Today I went to visit three Waterfalls in the Columbia river gorge.
There are giant cedar trees 3-4 ft wide. Moss covering all rocks and trees. From the base of the water fall it is a 1 mile walk up 700 feet. I was huffing and puffing, but then some old people cruised by me and I put myself in gear.
The blurry picks were shot at 4-10 secs with a polarizing lens.
Multnomah:
Top of Multnomah:
Bridal Veil Falls:
Streams with Mossy Rocks:
There are five Light Houses on Martha’s Vineyard.
Edgar Light House sits on a little island that you can walk to. This lighthouse used to be in Newburyport, Ma on Crane beach but was moved in the 1930s when the original edgar light house was lost in a storm. This LH is definitely the easiest to take pictures of, because there is lots of sea grass and no cars or other structures close-by.
Aquinnah Light or Gay Head is a very cool old red brick light house. This is the light house you see in Jaws when they drive by the sign with the graffiti. It is on the cliffs of Aquinna.
West Chop:
West chop is really only visible from the water.
East Chop:
East Chop is surrounded by squat and ugly trees, i did not get any good pictures.
and
Cape Poge Light, Chappaquiddick Island
I did not make it to Cape Poge on this trip.
My car was smashed during my trip. You can see the bumper has fallen off.
The Result
The truck that did it.
The best is that he has a homemade bumper sticker says that “Larsens are dangerous”
My car agrees.
Splitting State Beach is a channel that allows the water to flow in and out of the lagoon. Across the channel is the American Legion bridge. Kids and daring adults jump off. The more daring jump off the back railing over the footbridge into the water.
The jump into the water is not so difficult. The water is deep enough that I could only touch the bottom if I went straight up and down. The scary part is the railing is only 6 inches wide and creaks and wobbles every time a truck drives past. The local kids are hilarious. They drive by in their yellow school bus and shout, “Jump, jump, jump, jump…”
I heard their call and answered.
Kids jump from the bridge.
John Leaps from the back rail.
John clears the back rail.
John flaps his wings and dreams of a time when men could fly.
John Belushi is buried in Martha’s Vineyard. We stopped to pay our respects.
John Belushi was my age when he died.
“The Real World Martha’s Vineyard (Downtown Oak Bluffs):
Just like The Real World but you live in the back of a sick house in a rustic shared dorm room and you work. Looking for motivated individuals who want to spend a summer on The Vineyard. Housekeeping in exchange for lodging. Call if you are interested. “
This is the ad that draws workers to the Oak Bluffs Inn. Eric is an “alternative” inn-keeper full of laid back tude and witty zingers. If you come here to work I need two things, I need you to clean up toilets and “clean up after the love.”
Some guests from Philladelphia were asking Eric where people get things on the island, “Everything here is imported. We bring things in and then we ship our trash back.”
They then asked, “where do you get clothes?”
“I wear a T-shirt everyday. I just changed this shorts after wearing them for 2 1/2 weeks. I realized one day that I did not want a job where I wore a suit everyday. I wanted to wear a T-shirt everyday.”
Eric has the slacker dream life. He gets up early and makes breakfast (which is usually just bagels, cereal and coffee). Hangs out with his kids all day and then drinks at night. I suspect he is the scion of a wealthy family. Slackatude is MUCH easier with a large bankroll.
Eric gave us a tour. Room two was actually a bathroom. There was free beer in the fridge, towels and beach chairs were free to use. Our room was blue and white classic new england style with a large 4 poster bed and antique furniture. The bathroom was small, after a long day at the beach a soak in a tub would have been perfect. Eric, “The porch is the money shot.” He is right, sitting on the porch watching people go by is very entertaining and relaxing.
The OBI is not cheap and it is not kid friendly. but if you are looking for a cool romantic weekend spot you can not go wrong by picking OBI.
Rachel and I had a day free. We choose to drive to the dead sea. The last time i was in Israel it was late fall and along the entire road it was rocks and gravel. Now it was spring and there was grass and greenery. Near Beer Sheba we started to see many shepherds tending their flocks of camels and goats.
Camel
The Dead Sea is really a unique experience in this world. The water is 26% solids so you float much higher than you do in salt or fresh water. I found that I was top heavy because I would pop out of the water and tip over. The water feels greasy and oily between your hands. The sand under the water is just sea salt. This salt makes a great loufa. Rachel locked legs and paddles out into the water. Returning to the shore I accidentally kicked up a little water into her face and Rachel could not see. I led her ashore to the showers and all was safe.
The water actually stings if you have any cuts or nicks. I had a little razor burn on my neck and it stung from the water. Also your privates can start to string from the water. We were trying to be modest around the public showers but then everyone around us started to lower their suits to remove the burning salt.
I had always heard that you could not get burned when you were at the dead sea. This is not true. Rachel and I both got sun burns.
After the dead sea Rachel and I went to lunch and then Masada. We caught the last Tram up the mountain and the last Tram down. We were only able to spend 45 minutes in the ruins. This was not enough time.
My suggestion for anyone spending a day at the dead sea.
1) See Masada in the morning. It closes at 5pm everyday and 4pm on Sabbath days.
2) Swim at Newe Zohar. There are public showers and a small kiosk. You can rent chairs for 5 NS and use the public restrooms for 2 NS.
3) Stay at Ein Gedi. There is a nature preserve 20 km North.
Photos:
After walking all around the city Rachel and I were extremely tired. Our bus stop was back across the entire city through the Dung gate near the Archaeological ruins. This required that we return to the Western Wall.
This is the typical street view when walking the pilgrim path along the stations of the cross. There are stores selling many items as souvenirs and kiosks with snacks. A nice treat for us was when walking through the Arab and Christian quarters the restaurants were open and serving non-kosher food.
The smaller entrance to the Western Wall is not separated by sex but you still need to go through a metal detector. Rachel and I ran into a mob of people trying to squeeze by each other and descend down the stairs to the security. The stair case was about wide enough for two people to walk side by side. But the Israelis kept trying to push past us on the sides. I locked my elbows and pressed against the side wall to keep a small woman from pushing between us.
There is a ledge where you can see the whole plaza. It was much much more crowded now.
You can see that the woman’s section is one quarter the size of the men’s. At this time families are showing up and both the husband and wife will want to pray at the wall. Some the woman’s section is always more crowded than the man’s.
It is considered a great blessing to have your Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall. This usually happens on Thursdays. During this time there will be multiple Bar Mitzvahs going on and the woman will race and scramble to get chairs so they can see over the divider and watch their sons preform the rite.
I was very excited to see so much activity and so many different looking people. I pulled out my camera and began to take some pictures.
A man in a yarmulke, white button down untucked shirt and a little disheveled came up to me and asked, “Who do you work for? Why are you taking pictures.” I had my white canon 70-200mm L lens which is an entry professional model and looks quite conspicuous. I think he was undercover security and I could not remember if it was okay or not to take pictures on the holy site. I answered that I did not work for anyone and I was just taking pictures for myself. I thought later I should have said I was a professional photographer for iStock.
He was barking at me and standing very aggressive towards me. He was shorter than me, but was standing on a step above so that he was looking down at me. His build was heavy around the middle and he was pumping himself up to be bigger.
The man, “Why are you interested in this? I am interested in this because I am Jewish.”
I thought quickly and said, “I have Jewish ancestors.” This may or may not be true, Rachel’s grandmother was Jewish so I technically have a Jewish grandmother-in-law.
The man: “hmm interesting. why are you in Israel?”
Me: “I am working.”
Quickly, the man said, “Really!?! You are working? What do you do?”
Me: “I am a software engineer.”
The man moved closer, “Where are you from?”
I answer, “Boston.” I think, ‘why is he asking all the questions?’ and turn the tables, “Where are you from?”
The man answers, “New York.”
Ahh, I think quickly, “Our baseball team is better than your team.”
The tone and edge is completely taken off and this is not longer a man protecting his religion but two people jibbing about baseball. I tell him that both New York teams together don’t add up to the redsox. He laughs about the Ortiz jersey that was dug up. I warn him that that was only the jersey that the Yankees know about and that there are more hidden around the stadium. He laughs, and we part. I put my camera away. I found it very interesting that a sports rivalry was able to defuse a possible religious conflict.
As Rachel and I left the plaza I noticed a sign that cameras are not allowed on holy days. However, check out these next two images. Clearly I am not the only person taking pictures.
The last adventure was for Rache. She needed the toilet and the closest public WC was in the plaza. The was enough room for one line of woman to go in and another line for woman to exit. At the start there were two line on the sides of the walls and woman would exit out the middle. As Rachel stood in one of the lines some people decided that the middle would be a good way to get in and now there were women standing three abreast muscling and working their way towards the stalls. Their faces red flushed and the dripping with sweat and frustration. To exit a woman would have squeeze and pinch through the flow of red-faced women. Then you wait for the stalls, but you don’t wait in lines you just flow towards the stall. If you don’t watch people will push by you. Rachel had some children sneak under her to get to the stall. There was a large pregnant woman behind Rachel and she was driving her big pregnant belly like a bull-dozer. Rachel locked her elbows on the walls and protected her space in the chaotic queue. Sadly there are no pictures to document this.
A Hasidic man adjusting his hat:
People playing music outside the walls of Jerusalem:
A man’s head is blurry as he moves back and forth in prayer:
Inside the air conditioned part of the Western Wall there are books and chairs and tables to rest.
A man sitting cutting an apple:
Al Aqsa mosque above the Western Wall:
