Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Trick or Treat






West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium

The West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium is held annually at Point Wilson Fort Worden, Port Townsend. An assortment of brightly colored kayaks and their equally brilliant owners gather on the shores to exchange tips, ideas, and the latest and greatest in sea kayak craftsmanship. Observers can stand dockside and get some tips from listening in on the little pods of private instructional classes, but it looks much funner to get out there and get wet. I was able to get aerial shots of this as well (in a different part of the blog).






Getting Ready

A typical evening with the Jones's. My grandbabies are adorable! Every day seems like a milestone! They are growing up super fast ...










Port Gamble

Port Gamble, Washington. Picturesque, classic, small town USA. It doesn't get any quainter than Port Gamble. 25 mph through town and one big corner. Many future brides dream of having their cozy wedding at the storybook church. Port Gamble is on our way to and from the Edmonds ferry ... and even though I go through it on a regular basis, I still find it very charming. In the fall, it's hard to get a clear shot without a photographer standing in your way! The best time of day to take pictures there is early morning as the sun crests the hill and filters into town casting long shadows. White picket fences, darling manicured gardens with oversized dahlias, fine craftmanship, patriotic spirit ... a must see.









Walks in Port Townsend

I really enjoy walking in Port Townsend. We have an abundance of public trails and you can get just about anywhere using them. Most of the time, I do not take my camera with me ... but on this walk I did. I just wanted to share with you what I see on a typical walk to the store.

Does it get any better than this?







Trip to Tokeland

Tokeland Washington ... ever heard of it? Neither had we. Steve had some business in Chehalis and we wanted to stop by some friends that live in Pe Ell and since it's a considerable drive, we decided to make the trip into a spontaneous date. Lee and his wife recommended that we stay at a quaint little inn at Tokeland, a little jut of land that reaches into the Willapa Bay on the coast. Apparently it's quite the Audubon favorite for recommending bird watchers. Not the inn, but the marina at the end of the spit. As far as the inn is concerned, we found it quite charming. It's more like an old country house converted into an inn/bed-n-breakfast. There's no cable, no wi-fi, no tv, pretty much a bedroom. European style shared bathrooms at both ends of the house, and a fabulous restaurant downstairs. Wonderfully peaceful and quiet. Oh, and that flock of birds are called marbled godwits ... I looked it up.







Whale Watching Trip

Steve and I went on the Glacier Spirit for a Friday Harbor Cruise with whale watching adventure. Friday Harbor is a quaint little town located in the San Juan Islands and from Port Townsend to Friday Harbor there is a good chance at spotting several types of beautiful whales along the way. Common are the Orcas (also called Killer Whales), unfortunately, we had an "uncommon" day and only saw one small newly weaned Minke whale and that was when we were in the last hour of our 8 hour expedition. I really enjoyed the trip, even with the lack of whales. Steve said I reminded him of a "labrador" at the bow of the boat.

Our captain took us by Minor Island to view the seals resting on shore with their pups. The is also a 5-foot in diameter Eagle nest on the ground. Apparently the lack of preditors made for this very rare occurance. We didn't get to see the eagles as they were probably hiding somewhere with the whales. We did however get to see the seal of Friday Harbor. According to the captain, the one-eyed seal has been making the marina rounds for over 25 years. I didn't know they lived that long?










Play Date with Jane




See Jane stand. Who is Jane? Jane and I went to high school together way way back when. She is also a fellow photographer. We scheduled a play date to just take our cameras out and have some fun, no kids, no dudes, no nothing.







This is part of the backwoods of Fort Worden State Park. Remember where an Officer and a Gentleman was filmed?







The apples, sea kayaks, old fort details and the lighthouse are all from Fort Worden and Point Wilson. Especially photographic area! It was fun seeing through another photographer's eyes.










The geese were a special treat along side the road. Jane actually tried barking to get their attention. We also spent a bit of time at Port Gamble, a very picturesque classic small town USA.