Winter Wonderland in Washington Park

I never tire of Washington Park or of photographing its scenic beauty. Come take another stroll with me through the park and enjoy some more snowy images.

Washington Park offers lots to do besides just hiking around...

It's one of the most popular places to launch small boats...

Here's the boat dock - and two nutty boys trying to make it rock and roll...

Seagulls enjoying the views...

Snow capped islands as seen from Sunset Beach...

There is lots of wild life to observe here...

There is year round ferry traffic to watch too...

Here's the loop road covered in snow - an unusual sight...

And one of the many benches...

A smaller water taxi transporting islanders...

Beautiful evergreens...

...everywhere you look...

Here's the lookout point with views of the San Juans...

That's Mt. Erie in the distance - the highest point on Fidalgo Island...

More views from the lookout point...

Skyline neighborhood as seen from the lookout point...

Be sure to visit Washington Park if you ever come to Anacortes. No matter what time of year, it's a spectacular place to enjoy the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

Late Afternoon at Washington Park

Before the snow turned to slush, I took several walks around Washington Park, one of the many beautiful parks on Fidalgo Island. Come take a look at what I saw as the sun was about to set...

Because of the snowfall, the road around the park was closed to car traffic...

Here's a wintry view of the beach...

No boats going out today...

Here is a view of Guemes Island...

And those are the San Juans off in the distance...

One of my favorite benches to take a rest at and enjoy the views...

And the views are spectacular...

Another favorite rest stop along my walk...

Snow covered trees and islands...

and the sun setting...

One last stop at the boat dock...

...and beach...

...as the sun casts its soft glow over the water...

One final glimpse of a beautiful sunset...

...at one of my favorite spots - Washington Park

Happy Winter

Happy Winter Solstice - to those of you in the northern hemisphere. Here are some shots from what we saw after our wintry overnight stay in Salem, Oregon...

Lots of ice covered everything...

It took a while to clear the windshield...

The vegetation looked beautiful, though...

Everything had a layer of ice on it...

Goodbye Salem, hello winter!

Greetings from Salem, Oregon

So I convinced my two travel buddies to head up to Anacortes for the winter break. One didn't take much to convince at all, but the other...oh...the ever-so-reluctant traveler. So here we are on our way to the San Juans. We usually do the drive in one day - it's manageable. I had heard, though, that a storm was approaching Washington and Oregon, but weather forecasts have been known to be wrong, right? And I thought that if we just went fast enough, we'd beat the storm. Well, plans don't always have a way of working out the way you want them to...

Here we are approaching Black Butte, near Mt. Shasta - sunshine all around us along with beautiful blue skies...

Here's Mt. Shasta as seen from speeding down I-5...

Oh my, the temperature keeps dropping...

This is the stretch between Yreka and the Oregon border...

Here we are heading into Ashland - the skies are turning grey...

Now here we are at the Best Western in Salem - too much snow on the freeway to safely continue to our destination...

It's just coming down, and down, and down...

The parking lot is starting to fill up with snow and cars...

Here's our transportation...

And our quaint motel...

With a bird feeder...

but I think we are stuck for a day or two - supposedly there is an ice storm coming tomorrow...

That's okay, though, because we have ice cold beer, crunchy pub mix, and a reliable internet connection!