Enchantment Peaks

Enchantment Peak is actuall a pair of high points in Chelan County, WA, and part of the Wenatchee National Forest. At 8540ft, they are seriously high summits and attractive for late-summer exploration.

The Google terrain view of the area matches "Snow Lakes" to the middle-right. This view is facing north, from an eastbound 757 at 37,000ft.

Man-Style Baby Shower

Murphy's, Guinness, and other stouts have a lower density than ales, or in this case, cider. The difference in density allows a stable layering of two beverages with a fairy precise boundary.

This Black and Tan (or Half and Half) helped celebrate a father-to-be. The event was billed as a Man-Style Baby Shower, and delivered as promised.

Plotting and Scheming

Most planning begins with a map. Following the successful execution of an extensive road trip, further schemes are hatched.

Overheard:
"We will attack Yellowstone from the east, and descend without mercy upon Salt Lake City."

I am Awesome

Pure emotion expressed via sidewalk chalk, in West Hartford.

Note the craftsmanship here:

- accurate spelling and use of title case

- full use of the rainbow palette

- appropriate scale for the width of the sidewalk

Milwaukee Road Depot

The Milwaukee Road Depot in downtown Minneapolis once hosted 15 passenger trains per day. It was part of the Milwaukee Road's extensive network that reached all the way west to Seattle. A portion of the depot is now a modern Renaissance Hotel.

I've visited this railroad elsewhere: across the Columbia River, and near Ellensberg too.

Little Book of Zen

Further geocaching naturally led to additional travel bug discoveries. Here in Idaho, I discovered the Little Book of Zen, and moved it along to Palm Springs the following weekend.

"The reverse side also has a reverse side."

Palm Springs

All the contradictions of inland California were visible on my brief visit to Palm Springs:

Daytime lawn irrigation
Parched mountains in the background
Heavily eroded dry riverbeds
Extravagant water features
Idle wind turbines

I hadn't recently experienced the blast of heat and squint of sunshine unique to this sort of environment.

Gobble Gobble Turkey

These delicious wild turkey toms were roaming about Lower Grey Cloud Island this weekend. When I arrived, they ambled away with a flurry of "gobble gobble" calls. A slender lady-turkey was nearby, watching the strutting and listening to the gobbling.

SEA Central Terminal

SeaTac airport has a graceful curved central terminal, offering local treats like Ivar's chowder and Anthony's seafood. The space is beautiful both inside and out. It is a fine location to see big planes like BA's 747 land and take off.

This is the view from the tarmac from gate C2, where Horizon Air boards its Dash 8's.

Real Power Is In The Background

It is surprising how much vehicle can be rented for $27. This is a 2010 Ford Expedition XLT, a 5843lb beast that is a challenge to fit in any parking space. Parked with tires touching a city curb, it looked like it was abandoned mid-street when compared against an adjacent Honda Civic. Although impressively powerful in an absolute sense (310hp), the terrible power-weight ratio makes our Jeep a better performer. This Ford gets 14mpg in the city.

In the background, the Lucky Peak Dam impounds the Boise River, and surprisingly, generates power for Seattle City Light (and our household, 400mi away). It is capable of producing 87.5MW, which is the combined power of 378 Ford Excursions. Its embankment reads KEEP YOUR FORESTS GREEN.

Columbia Estuary Sunset

Here the sun sets over the Pacific, with the mouth of the Columbia emptying into a foggy horizon. This is the view from 38,000ft aboard N827UA, an 11 year old United Airbus 319. It crossed into Washington on a 359° heading, right over PDX.

Astoria sits in the northwestern nook of Oregon, and the Astoria-Megler Bridge is visible to the keen eye across the estuary.

Glowing Bollard

Catching true morning light requires significant commitment as the days get longer and sunrise receeds into times usually reserved for dreaming.

Here the first rays light up a bollard that defines the boundary of the fare-paid area of Link Light Rail's SeaTac station.

Idaho State Capitol

The Idaho State Capitol in Boise is imaginatively situated at head of Capitol St, bounded by State St.

It is beautiful and well-proportioned, with modest house and senate chambers, commensurate with the size and population of the state.

United 747-200 Travel Bug

This is another United 747, this time a 747-200 in the classic tri-color cheatline livery. United's active fleet is a mix of battleship grey (the succeeding livery) and the blue-on-white fading tulip (the current livery).

This travel bug is eager to go see its birthplace in Everett, and I'm helping him reach that goal. He traveled from Australia to the very edge of his 6850nmi range, landing in dense fog in Larrabee State Park.

Vancouver Convention Centre Art

The Vancouver Convention Centre has tried to cover every outward-facing surface with greenness and art. Here is an installation celebrating something to do with the historic professions of settlers to the area. Or is it a memorial to the ironworkers killed while constructing the Second Narrows Bridge? The explanations seemed to crowd together.

Rhubarb Yumminess

It is rhubarb season all the way through to Canada Day - or is it Independence Day if you live in the US? Mum made a delicious rhubarb pie this weekend, and it was oh so very good!

Our rhubarb is too young to harvest. I will let it strengthen over the coming season, and see if it is healthy enough to take a few stems next year.

Arbutus Seedlings

These are a few eager seedlings of Arbutus menziesii from seeds I harvested last fall. I was advised to keep them in the fridge for a few months then plant them to germinate in the spring.

Hopefully they'll grow into beautiful trees with fantastic papery bark.