The View From the Top

This is the view from the top of a logging road on Sumas Mountain.  We are looking out into the farmland valleys of Lynden and Sumas.  Beyond that, quite near is Abbotsford Canada.  My husband grew up on this little mountain, just farther down a bit.  He still remembered all the old trails and roads that were his playground as a child.

Olympic Torch Run at the Peace Arch

Here's a shot of the Peace Arch just as we were arriving in the pre-dawn hours to wait for the torch run. It was, naturally, one of the coldest mornings all winter (which won't mean much to you midwesterners and New Englanders... and perhaps even the Floridians this year!) and it was quite misty and atmospheric.

The Peace Arch was built in 1921 to celebrate over 100 years of peace between Canada and the United States. It stands astride the Canada-US border, so if you pass underneath you go from one country to the other. On the US side is inscribed "Children of a Common Mother" and on the Canada side it says "Brethren Dwelling Together in Unity."

On a wistful note, I wish our southern border was as open, friendly, and peaceful as this one.

The Olympic Torch...

...is right behind that guy. Well, anyone could get a picture of the Olympic torch, but how many people have a picture of that face?

That's okay, he was just doing his job-- and taking it very seriously, I might add. Anyway, everyone else was in very high spirits for the Olympic torch's only visit to US soil for the 2010 games. The torch-bearer for this run was Washington state's Philip Mahre, a skier medalist from the 1980 and 1984 winter games. He picked up the torch at the US-Canada border at the Peace Arch in Blaine, WA, and carried it south and then back north into Canada in a loop that lasted about two minutes. And there you have it, the torch's somewhat anticlimactic visit to US soil.

I have such a good picture to show for it.