Motorcyclin' to Orcas Island
This past two weeks I spent on an adventurous journey up to Orcas Island, WA. I spent about 3 days on my 1986 Honda Shadow 500 Motorcycle getting up to Orcas. (click on pics to view larger version with captions)
I took my old Canon TX (late 1970's film SLR camera) with me slung over my shoulder and took three rolls of film with me. Many were blurry...but often to a nice effect. WOW...these camera's take some SKILL to use! :) For the Black and White pictures I used Ilford PANF Plus ISO 50. These pictures were developed professionally and they turned out increadible. This film is known for it's high contrast and very black blacks. The scans didn't turn out so well...but good enough. The Color film was Fujichrome Velvia ISO 100 Professional Slide Film. This film is known for it's vivid color and intense saturation and the results certainly lived up to that expectation. I had the slides scanned for me and put on CD and the results were not that great at all. Slide film is meant to be viewed as slides for best results.
The trip up on the motorcycle was so amazing...though extremely exhausting. I never realized that after sitting for hours on a vibrating motorcycle that your legs and butt get so much lactic acid built up in them that it requires stopping every hour or so just to keep going. I was thankful for a helmet with a mask too...I would have eaten all kinds of bugs otherwise. Here's a good joke i heard...."How can you tell a happy motorcyclist? By how many bugs he has in his teeth." It's true!
Once in Seattle I reunited with my cousin Clint, and my aunt Linda, and felt the warm energy of the Northwest (and the coffee), 
and the lush scenery. 
I could tell that my scheme to move up there this coming June was starting on a good note. Once on my way to Orcas for the last leg of the trip, i encountered rain, and had to keep going at a brisk pace to catch the ferryboat to Orcas. Traveling at 65 mph on rainslicked roads is scary! I missed the boat due to my unwillingness to push myself too fast. But I enjoyed a great burger and beer at Charlies at the ferry landing in Anacordes.
Soon I had driven my motorcycle on the ferry, i stood on the deck upstairs and reminisced at the increadible scenery of the island mountains, valleys, bays, inlets, forest, and all that the beauty of the puget sound has to offer. After the ferry reached Orcas, and I tried to start my bike...it wouldn't start (I found out later I had run out of gas...which was a result of my spedometer and odometer malfunctioning earlier on the journey!). I eventually decided to push it off the ferry after all the cars behind me started getting held up. WOW...that ferry ramp is steep...and as I faded into a crawl...and hundreds of spectators cheered me on (instead of helping!) some saint of a man hopped over the barrier and helped me up to the landing. Ironically after crawling my final steps to Orcas and with a huge rejoicing yelp i said "I'm HOME!" I truly felt at home.
The next week of increadible scenery, 
wonderful new friends, quality time with my cousin Grace,
and lots of time in the Orcas Hotel relaxing while updating my website and looking over the bay 
...i decided it was final, i am moving up to Orcas Island June 1st. That weekend I journeyed over to Redmond, WA with Grace to watch her and cousin Clint play with their band "Twirl" for Clint's coffee shop "Soul Food Cafe's" 1 year anniversary party. 
It was an increadible night of music, 
friendship, community, art, and relatives (my other cousin Zane and his wife and new baby showed up), as with Aunt Linda. I found out too that Soul Food Cafe is going to be showing my art work sometime in June. So exciting! Finally I boarded the 24 hour Amtrak trainride back down to the Bay Area and with a bang too. I met some amazing people on the train, talked about books, spirituality, and life with them (the beauty of the scenery car with it's floor to ceiling windows can inspire all kinds of thoughts). The rest of the pics can be viewed at:
http://consciousphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/2831279#151549564