It's Monday and it's been quite a day. My biggest accomplishment for the day was giving Petra a bath as she was overdue. Boxers only need bathing once a month but it had been at least a month and a half... she was getting a little stinky. I've always been impressed that she never has that wet dog smell, unfortunately that does not mean she never smells! Here is a little video of her after her bath. I wish you could smell her, she smells so good when she is clean. After her bath she always tries to find "the other puppy" in the mirror and gets all sad and anxious because she can't go play. The second part of the video is just Petra being silly while chewing on her rawhide bone.
At one point, you can hear that her breathing is all funny because she licked a bunch of soap during her bath and her mouth and nose got all frothy. It sounded pretty funny! No matter how much I rinsed, she still sounded like that but it eventually went away.
In the video, it looks like she is scratching up the bathroom real good, but she actually steps pretty lightly and I haven't seen any scratches yet. I bathe her in the tub and yes, she shakes herself and water sprays all over no matter how well I dry her. I would like to assure you that the entire bathroom gets a thorough cleaning when she is done in there! :)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Petra's Adventures, Snoqualmie Hydroelectric Dam, Snow and Some Cute Kids
That is definitely the longest post title I have ever had. I just couldn't think of anything shorter!
The day we were out in the boat, Petra was wreaking havoc on Sallad's fence unbeknownst to us. We were having a jolly ol' time out on the water while Petra was testing every single board in the fence, looking for that one weak spot. When we were back within cell phone service we had a message on our phone that said something to the effect of "Hi, this is ----- and there is a dog named Petra in our front yard, and we have children so we can't keep her here." Of course we were so glad she was safe and that Sallad recognized the address they gave on the message as being only a few houses away from theirs. We contacted them quickly and a solution had already been found. She had been taken to stay with a nearby family who already had three dogs, one of them being a white boxer just a month younger than Petra named Boo. Boo and Petra had a great time and when we walked over to bring Petra home, she didn't want to leave. We tied her up securely with a large stake that screws into the ground and a long dog-run style cable so that we didn't have to worry about her getting out again. BUT.... one day we arrived back at Sallad and Grace's to see that #1 the fence was fixed and #2 the stake was nowhere to be found and instead the cable was looped around one of the beams on the back deck. What had happened?! Later a different neighbor (so now Petra was "friends" with three different neighbor families) came by to tell us that he had seen her running around the neighborhood dragging the stake and cable behind her. Wow. What a little escape artist! The kind neighbor had fixed the fence and tied her securely in the backyard. We sure learned some lessons that weekend as it was the first time we tried taking Petra on a trip with us. Next time we will definitely know what to do differently! She wasn't going anywhere tied up to the supporting beam of the house.
One of the most beautiful places in the Northwest is Snoqualmie Falls. I might be biased because it is also the place The Mr. and I got engaged but I think if you were to visit the falls, you would agree with me. I don't have any photos of my own to upload this time, because we were at the top of the falls, not the bottom. From the top, the falls just look like a flat body of water that all of a sudden disappears. What I will share with you though, is a photo that was taken by helicopter during the flooding in the past months and was going around as an email forward. Isn't this breathtaking? Click on it.
Sallad works at PSE, the company that runs 2 hydroelectric dams at Snoqualmie Falls. He was able to take us on a tour of the large underground hydroelectric facility and it was just amazing. First we stopped at the Snoqualmie falls train station that is no longer in use. Inside, the walls are full of all sorts of incredibly interesting black and white photos to look at, as well as simple diagrams of the dam. We picked up hard hats at this building and then walked over to the elevator tower. I have to tell you that the elevator there is really crazy. It is the old fashioned kind that you have to open and close yourself, and it goes straight down into the ground. I am not sure how far down the plant is, but Wikipedia says it is 270 feet. When you are in the elevator it feels like you are going so deep into the earth that your ears should pop or something but they don't. On either side of the elevator are huge penstocks. The water from the river above is cleared of sticks, garbage and logs and then it flows into these massive pipes plummeting 270 feet straight down. You can imagine the energy that creates!
I just emailed Sallad to ask him what the big spinny things are called. This is one of them. He replied with "They are generators. The water turns turbines, which turn a shaft
connected to generators." Thanks for clearing that up! These generators were huge and everything was so loud.
This is a diagram that was in the railroad station.
1. Transformer House
2. Elevator House (See how far the elevator goes down?!)
3. Penstock
4. Penstock (These are the massive pipes the water come down.)
5. Elevator
6. Snoqualmie River
7. Concrete Dam
8. Generator
9. Tailrace (We got to stand right at the beginning of this and it was SO COLD! It is basically a long skinny hole through the rock and water is flowing out to eventually join the river and continue downstream.)
10. Solid Bedrock
11. Tailrace Discharge
A photo of an old photo in the railroad station.
An old cutaway from Wikipedia originally published in a pamphlet in 1800 by what is now the Seattle Times. You can see how the rock was carved away on all sides to make room for everything. It's definitely a weird feeling to be in the cavity and think about how there is nothing but solid bedrock on all sides.
Lord's day morning in the Seattle area brought lots of huge fluffy flakes!
On Lord's day evening Sallad and Grace had Doc, Bashful and their four kids over. Luke had lots of fun "reading" me stories.
On Monday we went for coffee and then spent some time at Barnes and Noble. Bri liked the train table in the kids area a lot. This photo reminds me of "Honey I Blew up the Kid." A huge baby running free in a city creates some major damage. :)
Below is a little video compilation of Bri just being herself. :) There is sound, so turn your volume up or down accordingly.
The day we were out in the boat, Petra was wreaking havoc on Sallad's fence unbeknownst to us. We were having a jolly ol' time out on the water while Petra was testing every single board in the fence, looking for that one weak spot. When we were back within cell phone service we had a message on our phone that said something to the effect of "Hi, this is ----- and there is a dog named Petra in our front yard, and we have children so we can't keep her here." Of course we were so glad she was safe and that Sallad recognized the address they gave on the message as being only a few houses away from theirs. We contacted them quickly and a solution had already been found. She had been taken to stay with a nearby family who already had three dogs, one of them being a white boxer just a month younger than Petra named Boo. Boo and Petra had a great time and when we walked over to bring Petra home, she didn't want to leave. We tied her up securely with a large stake that screws into the ground and a long dog-run style cable so that we didn't have to worry about her getting out again. BUT.... one day we arrived back at Sallad and Grace's to see that #1 the fence was fixed and #2 the stake was nowhere to be found and instead the cable was looped around one of the beams on the back deck. What had happened?! Later a different neighbor (so now Petra was "friends" with three different neighbor families) came by to tell us that he had seen her running around the neighborhood dragging the stake and cable behind her. Wow. What a little escape artist! The kind neighbor had fixed the fence and tied her securely in the backyard. We sure learned some lessons that weekend as it was the first time we tried taking Petra on a trip with us. Next time we will definitely know what to do differently! She wasn't going anywhere tied up to the supporting beam of the house.
Petra was allowed inside for a few minutes. Doesn't Grace decorate nice? I just love her style. Thankfully Petra only potties outside and has learned to stay on her blanket fairly well. The newness of the people and the room were distractions though and she definitely showed them that she has character. :)
One of the most beautiful places in the Northwest is Snoqualmie Falls. I might be biased because it is also the place The Mr. and I got engaged but I think if you were to visit the falls, you would agree with me. I don't have any photos of my own to upload this time, because we were at the top of the falls, not the bottom. From the top, the falls just look like a flat body of water that all of a sudden disappears. What I will share with you though, is a photo that was taken by helicopter during the flooding in the past months and was going around as an email forward. Isn't this breathtaking? Click on it.
Sallad works at PSE, the company that runs 2 hydroelectric dams at Snoqualmie Falls. He was able to take us on a tour of the large underground hydroelectric facility and it was just amazing. First we stopped at the Snoqualmie falls train station that is no longer in use. Inside, the walls are full of all sorts of incredibly interesting black and white photos to look at, as well as simple diagrams of the dam. We picked up hard hats at this building and then walked over to the elevator tower. I have to tell you that the elevator there is really crazy. It is the old fashioned kind that you have to open and close yourself, and it goes straight down into the ground. I am not sure how far down the plant is, but Wikipedia says it is 270 feet. When you are in the elevator it feels like you are going so deep into the earth that your ears should pop or something but they don't. On either side of the elevator are huge penstocks. The water from the river above is cleared of sticks, garbage and logs and then it flows into these massive pipes plummeting 270 feet straight down. You can imagine the energy that creates!
I just emailed Sallad to ask him what the big spinny things are called. This is one of them. He replied with "They are generators. The water turns turbines, which turn a shaftconnected to generators." Thanks for clearing that up! These generators were huge and everything was so loud.
This is a diagram that was in the railroad station.1. Transformer House
2. Elevator House (See how far the elevator goes down?!)
3. Penstock
4. Penstock (These are the massive pipes the water come down.)
5. Elevator
6. Snoqualmie River
7. Concrete Dam
8. Generator
9. Tailrace (We got to stand right at the beginning of this and it was SO COLD! It is basically a long skinny hole through the rock and water is flowing out to eventually join the river and continue downstream.)
10. Solid Bedrock
11. Tailrace Discharge
A photo of an old photo in the railroad station.
An old cutaway from Wikipedia originally published in a pamphlet in 1800 by what is now the Seattle Times. You can see how the rock was carved away on all sides to make room for everything. It's definitely a weird feeling to be in the cavity and think about how there is nothing but solid bedrock on all sides.
Lord's day morning in the Seattle area brought lots of huge fluffy flakes!
On Lord's day evening Sallad and Grace had Doc, Bashful and their four kids over. Luke had lots of fun "reading" me stories.
On Monday we went for coffee and then spent some time at Barnes and Noble. Bri liked the train table in the kids area a lot. This photo reminds me of "Honey I Blew up the Kid." A huge baby running free in a city creates some major damage. :)
Below is a little video compilation of Bri just being herself. :) There is sound, so turn your volume up or down accordingly.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Our First Whale Spotting
When we were out in the Puget Sound with Sallad and Grace, we saw a whale pod! This was our first time seeing whales in the wild and it was amazing. We were just speeding along on our way home and all of a sudden The Mr. said he had seen the spray of a whale. We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw several whales surfacing. Sallad stopped the boat right away and we eventually made our way a little closer (but not too close!) It was so incredible. These creatures are massive and so graceful in the water. It seemed like they might have been feeding back and forth along the ocean's edge. We think they were Gray Whales. Gray whales have often made their way up to boats and have even let people touch them, which I think would be amazing. You can easily find pictures of it around the web. I don't know if I could actually get that close to an animal this huge, I would probably be way too scared. I guess it would depend on how big the boat was but I am glad it didn't happen this time.
This is the spiny looking back of the whale which is right behind the dorsal hump. You can see a drawing of them here on the Cetacean fact sheet.
On the right you can see the dorsal hump. If this was a humpback whale, there would be a pointed dorsal fin, and I don't think Humpback whales are "in season" in March whereas Gray whales are known to start making their way into the Puget sound in late March. If anyone reading this thinks it might not be Gray whales, I would love to hear your opinion in the comments!
Grace took the photo above with her camera. Isn't it amazing how she caught the water coming off the whale's tail? It was so much fun to watch the whales, they were just amazing.
Here is a video, but please excuse my poor camera skills as these were the very first videos I took with my new camera. Next time I know what to do different that's for sure!
This is the spiny looking back of the whale which is right behind the dorsal hump. You can see a drawing of them here on the Cetacean fact sheet.
On the right you can see the dorsal hump. If this was a humpback whale, there would be a pointed dorsal fin, and I don't think Humpback whales are "in season" in March whereas Gray whales are known to start making their way into the Puget sound in late March. If anyone reading this thinks it might not be Gray whales, I would love to hear your opinion in the comments!
Grace took the photo above with her camera. Isn't it amazing how she caught the water coming off the whale's tail? It was so much fun to watch the whales, they were just amazing.Here is a video, but please excuse my poor camera skills as these were the very first videos I took with my new camera. Next time I know what to do different that's for sure!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Coupeville
While we were out on the Puget Sound with Sallad and Grace, they took us to one of the cutest little towns I have ever been in. I knew I would love the place as soon as we were pulling up to the dock. The waterfront is filled with colorful old buildings on stilts and old fashioned signs beckon you to explore. The town is called Coupeville and I highly recommend you click on that link and take a gander at their header. Isn't that a beautiful and historic looking waterfront!?
This little guy was hanging out right beside where we docked Sallad's boat.
My photo of the waterfront isn't quite as pretty as the one on their town website, it was a really bright day and the tide was out. I just loved the old buildings!
Sallad, Bri and Grace making their way towards town, how cute is that?! Bri is such a good walker now, but I don't quite think she is ready to walk on wobbly docks all by herself.
Want to rent a kayak?
The water level around the pier was low because the tide was out and we could see hundreds of starfish. Yellow, Terra Cotta orange, purple and several shades of blue were spotted, it was so beautiful but hard to capture on camera.
The Mr. and our niece Bri. She is such a good little girl and just goes with the flow even though her parents take us on adventures.
A real Dall's porpoise skeleton. I am pretty sure we saw some sort of porpoise on our way to Coupeville but I didn't get any photos. All we could see was a small fin arching it's way out of the water several times as it swam along and we were quite far away from it. There is also an amazing real skeleton of a Humpback whale to see. Both of these skeletons are found in the large red building on the pier that says "Coupeville."
Aren't these buildings just adorable? They are original, complete with fake fronts. The pale yellow building has a very interesting history that I have to tell you about. It is where Seattle's Best Coffee started! You can read some of the history on the net but I will try and give you the short version from a typed out history of the company that was pasted on the wall inside the building. (I took a photo of it.)
In 1968 a man named Jim Stewart rented the building and sold ice cream to make money for college, calling his shop the Wet Whisker after his cat. In 1969 he branched out into the coffee business, selling fresh ground coffee beans and coffee. Jim's brother Dave joined him shortly after that and together they opened a Wet Whisker in Seattle, on Pier 70. Once they became more popular and had more locations, they dropped the ice cream and focused on coffee. In 1988 they changed their name to Seattle's Best Coffee and eventually went on to win a "best coffee" contest, beating Starbucks and other local coffees.
So what's in the building now? ICE CREAM! Doesn't that make sense? There is a wonderful lady there that makes all her own waffle cones and the shop just smells wonderful. Make sure you stop by Kapaw's Iskreme for a cone if you are ever in Coupeville. I am such a lover of local history and I love the fact that I stood in this building. This little town was built because of a rumor that the railroad was coming to the island and gold was being discovered in Alaska.
We were able to walk around a bit and it felt like spring even though we still had a few days to wait before spring was officially in town.
Look at that stone foundation, amazing.
This whale weathervane suited the area well. It was so fun to be in this town that had so many great photo opportunities. Especially since it was the first outing with my new camera! This weathervane was on the top of a turret of a two story Victorian style house, across the street from where I was standing.
Some brightly colored bed and breakfasts.
I am always glad to see Heather in the spring because it is always nice and early!
Having Celiac disease is life changing and one of the hardest parts about it is worrying about cross contamination when eating at restaurants. We had walked down the street and taken several dining options into consideration before settling in at the County Deli. I stood in line, but had already mentally decided not to order anything and just eat the food I had packed along with us when we got back to the boat. For some reason, when I got to the front of the line with The Mr. I told the lady behind the counter that I had Celiac Disease. I don't know why I even decided to try and order, but I did anyways and you know what she did? She pointed to a small menu that was about a foot away from my head. I turned to read it and across the top, it said "Gluten Free Menu" can you believe it? Not only was it a gluten free menu, but it had 15 items on it, and yes she knew about cross contamination and she even had a family member who couldn't eat gluten. I think the Lord knew I needed some encouragement in the gluten free eating area of my life and led us to this Deli, how else would something like that happen? Recently I had been getting very discouraged about eating out, but now I know that there is hope! Above is the photo of my turkey, cream cheese, pesto and tomato wrap, which was amazing and I had absolutely no Celiac reaction at this Deli. I give this wonderful business 10 stars out of 5 if that is possible!
There was a little park fountain with statues of two little kids playing in the water and someone thought they looked cold. Above is a hooded girl and there was also a boy with a matching scarf. I am sure some sweet little old lady knitted these and dresses the statues each year. She probably has no clue that there is a madly popular urban knitting graffiti trend that is on the rise. Ok, obviously you aren't going to go to all of those links, but you get the idea.
A neat path between two buildings complete with antique knob on the gate and tons of grapevine wreaths and baskets. The metal part of the knob/latch had "Patented Oct. 11 1880" stamped into it.
Bri loves to look out windows and it kept her occupied at many of the stores we visited!
I'd love to try and make something like this with local beach treasures.
I had to try at least one of the photos in sepia, I think it almost looks authentic. We just needed fisherman clothing for Sallad and The Mr. instead of jackets and winter hats!
This little guy was hanging out right beside where we docked Sallad's boat.
My photo of the waterfront isn't quite as pretty as the one on their town website, it was a really bright day and the tide was out. I just loved the old buildings!
Sallad, Bri and Grace making their way towards town, how cute is that?! Bri is such a good walker now, but I don't quite think she is ready to walk on wobbly docks all by herself.
Want to rent a kayak?
The water level around the pier was low because the tide was out and we could see hundreds of starfish. Yellow, Terra Cotta orange, purple and several shades of blue were spotted, it was so beautiful but hard to capture on camera.
The Mr. and our niece Bri. She is such a good little girl and just goes with the flow even though her parents take us on adventures.
A real Dall's porpoise skeleton. I am pretty sure we saw some sort of porpoise on our way to Coupeville but I didn't get any photos. All we could see was a small fin arching it's way out of the water several times as it swam along and we were quite far away from it. There is also an amazing real skeleton of a Humpback whale to see. Both of these skeletons are found in the large red building on the pier that says "Coupeville."
Aren't these buildings just adorable? They are original, complete with fake fronts. The pale yellow building has a very interesting history that I have to tell you about. It is where Seattle's Best Coffee started! You can read some of the history on the net but I will try and give you the short version from a typed out history of the company that was pasted on the wall inside the building. (I took a photo of it.)In 1968 a man named Jim Stewart rented the building and sold ice cream to make money for college, calling his shop the Wet Whisker after his cat. In 1969 he branched out into the coffee business, selling fresh ground coffee beans and coffee. Jim's brother Dave joined him shortly after that and together they opened a Wet Whisker in Seattle, on Pier 70. Once they became more popular and had more locations, they dropped the ice cream and focused on coffee. In 1988 they changed their name to Seattle's Best Coffee and eventually went on to win a "best coffee" contest, beating Starbucks and other local coffees.
So what's in the building now? ICE CREAM! Doesn't that make sense? There is a wonderful lady there that makes all her own waffle cones and the shop just smells wonderful. Make sure you stop by Kapaw's Iskreme for a cone if you are ever in Coupeville. I am such a lover of local history and I love the fact that I stood in this building. This little town was built because of a rumor that the railroad was coming to the island and gold was being discovered in Alaska.
We were able to walk around a bit and it felt like spring even though we still had a few days to wait before spring was officially in town.
Look at that stone foundation, amazing.
This whale weathervane suited the area well. It was so fun to be in this town that had so many great photo opportunities. Especially since it was the first outing with my new camera! This weathervane was on the top of a turret of a two story Victorian style house, across the street from where I was standing.
Some brightly colored bed and breakfasts.
I am always glad to see Heather in the spring because it is always nice and early!
Having Celiac disease is life changing and one of the hardest parts about it is worrying about cross contamination when eating at restaurants. We had walked down the street and taken several dining options into consideration before settling in at the County Deli. I stood in line, but had already mentally decided not to order anything and just eat the food I had packed along with us when we got back to the boat. For some reason, when I got to the front of the line with The Mr. I told the lady behind the counter that I had Celiac Disease. I don't know why I even decided to try and order, but I did anyways and you know what she did? She pointed to a small menu that was about a foot away from my head. I turned to read it and across the top, it said "Gluten Free Menu" can you believe it? Not only was it a gluten free menu, but it had 15 items on it, and yes she knew about cross contamination and she even had a family member who couldn't eat gluten. I think the Lord knew I needed some encouragement in the gluten free eating area of my life and led us to this Deli, how else would something like that happen? Recently I had been getting very discouraged about eating out, but now I know that there is hope! Above is the photo of my turkey, cream cheese, pesto and tomato wrap, which was amazing and I had absolutely no Celiac reaction at this Deli. I give this wonderful business 10 stars out of 5 if that is possible!
There was a little park fountain with statues of two little kids playing in the water and someone thought they looked cold. Above is a hooded girl and there was also a boy with a matching scarf. I am sure some sweet little old lady knitted these and dresses the statues each year. She probably has no clue that there is a madly popular urban knitting graffiti trend that is on the rise. Ok, obviously you aren't going to go to all of those links, but you get the idea.
A neat path between two buildings complete with antique knob on the gate and tons of grapevine wreaths and baskets. The metal part of the knob/latch had "Patented Oct. 11 1880" stamped into it.
Bri loves to look out windows and it kept her occupied at many of the stores we visited!
I'd love to try and make something like this with local beach treasures.
I had to try at least one of the photos in sepia, I think it almost looks authentic. We just needed fisherman clothing for Sallad and The Mr. instead of jackets and winter hats!
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