Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Spring and Winter in the Garden
Sorry for another weather post but this morning we woke up to more of the white stuff. It’s pretty, but c’mon now, isn’t it time for spring yet?
I thought so earlier this week and managed to do some work in the garden
with a little help from my friends.
I even found some primroses in bloom.
So much more to do but it will have to wait. Nature has its own calendar.
~ Susanne
Kitty Patterns
Benji and Tiger have lovely patterns in their fur and are happy to show them off.
But sometimes they are swallowed up by other patterns.
For Cees’ Fun Foto Challenge, Patterns.
~ Susanne
A ‘Wow’ Road Trip on Maui
On our first trip to Maui a few years ago we were advised by friends who knew the island well to take two road trips while we were there. They traced them on the map for us and pointed out the best things to see along the way. The first was the Road to Hana which I shared about in another post (click here if you missed it.) I was prepared for the narrow roads, one lane bridges and continual twists and turns on the Road to Hana as they are well known.
But oh that second road trip! On the map our friend had written a single word over the route we were to take: ‘wow.’ The ‘wow’ road runs around West Maui’s North Shore so we started from the small town of Lahaina, the historic whaling village, once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Lahaina
I took a few pictures of Lahaina Harbor but none as good as the postcard I got for my scrapbook.
When I first saw it I immediately thought of ‘Gilligan’s Island,’ though I understand the setting for the TV show came from a harbor on Oahu.
In addition to the harbor, shops, galleries and restaurants in Lahaina, there’s a giant banyan tree in the middle of town. Planted in 1873, it’s now 50 feet tall, nearly a quarter of a mile around with over 10 trunks that anchor it into the ground.
North and West to the Road
From Lahaina we headed past the resorts of Kaanapali and around the top of West Maui toward the ‘wow’ road. You’ll see it on the map below, where it says in red, “Narrow Road, Drive at your own Risk.’ So that’s what we did!
And yes, they were right, it was narrow!
Fortunately there were only a few other cars on the road as who in their right mind drives here beside the locals? The slowing below occurred due to the sale of fresh banana bread.
As we continued on we rose higher above the ocean and I became increasingly agitated, wondering what on earth we would do if a car came toward us from the other direction.
It did.
I squirmed in my seat as did the driver, my husband.
But here’s the good news. We got the inside lane and the driver coming our way realized the futility of his situation and began backing up, and up, and up until there was a small pullout. We were so glad it was him not us. Just in case it’s not obvious to you yet, if you ever take this road (unlikely I realize) make sure you drive it from the west side or you will be the poor soul going backwards near the edge of the cliff, with no guard rails.
It was fun. Yes it was, once we got past the hairy spots. At the top we stopped at the Kaukini Gallery and Gift Shop; I bought a picture and Bob took this picture of me.
Don’t I look happy? Yes, I was. But by then we’d had enough of the scary road and kept moving on, not even stopping for the famous Nakalele Blowhole which required a short hike under the burning sun and which they also warned people about since some tourists had been swept away by waves. (Um, I think we’ll pass.)
As we neared the other side we stopped by the lush Iao Valley and the 2,250 ft. Iao Needle where there was no lurking danger, only dark clouds.
It was as they say, a trip to remember.
Thanks for coming along! 🙂
~ Susanne
Goodbye to Snowmageddon
It’s finally time to say goodbye – and some may say good riddance – to February and Snowmageddon. But before I do, I thought I’d share a few more pictures from our epic snowy February here in the Great Northwest!
Yes, it was inconvenient at times but we were richly compensated by seeing our landscape blanketed in beauty.
Now it’s time to welcome spring! 🙂
~ Susanne
Crows in Flight
For as long as I can remember I have been intrigued by crows. On a recent walk before sunset I saw hundreds of them perched in treetops noisily chattering away until they all took flight to the next tree and then the next as they continued to caw, making the rounds again and again, partying I guess you could say, until it was time to settle down for the night.
Inspired by Travel with Intent’s Photo Challenge, ‘Movement.’
~ Susanne
Cats Just Wanna Have Fun
“Sorry Benji.”
“What for Sue?”
“For being so grouchy with you. I don’t mean to be.”
“Refresh my memory Sue.”
“This morning Benji. When you were running wild and into everything.”
“Oh that,” he replied. “I’ve forgotten all about it.”
“Well anyway Benji, it’s just that you get so crazy sometimes I don’t know what to do. But I don’t mean to snap at you. You’re really the best cat anyone could have.”
“Forget it Sue. I understand. You’re a human. You have a short fuse. We cats just wanna have fun.”
“Yes indeed Benji. I’ll try to remember that.”
~ from the desk of Susanne and Benji
Disabling Spammy Comment Likes
The last day or so I’ve had many notifications of someone systematically ‘liking’ old comments I’ve made on other blogs. It reminded me of this post, only this time so far the comment likes are not on my own blog but others. It’s annoying but I guess there’s nothing that can be done about it. I wish WordPress would make a Spam filter on ‘comment likes’ like they do with ‘comments.’ Maybe you all are experiencing this too? ~ sigh ~
Just Because I Love Sunsets
It was cold today – there were even tiny snowflakes at times. So other than a trip to the grocery store I put off today’s walk and stayed inside; until around 5:45 when I looked out my window and saw the sun beginning to set. It was finally time for some fresh air and I walked to the park and captured this cloudy winter sunset.
Just because I love sunsets.
~ Susanne
A Capitol Tour of the Other Washington
The Other Washington – that’s us – the beautiful, most northwestern state in the United States of America. Olympia is Washington’s capital and that’s where I’m going to take you in this post. Though I’ve been to Olympia many times, I’d only been inside the Capitol Building once, and that was on a school trip many years ago. So on a cold and sunny winter’s day we thought it was a good time to explore the domed capitol that looms over our state capital (and yes it’s hard to keep those two words straight – I hope I got it right!)
Washington’s State Capitol Campus was designed in 1927 by the Olmstead Brothers, planners of New York’s Central Park, and includes 50 landscaped acres with spectacular bulbs and plantings and old growth conifers. I’ll need to return later this spring to see all those bulbs in bloom. In the meantime the camellias were lovely,
As was the fountain, a replica of Tivoli Fountain in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Several memorials adorn the grounds, including the Winged Victory Monument, installed in 1938 and dedicated to veterans of World War 1.
The Campus includes a group of classical buildings but the centerpiece is the Legislative Building completed in 1928. Its brick and sandstone dome rises 287 feet to the top of the cupola, making it the tallest masonry dome in North America.
As we approached the building we were greeted by a peaceful demonstration on the front steps – nothing like a good protest to prove that democracy is working. This one was lobbying against a proposed methanol plant in Kalama on the Columbia River, that would use natural gas obtained through fracking. (Do we really want to stir things up with fracking in earthquake country?? I don’t think so.)
We listened for a few minutes before heading inside where we saw the chandelier suspended from inside the dome overhead. The largest ever created by Tiffany Studios, the 5-ton, 25 foot tall chandelier contains over 200 lightbulbs and hangs from a 101 foot chain.
Other Tiffany light fixtures can be found throughout the building as well as four statuesque Roman-style firepots, replicas of those used to call the first Senate into session more than 2,000 years ago.
It was also fitting to find a bust of George Washington in the only state named after him.
As we continued to explore inside the building we came across a special exhibit on 1968, that showcased some of our local icons.
It also included exhibits on Dan Evans who was Governor at the time – and surprise! – he was governor the last time I visited too! (Please don’t do the math. 😉 )
Though entreated in the letter above, I don’t think he ever ran for President. But our current Governor, Jay Inslee is considering such a run – along with dozens of other Democrats – so you may be hearing more about him.
As our 2-hour parking privileges were nearly up we headed out to lunch at Budd Bay Café where I had a wonderful Caesar salad with Dungeness crab and shrimp, the perks of living on Puget Sound. Afterwards we enjoyed a walk along the waterfront at Budd Bay inlet.
All in all it was an interesting day. I don’t think I’ll wait another 50 years to return to the Capitol Campus.
Posted as part of Jo’s Monday Walks.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 