The Olympic Peninsula in the Pacific Northwest has some magnificent scenery. On our way to check out Sol Duc (pronounced Sole Duck) hot springs (we weren’t impressed; just big outdoor regular swimming pools and $12 per person to swim; maybe they might have more appeal in cold weather) we stopped at a roadside rest near the river. Now this was worth a visit! I tried to upload a video but wasn’t able to compress it enough. Any recommendations on how to do that? They are MOV files. I did download a program called MPEG Streamclip but have no idea of what settings to use. Any help appreciated.

Anyway, here are a couple of stills. You’ll just have to imagine the loud burbling and plashing noise and the silence all around it.

Visit Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday for more interesting photos on the theme. These are both SOOC, and make the grade for Scenic Sunday also.

While you are here, check out a tag like “scenic.” Arriving via permalink, the latest posts are always at Sara’s Fave Photos above.

Looking at the sky from an airplane is only sort of a sky view, but when there are clouds right there, what else is it? Anytime I fly, it’s a reminder of how beautiful and huge our country is, and mostly seemingly empty.

For more beautiful skies around the world, visit Skywatch Friday. Join in, if you like; it’s loads of fun.

This is such an unusual photo that I had to share it today. I took it on my trip to NY from Seattle at the beginning of the month. This view out the airplane window was somewhere in the middle of the country, past the Rockies I think. It looks like a map of itself! I have no idea if the snow was deep or not, but I have never seen the earth look like this from above. I know it’s a stretch from water to snow, but this one is as magical as water, I think.

For more shots of water in all its many manifestations, click HERE.

Here’s a summer vision for you. The Truckee River wanders through Reno, Nevada, right downtown. They did a great job of making it accessible to all. People play and swim in it, and it is so delightful, especially with all that arid desert landscape close by. A veritable oasis; a perfect place for a stroll with a friend.

For more water envisionings, click HERE.

A river scene for your pleasure, taken on an April day on the way back from a birthday trip to Astoria, Oregon. We stopped at some little river and bought oysters, and the sun came out for a moment. For other watery interpretations, click HERE. You can also see some scenic posts HERE.

On our trip to Astoria, Oregon on my birthday in April we stayed right at the river, which was wonderful. I took some good shots of the amazing bridge at the mouth of the river there, but these moss-covered posts, old pier supports, fascinated me. And I just saw that there’s a seagull hiding in the corner!

For more ideas about water, click HERE.

Here is a post for Scenic Sunday. I think to be scenic there has to be expansive view, have sunny skies and hopefully be pretty as well. That’s what I feel is scenic, and others may have other ideas. This one of the distinctive bridge in Astoria, Oregon, qualifies. If you go there, the town has enough old buildings to be charming as well. For more scenic photography around the world, click HERE.