Friday My Town Shoot-Out: Park Landscapes

Jarie Lyn chose "Park Landscapes", and I really wanted to show you a local park but the weather has been horrific so I have not ventured out with my camera. Instead, I will take you on an archive trip to Leavenworth, Washington. We enjoyed a week there this summer and found a jewel of a park hidden behind the downtown area along the Wenatchee River. The park has several loops, many picnic areas, and some beach play areas as well as a playground.

I wish I had a picture of the activity taking place on the pedestrian bridge. There were 4 or 5 boys, probably 10-15 years old jumping and diving off of the bridge into the river below and no adults in sight. Being the worrywart that I am, I asked if their mommas knew what they were up to. When they assured me that they did, we moved on. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't get that question answered. Then I had a nice little chat with my children about the stupidity of what those boys were doing! (It was not exactly deep water...the bridge had signs that said "No jumping from bridge" and they didn't have any adults with them) Enough about that...here is Leavenworth's Waterfront Park:

A view of a farm on the Wenatchee River.

Some rafters coming down from the Icicle Creek area. We tubed down this river the day before. At this time of year the river is very slow moving and fun for families to take a leisurely float.

This was my favorite part of the park. I love the row of benches. My husband and son were ready to go back to our cabin - the trail is a couple of miles long and I convinced them to go most of the way...in the heat...with full tummies...in sandals...

My daughter and I loved the light posts - they reminded us of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe!

If you ever get the opportunity to visit Leavenworth, WA, do it! It is a wonderful little Bavarian themed town set in the North Cascades.

Thank you for checking out my shoot-out. Now click on the camera to see other great parks around the world!

Friday My Town Shoot-Out: Classics of Childhood

Thank you, Ellisa, for this week's theme: Classics of Childhood. To see what our hostess is posting, go to http://ellisaathousandwords.blogspot.com/.

In my house, football reigns supreme. My son is making some great memories as the ball boy of the high school football team:


And he'll never forget catching for the Little League All Stars team, which came in 2nd in their tournament:

Living on the coast, fishing and playing on the beach are childhood musts!

And finally, here is my nephew with one of the great childhood classics of all time: getting to lick the beater!

This was a fun subject in my mind because my head has been full of pictures of childhood memories that I wish I had actual photos of which to show. Thanks, Ellisa, for the journey down memory lane!

Friday My Town Shoot-Out: Sunrises & Sunsets

Sherri chose our theme this week: Sunrises and Sunsets. I am excited to see everyone else's pictures...especially of sunrises. The reason that I say that is that I am not a morning cucumber so I rarely see a sunrise :). I had to go through my archives for this one because after the most beautiful September and beginning of October, we have had nothing but rain & clouds all week! I was even going to get my rear out of bed for a sunrise shot because I love FSO so much but alack and alas, I did not have to! The first 3 pictures are local places. The last picture was taken in Mukilteo, WA, on my anniversary trip last May. The ferry goes between Mukilteo and Whidbey Island, a very beautiful place.

5K Accomplishment

I did it! I ran in my first 5K on Sunday. It was the "Bog Jog" in Grayland, WA. The run took us by cranberry bogs and if you did the 10K, onto the beach. It was a beautiful morning, though very cold. I didn't come in last, and I didn't walk at all so I accomplished my goal. My friend, Susan, convinced me to do this and I'm glad I did. We are already looking for our next race - maybe a Santa run in December!

That's me on the right (#332)...we are about to high five Susan's 3 year old son at the half way point. Isn't it sweet that her husband was waiting there to encourage us and take photos?! My hubby & kids were at the finish line to do the same.

Friday My Town Shoot-Out: Silhouettes

I'm so excited to have my pick as the theme of the week! I chose silhouettes because I just love the way they look - it is that simple :)


This is from my archives but I just had to include it. This is the group my husband and I herded around the zoo for our son's field trip last year. They are looking out into the African savannah.

More recently I caught a silhouette of a ship in the fog. If you enlarge the picture you can see a surfer heading out to catch a wave!

Another foggy silhouette of a seagull preening on a pole off of the seawall.

Pelicans are my favorite birds....here is one flying by the channel marker at Half Moon Bay:

While the ocean is now closed to salmon fishing, they are running through the marina and these guys landed a nice slab that looked to be 12-14 lbs. I hope to get some dock fishing in myself.

This tree is off the side of the highway between Grayland and Tokeland, just a few miles south of Westport. We zip by it all the time on our way here and there and I have always wanted to stop for a photo. I was thrilled to be able to take a silhouette shot. I love this tree!

What a beautiful night this was and I was so lucky to get our viewing tower silhouette against the sunset.

And finally, this was one of my favorite shots from my archives of a December storm in 2008. Christmas day brought high winds, high tide, and quite a swell so the dock area flooded. Christmas festivities were postponed because my husband works for the city and was out sandbagging and driving heavy equipment to clean up the roads. It gave me a chance to go get some fun shots like this one of some (not so bright) people walking on the beach trail as the waves came up over the rocks.

I hope you've enjoyed my silhouettes. Click on the camera to see other participants' take on this theme. Thanks for stopping by!

Friday My Town Shoot Out: Building Study

This week I headed down the coast a few miles to Tokeland, Washington to shoot the historic Tokeland Hotel. Rather than confine myself to my teeny, tiny town, I use my school district area for shoot-outs. That gives me a few more opportunities and keeps you from having to see the same places over and over. Tokeland is at the south end of our district and is located on Willapa Bay. The hotel is said to be haunted but I didn't catch any ghosts staring out of those windows on my shoot-out. Click here to get more information on the hotel: http://www.tokelandhotel.com/home.html

Thanks for stopping by My Town...I appreciate your comments!

Oh, yeah...I almost forgot that this is where my husband almost proposed :) We had dinner in the restaurant and his plan was to propose but the hostess put us at a table right next to people we knew...and the rest of the restaurant was empty!!! Mike chickened out and I figured my suspicions were wrong. He ended up asking me during a Sportscenter commercial later that evening. I have since forgiven him ;) It is funny, though, because fourteen years later our life revolves around sports (he coaches HS football, JH basketball, elementary basketball and Little League baseball so I guess it was an omen.