Crater Lake National Park in Winter

Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States and widely accepted as the cleanest large body of water in the world.  The shrunken crater is thought to have been formed about 7500 years ago with the island on the left side more recent.  There aren't too many visitors this time of year - saw one car on the way in and one car on the way out.

This is the park hotel closed up for the winter....  REDRUM   REDRUM

Bordertown, Nevada

We were just passing through Nevada and I don't have a picture posted in the blog from that state so...

Mono Lake

Mono Lake lies in a basin near Yosemite National Park with no outlet and is thus very saline and alkaline.  The formations in the photo rise around and above the water and are called tufa.  They are formed by calcium rich springs that form the calcium carbonate formations as they bubble into the lake.

Joshua Tree National Park



A Trip down Highway 1

The view up the coast towards Carmel.

It is mating season for Elephant seals and this one is bellowing to claim territory.  He is a bit on the small side and is about to be chased off.

These two elephant seal bulls are fighting over territory.  They are huge, weighing as much as 4000 to 5000 pounds.  The one on the right ending up losing and was chased off.  The much smaller females lack the proboscus and have a single pup weighing 60 to 80 pounds.  They nurse for four weeks and can gain up to 10 pounds a day.  After a month, they are on their own.

We also saw deer, geese, ducks, hawks, various sea birds, and several of these little fellows.  The scenery along Highway 1 lives up to the reputation.

Mt Shasta

Galveston Seawall

This statue is a memorial to the great storm of 1900 by sculptor David Moore.

End of the Jetty, Freeport

I use to fish here when I was a kid.  Caught trout, a redfish or two, spanish mackeral once, and some flounder.  But mostly I caught hardhead, gafftop if I was lucky, and pinfish if I got bored.  Oh yeah, I once hooked a seagull too.

Staircase, Olympia National Park

 This is a beautiful family friendly walk through mossy old growth along an energetic little river.

Potlatch State Park

This state park is located along the south end of the Hood Canal just off the highway not too far from Hoodspoint.

Marymere Falls

The hike to this waterfall in Olympic National Park is a family friendly stroll.

The trail starts at the Storm King Ranger Station.

Merry Christmas

Browns Point Lighthouse

Browns Point is located down the sound near Tacoma.  The lighthouse keeper's cottage looks nice and can be rented.  From 1887 until 1903 a light was hung on a post and maintained by row boat.  In 1903 a wooden lighthouse and the keeper's cottage were built.  The current concrete lighthouse visible to left was put up in 1903.  The boathouse is visible to the right.

Weinermobile

I saw the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile yesterday tooling down I5 between Tacoma and Seattle.  The last time I saw it had to be about 8 years ago or so in Houston.  Seeing the Weinermobile this close to New Years is bound to be good luck.

Ferns in Lincoln Park

It is getting colder and we have had a couple of light freezes now.

Twin Falls

It is a very pleasant walk to Twin Falls and back in Olallie State Park, a distance of 3 miles return and with about 500' of elevation gain.

Santa Train

It was a foggy day but the Santa Train was running from the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie to North Bend and back today.  Lots of kiddies and parents were waiting for a ride at the old depot.  The television series Twin Peaks was filmed in North Bend and Snoqualmie.

Driftwood at Lincoln Park

When I saw this piece of driftwood while walking along the beach below the house I thought it looked like a heart.  After seeing it on my computer, I have decided it is two figures embracing.

Castle Mountain

Here is a photo from a while back taken in Banff National Park...  Happy Thanksgiving!

San Francisco

I flew through San Francisco the other day and was going to post this photo I took out of the plane window but I didn't get around to it until now.

Sidewalk Art

Jackson is sorry he pushed over the chalk man who was emerging out of the sidewalk.

People were drawing giant eyeballs....

and trying to get into a comfortable position while drawing...

At the Park

Jackson and I checking out the Japanese Teahouse in Hermann Park, Houston.

Clearly I didn't take this photo - Jackson's mother did.

Autumn

The little Japanese maple in the front garden is probably at peak fall colors right now so I snapped a picture.  The Japanese maple is my favorite small tree - the first ones I had in my garden were in England years ago and I had a green one and a red one.  This one has a really pretty shape as well as color.

In unrelated news, I went down to the Occupy Seattle demonstration the other day.  I didn't snap any pictures, although the protesting grandmothers would have been good if I would have had my camera ready.  I did jot down what I thought were the best protest signs:

•  I'll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one
• 9% unemployed + 90% underpaid = 99%
• Wall Street is shovel ready - bury them with FDR's Glass-Steagall Act

Schoonover Bluff

This is Schoonover Bluff on Indian Creek near Anderson Missouri.  The Autumn colors aren't quite out yet but the vine on the bluff has turned.

Impressions from Leavenworth

The Wenatchee River flows through it and the surrounding mountains are beautiful.

The town has been made over in a "Bavarian" theme.  There is no historical background for this other than the setting and the desire of the townspeople to make it attractive to tourists.  The town has an Oktoberfest and Christmas lighting festivals each year.  There are wineries and fruit orchards in the surrounding area as well as a ski hill, the mountains, and the river.

Full Disclosure:  The two people in the photograph should have been there but they weren't.  This being Oktoberfest, there was a parade and they were at the head of it.  I've photoshopped them on top of the background.

And this is the real parade.  One of the more important participants was the beer wagon.

Sunset in Fauntleroy

It was the most sensational sunset I've seen yet in West Seattle....

Impressions from Poulsbo

A nice harbor

A main street that reflects (somewhat) a Scandinavian heritage.  Norwegian was largely spoken until WWII.  The town name was meant to be Paulsbo, but it was mistaken for Poulsbo on the handwritten post office request and has remained that since.

An artsy craftsy feeling.  In the case of this take on American Gothic, a quirky one at that.

Impressions from the San Juan Islands

Rush hour

Busy downtown shoppers

Limited downtown parking

Public transport

It Rains, It Snows

A neighbor told me that in Seattle it is like someone throws a switch in October.  It starts to rain.  And of course at higher elevations it starts to snow.  This week it started to rain and I noticed new snow on "The Brothers", a pair of mountain peaks visible out the back of the house.  A glacier is visible year round.  Snow was predicted last night at elevations above 5000', and the taller peak stands 6,842 feet (2,085 m). 

The Brothers were named by George Davidson, the same surveyor who named Fauntleroy, in 1853.  George married Ellinor Fauntleroy, and the mountains were named in honor of her two brothers.

The weather forecast this time of year is pretty simple:  If it is not raining, it soon will be.

Dahlias

I haven't posted a collage of flowers for a while so here you go.... There is a bumble bee near one of them if you look closely.  It was a cloudy but still day today - perfect for photographing flowers in in Tacoma at Point Defiance Park.