Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: skyscape

(+1 inset) The memory card in my Sony camera had been sitting uncopied since Steve and I got back from our trip to Vancouver Island last September. When I got the pictures of the quail on the railing last week I was prompted to finally copy the card onto my computer. I hadn't taken a lot of pictures but the images I have taken are turning out to be pretty cool and I keep going back to process more of them. This morning I looked at some pictures I took of a large group of vultures circling overhead amidst a stormy, cloud-filled sky. Above are ominous, black clouds; below is the edge of the tree-lined hillside on the far side of the valley. I get the feeling of doom and anxiety when I look at it, and the interesting thing is that it's almost like a foreteller of what was on its way for all of us. I'm also sharing a second picture that shows the birds in front of the clouds. The good news is that these pictures don't reflect my current mood, which is looking up as the days pass. I am going to take some time away though so it may be another week or two before I post. Thank you so much for stopping by! Explored on 5/28/20; highest placement 11.

(+8 insets!) (Please scroll down to "Today's Pictures" for image information) Trip Talk: Monumental Road Trip What a crazy couple of weeks we've had! First Steve drove 750 miles from our home in southern Oregon down to Fontana, California, to go to the West Coast RV Show. He then spent several exhausting days researching nearly 100 different RV coaches (out of over 1,000 spread out over 1 million square feet of sprawling show area). He narrowed down the RV choices to about three that fit our needs and finally we decided on the one that fit us best. He then drove all the way back home with a whole lot of education regarding RVs and a game plan for the future. Originally we planned to wait for at least three-six months before making a purchase on a new rig. However, our Grey Wolf sustained structural damage on a past trip (because it was basically a horribly-built, flimsy aluminum can) and we were uncomfortable using it anymore. Amazingly, we were offered the chance to trade in our Grey Wolf towards the price of a new RV! The deal was so sweet that we couldn't pass it up. So suddenly we were thrown into another whirlwind of commotion! We needed to empty the Grey Wolf, remove all of the things we'd added, and do any cosmetic repairs we could. At the same time, Steve needed to research and order a new hitch for the truck because we were moving from a bumper-pull to a 5th-wheel trailer (Did I mention that Steve's never pulled a 5th-wheel before?!)! Instead of having a shop install the hitch, Steve decided to take on the project himself (because he's that amazing!)! There were a few bumps along the way but Steve was successful and our truck was adorned with a fantastic hybrid hitch that was ready to pull our new trailer! This past Sunday, Steve, Pumpkin and I hopped in the truck and left with our empty Grey Wolf. We drove down to the dealership in Downy, California, over the course of two grueling days. The first day's distance was eight hours but we were on the road for about twelve when all was said and done. We dragged our exhausted bodies into a KOA campground to fall face-first into bed that night. The next day we drove another four hours' distance, plus a few more for various stops along the way. Let's not forget the numbing southern California traffic...the last eight miles took us two HOURS! Have I mentioned how much I hate Los Angles? It's unbelievable! We pulled into the dealership late Tuesday and dropped off the Grey Wolf and Steve showed me our new coach!! It was AMAZING!! It was SO BIG and BEAUTIFUL!! I could hardly believe that it would be our new home on the road...it really was a dream coach and the type that Steve and I had walked through before just wishing we could have something like that someday. Looks like that day had arrived...wow! That night we stayed at a fun Air BnB residence and enjoyed leftovers from home for our dinner. The next morning we presented ourselves at the RV dealership at 9am and spent the next five hours going over everything and being shown all the details. Steve crawled all over the coach checking off an exhaustive list to make sure everything was as it should be. Finally we went into finance and spent an hour getting the reams of documents signed. It was actually more intensive than when we bought our house and that's because we were basically purchasing a house on wheels. By the time we got out of there our heads were spinning. Just crazy. Because of California State Tax laws, we couldn't actually drive away with our new trailer and instead, our trailer would be driven to Ashland, which is the first big town in Oregon after you cross the border. We coordinated with the driver and made plans to meet there in a couple of days. We pulled out in our truck and watched as the driver pulled away with our new baby...Steve and I could hardly believe it. We had a brand new RV!! To be honest, we were very happy that we weren't driving the RV all the way home. Dealing with insane traffic and crazy drivers in southern California is really not a good way to start pulling a 5th wheel trailer for the first time! Along our drive back to Oregon, we passed our driver twice which was such fun! Once on the first day as we headed up the "Grapevine" out of the Los Angles area, and then again as we entered Oregon on the second day! Actually, when we caught up to them in Oregon, we merely pulled in behind and followed them to Ashland where we parked in a large parking lot to make the switch from their truck pulling the Avalanche to ours. Once the drivers left us with our trailer, Steve spent about an hour doing final preparations of the hitch. At last we were ready to take on our new behemoth! Confident as Steve was, he couldn't deny being nervous. He didn't even get to practice. However, everything went as smoothly as can be! The hitch worked perfectly. We did our customary "brake check" and all was well. There was a very nervous moment when the truck gave a brake error regarding the trailer, but everything was working properly and Steve felt it would be ok to drive. We pulled out with our colossal rig behind us and what do you know? Our truck pulled it just fine! Steve wasn't sure if we should try to avoid the freeway for now but I pointed out that there would be some traffic so it wouldn't be too hectic of a drive and might actually be a lot more stressful to drive on surface streets. Back onto I-5 we went...and it was no problem at all!! Just as we'd read, hauling a 5th-wheel was indeed much easier than a bumper pull! To Steve's great relief, the break error resolved itself and as the miles passed, we both started to relax. We were doing it!! We got to our exit and with every turn we made, our smiles grew and our comfort increased. The trailer pulled like a dream! Soon we were pulling up to our gate, I opened it wide, and in came Steve and our new RV!! We stopped there and walked up to our house to make sure everything looked ok. Our hill is fairly steep and both of us were pretty nervous about this last part. But we needn't have been worried. Steve walked back down and minutes later, our truck was easily hauling our ginormous trailer right up the hill as if it was nothing special!! Not long after that, the trailer was backed into position and the two of us were beside ourselves with joy! WE DID IT!!! STEVE DID IT!! And Steve couldn't stop exclaiming how easy it was to maneuver the trailer! HOORAY!!!! *HIGH FIVE TO US* Today's Pictures This is going to be quick because I need to get this posted!! The main picture was a lovely view on our way down through northern California, at a place called Shasta City. Other pictures include views of Mt. Shasta and the devastating wildfire damage from the horrible Redding Fire a couple of years ago. Also a picture of a part of the endless, vast almond orchards of Merced County in central California...did you know that 80% of the world's almonds are grown in Merced County? You would be totally blown away by the miles and miles and miles of almond trees that grow there. I cannot even wrap my mind around all those 100's of miles of trees!! Explored on 10/26/19; highest placement #11.

Looked out the window at lunch today and saw these incredible clouds in the sky. Couldn't resist sharing this beauty, and check out those pretty autumn colors! This was taken from our back deck! On the left you can see the Upper Table Rock, and on the right, the Lower Table Rock! :)

We have been getting some amazing skies with the storms rolling through our area. The other day I looked out our kitchen window and saw this! I didn't want to go outside because I am a lazy bum, so what you see was photographed with our 100-400mm lens through our window! :D This image was taken during January 2012.

Steve and I couldn't get enough of the amazing blue skies on this day, filled with jet trails and pretty clouds. This image was taken in October, 2011

We really enjoyed taking pictures of everything as we paddled around the marshy canoe trail (yes! It's called a CANOE TRAIL!!!) and the skies were truly magnificent with an ongoing show of jet trails and lovely, wispy clouds. What a day...WHAT A DAY!!! :) This image was taken in October, 2011

With the sun nearly overhead, the pictures we were able to take as we paddled along in our canoe were amazing. Here you can see the stars of sunlight reflecting off the surface of Upper Klamath Lake. Incredible!!! This image was taken in October, 2011

Thank you to everyone who's visited and left comments and favorited my images! These are an invitation for me to visit your photostream and admire your pictures and leave comments too! This is another view of the shoreline of Upper Klamath Lake from our canoe. I have another image of this that I posted a few days ago but it's horizontal, and I honestly don't know which one I like better! :) It would be hard to take a bad picture here, to be honest! It was a perfect day for photography!! :D This image was taken in October, 2011

Another autumn image: After Steve and I went on our canoe trip around the the marshy areas of Upper Klamath Lake, we decided we would drive around the entire lake. It proved to be a fair distance and took us a couple of hours. The highway which took us around the western side didn't always afford a view of the lake, but instead, showed a vast, open sky with long stretches of desolate, lonely terrain. For many miles we drove next to or near a train track, which was often far enough away that all you could see was a line on the horizon dotted with trees, which I thought was very cool looking. Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :) This image was taken in October, 2011.

Driving around the expansive Upper Klamath Lake, there were many times where the lake was not visible. However, the hills against the dramatic sky were stunning and I think this image captures the feeling of bleek, lonely, openness of this area of Klamath County. This image was taken in October, 2011.

This image shows the shore of Upper Klamath Lake from a canoe! A couple of months ago, Steve and I drove down to Klamath for fall colors shots, and we rented a canoe to visit the marshlands along the edge of the lake. I didn't have time to work on the pictures but they are next on my list after I'm done with my Clayfolk show. Here's one of them, and I hope you likeit!