Lake Wenatchee

Lake Wenatchee, WA
Lake Wenatchee, WA

Lake Wenatchee State Park is a convenient stopover near Stevens Pass. We diligently made camping reservations but the week before Memorial Day we didn’t really need them.

Lake Wenatchee, WA
Lake Wenatchee, WA

The weather was cool and winds really whipped across the lake. It definitely wasn’t beach time yet.

Road trip!

Deception Falls, WA
Deception Falls, WA

We recently took our first camping trip of the season. We’ve been planning/hoping/threatening to head to the east side of the Cascade Mountains almost as long as we’ve lived in Sequim. This year we sat down with a calendar and declared that the time was right in late May.

Deception Falls, WA
Deception Falls, WA

Though we had the time set aside, the route and specific destinations were fuzzy. A week before we left we pulled out a road map, two camp guides, and fired up Google Earth. In about an hour we had a plan. This is not my usual style. I’m a capital “P” Planner.

Deception Falls, WA
Deception Falls, WA

We were headed for the drier side of Washington but traveled up the wet side of the Cascades to get there. These shots are from Deception Falls near Stevens Pass. The first shot is the Tye River. The next two are rainforest scenes…appropriate since it was – yes – raining.

Break time

Break time

Coffee breaks. Do people really take them? I don’t remember a time when I put my work aside, walked away from my desk, and sat down to a cup of coffee. Heck, there were times when I considered myself lucky to have time to choke down some lunch at my desk. Maybe that’s why, now that I’m retired, I take a long time to read our painfully thin newspaper and sip tea or coffee…slowly. And I’ll have a second cup if I please. That’s a small luxury I enjoy a lot more than the moment actually warrants.

Speaking of breaks, I’m taking a short break from blogging. I’ll be back by early June. See you then!

Savannah sparrow

Savannah sparrow

Another thing I like about this time of year is that the songbirds are back. Their music fills the air. This little Pavarotti held a lovely concert the other evening. (The zoom on my new camera is great but this shot isn’t as steady and sharp as I’d like.)

“Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?” David Attenborough

Rose season

Rose 1

The native Nootka roses are in bloom which makes this one of my favorite times of the year. In addition to being delicately, wildly beautiful they are fragrant with a soft, heady, delicate scent.

Rose 2

These roses grow like weeds. Bushes of them can be found anywhere that conditions are right, which is, really, a lot of places.

Rose 3

I took these shots with a new camera I picked up recently, a little lightweight Lumix. My bulky, heavier SLR was often lounging at home on my daily walks. After I missed the latest eagle shot it was time to remedy the situation. I expect this new pal to come along more regularly. So far I’m pretty happy with it, especially since I’ve yet to crack open the manual.