Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Rewards of a Rainy Day Walk, Harbor Seals and a Rainbow!
So here we are – it’s fall in the Pacific Northwest and that means rain, rain, and more rain, perhaps for the next six months. Okay, not really, but it sometimes feels like that. And you can’t just stay home day after day even in the midst of a pandemic. You must get out for fresh air and a socially distanced outing and hope for promised sunbreaks to appear. We did just that last week – to someplace new – Titlow Park on Puget Sound in Tacoma – where Bob hoped to practice casting and I planned to take pictures.
We arrived under rain and threatening skies and headed to the beach where we found interesting views of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
But the promised sunbreaks failed to appear so we moved on
to walk the trail through the woods, where the rain was mostly kept at bay by the trees overhead.
We finished the loop and as we made our way back to the car the rain turned to hail and we wondered about our miserable rainy day outing. But we had to eat so we went to Ruston Way for take-out – no eating in restaurants – we’re in that phase again.
As we finished our lunch in the car the rain finally slowed and brilliant blue skies appeared. We took the bait and headed out for our second walk of the day. Why not?
As you might imagine the place was mostly deserted so we had the wide paved trail to ourselves – save for a few hearty souls walking their dogs.
And then something wonderful happened.
Harbor seals! Lots of them! More than I’d ever seen in Puget Sound! Right off the beach below the bluff, there were families of them, swimming together, diving and feeding and as nearly as I could tell, just enjoying life.
At first I thought they might be sea lions but when I saw them close-up in my photos I knew they were harbor seals by the beautiful tapestry of their skins.
As far as I was concerned the day was redeemed and even though the rain returned it was okay for as we started our drive home, I saw the bow in the cloud.
So don’t believe a rainy day walk can’t have its own magic.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 
Pawsome pictures! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much! I’m glad.you enjoyed them!
I did! Beautiful pictures!
These are amazing!
Thank you!
What a wonderful group of photos!
Thank you so much! I was thrilled to see the seals!
Yay! I love harbor seals! I used to see them a lot when I lived in the Monterey Bay area in 1978-82 😀
Aren’t they beautiful?? I’d never seen so many in Puget Sound before. Now that I know where they hang out I’ll have to go back! 🙂
Definitely!👍
Shame about the weather, but worth it completely, for the seals and the rainbow!
Best wishes, Pete.
Yes, the seals and rainbow saved the day! 😊
Even if you are not on Twitter, add the share button, and I will use it to share your posts. 🙂
Thanks so much Pete! I appreciate it! I just added the button. 🙂
I would love to see what your husband uses when he fishes. I have only vague memories of my dad’s flies. One evening my husband and I sat on the beach at Yachats and watched seals surfing on the waves. They were having a wonderful time and we were the only ones watching.
My husband ties his own flies and they are all pretty and colorful with funny names like wooly bugger. I think he finds out what the fish are eating in the particular place we go and then brings the appropriate ones along.
I remember visiting Yachats on our trip down the Oregon coast. We saw a lot of seals or sea lions – maybe both – further down in Bandon. Wonderful.
You just reminded me of my dad doing the same. I am glad to know that it is still being done. Bandon was a hoot. Very New Age. Don’t know if it still is.
It’s a cute town with some nice shops, but what I remember most is not the town but the cool beach and Face Rock.