11.23.09
Train trip
The little one turned six this week, and his birthday present was a train trip to Portland, OR.
Before we left, he unwrapped a miniature Starlight Express and hasn’t stopped playing with it since.
King Street Station is beautiful. The ongoing restoration project is very encouraging. Here is a fascinating slideshow of the station, past and present.
Of course, I’m not the only one with an opinion on Seattle’s train station. This is from the 18 Nov Seattle Times: “King Street Station sure to be a memorable eyesore
Within 90 days, Seattle will accidentally become host to thousands of Olympic fans, overflowing from Vancouver venues, eager to see what our city has to offer.
Many of them will take the train service from Vancouver to King Street Station, a poorly lit, rundown building with absolutely no amenities, and no connecting bus service — it’s a quarter mile to Metro and two miles to Greyhound. There is no hospitality center with directions to close restaurants or attractions, and here’s the kicker: no coffee — in Seattle, for god’s sake — in a place where people are milling around waiting for late trains.
King Street Station is an embarrassment to Seattle.
If this is the way we present ourselves to our guests, what does that say about us? Our Port of Seattle spares no expense at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, but in a time when more and more people are considering the train, here we are with King Street Station, the gateway to Seattle.”
— Rick Sullivan, Seattle
Good points, yet my impression is that good progress is being made, Rick. Anyway, Amtrak’s coach class is roomy and comfortable. If you’re traveling with young children, there’s a fair chance they’ll seat you in the car with other babies and kidlets, so if the crying gets to you, just take a lurchy walk through the cars to the lounge car. It’s a great place to watch the sunset (it feels like a moving conservatory, all glass windows and sunroof.
Also, the dining car is as great as everyone told us it would be. I really liked the pumpkin-cranberry pie.
A. got a kick out of playing with his toy train on the train.
Quick list of Portland highlights:
Hotel Monaco, a place for people who live through the senses.
Greek Cusina — great lemon potatoes, oregano chicken, garlicky hummus, great pita bread.
Typhoon –smoky lettuce wraps, great chicken paneng, pear and prawn salad.
Red Star Tavern — a good place to blow more than you wanted on breakfast. Seriously good food, though.
And Powell’s. Our backpacks and bags were twice as heavy as when we entered. Need I say more?
On our return, we reached Seattle 45 minutes ahead of schedule, so we stood outside Qwest Field and watched the MLS Cup on the Jumbo Tron for awhile. Go Salt Lake Real! Either way, we would have been cheering. Soccer on that level is heady stuff. 
10.11.09
Stretch Island
Yesterday we visited some friends who live on Stretch Island, about an hour’s drive away. They live amidst acres of Eden: grapes, hazelnuts, pears, and a late flush of flowers everywhere. The kids got to cut the grapes off the vine and sit on shoulders to pick the Bosc pears.
These grapes are a variety bred especially for Stretch Island, called Island Belle. There’s a fascinating history of them here. I’m going to put my steamer-juicer to work, and we’ll have gorgeous grape juice in no time at all.
You have to be careful around friends like V. I exclaimed in delight over her delicate October blooms here and she promptly dug up an armful for me. These are Kaffir lilies, and now I’ve got some of V’s blooming in my yard. They’re in glad company with some of her rosemary, yellow lilacs, and sage I’m rooting in.
09.20.09
Kayaking to Illahee
On Friday morning, B. and I paddled from Point White Pier to Illahee State Park and spent some time in the sunshine, reading this and taking in all the beauty:
Illahee Pier. Illahee apparently has various meanings, all having to do with the land. Place of rest, heavenly world, earth, or country. Section 1.2 here has an interesting history of Illahee.
We even had a visit from an otter, who swam under the pier to crack his shells and munch noisily beneath our feet.
09.14.09
Old roses and warm blackberries
Yesterday we hiked the trail around Indian Island. The water is very clear and clean, the blackberries very ripe and ready. There are even some old woodpeckered apple trees with windfall skirts and lots more little apples. We picked some (astringent, tart) and sauced them later (with sugar and cinnamon, mmm).
09.07.09
Tillicum village
We visited Blake Island’s Tillicum Village tonight–a fantastic experience with a traditional salmon-bake dinner, a performance of native dances, and time to stroll around outside in the rain-fresh air afterwards.
The salmon are baked around an alderwood fire for about an hour.
The dancer told me the headdress he wears weighs 40 lbs.
Outside, there’s a totem garden, deer grazing nonchalantly, and a little girl trying to give her mama a maori princess chin tattoo.
08.11.09
San Juan, second visit
We’ve learned something. Never try to reprise a vacation, even to accommodate a child’s birthday request. The universe has a rule that the second time can never be as good as the first, and so we found the features of this trip shaping up like this:
The original plan was to visit the San Juans by boat, borrowed boat. Just after Blain had driven it out of the harbor, the engine failed spectacularly and completely. He got to row the boat back into the marina, while S. and I paced the dock thinking of lemonade.
Having lost a day of our vacation, we set out on Saturday and arrived at the campsite to find that there was a burn-ban because San Juan county has been so dry. No campfire, no roasted marshmallows, no hotdogs. Then all that saved-up rain decided to come down on us, making the second day there sopping wet and fairly close to miserable. Oh, and the mama in this family didn’t pack anyone’s pillows because the original plan included some backpacking. What was she thinking?
We went out to Lime Kiln State Park just like last year, twice during the 2 days we were there. Did we see whales? No, of course we didn’t.
There were some bright spots, as there always are.
Black oystercatcher off Haro Strait, at Lime Kiln State Park.
Were we closer to this marine mammal than 100 yards? Guilty. But we saw the sign on our way back up, and we won’t venture that close again, even if we hear another seal making really weird sounds.
It’s pretty cute, isn’t it?
What are the kids looking at?
Clouds of clear and white jellyfish off the Friday Harbor Marina dock.
And here’s the birthday girl’s hot chocolate.
San Juan, I still love you.
08.01.09
An afternoon in Seattle
Yesterday it was B and A plus 5, with our 3 kiddos and 2 friends along for the outing. The Seattle Aquarium and Pike Place Market were bustling, just bursting and jostling with music and color and interesting people and starfish and placards. A woman rolling her own cigarette. A new octopus slowly opening its huge eye. A tap dancer. Rainbow sherbet falling off the cone. Harbor seals ducking playfully under the water and surfacing to look at you again.
S. and her friend looking back at Bainbridge.
I could watch the jellyfish forever. Can I get a picture that does them justice? Nope.
Parrot in Pike Place. Never know what you’re going to see.
07.30.09
Miscellaneous summer
Cruel heat wave in the NW = keeping doused with water, either by hose or by wave.
The kids’ sand castle at Old Man House Beach.
Point No Point was a great outing a couple of days ago with lots of Bainbridge friends.
Last night’s concert at the park was Louisiana zydeco with Whozyamama, perfect music for a hot summer evening.
The kids found a water source right away, and yep, the one manning the watergun sprinkler would be mine.
07.19.09
3 hikes in Utah
A moderate one, an easy one, and a fairly strenuous one.
First, Farmington Canyon. We hiked this as part of my family reunion; age span was 6 months to 56 years. I was surprised to find the landscape so green–Utah has gotten some out-of-season rain lately, and the canyons are really gorgeous right now.
Some interesting geology shows up in the boulders along the trail:
Since the trail is creekside, with a pretty little waterfall at one point, we had dragonfly companions.
As you hike back down, you can see the salt flats stretching out in the distance. The view reminded us of a Uzilevsky.
The second hike was a short flight of steps up the side of Big Cottonwood Canyon, undertaken with the goal of having dinner at the picnic table, and one of my favorite spots in the world: Moss Ledge.
On Wednesday, B., a brother-in-law, and I hiked Mt. Timpanogos beginning at the Aspen Grove trailhead. We started at 7 am and returned 7 1/2 hours later–going from sea level to 11,000 feet in a week took my breath away, quite literally. We didn’t quite make the summit because the snow field stretches across the trail near the peak, but we were quite close–and it was spectacular.
Mount Timpanogos as seen from the Aspen Grove trailhead.
Looking back from fairly low on the trail, you can see the Heber Valley and the Uintas. As you climb higher, Deer Creek Reservoir comes into view as well.
Waterfalls you can walk behind!
We got lucky–some of the mountain goats ventured fairly close to us.
Above the tree line, you get rocks and snowfields. But coming back down again, I took time to really notice the wildflowers absolutely bursting with color all over the mountain.
06.20.09
A new trick
I took the first day of a two-day scooter training course today; it was a little nerve-wracking and a lot of fun. Males outnumbered the females four to one in the class, and the oldest person taking the course is 84. 84!!! I hope I’m still learning new tricks when I’m in my 80’s.
The course is held in Seattle and Kent through the Evergreen Safety Council–I’ll soon have a motorcycle endorsement on my driver’s license. No telling how soon I’ll have a scooter, but I’m keen on the Fly Il Bello.
