Weekend Reflections: Lily Pad and Dragonfly

One last picture from Fond du Lac...I promise!  The lily pads were gorgeous at the city park. I could have spent all day shooting pictures of them. This was shot from a foot bridge over the waterway at quite a distance so I didn't notice the dragonfly until I was posting the picture.

Skywatch Friday: Fond du Lac Lighthouse

This great old lighthouse greets visitors to Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac. It was restored a while back by the Fond du Lac Optimists club and serves as a tourist attraction now.  Lake Winnebago lies in the background.

Bottoms Up...

...from sunny Wisconsin. (brought to you by the friendly ducks at Lakeside Park in Fond Du Lac)

Grey Days Made More Fun by Ferries

The ferry dock in Friday Harbor awaits the next ferry. 

Whale Watching

On a ferry ride to Friday Harbor, we noticed a cluster of boats in one area.  My husband thought it was just fishing, but a local San Juan Island resident spoke up and recognized it must be whale watchers because all fishing is currently out of season.  I ran outside to snap some pictures, amazed to see some fins of the orca whales.  Examining the pictures after I laughed more at the cluster of people on the boat all huddled to get their best look.  I can't blame them because whales are truely amazing creatures.

School's Out

A view from the monkey bars at Northern Heights Elementary. School is finally out here in Bellingham; close to a week had been added because of snow days in January. My family is excited because many new playgrounds just became available for our summer play.

Bon Voyage!

The Viggi half of Bellingham Daily Photo is packing up and heading off to (hopefully) sunny Wisconsin. If technology cooperates, I'll post some pictures of the heartland from the road.  

Slide

Worn smooth by countless trips down, a slide waits to deliver the next ride.

Wonder

As a caterpillar crosses their path, my daughters watch in wonder.

A Little Prairie and a Big Mountain

A view of Mt Baker from Ferndale's Hovander Park.

"Boat" Battle

My husband told me a whole story about this guy and his boat. (Forgive me if some of the details aren't correct, its hearsay after all)  The rumor is he lived on the north end of the lake and tried to park his "boat" at the condo shared dock.  Imagine this, the condo board was not fond of the "boat" and battled to have it removed.  He battled back because I guess it is a fully licensed motor boat.  Well, I'm guessing the "boat" owner lost his battle because the "boat" is now parked a few docks down from ours.  It doesn't really bother me, but it isn't blocking my view either.

Happy Father's Day!

I hope everyone gets to enjoy some special time with Dad today.

Tools of the Trade...

...lie forgotten on an old work bench.

Barb Wire

That's enough to keep me out!

Wildflower

Today's post is just a simple little wildflower.  Enjoy!

Old Growth

Sitting amongst the relatively young trees sits a massive giant old growth tree.  My hubby and I were roaming the DNR trails on Sumas Mountain and this huge tree really pops out.  No idea why the loggers so many years ago spared it, but I am so happy they did.  We estimated the diameter to be at least 10 feet and I could only sort of guess its height, maybe 300 hundred feet.  A very vague estimate on this tree's age may be 250 years old.  More info on old growth in Washington State is here.

Copper and Green

A tasty meal and drinks out with fantastic friends is a wonderful way to spend an evening at The Copper Hog.

Tug

This tugboat tows a pre built garage across Rosario Straight towards Lopez Island.  Lopez is one of the four main larger islands that make up the San Juans. There are 172 named islands in total, however there are only four that are served by the Washington State Ferry System.  Excuse the low resolution photo as it was snapped by by husband on his cell phone as he rode the ferry one day for work.

Tartans

This photo from the Bellingham Highland Games shows a few of the many tartan patterns. Fun fact: Although we now think of tartans as belonging to a specific clan, or family, historically tartan patterns were actually regional because the weavers in a given area would have the same dye sources to work with. It's only relatively recently that we assigned certain tartans to each clan in order to differentiate them.

Highland Games

The Calling of the Clans marks the kick off of the Scottish Highland Games last weekend.   People converge on Hovander Park in Ferndale to celebrate all things Scottish. Saturday's highlight was Scottish dancing followed by an athletic competition on Sunday. My brother-in-law competed at the amateur level and took second place.  Go Andy! 

Wildflowers...

...paint the road side purple.

That Way

All the action seems to be to the left of Prospect Street.

Bay View

The view from the Barkley Hills neighborhood of downtown Bellingham, the bay and the San Juan islands.  Not too shabby, huh?

1892 Icon

The top clocktower of the old City Hall, which has been home to the Whatcom Museum since 1941.  You can read about it's history here.



Unusual Model

This little fellow was a great model for me for quite a long time.  I was able to get several shots from different angles and distances before he finally decided he'd had enough and flew off.  This was my favorite shot.

Ski to Sea 2012

Bellingham celebrated the 2012 Ski to Sea festival last Saturday with the traditional grand parade.  The weather was incredible so Cornwall Avenue was packed with spectators. At nearly two hours, I think this was the largest parade we've seen here in Bellingham yet.  The parade was finished by the Bellingham High School Alumni Band (bottom picture) who are marching for the last time due to shrinking membership.  They will be missed!

Skywatch Friday: Kittitas Valley

I'm taking a little detour from Bellingham for today's skywatch photo. This was taken from the I-82 viewpoint before dropping down into the Kittitas Valley and Ellensburg. As a nearly life-long Bellingham resident, I'm always struck by the openness of vistas like this since they are so hard to come by on the west side of the Cascades. I love the lushness on our side of the mountains, but there is something soothing about standing on a breezy hill and letting your eye roam the horizon.