Tag Archives: Pictures

Spring time in the Northwest…

Posted on Wednesday March 12th, 2014 by | 1 comment

Is Amazing!

The weather is so much nicer. We have had less rain and more sun with more fog then more sun and then more fog with some sun.

Today I saw my first Anna’s Hummingbird! It was bright red like I am use to and not that deep dark red we saw in Arizona. I only got about 1 second look at it, but that was all that was needed to make me happy. We have not put our feeders out yet, but will be soon. We are just concerned about the winds we still get every so often.

We also saw our first Golden Eagle today! And even better, we had time to go back to get the camera! While it was still foggy when we started taking the pictures it cleared up about 45 minutes later we was able to take more pictures with the sun out as he was still in the same tree we left him in. Lazy bird. Not the best pics as I was “just off” regarding focus, but they count.

We also saw the USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE-7) going out to sea from Indian Island. She had been dockside since we arrived in November. The first time I saw her I thought she was a building. (Crap weather prevented a good look from so far) but I was able to make out the life boats on the side to confirm she was a ship. She had the usual 2 USCG ships waiting to escort her out to the open sea.

One of the Rangers told us we will soon be seeing more and more wildlife showing up soon and the Bald Eagles will soon be tearing branches off the trees to make their nest which is something we have never seen, so I think we will be bringing our camera with us more when we do rounds in the morning.

I am still running 3 miles a day. I took 2 days off due to the whole “blind in one eye” thing when it was just too sunny for me to see properly and without excessive pain but other then that, I have done pretty well. I know my course well enough to know how to pace the hills. The only thing that slows me down now is soggy trails, harsh winds and drivers not paying attention where they are driving.

Yesterday, I was almost hit by 2 ladies who was paying more attention to whatever they saw outside the passenger window then what was in front of them, I saw them from a distance away and was going to run on the side of the road as I normally do. (I run against traffic since I do NOT trust drivers) but she started to drive like they was going to park on the side of the road where I was running toward, so I went right, then she veered right directly towards me, and as I got closer I realized they still have not seen me, and they never did see me, even when I ran past the drivers window about 2′ away.

I was so close to slapping the drivers window.

Honestly, I was looking directly at the driver and she never, ever saw me. It’s not like I am 6’2″ and 225 lbs and wearing bright red or anything.

*sigh.

Anyway, today I ran my best time ever, beating yesterday (which was my record, which was also a new best time record) by 15 seconds. 3 miles on trials, hills, and road in 32 mins and 45 seconds.

Bright sunny days, with brilliant views of Mt Baker, the Cascade Mountains and the crown jewel, Mount Rainier.

I Love the Northwest!

Once again I failed to remember I have pictures on my phone waiting to be downloaded, so some of these pictures are from a month ago, but most of them are from today.

Enjoy!

1 Comment

Posted in State Parks, what hell kind of animals are we seeing?, what the hell are we seeing?, what the hell kind of pictures are these?, where the hell are we volunteering?

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

I can see once more!

Posted on Thursday March 6th, 2014 by | 1 comment

That is always a good thing!

I still have issue with going from a dark, like in a garage, to outside when it’s sunny, but not as much as I had been having.

It has been raining more then usual, I was told we already have already passed the monthly average for the month of March and today is the 6th.

The rain doesn’t really bother me, the wind is my main issue. I grew up in the midwest and have had to deal with tornados too many times, that its something that is “deep inside” that stresses me when the winds are above 25 mph.

The biggest issue I have with the rain, is the trails have huge muddy pools I have to jump around when running, I try to keep a certain pace when I run and even a few hop, skips and a jump, can wear me out faster then I would like, and of course there is always that fear that one day I will slip and get a cold mud bath.

Temps have been GREAT! Mid 40s to low 50s as highs and lows in mid 30s. I can live with that.

We have had to order some parts for our “All in One” washer/dryer. It is a side loader, and has 3 agitators inside and 2 of them suddenly broke off, nothing but plastic tabs that slide in. We ordered 3 new ones ($15 each + s&h) since its only a matter of time for the 3rd one to break. The person Pauline spoke to told her he was not sure how we got this unit. We bought it new just over 1 year ago. It is a 2008 model.

*sigh

That was the biggest debate for us the 2-3 years we discussed this idea of full timing in a RV. Should we get a washer/dryer. It cost $1,200 for the unit we got. And after living in the RV for over a full year now. We made the RIGHT decision. Yes, its noisy, shakes the RV and whatever else, but over all, it is a time saver. Since we have been here, we see how many people use the washer/dryer here at the park. Its free for volunteers. But there is ALWAYS people coming and going from that room. The idea of having to wait in line to wash clothes would be too much.

And this is the dead season. In 2 more months there will be 15-20 more volunteers here.

Right now, the fog is once again covering Whidbey Island, I can just make out the coast line. The other day as I was finishing my run I saw another Submarine going out to sea, with the usual Coast Guard escort. Pauline was out on the trails with the camera, but she got back in time for us to grab a few good shots of it. Which where the first pictures I have taken in a week.

Pauline has been taking the camera out with her each time she walks and she is getting better with her pictures, the ones of the Great Blue Heron are probably the best pictures she has ever taken. The majority of the pictures here she took.

Tomorrow we will do a hour or so of work here in the park before we head to town for supplies and the library. This weekend we have no real plans, other then to do some birding. The current idea is to get up early, like 7am early…. UGH, and eat and go down to the spit and hopefully get some birds.

But then we found that the stupid, outdated, why the hell are we still doing this, time change crap happens.

That means Monday morning will arrive 1 hour faster…

DAMMIT!

Anyway, enjoy the pictures…

1 Comment

Posted in State Parks, what hell kind of animals are we seeing?, what the hell are we learning?, what the hell kind of pictures are these?, what the hell needs to be fixed now?, where the hell are we volunteering?

Tagged , , , , , ,

If you ever wanted to walk to Asgard, I know the way…

Posted on Tuesday February 18th, 2014 by | 1 comment

Let’s see how many of you get that.

Today was a wild one. It started off very windy and rainy, then it got very, very windy and rainy and then it just turned epic in a blink of the eye.

We was picking up branches around 11am while there was a strong gale force wind hitting from the South, it was the strongest winds we have felt from the South, and we was only about 50 yards from the Southern cliffs so we had very few tree’s between us and the sheer force of the wind.

We had a 1 ton flatbed truck full of yard debris such as tree branches, vines, brush etc. We we filled the truck bed. (Which is measured by how high Pauline has to jump to get more debris into the truck.)  And while on the way to the dumping area, we decided to drive down to the boat launch area to turn around and to see the water.

That turned out not to be such a good idea, as in the wide open the wind was hammering the truck and blowing some branches off.  The winds had to be 50+ mph. We had to return after we dumped the load to pick up what we had lost site seeing. I love picking up the same branches twice.

When we returned about 20 minutes later the winds had dropped to about 25mph. While it was still windy, it was not as windy. That is a win!

We came back home and ate lunch around noon and worked to about 2:30 while it rained, and rained more, oh it rained so much more, we could not see Whidbey Island. It was just nasty out. But also incredibly beautiful. I love being here in the Northwest! I am not sure I will leave anytime soon, but back on what I was saying…

Suddenly, it just stopped raining and boom. Bright Sun! That is when we noticed one of the must vibrant rainbows we have ever seen. It looked like it was in 3D. I took some pictures of it, but honestly, without seeing it for yourself, nothing could do it justice.

Still, the pics are pretty cool! I so love being in the Northwest!

Yesterday I got on a tractor to move some timber that was blocking a boat ramp. I was planning to wrap a chain around it and drag it out of the way, like I have in the past, and ever grabbed some chains to do this. When I got to the boat ramp I reassessed the situation and thought maybe if the gravel beach was solid, I could just push the timber out of the way and be done faster and maybe in a more time saving way?

So I walked on the gravel, jumped up and down, kicked it around some and was convinced it would hold the tractor and then I started to push the timber off the ramp and onto the rocks on the side of the ramp. I had it almost completely off the ramp when the left front tire sunk, which caused the left rear tire to sink, which brought the right rear tire in the air…

*sigh…

Once again I over thought what I was going to do. I played around trying to get myself out of the gravel, both using the bucket as a push off and turning the tractor in different directions, using larger rocks to put under the wheels and anything I could think of…

Nope. I can’t fix this on my own. I had to get help. I had to have a Ranger come pull me out.

If I did what I planned to do originally, I would have been done in 10 minutes tops. This took 45 minutes. Fun.

I have been running once more. For the most part it has been November 2012 when we stopped going to the gym Monday to Friday of running at least 3 miles a day.

Last Monday was just my second run while here, I had run around the roads of the parade ground on Super Bowl Sunday, but I really struggled on the long incline and about died just trying to get a 1.5 mile before the game.

So on last Monday I ran on some trails taking my chances on those hills and got just under 2 miles only walking for 300 yards or so. It was a struggle, but not as harsh of a one.

I took my GPS so I could get the distance and figure what I am trying to do route wise and effort wise. The next day I adjusted to a different route on another trial and walked about 50 yards and ran 1.82 miles.

The next day I hit gold! I once again changed my route and find a route exactly 2 miles and ran that 2 days in a row and both were non stop and I finished only my second 5 day running week in the last 14 months.

I have been breathing really well and I’ve learned how to control my own pace which is not easy to do when you are use to a tread mill setting the pace. A tread mill that has no hills. I have been paying more attention to my running style and realized I was blowing myself up running up hills since I changed my stride into a faster pace.

Once I realized that, I started running up hills in what I consider “stutter stepping” and I am no where near as winded as I had been. Once I figured out the ups and downs of the hills I also learned where I could “rest” and where I had to really work it.

Yesterday, I got to the second left where I had been turning and realized I was feeling really good, so I ran to the third left which got me exactly 2.5 miles.

Today, I once again changed my route and I got exactly 3 miles and had a controlled breathing rate and recovered as fast as I use to recover on my cool down walk on the treadmill. It felt good.

Of course right now I have sore feet, sore ankles and and a sore lower back and for some odd reason, I also have sore neck and shoulders. Maybe Im holding my arms too tense as I run? I’ll figure this out over the next few runs.

It was so nice during my run, I had so much Sun on me, I almost had to take off my hoodie. It was still sprinkling, I saw another rainbow, and I heard tree frogs croaking behind me and I heard another tree frog respond in front of me.

Tree frogs. Once they start talking, there is no shutting them up.

Here is another iPhone photo dump. I still can not seem to remember I take pictures with this thing.

Night.

1 Comment

Posted in State Parks, what hell kind of animals are we seeing?, what hell kind of changes are we making now?, what the hell are we seeing?, what the hell are we thinking?, what the hell kind of pictures are these?

Tagged , , , , , ,

Happy Birthday!

Posted on Thursday January 2nd, 2014 by | Comments Off on Happy Birthday!

On December 26, 2013 Pauline turned 40 and since it was the holiday the Park staff took time off while Pauline worked the office. So on Friday 12/27/2013 Pauline and I took the ferry to Whidbey Island and drove around Fort Casey to get an idea of the park since we have a offer to host there this Spring.

As soon as we arrived we was lucky to witness two large immature Bald Eagles sitting on the ground working over a carcass. And of course, we left the camera at home since we didn’t think we would get any chance for wild life pictures.

After 30 minutes or so we headed to Oak Harbor and stopped at Starbucks before continuing our journey to Everett. We always take WA 529 South when we come from the North and never once have we ever had to stop due to the draw bridge. That is until this day.

Nothing like traveling 3+ hours and having a 15+ minute stop 3.2 miles from your final destination. Sigh.

Anyway, it was a great day. We had enough time to do a quick visit with Daphna and Allen before I took Pauline to Seattle for a hair appointment while Daphna and Allen had their own errands. Daphna was planning to join Pauline at the salon, but her errands ran late, but she was able to pick Pauline up while Allen and I visited back at their place.

Pauline and Daphna arrived back home around 7pm and we got ready for a Italian dinner while sharing some great wine and great smoke. Somehow, we all ended up in the bathroom toasting Pauline with some wine, I am still not sure how that happen, maybe too much wine or smoke?

We went to dinner, and the food could not have been better. The waiter was funny and apparently he had been having a bad night with bad customers, so he thanked us multiple times letting us know we made his night and he even gave Pauline a birthday Chocolate Mousse that was to die for. Daphna and Allen had some “eggnog gelatin” that was also really good and when you mixed the two… WOW. So So good!

We went back to the house and had more wine and more smoke and many more laughs as we caught up with the last 7 months we had not seen each other. It was well after 2am when we all went to bed.

Saturday we got out of bed around 9am. Pauline wanted to do some errands, Allen had a meeting, so after Pauline, Daphna and I had lunch at a local NY Pizza joint, Daphna and I went to Starbucks while Pauline went to do her errands. After Starbucks we drove around talking before going to the marina and walking around watching the ducks, seeing the USS Nimitz at port and just enjoying the day.

We went back to the house around 3:30pm and the four of us had yet another great dinner as Allen is a master cook. More drink and smoke and laughs. Pauline and Allen went to bed around 9pm while Daphna and I thought we would be doing the same within the hour.

That would turn out to be 5 am.

One conversation went into another went into another… Ugh… We was both falling asleep while talking. So tired, but so enjoyable.

We was both so exhausted from the past few days, weeks, months as we all have so much going on, but no regrets at all staying up that late talking with a loved one.

Pauline and I got up at 9am expecting to slip out quietly so they could sleep in when Allen got up and offered to make breakfast, Daphna soon joined and we left the house at 11am. We arrived at the ferry with about 1:10 wait for the next ferry, but thankfully we have the NFL Package and was able to watch the Saints play. WHO DAT!

Things like that can make waiting a pleasure.

Pauline and I got home around 4pm. My “second wind” died and I think we hit the bed by 9pm.

We had yet another great time in Everett.

Too bad they turned our RV parking pad into a Japanese garden with a chicken coop. I would love to live in a box in that back alley any day.

Comments Off on Happy Birthday!

Posted in State Parks, what hell kind of animals are we seeing?, what the hell kind of pictures are these?, where the hell are we in the USA?

Tagged , , ,

Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, AZ

Posted on Thursday August 1st, 2013 by | Comments Off on Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, AZ

Pauline and I had some errands to do in Tucson so we decided to make a day of it and visit the Pima Air & Space Museum and Saguaro National Park East unit.

We arrived at the Pima Air & Space Museum around 9:30am and we immediately knew we did not plan the day out too well. We was both hungry as hell, so we had to start our day at the diner. We was the first customers of the day, and while it took a bit longer then we expected to get our food, the food was really good and well worth the wait.

Pauline for the grilled Ham and Cheese and I got the Cheeseburger with American cheese and we shared a side of fries. We give it 4 of 5 stars. Typical diner food, but done well. We would for sure eat there again.

We also did not wear the proper foot wear. We both decided to wear tennis shoes, but hiking boots would have been the better choice, since this place is MASSIVE in size. We tried to take pictures of everything we saw, but there was just too many Airplanes. We was going to take the bus tour of the “Bone yard” but we decided we can do that on our next visit, there is just too much to see in one visit.

We spoke to many of the volunteers while there and discovered one was Purdue Alum and many were Veterans of World War II.

We had a great visit, but again, one day is not long enough to see everything. We walked a fast pace and it still took hours.

The B36 here was in amazing condition. And We was told it is 1 of 4 left in the world. We saw another one in Atwater, CA in April, so we have seen 1/2 of the B36’s left.

The volunteers also told us they are working on getting the needed funding to build a new massive hanger for “Cold War” aircraft, so the B36, B47, B58, B52 and others.

This would have to be a HUGE hanger to fit all these birds.

The aircraft with yellow wings are trainers.

The B29 had lots of items that was used in battle along with pictures and personal items of the crew.

This was the best Air Museum I have ever been to. The Space Museum was small but nice for what they have.

Seeing 2 references to the USS America CV-66 was a very nice surprise. May she rest in peace.

Comments Off on Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, AZ

Posted in what the hell are we doing?, what the hell are we learning?, what the hell are we seeing?, what the hell kind of pictures are these?, where the hell are you eating?

Tagged , , ,