Jim and Bonny: August 2009

Lost picture that belongs at the end! Sorry!

This is the picture taken from our table at Salty's!

Arlen & Asta Twedt visit WA - August 2008

After spending a week at Holden Village with all of their children and grandchildren, the Twedt's spent 2 days with us before returning to Ankeny, Iowa. Their kids also joined us for dinner before they left. It was so great to meet the whole family!!

For those of you who don't know.....Asta grew up with Jim & I in Askov. What a treasure life long friendships are.....they never fade even when we don't see each other for many years.

We started day 1 with a stop at Snoqualmie Falls. Of course it was cloudy for the first time since May. All one needs to do to break a 2 month drought is invite guests from the Midwest! They never did see the mountains out! ) :

But we just ignored the weather and moved on for a hike along the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River.

The sun actually came out in the afternoon and it was most enjoyable!

The river was really low after the dry summer we have had.

We stopped to have our lunch on a downed tree caused by a flood last spring.

The flood caused this washout right over the trail. Amazing!! Here we turned back.

At the end of the day we stopped at the TPC Golf Course on the Ridge. Clouds but no rain.

The Boeing Classic Golf Tournament is being held this week and will be televised on the golf channel on August 29th and 30th. You will see our beautiful scenery if you tune in.

Then off to Flo's in Bellevue for Sushi and back home for a game of Mexican Train! We don't want our company to get too much rest!!

Day 2 we started out at Pike's Market in Seattle. First stop was to see the flying fish..........

put a quarter in the pig.......

pose for a picture.......

take a picture of the colorful peppers..........

have a cup of coffee at the "original Starbucks" and listen to some Gospel singers....

and before we new it "shy Asta" had joined in singing with the group!

What fun!!

Then into the market to see the flowers.....

a stop on the bridge to watch the ferry on our way back to the car.

Then off the the Harim M. Chittenden Locks in Ballard that connect Puget Sound, salt water, to Lake Union, fresh water. We watched the boats going through the locks and looked for salmon. Due to the heat this year there were no salmon on the salmon ladder and they were going under the dam. We could see lots of them under the water. Only one sea lion!

A few summer flowers were left in the gardens. After a drive through the U of WA and a stop at IRIDIO we went over the bridge to view the harbor filled with container ships and on to Salty's for dinner.

Since it was cloudy we were worried about our view of Elliot Bay but it ended up being phenomenal! The fog rolled in and out all evening. It turned out to be a most enjoyable view.

For some reason I just lost the picture that belongs here so it will be posted back at the beginning. Sorry about that!

We had an awesome salmon dinner with an awesome view with awesome guests!

We covered a lot of ground in two days......but did miss a view of the mountains. We will try again next time.

Thank you, Asta & Arlen, for coming to visit!!

Blueberry Picking in North Bend - August 2009

Blueberry fields at the base of Mt. Si

The bushes are loaded!

Awesome view!

Beautiful Berries!

Two buckets full in less than an hour!

And a slight stomachache! ) :

(click to enlarge and see all the berries)

The green and ripe berries are mixed on the branches. Amazing! That is why they pick until the end of September. You can see this best by enlarging the photo.