Friday, I received my first assignment for a potential part-time job. I haven’t actually discussed the terms of the job with my employers yet, so I won’t be posting anything more about it until I know the details.

Anyway, it took us down to the Spit on short notice, so we packed up the dogs (including the boss’s dog, as Libby hadn’t made it back yet), and headed down there. After I finished my assignment, we took all the dogs for a walk on the extremely windy beach. Skippy was kind enough to manage all three dogs while I took some pictures.

She had her hands full:

A couple of friendly birds looking for handouts were nearby.

Not yet, the tourist season won’t start for another couple months, little one.

Most of the businesses on the Spit are elevated up to road level, as the shoreline drops away a little too steeply. Here are the pillars holding up a series of restaurants and touring companies.

We managed to stay out on the beach for about 10 minutes, before running back to the car to regain the feeling in our faces.

Animals, Photography Animals, Birds, Pets, Photography

I’ve been sitting on a request for pictures of birds in general, and ravens specifically, trying to get some decent pictures to post. I’ve taken a few decent shots, but the ravens and/or the weather aren’t cooperating much. The ravens tend to scatter when I get close and point the camera at them. Here’s what I got.

Photography Animals, Photography

One of the places we saw on our move to Alaska is Muncho Lake. The lake is gigantic, and sparsely populated. We passed a campground, the only one we had seen in about 20 miles. We kept going, though, wondering if there was any sort of town or just a grocery store where we could get some food. We rounded a blind curve, and found The Northern Rockies Lodge. We dined in their German restaurant, and setup our tent in their campground. It was late, but I managed to get a couple of pictures out of it.

On our way out of British Columbia, we encountered several herds of wood bison along the road.

We also stopped by Liard Hot Springs. I had been to some hot springs in California, but it was extremely crowded and apparently only “mildly warm” springs, so I didn’t get in. Liard is much smaller, and much much hotter. You can actually see the source of the hot water, as it boils up from underground. It’s quite a hike back to the spring, so I didn’t take my camera. It would be really cool to visit in the dead of winter.

In the parking lot, I did spy a squirrel doing cute things in a tree.

I kept snapping photos of it, and it kept letting me.

And then it decided I had taken enough pictures, and climbed further up the tree. But not before giving me some decidedly American sign language.

Photography, Travel Animals, Canada, Photography, Wildlife

Kaa’s diminutive cousin isn’t as persuasive. After a couple of minutes, he got tired of the attention and made a break for the creek.

Photography, The Great Outdoors Animals, Indiana, Photography

I was hiking out, stepped on a big rock (one of many), and randomly decided to flip this one over. Look what I found! It was a water snake younster, about 12 inches long. If it had been full grown, it probably would have just attacked me until I left the area. Fortunately, this little one stayed put while I setup my tripod and stuck a lens in its face.

Photography, The Great Outdoors Animals, Indiana, Photography