Seattle, Feb. 2010

This past weekend I decided I had enough of 36 degrees, slush, ice at night and mud everywhere so I hopped on Alaska Airlines and flew away to Seattle for a weekend. Spring has arrived in Seattle and a windbreaker was all you needed as you roamed the city.

I had never been in the Space Needle. That was my first stop on a clear night. The moon was shining brightly and the temps were in the 50s.


From the top of the Space Needle the city spread out below in city lights. Didn't do to bad without a tripod.
The park around the Space Needle is a wonderful place to walk. Decked out in white lights it felt like Christmas. It was Friday night and I expected it to be crowded but it wasn't. Bon Jovi was in town and everyone was gathering at the Arena for the concert, leaving the park to people like me.



The Space Needle through the trees. Almost like a UFO.


There is a big metal ball in the middle of the park that is a huge fountain. I understand this is the place to be in 100 degrees. It was a little cool to get wet.


The next morning I hopped on the train and spent the day exploring the area. The train runs from SeaTac to Westside, which is downtown. If you spend the day getting on and off, you'll take all day to get there. First stop, a little community called Columbia City. I have no idea why. But the local bar lays out the rules pretty well.

There are statues everywhere. Most of them have an oriental bend, like this dragon.

The bridges the train runs on. Just about the whole thing is elevated over city traffic. Which I thought was really cool.

All of the larger train stations have lots of artwork decorating the walls. And everything is absolutely clean. No graffiti. No trash. I was surprised. I was expecting what I'd seen in New York.

What cats do

Since I spend a lot of hours away, either at the office or at various locations around the state it's important that my furry companions have lots of toys. But today I'm working from home. So I'm happily typing away in my office when I heard this awful noise from my bedroom. It sounded like lots of crashing and glass breaking. When I hot footed it down the hall, this is what I found.


Oscar, my 20lb + male cat has gotten between the window blinds and the window, balanced on a small window shelf, with his butt hanging through the blinds. His trip to get there included my dresser, the jewelry box, and the window curtains.


He thought he was quite beautiful and smart. While I was pondering how he got there and how I was supposed to get him out, I discovered the reason he was perched so uncomfortably and destructively in my bedroom window: the power line outside the window was lined with ravens, balancing on the wire and teasing the cat.


Felix couldn't be bothered with the activity outside of the window. His morning consisted of occupying my bed and shedding everywhere.

Yes, he knows he's gorgeous. He'll tell you that too while he's being brushed. So much for me accomplishing anything in my office.

Winter in Anchorage

One of the things that Alaska has that most people in the rest of the United States doesn't have is ice fog. That's when it is so cold that the moisture condenses out of the sky and rains down on us. It clings to everything, and it's known as hoarfrost.


The world is white with ice crystal and snow until the wind blows it all away.

This is from my front deck, with the camera sitting on the railing. It's about zero degrees F., and the time is around 6 pm.


Our winter days are very long, with Anchorage getting about 5 hours of daylight on Dec. 21st. Then we start gaining light until we have summer again and long days.

Hawaii adventures

What's Hawaii without some time on a beach? Depending on how you look at it there's lots of 'eye candy' to be seen.

I'm told that usually the beaches are a lot more crowded. A sign of the economy. But I've been there twice now and both times I was told the same thing. Maybe it's because I don't travel during the holidays and spring break.


And you have to attend a luau. Roasted pig in a hole, lots of costumed dancers and lots of laughs.

Then you get dragged up on stage to do a hula. Which was more fun then I thought.

Ken, me and Mekenna. Who says Ken can't get into the spirit of a luau?

I did not know you could go into the Dimond Head crater via tunnel. The old volcano is long extinct.

Inside the crater there are lots of hiking trails, what's left of an old miltary outpost, and loads of geologic things to explore.


From the top of Dimond Head lookout, Honolulu looks really crowded and developed.

Me and Mckenna. We had a good time.

I got the chance to spend a day diving, which was the one thing I wanted to do. I got spooked in Mexico and it was nice to see I could still do it, and enjoy it.

Arizona Memorial

We spent a morning at the Arizona Memorial. This was my 2nd time here. The museum and the memorial are very powerful reminders of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.


The Memorial sits across the sunken battleship Arizona where it sank within minutes of being hit by Japanese torpedoes. The majority of the crew died with the ship.

Various plaques relate the names of the crew and the valiant efforts made in Pearl Harbor that Sunday morning.

The battleship itself is visible in the shallow waters. In the 60 years that the hulk as sat on the bottom of the harbor oil has leaked in droplets, rising to the surface and creating rainbows and sheens on the water.






The drops of oil known as 'Rainbows of Tears' add to the legend of the sunken battleship. The battleship is a tomb, containing the remains of the crew. Now there are concerns about the rusting metal and the volume of oil that may still be in the hull. The memorial is sinking as the hull collapses. Efforts are being made to secure the memorial more firmly to the bottom of the bay.

If the hull still contains thousands of gallons of fuel oil, an environmental disaster may happen if the hull ruptures before the oil can be removed.

Hawaii scenery

These beautiful dolphins are sculptures outside one of the most famous art galleries in Honolulu. Hang onto your wallet if you walk in. I can never walk into an art gallery with my purse in hand.

These photos are of the National Cemetery on Oahu. I didn't know such a place existed but it's one of the largest military cemeteries outside of Arlington in D.C. There are thousands of military members buried here from WWII and the Korean War.

The graves are all marked with identical plaques in the ground. Several years ago various religions were protesting the white crosses marking the graves. To ease all the furor over "Christian" crosses, they were all removed.



The memorial is beautifully landscaped with incredible blooming trees. I would love to see it when everything is in full bloom.

Honolulu cityscapes

Anybody that knows me very well knows that one of the things I love to photo are buildings and things around cities. While I wasnt able to wander the city like I wanted to, I did get some nice shots. Lewers Street and Royal Hawaii Ave. have some great artwork and wide sidewalks to stroll. The only drawbacks are people and buses spoiling the frame. I guess people just don't get a person kneeling on a sidewalk with a camera, waiting for a light to change so that traffic is stopped in all directions.

Views from our 23rsd floor balcony.

Sunrise around 7 a.m. I am not a morning person. However, for whatever reason, I was up with the sun every morning this trip. I would have a cup of coffee and juice on the balcony (they call them lanais over there) and spend the first hour of the day watching the sunrise and reading. The rest of my travel companions would be snoring away so I had some peaceful mornings.

From my perch on the 23rd floor I watched freighters and cruise ships disappear over the horizon.
I took a bus ride around the city one day. It was the easist way to see a lot of the area. It's just amazing to see these tall towers standing in the sun from the oldest parts of Honolulu. When you think about how expensive it is to get building materials to the islands it's even more mind blowing.