After visiting the Olympic National Park and Hoh Rainforest, The Wild Images Team spent some time in Port Angeles, which is located the northern tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. While walking around the waterfront, we came across the Rocktopus, a mosaic sculpture of an octopus perched on a large boulder. Little did we know that the two artists has such interesting backstories. The mosaic was completed by Maureen Wall, a local artist who has created sculptures throughout the world, including Europe. The design was completed by Oliver Strong, another local artist who is a UK citizen from South Africa. During the early 1990’s, while South Africa was struggling with apartheid violence and the AIDS epidemic, he and his pregnant wife left as crew on a sailboat, bringing along their one child. They bought their own boat in the Caribbean and sailed to Fort Lauderdale. From there, they relocated to Sequim, nearby to Port Angeles in Washington. They have since owned businesses and raised a family of five children, four of whom were born in the United States. However, their visas lapsed and Immigration and Homeland Security officials have detained them on multiple occasions for deportation. Local residents and government officials have rallied around them to request their ability to stay. The best that was accomplished was a voluntary deportation order, allowing them the chance to leave under their own terms within 45 days. The Rocktupus sculpture still remains however. This photo was taken before the chain fence was inundated with love locks. The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos in Washington and neighboring Oregon such as the deep blue hues of swirled clouds and rim peaks reflected in Crater Lake, the Hoh Rainforest green moss covers every possible branch, and the right place at the right time rainbow over the Mt. St. Helens remnants, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Washington and Oregon include the sharp looking view through the Lava Cast Forest, the optical illusion of blue waters and white streaks in Crater Lake, the starkly colorful rainbow rises over the devastation of Mt. St. Helens, the moment The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina is imprisoned by rainforest tree roots, the interesting story of the Port Angeles waterfront Rocktopus Sculpture, and its accompanying bronze plaque of charitable organizations. The Wild Images Team has also captured many other photos in nearby California such as the scene of a blooming thunderstorm over Joshua Tree National Park, the lava flow created streaked ridge in Lassen Volcanic National Park, and the high altitudes where a giant sequoia is larger and redder than others, the steep Hyde Street view of Alcatraz Island and San Francisco Bay, the drastic slope of the abrupt drop off of Taylor Street, the Pine Street colorful terraced houses with background buildings, the historic looking beautiful terraced houses and a Classic VW Beetle, and the Asian inspired intricately ornate Chinatown scene, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from California have documented the long and winding road climb to the giants of Sequoia National Park, the size comparison of The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina and the giant tree, the massive view where giant sequoias maintain their diameters over hundreds of feet, an overlook into the Merced River Valley with Liberty Cap, the road heading towards the sheer monolith of El Capitan, the road heading towards desolate ridges of Joshua Tree National Park, the location where the road rises out of Bumpass Hell, a beach dune covered view of the secret underground World War II bunker, the reflective tower of the Marriott Marquis over the Yerba Buena Gardens, the distinctively ornate Asian architecture and decor of Chinatown, the musically inspired melting records with album covers mural, the long strange trip of the Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia mural, the places where steep sidewalks have stairs cut into them, the street where a tree gives a sense of the steepness, the expansive view of Nob Hill from Telegraph Hill and the oppositely directed view from Telegraph Hill to the northeast, the descent in the upper portion of the Filbert Steps, followed by the middle portion of the Filbert Steps with a pose by The Wild Images Team Coordinator on the steps, followed by the lower portion of the Filbert Steps, and at the bottom a view up the Filbert Street steps again with a pose by The Wild Images Team Coordinator below the steps.
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