do two chicks at the same time?

Lawrence: Damn straight. I always wanted to do that, man. And I think if I were a millionaire I could hook that up, too; 'cause chicks dig dudes with money.

Peter Gibbons: Well, not all chicks.

Lawrence: Well, the type of chicks that'd double up on a dude like me do.

Peter Gibbons: Good point.

Lawrence: Well, what about you now? what would you do?

Peter Gibbons: Besides two chicks at the same time?

Lawrence: Well, yeah.

Peter Gibbons: Nothing.

Lawrence: Nothing, huh?

Peter Gibbons: I would relax... I would sit on my ass all day... I would do nothing.

Lawrence: Well, you don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Take a look at my cousin: he's broke, don't do shit.

**********************************

The enigma called Little Apple

About 11 months back, I left Kansas for good and came to Seattle. Manhattan, Kansas is a very small city. Its not even a city, its hardly a town. Weather there sucks big time, too hot in summer, too cold in winter and rains too much the other times. The city only has as many restaurants as I can count on my fingers. No desi eat out place. No public transport. Nature wise, the place hardly has any scenic landscapes. One lake, if you count it, just for the sake of it. No mountains, the landscape is flat and dull and boring. Too few happening places, down town is almost non-existent ..... and I can go on ranting about how much the place sucks.

So then, 11 months back, I left Manhattan Kansas and came to this place in the Pacific northwest. In complete contrast to Kansas, Seattle has the kind of landscape that we tend to see only in films. Snow clad mountains surrounding the city, almost year round. There are tulip gardens, dense, ever-green pine forests, lakes here, there everywhere. Seattle lakes have a shade of blue color that only we know of, its just too pristine and beautiful. And Seattle is not only nature, it has a very happening down town. Variety that we get in food here is unbelievable. There are hundreds of good restaurants, literally, serving Indian and non indian cuisine. The Microsoft presence here makes the city very tech-savvy and developed as well. Really, Seattle is nothing short of heaven on earth. Its just perfect.

Needless to say, Seattle and Kansas are incomparable ........... Seattle is way, way, way better a place, its a place that one can think of only in dreams.

I ask myself, and I never get an answer, that in spite of this, why do I miss Manhattan so much ? Why have I waited so desperately, every single day for the last one year, for the convocation day ? Why am I already feeling sad that this is probably the very last time that I'll be going to Manhattan KS ? Why does it feel that these next three days should just never end ? Manhattan is chalk, Seattle is cheese why do I love the chalk perhaps even more than the cheese ?

I do not know the answers to these questions but one thing I surely know of is that the next four days, I'm going to have a ball of a time. Here I come, the little apple.

Pacific Northwest rocks

Just when I felt I'd seen everything that the Pacific Northwest had to offer, came the last weeked. Ever since I was a kid, I'd seen my parents, uncle, aunts and all elderly people in total awe of the "Dekha ek khwab to ye silsile huae" song. Not just for the melody or music, but also for the picturization. The tulip gardens in the song appeared truly mesmerizing then. Locations of Yash Chopra movie shoots were considered paradise and we grew up thinking how lucky one has to be to visit such wonderlands. Getting a glimpse of such places in real was nothing short of fantasy for us.

Then came the last weekend when we drove to Mt. Vernon, 50 miles north of Seattle. The tulips were stunning and made me wonder: Can anything on earth be more beautiful and colorful than this ? And of course, felt really lucky and fortunate to be living in this paradise that is the Seattle area. Pacific Northwest rocks big time.