Northwest Trek: Experience Washington’s wildlife in the outdoors

Northwest Trek: Experience Washington’s wildlife in the outdoors

In a split second, I knew it was a bald eagle as it shot by about ten feet overhead. I had never been that close to one in flight before. The unmistakable white markings, yellow beak and talons and gargantuan wingspan that easily distinguished it from the more common ravens and falcons in Ocean Shores were clearly visible just before it disappeared over the roofline as quickly as it had materialized.

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Don’t mess with park rangers. Seriously.

Don’t mess with park rangers. Seriously.

They’ll kick you out. In the nicest, most passive-aggressive way, they’ll politely ask you to leave. Let me go back and explain what happened. As anyone from Washington State knows, the drive from Seattle to Spokane (or vice-versa) can be riddled with boredom unless you’re playing traffic games with other drivers or looking for something in particular (like totaling up the different crops with names posted on the fence lines

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Flag Day parade in Ocean Shores

Flag Day parade in Ocean Shores

You don’t see a whole lot of Flag Day parades anymore these days. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find half a dozen people who even know what Flag Day is. For those still wondering, Flag Day is a United States commemorative day (not yet an official holiday) that falls every year on June 14, commemorating the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of

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Spending National Trails Day at Sahara Creek/Nicholson Horse Trail System

Spending National Trails Day at Sahara Creek/Nicholson Horse Trail System

Several weeks ago, I spotted a Facebook post from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources which invited any and all participants to volunteer with trail repair and maintenance. Being that I was in need of some good, old-fashioned dirty, wet and muddy outdoor time I decided to sign up. I checked out the various locations in which DNR needed volunteers and decide that Sahara Creek/Nicholson Horse Trail System would

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Western State Hospital and Fort Steilacoom Park

Western State Hospital and Fort Steilacoom Park

Kelly was feeling under the weather one day last week, so I decided to take Parker off her hands and get him out of the house for a bit. I had wanted to make a day out of it, perhaps visiting the recreated Fort Nisqually on Point Defiance, visiting the old Fort Nisqually in DuPont (and the historic Dynamite Train), or Fort Steilacoom Park between the two. Being that the

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A parkful of Washington State history

Being cooped up in the house for days on end is enough to drive anyone mad, and throwing a four-year-old in the cage can sometimes seem just plain cruel. So needless to say, I had to get my poor wife and son out of the house before we all ended up in the newspaper the next day. Despite the intermittent weather on Saturday, we decided to visit Tumwater Historical Park

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So much history, so little time

So I went to the Lacey public library last weekend because it’s free and Parker loves to visit. Usually, I supervise him playing in the children’s area or – more recently – help him with the computer learning games. Incidentally, I never imagined that a three-year-old could successfully operate a graphic user interface…but who knew? He already has the library’s high score on Clifford’s Day Out. Anyway, after my wife

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Another day in Ocean Shores

Yes, I blog about Ocean Shores a lot. My parents live there, so what can I do? We drove over on Saturday afternoon and dad made a great dinner of sausage, sauerkraut, apples, bacon, and rolls. Delicious if you like sauerkraut. While we could have gone to the beach before sundown, we were very tired from a trip to Point Defiance Zoo that morning, so we opted to stay home

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More reasons to hate the MLB postseason

Okay, hate is a strong word. But to a die-hard Mariners fan, there is nothing more like lemon juice in a paper cut than perennially watching the M’s flame out and watching other teams – some who got there on a fluke – play on the postseason stage. That said, it’s like a kick in the shins to hear the names of former Mariners being called on the radio as

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My week with mutton chops

It was last Sunday night when I realized that I wanted to shave my beard. I’d been sporting it for nearly a year, since my foot surgery back in November 2010, and it had become my “look.” But I was getting tired of it, and because I had decided it was time to start working out daily and lose weight, part of my inspiration would be to lose the beard

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