Alaska Ferry

Aboard The Columbia, and sailing The Inside Passage To Alaska..be sure to bring tie downs for your tent.
Ok, so maybe it is a bit late to set sail, now that the days are getting shorter, but still possible, and you can rent a cabin room, but seriously, every Friday the ferry leaves from Bellingham, to Alaska, and it's a much nicer trip, I think, than a cruise ship.

They have a great restaurant, and a snack bar, and the views are incredible, and it's affordable..

Check out The Alaska Marine Highway.

International Fountain Seattle Center

This fountain is a favorite with Seattle Kids and grownups alike, at The Seattle Center, it's the hub of folk life activity, and plays music and spurts water. I swear it has an operator that tricks kids into getting wet. A job I'd love to do for a day...

Ummmm, some scenes need no introduction

Since I haven't been out and aboat as The Canadians might say, this is from last summer at Dutch Lake  Resort in BC.

Escargot Begonia it is!

I asked and JM told me it was Escargot,, 

good name for this begonia.. 

Thanks for everyone's interest..

Begonia rex ‘Escargot’ is attractive and hardy. It might just be the perfect house plant, as it resists diseases and insects. It handles all but the worst neglect. Best of all, crop production is fast!

Begonia rex ‘Escargot’ gets its name from the unique way that the leaf curls in on itself, creating a spiral effect that resembles the shell of a snail. Someone in marketing was thinking when they devised the more sophisticated name of ‘Escargot’ over the less catchy "snail begonia". The name sells the plant.

The deeply spiraled leaves of Begonia rex 'Escargot', marked in bands of silver and green, are the hallmark of this hybrid that drew quite an audience when it was launched in the United Kingdom and U.S. 

Cultural Information

Soil: Light, well drained, e.g. peat and perlite, pH 6.2-6.8

Light: 1800-2500 ft candles. Petioles stretch at low light levels.

Nutrition: 180 ppm N, balanced feed.

Moisture: Allow to dry between irrigations.

Temperature: 60F Nights. Fuel Saver: Can grow with 50-55F nights.

Spiraling Begonia

I don't recall this begonias name, but I had to have one. It has been neglected terribly, yet is a monster in my bistro room..

Anyone know the name?

 I think it is some Rex Begonia.

Mt Shuksan....another view, full Pisces moon

This Mountain is on calendars all over the world, and is one of the most photographed mountains.  (refection is in Picture Lake)

It's melted quite a bit by this date, and new snow has not yet arrived.

 Mt Baker is behind me in this photo. 

Baker is the most famous place for snowboarding in the US.

Oh I see now I duplicated this from a few days ago, sorry....

here is some foliage at Shuksan.

Full Moon on the water

Full moon with Mt Shuksan and fall colors

Fog at a Horse Ranch

Fall Color in the Mountains

Horses In The Fog near Mt Baker

Mt. Baker is a volcano about 2 hours from my home.

When I went to Baker (MT) for the full moon,

I saw this pasture with rolling fog on the way home early in the morning.

It was so beautiful, early though, maybe not a very illuminated shot.

 

There are three volcanoes out that way, north, and of course

 Mt Rainier is South and East of here, along with Mt Adams and St. Helens.

These photos can be viewed much better by enlarging, and I have been selecting a nice large size for viewing.

Pisces Full Moon (Harvest Moon) and Mt Shuksan, last night

Drove to Mt Baker last night to photograph the Pisces full moon,

 but I liked the fall color in the landscape better..

Giant Green

 Giant Green Sea Anemone

These live to be 100 years old, They grow larger or smaller depending on food availability.

Maybe we're related?

It's amazing what they can eat.

Hole in the Wall Beach

A Typical Mukilteo Peek a View of Mt Baker

A neighborhood where I walk sometimes, not far from home, with this peek a view of Baker.

Only visible on a clear day, so it is a rare sighting where I live, all in all, due to fog and drizzle.. 

 I call myself a Nimbostratusdweller, my abode is in Nimbostratusland.

Driftwood?

A Wild Beach

Yes, a beach, and these are the small logs!

Old Growth ends up here from rivers that flow in from the rain forest (The Hoh). It is a remarkable place. Quite unique in the world.

The fog isn't creepy at all, but the photos don't do the beauty justice. It is a place to see for sure.

But I have imagined it as  a movie site, a horror movie, because it is a pace that could be a horrific disaster, if an earthquake hit 12 miles off the coast, An ensuing Tsunami could reach the beach where you're camped in 9 minutes..

You couldn't run down the beach in that time, you would have to go over hill..it could be dark, cold and scary.. Can you tell I have been there done that in my imagination?

Save The Face of the Earth

Just to your left, in  my sidebar is a link to Theocracy  Watch

Please visit that site if you are from the US

 and want to be informed about the upcoming election.

We really need to get this administration OUT that has taken us to war. 

McCain has voted with Bush 90% of the time.

We need to change and can't afford to vote in someone who might look popular,  

as McCains running mate appears to some people,

or that can be related to as someone like us.

 She simply isn't 'like' us.

This is a dangerous situation, don't take this election lightly.

 Please.

Become informed. 

The environment is a major concern.

We have a symbiotic relationship with earth.

 The Republican party is not the party of Lincoln anymore. 

It has been taken over by Fundamentalist leaders, hijacked.

Women will not have power or anything for long in this country if we become a Theocracy.

Protect our fragile democracy, VOTE for OBAMA this election.

VOTE for Democracy, not for Theocracy..

Become informed!

Save America, Save the earth.

A VOTE FOR MCCAIN IS A VOTE FOR THEOCRACY!

A Democratic Vote is a vote to protect our freedoms of choice, our Democracy.

The world is watching and counting on us..

VOTE OBAMA

Please and thank you!

Sunset

At the Pacific Ocean

Seastack

Pacific Ocean, Rialto Beach ...again in fog..with giant drift wood of old growth trees..

The Nisqually Glacier Carved this out of the Side of the Mountain

It moved about 3 feet a day. I guess there is more of the Glacier up above on Mt Rainier.

Mt Rainier, trees

For Abu Dhabi/UAE Daily Photo.....Abu Dhabi/UAE

A Piece of home for you!

Old Growth

As in "old" Growth

The Ohanapecosh River, pure of glacier sediment

Old Growth trees at Mt Rainier

A nurse log has done a good job  here...

An uprooted tree showing it's  large base, this is huge:

A nurse log provides life giving nutrients for seedlings

and these aren't nearly the largest...see Nurse logs that have fallen, huge trees that others grow from, some of these have large trees growing out of them..

Bio Toto, at Mt Rainier National Park

It has a warm seat...ahhh, on a cold morning, I raced to the toto!
I must get a heated seat for home.. you simply can't imagine!

In Japan I was familiar with toto, the toilet room is in fact called the toto.
In large department stores there the seats automatically flush, and cover the seat with a new plastic sterile liner. It's on a tube that shifts it's way over the toilet seat..

I think it's a nice feature.

This is one, I am not sure how many the park has of the Bio Toto, but this was at Cougar Mountain Campsite.

Steller Jays at Mt Rainier

Be sure to check in tomorrow for the ToTo at Mt Rainier. (from Japan)

Mt Rainier National Park, Big Trees

(click to enlarge and get full effect)
For anyone who doesn't know Mt Rainier is a volcano, one of many here along the Pacific Coast...


Returned now from Mt Rainier National Park. I went to see the Grove of The Patriarchs, a small grove of old growth trees standing since 1000 years ago when a fire went through the valley killing off all the the older trees that came before them.
( thanks for the suggestion Linda) I had not been to this part of Rainier yet.

I'm not showing the Patriarchs here, just some other large trees in the area. The reason is the Patriarchs are guarded by unsightly wooden pathways and porches and rails to keep people from damaging the trees. It is so sad we can't even manage these days to leave them alone, and just look at them without making a man made environment for them to survive in, just to protect them from people who touch and climb until they are worn smooth and damaged by roughness.
I apologized for us all. The old trees are huge and beautiful, yet unsightly due to the 'fenced in look' surrounding them.

Mostly I took photos of these other Cedars and Douglas Firs. Very large too, and beautiful.
The first one is a Douglas blocking the trail. It's texture is so deep and it is so amazing.

The other two photos are one Cedar ( Western Red, Thuja Plicata). Too large for one photo.
Please look at the posts below this one to get an idea of what we are doing to our environment and what has been done in old growth and how it affects us.



I'll be visiting some more "big trees" to show soon..until then, here is a Steller Jay from the park, Michelle. I could almost sprinkle salt on it's tail I was so close.