Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Road Trip to the Columbia River Gorge
We were promised two days of sunshine earlier this week, and so to celebrate we drove south for a night at the Columbia River Gorge. Our plan was to take in the waterfalls on the Oregon side; then spend the night at Skamania Lodge on the Washington side, a place we’d never been before.
Our first stop was at the Crown Point Vista House where skies were blue and the wind icy as we gazed on the mighty Columbia.
Next up we visited our first waterfall, the 249 ft. Latourell Falls.
Continuing east we learned the Historic Scenic Highway was closed due to damage from the wildfire in September. So, our tour of the waterfalls was cut short, and it was time to cross the river to Skamania Lodge. Wow! How did we miss this place all these years? Opened in 1993, the Lodge sits on 175 acres of forested land overlooking the Columbia and is complete with restaurants, spa, golf course and hiking trails. The building of the lodge was the result of the Act that created the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area in 1986, which called for a conference center on the Washington side. The winter rates made it very affordable, and the views of the river and sunset were perfect. We will be back.
The next day we continued the drive east, enjoying views of Mt. Hood along the way and watching as the landscape turned from forest to farmland and desert.
Near the Columbia Hills, we came across this sign and could indeed see all four of the famous mountains from that spot.
But it was Mt. Adams that was front and center, finally getting the attention – at least from me – that it deserves.
As we traveled north towards Yakima to complete our loop trip we noticed the clouds amassing in the sky, and the sun beginning to set in Ellensburg.
Our two rain free days were almost over and shortly after we returned home so did the rain, just as promised.
~ Susanne
I Like Sculptures
I don’t know much about art, but I like sculptures the best, especially the quirky ones that dot the landscape of our cities. Here are a few favorites from some of my recent travels across the USA.
I found this humble Iron, my favorite piece from Monopoly, on the streets of Philadelphia.
I stopped to chat with the roly poly people in Washington DC’s sculpture garden, (officially known as the Last Conversation Piece.)
The giant cupid’s arrow looked magnificent in San Francisco, ready to do its work on Valentine’s day.
Ped, along the banks of the Columbia River in Wenatchee, reminds me to keep on truckin’.
This rusty band played on near Mt Rainier in a garden of sculpture art.
While closer to home these faithful stony walkers cheer me on at Coulon Park in Renton.
~ Susanne
Who can resist that face?
Not me.
Happy Saturday.
~ Susanne and Benji
Spring Comes Early to the NW Flower and Garden Show
We interrupt this winter to bring you the Northwest Flower and Garden Show! Yes, it’s February – time again to head to the Convention Center where spring is alive and its fragrance fills the air! I did that yesterday and filled my senses with the brilliant reds and yellows in my favorite display gardens.
I loved the Pacific Fire Vine Maple with its beautiful red bark,
next to the yellow twig dogwood which pairs nicely with it.
I was also happy to rest my eyes on this calming white garden, one I might actually pull off myself.
Not that I try to replicate what I see at the Show; the gardens are always too lavish for mere mortals to imitate. But I do get inspired and always come home with a few tips or names of new plants to try. I also go to shop. There are hundreds of vendors selling their wares – plants and seeds and garden tools, art, jewelry, antiques, and books – I can’t say I wasn’t tempted by these.
My best purchase was a new hummingbird feeder which is already out and ready to feed those flying jewels.
So there you have it: another year of the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, one of the largest in the country and still going strong after almost 30 years. Another year of inspiration and a reminder that spring is near: it’s time to return to the garden. So I’ve started my to do list, mundane though it may be: thin out the herbs, transplant the roses, prepare the vegetable bed, and tend to my apple trees in hopes of getting more than the one I got last year. (Yes, you heard that right.)
Still, wasn’t it a beauty? There’s always hope when spring is here.
~ Susanne
Weekly Photo Challenge: Seattle!
For this week’s photo challenge, I will be your tour guide to Seattle, my hometown and one of America’s most beautiful cities. We’ll start with a picture I took from the deck of our cruise ship last fall, as we were about to depart for Alaska. I like the picture for the prominence given to the Space Needle, which in reality no longer dominates our city’s skyline but will always be its symbol to me. Even less prominent is the 1914 Smith Tower seen on the far right, once the tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi, now barely a footnote in the city.
You’ll find equally beautiful views from Alki Beach, the birthplace of Seattle,
Including the Olympic Mountains to the west, floating above Puget Sound. A ferry will take you there.
And if you’re here long enough, you’ll likely catch a glimpse of that other local symbol that will only leave you wanting more.
So go ahead. Travel the distance south to Mt. Rainier and get up close and personal.
You’ll be glad you did.
~ Susanne
Synchronized Sleeping Cats
– Tiger and Benji
Good Morning from Benji
~ Susanne
The Rain the Park and Umbrellas
If you’re going to live in the Great Northwest and enjoy life at all during the long and rainy winter months, you’re going to want to invest in a good umbrella. You will likely have the small travel versions stashed here and there about the house or stuck in the trunk of your car for emergencies. You know the ones, with the short stems and uncomfortable handles that will pop up and over unbidden in a windstorm, but I am not talking about those. No, I’m talking about those versions with the nice handles and wide circumferences that you are proud to carry.
Recently my husband brought two new umbrellas home and allowed me to choose first. He knows me well and I happily chose the blue one with the polka dots while he went with the red plaid. We tested them out this morning on a long walk around Gene Coulon Park in Renton. Here Bob is modeling his red plaid umbrella at my request.
I’m sporting mine next to the cold and stony people. They could use one themselves.
The umbrellas had to stay up most of the time though occasionally the rain did stop. Either way, we enjoyed all the usual shapes and colors of Coulon.
~ Susanne
Winter Skies
After a soggy January, the rain finally stopped today and I was happy to go for a walk outside with partially blue skies peeking through the clouds.
While it still remained dry, I ventured out again at sunset to see my favorite winter tree.
Rain is forecasted to return tomorrow and continue on through the weekend. It’s winter in the Northwest after all.
~ Susanne
Rainy Days and Bridges
If you had reason to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge on a dreary, rainy Monday as we did today, this would be your view.
I decided to make it into something more sunny and cheerful.
Fortunately these bridges didn’t let us down despite the wind and rain, unlike their predecessor Galloping Gertie, who twisted and crashed into Puget Sound the same fateful year she opened to the public in 1940. I remember her demise whenever we cross the Narrows.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 