Seattle day...no, wait! Make that Tillicum Village.

I know I haven't been writing.  Things have been happening though.  You see, I have to work.  Yep, the blog don't pay the bills.  So those things have been happening largely while I am at the 9-5.  Or the 11-11 as might more closely reflect reality.  Anyway.

Our lovely and talented niece Deanna has been with us for a few days.  The day she got here I was working.  She didn't get up in time to see me off the next day, so I didn't see her then either.  That day she went with Sarah and the kids to Ruthie's house and they kayaked and had fun and amazing adventures.  Your faithful blogger/photographer wasn't there for that one...had to work.  When I did get off, Deanna went hiking up Mt. Ellinor with Sarah and Ruthie while I stayed home with the kids.  Sarah isn't quite the attention who...uh...hound, that I am and didn't feel the need to broadcast her actions to the world.

So, today we all went on an adventure.  Through a small mix up, could have happened to anyone really, we ended up on the wrong ferry heading to the wrong destination for the day.  You know, not everything works smoothly all the time.  This isn't scripted television or anything.  Things happen.

But we eventually got turned back around and headed in the right direction.  And that direction took us on a ferry to Blake Island and Tillicum Village.  This is rumored to be the birthplace of Chief Seattle (if that is his real name.)  The ferry ride was nice heading over.

Our valiant steed for the trip.

"I think I could drive that!"

Deanna is so sweet and so good with the boys.

The boat crew say they know this guy.  He built and singlehands this unbelievable boat.

A little wet, but happy.

Deanna is used to Houston temperatures.

They stopped to say hi to these guys who said hi back.

We arrived at Tillicum Village.  This is a interpretive center on Blake Island. Blake Island had a long and circuitous journey to state park status. Now, it has campgrounds and trails and the Tillicum Village.  The village is a Native American style longhouse with the requisite gift shop.  They serve a dinner and a show about tribal beliefs and customs complete with dancing and storytelling.  It is really pretty cool.  I am a fan of native history and wish it would have gone into more detail, but it has a demographic to appease.  Pretty good food though.

Neat totem pole

As you arrive you are handed a mug of steamed clams.  Not everyone loved this.

Say what you want about the authenticity of the decorations, they were colorful.

Well that looks tasty in a traditional sense.

Smelled pretty tasty too.

There was a woman attending a craft demonstration booth with some pretty impressive weaving going on.  I'm no expert at weaving, but check it out.

"Yes" I hear you say, "That is some impressive weaving."

Neat masks too

"Hey Deanna, they made a picture of your dad!"

Then it was time for dinner and the show.  The food was fantastic.

The show was a video screen with a famous Native American storyteller with a Mexican last name.  Strange.  Still, they had three dancers who came out and performed the dancing and drumming that the storyteller talked about. It was interesting and engaging enough that even the kids never complained.  After, the dancers came out and talked with the crowd and posed for pictures.  Pretty cool.

Obligatory food porn picture

Show was too dark for pictures.  No flash requested and honored. 

My family wasn't interested in posing with the dancers so I used someone else's.

We mucked about for a bit before the ferry ride home.

Pretty rock beach with Ranier hiding in the background.

Aww, ain't they cute!

Smile!

Be weird!

Eventually the boat sounded the whistle and it was time to board for the ride home.

That's when the sun started to set, the sound turned to molten silver and all this happened.

And it was all yellow.

Beautiful Olympic mountains in the back

The lovely ladies of the boat.

The water was awesome. 

How is that for a sunset?

Everybody else went inside for a while, but us guys.

Our friends were still there when we went back by.

Just before we arrived we passed the outbound Seattle ferry, which is much larger.  Last time we crossed its wake, anyone up forward and outside was soaked.  Most of us laughed it off, but it wasn't really a pleasant experience.  This time, we all moved back away from the splash zone.  All except this one little girl, about 10 years old.  She stood in the front gripping the railing.  When we hit the wake, the front of our smaller boat was again soaked.  Each wave brought a fresh peal of laughter as she stood in the very cold spray.  She was just to in the moment enjoying it as wave after wave of cold Pacific water washed over her, that it made me smile.  What an awesome moment.  She turned around, dripping wet and smiling.  Her brother came up and started teasing her so she gave him a great big hug.  Awesome.

How can you not love this beautiful lady?

And the rest of the weirdos.

Bremerton at sunset.

Marymere Falls

Sorry for the delay.  I know, I am blogging the trip several days after we actually went and we will lose that fresh take feel we have all grown to know and love over the years.  Little things got in the way like sleep and work. 

Seriously, if you guys would just start paying me to blog about the trivialities of my life and adventures I could get these things up faster.  Probably only take a few thousand dollars each.  Small price to pay to get the blog post of the adventure up on the day of the adventure.  Or maybe the next day, I'm not that disciplined.  Never mind.

Let us take a short look back, say 4 days ago, to our most recent adventure.

Our contract here is coming to a close and we are prioritizing what we want to see and do before we leave.  I had heard of a beautiful lake on the northern peninsula with a waterfall.  Yup, that's pretty much all it takes to make the list.  Pretty + Waterfall = Must Do.

So we drove up to Lake Crescent to see Marymere Falls.  And, oddly, we encountered the worst traffic of the contract so far.  Got stuck behind an accident twice and line painting truck once.  Added about three hours to the trip driving total.  Awesome. 

Was it worth it? 

Isn't it always?

The trail head is the parking lot for the tantalizingly named Storm King Ranger Station which is at the confluence of several trails. 

Mt. Storm King looms over the lake.

The trail itself is pretty much flat until right at the end.  It is 1.8 miles round trip through old growth forest on a well maintained trail.  I wish I had brought Nana to this one.  The drive was a bit long though. 

Storm King slopes away to the right.

I love trails

Continuing our theme of walking into shady places.

Nice, flat, pretty trail.

Happy to be out of the car, the kids climbed everything.

Yep, climbed that too.

And that.

We all managed to stop and marvel at some huge trees

Trying to get perspective...something's missing though.

There it is.  That tree has to be at least 50 Max's tall.

Tempting, but no. 

Of course, there has to be a rushing stream.

And of course Michael has to check it for life.

I love the people who make these trails.  They create beautiful bridges that seem nearly organic.  Sometimes, they even cobble together sturdy and safe bridges from the actual materials at hand.  Same with the steps and rails.  So, thank you park rangers, trails associations and nature lovers who go build these marvelous trails.  They make life better and I am grateful.

Ooohhhh, pretty.

Yes kids, daddy is taking another long exposure shot.  "Groan"

Reduce, reuse and recycle.  Beats hauling lumber into a forest.

Hark, I hear a waterfall.

Just too tired to climb anything else.

Now, there's a pretty waterfall.

JUST KIDDING!  climb, climb, climb

Marymere Falls in all its glory.

Ok, what kid could resist?

Then it was time to head back.

We decided to detour through the Moments In Time trail on the way back to the car.  Another scenic forest trail with interpretive signage.  Neat stuff.

Look!  A bipedal tree!

Max sneaker.

We stumbled upon a gravel bar with rock stacks and Michael had to add one.

Gotta get it juuuuuust right.

Still living burnt out tree.

Blurry picture, but a theme is emerging...pesty rabbit ears.

Frolicking among the giants

Pesty rabbit ears.

They call it Pyramid Mountain for some dang reason.

Nice spot for a quiet sit.

Beautiful view, but it needs more....

Max!

Happy place.

Back into the woods.

Found this turtle tree stump.  Sarah got a better picture.

We were finished with the trail and just had to circle a little bit back around to the parking lot.  We were walking along and spotted this little guy.  Out comes the zoom lens.

Then, back around at the beginning, we saw the mommy.

Yeah, it was worth the traffic.