Category Archives: Parks

Kelsey Creek Farm, Bellevue

Leave a reply

13340504343_aa9c5da73e_bI’ve been wanting to visit Kelsey Creek Farms Park at 13204 SE 8th in Bellevue for a while, so on Saturday after dropping off dear daughter for her ride back to college I stopped by. There was a birthday party going on and plenty of children in the under five crowd. The 150 acre original site had been a forest and was developed as the Twin Valley Dairy Farm in the 1920s. Despite pressure from real estate developers, in the 1960s 80 acres of the property was sold to the City of Bellevue for use as a park. It receives over 200,000 visits a year. ThePark’s website is here.

The log cabin is the Frasier House, built in 1888 and moved to Kelsey Creek Farms Park in 1974.  It was built by two Norwegian woodsmen and lived in for a short time. Mostly it was used as storage. 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Dalco Passage

Leave a reply

12280410435_512a2bf47b_c(1)While others were watching the Superbowl, I went out to give my new camera a spin. It was kind of eerie being out with almost everyone watching the game. Though there were plenty of police and taxis.  I wandered through Five Mile Drive in Pt. Defiance and took a shot of Dalco Passage, thinking that I would find a fascinating history of Dalco, but no such luck. All I can find is that Dalco Passage is a tidal strait in the Puget Sound, located between the southern end of Vashon Island and Tacoma. Below are a couple of more shots including the sweet beggar of a raccoon (which I didn’t feed). And go Seahawks!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Lacey Community Center

Leave a reply

12197728476_353fec40c3_oThe Lacey Community Center at 6729 Pacific Avenue SE, Lacey has a charming little pond adjacent to it. If it had been warmer, I would have strolled around it. The center itself is relatively new and very well tended to and the staff was very accommodating.

12164097906_1b5fb897b8_b

 

Garfield Nature Trail

Leave a reply

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Garfield Nature Trail at 620 Rogers Street NW, Olympia is like a little haven of wilderness right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. It isn’t a typical park with picnic areas and playground equipment. Instead it is a trail through a ravine between Rogers Street NW and West Bay Drive NW. I hiked from Rogers to West Bay and back again. The path has several sets of stairs and boardwalks and I wish I had worn my sneakers because is places it was damp and a tad slippery. The trail was busy with young people, families and folks walking dogs.

City Haven Peace Park

Leave a reply

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

There is a small, private park named City Haven Peace Park located next to the Quaker Meetinghouse/Hillside Community Church at 2508 39th Street South. This space has an abundance of birds, squirrels and an occasional raccoon. There are also several inuksuk, which are rock formations roughly shaped like humans.

Hing Hay Park, Seattle

Leave a reply

11765614935_c04a82fe90_bHing Hay Park at 423 Maynard Ave S. is a vital part of Seattle’s International District. The name translates to “Park for Pleasurable Gatherings”. The pagoda, or Grand Pavilion, was constructed in Taipei, Taiwan in 1974. The mural facing the park shows an elaborate dragon. When I visited there was a group of men playing chess on the over-sized chess board and others were playing ping pong.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

 

Spanaway Lake, the last day of 2013

Leave a reply

11678596936_a43ee371af_hI wanted some place pretty for the last day in 2013, so I made my dear husband go out to Spanaway Lake in the light Northwest rain. I find it amazing that I had never been there before. During the warmer months it is possible to rent row boats and canoes at the boathouse. The lake encompasses 280 acres and a maximum depth of 28 feet and a mean depth of 16 feet.

11677591073_c35fb47fb4_b 11679587856_52ceeff718_b

Chambers Creek Labyrinth

3 Replies

10432192875_dc0ec30186_hI really needed to stretch my legs and for a couple of minutes it wasn’t foggy, so I sent off to see the Chambers Bay Labyrinth off of 64th Street. The labyrinth is based on the Chartres Cathedral labyrinth in France. At first I saw no discernible pattern, but after a while it became apparent and I walked its twisting ways to the center. More information on the labyrinth can be found here. And the worldwide labyrinth locator can be found here.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Yauger Park, Olympia

Leave a reply

10375312376_ea29bd01f8_bYauger Park in Olympia has a lovely wetland area that doubles as a storm water retention pond during times of heavy rain. Per their website, the area can hold 27 million gallons of water which is slowly released into Percival Creek and eventually into Budd Inlet. One comment I noted on Yelp said that the rain water will sometimes cover the parking area also, which is better than local streets! The park also has picnic facilities, sports areas and playground equipment.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.