so... i'm trying to move this weekend, but the new landlord and/or his agents are making life rather difficult for me.  they haven't touched any of the repairs, etc. that we agreed to 3 weeks ago, and 4 specific items were supposed to be completed before i moved in.  (i was supposed to start moving in yesterday, the 15th.)  i called a couple of times on thursday to try to find out how things were progressing, but more importantly, when we could meet there to inspect the unit, fill out the rest of the paperwork, and get the key.

...[insert rant about trying for a day and a half to meet with them to cover that stuff]...

well, i was able to pick up the key last night, and checked things out a bit.  that's when i found that they hadn't touched any of the repairs, etc.  frustrating.  no wonder they're hesitant to go over the move-in inspection paperwork...

stopped by there this morning with my camera to take pics of any bits of damage, etc., so hopefully my backside is covered.  i also emptied a fresh can of Lysol on random spots in the house.  most of it went on the ratty old bed that the old tenant(s) left behind.  i was honestly hoping the landlord would've taken that to the dump by now, but i may give it another coat of Lysol & by a cover for it.  or... i may just take it to the dump myself (gotsta make a trip there sometime in the next 2 weeks anyway).

and then... i called again to try to schedule a time for the landlord/agent to meet me at the house & go over the inspection paperwork.  once again he said he'd call back in an hour (2 have gone by since then), so i'm gonna holla back in a few.

anyway, this is why i'm putting up with this silliness:



spiffy view, no?  and, yes... i had to pay more to have teh awesome power lines to make teh view even more special.

Well... I have a feeling this one’s gonna be a bit random.  I suppose it’s been so darn long since my last blog, I might as well cover a bunch of stuff...

About a week-and-a-half ago, I decided to drive up to Bellingham on a Saturday afternoon.  The plan was to buy some grub for my mom, niece & nephew, and then take us all to see Horton Hears a Who... followed by a little kayaking on Sunday morning.  I arrived at my mom’s apt. around 2:30pm I think. 

Around 3pm I left with my mom to go pick up my niece.  We were only on the road maybe 10 minutes & were about to pass my mom’s church, so I started to raise my arm & point to the building.  My peripheral vision picked up something to the left, and before I could shout & warn my mom, BAM!  Some lady had run a red light, and my mom had no time to stop... so ma’s van T-boned the other lady’s van.  My mom did her best to get the van out of the intersection & up onto the curb & sidewalk, but we were still sticking out in the road a tad. 

Both of us were pretty much in shock, but neither of us were visibly injured, the airbags didn’t go off, etc.  I called 911 on my cell, and she got out of the van to check the damage & all that.  I quickly discovered that my door was wedged shut... it made it hard to answer some of the 911 op’s questions, since the street signs were facing the other direction.  I could see the other van, which was still out in the road (it stayed in motion past the intersection, and spun around so it was facing the opposite direction).  Several people were walking around outside of it, and it looked like there were no injuries for them either.  The 911 op said that the police were on their way, so I hung up & crawled around to my exit the van out of my mom’s (driver side) door.

Fortunately there were 2 separate witnesses that stuck around for a while, and they had seen the other lady run the red light at the intersection.  One witness eventually took off, but left his business card with my mom.  A 18-20-ish girl stuck around, but had started to drive away when a bicycle cop finally showed up (about 15 minutes later).  My mom flagged her down, and the officer took statements from most of the peeps on the scene.  Basically both vans were totalled, and some water was leaking out of my mom’s van.

CRUNCH!

note the nice bend in the license plate :)

Oddly enough, some of my mom’s churchy friends were in the area--inviting some of the neighborhood peeps to their Easter service the next week.  We loaded up all of the stuff in her van into their trunk, and they gave us a ride back to her place.  Oh... but before we move on... I must note the name of the towing company that carried ma’s van off to oblivion: Horton’s.  Yup.  Horton’s.

Horton Tows a Who?

So... by now it’s probably around 4pm, and I’m sitting around mom’s apt. while she’s talking to her insurance co.  Every now & then she hands me the phone to fill in random details & give a statement & all that kind of joyous crap.  It was close to 5pm by the time we re-left her place, and finally picked up my niece & nephew with hopes of wrusslin’ up some grub. 

I figured we’d just stop for some sushi at a place just a coupla blocks from my sister’s house.  But, since it’s in the same little Barkley Village spot that a Haggen’s grocery store is in, my nephew says... "I’m not supposed to be here.  I’ll just duck down & wait for you out here in the car."  (Fun fact: my nephew stole some matches--you know, those things you can get for free at many restaurants & gas stations--yeah, those--from a Haggen’s store in Bellingham & now is not allowed within 500 feet[?] of any of their stores.  Cute.)  There were also some cops just across the way, so we just decided to grab grub somewhere else.

Ended up going to Oishii on Bakerview & getting some decent sushi & teryaki, then finally went to see Horton Hears a Who at Bellis Fair Mall.  Dug it!  The fam liked it too... niece was pretty grouchy, and wanted to be dropped off at her friends house.  Dropped off the nephew at his/mom’s house.  Took my mom for a quick grochery store run, and headed back to her apt.  I was pretty tired by then, so I crashed (lame pun intended).

Got up early on Sunday & drove north--just shy of Canada--and launched my kayak at Semiahmoo Park.  I paddled around the interior of the spit, then out around the marina & about halfway down the outside of the spit.  I had never gone outside of Drayton Harbor up here; it was spiffy to look across the water & catch a splendid view of White Rock, B.C.  I paddled back into the harbor & followed the north/east shoreline in & up Dakota Creek for about a mile.  Then back across the harbor to the park (about 4 hours total I think).  I’m feeling too lazy to post any pix, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got some up in an older blog somewhere’s...

Other weird bits of stuff going on:

My nephew had another court date last week, this time for stealing some thing(s) from a church up there.  This time he got 15 days in jail, which started last Wednesday.  I really hope he’ll wise up and start to make good decisions... but it’s a huge bummer.  I still don’t know if his birth father was ever sentenced, or if he’s still just in jail up there too (it was for something very ugly). 

Went on another little kayak trip on Saturday--just around the north end of West Seattle.  It’s pretty much home, but the weather was good & the resident eagles were hanging around, so that’s always nice.  Spent most of Sunday working at home on some stuff for the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (some fundraiser fashion show/tea--I’m designing some background video stuff for the event). 

My pet fish Spike died on Sunday.  Here’s an old picture of him--at a pudgy-ish moment:

 

and in his "native" habitat:

I wasn’t exactly attached to Spike the fish, but I do recall how long I’ve had him.  Bought him exactly two years ago today, on the way home from a funeral.  RIP Chris.

On a related note, the background of my’space profile is a washed-out photo of Brian Scroggins.  He died last month--related to a cancerous tumor in his brain.  Fought it for 2 years, and was very bold in his witnessing about God the whole time.  If you listened to Christian techno for many moons, you may recognize the name Prophecy of Panic--that was him and another dude back in the day.  Brian was a total friggin’ genius with the oldskool analog synth gear & live techno sets.  One of my favorite memories ever was stopping by his house in Devore, CA while I was on a roadtrip the summer of ’04.  His studio wasn’t setup at the time, but he did start a pattern going on his TB-303 & handed me the headphones.  I got to listen as he was tweaking knobs on the synth... after listening to his tunes for years, this was very, very cool for me. :) 

I don’t think anyone else knows this, but a year later I paid for his festival ticket to Cornerstone ’05.  He did two different sets at the generator stage with all of his analog gear.  You can listen to both sets via the Tastyfresh podcast.  I went to Cornerstone that year, and got to hang with him and a bunch of other fun peeps I knew from the Tastyfresh forums & elsewhere.  Was really sad the week or so around his death though.  Say a prayer or 2 for his family if you think of it--he’s survived by his wife & three children.  Here are some pics I took of him at Cornerstone:

For the next couple of weeks I’ll be working on video stuff for Nitro: H20 - the annual children’s conference for the Assemblies of God churches in the area.  Always a lot of prep work, but sometimes a little fun :)

Work is still weird.  Paychecks are good tho’.  Reviews should be happening over the next coupla weeks, so that will be interesting.  I did a lot for the upcoming Seinfeld edition of our Scene It game, so hopefully all the last bits come together well.  No soup for you!

To end things on a happy (albeit long) note, I had a lot of fun doing video stuff at the Gathering.  On Wednesday night, March 5, I drove all the way over & down to the Toyota Center in Kennewick, WA.  Finally got there around 11:30pm, and hauled my gear in.  Basically headed right to the hotel after that, and drove back to the center around 8am.  Although the first pass of connecting stuff should have worked the first time, it quickly became a signal routing/troubleshooting nightmare.  I’ll spare you the details, but if you’re a gear nerd: never mix Matrox Dual Head2Go’s with Kramer scaler/switchers... it no workie.  To make a long story short, I was sending a double-wide signal from my computer out to 2 projectors that were at the back of the stage, behind the bands, etc.  Also had a backup system in place of DVD players & my video mixer... but I digress...

Basically what I do for these youth conferences, concerts, etc. is design a bunch of video loops with the logos & various other elements that they’ve included in their printed materials & branding.  That stuff is up at all the generic moments when peeps are speaking & what-not.  I also have a huge set of abstract visuals that I mix thru during the musical bits.  Most events I do have bands that I’m not at all familiar with, so I end up buying some of their music to get a feel for their tunes & try to come up with some visual concepts to incorporate. 

This time around tho’, the closing band on Thursday night was David Crowder Band.  I actually dig ’em, and listen to them every now & then... as far as the "Christian worship bands" go, they’re definitely my favorite peeps.  So for the couples weeks leading up to the event I was putting together some ideas & clips I wanted to use.  For the most part it came together REALLY well, so that made me happy  

Friday was a lot more chill... stopped by the Toyota Center to throw together some junk in Adobe After Effects... worked on stuff for a tad over an hour, and left my PC to crank away at rendering video clips.  Went to lunch at IHOP with Jerry & Virgil, and even got to sneak in a nap!  The show on Friday night went pretty well too, but was another "marathon"--the doors opened around 6pm & finished after 10pm both nights. 

Friday night I tore down my gear & loaded up right after the show.  I stuck around long enought to make sure Jerry & the load-out posse had some pizza... scarfed a coupla pieces myself... and began the journey home.  A hotel would’ve been nice, but since Jerry & co. were staying up all night to load out, then drive back to Seattle, then unload the truck(!),  then haul some gear to setup for another show(!!!)... they didn’t bother with any hotel reservations.  At least I got to snooze right when I got home... which was at 4am (YAWN!).

Well, I thought I’d have a better ending for this blog, but I am horribly sick of typing.  buh-bye, and thanks for reading.
-rick

A couple times last summer I paddled from Alki Point in West Seattle over to Blake Island, and basically made an entire day of it.  I stopped a couple of times while paddling all the way around the island--although during the summer it can be tough to find a secluded spot.  Not so during the colder months! 

Last Sunday I decided the water was calm enough, the sun was shining enough, and I was rested enough to attempt a trip across the 3-mile gap between Alki Point and Blake Island.  So I set out...

^ My 'yak facing south--towards Lincoln Park--the easier destination I was contemplating...

^ Looking north-ish towards the Alki Point Lighthouse

About an hour into paddling, I'm still quite a ways away from Blake Island... at least the water stayed nice & calm all the way there.

About an hour-and-a-half into the journey... and I have arrived-uh! [extra syllable inspired by too many annoying preachers]

hmmm... no one over here...

...or over here...

...not even over here!

...just me and my shadow.  

I did get to eat a Clif Bar with my favorite tree on the island.

...and walked over to the marina to marvel at the single (1) boat that was mooring there.  Just a coupla months ago & it was mooring-room-only here...

Took this pic while waiting for my mom to call back (she has a court date this week 'cuz my father decided to not pay her alimony this month... nice).  That's Vashon Island in the distance...

...back in the 'yak.

One last look at the now-empty beach. 

The wind picked up a lot on the way back.  Took me over two hours of paddling before I felt it was safe enough to pull out the camera again...

^ That little dot in the air is a spiffy little biplane.  But I guess you'll just have to trust me on that one... >:O)

Finally landed back at West Seattle around 4pm... just in time to snap a pic of the sun setting over Blake Island:

As much as I'd like to go back to Blake during the uber-quiet months, I don't think I'm in good enough shape to.  Just a couple months of weekend-only yakking, and I can't seem to handle the longer trips (especially when the weather turns poopy).  Guess it's easier to stay in the swing of things when you can play at night after work... curse you winter!!!  umm... yeah.

I'll try to post another blog sometime soon with pics from one of the warmer trips around Blake Island.  Paddling out there & all the way around it makes for a full day... but when the snack shack is open... there's soft serve ice cream at Tillicum Village!  WOOT!

Speaking of blog postings, I'll dedicate this blog to uh... My Can Is Under Construction... thanks for missing the Rick-yak-blogs!  >:O)  Two blogs in one night... that makes up for the months of silence, right?!? 

-rick

After consuming far too much poultry, I drove up to Blaine for a spiffy little kayak trip on Friday, November 23.  It's basically as far north as you can get without crossing the Washington/British Columbia border.  I parked at Semiahmoo Park and carried my 'yak across the street to launch from the other side of the spit (inside Drayton Harbor, not outside)... [now comes the senseless parade of mediorce pics...woot!]

Just starting out... facing the Semiahmoo Spit

Here's the park - the museum was closed for the season tho'

After paddling for a little over an hour, I reached the entrance to California Creek.  I had 'yakked up this creek back in April of this year, so I wanted to just take a quick jaunt under the bridge & then head over to the quieter creek...

Under the bridge, from the creek side...

...in the warm California sun...

...on the road again...

Here's the tree that guards the entrance to Dakota Creek...

There's no shortage of bridges near the entrance to the creek...

Come on graffiti artists of Blaine--where's the bravery?  Why no tags out of the safe zone?  That would never stop the Seattle peeps...

Nothing brings me closer to Mother Nature than paddling under double-span bridges of I-5...

ah... that's more like it.

Well, this is pretty much paradise (aside from it being freaking cold).

There was a nice thin layer of ice on some of the branches...

I stopped here for a short little rest...

It was a dry brushy bit of marsh-land, but it seemed fairly stable.

...looking up thru the branchery...

Back in the 'yak.  The houses are few & far-between on Dakota Creek.  Its sister creek, California, has lots of peeps living on both sides.  Not nearly as serene.

<--that's one crazy branch!  The "?" was around 8 feet high.

I've reached the end of the line.  A logjam makes it tricky to go any further up the creek.  Plus, the tide was about to turn, so it was a good time to turn around.  Was probably about 2 miles up Dakota Creek, and about 2 hours from the park I had launched from.

One of the downsides of paddling thru a heavily-wooded creek is that the sun don't shine much here.  That's a thin layer of icey-slush on the top of the water.  It was pretty fun paddling thru the larger chunks of it.  Got to pretend I was Larry Romanof--world famous Russian icebreaker [see also Veggie Tales].

Where Dakota Creek empties into Drayton Harbor...

Finally reached the other side of Drayton Harbor--here's the marina ^

I turned around to see a harbor seal stalking me [trust me--it's that little dot that you can barely see in this pic--it was about 30 feet away from me at the time].

I arrived back at the park just in time to catch a purty sunset.

...and here's the moon--and a bit of Semiahmoo Spit... taken just after I landed (got tired of carrying the kayak & needed an excuse to take a break :)

Well, that's about it.  Nothing too spectacular... I think I had better pics & encountered more fun wildlife on other trips to Drayton Harbor & the creeks, but at least I've finally broken my half-year silence in the blogosphere!  Speaking of, I'll end this blog with a shout-out to Maria.  Sorry for the months of bloglessness! 

-rick

 

Last weekend I was up in Edmonds doing a bunch of video junk at a children's conference at Westgate Chapel.  Lots of kids from lots of churches (we were over 1200 in attendance--their biggest one yet).  The stage, props & screens all looked pretty spiffy (6 screens, a big sign in the middle, a fake rocket, several fake satellits hanging, large bits of foil covering things, and a pseudo-NASA mission control area for the tech peeps). 

I put together a bunch of logo loops for "Nitro 3: Zero Gravity" and burnt them onto DVDs, along with a whole lot of old NASA footage.  Used some IMAX space station stuff as well.  I made a countdown/opener video for each of the 3 sessions.  My fave was for the last session--I used an old Grammatrain song [Rocketship] with a bunch of oldskool NASA stuff--seemed to work really well.  Lots of fun, but all things considered, I probably ended up making about $5/hour for the event!  Few peeps have any idea how much time actually goes into this stuff--the clueless factor is VERY high  >:O)

A skeleton crew from the conference (Jerry, the producer/camera switcher guy, me [background video looper/program video cue-r/whatever else guy], lighting guy & sound guy, with whomever happened to show up to run cameras) came back bright & early Sunday morning to re-use a few things from Nitro, as the pastoral peeps of the church wanted to use the opportunity to plug their kids' ministry.  I stayed up almost all night trying to throw together a quick highlight video of the event [yawn].  It all came together quite nicely I think, although I was terribly exhausted by the time I had packed up my gear. 

Last Tuesday I stumbled upon the fact that one of my best friends was, at best, deliberately hiding things from me.  I felt that something odd was up about 2 weeks before that, and he could've just filled me in then.  But it actually got to the point where I felt I could no longer trust whether or not he was being honest with me, so I called him on it.  Didn't go too well.  What did I learn from this lesson?  Not to speak my mind or try to explain my point of view when I'm hurt.  Dude basically wrote me off & doesn't want to be my friend anymore.  Especially sad since I told him I wouldn't give up on him (almost a year ago now), and have tried very hard to be a good friend.  If you're reading--I'm sorry I pressed the issue too far.  Although--if you had trusted me from the get-go, things would be much different now.  But... in the end, my friendship isn't as important to you as your secrets, and there's nothing I can do about that.  Hope your rick-free life is treating you well, but I do miss you.

On to slightly less depressing things ['cuz there's another doozy at the end]... there's a big marketing gig at work that I just randomly happened to get in on.  It's kinda funny--something that happens to be right up my alley [switching around some game logos & promo clips for a video shoot]--is dropped in my lap at the last possible minute.  How the powers that be are making decisions and shuffling around people & projects is kinda scary right now, but at least part of it is working out okay. 

I got to hang with some of my favorite co-worker peeps on Friday night, so that was fun.  Also bought a birthday lunch for another co-worker earlier that day.  It's good to hang with the peeps  >:O)

Today... I went to church at the West Seattle branch of Mars Hill.  My pal Jerry has been renting a big 12k projector to them for these past couple of weeks, before they move into the new building.  Just so happened that my fave of their worship bands was playing there for the first time in a few months.  Always nice to hear the E-Pop.  Jerry bought me lunch at Alki Crab & Fish (that joint at Seacrest Park) & we ate outside on the patio--right over the water.  A bit chilly, but it turned out to be a very sunny day.

Speaking of sunny days (woot!), I went kayaking today shortly after lunch.  First time since early Februray I think.  Way too long!  Between bad weather, getting a gnarly cold/flu bug, then Nitro, I haven't had many chances to play.  But today I paddled for just over 2 hours--from Don Armeni to Alki Point (the lighthouse, yo) and back.  Good times... my arms held up okay, but I was definitely feeling "it."

So... yeah.  The way my mood has been this week, I thought it best to avoid the anniversary stuff today.  Probably would've started bawling at random points throughout the afternoon.  Although I didn't know Chris very well, the reason I signed up here at MySpace in the first place was to try to read some of the bulletins & stuff folks were posting about him after the shooting.  Anyway... hope everyone there had a good day, but I sure wish I was feeling strong enough to be there & encourage some peeps.  Oh well.  At least Chris is in a happier place. 

Hope some of you had a more-good-than-bad or (at least balanced) batch of shtuff this last week.  Either way, have a great next week, my dwindling audience of bloggieness!  >:O)
-rick

yeah... last weekend i wasn't feeling too hot.  caught myself an odd little cold bug--was really snoozy all weekend, and my left eye was sore & itchy (even got puffy on Sunday--esp. my upper eyelid).  but, like an idiot, i still went out on the water a coupla times  >:O)

on saturday i paddled from Golden Gardens to Carkeek Park.  the water was pretty choppy, and i felt silly for not wearing my spray jacket.  by the time i got to Carkeek, my gloves were soggy enough so that my camera was getting too much water in it--and was powering down whenever i tried to snap a pic.  my original plan was to go for a walk around one of the trails at Carkeek, but there were lots of peeps on the beach, so i decided to just head back.  the sky was very clear, and the Olympics were looking spiffy.  didn't take any worthwhile pictures, but here's a quick GIF of about half the shots:

on sunday i was going to hang with some pals up in Bothell, but at that point my eye was puffy & i didn't want to spread the joy.  so, i bailed on the friends & some churchy stuff & went kayaking around Harbor Island.  i put in at Don Armeni & paddled past Jack Block park & the west side of Harbor Island, then monkeyed around the marina:

just south of the marina there's a pair of marshy coves that are very shallow--one was about 2 feet deep; the other was just deep enough that i didn't get stuck:

here's a turtle that was chillin' in the deeper marshy-ness:

just another little bit south of aforementioned marshy inlets is Kellogg Island:

here's a random shot of an old ship + some industrial shtuff in the background:

then i paddled back up to the Harbor Island marina, but decided to take the long way back--AKA the east waterway of the Duwamish.  you actually can't get under these bridges at the highest tides, but it was plenty low enough when i was passing thru:

...and the next set of under-pass-ness:

here's an odd shot of some shipping/cargo/crane/thingies:

a big ol' ship & a couple of cormorants:

further down the east waterway:

almost back to Don Armeni park - here are some sea lions chillin' on an anchor buoy:

okay, that's pretty much it.  i'll probably go kayaking again next saturday--but this time in the morning--so i can go see: The Tragical Historie of Guidolon the Giant Space Chicken  in the afternoon... WOOT!!!  speaking of woot, i picked up some better gloves tonight, so hopefully that will help my chapped-to-death hands...

This weekend was the grand opening shizzle for Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park.  I wanted to check it out, but also wanted to get some kayaking in while it was sunny.  Plus, the park was swarming with peeps.  Without any further ah-doo-doo, here are some random shots of the journey...

 < next to the Yarrow

what's this? the sun is out?!?>

^ water-streams from a boat trying a little too hard to look ritzi

^ okay, so i'm a sucker for shiny and reflective things...

 < it's a full-moon fountain!

 

 
^ some junk by the Yarrow on the way back

^ by elliot bay park

^ kayaking along the breakwater at the elliot bay marina

^ the most heron i've seen chillin' together here in seattle

^ fly like a seagull... doo-doo-do-do...

^ peek-a-boo

^ yeah... probably too many shots of the breakwater >:O)

^ zee plane, boss!

 
^ there was at least one small harbor seal playing right here as i paddled along the metal wall at the north edge of the marina.  the seal(s) was just quick enough to escape my camera about 3 times.  it was swimming just below the surface, and passed right under my kayak.  fun!

Okay, that's it for now.  Have a groovy week, every bunny!
-rick

Yesterday I walked around the watery/island trails at the Washington Park Arboretum (as opposed to the inland trees, flowers & shrubbery trails)... from the Foster Island Trail to the Ship Canal Waterside Trail (basically, from the Arboretum to the other end of the Montlake Cut). 

It was kinda fun to stand on the water I had paddled thru about a week earlier... can't say I'd ever seen peeps playing hockey on a paddling route of mine!  Again... no real point here... just enjoy the plethora of mediocre photos & pretend you were out walking with Rick on a bitterly cold Seattle day  >:O)

I actually started walking on the wrong side of the tracks... just as a heads-up... uh... it's best to avoid the area by the first parking lot off of 520.  Just keep on driving to the main park--if you're confused, just follow the signs to the visitor center & park there. 

 

here's a little marshy-thingy ^

got a couple of good shots from the wrong side o' the park ^

some graffiti ^  drugs didn't seem to be the biggest problem here...

whew!  actually on the more populated, safer side of the park...

 
the poor man's jungle cruise, as seen from the snow-covered bridge ^

 

  

 

  

 

the boardwalk between Foster Island & Marsh Island ^

quack quack quack...

Marsh Island... almost there...!

 

 

 

  

 

 

reached the far end of the trail - at the other end of the Montlake Cut ^

 

 

 
heading back on the bridge-let to Marsh Island...

 
back on Marsh Island...

apparently Frosted Mini-Wheats do occur naturally in the wild...

 
the last zig-zag on Marsh Island, before crossing back over to...

   
back on Foster Island, making my way back...  

 

 

HEY!  who said you peeps could play hockey on my paddling route?!? 

hooray for ice solid enough to hold 2.5 tons!   

Well... thanks for walking with me.  Nighty-night,
-rick

ps--I also walked around Seward Park yesterday, but it had already gotten pretty dark there (didn't bother with the camera). 

I went for a nice walk today around the snow-covered trails of Camp Long.  Took way too many random pictures.  Yup.  That's about it.   

 

 

 

 

 

Part of the wide open field in the middle of Camp Long ^ 

Well... there you have it.  Figured instead of rambling way too much, I'd just post way too many pictures.  They're not all that exciting, but I don't know when Camp Long will be this purty & snow covered again, so...

bye4now,
-rick

So... last night I tried several times to post this blog, but MySpace kept on logging me out & I eventually lost the entire shpeil.  I'll try it again, but I'm pretty sure the first one was the bestest.

Perhaps "kayak voyage" is a bit of an overstatement, but on Saturday I went for my first paddle of the year.  I slept in a bit, but eventually woke up happy to note that it wasn't raining (the forecast was for lots of wind & rain over the weekend).  It was still a bit windy, so I figured I'd play it safe & hit somewhere fairly sheltered, like Lake Union and/or the ship canal in Ballard. 

By 11:30am I had launched from the north end of Lake Union & paddled over to Portage Bay.  Lingered there for a while, then paddled thru the Montlake Cut and then around the Washington Park Arboretum.  Basically followed this trail thru all the duck-ridden marshy tree islands.  Saw 3 blue heron and a (most likely abandoned pet) turtle.  It's a very pretty, woodsy area--that many folks walk or jog around--given the convenient little bridges & all...

some day i need to walk thru the park... hmm...

my favorite part of the journey... it's the poor man's jungle cruise!  durr...

look!  branches!  conveniently placed for quick eye removal...

lots of fun grasses, shrubberies & trees right under the 520 bridge...

a foot bridge with Husky Stadium in the distance...

After a leisurely stroll (or, uh... paddle) thru the Arboretum, I paddled back past Ivar's Salmon House... while starting to drool over the bowl of salmon chowder that would soon be mine!  >:O)

For all of you that may appreciate silly music and random pointless photos, I present my first virtual kayak tour of the year (it's a 28MB mpeg1 file):
The Royal Canadian Kilted Kayaksmen - enjoy!

Happy 2007 ya'll,
-rick