On a walk through the woods I saw this new tree growing from the stump remains of a long ago fallen tall tree.
Category: Nature
What a difference a week (and 2-3 feet) makes.
Today’s low tide was 4.5′ higher than last week. So…no problem getting out. We spent the entire day on the boat crabbing. And boy did we get some big ones.
This is the same place that we were high and dry last week. 
One of the pots:
And one of the huge dungeness crabs:
Oh, and I learned that Pacific rock crab is pretty much the same as Florida stone crab. Delicious lesson. Yum!
The mountain.
The weather has been clear and beautiful all week. It’s days like this that Mount Rainier comes out to play.
Lovely blooms.
I happened across a rose garden today. I just had to stop and smell a few.
Home grown.
Apples on the tree in my mom’s front yard.
Almost.
I met Fran and Art and kids this morning at a boat ramp to do some crabbing in the Sound. We meant to beat the low tide.
But. Didn’t. Quite. Make it.
🙂
Sometimes you get the crab. Sometimes the crab gets you.
And….again!
Oh so pretty. I didn’t have a window seat today. It’s just as well, though, because I would have been hogging/blocking the view the whole time. 🙂
So I asked my seat-neighbor to snap one for me, instead.
Another Arky sunset.
I never tire of the sunsets in this cove on Lake Travis.
Pink sunset glow.
I caught this shot of the setting sun last night from one of my favorite vantage points.
Simply the best.
Monte and I have just returned from Panama City Beach – a week-long celebration of Gene & Jo’s 50th wedding anniversary with their entire family. I am grateful to have been included in the celebration. It was simply awesome. The location. The beach. The silliness. The catching up. The family. The celebrating. Thank you Gene & Jo!
I’ll share just a few pictures of the beautiful setting:
We arrived in Panama City Beach at sunset last Saturday, after an extra long drive, due to I-10 shutdowns.
One morning we were treated to a view from our back deck of an amazing double rainbow.
The sea was different every day. This was from one morning after overnight rainshowers.
A week of amazing sunsets.
Surf-side fireworks one night.
One of the few pelican shots I captured.
From a distance.
Julie flew home Wednesday to join her dad and brothers on a long-planned climb to the top of the 14K+ foot peak that is Mount Rainier. I can only aspire to do something like this one day. For now, I am watching their ascent via satellite-based location technology. Amazing.
Points 1 – 4 on the map are the last 4 pings they’ve sent on their way up. I will watch all night and all day tomorrow. Can’t wait to see the pics!
Three day weekend!
We celebrated the long 4th of July weekend on the lake. On Friday, Julie joined us for the day for a sail and a float in Arky South. Kalliopi tied up to us for the afternoon. And we whipped up an All-American grill-ful of burgers and dogs for dinner.
We took Julie back to the marina at sunset.
We had a nice view of a nearby fireworks show from the bow.
Saturday morning we took care of some chores on the boat before setting off for a long sail, ending up with anchoring off Starne’s Island to watch the Volente (day-after) 4th of July fireworks show. Voodoo, Sapphire, Dancer and Karma also showed up and we anchored nearby eachother.
The lights in this shot show the great many boats that turned out for the show. And the dark hump in the middle of the shot is Starne’s Island, from where the fireworks would be shot off.
We had a great spot!
After the show, nearly all the other boats left, and the water calmed down enough to stay overnight. Sunday morning, before we left, I kayaked from the boat to Starne’s Island to hunt for a lone geocache hidden there.
This tree on the island is home to 4 giant blue heron nests. None of them were home during my visit.
We made it back to the slip Sunday afternoon and wrapped things up.
Another great 3 day weekend spent on the lake!
A pair of old boys.
Drove by a house today that has a pair of majestic century plants going into bloom, one on either side of their driveway.
They say these agaves bloom, and then die, after 100 years. Google sez it takes more like 20-40 years. Either way, it’s a sight to see.
Both of these must have been planted when the home was first built about 35 years ago.
Same hiker, different woods.
I took a walk through a nearby park today. Different scenery than the shaded, lush, tall forest paths up north. But nice to be here.
Lots of gaillardia (aka Indian blanket) around. Another one of my favorites.
Sheila365 