Category Archives: Video Production

2017 Pacific Northwest Summer – Part Seven

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Autumn arrives this Friday, September 22, and it’s time to conclude the summer video series of our adventures this year with an activity that transitions perfectly into fall…apple picking! Beilke Family Farm is a short drive to Brooks, Oregon, a few miles north of Salem. We picked a lot of apples for making applesauce and a few desserts. Jonagold, Melrose, Ruby Jon and Gala apples all made it into our buckets:

It was a fun summer, and we enjoyed watching Aria experience her Pacific Northwest roots. We loved exploring, too! Next week I’ll make a post with all the summer videos in one place. Until then, here’s the series via link: Astoria, Aurora, Mount Hood, Seabrook, Silver Falls and Columbia Gorge.

2017 Pacific Northwest Summer – Part Six

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We have arrived at the penultimate installment of this summer’s travel video series. It was the first time in 10 years that Lisa and I journeyed into the Columbia River Gorge. Having a small child means we actually go on more adventures than when it was just the two of us! The Gorge is busier than ever before but is still beautiful:

This video is poignant because it was taken less than 24 hours after the infamous Eagle Creek Fire was started by a teenager with a smoke bomb. All that haze in the video is smoke, not clouds. We thought it was just the smoke that had settled into the Portland area over the previous week from other Oregon wildfires. We learned later that wasn’t the case.

As of this posting, the Eagle Creek Fire has burned more than 45,000 acres and is 32 percent contained. The roads we traveled, the Historic Columbia River Highway and Interstate 84 eastbound, were closed the day after the video was shot and still haven’t reopened.

The good news is that the Gorge will recover and fairly quickly at that. The report from officials is that the burn has been mosaic in nature, which is also good news. With the rainy season approaching it will be next year before a lot of us see the damage firsthand.

There is one more video planned in the summer series, and it’s a perfect transition to autumn. In the meantime, enjoy the previous segments: Astoria, Aurora, Mount Hood, Seabrook and Silver Falls.

2017 Pacific Northwest Summer – Part Five

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The last weekend in August we headed for the treasure of the Oregon State Parks system, Silver Falls. As a native Oregonian I’m embarrassed to admit I’d never been here before. It’s about 40 minutes outside of Salem, and the park boundary encompasses more than 9,000 acres and 10 waterfalls. Incredible!

There’s too much to see in one day with a toddler, so we stayed close to the 177-foot South Falls. We may return in the fall but definitely next summer when Aria can more easily walk up and down the trail behind South Falls and perhaps beyond. The video is only a taste of the beauty the park offers:

We’re coming close to the end of our summer travels and sadly the end of this series. I still expect one or two more trips before the end of September. The other videos in the series are here: Astoria, Aurora, Mount Hood and Seabrook. Thanks for watching!