Tag Archives: Mt. Rainier

The lunch view at Marketplace Grille in Gig Harbor

The Marketplace Grille at 8825 North Harborview Drive in Gig Harbor has been in place for 16 years, but dear husband and I just discovered it and we are glad we did. The reasonably priced restaurant has a quirky layout with seating on either side of an open air hallway. We arrive at about 2:30 for a late lunch and were seated at a table for two with an impressive view of the harbor (see photo). Marketplace Grille is known for its clam chowder, made without bacon, and it was indeed delectable. We each had our own chowder and then we shared the three piece halibut and chips. There was enough left over that we got a to go box. Our server, Carline, was professional, warm and upbeat. I felt like I made a friend! Afterward dear husband drove off to a bookstore and I took a chilly, but stunning, walk into town. As you can see with the last photo, the mountain (Mt. Rainer) was out.

More information, including a menu, can be found here.

 

Vicious Weasil at the Museum at Longmire, Mt. Rainier

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Dear Daughter, home for her last Thanksgiving Break, needed to visit Mt. Rainier as part of her geology class. OK, fine, I like Mt. Rainier. I pack up my emergency backpack,  extra blankets, water in case we hit bad weather and dear husband and off we went. Luckily there are many pullouts from the street near the mountain and DD got her photos. Not the full glorious mountain, of course, because it was raining and even snowing, but some close ups of rocks that seemed to make her happy. We got as far as Longmire and had lunch and checked out the small museum (the Longmire Museum at Mt. Rainier). I was so busy staring at the vicious face on this little weasel that I didn’t notice his poor prey until I reexamined the photo!

So here are the photos. Beside the Longmire Museum there are two shots of the Mountain taken on clearer days, a photo of the road going through the National Park, the porch at the lodge and the graffiti rocks approaching the park.

BTW, you need to have chains in your vehicle to enter the park after November 1st. It gets dark at about 3 pm in the winter (its all those trees!). There is no cell service on the mountain (at least the part we were at). Here is a link to Longmire.  And Happy Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

Thinking about the proposed Tacoma Methanol Plant

 

I was standing in Fireman’s Park looking out over the Port of Tacoma wondering where the proposed methanol plant would be located. Once home I read that it is to be situated on the prior site of the Kaiser Aluminum Smelter on the Blair Waterway. So that would be on the far side of this photo, realistically out of sight. And I added the fog to the image for the drama.

This proposed plant would be the largest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. Plants are also proposed to be located in the Port of Kalama, Washington and Port Westwood, Oregon. Tacoma’s plant could be operational as soon as 2020 and would produce 20,000 tons of Methanol daily. The Methanol would then be shipped to China.

I’m not going to offer an opinion before I know more, but I did find some interesting reading and sites.

I personally think we should all quickly study this issue and act accordingly. Our voices should be heard. To that end, there is a public meeting this Wednesday and it should be well worthwhile.

While I was there I photographed the classic mountain framed in the Murry Morgan Bridge and a lovely tree.

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Hip Hop, Point Ruston

imageIt was a lovely day to start the new year and dear husband and I went to check out the ever developing Point Ruston. Hip Hop is a recently installed sculpture. The piece was created by Georgia Gerber. and her blog entry can be found here.  Ms. Gerber also created The Gardner in Woodenville and Rachel the Pig at Pike Place Market.  Mt. Rainier was out in her full glory!

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The End of the Wildflowers – Six Weeks Early

imageI finally made it up to Mt. Rainier to see this year’s wildflowers. Normally they are just starting to be in full bloom. The National Park Service’s website says “Mount Rainer’s renowned wildflowers bloom for a limited amount of time every year. The “peak” bloom for wildflowers is heavily dependent on weather and precipitation patterns, so accurate predictions are difficult. In most years, many flowers will be blooming by mid-July, and by the first of August the meadows should be very impressive.” This year because of our ongoing heatwave the wildflowers came into bloom six to eight weeks early, so I was catching the last of them. But still they were lovely and it was great to hike around and see the new to me visitor’s center. Driving up and down the mountain and even hiking around was like being in a cloud. When I crossed the bridge over the Nisqually River, I couldn’t even see much of the bridge and nothing to either side. It was a real leap of faith to keep going!

imageThis sign was displayed at the trail head and it made me wonder what the snowfall was for the year that just passed. 2014-2015 was a new record of low snowfall with only 266 inches. That is not a good thing impacting the glaciers, lake levels, skiing, fish migration and the water that will be available to Washington residents this year.

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Yes Mural

IMG_2475The YES WE CAN mural by Mindy Barker is located at the Tahoma Associates Building, 1545 Tacoma Ave. The mural, which features an elk in front of an abstract Mt. Rainier, is located near the site where the local Indian tribes would welcome the Winter Solstice. More information on this wonderful neighborhood addition can be found here.

The mural is part of the Tacoma Murals Project.

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Beyond the Bluff, Beneath the Bay

mural corner 2“Beyond the Bluff, Beneath the Bay”, by Janice Lee Warren is part of the Tacoma Murals Project. More work by Ms. Warren can be found here. It was painted this year along Stadium Way and replace another mural that had been in place. That mural, featuring sailboats on the bay, had been extensively tagged. The house shown represents the home of “Skookum” Smith who made history by bringing the Northern Pacific rails into Tacoma just one day before the line’s charter expired. While I was out and about, I noticed the mountain was out 🙂

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Dalco Passage

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!

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Spooner Farm

9084627337_99701f6757_b(1)So, I went to the Proctor Farmer’s Market to buy so delicious strawberries from the Spooner Farm booth and they were sold out. Fine. I understand. So, I swung by the house and grabbed dear daughter to go visit Spooner Farm at 9622 State Route 162 East, Puyallup, WA 98374-1812. It was worth the trip. They have a gift store with all kinds of quality farm related items. Dear daughter fell in love with a darling apron (which we’ll get next time) and we purchased a 1/2 flat of strawberries, a jar of raspberry jam, scone mix, some fudge and some cold drinks. Dear daughter went home and made fair scones and strawberry shortcake. Dear husband declared the strawberries the best he had eaten since his childhood.

Spooner Farms has a variety of crops and is sounds like they have a great harvest festival. When we drove away from the store, I noticed this really big chair with a view of the fields and Mt. Rainier.

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MV Lotus

The MV Lotus was moor along the public dock during Maritime Fest this weekend in Tacoma. The vessel, which is on the historic register, was built in 1909 as Edwardian Houseboat Cruiser. It is available for event and would be perfect for a wedding! More information can be found here: http://www.mvlotus.org/

Below is another photo I took while at the fest. http://www.maritimefest.org/   What a beautiful day it was!

Update 6.18.17 We again went to the Tall Ships event (to see the Big Rubber Duck) and here are a couple of new photos of the MV Lotus.