November 2017December 2017 January 2018

12/30 - Christmas Roundup

We've been busy this Christmas season, so we haven't posted much. There were the two trees, including the Monster, perhaps the largest, thickest, deepest tree we've ever had the pleasure to put an ornament on. It was nearly impossible to water, so we needed a special self regulating watering system. (Thank you Amazon.)

Then there were the two parties, the grownup's party and the cookie party. Thanks to our friends, our little (barely over six feet) cookie tree was adorned with gingerbread, sugar icing and lots of dragee. The candle lighting went smoothly with a new fire marshall and rapid response team. It was a cassoulet year, but in all the excitement, we didn't get a photo of the cassoulet. It moved too quickly.

Once again, a wonderful Christmas season and lots of 2018 to get ready for the next one.


The big tree - That's a 10' 6" ceiling.

The big tree decorated and illuminated

The cookie tree

Godzilla in seasonal apparel

The big tree at home

The cookie tree with its candles lit

The whole cookie tree

Linzer tortes

Snow for Christmas

Cookies - the post mortem

A last goodbye

Keywords: christmas


12/14 - Why Is Olympic Hot Springs Road Still Closed?

Like many, we've been wondering when Olympic Hot Springs Road is likely to reopen. We want to get back to the trails out of Whiskey Bend and to Olympic Hot Springs. We drove out to take a look and see how the river was flowing. We parked at Madison Falls and walked past the gate and followed the road over the temporary bridge. We could see that the road wasn't in great shape, but last time it was completely flooded. Now the waters had receded, so we pressed on.

We didn't get very far. Maybe a quarter mile past the temporary bridge there was a gap in the road and a branch of the Elwha river running through that gap. It wasn't just some little stream, but a full fledged torrent, maybe thirty feet wide. This wasn't something that could be easily stopped or bridged. The remainder of Olympic Hot Springs Road, including the ranger station, was cut off.

On our way back, we stopped to study one of the signs describing the temporary trail that the park service has blazed. It cuts inland near where the road gets its first view of the river. According to the sign, the trail runs inland and uphill and continues south past the east side of the campground. It appears to rejoin Olympic Hot Springs Road down near the ranger station and the junction with Whiskey Bend Road. In other words, it is possible to head further down the road on foot, but not otherwise, and this isn't likely to change very soon.


The road wasn't in great shape.

We could see a gap up ahead.

That's a new branch of the Elwha.

Some more road damage

Even more road damage

The river wild

More of the Elwha River

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs, trails


12/14 - Seen Around Port Angeles

Here are some things we've been seeing around Port Angeles.

A Christmas Tree on the Olympic Discovery Trail west of Morse Creek

A fireboat in the harbor

Some strange clouds that look like trilobites

A little lizard, not a salamander, on the Olympic Discovery Trail

Seen on the internet - We love artificial intelligence.

Keywords: christmas, morse creek, port angeles, salamander


12/09 - Cookie City Seattle

Every Christmas we look forward to the Christmas gingerbread village displays in Seattle. Usually, they are at the Sheraton downtown, but this year they were across the street. As usual, the display was for the benefit of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and some serious design and baking talent was involved.

This year the theme was Seattle and Seattle history, so we recognized a lot of the landmarks. There were the Ballard Locks, the ferris wheel down at the waterfront and a Jetsons' vision that included the Space Needle and Rosie, the Jetsons' robot maid. There was also a bigfoot riding a girder. We'll have to check some of those construction cranes that have taken residence in town.


The waterfront

Seattle at night

Bertha makes an appearance.

Some details

The Ballard Locks

Jetsons' Seattle with Rosie up near the Space Bus

Under the sea

More of Seattle

Seattle's future skyline, except edible

Pioneer Square

Bigfoot on the move

Keywords: christmas, seattle


November 2017December 2017 January 2018