Hiking around Bowman Bay

Saturday was too beautiful of a day to sit around indoors, so Ron and I decided to hike around Bowman Bay, near Deception Pass. Ron wanted to scout around for a place where we could come and get an early morning shot of the bridge.....hopefully with a little morning fog in the photo. Bowman Bay is one of our favorite places to go.....it's never very busy, and there is a beautiful beach, wonderful dock and a protected bay to kayak in.

The trail around the bay is quite steep in places.......I wished that I would have worn my hiking boots. The trail goes all the way around the point and then ends up with a view of Deception Pass bridge. We also hiked out to an outer pennisula, which gives you a clear view of the bridge, but Ron liked the closer view better.

The trail is a bit narrow in a couple of spots, and straight down to the rocks below.....but the view is fantastic!

It looks the park service is going to install a wire fence at this point of the trail......where it is straight down to the rocky beach. It will make it a lot safer.

The seagrass that grows along the trail that parallels the beach, is really beautiful.

A view of Deception Pass Bridge from the outer pennisula.

Enjoying the sun along the beach trail.

Ron hiked down from the highway, and found the place that he wants to go back to, to get the shot he was looking for. It was straight down this cliff from the highway.....but we can actually access the same place hiking the trail from Bowman Bay, which will be a lot easier when we're carrying photography equipment. Now we just need to wait for the right day to go back.

The amount of water that passes through this channel is incredible.....and it moves extremely fast. I've seen boats that have their engines at full throttle and can just keep their boat in one spot......they don't make any progress.....their boat is going one direction as fast as the tide is going another. You don't want to go through the pass when the tide is changing. High tide is the best, or low tide as well. But when the tide is moving through here, the undercurrents create huge swirling whirlpools and can really throw a boat. (I speak from experience!) The first time Ron and I ever saw Deception Pass, our jaws dropped because it was so beautiful. It still is.....just 20 times more traffic over the bridge. Keep your fingers crossed that we can get a great shot with fog, this falll.

The Other Side of the Mountain

"The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, to see what he could see.".......well, maybe not the bear, but how about the "truck went over the mountain.......". Ron and I went in search of fall colors today......we didn't find any until we had gotten over Stevens Pass, and then the mountains just exploded with color.....bright red vine maples, red huckleberry bushes and yellow maples among others. The challenge was trying to find a spot to take a photo that would work.

This little pond caught our eye......it was right beside the highway, so we had to find a place to pull off, and then walked back to this pond. The reflection was nice.

I had to try a multiple exposure, just to see what it would look like.......it turned out sort of like an impressionistic painting. (this is 10 exposures together.)

Vine maples are so gorgeous! I would love to plant several in our yard.

We drove up to Lake Wenatchee, but the colors were less intense there, and we couldn't find the right shot.....but I thought this maple tree among all the fir trees really stood out. We drove down to the west end of the lake.....it got a bit bumpy.....Ron kept wishing that we could put the truck into 4-wheel drive.

At the very top of Stevens Pass, just past the Ski Resort, we pulled off the highway along a powerline road. The entire hillside was covered in brilliant color. I wish that we could have gotten closer, but we couldn't find a way up the hillside, so we had to be satisfied just using the telephoto for this shot. At least it gives you an idea of how colorful the whole area was.

We started driving along the powerline road, but it didn't get us anywhere.....but the trees were still beautiful.

I love the fall.....it brings back great memories of when I was a kid growing up in Eastern Oregon, and the times we could go up in the mountains to chop wood, or visit our friend's cabin, or go snowmobiling. I love the smell of the pines on the east side of the Cascades.....there's just a different feel to the forest there.

October is my favorite month....probably because of the coziness that it brings......crisp nights, still warm days, fire in the fireplace and the smell of cinnamon rolls baking. Most of all, it brings memories of times with my family. I sure wish that I could share some of this with all my grandchildren. I think of the Thanksgiving hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth", when I see the colors and splendor of fall....and then count my blessings. We live in such a beautiful world.

Preston and the NEW park

Recently Camano Island got a new playground park, situated at Terry's Corner. On Monday evening, September 27th, we took Preston to the park to play. He was SO excited, that he was running from one thing to the next and couldn't figure out which one he wanted to play on. My mother was up to visit for a few days, and she thinks she's still a kid too.......she would follow Preston around with her camera and had almost as much fun as he did.

But the BEST thing of all was the swing! With a grin from ear to ear, Preston would yell "BIG high grandpa !!"

There were all kinds of holes to look out of, musical instruments to bang, pirate ship to climb, slides, a turning log roll plus many other things to explore.

Taylor was just content to be close to his mom.

There was a section of the playground geared especially for kids 4 years and under. That's where this little boat was, and the swing that Preston loved.

But what made the playground special was a painting of "Lightning McQueen." That was the icing on the cake for Preston.

For the next day, Preston kept wanting to go back to the NEW park. It is a very popular park with the kids, and it always seems to be busy. We were lucky this evening, that there were only a couple of families there when we were. Wouldn't that be fun if ALL my grandkids could come and play!

A Special Day With Family

Today, we traveled down to Fall City, to spend the day with our daughter Jenni and her husband Will. Our newest grandson, Taylor, was blessed in Church today. Will's parents, Dan and Sandy Thomas came from Idaho Falls, Idaho to be here for this special day.

My mother, Thelma Lindsay, also drove up from Pendleton, Oregon to attend the blessing. Below, is a photo of myself, my mother, Jenni and Taylor and Sandy Thomas. Taylor is 5 and 1/2 weeks old.

Preston was so tired, that we was getting ornery and wouldn't even eat lunch. I told him that I would tell him the story of "Squirt, the Little Red Firetruck" and "The Four Puppies." He immediately crawled up on my lap, and was sound asleep before I could finish the two stories.........grandma's must have a special touch.

Will, with his two boys, Preston and Taylor. Are they a handsome bunch, or what?

My mother, with two of her seven great-grandchildren.

I finally got a chance to hold Taylor for a while today. He is such a good baby. He slept through most of church, without a peep out of him. He LOVES to be held and cuddled....but then that's what grandparents are for...right?

Thanks for the memories......

Make sure your speakers are turned up.

There is nothing like a family.......

Island Time.....

BEACH: 1. shore pebbles, 2. a shore of an ocean, sea or lake, or the bank of a river covered by sand, gravel, or large rock fragments

BEACH COMBER: one who searches along a shore for useful or salable flotsom and refuse

SAND: a loose granular material that results from the disintegration of rocks

BREAKER: a wave breaking into foam (as against the shore)

SUNSHINE: the light of the sun

SEASHELL: the shell of a marine animal, and especially a mollusk

RELAXATION: 1. the act or fact of relaxing or being relaxed, 2. relaxing or recreating state, activity or pastime. 3. the lengthening that characterizes inactive muscle fibers or muscles.

TIME: the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another.
2. duration regarded as belonging to the present life as distinct from the life to come or from eternity; finite duration.
3. a system or method of measuring or reckoning the passage of time: mean time; apparent time; Greenwich Time.

ISLAND TIME: Island Time allows you the time to do all the things you love to do, at your own pace. When you're on Island Time, you're always having the time of your life.

Fort Ebey State Park - Whidbey Island

Need any more explanation?

Grandsons !!

This has been a very eventful week.........we have a new baby grandson.....Taylor Alexander Thomas! Arriving on August 17th, 2010 at 9:57 PM, 8 lbs and 19 3/4 inches tall, with auburn color hair.

Both mom and baby are doing fine. (Taylor had to arrive by C-section, but we are so grateful for skilled doctors and nurses who took such good care of them.) Taylor was born in Kirkland, Washington.

Jenni called us at 2:30 AM Tuesday morning, to tell us that she was about to head to the hospital, so I jumped in the car and headed down to their house to pick up Preston, who has been staying with Grandpa and I since then. Preston got to meet his baby brother on Wednesday morning, when we visited them in the hospital.

Preston is used to having all of mom and dad's attention......it's going to be interesting to see how he adjusts to a little brother. But he is such a sweet little guy, I'm sure that he will just love Taylor and take good care of him.

While Preston has been at our house these past few days, he has been playing with a Hot Wheels Semi-Car Carrier....that can carry 6 little Hot Wheels cars in it. He absolutely LOVES playing with this truck, as you can tell by the look on his face.

I guess that it is fun to visit Bramma's house.....there are NEW and different toys to play with !

I'll be going to Fall City to spend the week helping Jenni out.......more time with my grandsons! Yeah!