The Seattle Center Today

Seattle Center Space Needle Entrance

It has been almost 51 years since the 1962 Seattle World's Fair opened on April 21, 1962.  The theme of the fair was "Century 21" which was intended to showcase new technology and a look into future. The old fair site is now the site of the Seattle Center which explains why many of the buildings including the Space Needle and Pacific Science Center have a Jetson's look. 

 Century 21 - The 1962 Seattle World's Fair

There have been many changes in the past 50 years, but recent renovations include the demolition of the old carnival rides and replacing them with the Chihuly Garden and Glass.

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Some of the other attractions that are worth enjoying include the Pacific Science Center with its hands-on exhibits, butterflies in the tropical butterfly house, IMAX theaters and laser shows.



 Butterfly in the Pacific Science Center Tropical Butterfly House

And if you've never taken a trip to the top of the Space Needle on a clear sunny day, it is something you must do at least once in your life!

 

Seattle Space Needle on a sunny day



Of course there are always the annual festivals and events held on the grounds like the Northwest Folklife Festival, Bite of Seattle and Bumbershoot or it is a great place to spend a sunny day relaxing around the International Fountain while the kiddies run from the spray.



 Seattle Center International Fountain



Hiking Dog Friendly Guemes Island

Guemes Mountain, WA

Just getting around to posting a trip report of our dog friendly hike to Guemes Mountain, WA.  It is amazing after living in the Pacific Northwest for so many years, that there are still places that await discovery and exploration. 

We parked our cars at the free parking lot at the Guemes Island Ferry terminal in Anacortes, WA and walked on the ferry - $2.50 round trip fare for humans - $0 for the dogs.

We hiked about 2 miles along the sparsely traveled roads to the Guemes Mountain trailhead.  There is no sign on the road marking the trailhead - just a wide shoulder where a few vehicles can park and a bike rack - but the graveled trail is clearly visible.  A few yards after staring up the trail there is a sign with information about the Guemes Mountain trail.

The trail was completed in 2011 after a joint effort by the Skagit Land Trust, San Juan PreservationTrust, Guemes Island residents and the Washington Trails Association.  What a great legacy for future generations to enjoy!  Even though the spring weather was less than perfect, the view from the summit was fabulous and as a bonus we saw numerous bald eagles.

To see more of my adventures hiking with me dogs, visit my other blog Adventures of Border Collies in the Burbs.



Rufous Hummingbirds are Arriving

Some of the first signs of spring are starting to appear in the Pacific Northwest.  Daffodils and crocus are starting to bloom and our native red-flowering currant (ribes sanguineum) is starting to bloom in some of the warmer more sheltered areas.

Red-flowering Currant - Ribes Sanguineum

Ribes sanguineum is one of  our most brilliant and beautiful blooming shrubs and an added bonus is that their bloom time is closely synchronized with the return of our spring and summer visitor, the gorgeous rufous hummingbird.

Male Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus)
Photo courtesy of  Velo Steve on Flickr  - creative commons license

An interesting website where you can follow the progress of their migration is called Field Notes - the Journey North

If you want to attract these gorgeous little birds as the migrate and perhaps encourage them to stay around for the summer, consider planting a few red-flowering currant or other ribes genus plants.  They are often available in nurseries.

  Ribes is the genus of both currants and gooseberries.  Currants and gooseberries are usually early spring bloomers and many have  attractive flowers and some also have delicious edible fruit after the flowers fade away.  For more information, here is an article about growing Spring Blooming Ribes

Of course the currants and gooseberries are also enjoyed by our year-round resident Anna's hummingbird, too.

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna )                      

Photo credit: Tyler Karaszewski on Flickr - Creative Commons License

Of course another way to attract hummingbirds is with hummingbird feeders.  Use 1 part sugar to 4 parts water and boil for a few minutes to dissolve the sugar.  Do NOT use brown sugar, honey or artificial sweeteners.  Red food coloring in NOT necessary if the feeder itself has a red color.  Food coloring be harmful.  Be sure to throw away any remaining nectar every few days, clean the feeders and refill with fresh nectar.  A week's supply of nectar can be made up and refrigerated for a week.  Please don't hang feeders or plant flowers and shrubs that attract hummingbirds within the reach of cats.   Cats can, and do catch and kill many hummingbirds each year.

This is my favorite hummingbird feeder. The glass is fairly easy to clean and can be run through the dishwasher or boiled to sterilize. The hummingbirds seem to enjoy the perches by each feeding station because they certainly use them.  Again the red food coloring shown in the photo is NOT NECESSARY.  I never use red food coloring and the hummingbirds find and use my feeders just fine.

A Winter Getaway to Belize

One of my favorite winter getaways is Belize. In particular I fell in love with Ambergris Caye - there was nothing I didn't like. 

 It is an eco-friendly bird and wildlife watcher's paradise and with the second largest coral barrier reef in the world is a great place to engage in one of my favorite activities - snorkeling. 

Numerous species of coral including this brain coral and of course colorful tropical fish. 

Brain Coral Coffee Mug by VickiSims
Create a unique personalize coffee mug from zazzle.com

We earned bragging rights snorkeling with sharks and rays Hol Chan Marine Preserve. 

The island is a few miles offshore from the mainland of Belize has a very relaxed retro feeling. No big chain hotels and no building taller than 3 stories.  Even in the town of San Pedro the main methods of transportation and the mostly sand streets are walking, boats, bikes and golf carts.  To get there you either board a water taxi or a small plane.   We arrived by plane on Tropic Air - the smallest plane I'd ever flown on.  

A Snowshoeing Trip to Big4 Ice Caves

Hank Checking out the Chimney from the Old Resort at Big4

We started off the New Year on one of our favorite dog-friendly snowshoeing trips to Big4 Ice Caves.  The Hike is located in Snohomish County off of the Mountain Loop Highway out of Granite Falls, WA.

Where are the Big4 Ice Caves?

We are early risers so we arrived at the end of the plowed road at the Deer Creek Campground at about 9:30 am on New Years Day.  And it was a good thing, too!  There were only a handful of other vehicles parked and we set off along the compact snow on the road and since there was no one around, Hank and Tim got some off-leash time to be silly in the snow.

We made good progress and within a couple of hours arrived at the Big 4 Picnic area and sat down to enjoy some lunch in the picnic shelter before heading up the trail to the ice caves.

Hank wore a backpack and carried in water for himself and Tim.

We were joined for lunch by some tame Steller's Jays hoping for a hand-out.

We leashed the dogs up before continuing up the trail to the ice caves.  The trail was well-worn compacted snow that was easy to follow but somewhat narrow.  We encountered several other people with dogs along the trail - all friendly and courteous about controlling/leashing their dogs when they encountered others.

On the way out, many more people had arrived and actually it was quite a zoo!  Lots of dogs, small children with sleds.  Not all of the people with dogs had them on leashes or even under good control and some people with children had obviously not taught them to be cautious about approaching dogs.  We had several children run up to pet the dogs without asking if it was ok or even showing any caution.  So it is a great dog-friendly snowshoeing trip destination, but my tip would be to get out early before the throngs of people arrive and I'm sure weekdays would be much better than New Years Day or a weekend.

Hank, Me and Tim at Big 4

Santacon is Coming to Town - Seattle Santacon

Seattle Santacon 2010 - Fremont

(Photo credit: Jamiriquai on Flickr - Creative Commons License)

With the holiday season approaching, those of us who live in the Seattle area or will be visiting Seattle in December have three opportunities to join in a Santa Pub Crawl.  There are two different groups organizing Santa events on the following dates:

December 1 - Santacon
Meet at 12:30 pm at the International Fountain at the Seattle Center heading to the Queen Anne area
For more details go to: http://www.seattlesanta.org/

December 8 - Santapalooza -
Starts at noon
Location to be announced
For more details join the Meet-up Group: http://www.meetup.com/20s30sSeattle/events/88987112/
or visit the event facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/475962139092942


December 15 - Santarchy
Meet at noon at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill - 1635 11th Ave
For more details go to: http://www.seattlesanta.org/
or visit the event facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/410422489006739/

For more information about Santacons all over the world visit Here Comes Santacon


Be sure to have your Santa Suit Ready!

The Seattle Underground Tour

The Seattle Underground Tour

I think I'm a fairly typical resident of the Seattle area in that I don't take the time to explore many of the local tourist attractions until I have someone visiting from out of town.  I hadn't been to the Seattle Underground Tour for probably around 15 years, but I recently had some house guests who had heard about it and wanted to go.  I'm certainly glad that they suggested it.  It had been too long ago to remember all of the interesting and funny stories the tour guides tell about the early days of Seattle.  We had a great time as we were led though the labyrinth of streets and alleys one story below the current street level.  Like many frontier towns, Seattle was rough and rugged and had its share of interesting characters.

The Seattle Underground Tour was started by William C. (Bill) Speidel, a local historian and writer who began the tour in the 1960s  to publicize and build support for the effort to preserve the historic Pioneer Square area of the city and save it from the wrecking ball.  Bill Spiedel passed away in 1988 but his tour and books about some of Seattle's early pioneers live on.

For those who are interested in the history of Seattle, here are some of Bill Speidel's books: