Little Mount Si And Duval Books

Well, the sun came out today and Bogie prescribed a mental health day at the trail. So we ventured to Little Mount Si and I’ve decided to buy a new camera next week. I took some really great pictures that didn’t come out to be very great pictures. I noodled with a lot of the settings but nothing really seemed to work out. So I think I’m going to do the Costco thing ... where I buy a camera ... try it out on the trails and return it within 90 days if I’m not happy. I’m just enjoying the picture taking experience on the trail just too much to let it go to waste. I think I’m going to review these 81 pictures from Little Mount Si today and use them as a benchmark for my new camera.



Anyway, we had a lovely day today, I stopped at Duval Books on the way down to North Bend and picked up two hardback first edition Sci-Fi books for $11.00. One was an Orson Scott Card book and one was the complete Hitchhikers Guide compilation. Again, most of the pictures of the store didn’t turn out very well but here are a couple that did OK.



They have done some work on the Little Mount Si trail since my last visit. Very nice and we had a great time on the hike. It was foggy going down and I had low expectations but it was simply wonderful once we got there.

Nothing Special - Just Some Snaps

It has been an odd few days here in Snohomish county, which goes well with the odd winter we have had. I’ve taken some various pictures on our walks but nothing to write home about.




I have lived at my current abode for a little over three years and there is a neat landscaping company at the head of my road. Only today did I think to take bogie down there and snap some pictures. There is a lot more picture potential down there, so I’ll try to snap some more pics in the coming weeks.

More Snow On The Morning Walk

Well, it was about 6:30 AM and I had been up for a couple hours but it was still dark out. Bogie really wanted to head out for a morning walk and so I grabbed the camera to test some dark shots. Played with some of the setting and bogie was a good sport as usual. Hoping to get a new camera someday soon and might even see what Costco has the next time I’m in. I’m thinking their 90 return policy might really work out well for me in the hunt for the next camera. Please feel free to shoot me an email if you have any suggestions!

So Shoe Me

Sometimes, it is all about the shoes. Bogie loves shoes but in the 9 years we have been together, only one pair got damaged and he was a puppy when that happened. I remember one time when I went to run a race and left him home alone. He was very taken back with me and it was quite evident when I got home. He delicately took the shoe laces out of one other pair of running shoes and neatly piled all my other shoes in the center of the living room floor. Very cool, funny and a tad bit scary but the wonder dog got his point across to me!



Anyway, I had a pair of running shoes that had seen better days. The laces were still pretty good, so I thought I’d remove them and put them in my camping backpack. I thought perhaps they may come in handy there some day when we are deep in a trail.




Bogie evidently realized this was an open invitation of some sort and took the pair I was working on out of my hands. He gleefully pranced with it out the front door and I was chuckling the entire time. So I finished the shoe I was working on, grabbed the camera and decided to play with these old sneakers with the wonder dog ... before they get deposited into the waste bin.

Lowell River With Art Surprise

It was coming up on 9 AM and I didn’t have a lick of food in the house. Decided to take McDonalds upon their 2 for $3.00 Sausage McMuffin special. Heading out the door, thought it might be nice enough to try and hit up Centennial Trail. Driving down to Centennial, decided to veer off and try the Lowell Riverfront Trail.




As we got up to the trail head, we noticed it was closed and I went up to where some of the houses were for a turn around. I notice the footbridge from Everett to the Riverfront Park was open and thought I’d give it a go. Parked along the street and walked passed a restaurant and then an art gallery with these inside.






We made it down to the park and took a few snaps before turning around. Turned out to be one of my better excursions that was only prompted by a McMuffin craving.

Back To Fort Worden

Yesterday I went back to my client at Fort Townsend and took Bogie with me. There was about a hour in which I couldn’t do any work and we explored some of the trails on the island. We investigated the sites where the gun batteries used to be. I really need to get a better camera, the foggy day really didn’t help the picture taking at all.




Here you can see some of the gun battery locations.


Here is a memorial area that had poetry written on many of the sculptures. Had some excellent picture material here but my camera really let me down.



We finished up with some pictures down on the beach.

First Centennial Trail Of 2009 - Machias Trailhead

We have had a really rocky start to our winter here with record snowfall, then rain and then inevitable flooding. Of course, this isn’t anything like the bitter cold that is gripping my hometown in Illinois. This morning looked promising and I was aching to see how some of the flood water was looking like. Bogie was just aching to get out and sniff something other than Interurban Blvd. So we decided to head out and try our first visit to Centennial Trail of the new year.

Here you can see that we have some fog on the trail.

Here you can see the sign for the Machias trailhead of Centennial Trail. This is where the big rocks are that I used for the photo op for the bogster!

About a 1/2 mile from the Machias trailhead, you can find some informational signs about the combination farm and ecological areas along the trail.

Another rock shot!

Here you can see a bit of farmland that looks more like a large pond or small lake.

Fort Worden State Park While At A Client Meeting

Sometimes I really love going onsite as a FileMaker developer. Last Thursday I went over to Port Townsend to visit a client that has their office inside of the Fort Worden State Park. This is one of the outposts on the very north west of the United States that was built to repel possible invaders. It was the location that was used to film the movie, “An Officer And A Gentleman”. It took a fairly long wait to get a ferry and then about a hour ride to get to the clients office.

A view of one of the barracks at the park.

The session itself was your typical fair that a consultant does when a previous in house developer has left for different opportunities. I tweaked some of the settings on their FileMaker server, built a better set of backup schedules and did some training on how to best manage the server itself. Then sat down and started fixes some of the database dust bunnies that had grown into the system. It was a pretty long day but we made some amazing progress in their system.

A picture of a lighthouse in the distance, through a field in the foreground.

These pictures were taken during a lunch period. I was able to go down to the parks cafe and have a simply great meatloaf sandwich with feta cheese. Then decided to explore and this is something I really like doing. I really enjoy spending a day or two at a client site, working with them side by side on their database and exploring the area during the off time.