Venice

Venice (Venezia) is an enchanting city.  It is located on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges.  The main form of transportation is by Vaporetto (water buses) which run  up and down the Grand Canal.  We've covered a lot of areas including Piazza San Marco, San Polo, Rialto, Zattere and Accademia.  We visited the Rialto Market one morning and watched all the merchants sell fresh fish, fruits and vegetables to the locals.  We did a tour of Basillica de San Marco while the interior was lit up and the walls, ceilings and domes are completely covered in mosaics.  We're right around the corner from Piazza San Marco which has been extremely convenient and allowed us to enjoy it after the crowds thin out.

Tuscany Landscape

The drive thru Tuscany has been breathtaking with rolling hills, wildflower fields, tall cypress trees, vineyards and charming hilltop towns.  There are poppies, lupines and many other wildflowers in bloom.  We've explored many winding backroads with amazing scenery unfolding around every turn.  It is truly magical to watch the light dance over the hills and valleys!  The Val d'Orcia is probably one of the most beautiful valleys in the Tuscany area with views that could be mistaken for the Blue Ridge Mtns back home.

Tuscany Hill Towns

Tuscany is filled with charming little towns and villages, many perched on the hilltops offering incredible views of the surrounding valleys.  Our home base was Montepulciano which is a walled city, built on a sloping and narrow limestone ridge.  The streets are very narrow and steep and can be challenging to navigate even  in a small auto.  The churches are impressive and usually the focal point of each town's main piazza.  One of our favorite hilltop towns was Montalcino where we climbed the towers in the Montalcino castle  - very cool!  Other hilltop towns we visited included Monteriggioni, Montisi and Pienza.

Florence

Arrived in Italy on Thursday - finally!  Spent the last few days in Florence (Firenza).  Watched the sun rise over the city lighting up the Ponte Vecchio Bridge and the Duomo - gorgeous!  Walked from one end of the city to the other, again and again, but so much to see and enjoy along the way. Visited the Boboli Gardens and toured several churches.  The finale was a climb up 414 steps to top of the Campanile di Griotto/bell tower to enjoy unique views of the city and closeup view of the Duomo.  Next, heading on a drive thru the Tuscany region...

Olympic Peaks

Another beautiful sunrise from Hurricane Ridge surrounded by the Olympic peaks.  Hiked up to Hurricane Hill for breathtaking 360 degree views into Canada and back to Mt Baker and Mt Rainier.  Olympic has it all...beautiful coastline, waterfalls, wildlife and majestic mountain peaks.  But its time to say goodbye, been a great adventure!

Lupine Field

Sunrise at Hurricane Ridge with beautiful lupine fields.  This area is surrounded with snow capped peaks of the Olympic Range.  The wildflower displays are amazing with paintbrush and columbine everywhere!  The road travels along the ridge offering open views along the way.  Seen lots of wildlife including fawns, marmots and Ptarmigan.  The mosquitos are out in full force so sporting a stylish bug net to tolerate the little pests.  But the views and scenery are worth it.  Great weather with clear views as far as you can see.

Olympic Coast

Arrived in Olympic National Park yesterday and watched an amazing sunset last night.  Started again at daybreak this morning and did a long hike along the rocky shore at Rialto Beach.  It is covered in perfectly polished river rocks in all colors.  And the tides wash in cool little colorful sea creatures like starfish and urchins.  Also hiked through the Hoh Rainforest which was lush with ferns and a variety of trees.

Waterfalls

The Columbia River Gorge lies just south of the Washington state line in Oregon. It is a beautiful corridor lined with waterfalls. The tallest is Multnomah Falls which has two tiers.  Hiked up to the bridge that crosses the falls and offers nice vantage point to view the upper falls.  Also hiked to several other falls in the gorge, but unfortunately had sunny skies so not many great photo ops.  

On the drive leaving the gorge and headed to Olympic, you can see Mt St Helens and Mt Hood in the distance.  Its cool driving around the Pacific Northwest and always having a snow capped volcanic peak like Mt Baker or Mt Rainier within view.

Mt Rainier

Final day at Mt Rainier.  The weather has been great with clear views of the mountain everyday, very unusual.  And the hiking here is amazing with views like this one to enjoy along the way.  Could easily spend another week here.

Paradise

Hiked in the Paradise Valley at the heart of Mt Rainier.   Another clear day.   The Tatoosh Range dominated the views to the south. The trails in this valley are steep and the higher elevation trails are still covered in snow, but a few wildflowers were popping up.  Saw a family of marmots playing in the meadows.  And greeted by a Doe and Fawn on the way back down trail.

Reflections & Rainbows

Narada Falls

Wow!  Mt Rainier is so massive, it doesn't look real.  It just towers over everything.
Been lucky with the weather so far with clear views of the mountain.  Spent today in the Paradise area of park and did some great hikes to glacial lakes surrounded by breathtaking scenery. Some patches of wildflowers, but due to late snow melt, the flowers are not putting on their normal show.

Hiked down to Narada Falls.  Timed it just right to catch a rainbow in the midst coming off the falls.  But got drenched in the process.

Tipsoo Lake

Sunrise at Tipsoo Lake with amazing view of Mt Rainier.  The hillsides are still covered in snow and part of the lake is still frozen as this area had one of its largest snowfalls this past winter.












Spent rest of the day hiking in Sunrise area of park. The drive was amazing with incredible views.  The trails were clear of snow and the hillsides carpeted in wildflowers.  Also lucky enough to have a couple of sightings of cinnamon colored black bears along the trail!  Check out the action in the video...

Mt Baker

Explored the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest from the north and also from the south at Baker Lake.  Lots of wildflowers blooming along the trails including Avalanche Lilies and Monkey Flowers.  The cascades and waterfalls were gorgeous and flowing strong due to snow melt.  Visited North Cascades National Park and enjoyed some nice hikes and a beautiful drive around Diablo Lake.  Now enroute to Mt Rainier National Park, but stopped off at Leavenworth which is a cool and lively Alpine Bavarian-style village.

Orca Whales

Spent the morning on a boat tour of the San Juan Islands crossing over into Canada.  Saw bald eagles, sea otters and dozens of Orca Whales.  We watched several pods as they cruised around us and they put on quite a show. Check out the video...

Pacific Northwest

Touring the Pacific Northwest exploring the Cascade Mountains and several National Parks.  I've been waiting for years to see Mt Shuksan in the Cascades and finally made it!  The light on the peak in the evening is magical and surrounding scenery breathtaking.  The road continues to Artist Point, but is closed off this year due to snow even though its August!  Will definitely have to return...

Bear Farewell

Last day aboard the Coastal Explorer and photographing bears along the Katmai coast.  We had a few familiar faces visit this morning to feed on the salmon streams and a sow and cub put on a good show for us.  To view brown bears up close and personal like we did was amazing, hair raising at times, but absolutely incredible!  Its hard to leave...

We flew by floatplane back to Kodiak Island this afternoon and passed over several pods of whales including Humpbacks and Fin Whales.  We'll head back to Anchorage tomorrow.

Up Close & Personal

The bear activity has been really good in Geographic Harbor even though the weather hasn't been that great.  Rainy and low cloud cover all day.  More cubs visited today and they are too cute and look like little fur balls.

            

More bears...

Moved from Kinak Bay to Geographic Harbor last night to find more brown bears.  We are still in Katmai.  The scenery surrounding the bay is amazing!  And there are plenty of bears in the area. Not as many salmon running here but saw more bears today than any other day.  And the bears are very comfortable with our presence and approach fairly close allowing us to use wide angle lenses which I didn't expect.  

Bears everywhere!

Bears, bears and more bears...we're averaging around a dozen sightings per day.  When they're not fishing, they are napping along the shoreline.  We've also seen other wildlife including Bald Eagles, Wolverine, Harbor Seals, Stellar Sea Lions and Moose.

  

And the hunt begins...

Lots and lots of brown bears...we've seen several sows with cubs, one with 3 cubs and several boars.  They don't pay us any attention, too busy fishing for salmon in streams.