More Pictures along the way - April 27th - Mukilteo to Seattle

Sunday, April 27th, we drove from Mukilteo down the I5 to Seattle. We were lucky and able to check into the hotel early.

Once we got settled, we went over to the Magnolia section of Seattle to see our friends Mike and Leah along with the son Daniel. We visited for a while and got a chance to see all the upgrades they have done on the house. It is really looking good.

Mike and Leah offered a tour of their area of town that included a lighthouse and a set of locks with boats passing through. How could we refuse.

This is the West Point Light House, located in Discovery Park.
After the lighthouse, they took us to see the Hiram M. Chittendon Locks also known as the Ballard Locks as they are on the Ballard Side of the canal.

At the locks, on the Magnolia side is a salmon ladder to help the Salmon get up the rise in elevation at the locks.













































Boats in the lock. The lock is closing behind them. You can just see a vertical opening at the back of the lock. Notice how tightly they crowd the boats in. There is also another larger lock right next to this one that can accomodate much larger boats.
You can see how far the locks raise the boats. The picture above shows it at the lowest point. The first picture below shows it partly raised. The middle one shows it almost to the top and the last one shows the gates opening with the boats raised up to the same level as Lake Union. The locks are the point where fresh water meets salt water. Construction of the locks began in 1911 and were completed in 1917. They raise boats 20-22 feet depending on the tide.



























Leah, Daniel and Michael just before we left their house and headed back to the hotel for the day.


Tomorrow we tour Seattle. I want to go out and see the lighthouse at Alki Point that Leah told us about.

Seattle Area: April 28

April 28

Seattle

Tom had found something on the net about a troll under a bridge in Fremont. I did some research, and Fremont sounded like a fun place to explore. It seems they have made all sorts of out of the ordinary declarations about the town (actually a suburb of Seattle) and made interesting artistic symbols, prominently displayed about town. The town council makes most of these off beat decisions and symbols official.

Fremont discovered that it is the Artists Republic of Fremont (sometimes referred to as the Republic of Fremont) and also the center of the Universe,

and therefore a state of mind rather than a geographical location. This was confirmed by official fiat.

One of the most well-known and most visited sites in Fremont is the troll under the bridge. The Fremont Troll was conceived as and is maintained as a community project sponsored by the Fremont Arts council.

The troll hides under a Fremont Bridge, clutching a full-sized VW Bug he may be about to crush. One eye is obscured by his hair, the other is a VW hubcap.

The name of a nearby street was changed to “Troll Street”.

After our troll encounter, we wanted to see more of Fremont, so we parked and set out on a walking tour. We found several wonderful Fremont statements in a four block area.

We loved the building we first saw on entering town and went back on foot to reexamine. I have no idea what style to call it, save vintage Fremont. It has little shops in the first floor and the remaining floors are residential, many with their own interesting window décor to add to the total effect.

Along the street at the first floor level are niches with additional artistic statements.

We found the controversial Lenin statue.

This is a seven ton statue installed in Slovakia in 1988. Its creator, Emil Venkov, made a political statement by showing Lenin surrounded by guns and flames rather than the traditional peaceful symbols, such as books. There was some controversy when a veteran teaching in Slovakia found the statue face down, after being toppled in the 1989 revolution. He mortgaged his house to bring it to this country. His family still owns it, and it is for sale. The commission for the sale will go to the Fremont Chamber of Commerce.

The Republic of Fremont feels that the presence of this statue proves that art outlives politics.

The full sized rocket mounted on the corner of a building cannot be described in a few words, so I am including the descriptive sign as well.

By now we were ready for coffee, and by passed on the free Starbucks being given out on the street for a funky little coffee shop off an alley. The shop is called Stickman Coffee, and had a sign in the window that declared it the home of North American Barista Champion. We had to try the coffee there.

The barista on duty evaded our questions, claiming that the champion is kept locked in a small room with a cot in back and fed very little as bony fingers are better for smoothing off the grounds after tamping. We have no idea if the champion actually pulled our espressos, but both coffee drinks were excellent. My latte even had a design on the top of the foam.

The barista did tell us that Fremont is considered an extension of Boulder, CO. I can believe it. It is quirky in the same way as Boulder, CO, Burlington, VT, and Asheville, NC. By this time I had fallen in love with the place.

We had one more stop to make, as we had not found the group of granite people perpetually waiting for the interurban (the light rail that used to run to Seattle) that never comes. With directions from the coffee shop, we soon found them. There are five people and a dog with a human face under a shelter. The dog’s face is supposedly the face of the one councilman who did not approve the project.

This is not just a one time artistic statement by its creator, Richard Beyer. It is considered interactive. The good (and some of the bad) citizens of the Republic of Fremont frequently dress up and decorate the art work—in school colors, a spot theme, or anything that comes to mind. The only rule is no commercial messages and a clean up when your statement is finished. Pictures can be submitted to a posted website if desired.

Odds and ends—street lights in Fremont:

Tom has found a lighthouse that is a Columbarium that he thinks would make a fitting final resting place. I think maybe I want to be scattered around Fremont, WA

We drove to the Magnolia Overlook, that Mike and Leah had shown to us yesterday. Since it was sunny and not raining the views were much better—Tom has better pictures as he cheated and used the big lens.

Leah had told Tom about another lighthouse, so we tracked down the Alki Light Station, along Elliott Bay. It is only open from June to August, but the drive through West Seattle was gorgeous with great views of downtown Seattle and the bay.

We could only see a corner of the lighthouse around the locked Coast Guard Station.

This just whetted Tom’s photographic appetite, so we scoured the alleys (Tom sneaked up on a balcony of a motel to try for a shot—but that was no good either.)

We tried several streets with no better luck. We finally found a beach access where Tom could tramp back over rocks and gravel to get his unobstructed shot of the lighthouse.

I went part way, then decided to go back and enjoy the beach. He told me later that he had to climb a big rock to get the right angle. I was glad I wasn't there. I enjoyed the peaceful scenery where I was.

Next we headed out to Snoqualamie Falls, which Leah had recommended . They were phenomenal. The amount of water thundering over them was incredible, the noise was awesome. The water hit with such force that the spray formed a mist over the whole area. What a wonderful place!

We decided we had one more stop in us for the day and headed for Woodinville to see Chateau Ste. Michelle, Washington’s oldest winery. The grounds are magnificent and the Chateau is very impressive.

However the signage leaves something to be desired. We wandered around trying to find the tasting room and store, which is not marked.

Eventually we found it and Tom tasted several wines, and I tried a couple. I enjoyed trying the same wine from two different years, and actually being able to taste a difference. I know very little about wine, but this was very obvious even to me.

We once again picked out a bottle of wine and some cheese to take back to our room.

The rush hour traffic back into Seattle was kind to us, which I understand is unusual.

Mukilteo, WA, to Seattle, WA: April 27

April 27

Mukilteo, WA, to Seattle, WA

Today we went to Mass at a little mission church in Mukilteo. The church had the most beautiful windows. Instead of the more traditional stained glass, they were clear glass with etched designs, depicting the creation story. Each window depicted a specific animal or plant group, such as sea life, birds, forest animals, etc, using the species that live around this area of Washington. A local artist created them. I love to find work by local artists incorporated into the design of churches.

Tom found a cute little café overlooking the bay where we had lunch. As we ate we watched the boats and the ferries crossing the bay. There were chain saw-type wood statues all around the patio area, all holding coffee mugs. The ceiling of the dining area was also decorated. My favorite was a man bursting through the ceiling, newspaper clutched in one hand and with an outstretched mug which said “Gimme Java” in the other.

After lunch we headed for Seattle. The traffic going north (away from Seattle) was wall to wall without a letup, as it had been the night before. Maybe everyone tries to get out of the city on weekends.

We had a delightful visit with Mike, Leah, and Daniel Redfern, friends who formerly lived in Raleigh.

Daniel is becoming quite the little gentlemen. He demonstrated his height chart (he had grown just a smidgen since the last measurement a month ago) and showed us his room. He has a nifty fort under his 2nd bunk-height bed. He led us on a tour of the house. Mike has remodeled the entire interior, and it is beautiful.

The gorgeous back lawn is level thanks to six feet of fill and extensive terracing. Mike does wonderful work!

Mike found another lighthouse for Tom,

and then they took us to see the Hiram Chittenden Locks, which are only a short distance from their house. These locks connect Lake Union with the Pudget Sound. While we were there three sailboats and a kayak went through the locks into the lake. I had never seen locks in action and I really enjoyed watching the process. It seems impossible that it is accomplished without pumps. The lead sailboat appeared to be a “first-timer” and needed lots of coaching to get positioned and tied up properly. Leah and I agreed that we would have looked equally inefficient.

It was raining, so I didn’t try to get any pictures at the locks. A nice lady held an umbrella over Tom, so he should have some good pictures. She shielded Tom’s camera while her own family got soaked! Tom thought that was really nice of her!

There are also fish ladders at the locks. This is not the right time for fish to be using them, but they are impressive all the same. Daniel promised to have his Mom send some pictures with fish on them later in the year. Daniel is an excellent guide (he is five years old). We did see one poor little minnow about three inches long trying desperately to swim against the current of the ladder, but he kept getting shoved back by the current. There are special openings for the little fish (smolt)that dump them back where they should be.

The opening of the locks creates quite a temporary current that caught one duck unaware. It was swimming like mad but going backward.

We got some pointers on things to see in the Seattle area. Only two more days left—doesn’t seem possible it is almost time to take the flight home.

More Pictures along the way - April 26th - Vancouver to Mukilteo, WA

Today is Saturday, April 26th. We left Vancouver today and headed back into the states. However, before we did, we drove through Stanley Park one last time to get some closeup pictures of things we saw from the trolley.

Vancouver skyline from Stanley Park.

In the park is the "Nine O'clock Gun". It is actually a cannon that fires everynight at 9PM. It is now in a cage but used to be out in the open. The story goes that some kids loaded it up with gunpowder and rocks and fired it right onto the Shell Marine Gas Station and destroyed it. Now it is in a cage and fired automatically.

















These are piles of sulfur across the bay in Vancouver. We heard two conflicting stories of where it comes from. One said it was extracted from the Natural Gas. The other says it comes from Northern Canada.
Prospect Point Lighthouse.
Diane with her finger in the wall holding back the water...
Seaplane taking off in the background behind a sailboat that is heading towards Lionsgate bridge to get out into open water.
Harry Winston Jerome, Sprinter on the Canadian Olympic team 1960, 1964 and 1968. He set several world records during his career. He died of a brain aneuryism on Dec 7, 1982 at the age of 42.
Statue of Woman Scuba Diver on Rock in harbor.
Hollow tree (red cedar tree about 40 feet around and more than 700 years old) used in Legend of Sleepy Hollow and other movies.
Peace Arch at border between the USA and Canada. Took this while waiting 45-60 minutes to get to the US Customs station.
Short Obelisk at border of US and Canada. Note on the north side it says Canada. On the South side it says United States and on the side facing west, it says International Boundry.





















View over Samish Bay.


Diane is trying to convince me that the area in the water in the picture that looks like straight lines is where they farm Oysters and Clams. To me it looks like a drain. I told her that I think that this is the drain for the Pacific Ocean and when it gets too full, it drains through this.
Boeing plan in Everett Washington. Seen from our hotel room window.


Well, we are back in the USA, staying in Mukilteo, WA. Tomorrow we will drive into Seattle, last stop on our vacation.