Boxing Day & Before

Waughop Lake Enshrouded in Mist

**Christmas Eve**

2005

Waughhop Lake, Lakewood, WA

It's been raining like crazy but we were spared a few hours of the deluge on Christmas Eve. We decided to take the kids out to squeeze in as much physical exercise we could possibly squeeze in between the raindrops before we headed to our 'double-header' Christmas Eve service later in the evening. That turned out to be 6 miles of walking for the kids (8 for me as I'd already gone on a 2-mile run earlier in the day)!!! Awesome! We also checked up on a lot of our (& others') letterboxes during our outing.

When we started our walk, the lake was clear and the air crisp. An hour into it, a layer of mist developed above the water and created this heavenly atmosphere. Beautiful!

Lost in Thought

Caught this gull pondering life at Waughop Lake. Loved how the cottonwoods in the background reflected from the lake.
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** Boxing Day 2005 **

Wild Waves

rnrB enjoying the waves at the Lake Washington Ship Canal Locks in Ballard, WA.

I have a feeling this image appears in lots of movies/tourist flyers for Seattle.

I presume it was also part of the Amazing Race a few years back.

Different angles of the locks. Loved the power of the water and the various colors. The sound of the water spilling over the causeway was thunderous!!! I've never seen the water this high at the locks! AND I visit a LOT--spend a lot of lunch hours here watching the activity and enjoying fish & chips! Didn't see any salmon or seal activity today. Also, there had been Snowy Owl sightings in the area earlier in the day/week so our eyes were peeled but, alas, we never saw any. Bummer because they typically don't come down this far south--apparently this is a unique year in Snowy Owl circles.

The locks connect the waters of Puget Sound with Lake Washington (by way of Lake Union and the Lake Washington Ship Canal). Here's a picture of a sailboat entering the lock on its way to Lake Washington. It's always a very fascinating operation to observe. The locks were built in 1912 and operate daily. As we departed the area several hours later (we were there attending a party) a giant yacht Lu Lu Lou of Valdez, Alaska, was in the locks heading into the lake. Many boats portage over the winter down in this area as the winters are quite moderate here as compared to the frigid northern waters. Our 'snowbirders' of sorts... ;) I kept thinking that these folks' yachts cost as much as or in many cases way more than our home!

Wow, what a life... Guess I can dream about it... ;)

We capped off the day with dinner at Chinook's in Fisherman's Terminal. Had the greatest Dungeness Crabcakes--EVER! With a plum sauce and brown butter sauce--excellent! If you visit Seattle, definitely come during Dungeness Season and you MUST visit either Chinook's or Anthony's to experience them. Also, fell in love with some artwork by Bellingham, WA artist Brett Varney. If you like Van Gogh, you'll like his work. He painted the poster for this year's Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Incredible!!! I didn't buy anything--tonight. Only because I couldn't decide between several different prints. It's such a difficult decision that I may just save up for a couple of them. His work is THAT powerful!