Beautifulvista

Going Costal #2

Posted on December 29, 2013 by admin

It’s been a short but wonderful visit here in Bolinas. The temps yesterday reached well into the 60’s… a solid 30 degrees warmer than our home in the Rogue Valley. It truly felt like Summer hiking in short sleeve shirts (no jackets). One of our favorite hikes is the Coast Trail to Alamere Falls starting at Palomarin (the south entrance into Point Reyes National Park). The first part stays high on a bluff overlooking the ocean, and the views can be stunning. That combined with the warm weather at the end of December made a most memorable hike. I wish days like this could go on forever…

View from Coast Trail looking south towards Bolinas… San Francisco is in the far background.

Going Costal…

Posted on December 27, 2013 by admin

After a very hectic week in preparation for Christmas, Agi (my wife) and I are taking two days off to relax on the California coast just north of San Francisco. The weather is amazing for this time of year… with temps into the mid-60’s it feels more like Summer than Winter.

A dog named Willow that we met on the beach today… loves to play fetch!

December visitor…

Posted on December 21, 2013 by admin

We had a unique visitor on our property this morning. I couldn’t figure out why our Black Lab (Taiko) was going so crazy at the fence… turned out that we had a Coyote walking through the field just on the other side of the grape vines. The Coyote didn’t seem too bothered with Taiko (who was now barking with a toy in his mouth)… just circled around in the field (probably looking for mice) and then left. The Coyote as you can see in the photo below is a beautiful one.

Snowfall in the Rouge Valley

Posted on December 21, 2013 by admin

Its been two weeks since we’ve had this major Winter storm… probably the most unusual in 40 years. After all this time the snow has largely melted, but still lingers in shady areas – also very unusual for this region (typically the snow melts within a day or two). It’s been a cold month so far… I guess its making up for the unusually warm October we had.

The photo below was taken two days after the snowstorm. I was able to break out my cross-country equipment and ski around the property with ease. The plants you see in the foreground are Zinfandel grape vines. Hopefully they’ll survive the cold weather.

Cornflower Concert

Posted on December 19, 2013 by admin

Cornflower with guest artists in concert on Dec 14.

I was asked to help photograph Cornflower in concert last Saturday evening (Dec 14). This was our first full-concert experience listening to our friend Cornflower… who put on an amazing 3-hour (completely sold out) show in Ashland. To say we were completely blown away would be an understatement! It was fun, creative and absolutely wonderful music to enjoy and experience. How he creates all the voices live on stage is an amazing feat that combines the best of technology and artistry. If you’ve never heard him before, check out his website and you’ll be amazed.

Winter weather…

Posted on December 16, 2013 by admin

As you have heard lately we’ve been hit with very cold temps (down to single digits) for southern Oregon. The snow is gone, but what we have now is freezing fog – until the next storm comes in. This stuff is thick like pea soup… when it comes in, visibility can go down to practically zero (okay, okay… about 100 feet visibility).

Freezing fog

Construction has started….

Posted on December 12, 2013 by admin

Hi Everyone –

Slowly I’m learning WordPress… it’s pretty intuitive once you learn your way around, but it does take time. A lot of changes are going on under the hood… so be please have patience… things will get rolling shortly.

The photo above is of the Marin Headlands at sunrise (taken from the Bolinas Mesa).

Best wishes,
Charles

Hello world!

Posted on December 8, 2013 by admin

Beautifulvista is a site dedicated to photography, bicycling, kayaking and other fun stuff. It’s been around for well over 10 years, and will always serve to bring you the beautiful things in life.

The site is being re-organized and updated… stay tuned for new photos and other areas of interest that will start appearing soon.

Best wishes to all,
Charles

Morning sunrise taken near our home in southern Oregon.