One thing that Steve and I noticed immediately upon entering the beautiful state of Oregon is the incredible condition of their roads! I've spent over 35 years in San Francisco and the Bay Area, and the roads are always in fair to horrible condition with potholes and cracks everywhere. But up here in Oregon, the roads are incredible. The road past our house is completely resurfaced every few years, and even at its worst (some cracks with neatly applied sealer over them), the condition is better than the best streets in San Francisco!

A few weeks ago they began preparations to resurface our road, re-graveling onto tar, letting it cure, and a few days ago, they oiled the road and used rollers to make the road nice and flat for the next step. In a day or two, they will lay down cement to complete the process and we will have a silky smooth road once again! :D

I went out there this morning to close the gate after Steve went out, and I had my camera with me to take my daily set of pictures. Noticing how black and glimmery the road looked, I immediately realized what an awesome, bokeh filled picture this could make!! Using one of the temporary reflectors helping drivers to see the middle of the road, I took a set of different apertures aiming up the road from a low vantage point. As I expected, the sun reflected off the shiny black oil covering the gravel and turned the road into shimmering bokeh!! I was so happy with this image that I planned to make it my Picture of the Day... that is... until I processed the Celosi picture and realized it was more eye-catching and beautiful. *BIG SIGH* :D