I'm thinking of all of you and hoping you were able to navigate this strange and challenging year. I was even wondering if I would have enough news to make a Christmas Letter this year but when I sat back and thought about the year I realized it was pretty good and I managed to see and do some wonderful things in spite of being somewhat isolated.
Of course for me the biggest challenge is not being able to go to Canada or to travel somewhere new and wonderful. I had to cancel a riverboat trip on the Danube for June and I was also hoping to go to Newfoundland for the fall colors and to see a friend, but of course I had to look a little closer to home for some get-a-ways.
After sticking pretty close to home for five months I had enough of the isolation and decided to take myself on some day trips around Washington. You would probably never run out of beautiful places to visit in Washington State and I was lucky enough to visit some this summer.
Another day I went to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge and spent a beautiful day exploring the wetlands with its colorful vegetation and a tiny tree frog.
I went on my own several times but also got to share some great adventures with Lilia Elena and her family. Lucky for me they have been my bubble of close friends and I have spent a lot of time with them this year. Just getting in the car and going somewhere where you are out in nature is good for the soul.
The whole family went to some of the places like Hurricane Ridge which is near Port Angeles, so named for its intense gales and winds and unpredictable weather.
We hiked some trails and saw some beautiful wildflowers in the meadows. When we take Kevin with us we luck out because he loves to BBQ and organize all the food so having him along guarantees yummy picnics.
We stopped to see the beautiful Picture Lake with its reflection of Mt. Shuksan. I used to go skiing there when I lived in Vancouver. I had a ski cabin for several years with five of my girlfriends and we had a ton of fun there each winter weekend. It was fun to go in the summer, and see how beautiful it still is.
Another day Lilia Elena and Robert and I went to Mt. Rainier, the 14,000-foot mountain we see from Seattle on good days. Because of its 25 glaciers covering its volcanic base its snowy peak towers over the city on clear days. We hiked along the trail to the Grove of the Patriarchs, across a suspension bridge and through the old growth trees with diameters measuring between 25 to 50 feet in diameter and towering above us as high as 300 feet tall.
Then Lilia Elena and I took a two-day trip along the scenic North Cascades Highway which follows one of the oldest state roads established in 1896 as a wagon route for the pioneers who opened up the west. Stopping at several scenic spots along the way we took a path to the Diablo Dam and stopped to marvel at the beautiful turquoise Ross Lake scenic viewpoint and then followed it to Winthrop, an old-west-themed town with western-styled storefronts and wooden sidewalks.
We stayed overnight in the beautiful Sun Mountain Lodge enjoying its mountain-top views and hiking and exploring nearby Patterson Lake. On our return trip we continued the loop back through Lake Chelan and Leavenworth, a Bavarian-styled village famous for its German restaurants and beer gardens.
We made one more trip to Northwest Trek Wildlife Park just before the smoke from all the forest fires invaded the city and we had to stay inside for a week because of the smoke.
Just driving through a landscape that seems to be on fire is incredible. And you will see that the bison were walking right beside my car. Evidently half the world’s geysers and hydrothermal features are in Yellowstone. The highest I got was the Continental Divide at over 8,000 feet where you get out to see the demarcation of where the water drains on one side to the Pacific Ocean and on the other side to the Atlantic Ocean. Even though Old Faithful is the most famous and most active the Steamboat Geyser is the world’s tallest currently active geyser which can reach as high as 300 feet. It is very unpredictable though and there is a sign that says when it last erupted and also another sign in the parking lot that you park at your own risk due to the sulphur that may damage your car when it erupts.
After completing the southern loop I continued on down to The Grand Tetons National Park. The first glimpse you get of the range as a backdrop to Jackson Lake is breathtaking. You just have to get out and walk down to the lake to take a photo. As I continued along the lake the clouds rolled in and the shafts of sunlight streaming though the clouds made for a magical sight. The highest mountain is 13,775 feet but the other nine peaks are all over 12,000 feet.
From Wyoming, where most of the park is located, I found my way to Idaho and explored the southern part for the next couple of days. I stopped at the Craters of the Moon National Monument where the astronauts learned basic volcanic geology in 1969 in preparation for going to the moon. It is basically a lava landscape but you can stop and see the spatter cones, lava tubes, craters and the hardy little plant life fighting to grab a hold of life in crevices and cracks in the lava fields.
From there I went south to Twin Falls where the mighty Snake River has carved out a beautiful canyon and with the harnessing of the river the Shoshone Falls, although at this time of year they only had a trickle of water. But the rock formation carved by the river is really impressive and they say that it is called ‘The Niagara of the West’ because it is 212 feet high which is 45 feet higher than Niagara Falls and 1,000 feet wide.
By then it was time to head for home so I put my cruise control on, sat back and watched the beautiful, changing landscape pass by enjoying the fall colors. I tried to take the byways whenever I could instead of the freeways and one day found myself on the Old Oregon Trail, the route the pioneers took crossing the Oregon Desert in search of a new home. It seemed to go on forever as I got further and further from the main highway until I was a little nervous about where I was going to end up. I came across someone working alongside the road and asked if I would get back to the main highway and he said ‘eventually’. Of course I did but not before wondering if I ever would. The amazing thing about it is as you are drifting along thinking about the pioneers and how that must have been for them to be in the middle of nowhere you come across a windmill farm as you bump up against the modern world.
Of course there was a lot of staying home, staying safe and only going out when you had to. For me that meant doing lots of creative projects that keep me engaged and involved, beautiful walks around my neighborhood and enjoying my garden and the beautiful trees that surround me making me feel like I live in a treehouse in the summer. For the first time I grew a sunflower plant and was excited to see I had eight flowers on the one plant. I was looking forward to harvesting my own sunflowers but looked out one day in September and the flowers were totally gone. I couldn’t believe someone would come in my yard and do that but then my neighbor said it was the squirrel who got them.
I spent Thanksgiving with Lilia Elena and her family and will spend Christmas with them also. I’m so fortunate to have had them in my ‘bubble’ of friends.
One of the Christmas events around Seattle is the Zoo Lanterns which has been fun to see. Former years they have had Zoo Lights but this year they have life-sized animals or sometimes bigger than life-sized animals and creatures made out of a fabric and then lit from within with lanterns. It is a magical thing to see.
So all in all it has been a great year. I’m hoping 2021 will be better of course and not so confining but I feel very fortunate to have come through healthy, happy and blessed with good friends and family.
I'm thinking of you and wish you all the best for the holiday season and for a healthy and happy year to come.
Laurie
