Port Townsend, WA

Gallery posters along the main street

Sewer/street detail

My daughter beachcombing

The Palace Hotel on the main street

Along the Shores of Lake Crescent

One reddened pine stood out from the others.

Port Ludlow, WA

Beached starfish

Port Ludlow, WA

Honeysuckle blossom along the shoreline

Empty crab shell on seaweed

Giant horsetail grass

Wild white blossom

Clean that Dog!

Gave Buddy a couple good baths and cut a bunch of the mats out of his fur. Then I tried to give him a homemade schnauzer do, but I'm not the best groomer. He was good about it, though, and stood there nicely while I tried to trim him. He does look much better than before.

We were laughing so hard taking this photo. I wanted his ears to stand up in their full glory so I made this high pitched whining sound. They would just pop up in the air! It was so funny.

You've Got a Buddy in Me

I have a link to our local Humane Society which I check pretty regularly, always on the lookout for another mini schnauzer. I've been wanting a second schnauzer for a couple of years now, but they never show up. I checked Friday night, breezing through the photo list of adoptable dogs - no schnauzers as usual. Saturday morning, there was 'Brad', a one-year old male mini schnauzer. I grabbed Lexie and her leash and yelled to my husband that I was running to the Humane Society! A couple of the kids came along as well, which wasn't much help in making a rational decision.

At first the staff couldn't find him and I figured he had already been chosen by someone else. I sat on the bench for a good long while and let the kids go play with the kittens. Getting restless, I wandered into the education room and found a computer with Internet on it. I went to the website again and sure enough, he was still listed. I went back to the reception area and asked again, and this time they looked in the back rooms where they keep dogs who haven't gotten out to the viewing rooms yet. They found him and let me meet him - alone first, then with the kids, and finally with Lexie. All went well and I brought him home.

The kids wanted to name him Wizard, and we tried this for a day, but it didn't seem quite right. Dad wanted to call him Buddy, which I think is boring, but my daughter had a good point when she suggested we let Dad name him with the hopes that he would feel better about me having brought him home. So, his name is Buddy, though I did add Grau for a middle name. Grau means gray in German, both of which he is, of course.

Lexie, our first schnauzer, doesn't seem thrilled with this development. She's not hostile, but she's not exactly friendly either. I already gave him a bath and sort of a haircut, and am taking him to the vet today for a complete check-up. I hesitate to post his photo because he looks pretty rough, but this was before his bath and grooming. Stay tuned for his updated photo after his vet visit, and then his groomed photo after his appointment at Pampered Paws in early August.

This panoramic view of Seattle with Mt. Rainier in the background was created by stitching together 12 individual shots in Photoshop Elements. The problem with this blogger program is that you can't really post photos very large, making this panorama almost too small to be appreciated. On the other hand, at this size you can't make out most of the sneaky little things I had to do to get 12 photos to get along in such a small space. There was quite a bit of work involved to get it this far. If I may borrow a limb from a friend, on yet another hand, you can always click on the photo itself and it will blow up. Sounds like fun, huh? Just try and ignore the blending imperfections.

Lake Crescent

Lake Crescent has this milky, minty blue water that I tried to capture on film. As always, I love what reflects in the water and how this changes the surface.

Ruby Beach

Kalaloch Beach

Note my husband walking on the driftwood in the middle of the frame. This stuff is gigantic!

Again, note the two tiny people on the beach.

The large flower-like root system of the dead tree in the foreground was easily 20 feet in diameter.

Ruby Beach

This was my very first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. Ruby Beach is a gorgeous place to have done this. One of the most surprising things about the Pacific Coast was the amount of driftwood and the enormous size of the individual pieces. They were just huge.

Man's Best Friend

I found the Pacific Northwest to be a very dog-friendly part of the country. These pooches were in Port Townsend, WA.

Art?

Lichen on rock with bird poop, Port Ludlow, WA. Remember, you saw it here first.

Fauna at Huricane Ridge

Deer hunting is not allowed in the park so these guys had little fear of humans. Check out the toes on the chipmunk.

Engine No. 35

Port Gamble, Washington

Avalanche Lily

Avalanche lily at Hurricane Ridge.

Sea Holly - See!

Erigeron or Sea Holly in the gardens at the Chittenden Locks, Seattle.

New Growth

This evergreen sporting new tips was near Hurricane Ridge.

Cafe Next to the Locks

More Locks

This blogger thing only lets me upload a certain amount of photos at a time, so I had to split this grouping up - here are some more from the Chittenden Locks.

Locks

My cousins took us to the Hiram M. Chittenden locks on Lake Washington in Seattle. You can go underground to a viewing room with glass walls and see the salmon running upstream underwater. I tried to photograph interesting bits of the workings and channels.

Pike Place Market Fish Stand

This is the place in Seattle where the guys throw your fish around. They looked like they were having a good old time at their work, shouting out catchy phrases, pulling a string on a rigged-up monkfish to make it seem to snap at customers and curious children, performing a choreographed presentation of professional fish sales to appeal to the crowds gathered around their stall. It was fun to watch, I'll admit. I didn't stick around long enough to see fish tossed, but this is where they do it.

Pike Place Market

We had a wonderful time running around Pike Place Market in Seattle. I could have spent a couple more hours there at least, browsing the shops and taking photos along the way. We saw the original Starbucks, a street magician and cheese being made at Beechers Cheese. I loved it.

View From Hurricane Ridge

Tree Skeletons

This was taken near Hurricane Ridge on the northern part of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. The bleached trunks of dead trees stood out nicely against the evergreen background.

The Pacific Northwest

I have just returned from a family reunion/vacation in Seattle and various parts of the Olympic Peninsula. It is after 3 am and I just had to download and post a few before collapsing. There will be many more to come.