Train at the Portland Zoo

Our three grandsons, on the train at Portland Zoo. The zoo was one of the highlights of the trip for the boys.

Harbour at Newport

Newport has a genuine working harbour, albeit with a few tourist attractions like Undersea Gardens and Ripley's Believe it Or Not scattered among the fishing boats and packing plants. You can find a good seafood meal in this area, including exceptional clam chowder.

Bridge at Newport

The bridge at Newport, Ore., as viewed from the town's working waterfront. State parks on the ocean on either side of the city make for a great base camp for a visit. Can't rave enough about Oregon's state parks - clean, a fair price, and you can even overnight in a yurt if tenting or RVing aren't your thing.

Sea Lions Everywhere

The view from above at Sea Lion Caves, near Florence, Ore. This is a great roadside attraction where you can take a long elevator ride into a seaside cave jammed with sea lions. Great dune counry around here, so consider staying a few nights at one of Oregon's fine state parks to get in some dune-buggy touring and a swim at Cleawox Lake.

Jack and the haystack

Our trusty dog Jack, looking like he's posing for a "Wish You Were Here" postcard. The beaches along the Oregon coast are perfect for high-energy dogs and kids - lots of room to run.

Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach

Haystack Rock is the scenic centrepiece of Cannon Beach. The guy who owns the little service station on the main road in Cannon Beach has some terrific photos for sale of the rock and other local scenes that are definitely worth a look.

Cannon Beach in the fog

We spent two weeks in the summer of 2006 doing a slow trip in our motorhome down the Oregon coast with our three grandsons. Cannon Beach is always spectacular, whatever the weather.

Birds at the feeder

On a cold day, the bird feeders provide a regular United Nations of varieties to look at. That's a chestnut-backed chickadee on the suet, a red-breasted nuthatch on the black feeder, a song sparrow on the branch and a downy woodpecker flapping around in the bottom centre of the shot.

Crow in snow

I've developed a new interest in birds, and would eventually like to be doing more photography of them. Crows are handy because they don't mind the attention.

Yard rat

The problem with putting out food for the birds and the squirrels is that sooner or later, you attract new friends. Like this guy, who we took quite a shine to. Unfortunately, so did the cat down the street.

Grey squirrel at feeder

Grey squirrels commute along the fence in our Esquimalt backyard, so we've taken to putting out peanuts in an old bird feeder for their enjoyment. Some can be coaxed to take a nut from your hand, but most have a healthy skittishness.

Barn in the tulip fields

The colour is so intense from the tulip fields that you can usually pick out where to go even without a "tulip viewing" map - you can see them by their colour on the horizon. However, local hotels and stores all carry maps of the fields to make things easy.

Channel at LaConner

A channel separates LaConner from the open water. A good morning walk through the marinas, and an excellent place to watch the sun set.

Graveyard

The graveyard across the orange bridge at LaConner. I took an early-morning walk across the bridge, all of which was pleasant except for the piece of road leading up to the bridge - no sidewalks.

Aboriginal graveyard

Crossing the orange bridge at LaConner puts you at a wonderful aboriginal graveyard. Visitors appeared to be welcome. Some of the graves were covered with the memorabilia of a life, from baseball hats and plastic toys to certificates and articles of clothing. Very moving.

Tulips everywhere

The tulip fields run between LaConner, which is on a channel and just up the road from the Anacortes ferry terminal, and Mount Vernon, which is just off the I-5 freeway about an hour south of the U.S.-Canada border. I came over via the Swartz Bay-Anacortes ferry route, and went back through Vancouver and Tsawwassen. The Anacortes ferry ride is beautiful, but takes almost 3 hours, and the schedule is minimal in the early spring.

Tulip fields at LaConner, April 2006

Starting in February or so and lasting until April, the farm fields around LaConner, Wash. are ablaze in tulips, daffodils and iris. We went in April, so tulips were the only ones still blooming, but the display was gorgeous. You can wander around the fields for free although you'll likely have to pay a couple bucks to park.

Beach at Playa del Carmen

The beach not far from our hotel, the Moongate, in Playa del Carmen. Great swimming here, especially early in the day.

Towel Art

Maids at Mexican hotels overall seem pretty good at towel art, but the woman who cleaned our room at the Moongate in Playa del Carmen was incredible. We came back to a spectacular new creation every day - elephants, mermaids, swans, elaborate hearts. A bit more of a tip and a note in Spanish admiring her talent inspired the woman to ever-greater towel art achievements.

Iguana at Tulum

An iguana at Tulum, Mexico. The ruins here are thick with iguanas - we probably saw 40 or more while walking through.

Cozumel causeway

The causeway at Cozumel, Mexico. We came over for the day from Playa del Carmen. Quite a rock-and-roll ride on the catamaran - we were pretty seasick upon arrival.

Snorkelling at Yakul

Snorkelling at Yakul national park, on the coast south of Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Great place for snorkelling, as the coast in this area can be really windy but this is a sheltered lagoon.

Pyramid at Chichen Itza

The big pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico. An amazing place, and so expansive that even hundreds of tour-bus visitors don't interfere with your enjoyment. Bring lots of water - very hot here.

Beach at Tulum

The beach at Tulum, Mexico - March 2006. Development is barrelling down the coast south of Cancun, but hasn't quite reached Tulum.

Vendors at Cozumel

Cozumel, March 2006. We rented bikes for an ill-conceived 64-kilometre ride around the island. It killed us that these vendors weren't selling cervezas, but fortunately we found a bar not far down the road.

Relaxing in Cozumel

Don't know who this guy is, but he's striking a classic Mexican-tourist pose. This is on Cozumel in March 2006, after the hurricane. Despite losing much of its roof in the storm, this bar was making the best of it.

Girl and Monkey

Playa del Carmen region, Mexico. We travelled here in March 2006. This little girl and her pet monkey lived on the road to the
Dos Ojos cenote.