Not only were there cranberry fields on cranberry lane, but they were in bloom. It may have been a cloudy day and only in the low 60s, but I would say we were pretty darn lucky.
We were on our way down to visit the replica of the Fort that Lewis and Clark stayed in during the winter they lived on the Oregon coast before starting back east. The fort was nestled in a forest of very massive evergreen trees and was built according to the plans in the expedition diaries. Apparently they encountered the same kind of gray, cool, rainy weather we have been enduring (furnace on every night and some days). When a sunny day came in the spring... they were out of there heading back east. In the meantime, their accommodations were spartan, but at least provided some comfort. They "gave" the fort to their Indian hosts when they departed (some gift, considering they had built it on Indian land, using trees from the indians' forest).
Given the rainy weather, it was appropriate for our next stop to be a visit to one of the temperate (as in not tropical) rain forest in the Olympic National Forest. The Indians considered the forest to be the dwelling place of spirits. They may have had the guy pictured below in mind, or was that merely a log with moss on it?
The rain forest displays an expected lushness, but what was unexpected was how much fallen timber is a crucial part of the ecological cycle. Since forest trees are massive, it takes many decades for them to rot. In the meantime they become "nurse trees" for new forest growth. We saw many example of nurse trees, but this nurse stump was even more dramatic.
The next couple of pictures are an attempt to capture the scale and richness of the rain forest environment.
With all the fallen trees, there are also some spectacular examples of uprooted root balls. Dotti's presence in this picture is to establish scale, not to comment on died (or dead) roots.
After puttering around some local museums, walking beaches, looking at light houses, enjoying really fresh fish (right off the boat) and even doing laundry (yes, even on vacation clothes do get dirty)... we set off for Seattle. More precisely, we camped in Everett, WA which is just down the street from one of the large Boeing aircraft factories. We did the tour... and saw the building where 747s, 767s, 777s, and 787s are made (the 787 is the craft made from composite material). First a picture of the plant.
All the large aircraft under construction on the floor of the factory (no cameras allowed) and parked around the building gave the illusion that the building was smaller. Let me put it in perspective: the footprint of the building is 98 acres. Those doors in the side of the building are each 90 feet tall and 350 feet wide (a little larger than a football field) and it is 1/3 mile across the narrow side of the building. This is the biggest building (by volume) in the world.
The following day Dotti and I took a ferry to Vashion Island to visit John and Joan Thompson. John's parent where very close friends with Larry's parents (also being active in the same church) so John and Larry spent much of their adolescence together. After they both went to Muskingum College, they lost contact. By the way, Joan lived a mere two blocks from the Humms, so she was no stranger either.
The reunion brought back a flood of memories, more catching up than we really had time to accomplish, and a reminder of how deep common roots can be. We reluctantly left after a wonderful day's visit and hope we do not wait so long to meet again.
Downtown Seattle is a fascinating place, and while we were exploring the street market, the library (what an architectural marvel) and museums, we happened to walk past the Seattle Symphony Hall. We were struck by two coincidences that our Rochester friends will appreciate. First, they still had banners up praising the final season of their beloved maestro last year. (We did the same in Rochester with Christopher Seaman leaving at the end of last season.) And in the entry hall hangs this chandelier (which is very similar to one that hangs in the entry hall of Kodak Hall which opened last year.)
Finally, our trip to Seattle was made even more special by being able to join a friend from national conferences of the American Education Research Association. Gerry Gillmore and I shared a common interest in implementing fair, reliable instructional evaluation techniques. In fact, Jerry was the author of the Instructional Assessment System that we used for many years at SUNY Brockport. We knew many of the same people (actually, Gerry introduced me to them) and also shared an interest in finding the best restaurants from varying cultures when we visited convention cities.
Gerry and his wife, Paula, shared a delightful evening with us in their home joined by their daughter, Anova. As much as we have enjoyed the sites across the country, we have found renewed contacts with old friends to be the icing on the cake.
Tomorrow we start our trip east with a drive to Spokane, WA. We have enjoyed the north-west coast and hope to return soon.
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