Lake Chelan

Two and a half days of our Washington State vacation was spent in Stehekin which is part of the North Cascades National Park. The only way to get to Stehekin is by boat ride, float plane or by hiking in. We chose the Lady of the Lake  boat ride which starts in the town Lake Chelan and goes for 55 miles to Stehekin. There are two choices the slow boat Lady of the Lake for 4 hours or the Lady express for 2 and half hours. Our stay at Stehekin was for two nights so we just packed up what we needed for these days for our stay at the Stehekin Landing Resort. We decided to do the four hour boat ride on the first day and come back on the express. We would leave the dock at Lake Chelan at 8:30am and arrive in Stehekin at 12:30. We did make three stops along the way in places called Field Pt, Lucerne and another when we pulled to shore to pick up some backpackers. It is a very scenic boat ride starting off with beautiful lake homes, fields of apple trees and some vineyards near the town of Lake Chelan and eventually becoming all mountains on both sides of the lake. It did not rain but it was a very cloudy overcast day. The clouds added to the scene hanging low on the mountains. More about Stehekin on another post.

There were waterfalls along the lakeshore

Below is the stop to pick up some backpackers is an area that was used years ago for the taping of a Lassie movie staring Elizabeth Taylor

Stehekin is a place for relaxing and enjoying the outdoors. No telephones and no TV's just enjoy nature.

I am linking up to Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday thanks to 2sweetnsaxy and Susan for hosting these great memes.

And thanks for stopping by to see my post and blog. I hope you enjoyed my post.

Camera Critters..Black Bear..Leavenworth, Wa

MY Skywatch post now follows this Camera Critters post.

During our vacation last week we stopped in Leavenworth, Washington. I read about the Leavenworth Salmon Hatchery being a top place for birding. Being a birder I had to stop at the most popular place. Besides seeing the Salmon hatchery there are trails for walking and some lead to the rivers edge  It was along the river we sighted this black bear. I just love seeing bears so this was one of the great sightings for me and all the great birds.

We were able to watch the bear across the river from us for awhile until something spooked it and it ran off. We stood watching the river for a while and then I noticed an American Dipper in the water. Very cool , the Dipper is a life bird for me. I will do a post on my Washington State birds at another time.

To see more critters from all over click here: Camera Critters and thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting this fun critter meme and for stopping by my blog.

Dreary skywatch over Diablo Lake

These are some shots of the dreary looking skies we saw the first two days of our vacation in the North Cascades. The clouds were hanging low over the mountains. It was still beautiful looking scenery with the clouds and mountains.

These are my skywatch shots

and to see more wonderful skies from all over the world click here Skywatch Friday

Thanks for stopping by and thanks to the hosting team of Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Fishing Guy and Klaus

Skywatch over Seneca Rocks

My skywatch is from my visit to the Seneca Rock park in West Virginia.

Thanks for stopping by to see my Skywatch Friday  and thanks to the hosting team of Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Fishign Guy, and Klaus.

Casselman River Bridge and State park

Last weekend, hubby and I took a short trip to western Maryland. The Casselman River Bridge and state park was one of our stops. The Casselman bridge is a national historic landmark built in 1813.
It was at one time the largest single span stone arch in the United States and one of the first major bridge on the national road  US Route 40 which was known as a East-West United States highway. Now we have the faster Rt 70 and the old Rt 40 is a slow and more scenic route.

A view of the river towards Rt 68

We saw lots of these spotted fish in the Cassleman River, anyone know what kind they are?

A view of the park from the bridge

We finished our day at the nearby Penn Alps Restaurant and tried some of the wonderful their Mennonite food. I had a their Asian Chicken Salad with the White House dressing. Wow, was it ever delicious. So good I had to bring home a bottle of the dressing. After dinner we checked out the Artisan village and the House of Yoder. My favorite part was visiting Gary Yoder and his amazing bird carvings. Gary Yoder's bird carvings are in collections around the world and I was happy to meet him and watch him do some carving. If you happen to be in the area I would say this place is well worth a stop.

I am link up with Outdoor Wednesday thanks to Susan the host and  2 sweetnsaxy's Watery Wednesday.

Thanks to both of these gals for these fun memes and thanks for stopping by to see my post.

Cuyahoga Falls

These photos are from my archives and one of our past trips to Ohio. We stopped at the Cuyahoga National Park to see the Brandywine Waterfalls. Cuyahoga National Park is south of Cleveland. The winding Cuyahoga River was given  the name crooked river by the American Indians. The park also has a nice Bike trail next to the working rails and the canal.

A view at the top of the falls, looks just like a trickle of water.

My hubby is fascinated with waterfalls, if we are traveling and a waterfall is in the area we make a point of stopping to see it.

This is my Watery Wednesday post and Outdoor Wednesday to see more click on my links. Thanks to  2sweetnsaxy and Susan  for hosting and thanks for stopping by to visit my watery post.

Murals under the expressway

Usually,  I post my travel photos on this blog but today, I guess you could say you are traveling to work with me. I wanted to show the murals or paintings on the concrete columns holding up the expressway I take to work. The murals were painted by local artists.  There is a municipal metered parking lot under the expressway and on Sunday's they hold a farmers market on the parking lot. Local Maryland farmers provide their fresh produce, fruits, meats, herbs, flowers, even fresh fish and more for economical prices. The farmers market runs from May to December. The most popular day is the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

This painted colum below is one of my favorites.

I think the artists did wonderful painting these murals and they are perfect for the farmers market. This is a multi meme post I am linking up with the memes below.

Mellow Yellow Monday click on my link to see more mellow yellow. My thanks to the gracious host of Mellow Yellow
and
Ruby Tuesday  click on my link and visit Mary's Ruby Tuesday. Thank you, Mary for hosting this fun meme.
and
That's My World  Click on my link to see more of the world.  Thanks to the hosting team of Sylvia, Wren Sandy, Fishing Guy and Klaus.