Emailing from cruising altitude at 6:36 am. Virgin America and Google are offering free in-flight WiFi for the holidays. Should be an uneventful trip. We've been up since 2 am and we're in a daze. But I can see the first signs of light out the window.
Current details and conditions.
I know we aren't getting tons of snow like what is hammering folks in the Mid-West, but this is cold and we don't like it. It's colder still in other parts of th greater Puget Sound area. Put on the kettle and pull on a sweater.
Live from my G1!
It's really cold here. Dipping into the 20's at night. Today we reached a high of 30, I think. Lows will be in the teens around us. Same for tomorrow. Granted, it's bright and sunny. But we're cold!
Misu is a smart cat. I think it's because I only allow her to watch educational programming on the computer and no TV. 
She really enjoyed this episode of The Rest of Everest. 
Before I post again? Hard to say. Summer was gone in a flash. And we are recently back from two weeks in Turkey. I'm working feverishly to edit, sort, arrange about 3,ooo shots into a manageable 300 or so for a blog dedicated to the trip. I'm also gathering info and facts and memories. Labor intensive but a labor of love. In the meantime, I will post a few entertaining shots like this one from my last trip to the grocery store.
Live from my G1!
Here is the view from the Orcas Hotel, our home for the evening. And this was also our view from our room, just one flight higher. Our room had a balcony. We sat out for a while, watching the ferries come and go and listening to the seagulls argue.
We cruised around the Eastsound Farmer's Market. I picked up two varieties of hand-made soap. S grabbed a fresh raw oyster for an on-the-go snack. For the rest of lunch we headed to Olga to eat at Cafe Olga.
Here we are on top of Mount Constitution in Moran State Park. What a view. You can see Mt. Baker clearly. So many islands are visible from this point Lummi Island, Sinclair Island, Cypress Island, Blakely Island, to name a few.
On the ferry back to Anacortes, we had a primo spot in the very front, one of the three front row cars. Of course, for 2/3 of the trip we rode backwards. But we still had excellent views. Here is Mt. Baker again, as seen from our spot on board the Yakima. 
We wanted to get away but not too away. We wanted to see some water but didn't want to deal with the long ferry lines. We didn't want to be gone all day. We headed to Camano Island State Park located on, well, Camano Island. This is the very first place I ever went camping. J. K. and A. C. and I camped overnight and I spent a very uncomfortable night in the back of a pick-up truck. But we had fun. 
S and I left around 8:30 in the morning, stopped in the U-District for coffee, stopped again for a snack and a potty break. We hit the beach by 10:45. We snagged a picnic table at the very end of the beach. We had the place to ourselves. I was looking for pictures and critters and interesting things. I found lots of color and texture. For example, this poor starfish. Looks like he got caught up in the tide and couldn't find a hiding spot. He's upside down, by the way. But this is how I found him.
We had a picnic lunch of yummy things like olives, roasted peppers, hummus, dolmas, blueberries, and some dark chocolate for dessert. 
Before we left we spotted a couple bald eagles. This is as close as I could get but you get the idea. 
Low tides reveal the best of Puget Sound. At Discovery Park on Sunday we were able to walk far out onto the mud flats. Above is Z, H, M, and S strolling to the next cluster of rocks to explore.
This garden spider was sun bathing before I began watering the nearby tomatoes. As soon as the sprinkles of water began to fall, he ran for cover.
On the drive to the trailhead at the Chatter Creek Ranger Station the scenery is stunning. We would soon discover the road was washed-out about two miles from our destination. A bad storm last winter had resulted in the river changing course - right over the road. We would park not too far from the Ida Creek Campground and walk and extra hour along a make-shift trail to meet up with the road again and eventually the trailhead.
Here is the Icicle River raging along. It was disdurbing once we reached the "end of the road" to see this raging river running across the road. And it was a bit eerie to see water up in what was last winter the woods that run along the road. 
Finally at the trailhead! From the road you quickly descend to this bridge to cross the river and begin the loop.
Some Indian Paintbrush.
The raging Icicle River.
Beautiful trillium.
The second amazing sighting of the day was the calypso orchid. You might easily step on it or overlook it. The first one we saw was just that, a single flower. We felt really lucky to have spotted it at all.
As we continued to hike, we noticed a few more, growing in small clusters. I wouldn't say we saw lots but we saw a handful of clusters. Considering how much ground we covered on this hike, we didn't see many. They really like very specific conditions and a particular soil fungus.
They stand only a few inches tall. A co-worker had tipped me off to look for these and I had forgot about them completely until I spotted one. My co-worker also told me to get down on the ground in order to appreciate the flowers subtle smell. Although I was near enough to photograph the flower up close, I completely forgot to test if it carries a scent.
Part of my head, some pines and some mountain as seen by S's sunglasses.
This is one of the best hikes we've done. Really spectacular. Very beautiful. Ponderosa pines, trillium, calypso orchids, some really odd fungi, blue skies, raging river, a great meadow, little elevation change, and countless opportunities to sit and watch the world go by. We would do this hike again even with the extra mileage to get to and from the trailhead to our car.
You can spot S hiking across the bridge. That fallen tree is leading the way.
This ponderosa pine, S's favorite tree, looks like it's leaning over to tell her a secret. Next time you are around ponderosas and the sun has warmed their bark, get up close and smell the woody vanilla scent that comes off the tree.
A recent shot of a walk down to the beach at Discovery Park. As we walked along the beach (away from the lighthouse and the crowds), the tide rolled out. We were able to wade out into the very cold water and explore the various critters and rocks and shells. Managed to get a bit of a sun burn on my arms. What a great day.
