Furnished House

Whoops! I just read a post from several weeks ago which promised I'd update you with pictures of the house furnished. In order to practice keeping promises, here you are, the house furnished. Sorry it took so long.

Morning Walks

Who needs to travel to the rain forest when there's rain forest just around the corner?

Jeanne standing among massive ferns. Yes, she is standing up!

The trail was quite steep and turned out to be very aerobic carrying camera and tripod.

A beautiful little stream that winds its way down to the Puget Sound.

The obligatory slug photo. They grow 'em big around here.

This is just one of several walks within a mile of the house.

Leaving My Mark On Seattle

Jeanne and I love to take morning walks. There are beach walks, forest walks, river walks, it's really great. The other day we decided to hike through the woods down to a creek that winds its way to the Puget Sound. There was a little "pull off" on the side of the road where perhaps 3 cars could park (not exactly a parking lot), so we parked and got on our way. The path was steep, not well travelled and beautiful. It was a great aerobic workout along with nature in all its splendor. Upon returning to the car we noticed that in our absence local painting crews had painted the center line on the roadway. I needed to turn left out of the turnout and the cones protecting the paint were very far apart. We had been gone about an hour and there was no sign of the paint crew so I made an assumption that the paint was probably dry enough to drive over (I forgot we are in Seattle - it probably takes days for paint to dry). Anyway, long story short, bad decision, as you can see. Worse, the paint crew was about 1/2 a mile down the road and I'm sure they were staring at our tires as we drove past.

Trip To Vampire Country

As some of you know, Emily was quite a "Twilight" fan. I say "was" because, well, she's not any more, but having been a fan she still has friends in Pennsylvania who are big fans who demanded of her that she visit the setting for the books and send them pictures. One Saturday we decided to make the trip to Forks - which - no matter where you are is a VERY LONG TRIP. Our intention was to board the ferry in Edmonds and make the drive from Kingston through Port Angeles. The line for the ferry was VERY long and there was a chance we wouldn't get on even the next one which was an hour away. You know how Rodger HATES TO WAIT so off we drove, around Olympia, out to Aberdeen and up Highway 1. Very beautiful. Very LONG! It was a "day trip" I suppose, since it all happened in one day, but it did take 13 hours and that was with a little luck. We drove up to the Kingston ferry as the cars were unloading and were on in 15 minutes. I have vowed to return to the coast when there weather is better (whenever that is) to take some additional pictures. It is absolutely breathtaking out there.

The driftwood on the coastal beaches was quite a sight.

The walk down to the beaches was as magical as the beaches themselves. This is "rain forrest" country and the beauty is remarkable.

This was a spectacular beach located just before northbound Hwy 1 leaves the coast headed inland toward Forks (and Forks is still an hour away from Port Angeles if that gives you any sense of distance).

I wanted to visit Crescent Beach and Salt Creek Campground outside of Port Angeles. Jeanne had taken the kids to the place many times when we lived in the Seattle area years ago but I had never gotten the chance to go. Turns out it was magical - everything they'd ever told me it was (and that was a lot!).Jeanne and Rodger - snug as two, well "bugs in a rug" doesn't make sense and though "hogs in a log" does rhyme - well, you get my point. We still like each other a lot!