After a near week long drive from Kentucky to Washington, we are finally getting settled in our new house. Our household goods were delivered and I’d been furiously unpacking for a week solid.. so I took the weekend off. Here is what we did instead of unpacking!
Saturday I went to get my eye exam, way over due, and went to the PX to pick out new glasses since mine got broken during the move. Not exactly fun, but not torture either. Here was Saturday’s fun… We ate lunch while in line and B played with his Color Wonder markers.
We finally got to meet Captain Keith and Monte from the Discovery Channel show The Deadliest Catch! They sat for hours signing autographs for soldiers and family members on Fort Lewis. Thanks Keith and Monte!!
Sunday it was supposed to rain so I really didn’t have an outing planned. However, the weather gods were smiling on us and it was just overcast. So I packed us a lunch and went exploring in our neighborhood. I’d been told there was a walking path/trail down to Puget Sound and that it would take about a half hour to get there. It sounded good to me so B rode happily in the pram and off we went.
Just as we were entering the trail another lady and two of her daughters were entering as well. She happened to be an arborist so as we walked to the Sound I got a great nature lesson about the plants, trees, animals, and edible berries in the area. Here are some of the pictures.
There are quite a few fern varieties. I’ve never seen so many before.
Leaning trees in the gully.
Red huckleberries! Yum!
I love this gnarly tree.
Foxglove growing just at the forest edge.
Puget Sound. The sun came out too!
B had a great time splashing in the little waves.
What do you think of when you see this? I thought it was a pile of dirt and twigs…. well it was that and so much more. Thatcher Ants! This Thatcher Ant mound was about 5 feet tall. The entire surface was covered with thousands of ants. I dared not get any closer.
Another neat tree in a fern gully.It was such a beautiful hike, I’ll definitely be making the trek to Puget Sound again. Until then we have plenty of other local trails and parks to explore.
Sew the Day 
I wanted to thank you for your comment on my blog and wish you a happy birthday.
What a great post – all happy things! I do love color wonder…and then getting to meet the deadliest catch people! Too much fun! Your nature shots are also beautiful.
Welcome to the Pacific Northwest. The sound area is beautiful and I enjoy visiting friends in that general area. When I do go for visits, I always come back inspired and motivated to create more pieces for my Artfire/Jewlery business. I hope you find it as motivating as I do.
Oh to walk around with an arborist! That would be wonderful.
What a small world! We are in your area too…just relocated from Texas and are settling in finally too…just happened to be stopping by from Tuesday Tag-along!Stop by for a visit! Perhaps we can meet in person one of these days! :)www.ourbrokenroad.blogspot.com