Travel & Places
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The Magic of the Ancients
As we approached the outer reaches of Olympic National Park we suddenly saw a sign for the worlds largest sitka spruce tree. Being big/ancient tree lovers, we made a quick detour down a side road to find the worlds largest spruce tree. This was a very short walk from the car, I believe around a quarter mile one way. We quickly learned that there are many giants on the Olympic peninsula, however we didn’t have the time to devote to visiting all of them. Having seen several large and old trees it is hard not to pass them up, particularly because you never know when they will be gone. What…
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Pike Place Market | Seattle
+Going to Pike Place Market was on my list of things to do in Seattle. I had no idea that the flagship Starbucks was located right there at the market—but I should have known, Pike Place Roast! We did not go in the store as the line was long and I’d already had coffee at the hotel that morning. +Honestly, the market itself was a tad disappointing. It felt more like a spiced up flea market than what I was envisioning and the farmers/craft market on San Juan Island a week later was much better. We came there expecting a bit more art than was exhibited, hoping to purchase something…
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Evening Walk Through The Seattle Center
+Our stomachs were still on Central Standard Time when we finished with REI and checking into our hotel. Intially we thought about heading to a Mexican restaurant a few blocks away but instead I spotted Bahn Thai caddy-corner from the hotel. We headed in and were asked if we had a reservation—no—but were seated relatively quickly due to an open table in a corner. We sat down and I noticed quickly that there was only one other person in jeans in the restaurant. Apparently people in the city get dressed up for Saturday evening dinners. Even in Texas I think that is rare except for the restaurants with a dress…
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The Great Kingdom of REI
Our first stop in Seattle was to the flagship REI store. As we could not fly with our stove fuel, lighter or matches we needed to purchase those items as well as food for the week. Of course we could use some new clothes too, that’s always a good excuse to go to REI. The store is huge, with multi-level parking garage and the store itself is multiple levels as well. While they did have a broad range of items, I really thought it would be a little more diverse than their other stores (I’ve been to the two in Dallas, the two in Houston, one in Austin, one on…
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The Shins
The Shins’ Port of Morrow album cover painted on the side of a record shop north of the Seattle Center. I think it was Silver Platters. I have to thank my brother for introducing me to The Shins several years ago, back when I found out about Rilo Kiley. The shop reminded me a little of Empire Records, but I never went in to see what it was truly like. I miss the days of going into a music store, putting on the puffy head phones and absorbing the music as it came into my ears….remember those days? Like in Radiohead’s Creep? Port of Morrow Simple Song Simple Song
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Muir
“It was while feeling sad to think that I was only walking on the edge of the vast wood, that I caught sight of the first palmetto in a grassy place, standing almost alone. A few magnolias were near it, and bald cypresses, but it was not shaded by them. They tell us that plants are perishable, soulless creatures, that only man is immortal, etc.; but this, I think, is something that we know very nearly nothing about. Anyhow, this palm was indescribably impressive and told me grander things than I ever got from human priest. This vegetable has a plain gray shaft, round as a broom-handle, and a crown…
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Paynes Prairie
I’m taking this week to move into a new house so new writing is scarce. I thought I would find some long-lost posts from before I moved my blog to its current format. This one is from early 2009. Enjoy! This past weekend we ventured up to Gainesville to meet Marc and Eliana since they had made it back to Florida. Chris and I had been wanting to go up to Payne’s Prairie for awhile and so we asked them if they would like to meet us and check it out. Our main reason was that we wanted to see some whooping cranes. Whoopers are highly endangered birds, with only…
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Day 1: Tomato Season 2008-2009
I’m taking this week to move into a new house so new writing is scarce. I thought I would find some long-lost posts from before I moved my blog to its current format. Enjoy! This is what the yard looked like, finally, after around six or so hours of working on it yesterday. Chris started before I did, working to right the ylang-ylang tree that has been battling itself these past two weeks, as it kept falling over. It originally was in a too small pot and a gust of wind during a rain storm blew it over, damaging one of the roots that had went into the ground from…
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Florida Trail: Seminole Reservation to I-75
I’m taking this week to move into a new house so new writing is scarce. I thought I would find some long-lost posts from before I moved my blog to its current format. Chris and I did this hike in January 2009 prior to thinking about hiking the Appalachian Trail (or even the Florida Trail)—this was on my list of things to do during my 28th year. On New Years Day our friend David and his kids dropped Chris and I off at our north entrance to where we were going to hike southbound through the Seminole Big Cypress Reservation, enter Big Cypress National Preserve, stay for a night and…
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A Ghost Orchid Time Lapse
I’m taking this week to move into a new house so new writing is scarce. I thought I would find some long-lost posts from before I moved my blog to its current format. Enjoy! In 2007 Chris found Little Slough an area in south Florida with 607 ghost orchids. We spent several summers documenting the orchids and enjoying our slough. Chris put together this time lapse a few summers ago. Enjoy!