Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
What is Metallic and Black?
Cars, of course! And old ones at that.
It was Henry Ford who remarked that his new Model T could be ‘any color as long as it’s black.’ Though it’s never been my choice of color for a car, it looks good on the ones below.
How about a Corvette? I found this one in Washington DC’s Air and Space Museum
Perhaps it was the color that made this racecar a champion, at the NASCAR Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Did you know that stock car racing evolved during Prohibition when moonshiners modified their cars to outrun the lawmen? Well now you do.
We rode in this old Plymouth to dinner, courtesy of our hotel in Astoria, Oregon.
Also in Oregon, you’ll find a lot of black cars, including this old Packard, at the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum (WAAAM) in Hood River, a hidden gem.
They are all are fine looking, don’t you think?
But I prefer a bit of color in my cars – see for yourself – with more from WAAAM.
Which do you prefer?
Sharing with Sunday Stills Challenge #Black #Metallic.
~ Susanne
Cruising from Seattle to Alaska – On Board the Discovery Princess
I’m back for another installment from our cruise to Alaska – was it just last month? – this time focusing on our experience at sea on the Discovery Princess. Launched in the spring of 2022, the Discovery is much larger than either of the two ships we’d sailed previously and was our home for seven nights.
We boarded the Princess at Pier 91 in Seattle and went up top for photos – this one taken by travelers from Baltimore who asked us to take their picture. We did and they reciprocated. This was welcome as we have never taken a successful selfie.
You can see the Space Needle in the background, the mid-century icon that makes our city recognizable around the world (at least I think it does,)
along with a ghostly apparition of Mt. Rainier hidden by cloud cover.
Later that night we enjoyed dramatic skies at sunset with the clouds foretelling what was ahead the next couple of days.
Soon we were exploring the ship inside and out, getting acquainted with18 decks, restaurants and entertainment venues, a quest we continued all week.
The Princess Theatre is the largest venue and many shows and presentations occurred here throughout the cruise. We attended a few of them.
My favorite was the naturalist, Michael Modzelewski, who shared his extensive knowledge of the Inside Passage, covering wildlife, native culture, glaciers and more.
In addition to the times in the theatre he also kept us apprised of the nature around us throughout the cruise, pointing out a whale here and seals there, especially in Endicott Arm, a highlight of our trip.
Food is a big part of any cruise and we enjoyed all the offerings. Half the time we opted for the buffet, the World Fresh Marketplace, which had every kind of food imaginable. We ate in the dining rooms a few times (not on formal dress-up nights) and on our final night at sea, paid the upcharge and dined at Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria, with too many courses, all very good.
Suffice it to say, the entire cruise was fun and relaxing. Yes, there were occasional high waves and rough seas, but our giant ship and competent captain managed them well.
My only disappointment was the missing Promenade Deck. Well, not exactly missing, Deck 7 Promenade existed, but was not completely walkable around the entire ship, which was one of my favorite things to do on previous cruises. Instead, there was a ‘jogging track’ on an upper deck, shorter and not under cover so not great for rainy days. (I may opt for an older, smaller ship on our next cruise with the traditional promenade deck.)
That’s enough for now.
Here’s Ketchikan and Endicott Arm from previous posts if you missed them.
I’ll save Juneau and Skagway for another time.
~ Susanne
You’ve Come A Long Way, Boys!
Seven years ago we brought Benji home as a companion for Tiger;
Tiger was skeptical to say the least,
and demanded the following be put in writing:
“Sue has confirmed that I shall retain #1 Feline status which means that Benji must needs be #2. Entitlements and responsibilities below:
Tiger #1 – Entitlements
Exclusive rights to sleep on the big bed upstairs, unless permission granted.
Exclusive rights to Sue’s office (includes blogging rights with picture,) unless permission granted.
In and out privileges at will.
Full submission from #2 in all things, all matters and all disputes.
Benji #2 – Responsibilities
In and out privileges at will.
Submission to #1 in all things, all matters and all disputes.”
The rules are continually tested and enforcement challenging,
but most of the time we have compliance and peaceful coexistence.
Happy Saturday from the boys!
~ Susanne
Textures of Fall
I went to Coulon Park for another look at the trees and found the colors brighter and more nuanced than before,
the fallen leaves making a soggy carpet on the ground.
I visited the Cedar River
and saw salmon fighting against the current, returning to their birthplace to spawn. These are sockeye, easy to identify by their red bodies and green heads, indicating they are already in the process of decay.
All part of the rich #textures of life.
~ Susanne
The Return of the Snow Geese
Yesterday we took a road trip to Bellingham and on the way passed through the Skagit Valley, where the snow geese have begun to return. They come from their breeding ground in the Arctic, as far away as Russia’s Wrangel Island, a flight of over 2,000 miles.
These are the early birds – their numbers will increase into the tens of thousands next month, and most of these birds will stay put here in the fertile farmlands of the Skagit for the winter.
I never get tired of seeing them.
~ Susanne
Cruise to Alaska – Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier
I’m back with the next installment from our cruise to Alaska.
The map below shows our itinerary from Seattle, with our first port Ketchikan followed the next day by scenic cruising in Endicott Arm Fjord and a stop in Juneau (which I’ll save for another time.)
The weather was perfect when we needed it most and all was peaceful as we sailed quietly into Endicott Arm just before sunrise.
Endicott Arm is 30 miles long and 1,200 ft. deep. I was enchanted by its milky, smooth waters, turquoise colors, waterfalls, icebergs, ice floes and resting harbor seals.
I gathered with others on the upper deck of Discovery Princess as we approached the end of the fjord for a look at Dawes Glacier, a tidewater glacier 15 miles long, half a mile across, with a face hundreds of feet tall.
After lingering a while, the captain turned the giant ship around and we headed out slowly enjoying more beautiful views,
including a hanging glacier.
I’m pretty bad at videos, still I wanted to give you a taste of cruising in this beautiful fjord.
And that will do for now.
~ Susanne
October in Color
This beautiful fall day deserved a walk at Coulon Park, fish and chips at Ivar’s and basking in the fall colors.
Don’t you agree?
For (mostly) #WordlessWednesday.
~ Susanne
Happy Monday with the Hummers
The weather has definitely turned here in the Pacific Northwest and I’ll be seeing my hummingbirds at the feeders more often. This morning I stood in the shed nearby and watched this handsome Anna’s stop by to feed.
Isn’t he lovely? 🙂
Happy Monday!
~ Susanne
Saturday Caturday with Benji
That is all.
Susanne
Cruise to Alaska, First Stop Ketchikan -Spawning Salmon and Feeding Whales!
We left Seattle on day 1 and spent the next day and a half enjoying the amenities on the ship, before arriving at our first port, Ketchikan.
I didn’t schedule any shore excursions as we knew from our previous trip (this is our second cruise to Alaska) that everything we wanted to see was in walking distance, starting with historic Creek Street, once infamous for being the town’s red light district.
While I enjoyed looking through the shops, what I really wanted to see were the spawning salmon fighting their way up Ketchikan Creek.
And I did! More salmon than I have ever seen in one place!
“The Pacific salmon in Ketchikan Creek are anadromous. The word means up-running. They hatch from eggs in this rainforest watershed, swim into the ocean as smolts, and spend up to five years growing to maturity at sea. Swarms of them leave the creek, but relatively few survive predators, including us and return as adults to the gravel bed where they emerged into life.”
“Because of their predictable migrations, salmon have been food for as long as there have been people and other predators to eat them… Bears, seals, killer whales, sea lions, eagles and human subsistence, commercial, and recreational fishers are all entwined forever with salmon for sustenance. Those salmon that make it back to the streams, creeks and rivers also bring nitrogen and many life-giving ingredients to the forest and watersheds..”
These seals waited for the salmon at the mouth of the creek and enjoyed the easy spoils.
By the way, you may have noticed the rainy conditions we experienced in Ketchikan. It was not unexpected; it’s the rainiest city in the U.S.
Rain and salmon are not the only kings in town. Ketchikan has the largest number of standing totem poles in the world, including the one below:
“The Chief Kyan Totem pole is a lineage pole and has three figures. The Crane, at the top, represents Chief Kyan’s wife, the next figure is a Thunderbird, Chief Kyan’s wife’s clan, and the Bear at the bottom is Chief Kyan’s family crest.” Experience Ketchikan website
The weather cleared as we left Ketchikan (of course)
and soon after I had my best sighting of whales on the trip.
The naturalist onboard had told us to look closely where birds congregated and I did, when I caught a flash of tail.
It got better as I zoomed in and saw the bubble-net feeding, where a group of whales were trapping fish by blowing bubbles under water.
According to Wikipedia – ” Bubble-net feeding is a cooperative feeding method used by groups of humpback whales. This behavior is not instinctual, it is learned; not every population of humpbacks knows how to bubble net feed. Humpback whales use vocalizations to coordinate and efficiently execute the bubble net so they all can feed. As the group circles a school of small fish such as salmon, krill, or herring, they use a team effort to disorient and corral the fish into a “net” of bubbles. One whale will typically begin to exhale out of their blowhole at the school of fish to begin the process.More whales will then blow bubbles while continuing to circle their prey. .. One whale will sound a feeding call, at which point all whales simultaneously swim upwards with mouths open to feed on the trapped fish.”
Can I just say, I was enamored with them?
Later that night I caught the best sunset of the trip.
Later still that night we were woken by the captain at 1:00 am to let us know the northern lights could be seen ahead. He’d told us earlier that he’d let us know – according to the forecast there was a 50 % chance of seeing Aurora Borealis if the sky was clear.
I went outside onto the balcony and saw black sky with lots of stars and a green smudgy haze in the northern distance, hard for my eye to detect.
I snapped a few photos and went back to bed.
I wished I hadn’t for the real show started at 3:30 am, when the green smudge increased in size and intensity to include all colors of the rainbow. I know because the naturalist shared his pictures with us, and because I didn’t ask, I won’t share them with you. Trust me that the colors were brilliant gold, violet and fuchsia.
Maybe next time I’ll stay up longer.
Guess that requires another trip. 🙂
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 