Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area

The Columbia River Gorge is a spectacular river canyon cutting the only sea-level route through the Cascade Mountain Range.

It's 80 miles long and up to 4,000 feet deep with the north canyon walls in Washington State and the south canyon walls in Oregon State.




Recreation
Hiking, mountain biking, windsurfing, camping, fishing, boating, wildlife watching, birding, wildflower viewing, photography, picnicking, rock climbing. You can do all this and more in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.


WATERFALLS
Through millenniums of geologic events, waterfalls have found their home in the Columbia River Gorge. A visit to the area is not complete without a visit to its breathtaking waterfalls.
Multnomah Falls is the second highest year-round waterfall in the United States. Though Multnomah Falls is grand and popular, all of the falls in the Gorge are special and breathtaking.

Pike Place Market & Washington State Ferries

We got a late start on the day today, and decided to take the bus downtown Seattle about 2:00 this afternoon. Once we got downtown and got off the bus at Westlake Center, we decided to run through the Pike Place Market and then run over and see if we could make a ferry run out to Bremerton. as luck would have it, there was a Bremerton ferry loading as we walked up and was leaving in ten minutes. usually we have to wait for the next ferry to arrive(30-60 minutes) when we try and do the walk on ferry. We ended up getting home about 7:30 this evening and were a bit tired from all the walking, but it was worth it to get some pretty good pictures and a visit to the Pike Place Market.

Kubota Garden Seattle

For years I have heard people talk about the Kubota Japanese Garden in south Seattle, and how beautiful it was. This afternoon,I decided to make my way over there and take a walk. I grabbed my camera since it was a pretty nice day out and from the moment I got there we were just blown away at how beautiful this garden was. I have been to Japan before with a high school group in 1980 and this place is as close as you are going to get to being in Japan in the heart of Seattle. As I was leaving it started to rain as I got into the car, soon after it turned to a steady drizzle.(got lucky I did not get rained on) then I got caught in the Mariners post-game traffic on the freeway as I missed getting on the I-90 on-ramp. I can only say I am sorry I can't post all of the pictures I took there. It really was hard to choose.

Seattle Mariners

Made it to my first Mariners baseball game of the year yesterday, the weather could not have been better. Seattle made it to 78 and Olympia even hit 82. Thats summer time weather around here and it is only april. The Mariners beat the L.A. Angels 8-3.

Sammamish River Trail

Went over this afternoon and did a pretty good walk at the Sammamish River Trail in Woodinville and got what I think are some pretty good pictures. I found the ornamental heritage garden and Trapper O'Brien's cabin very interesting and a funny place for a cabin. O'brien lived in the cabin and spent the fall and winter on the Skagit River in the Cascade Mountains trapping. This was around the 1800's.

Willows Lodge

Willows Lodge in nearby Woodinville, is a beautiful setting for one of the best rated hotels in the country. Chateau Ste Michelle winery is right across the street and the Sammamish River Trail borders the hotel.

Washington Park Arboretum

At last, spring is finally here...So after work today I drove over to the arboretum in Seattle, near the University of Washington.http://www.washington.edu/ Had a nice walk and took some pictures. Saw my first bald eagle in some time land in it's nest. I always love the cherry blossoms in the spring, but they don't last very long.