Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Final Weekly Photo Challenge: All Time Favorites
Time to say goodbye to The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge with the final prompt, ‘All Time Favorites.’ So here you go.
Happy Sleeping Cats
Trails of the Pacific Northwest
Soos Creek Botanical Garden
Thanks Daily Post for the inspiration!
~ Susanne
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The Colors and Solitude of Long Beach
Long Beach bills itself as the longest beach in the world. Maybe that’s a stretch – no pun intended. Still at 28 miles, it ranks #3 on the list of longest US beaches and #8 in the world. And if you add in some other qualifiers it rises further to the top. Longest driving beach in the world? Yes, you can take your car out there but be careful or you’ll get stuck in the sand. Longest beach on a peninsula? Sure. The beach in Washington State runs the entire length of the Long Beach Peninsula, which is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by Willapa Bay and on the south by the Columbia River.
There’s much to do in the area. A few small towns line the narrow Peninsula as you drive north to Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. At the bottom lies Cape Disappointment where Lewis and Clark first saw the Pacific Ocean in 1805, after a long walk across the country. There are historic lighthouses and an interpretive center but more about those in another post. In this one I will focus on the star attraction of our visit, the beach itself, in all its different color palettes.
We woke up in the morning to see the ocean and sky blended into lovely blue pastels.
Patchy afternoon clouds added interest as we walked the boardwalk through the dunes.
All appeared silver and gray when the clouds took over, and horses and riders stood out in contrast.
And later when the clouds burned away we were treated to the golden glow of sunset over the Pacific.
Yes, the weather here can sometimes be fickle and strong currents and riptides make the beach unsuitable for swimming. But this is a place of quiet and solitude, a beach to enjoy for its sheer magnificence. Where you can walk for miles in the sand or stroll the wooden boardwalk; ride a horse on the beach or a bike on the Discovery Trail. A wonderful place to retreat; I can’t wait to return.
~ Susanne
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Twisted Tendrils
I just returned from a few days in Long Beach on the Washington Coast (look for posts to come on that) and while I was there visited nearby Cape Disappointment. As I walked through dense coastal forest I noticed flourishing native shrubs tightly packed together alongside the paths. In particular I noticed a wild vine wrapping itself with its tendrils around anything growing nearby.
I found the tendrils to be quite charming and appropriate for this week’s photo challenge: Twisted.
By the way, in case you hadn’t heard, there will be no more Weekly Photo Challenges on the Daily Post site after the end of May. Too bad. I found the Photo Prompts to be fun and helpful and I will miss them.
~ Susanne
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Happy Garden Cats
The boys are happy in green.
And with each other.
They’re happy garden cats.
~ Susanne, Tiger and Benji
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Wowed by Clouds
I went looking for the sunset last night but was wowed by the clouds instead.
These were thick and buoyant like mysterious creatures under the sea.
They lit up with a filter applied.
This giant was delicate with hints of pink.
But became wild and wonderful enhanced with a filter.
Here whipped clouds filled the sky
made more dramatic below.
Looking at the world – and the clouds – through rose colored glasses. Why not?
~ Susanne
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Sol Duc
For this week’s photo challenge, I couldn’t help but think of some of the wonderful rivers in Washington: Snoqualmie, Skykomish, Skagit, Snohomish. Beautiful rivers with equally beautiful native names. But I finally settled on the Sol Duc which means ‘sparkling waters’ in Quillayute. The Sol Duc River flows through Olympic National Park and along its course plunges over Sol Duc Falls. The easy trail to the falls through lush rainforest has the best reward of any hike I know.
And so for this week’s photo challenge I give you the Sol Duc River and Falls.
~ Susanne
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Sunrise in the Garden
I woke early one morning and wandered in my garden just before sunrise.
I found the clematis climbing the evergreen shrubs nearby, its pale pink blossoms made lovelier by the contrast. Smart plant that clematis.
I stopped to admire the garden art, lit from behind by the rising sun, and appreciated once again my husband’s creativity.
I turned on the stream with the flip of a switch and let the water flow, another sign of his handiwork.
At the designated time known only to him, Benji emerged from his hiding place to join me while I rested.
A wonderful time in the garden.
~ Susanne and Benji
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Scenes from Lake Wilderness
Don’t you wish you could walk down this road?
Or rest by this lake?
Or dream by this stream?
We did. At Lake Wilderness in Maple Valley.
It was oh so green and peaceful.
~ Susanne
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Washington My Home
My ‘place in the world’ undoubtedly starts with Seattle where I was born and raised when it was just a sleepy Boeing town. Now exploding with technology and traffic, it’s increasingly crowded and expensive to live in. No matter. What I like the most is not the city but the surrounding natural environment. And so I decided to zoom out and go with Western Washington for this week’s photo challenge, starting with Mt.Rainier, its most iconic symbol.
Mt Rainier
On a good day the mountain can be seen as a beautiful backdrop peering over and enhancing whatever lies in front.
And you can always drive the distance for a more close-up view of the mountain.
Can’t see the Forest for the Trees!
Trees, trees, trees, in our neighborhoods, forests, and parks. Can you see why Washington is called the Evergreen State?
Abundant Water
And I don’t mean rainfall, though we get our fair share of that too. Let’s start with the Pacific Ocean which forms the western border of our state. Did you know the northwest corner of Washington has some of the most rugged coastline in the country?
Of course there’s Puget Sound which is much more accessible. Just hop a ferry boat and see for yourself; we have the largest fleet of ferries in the country.
And how about more water moving in another direction at Snoqualmie Falls?
I could go on but I think that’s enough of ‘my place in the world.’ So now I leave you with a lovely rhododendron, the state flower of Washington, easily taken for granted since it flourishes everywhere.
Like everything else here I guess.
~ Susanne
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More Turtles of Coulon
The weather was nicer this week than expected so I headed to Coulon Park to walk the trail along the shores of Lake Washington. I wasn’t the only one out.
It was a real log jam.
~ Susanne
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