Beach on

Camping, beach, mountain.

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

We have been camping in my backpacking tents but as a family we had outgrown them. When REI had their summer sale and the Marmot Limestone 4 family tent went on deep discount we bought it. So with sunny skies and nothing on the agenda we decided to put it to the test at no-longer-a-State-Park Fay Bainbridge.

We day-trip to the park frequently but only camped there once before and not as a family nor at the beach. Being the good Midwestern-raised rule-followers we are we chose one of the less-than-spectacular gravel sites for our tent because that’s what the signs say to do (though it was near an enormous thicket of salmonberries of which I ate my share – if this cold, wet spring is good for anything the salmonberries have been outstanding!). After our camp was set up we saw a whole city of tents appear on the lawn closer to the beach – we learned later the common sense school of camping now applies to Fay Bainbridge and though it’s not explicitly stated you can camp on the lawn. Next time!

Rising.

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

an early morning trip to the beach to seattle basking in the rising sun

Dad, daughter, sunrise with the lucky find of a low tide – taken the same morning as the sea star.

Beach, garden, greens.

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been busy, extremely busy, of late so I’m seriously behind in posting some photos. Let’s play catch-up.

So what have we been up to?

woman in background

canoes and kayaks

My daughter and I went to the beach, she played with sticks in the surf, I chased after her, we built a fort and shot photos.

Blue skies, sun, shell.

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I spent a day traveling to the Skagit River to view the eagles when all I really had to do was go to Fay Bainbridge – the park hosts a pair overlooking the Sound from their nest.

americana

I know they’re hard to see on the tree to the far left but I wanted this shot.

eagle soaring

One of the eagles decided to stretch their wings and soared around for a minute or two before coming back to the nest.

Bluff, good boy, happy birthday.

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

After weeks of snow, rain and colds we needed some outside time and turned to one of our favorite and frequent destinations, Foulweather Bluff Preserve. We haven’t been there in winter nor in stormy weather so we weren’t sure what to expect.

sand canyons

When we first arrived the sun actually threatened to make an appearance across the water and the waves were really hitting the beach, much more so than we’ve seen in our previous trips.

Sunset, bird, moon.

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We love the sunset and have been seeing plenty of really striking ones recently. Yesterday we viewed the show at Fort Ward State Park and while the sky was decent I think the next set of photos work because of the bird flying through the frame – scroll quickly to make it all movie-like.

sunset

sunset and bird

bird

sunset and bird

We have some beautiful farmland on the island and enjoy walking it off-season – today we went to Johnson Farm, home of the Harvest Fair.

Market, bird, beach.

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We always enjoy our time in Port Townsend and so we decided to spend another perfect Saturday in November in our “Madison of the Pacific Northwest”.

cabbage

radish

carrots

potatoes

We serendipitously found our way uptown to the Farmers’ Market, busy hosting their season finale, where we danced to bluegrass, ate cookies and purchased perfect vegetables from Nash’s (the cabbage!), hard cider from Eaglemount Winery and delicious whole-wheat hearth bread from Pane D’Amore.

Water, marsh, Foulweather Bluff Preserve.

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000

In need of some sun, sky and water, we traveled to one of our favorite places off Island – Foulweather Bluff Preserve.

moon and madrone trees

The grove of Madrones hanging over the bluff are losing their summer green.

water and sky

The highlight for us is the beach, 3800 feet of prime digging-a-hole-with-a-stick public access. We’ve been twice, neither time did the weather allude to the naming, but an ID-wearing member of The Nature Conservancy told us to check back in the winter for storms and migrating birds.

Fences, a yellow shore crab and a beach.

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Hours and hours of yard work have kept us close to home this weekend and last but I wanted to get in a short hike, no matter how short. At my reading group I was told about a beach access trail I hadn’t traveled so my daughter and I set out on Saturday morning to check it out.

The trail starts down Skinner Road just west of Battle Point Park. There’s no parking along the road so if you’re driving park at Battle Point. Walk along Skinner Road until you can just see the fences in the distance.