Traveling to the Ends of the Earth

Okay, well maybe not the very ends, but at least to northwest end of the continental USA! We took a road trip last weekend. We boarded an early morning ferry from Edmonds, Washington and jugged our way over to the Kingston dock. The sailing was just long enough for strong coffee and pastries to be consumed

Edmond's Ferry Terminal at low tide. See the ferry in the top left corner?

A hungry grey heron catches his breakfast.

 Julie Ann picks up a sleepy Dungeness crab. Mind those claws!

 A sunflower starfish craws beneath the pier.

 

Nudibranchs (sea slugs) were out in full force. We love these tiny little critters!

 A pod of sea life eggs. We aren't exactly sure what these are, maybe a dogfish shark?

We journeyed on to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula. It was beautiful sunny day, in the nineties at our home, but in the low eighties near the water, perfect! We cruised around the suburb farmers' market finding delicious goat cheese rolled in white pepper and time, hard ginger apple cider, homemade crackers, cherry tomatoes, and lots of fruit. We had a delicious picnic lunch at one of the town parks.

Then we drove a very long and twisty road out to Neah Bay, Washington. Did I mention long? 

The distance didn't seem that great, but most of the curves were down in the 20-25 mph zone; 

so it took awhile! Here's what I thought of some of those hairpin turns!

But,

It was worth it!!!

We drove through Neah Bay and arrived at the trail head around 5:30pm.

David and Anni hiking the forest trail to the point.

Unusual trees lined the path as well as voracious mosquitoes. Apparently, they loved my blood the best!

Check out these photos of Cape Flattery, the NW tip of the continental USA

  There are lots of rock islands,

 trees at precarious angles,

water from aquamarine to deep blue,

 and huge sea caverns.

 Cape Flattery Light House.

 Sunset at the Cape.

 Heading back toward Port Angeles. A tired duo.

 Twilight on the Peninsula

 The moon over the water back at the Kingston ferry terminal. We caught the last boat back at 11:05pm. We all slept in the next day! 

All in all a most excellent family adventure to the end of the earth (or so it seemed).

Our 6th Day of Snow in the Seattle Area!

 January is the month I teach Anni about winter weather. I think we may have tempted the weather fates. They blew a cold front that's been drifting snow down since last Saturday.

 Anni's winter art.

 Snowmen rule the bulletin board.

 And they're taking over the mantel.

 Snowflakes hanging midair between the learning center and the dining room.

 We braved outside to feed the chickens.

 They were hungry and so not amused by the snow.

 A rhody in winter white.

 Barkley, have you been eating the snow again?

 Snowflake sugar cookies.

 No two are exactly alike.

 Is it nature or the unsteady hand of the decorator?

The flowerpot snowman standing guard over the garden. "Back you snow goblins!"

 A ginormous icicle handing right over the center of our front door, ready to nail the unexpected.

 Is this the rare Northwest tree squid?

 Nope, just a frozen wind chime anchored by an aggressive grape vine.

The official family snow-o-meter.

We've enjoyed our winter respite, but seriously Weather Fates, enough! My farm box is coming tomorrow and I don't want to have to sled seven miles to pick it up!

Hiking and Harvesting

We've been hiking a lot lately (since the arrival of the sun!)

 One of our favorite hikes is to the Wallace Falls, just off of Highway 2.

David and Anni check out the view on the trail.

David does a bit of rock hopping.

Anni is a happy hiker.

Alex and Ari are wondering if their game boys are missing them.

Mossy trees at the start of the woods.

The Wallace River is full of rocks, lots and lots of rocks.

Big rocks, small rocks. Flat rocks, round rocks.

(Sorry, I just had to go Zuessical for a moment.)

What is this strange thing?

Eek! It was the old wasp nest.

Here's the new one directly overhead.

Double Eek, eek!!!

Berries on the bush.

Ferns abundant along the lower trail.



The undercarriage of the fern with the (a-hem) reproductive structures.

Slug approaching mushrooms.

Slug devoring mushroom.

Go, sluggy, go!

(More hiking photos tomorrow)

Well, it's been a busy few weeks down on the funny farm, too. Summer's arrival in the Pacific caused the garden to go Kaboom! We are having what to do with the zucchini contests daily. Currently, there are 22 residing in my fridge! The raspberries and blackberries finally ripened, and the strawberries decided to bloom again! We also have 17 tomato plants spewing forth red, orange, yellow, and chocolate colored cherry tomatoes. The rainbow carrots are determined not to be left out of the action, with white, cream, yellow, orange, red, and purple goodness.

Here are the zucchini cheese muffins Anni and I baked using some of that zucchini,

along with chives from the garden and local cheddar cheese. They're a family fav.

Did I mention they were ginormous? That's Alexander's big 16 year old hand! He's enjoying his new program at the high school. He's a proud viking. David and Alex went to the school's first home football game last night. They shut out their across town rival! Go Viks!