Spent a wonderful sunny Saturday afternoon lounging at the Beach.
POSTCARDS from Deception Pass Beach
Views from Beach Spot
the kiddos
the ladies
My toes in the sand
The girls brave the water - the Sound is COLD!
Isabel
Katie
Harry - googles and all
Alex tossing rocks
Here comes the fishermen
Micaela & Alex
A beautiful day
This year the friend family (aka the gang) camped out at Deception Pass State Park campground. Lots of little hikes in the area, two beaches and a lake for swimming. We had a relaxing and enjoyable long weekend. Highly recommend the location, book early to get a good site. Some spaces are tiny.
I've a metric ton of pics 500+ (whittled down from 800!). Going to break my posts out into hikes or events and share a few of my favorities.
Saturday morning alot of us hiked over to the bridge. Micaela & Thom took the girls earlier, but we did cross paths eventually. We lost Parker to the call of the water and his fishing rod. But the rest of us had a great little hike. Fabulous views of the straight from the bridges.
POSTCARDS from Deception Pass Campground Hike to the Bridge
B & the boys
1/2 way there
Our beach - camping sites right behind the big black rock
Time to start climbing
Almost there
Crossing the Bridge
Views looking West from bridge
Long way down
Crossing under the bridge
Views of the Pass looking East
Hi Eric!
Harry & I
Back down to the beaches
As you can see by the change of banner, football season is upon us. I'm a very fortunately football fan. My wonderful sister takes me to a good number of Seahawk home games. And along with a fair share of the gang, I've U of WA Husky season tickets. Both are very different gaming experiences and crowds. Seahawks - up close and personal, great views of sideline activities, deafening and rambuncious. Huskies - nosebleed section (albeit a great place to see plays develop), views of Rainier and the Lake, youthful excitement and college pride. Fun times.
Yesterday, the Huskies eek'd out a win over the E. Wa Eagles. Gotta say there is a reason the Eagles were the Nation Champs in their division - the QB has quite an arm! The game was sewn up in a last minute heart stopping interception in the endzone by our boys. If this is a preview for the season, I should start taking an aspirin a day now! Yikes!
The bonus of Husky football is tailgating. Yahoo! We kicked off our 2nd year tailgate in fine style. I spent 2 nights into the wee hours of the morn and Sat AM in my kitchen chopping, cooking and sauting. That is a very happy state for me.
Menu consisted of BBQ Bacon wrapped Jalapeno Poppers from the Pioneer Woman's Cookbook, Wings prepared two ways. First Jerk Style with the jerk marinade from Steven Raichlen's Indoor Grilling with a Jerk Sauce from a last minute web search when the wings needed a tad more pop. Both recipes gave the wings great flavor, depth and lovely spice without too much heat. The 2nd wings preparation were the Bayou Cajon wings from the same Steven Raichlen book - dry rub & sauce. Yum! Think it was a tie between the two preparations as a clear winner was not declared.
The tailgate ended with a Taco Salad Bar with lots of fixings. Except I realized much later the I forgot the avocados in my fridge. The boys had a variety of homebrew, domestic and imported beers, while the ladies drank Jameson & Gingerales. Good times.
POSTCARDS from Husky Stadium 2011 Home Opener
Beth, Gin & Jen
Parker, B & Guest
Eric & Guests
The E Wa family
Pete & Ty
Ty & Corey
Steve & Dee
Me and the girls (love my crazy hair!)
Last of the poppers and wings - too busy cooking to capture many food shots
Yes, that was a climb!
Parker & I in seats
The Band (note the length of the shadows)
Beautiful day on Lake WA
Bro-In-Law's guest appearance on the visiting team sideline
2 minutes left in the first half the sun peaked below the roofline...Time to bake!
Golden Sunshine
The Mountain's out
Note the length of the shadows now...fun to watch the shadow play from on high
Shadow of the goal post almost make it to the 50 yard line.
Game winning play was in the corner of this endzone right in front of us.
Oh, it certainly wasn't a pretty win, but it's still a 1 in the "W" column. Let's make it a little less hair raising against Hawaii next week. Okay boys?!?
Last weekend the friend family camped up at Deception Pass. What a lovely weekend get away. Relaxation, campfire, toast marshmellows, hiking, laughter, friendship and sunshine.
Fun summer time tradition. We all enjoyed this destination.
As I'm processing photos, I'm going to start with the interplay between smoke & the sun. Here's a few morning pics of the light streaming through the campground. Entraced by capturing the light.
POSTCARDS from Deception Pass Campground
Lamenting the vast volumes of memories that disappear with age. Where are all the loves, hurts, joys, accomplishments, dreams and heart breaks? Woven in the fabric of my being so tightly that the individual threads disappear. Leaving the impressionistic overview, details fading into the background.
Sometimes my memory will attach to a tiny little detail breaking forth a tidal wave of love lost. And so it is with Queen Anne's Lace. This delicate bloom always bring me back to my Grandmother's in rural Pennsylvania. Sunny days picking bouquets with my sister or cousins on the way to the school playground. A golden glow shimmering all around.
Happy, warmth, laughter, love, kinship ... just beautiful.
Miss you Grandma! These blooms are for you wherever your soul is today.
POSTCARDS from the Garden
Splendid contrast - spiky sharp edges topped with feather soft plumbs. Thistles are in bloom. Small wonders to behold.
POSTCARDS from Magnuson Park P-Patch
This is actually my artichoke
aerial shot of my artichoke
Life surprises you in small ways. Someday, I'll fill you in on my affinity with the humble bee and why one is tattooed on my right ankle. That is a story for another day.
Editing my evening photo shoot from our P-Patch, I was quite tickled that I captured a few of my winged friends by lucky chance.
POSTCARDS winks from the bees
It's Friday! Bee Happy!
Best laid plans go astray. So far I've only managed to squeeze in one hike a month. July and Aug need a stepped up pace if I'm going to complete the required 6 hikes for BWT.
My June hike was to Heather Lake near Mt Pilchuck. Beautiful hike. Pleased to report that yes, I was the slowest going up, but my pacing was in the middle of the pack for the beginning of the journey. Oh, I sucked serious wind up the hill. But I made it up and back safely. That's all that counts.
Really enjoyed hiking with this group. Our leader Heidi was fun and inspirational. She cheered me on sharing that when she started hiking she weighed about what I do now. "Hiking Heals" is her motto. Love it!!
The last 1/4 mile to the lake we encountered snow. While I did land in a snow drift at one point, it was a refreshing change of scenery and pace.
Please to report the even though everything in my body hurt that night (including my hair!), my recovery time was drastically shorter than on the 1st hike. Except for the nasty blister on my right heel that sidelined me for the following week's hike. Remember Mole Skin is my new best friend. And two major thumbs up on the superfeet insoles I added on this hike. Believe this was the cause of reducing my recovery time by days.
POSTCARDS from Heather Lake, WA
Heather Lake:
Highest Elevation Gain = 1100 ft
Highest Point = 2500 ft
Miles = 4.6
Running 2011 hike tally:
Hikes = 2
Highest Elevation Gain = 1200 ft
Highest Point = 2500 ft
Miles = 9.6
It's Tulip Festival time in the PNW! Yesterday, I spent the day tripping through the flowers with my friend Julie. Blissfully, my inner shutterbug played the beautiful day away.
What captured my imagination most was the interplay with the sun and the blooms. Viewed from the right angles they absolutely glowed. Like little souls. As I am gravitating more towards lightness, these images were my favorites of the day.
Enjoy a few moments of walking in sunshine.
POSTCARDS from the 2011 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
