Random Rants and Ramblings: 2014 Road Trip Summary

I was on vacation from June 19 through July 3. This vacation took me and my sister south along the coast, over to Yosemite, and up the east side of the Cascade volcanoes. Posts from my vacation log were made months ago. Pictures have been uploaded a little more recently, and I finished posting eBird checklists in the last week.

I made a series of posts on my photo blog as I uploaded my photos. I also created an album just for the vacation photos. For the sake of simplicity, I will point you to the album at https://www.flickr.com/photos/maritimeorca/sets/72157646605921304/

I have a project that I have been working on for an Xmas gift. For that gift, I made summaries of locations visited, lighthouses seen, volcanoes seen, waterfalls seen, and wildlife seen. I am just going to copy all of those below:

Locations Visited

Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer
Willapa National Wildlife Refuge
Fort Columbia State Park
Columbia River Maritime Museum
Astoria Riverwalk
Astoria Column
Fort Stevens State Park
Ecola State Park
Barview Jetty County Park
Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge and State Scenic Viewpoint
Cape Lookout State Park
Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint
Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint
Beverly Beach State Park
Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area
Yaquina Bay State Park
Yaquina Bay Bridge
Seal Rocks
Yachats State Park
Siuslaw National Forest (includes Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area)
Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint
Sea Lion Caves
Darlingtonia State Natural Site
Umpqua Lighthouse State Park
Sunset Bay State Park
Cape Arago State Park
Bullards Beach State Park
Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge
Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge
Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint
Cape Blanco State Park
Cape Sebastian State Scenic Corridor
Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor
Harris Beach State Park
Battery Point
Del Norte Redwoods State Park
Redwood National Park
Trees of Mystery
Humboldt Lagoons State Park
Patrick's Point State Park
Trinadad Memorial Lighthouse
Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary
Humboldt Redwoods State Park
Davis Rest Area
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
Stanislaus National Forest
Yosemite National Park
Inyo National Forest
Lake Tahoe Basin Management Area
D.L. Bliss State Park
Emerald Bay State Park
Ed Z'berg Sugar Pine Point State Park
Donner Memorial State Park
Plumas-Eureka State Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park
McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park
Fremont-Winema National Forest
Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest
Prospect State Scenic Viewpoint
Crater Lake National Park
Umpqua National Forest
Deschutes National Forest (includes Newberry National Volcanic Monument)
Willamette National Forest
Three Sisters Viewpoint
Silver Falls State Park
Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Lighthouses

Lightship Columbia
Tillamook Rock Light
Cape Meares Lighthouse
Yaquina Head Lighthouse
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse
Umpqua River Lighthouse
Cape Arago Lighthouse
Coquille River Lighthouse
Cape Blanco Lighthouse
Battery Point Lighthouse
Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse
Rubicon Point Lighthouse

Volcanoes

Belknap Crater
Broken Top
Diamond Peak
Lassen Peak
Mazama
Middle Sister
Mount Bachelor
Mount Hood
Mount Jefferson
Mount McLoughlin
Mount Shasta
Mount St. Helens
Mount Tehama (Brokeoff Mountain, Mount Diller)
Mount Thielsen
Mount Washington
Newberry Volcano
North Sister
South Sister
Tahoma (Mount Rainier)
Three Fingered Jack

Waterfalls

Upper Yosemite Falls
Nevada Falls
Vernal Falls
Bridal Veil Falls (4th seen with this name)
Lower Yosemite Falls
Burney Falls
Natural Bridge Falls
Mill Creek Falls
Barr Creek Falls
Prospect Falls
Pearsoney Falls
Vidae Falls
Footbridge Falls
Paulina Creek Falls
Salt Creek Falls
South Falls
Upper North Falls
North Falls
Twin Falls
Middle North Falls
Drake Falls
Double Falls
Lower North Falls
Lower South Falls
Winter Falls

Wildlife

Belding's Ground Squirrel***
Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel***
Yellow-bellied Marmot*
Nutria*
Common Raccoon
Sea Lion
Harbor Seal
White-tailed Deer*
Black-tailed/Mule Deer
Elk
Canada Geese
Gadwall
Mallard
Scaup
Surf Scoter
Common Merganser
California Quail*
Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe*
Brandt's Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Brown Pelican*
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret*
Snowy Egret***
Green Heron*
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier*
Bald Eagle
American Coot
Black Oystercatcher
Willet***
Whimbrel*
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Western Gull*
Glaucous-winged Gull
Caspian Tern
Black Tern**
Rock Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Mourning Dove
Black Swift***
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Acorn Woodpecker***
Williamson's Sapsucker***
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
White-headed Woodpecker***
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Black Phoebe***
Flycatcher
Gray Jay**
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub Jay
Black-billed Magpie**
Clark's Nutcracker**
American Crow**
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee**
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch**
Brown Creeper
Pacific Wren
American Dipper**
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Mountain Bluebird
Swainson's Thrush***
American Robin
Varied Thrush
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler*
Hermit Warbler***
Wilson's Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Chipping Sparrow*
Savannah Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Western Tanager
Black-headed Grosbeak**
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird***
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
Cassin's Finch***
Red Crossbill
Lesser Goldfinch***
Willow Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Garter Snake
Gopher Snake*
Lizard
Painted Turtle
Swallowtail
Painted Lady
Hermit Crab
Sea Anemone

*First recorded this year
**First since joining eBird
***First ever for us
Note: I'm sure there are a lot of errors on this list