The Bubble Gum Wall

If you were to visit us in Seattle, we could take you to interesting places such as the Bubble Gum Wall where tourists display what they have been chewing and take photographs of each other.

Office

This is the remodeling project I've been working on.  A fish stuck to the ceiling would have this view.  Pretty good work even if I do say so myself.  I am going to have to wait a while before I tile again though.  I need to forget what it is like to scrape up linoleum and then lay down tile on my knees.  I like my Ikea "Billy" bookcases.

Baring Mountain and Barclay Lake

Yesterday was a nice day for a walk and we hiked to Barclay Lake which nestles between Baring Mountain shown here and Merchant Peak off picture to the right.  The elevation is 2420 feet.  Note snow higher up to the left on Baring Mountain.

It is a beautiful walk and the trail is kid friendly with nice camping spots along the lake.  Because of the relatively short distance (2 miles) and the gentle trail it would be a good first walk in camping trip for families and beginners.

Vashon Ferry

The internet has been out here at the house so no chance to update.  Also, I've been doing home remodeling so limited time to get out and photograph but here is a photo from the back porch I took one evening of the Vashon Ferry.  Low light, hand held with a telephoto lens, and enlargement means jitter and lots of noise.  I don't do many abstract photos but thought this one was interesting.  

Fishing for Pinks

The pinks are coming! The pinks are coming!  The pink salmon that is.  These fishermen are at Lincoln Park.  The pink run occurs on odd years, and this being 2011, they are here.  It is supposed to be a good year but I saw more fishing than catching when I was down there watching.

An Angry Mountain

Mount St. Helens did incredible damage when it erupted in 1980 and 30+ years later that damage is still very evident.  When the north side of the mountain blew away, the mountain lost 1000 feet of height.  Note the snowfield of the glacier forming in the crater and the glaciers that still surround the mountain. 

In this photo the volcano pokes through the clouds and towers above the lava, rock, and mud flows below.    It is now quiescent but will undoubtably erupt again in future.  At least we got off the mountain without incident.

The remains of a tree blown away by Mount St. Helens surrounded by wildflowers.

Spirit Lake

A view of Spirit Lake in background with wild flowers in the foreground on the climb up to Windy Ridge near Mt St. Helens.  It deserves the name, it was windy.

A panorama from the top of Windy Ridge.  Mt St. Helens is at the far left in background and Spirit Lake is in the foreground.  On the far right, the grey area in the lake is a log jam from trees brought down by the eruption in 1980.  The barren areas in the phtograph were forested before the eruption and are slowly recovering.  Notice how the backside of the hills and ridges were spared some of the damage that occured on the side facing the volcano.

Mt St. Helens Waterfalls

This is Big Creek Falls on the south side of the mountain.  The rivers and creeks are fed from glaciers on Mount St. Helens.

Falls on the Lower Lewis River

North Head Light

The North Head Lighthouse, built in 1898, marks the north side of the Columbia River in Washington.

There are two buildings on the North Head where the head lighthouse keeper, his two assistants and their families lived.   They are now available for rental.