Postcards from the Trail

Saturday was such a lovely day. It was sunny, warm and you could see forever. Our local Farmers Market starts at the beginning of May. It doesn't get in full swing until later in June but you can still find interesting selection of food and goods.

Early in May, it is prime time for asparagus. Several of the stands had a good selection. There were also fresh leaks, young lettuce and radishes. The flower stalls were filled with tulips and doing a brisk business for Mothers Day.

I saw a couple of my favorite but I was intrigued with a new cheesemaker - Willapa Hills Farmstead Cheese. Their specialty is blue and sheep cheese. They had a good selection of both fresh and aged cheese. I tried two fresh;the Willapa White and Fresh with Ewe. Both were excellent. The White was shaped similar to a chevre but had a little more tang. But it was the Fresh with Ewe that won me over. It is fresh sheep milk cheese with a blue rind. A lovely lovely cheese. The cheesemaker recommended keeping it for another week. If I can....

I also stopped at another vendor selling beautiful fresh Halibut. For dinner, I rubbed it with the Bengal Masala Rub with Love from Tom Douglas and pan fried it. Add a fresh green salad and my new favorite mashed sweet and regular potatoes. I did not have enough sweet potatoes to make these sweet potatoes and onions but it was still very good with a few regular potatoes thrown in.

The farmers market is located near the firestation and right downtown. Edmonds has a small downtown - with a seaside feel. You can see the sound in the distance and hear the ferry horn. Many of the buildings in the main downtown area are historic and house interesting stores. I stopped by HouseWares to pick up some kitchen cleaning items and admire the stunning designs.

Moving on, I stopped in the Edmonds Bookshop to see the latest best sellers. Nothing caught my fancy. I had two more stops, one at Gallery North to see the current Photography and at Sculptors Workshop pottery sale.

It was good to see everything busy. The weather helped as did Mothers Day weekend. I loved seeing the mothers out. My favorite was the little girl and her mother who came out of one of the day salons. "Mommy - that was so much fun. Can we do come again?". Delightful.

Samish Bay Cheese

Residential street just a block from the market

Traffic circle at the center of downtown

Worldwide headquarters of Rick Steves Europe

Everybody loves a parade. It has been years since I've been to a parade. The last parade was the Fremont Solstice Parade which is totally different. G had to work this year so I decided to check out the local 4th of July parade in Edmonds.

The crowds had already started to gather around 11:30am. I joined in and followed several families down to where the parade was starting at 6th and Main. People were lined up with their chairs along the route. Today was pretty hot and most of places were in the sun. I walked a block or so and found a place under a large tree in the shade. Perfect.

It wasn't too crowded at all. Everyone right at the sidewalk edge had low chairs. I was talking with another woman and she said this was the 9th parade and it is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses.

It had a little bit of everything - but mostly decorated cars and marching groups. It only lasted an hour but it was fun and different thing to do.

Happy 4th everyone!

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Before we bought our current house in Edmonds, we used to live on the edge of Innis Arden. The history of Innis Arden neighborhood is very interesting. In 1925, William Boeing (yes, the plane builder) bought up much of the land along the Puget Sound north of Seattle, from what is Blue Ridge in Seattle to roughly the county line just south of Edmonds. Much of this area was logged and several communities were built such as Blue Ridge. In 1940, the area north of the Highlands and next to Richmond Beach was laid out as the community named Innis Arden and sold to affluent upper middle class buyers from $1000-$5000 per lot. The cleared land provided unrestricted views across the Sound to the Olympics. The Innis Arden community had strict covenants that prevented buildings and trees to block views. This area continues to have gorgeous unrestricted views and lovely homes built in the older Northwest style. We lived just over the ridge and did not have a view but I would often ride my bike down along the curvy streets and enjoyed the expansive views.

Just next to Innis Arden at the bottom of the hill and along the Sound is Richmond Beach Saltwater Park. It is one of our favorite parks. We feel like it is one of our neighborhood parks even though it is across the county line and in a different city. We used the stairs at the park when we were training for Mt. Whitney. I will often drive over and walk along the beach. I find it very peaceful and calming. Just before Christmas, the city of Shoreline sponsors a huge winter bonfire along with carols provided by the local Christmas Ship.

It has been a while since I visited the park. They were doing renovations last year and we did not visit for a while because of the construction. Friday was a glorious Fall day and I stopped by. Wow! Lots of nice changes.

They have built several new picnic areas, added many new benches and view points and are working to replace the invasive non-native plants with natives along the hillside. They have installed several signs describing the history of the park. It was a sand and gravel mine in the early 1900's which provided building materials for early buildings in Seattle. It also explains the steep terrain. It was sold to King County in 1959 by the Great North Railway. The Parent Map has a great page on the history and details of the park.

There is also a new art installation, Reflex Solaris. It is an interactive sundial. I figured out the sundial portion but totally missed the reflective portion of the artwork. I saw several mirror on the hillside above. At first, I thought they were some type of solar panel for generating electricity. There is one near the upper trail and I noticed that it was just a mirror. Hmmmm... I thought maybe it was for navigation purposes. From the blog post linked earlier, it is a set of mirror that reflect the different solstice and equinoxes. I'm going to have to go back and check out what is reflected along the hillsides. I also think they need something to explain the mirrors - I totally missed it!

I climbed the hill and walked along the upper path. The vistas were amazing in the clear Fall afternoon. Later, I walked down to the beach. Just as you reach the beach is a wonderful 10-foot bronze sculpture of a Salish Welcoming Figure carved by artists Steve Brown, Joe Gobin, and Andy Wilbur. I looked back and saw now how it all fits together - from a sand quarry at the turn of the 20th century to a wonderful public park today.

Here are some photos from my walk (click any picture to enlarge):

Picnic area on hillside at Richmond Beach Park Reflex Solaris
New picnic area
New plantings and stair climb
Along the beach
Welcoming Figure carved by artists Steve Brown, Joe Gobin, and Andy Wilbur

Panorama View from the Bluffs

One of hidden gardens gems of Seattle is Kubota Gardens. Located on 20 acres in South Seattle, the garden is a testament to the endurance of Japanese immigrants and over 50 years of loving labor. The gardens were design by Fujitaro Kubota. He immigrated to the United States in 1907 and started his gardening business in 1923. He designed and planted Japanese style gardens for families here in the Seattle area. In 1927, he bought 5 acres of swamp land off in Rainier Valley and started his dream. Over the years he was able to expand the gardens to 20 acres by the time of his death in 1973. In 1981, the garden was declared a city landmark and in 1987 the city purchased the land. Today, the city continues to maintain and expand the park.

I don't know why we had never visited the gardens before. We knew of the gardens from our friends but never made the time to visit. It is easy to get to and well signed from the Marginal Way exit on I-5.

This year has been outstanding for fall color. The summer was hot enough for the leaves to store ample amount of glucose creating strong reds and yellow as the plants shut down for winter. The Fall is an excellent time to visit. We found a riot of colors throughout the garden.

For more on this history - Kubota Gardens from HistoryLink.org
Directions and information - Kubota Gardens website.