Seeing Real Islands From Summit Of Washington's Mount Erie

Saw that which you see here, yesterday, on Facebook. The view from the summit of Mount Erie, looking south. Mount Erie is public park land owned and managed by the city of Anacortes.

Mount Erie is on an island. Fidalgo Island to be precise. 

Seeing this photo put me in mind of a town in Texas called Fort Worth. Fort Worth has been trying real hard to have itself an island, where no body of island-providing water exists.

This attempt to make Fort Worth, what would amount to being an imaginary island, has been going on for over two decades.

During those over two decades the main progress towards having that imaginary island has been the building of three simple little freeway overpass type bridges, built over an astonishing seven-year time span, over dry land, intending, eventually, hopefully, to connect Fort Worth's mainland to that imaginary island.

I have long opined that apparently most people in Fort Worth have zero clue as to what an island is. Yes, it is a chunk of land, surrounded by water, but an island is not a chunk of land, rendered to be an island, due to digging a cement-lined ditch and diverting river water into that ditch.

In the above photo you see several real islands, in addition to the one the people in the photo are standing on. They are looking down on Lake Campbell, with that lake having an actual island at its center.

That island on Lake Campbell is an island on an island. 

Looking south from the top of Mount Erie ones sees several other islands. Those islands are in Puget Sound, located to the east of Deception Pass. Deception Pass is to the right of the photo, with that big chunk of land towards the upper right being Whidbey Island. That being another actual real island. A really big actual real island.

Wikipedia has an article about Mount Erie, which I found interesting. A blurb from that article...

On a clear day, Mount Baker, about 43 miles (69 km) to the northeast, and Mount Rainier, about 117 miles (188 km) to the southeast, can be seen from the summit.

I have been at the summit of Mount Erie countless times. I do not recollect seeing Mount Rainier and Mount Baker from the summit. I likely do no recollect seeing those two volcanoes, from that vantage point, because it was not unusual to see those two volcanoes from various Washington vantage points.

The one sighting of Mount Rainier that I do remember as unusual was seeing that volcano whilst on the Skagit Flats, with the mountain being a distant white pimple on the horizon.

If you ever get to travel to Washington, and to Fidalgo Island, you'll want to visit Anacortes and the famous Fidalgo Drive-In, operated by my nephew Jason and his first born, Spencer Jack. After having a cheeseburger and blackberry milkshake, make your way to Mount Erie. It is a fun twist and turning drive to the summit, where you'll find a maze of trails and bridges across chasms. 

Mount Erie was one of my favorite go to places when I lived in the neighborhood...

You Know You Are From Anacortes When You See Mount Baker Looking Big

Saw that which you see here, on Facebook's You know you're from Anacortes when...page, this 4th morning of the 2022 version of November. 

The text above the photo...

I’m in Anacortes for a short stay and couldn’t resist capturing a heron that I saw on the roof of our boathouse at Anacortes Marina. I loved the snow-covered view of Mount Baker in the background. For my photography friends, this is a single frame, not a composite, and taken from the top of the boat ramp, not a drone.

Anacortes is Skagit County's second biggest city, with county seat, Mount Vernon, being the largest city in Skagit County.

Mount Baker is one of Washington's five volcanoes. Often one can see steamy exhaust coming from Mount Baker's crater. If you hike close enough to the crater you can smell the sulphureous odor the volcano emits. It is the same smell one frequently smells at various hot spring zone of Yellowstone National Park.

From my old home in Mount Vernon I could see Mount Baker during the time of year leaves were not in the trees, blocking the view.

From my current abode no matter what window I look out I see nothing scenic.

In Anacortes you can hop aboard a Washington State Ferry and float to the San Juan Islands, or to Victoria, in British Columbia, in Canada.

I never ferry floated to Victoria from Anacortes. I twice floated to Victoria, from Seattle, via the Princess Marguerite.

I do not know how far it is from my current location to find a ferry boat. Maybe Galveston...

Moon Over Homesick Mountain With Many Real Islands

I saw these two homesick provoking photos on Facebook this morning on the You Know You're From Anacortes When page.

The one above is a bit of a hyper realistic view of the full moon rising over the Mount Baker volcano.

The one below is more accurately depicting what the view looks like when viewed only through ones eyes.

Anacortes is the second largest town, population wise, in Skagit County. Anacortes is on Fidalgo Island.

Fidalgo Island is a real island, not an imaginary island such as what some in the island-free town of Fort Worth, Texas think is an island. There are two bridges which connect Fidalgo Island to the mainland. These are real bridges over real water, one of which, the Rainbow Bridge, in La Conner, is an actual iconic signature bridge, not an imaginary iconic signature bridge of the Fort Worth type.

One can take a ferry from Anacortes and Fidalgo Island to the San Juan Islands. One would think the San Juan Islands would be in Island County. But, instead the San Juan Islands are in San Juan County. There are no bridges to any of the San Juan Islands.

A blurb courtesy of Wikipedia about San Juan County...

San Juan County is a county located in the Salish Sea in the far northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2010 census, its population was 15,769. The county seat and only incorporated city is Friday Harbor, located on San Juan Island.

Fidalgo Island connects to Whidbey Island via the Deception Pass bridge. Two ferry routes also connect Whidbey Island to the mainland.

A blurb courtesy of Wikipedia about Island County...

Island County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2010 census, its population was 78,506. Its county seat is Coupeville, while its largest city is Oak Harbor. The county's name reflects the fact that it is composed entirely of islands.

I do not know why Fidalgo Island is in Skagit County instead of in Island County. Or why the San Juan Islands are not in Island County.

It's very perplexing.

But not nearly as perplexing as that town in Texas which has built three little bridges over dry land, hoping one day to put a cement lined ditch under those bridges, and then divert Trinity River water into the ditch, creating an imaginary island, which is only going to further confuse the town's few tourists...

Imagine Sailing Your Yacht To Fort Worth's Imaginary Panther Island

Saw that which you see above last night via the "You Know You're From Anacortes When..." Facebook page. 

The caption above the photo said, "Somebody has more money than we do. Largest yacht we've ever seen around here. There are 2 people on the flybridge, looking at them gives some perspective to the size of this beauty."

"Around here" is Anacortes, a town with a couple marinas, a ferry terminal and Spencer Jack's Fidalgo Drive-In.

I can not tell if the boat is moving through Guemes Channel, heading west to the San Juan Islands, or heading west towards the San Juan Islands via Burrows Channel. If it is Burrows Channel that would make the land in the background Burrows Island. If it is Guemes Channel that would make the land Guemes Island.

I do not remember there being little islands, as seen above, in Guemes Channel, so I'm going with this being Burrows Channel. Let me check the map app on this computer to see if I can clear up this serious issue...

Well, the map show little islands by both of the bigger islands. But, the little islands near Guemes Island would not have homes looking out at them, as shown in the photo at the top. But, Burrows Island would have homes looking out at it. There is a big marina called Skyline Marina, on the mainland across from Burrows Island, with a lot of houses built on the slopes above Burrows Bay, with that area known as Skyline.

When I see something like the photo at the top, or this map, showing islands, my inclination is to comment for the umpteenth time that it is so bizarre that the landlocked Texas town called Fort Worth, for most of this century, has been slowly trying to build a ridiculous mess originally called Trinity Uptown, then Trinity River Vision, eventually morphing into the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

A myopic vision which has slowly seen three little freeway overpass type bridges being built over dry land to one day connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, if a cement lined ditch is ever successfully dug, with the Trinity River diverted into the ditch, making the imaginary island called, already, Panther Island, where there is no island, and never will be any sane person's idea of what an island is.

Part of Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision is to see what they are calling a Town Lake. The size has varied over the years of Boondoggling along, ranging from as small as 12 acres to as big as 33 acres.

Part of the vision is to see a houseboat district on the lake. 

One day there may be a lake, and maybe there will be houseboats floating on the little lake, but I think I can say for absolute certainty there will never be a big yacht sailing to the imaginary Panther Island...

Spencer Jack Celebrates Graduating 2nd Grade Making His Uncle Homesick For Washington

There seems to be a conspiracy afoot to make me homesick for Washington today.

Incoming email a few minutes ago from FNJ (Favorite Nephew Jason) with several photos, including the two you see here.

The text in the email said...

Spencer Jack explores Cap Sante after finishing the 2nd grade today.

Cap Sante is a Gibraltar-esque rock monolith in Anacortes. Anacortes is on a real island, called Fidalgo. In the photo above FNSJ (Favorite Nephew Spencer Jack) is sitting atop Cap Sante. In the distance behind Spencer Jack, on the left, is another island.

People reading this in Fort Worth, this is what real islands look like. They are surrounded by a large body of water. Not a dry ditch.

Below is a view looking west, at the Cap Sante Marina and downtown Anacortes. Many a time I helped launch a boat with my mom and dad from the Cap Sante Marina.

I don't know if we can see it, but on the left side of the above picture is where Spencer Jack's dad's Fidalgo Drive-In is located.

I Googled Cap Sante to see if there was a Wikipedia article about it. There is not. But I found a blurb on Yelp that was a fitting description, once I fixed the grammar and typo mistakes....

From the majestic trees draping precariously over the bank, to the beautiful sweeping view of Anacortes and beyond, Cap Sante Park is a must-do on your next trip to Fidalgo Island.  There are plenty of vantage points for photography, and usually there are at least a few yachts, sailboats, and/or large ships within view. If you're in an adventurous mood, hike down the easy path to the beach below, or just stay on top and admire the surroundings.  

That is true, there are often large ships to be seen at this location, called supertankers, bringing oil products to and from the Anacortes Refinery complex, located on the east side of Padilla Bay, on Marsh's Point, in the direction Spencer Jack is looking.

Time flies way too fast. Hard to believe that Spencer Jack is now a third grader....

A Trio Of Kids Tip Toeing Through The Skagit Valley Tulips While Spencer Jack Has A Root Beer Float At The Fidalgo Drive-In

No, those are not a trio of kids frolicking in a flat field of Texas wildflowers you are looking at on the left.

That trio of kids are frolicking in a field of tulips in what are known as the Skagit Valley Flats, in my old home zone of the Skagit Valley in Washington.

I have never met this trio of kids. I don't know if this trio of kids know they have an uncle who lives in a place called Texas.

I found this tulip picture this morning on the blog on which this trio of kid's caretaker poodles, Blue and Max, chronicle the ongoing adventures of Theo, David and Ruby, in a blog post titled Tip Toeing Through The Tulips, or something like that.

If you click the Tip Toeing Through The Tulips link you will see many more photos of the trio of kids frolicking in the flowers.

The Skagit Tulip Festival is at the half way point, running the entire month of April, with events all over the valley, in addition to the 100s of acres of blooming flowers.

Over a million visitors come to the Skagit Valley each year for the Tulip Festival. This creates traffic mayhem.

A blurb from the Skagit Tulip Festival website...

The sun is shining and the tulips are blooming and people are coming from all around the world to see the flowers. 

Back in the early 1980s I lived in West Mount Vernon, around the time of the first Tulip Festival. Worst traffic mess I've ever lived through. The traffic mess has greatly improved over the years, turning some roads temporarily one-way, signs pointing to alternative routes, tour buses to get visitors out of their cars, helicopters overhead to monitor the traffic flow and events all over the valley to take some of the traffic away from the tulips.

If you're going to this year's Skagit Tulip Festival be sure to go to Anacortes to Spencer Jack's dad's Fidalgo Drive-In and have yourself basket of Pubhouse Battered Cod, Puget Sound Clam Chowder, a Dungeness Crab Sandwich, a Tillamook Bacon Cheddar Burger and a Root Beer Float made by Spencer Jack.

And then return to the Skagit Flats for some more tip toeing through the tulips....

Running With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Training To Jog Washington Park In Anacortes

In the picture you are looking at one of the dam bridges that cross Village Creek in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington, Texas, in the noon time frame, this first Sunday of October.

The air was chilled to a chilly 49 when I took off to visit my favorite Indian Ghosts. The air is now one degree warmer, several hours later.

The water in the pool was cooler than yesterday morning, but still warmer than the air, thus I had myself a long swim this morning.

Yesterday I was in long pants for the first time in many months. Today I was in sweat pants for the first time in many months.

To work up a sweat, in my sweat pants, I jogged. This was my second jog since my return to jogging, which started two days ago with a one mile jog around Fosdick Lake, which, at the time, I thought was two miles.

Today, after jogging for awhile, I switched to running. Running feels way more natural than jogging. Running also is far more exertion than jogging, causing my sweat pants to live up to their name.

When I jogged around Fosdick Lake two days ago I was thinking I'd given up jogging in 1985.

Today I remembered that that is not the case.

After giving up jogging in 1985, due to a medical malady, apparently I started up jogging again, because I now remember that in 1993 I jogged around Washington Park in Anacortes with my little sister and a girl who said "rad" way too much.

That jogging around Washington Park coincided with a birthday milestone.

My little sister is 17 years younger than me. I remember at the time of jogging around Washington Park my little sister and I made a pact that when she reached that particular birthday milestone, we'd return to Washington Park and jog it again.

At the time, my little sister and her "rad" friend were impressed that a much older geezer, like me, was able to out-jog such young kids.

Well, my little sister passed that birthday milestone a couple years ago, with me in Texas and my little sister in Tacoma, with my little sister in no mood to jog several miles up and down steep hills in Washington Park. And with me, at my advanced age, likely unable to do so, either.

But, as God is my witness, on my next return to Washington I am jogging the trails of Washington Park, complete with photo documentation.

Walking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Calling My Mom & Thinking About Washington Park In Anacortes

I had myself a fine walk with the Native American Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area today, along with a lot of other people, many of whom seemed to be in celebrate Happy Mother's Day mode.

Including a family group of all females, with one pushing, what must have been mom and grandma, in a wheelchair.

I called my mom whilst sitting at a picnic table overlooking the Village Creek Blue Bayou. I got the answering machine and left a Happy Mother's Day message.

That phone call took place a few feet to the south of where you are looking at in the picture. That vertical log rising from the ground was the remains of what appeared to be a tree, possibly struck by lightning. I am no forensic lightning strike investigator, but that is what it looked like to me.

Speaking of wheelchairs, I heard from a mother, Betty Jo Bouvier, this morning. For Mother's Day Betty Jo's kids were taking her to Washington Park in Anacortes to walk the loop. Betty Jo agreed to this if she got wheeled around the loop in a wheelchair.

For non-Washingtonians reading this, Washington Park is on a peninsula on Fidalgo Island, at the west end of the town of Anacortes. It is a very hilly park, with steep cliffs, tall evergreen trees and a lot of saltwater views. Miles of hiking trails take you all over this park. There is a big campground and a lot of picnic locations. And a paved road, the loop, that takes you to a high point where you get a panoramic view of north Puget Sound. And on a clear day you might see Mount Rainier, way to the south.

Where I lived in Washington, in Mount Vernon, it was about 20 miles to the east of Washington Park. I frequently drove there to hike and jog, back when gas was well under $1 a gallon. Ferry boats, and other boats, coming and going, pass by you as you sit on the Washington Park beaches.

One time I was enjoying the view and suddenly the surface of the water started acting odd. A submarine came to the surface. That was unsettling. The Trident Submarine Bangor Base is further south on Puget Sound, on another peninsula, named Kitsap. Trident Submarines are disturbingly large.

At my current location there is nothing like Washington Park within 100s of miles. No matter which direction I look I will see no mountains, or saltwater, or tall evergreen trees. And there is no chance a submarine will startle me coming to the surface at any body of water at my current location. An alligator or water moccasin, yes, submarine, no.

Below is a YouTube video that gives you an idea of what Washington Park is like. And why I get homesick, when I see images of my old home zone, at my current beautiful scenery challenged location......

Up Late On A Hot 84 Texas Morning Thinking About My Nephew, Anonymous Relatives & Adult Diapers

The August 12 sun got up before I did this morning. I was up late indulging in Happy Birthday related activities suitable for a 68 year old geezer.

I think I'll be skipping swimming this morning. I believe as one slowly declines into ones Golden Years physical activity gradually slows til one barely moves at all and rides one of those electric carts when shopping in Wal-Mart.

Speaking of Wal-Mart, I was in one yesterday, in Hurst, across the street from the ALDI Food Market. I was in the Pharmacy area, looking for a bottle of Vitamin D, among other things, when I was subjected to a disturbing conversation.

This lady, maybe 70, or older, in shorts too short for one of that age, with just about the spindliest, scrawniest legs I've ever seen, and with a Texas accent as exaggerated as something you'd hear on Hank Hill, was asking a hapless Wal-Mart employee, a guy about 18, questions about adult diapers, which she was buying for her mom. The spindly legged lady was quite graphic about the extent of her mom's incontinence. Eventually I'd heard enough and walked away.

My mom guessed that my Anonymous relative who commented on my blog, yesterday, from Oak Harbor, was my eldest sister. This particular sister lives in Kent. But, over the weekend she'd been in Anacortes for the annual Anacortes Arts & Crafts Festival. Anacortes is on Fidalgo Island. Oak Harbor is on Whidbey Island. Whidbey Island and Fidalgo Island are connected by the Deception Pass Bridge. My sister owns property on Whidbey Island, near Langley, which is south of Oak Harbor.

I discounted my sister as an Anonymous possibility due to the fact that she has told me she does not read my boring blog. However, last night my sister sent me an email in which she said....

"That is good news about JR, he is way too young for health issues but sounds like is going to have them if he does't listen to the Dr........When did you skip the 60's and go straight to 70 y/o? Lol...."

The fact that my sister referenced the 68 years old thing, indicates she'd seen my blog, thus shooting her to the #1 suspect spot as my Anonymous Relative.

The good news about JR that my sister is talking about, was yesterday's best birthday present in years. Nephew Jeremy got the results of the tests on his heart and the results were good. Jeremy has a very very low resting heart beat rate. This somehow makes his heart very vulnerable to even a minor stimulant, like caffeine. Jeremy was a drinker of those awful high caffeine energy drinks that have other stimulants in them as well. Ever since the first doctor visit Jeremy has not consumed anything with a stimulant in it and he has not had any more heart incidents.

Well, I have way too much to do today and way too little time to do it. So, I must cease wasting time on this blog right now and go do something constructive.

Exploding Gas In Pennsylvania, Washington, Texas & Steve Doeung's Carter Avenue

Fort Worth's Carter Avenue and the absurdity of running a non-odorized, high pressure natural gas pipeline under occupied homes is fresh on my mind this morning, thanks to Texas Sharon and a gas explosion about 15 miles from where I used to live in Washington.

I don't know what the current status is of the Chesapeake Energy assault on innocent Americans trying live free and pursue happiness on Carter Avenue. I have learned not to believe anything I read about the ongoing Chesapeakegate scandals.

Texas Sharon has a link to a bizarre incident in Pennsylvania. Residents had been reporting foul odors for days to the officials who are supposed to check into foul odors coming from gas drilling operations. But no one bothered to check until the foul odors exploded. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the whole disturbing story.

I read a story about an incident like the Pennsylvania gas explosion and think how can anyone here, in Texas, not think it unreasonable to stick a non-odorized, high pressure pipeline under homes?

Living here in Texas is the first time I've resided in an energy producing area, of the poke holes in the ground and extract sort. I have lived where humongous dams produce energy. Dams don't create the same problems as hole poking seems to.

I'd totally forgotten, til this morning, that I used to live very close to humongous energy producing facilities in the form of refineries that turn Alaskan crude, brought into Puget Sound in Supertankers, into gasoline and other petro products.

Early this morning, about 12:30am, something called a catalytic reformer naptha hydrotreater unit exploded with a concussive boom that was heard and felt a far distance away. The explosion set off a fire that burned for 2 hours.

The explosion was at the Anacortes Tesoro Refinery. Three workers were killed, four were critically injured.

I believe the Scrabble Queen of Washington's brother works at Tesoro. A lot of people who live in the Skagit Valley work at the refineries.

I have no memory of a deadly explosion occurring at the Skagit refineries before. The refineries have been there for a very long time, as in as far back as my memory goes.

So, again, I really don't think it is unreasonable for Steve Doeung to not want a non-odorized, high pressure natural gas pipeline to run under his house.

What I do think is unreasonable is that the city government of the city Steve lives in, Fort Worth, is in cahoots with the gas drillers who are putting Steve, and others, in harm's way.

In a civilized city, this would be considered criminal behavior on a city's part. In Fort Worth it is just known as "The Fort Worth Way."