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| Our Lunch View~ |
We spent a lot of time driving... Sat. errands, all the stuff that always needs doing when Butch is home & someone has to do it... Since it was a three-day weekend & we had a movie we wanted to see - the bulb went out in the projector without warning. We found a temporary fix for that & did enjoy our movie!
Sun. we drove the
way less traveled to Issaquah, visiting a member of our family who took a fall & was in need of some entertainment to pass the time. We decided that an MP3 player loaded with a few good audio books would do the trick. We also stopped in Monroe at the
Giddy-UP Barbecue for lunch to take out & take with! (Thanks Linnea!)
Finally - today - was ours! What to do? We ended up on Chuckanut Drive & at the
Oyster Bar. I'm not into posting
food photos - but I'll make an exception, since it's a condiment - not food. :-)
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| Nice! |
We continued north on Chuckanut Drive & stopped by what's become our favorite
art gallery & sculpture garden. Only having visited once before in the winter months - we were amazed at the tiny, but mighty garden area they have - full of incredible art of all kinds. I'll let the photos do the talking...
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| Fire red impaitents~ |
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| Copper Butterflies~ |
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| Glass art! |
Visiting places like this always rekindles the little gardening fire that simmers inside me - but is usually dampened by my time in the saddle. It's hard to delicate enough time to do both well - so guess what wins out?
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| Signage |
Looking for interesting places in Bellingham, I found that they have an
arboretum. I'd printed up the trail map before we left home, it didn't look complicated & the entrance was easy to find. We parked up at the end of the access road & hiked to the lookout tower.
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| 50 some easy steps to the top~ |
What was once a beautiful view of the bay has been mostly taken out by the growth of Alders & new Big Leaf Maples. From what I've read, there's a plan to cut them & re-open the view.
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| The "view"~ |
We hiked the longest trail there, then looped back up to where we'd parked. The park has some nice Douglas Fir, but I was disappointed otherwise. Being in the middle of town & close to the College - this poor piece of land has had years of hard use. People have tried to cut between trails, damaged the ground cover & caused serious erosion in many places. Invasive plants too have gained a foothold - the worst of which is ivy...
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| The culprit~ |
Seeing it choking out the big trees is so disgusting. Discovery Park in Seattle is another place where 100's of volunteer hours have been spent trying to remove it & it still comes back. If you buy ivy & decide you no longer want it - put it in the garbage or burn it! Don't think you're doing the environment any favors by tossing it out into the woods!
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| Douglas Fir - Ivy shrouded |
Clouds moved in & by the time we'd hiked all the way back - uphill - we felt like we'd at least worked off that lunch! It was gorgous driving back along Chuckanut with the views of the water. I picked up a detailed map of the area that includes the
Blanchard Forest Block. Soon I want to make the drive up there & spend a day riding & exploring the trails. I've only been there a few times, always with others who know the trails. Another plan for another ride! :-)
