Too pretty to stay inside

IT was just too nice a day to waste inside.

I know... I have a book to finish.  And finish it I will, after the sun goes down.  Today was just perfect.

Luckily, we were able to take advantage of it.  We went to Staircase in the Olympic National Park and walked the rapids loop trail. 

We forgot that it was the first day of free admission into the national parks, so it was a little busier than we would like, but still. 

The river empties out into beautiful Cushman Lake

The parking lot was full.  No surprise for a beautiful day with free admission.

Probably worth it.

Oh yeah, long exposure.  Stand by guys, it could be a long season.

We hiked the trail. Or, three of us hiked the trail while Max scampered around the place like a spider monkey.  If he could climb to the top of it, he did.  I don't know where he gets it.

Max monkey

Brothers and big trees.

Of course there were mushrooms.

And trillium.

And camouflaged wild critters

I love the forests.  I am an unabashed, enthusiastic, tree hugger.  Every once in a while I manage, by effort or accident, to catch a photograph that captures the essence of the forest for me.  I think I got one today.

Back to our regularly scheduled program.

Of climbing things

Both boys got in on the action

Meanwhile, down at the river...

At roughly the halfway point of the hike, there is a bridge.  With plenty of rocks to climb and stuff to explore, it is a good place to goof off for a while and just enjoy the moments.

Hot Mama on the bridge!

with kids.

Max looking down on everybody.

Michael got in on the climbing action too.

The trail is a loop.  We continued past some large trees down across the trail; it was a stormy season.

Then, we ran across these two strange bedfellows.

They apparently grew well together.

We called him Douglas Red Cedar.

I hope they are hugging and not fighting. :-)

IT'S SO GREEN!

I stuck my face into the moss on this tree to look in the viewfinder.  What a wonderful smell.

Perfect place for a short rest stop

A precipitous drop? Let's go take a look.

No closer than this though, you can see what happened to the last guy who got too close.

And then we were back at the parking lot headed for burgers. 

Not bad for a quick trip about an hour from home. 

Time to get out the big backpacks and start planning some really epic trips. 

What to do?

What to do on a beautiful spring day in western Washington?

We weren't sure what we were going to do when we noticed the forecast called for a beautiful, sunny day on my day off, but it was going to be outside.

There are plenty of things to do around here on a pretty day. We are discovering that timing is important sometimes. For instance, the tulips are blooming.  This doesn't last all year. We decided to head down to Woodland and check out the Holland America Bulb Farm. It is closer than Skagit Valley and we wouldn't have to drive through Seattle.  Nice.

So, off we go.

Oh yeah, stand by for flower pictures.  Ima get all artsy and stuff.

AKA: The George R. R. Martin

One of these things is not like the other.

Pretty, not artsy.

Awww, the lovely family. 

Nope, still not artsy.

BANG! Low angle shot.  That's artsy as F*&$

Oh yeah, this is almost as good as long exposure. Feel the art, FEEL IT!

And...back to just pretty. You're lucky, I had more low angle stuff.

We first came to this place on the Vancouver contract in 2011.  A few things have changed since then.  See if you can spot the difference.

Michael in 2011

Michael in 2016. See any difference? That's right. They got rid of the windmill.

Okay, that wasn't bad.  There is a second difference, let's see if you can spot it in the next two.

Max in 2011.

Max 2016. Yep, better camera.  Only other difference.

As much fun as tulips and wooden shoes are, we were done pretty early. There was still a fair amount of time before we had to head back. What to do, what to do.  Well, last time we were here, there was this mountain. You may have heard of Mt. St. Helens.

Well, we couldn't get there.  The road is still closed until at least next month. So, we went to Silver Lake and checked out the boardwalk.

As we were walking, Sarah had the boys stop so she could get a picture of them together. Max held his fingers up behind Michael's head for the classic "Rabbit Ears" pose.  Sarah told him to put his fingers down and just take the picture. Max scowled, but did it. Sarah's picture came out pretty well.

I jumped in behind her to get a picture with the big camera and, well, Michael's timing was better on this day.

We went back to the visitor's center and talked to a very helpful and awesome park ranger about climbing Mt. St. Helens.  You have to reserve a day to do it. I was so tempted.  Not yet.

Soon.

Very soon.

But, the ranger was cool.  I threatened to put her picture up.  If she wants it down, I'll remove it.

Park Rangers ROCK!

Then it was back to Olympia in time for Jiu-Jitsu and just in time to miss the sunset on Mt. Rainier.  Sigh.

One of these days, I'm going to get the picture.  Not today though.

Permanent Job

Most of the posts here are for you, the reader.  But, every once in a while, I write one for me.  Well, for future me.

This is one of those. 

It is weird, sitting here on the first day of a permanent job.  I know, I know, I've done this before.  I had a "permanent" job at Holland America Lines.  I also had one at Stafford Creek and look how those turned out.  I lasted six months and three weeks respectively. 

I think that is the only way I can do this though. I have to know that permanent, doesn't mean permanent. I have to believe there is an out or I won't do it.  Talk about commitment-phobic.

Nursing has never been a calling for me.  I didn't dream of becoming a nurse for years. The idea never even occurred to me until I was already past thirty. I think I do well enough as a nurse and I know I can stay a nurse until after the boys are grown, but I'm always looking for a way out.

Always.

So, I write a book.  I plan a mushroom farm.  I plot world domination. I always look for the next thing.

I'm always chasing something.

I don't know if I can ever catch it.  Or if any of that matters. 

So, buy the book.  Maybe I can make it as a writer and see if that works.

Wallace Falls

And, we're back!

Spring is all over the place up here and we couldn't be happier.  We have had a full week of sunshine and it has been awesome.

Dandelions so bright, they blind you. 

So, what do you with a week of sunshine when it has been raining for a thousand years? Of course, we went to see a waterfall.

There is a picture of a waterfall in the hospital where I work.  It looks awesome and I vowed to go find it.  A little internet research and we thought we found it in a place called Wallace Falls State Park.

We had a bit of a drive, this place is a little northeast of Seattle. It took us two hours to get there.

But it was worth it.

There are lower, middle, and upper falls.  The big ticket item on this one is the middle falls.  We set out and started our first real hike of the year.

Don't we look rested and refreshed?

It was a beautiful day. The kids tolerated the drive well. They were even willing to pretend to be happy about the hike right up until we hit that first hill.

Combined elevation gain ended up at around 1500 feet.

On that first hill, we realized we hadn't been hiking in a while.  There would be an adjustment period.

Luckily, the kids are troopers. We pressed on through the forest and over those lovely little wooden bridges the trails people build. We even got a waterfall preview called small falls.

Ahhh, there we are.  Back out in the woods where we belong.

Small Falls? I wonder what that could be.

Small, but very pretty.

This waterfall picture is better with a Max in it.

The day grew warmer, the trail a little steeper, and the kids a little grumpier.  We had to fight a little harder and cajole a little better, but we kept at it.

With frequent rest breaks

One person was a little less enthused... Guess who.

 After an hour and a half, we made it to the lower falls. There is a picnic pavilion. We didn't bring a lunch though.  Maybe next time.  I can think of worse places to have a picnic.

You can just see the middle falls in the background

Stage one of the lower falls.

Stage two.  They continue cascading down below this, but the pictures weren't very good. 

After a brief pause, we got back on the trail and continued on to the middle falls.  More trail, more up, more cajoling.  We did find the occasional distraction.

I mean, just look at that forking tree!

After an hour and fifty-two minutes, I checked, we made it to the middle falls overlook.

In the picture from the hospital, there are people sitting down close to the base of the falls.  That would have been fatal on this day.

The falls are over two hundred feet high.

Nope, doesn't look safe down there to me.

Then it was time to head back, and down.  For some reason the trip down seemed easier.

Just keep heading down until you hit the road.

We found a little Maxie Raccoon cooling himself in a stream.

We found some other wildlife too.

And this cute little guy.

Then we passed this one bench, and the light was perfect. 

Come on! That light is awesome. Just missing one thing.

That's better.

An hour later, we were back to the car and finished with our first hike of the season.  It was good, but we need to work on our fitness after a long winter of not doing much. We hope to have lots of adventures to share this year. 

One down.