In October our daughter Jenny visited us during the annual tour of farms in our area. We had fun visiting a horse & cattle ranch, an alpacca farm, a pumpkin & squash farm and a fruit and vegetable farm. In between farms we shot pictures of the changing leaves. We also visited Whatcom Falls in Bellingham.
Our 2011 Seasonal Calendar is a celebration of the seasons of the Skagit Valley in western Washington where we have lived for the past three years. The 4"x6" calendar comes in a clear plastic case that folds open as a display stand for shelf, desktop, table or counter. The 2011 Seasonal Calendar sells for $11 plus $4 shipping & packaging. Please contact us via lckarns@gmail.com.
Orcas Island is one of the most beautiful islands in the San Juans. In May we were fortunate enough to be invited to spend a weekend with friends who own a lodge on Orcas. Several couples from our church took the ferry over to the island and spent the a few days there before the lodge's busy summer schedule kicked in. We enjoyed time at the lodge as well as around the island.
Seal Island is located off Fidalgo Island and is home to many species of wildlife who like the island's location and size. We spotted Oyster Catchers, Comerants, Seals, and Herons. Our favorite sighting though was the mom and baby seal on the rocks. We were out in a small boat so that we could get relatively close to the island.
On our trip back to WA this year, we dodged weather bullets all the way. As we drove into Utah, high wind warnings kept us off the interstate, & we drove through the canyons. We stayed at a park north of Salt Lake City and woke up to snow warnings. South of us was socked in but north of us looked good. In Idaho we saw lots of snow but the primary blast had occurred the night before. Oregon was lovely as we traveled along the Columbia river. Our worse weather came in torrents the last day as the rain slowed us down a bit. Lynn took photos along the way, often from the car as we drove by. The pictures are just a glimse of what we saw.
Tulips come up in masse in fields and in show gardens in the Skagit Valley in April. More than a million visitors come to the valley during festival time. Dutch farmers came to the Valley in the 1940's. One of those farmers, William Roozen, started with 5 acres of land. His family had been farming tulips in Holland since the 1700's. The Roozen famiy now has 1200 acres of field tulips and a 3 acre show garden with more than 200,000 sprng flowing bulbs in the garden. It is one of our favorite places to go. We are including new pictures from this year and some of our favorite photos from years past.
After almost two years, we have finally moved out of our Phoenix house. This gallery is in memory of 34 years of living there as original owners. We still own it, but it transitions to a rental now. These photos were taken for the property manager to show on MLS. Most of our "stuff" moved to Washington last April but some furniture remained for us to use this winter and now has been sold. Maybe after a couple of years, the housing prices will become better and we'll sell the house.
The Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden is presenting “The Nature of Glass” through May 31, 2009 featuring new and unique works of glass blown under the supervision of master blower Dale Chihuly. Known worldwide for his innovative glass sculptures, Chihuly's work is recognizable for its grand scale and vibrant colors. "Over time I developed the most organic, natural way of working with glass, using the least amount of tools that I could. The glass looks as if it comes from nature." This is Chihuly's first exhibition in an outdoor desert environment.
Cibola (Chi-bowl'-ah) is a National Wildlife Refuge as well as an Arizona State Park. This out of the way NWR is located south of Blythe, CA in the floodplain of the lower Colorado River and surrounded by a fringe of desert ridges and washes. Over 288 species of birds have been found on Cibola NWR. Just a few can be seen here in our day and a half excursion late January 2009.