Tag Archives: Seattle

Bald Eagle

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Not endangered anymore…and I can see why.

At the end of our trip to Alaska in June 2007, Mike and I stopped for a few days in the Seattle, WA, area where Mike’s cousin, Rick, lives. Rick took us northwest for a day trip, where we went island hopping via ferry. During our travels, we stopped at the northern part of Deception Pass State Park on Fidalgo Island, where we went for a walk.

There was a bald eagle perched at the top of a pine tree. Normally, this would have floored us, but we’d just come from 10 days in Alaska, where eagles are considered nuisance birds, like pigeons or seagulls. Still, it looked like a good opportunity to get a photo of an eagle doing sometime more interesting than waiting for the fishermen to dump their garbage. So I raised my camera, which (fortunately) had a 200 mm lens on it, focused, and waited for something interesting to happen.

ImageThe bird took off and I caught him in flight.

The photo isn’t perfect, but it is, by far, the nicest picture of a bald eagle I got while on vacation.

We saw a lot of bald eagles in captivity in Alaska. They were all injured birds that would never return to the wild. They were beautiful animals — quite large and very majestic looking. But those small, close-set eyes and sharp beak and claws were enough to remind anyone that these are birds of prey. Not a coincidence, I think, for the national bird of this country.

But I’m not complaining — it could have been worse. As you may know, Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird.

Bridge Over Deception Pass

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An example of geometry in construction.

We finished up our recent Alaska vacation with a few days in the Seattle area, visiting Mike’s cousin Rick. Rick took us on an overnight trip out to the islands northwest of Seattle. Although we initially got on the wrong ferry (and wound up on the wrong island) we eventually made it to our destination on Whidbey Island.

Along the way, we stopped at Deception Pass. This is a narrow straight of water with an extremely fast current during tide movements. According to Wikipedia, which has separate entries on Deception Pass and the Deception Pass Bridge:

In the spring of 1792, Joseph Whidbey, master of the HMS Discovery and Captain Vancouver’s chief navigator, sailed through the narrow passage that is now called Deception Pass and proved that it was not really a small bay as charted by the Spaniards (hence the name “Deception”), but a deep and turbulent channel that connects the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the Saratoga Passage, which separates the mainland from what they believed was a peninsula (actually Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Island).

Deception Pass BridgeThe Deception Pass Bridge crosses over this strait, about 180 feet above the water (depending on the tide). There are actually two spans to the bridge with a small uninhabited island between them. There’s limited parking on both ends of the bridge with plenty of places to stop and take in the view.

Deception Pass BridgeThe bridge includes a 3-foot wide sidewalk on each side, which is definitely not recommended for those who are afraid of heights. We walked across on one side and back on the other. To prevent people from crossing the relatively busy roadway, a flight of stairs leads to a pathway under the bridge on either bank. That’s where I took this photo. I liked the symmetry of the construction and the fact that I could frame the photo in such a way that the pattern seemed to go on forever. This is a theme I try to capture in my photos when I can: infinity.

There were kayakers down on the water, braving the strong current. And lots of people walking around in the vicinity of the bridge. If you’re ever in the area, sop by and check it out.

Buy on RedBubbleThe full-frame version of this photo is available for sale as cards and prints at RedBubble.com.

A Real New York Bakery

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The cakes looked so good, I had to take a photo.

A year or two ago, Mike and I went back to New York to do some visiting. While we were there, we downtown in Manhattan for a walk around SoHo.

The SoHo area of New York, as many people, know is the area SOuth of HOuston (pronounced house-tin). It started getting popular with the artsy crowd at least 20 years ago and most of the buildings and lofts have been renovated. There are lots of great shops and restaurants. There’s even an Apple Store down there.

It was a kind of crummy day weather-wise but the light drizzle didn’t bother us. People from Arizona generally like rain — because we get so little of it — and we’re no different. Mike’s cousin Rick was with us and he’s from Seattle so he’s used to rain. We walked around the relatively empty streets, past street vendors who’d given up trying to keep their wares dry and were packing up for the day.

Then we saw this bakery. I wish I could remember its name or where it was. North of Canal, I’m sure. We went in, ordered some delicious pastries and coffee, and sat down to snack out of the rain.

A Real BakeryThis case of cakes and pies and pastries called to me. In Arizona real bakeries are a rarity. Supermarkets here are big and new and almost all of them have a bakery department. Some are actually quite good. Our recently renovated Safeway here in Wickenburg has a nice display case of cakes and cookies these days. But I’ve never seen any bakery in Arizona with a display like this. And I’ve never been to a bakery in Arizona worth writing about.

That’s why I took the photo. To remind me of New York bakeries.

This coming weekend, Mike and I are going back to New York to do some visiting. We’ll only be there two days. But I’m hoping, with my fingers crossed, that we get enough time to drive into Manhattan, perhaps down to Little Italy. There are some Italian pastry shops down there that are to die for. I’d like to put together a little box of goodies to take home on the plane and, if they survive our airline-induced hunger, snack on for a few days next week.

That’s the plan, anyway.

I'm Back

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Back from vacation and catching up on work.

I’m back from my first ever 2-week vacation with Mike. As those of you following this blog might know, we went northwest to Alaska for a trip to Anchorage and Denali National Park and a cruise down the coast. We finished up in Seattle with a visit to Mike’s cousin and last shot of rain before returning to the desert.

This morning, I went through the comments on the site that needed attention and answered a bunch of questions. I handled much of my e-mail while away (thanks to my Treo), so I didn’t have too much e-mail to wade through on my return. Right now, I’m watching the WWDC ’07 Keynote Address via streaming QuickTime video. (They’re talking about gaming right now, which doesn’t interest me at all, so I can take a moment to make this quick post.)

Some things lined up for me this week: get started on my Leopard book (again), pick up the helicopter, and fire off a few articles for Informit. (I took this vacation — now I have to pay for it!) I also hope to find time to write blog entries about cuising and the various stops we made in Alaska.

In the meantime, please visit my TumbleLog for some photos I took with my Treo’s camera. Better photos will appear here.

Stay tuned.

We Need Alaska Tour Advice

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What can you recommend?

After talking about it for several years, my husband and I have finally booked a vacation in Alaska. We’re going for two weeks in the beginning of June.

Our Trip

Our 2-week trip will have three parts:

  • Five days on land, starting and ending in Anchorage. We’ll be spending two nights in Anchorage with some friends before taking the train to Denali. We have two nights there in the park before returning to Anchorage.
  • One week on Radiance of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship (ironically, the only one we’ve ever been on) with a southbound cruise to Vancouver, BC. The itinerary includes Seward (our starting port), Hubbard Glacier (cruising), Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan, Inside Passage (cruising), and Vancouver (our ending port).
  • Three days in Seattle, visiting with Mike’s cousin.

What Should We Do Each Day?

I’d like to hear from experienced Alaska travelers (or residents) about the kinds of day trips, activities, and/or tours they recommend — or think we should steer clear of.

Mike and I are relatively active people who prefer activities that require us to get out and move around. We don’t want to sit on a motorcoach (i.e., a bus) for more than 30 minutes and will do it only if there’s no other way to get where we need to go. We don’t like events that are orchestrated, like lumberjack shows and indian village dance revues. We prefer activities that don’t attract a lot of families with small kids or less active participants. While we understand the importance of scheduling, we don’t like tours that rush us around from one place to another or tours that expect you to sit around waiting for an activity to begin.

I want to enjoy one or two or three activities each day and get back to the hotel or boat feeling exhausted and as if I’ve seen more than I can comprehend.

We are on a budget, so we can’t afford to drop $500 per person each day on entertainment. (I’ve seen some of the pricing for package tours and it’s scary.) Although we don’t mind dropping a bunch of money on a really special trip, we can’t do it more than once or maybe twice. And it would have to be very special.

I prefer working with small tour operators rather than the big ones that the cruise ship companies use. They usually offer more personalized service and, because they don’t have to cut in the cruise lines, they’re more affordable. (In Sedona, for example, I always put my passengers on a Jeep with Earth Wisdom instead of Pink Jeep Tours because I don’t like my passengers to feel “processed.” Ditto for Maverick instead of Papillon at the Grand Canyon.) That’s not to say that I won’t work with a bigger tour operator, but I certainly don’t want to be “one of hundreds” on a tour.

Some of the things we’re interested in include:

  • Salmon fishing (if we can bring our catch home)
  • Air tours (helicopter and/or seaplane) if they include ground activities.
  • Whale watching (although I think we’ll get enough of that from the ship).
  • Hiking or biking if not too strenuous. (I’m active but still out of shape.)
  • Nature observation and photography.

If You Have Suggestions, Please Help!

Although I can wade through a pile of tourist literature both in brochures and on the Web, I was hoping for activities that the average tourist doesn’t participate in. That means I need suggestions.

What have you done on an Alaska vacation? What do you think we might like? Don’t keep it a secret! Use the Comment link or form to share it with us. I need your help!