Plains of Abraham

A few weeks ago the three of us (me, Bridget and Eric) drove down to Mount St. Helens for a hike to the Plains of Abraham, a vast, desolate, pumice strewn area that allows up close and personal views of the mountain. On our way to the trailhead we stopped for a quick look at Spirit Lake.
From the trailhead we followed the maintenance road to the trails. Before too long the mountain came into view.

The trail continued along the ridgeline so up we went.

From the higher vantage point Mt. Rainier came into view.

Once we reached the Plains of Abraham we lunched it up while enjoying the unobstructive views of Mount St. Helens.

During the return trip there were clear view of Mt. Adams and the blast zone from the 1980 eruption.

Return to Rainier

Wine Country Weekend

Meet the Kilkers

Fair Enough

Bridget went home to Des Moines in August for a visit with family and friends. It just so happened that the Iowa State Fair was being held the weekend of her visit. I've been told that the fair is a one in a kind event that is not to be missed. Below is Bridget and Bernie checking out some blue ribbon livestock.
Next is the world renowned butter cow. That's real butter people.

Here we have the first place pumpkin weighing in at over half a ton. That's a lot of pie!

Bill decided to get into the action by posing with the sand sculptures.

Finally, the Iowa State Fair just wouldn't be complete without a genuine Iowa chop. Good eats!

Dr. Fleischman?

Roslyn, Washington served as the locale for many of the exterior shots in the television show Northern Exposure. About 80 miles east of Seattle, the small town remains small and still retains features of its show biz past.

Sauk it to me

Sometime in August we went to the northern Cascades for a hike up Sauk Mountain. The sky was overcast so we didn't have the views of Mt. Baker we hoped for, but the misty mountain had its own appeal. Even though it was August it was still cool enough to pull out the fleeces.


After the hike we stopped by an organic berry farm and bought a half flat of blueberries. What to do with all those blueberries? Pie of course!

Frolf anyone?

The Baker-Whites recently discovered the quintessential Northwest sport of disc golf. There are plenty of courses in the area parks and eighteen "holes" can make "fore" a laid back afternoon. Check out the form.


The best part of the park pictured above is the fact that the entrance road to it is teeming with blackberry bushes. Blackberries are an invasive species in this part of the world and it seems that a lot of people around here resent this fact to the point that they fail to enjoy their sweet, sweet goodness. What fools. We, of course, took full opportunity of the ripe berries to the point of baking four blackberry cobblers in the span of three weeks. Yum!

The salmon are running, the salmon are running.

A couple of weeks ago we visited the Hiram Crittenden locks in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. The locks connect the Puget Sound with Lake Union and with the surrounding park are big attraction for both tourists and locals. The site includes a salmon ladder which allows Coho, Steelhead, Chinook and Sockeye to bypass the locks and swim upstream to spawn. There is also an observation area so you can get an upclose view of the hard swimming fish.