July 2:  fly into Seattle, rent car and drive to Port Angeles

July 3-5:  based in Port Angeles; sunrises (4 AM wakeup each day) at Hurricane Ridge and points nearby including Obstruction Point and Deer Park; evenings spent at Ruby Beach and back on the Obstruction Point  Road to photograph an active marmot colony as well as a late afternoon photo shoot from Hurricane Ridge; one afternoon spent at lavender farm in Sequiem.

July 6:  head in direction of Forks; overcast day allows a full day's shoot at Madison Falls, Marymere Falls and Sol Duc Falls, and the forests surrounding these areas; check into motel in Forks

July 7:  Full day (overcast, occasional drizzle) at Hoh Rainforest; afternoon and evening spent at Rialto Beach photographing tide pools and sea stacks

July 8:  rain, occasionally hard; I spend the afternoon at Second Beach anyway, and the morning scouting beaches south of Ruby on the Washington Pacific Coast

July 9:  back to Seattle; with yet another stop along the Hurricane Ridge Road on the way; meet on-line friends for a Rangers-Mariners ballgame at Safeco Field that evening

July 10:  visit the Museum of Glass in Tacoma and (gag) the Space Needle (tourist trap par excellance) with my wife (who was with me the first half of this trip and was flying back to the Midwest the following day)

July 11:  drop my wife off at the airport and drive to the Portland area; overcast weather so I spend the entire afternoon in the Columbia River Gorge before checking in to my motel

July 12:  Up at 3 AM; Jack Graham takes me to Trillium Lake (washed out) and then a bunch of other spots in the Mt. Hood National Forest and the Hood River Valley...we do some shooting and I do plenty of GPS marking for future reference.  Then back through the Gorge on a rainy afternoon.

July 13:  Up at 3 AM again; Another missed opportunity at Trillium Lake; back through the Gorge yet again, where I spend the rest of the day.

July 14:  Third straight 3 AM alarm; success at Trillium Lake after the fog finally clears, then drive to Cannon Beach; shoot at Ecola State Park and Cannon Beach itself though sunset fizzles.

July 15:  up at 3:25 AM (has to be the first time in my life I've been up before 3:30 on four consecutive days) to drive to Tillamook Bay for sunrise, which doesn't happen...bay is completely fogged in, but I make the best of it; spend morning shooting on Bayocean Spit, then the Three Capes Scenic Drive, including old growth spruce forest at Cape Meares State Park; drive on to Florence, stopping at overlook to shoot Heceta Head Light on the way--lighthouse is a rumor from overlook due to marine layer; check into motel in Florence, drive back for one last crack at lighthouse that night--still no go; shoot sunset along the coast overlooking Baker Beach.

July 16:  One last crack at Heceta Head--before heading toward Bandon--no go again.  Ah well, looks like I won't get this shot.  Drive to Heceta Head itself (two headlands north from overlook location) and shoot the lighthouse from there, where it's mostly visible.  Drive to Bandon and thoroughly scout the beach early in the afternoon; drive to Charleston Harbor and scout that location; back to Bandon in hopes of early evening/sunset shooting.  Marine layer foils sunset as usual, settle for "moody" beach scenes.

July 17:  Check beach in morning--more marine layer fog; head south to Cape Blanco...shoot lighthouse there despite hellacious winds and fog; continue south to Port Orford...marine layer disappears; brilliant sunshine along the coast for the first time on the whole trip.  Resolve to head back this direction for sunset if there's still marine layer in Bandon by early evening.  Continue south all the way to Pistol River S.P., about 30 miles north of California state line, noting all kinds of great shooting opps along coast for future reference.  Back to Bandon late afternoon; marine layer all but gone...get excited about possible sunset sea stack shooting.  Head back to motel to grab sustenance, back to beach in 30 minutes...marine layer slowly rolling back in.  Shoot some overlook shots before the beach is pea soup again.  Marine layer partially blows out again, five minutes later blows back in thicker than ever; I get ticked, hop in car and head south, ending up at Port Orford Head where I hike out to the point and wait in brilliant sunlight and high winds for about two hours for sunset to develop...which it does, wonderfully.

July 18:  Back to Seattle...but with one last crack at Heceta Head Light on the way; out the door at 5.  Get to Heceta Head overlook in about two hours--lighthouse is rumor again...decide to wait five minutes, expecting nothing...fog begins to lift miraculously...fly into action to set up, trying to ignore gale-force winds...marine layer cooperates for better than 30 minutes, I get every shot I'm looking for and then some.  Thrilled I get back in the car and prepare for a nice, leisurely drive back to Seattle.  15-odd miles east of Florence the left front tire of the car blows out, giving the day a darker turn.  I won't bore you with all of those details...