Smoky Eastern Washington With Jason & Spencer Jack At Grand Coulee Dam & Sun Lakes

Incoming email this morning from my Favorite Nephew Jason and Spencer Jack.

Subject line in email---

HOT and SMOKY in EW

Looking at the four photos, included in the email, it was quickly apparent that EW was not Entertainment Weekly, but was Eastern Washington.

For those who have never been to the Pacific Northwest, and Washington, Eastern Washington is totally different in multiple ways from Western Washington.

The Cascade Mountain range separates the two sides of the state. Western Washington is green, unless there is a drought, whilst Eastern Washington is mostly brown, except where there are orchards and vineyards and irrigated gardens and other crop lands.

Western Washington is solidly progressively liberal democratic, whilst Eastern Washington is like Texas, politically, but, fortunately the bulk of the population is in Western Washington, so right wing nut jobs are kept at a minimum, political office and other-wise.

The text which accompanied these photos said---

FUD- thought you’d enjoy these photos taken today. Been meaning to get you a few pics of Mt Baker without snow. Will do that sometime in the near future.

Took me a second or two to realize Spencer Jack is standing in front of Grand Coulee Dam, in both the above photos. 

I don't know if water from the Lake Roosevelt reservoir ever pours over Grand Coulee's spillway anymore, since the third powerhouse was added. Back when water did go over the spillway, during the summer tourist season a light show would accompany music as the lights lit up the water spilling over the dam.

When Grand Coulee's dam began to back up water something unexpected happened. Water seeped deep into the earth, causing new lakes to form in locations like the Lower Grand Coulee. The Lower Grand Coulee begins at Dry Falls, at one time the biggest waterfall in the world. 

A short distance from Dry Falls one finds Sun Lakes State Park. Sun Lakes was one of my favorite summer go to locations when I was an in state Washingtonian. It took me a second or two to realize the next two photos were taken at Sun Lakes State Park.

 Apparently Eastern Washington lakes and reservoirs are not having the water shortage problem which is happening on the west side of the mountains. At least that is what I am assuming, seeing Spencer Jack standing in water by a couple picnic tables.

I do not understand why we are not seeing a lot of people in the water. This looks like the swimming area in Sun Lakes State Park. There should be a floating dock, with a lot of people on the dock and jumping off it. 

Maybe the wildfires and all the smoke are keeping people away. I read this morning that the North Cascades Highway is back open, after being closed for weeks due to fires, which are still burning. Driving the North Cascades Highway is the most direct route to Sun Lakes from Mount Vernon.

Go to Sun Lakes State Park and you will see Sun Lakes like I remember it, with a lot of people, including me, laying under the sun. At the opposite end of Lower Grand Coulee, where the Coulee ends, you find Soap Lake, which was a favorite go to location when I was a kid.

My mom liked to go to Soap Lake because it was one of her favorite childhood memories, with her grandma and grandpa taking mom camping there. When mom was a kid, camping at Soap Lake, there was a nudist colony on the opposite side of the lake, which was long gone by the time I was a kid.

People would go into the lake and cover themselves with mud, thinking it had some sorta special healing powers. Swimming in Soap Lake in a swimming suit was a bit problematic, because the "soap" in the lake was abrasive and soon could cause a sore spot where swimsuit material was rubbing. 

Okay, enough about Sun Lakes and Soap Lake. It's making me homesick...

UPDATE: Jason called after reading the above to tell me that in reality Sun Lakes State Park was packed, and that a new campground loop has been added. Jason called from Ellensburg, where he and Spencer had spent the night. Ellensburg is home to Central Washington State University, a school both Jason and I attended. Prior to overnighting in Ellensburg the previous night was spent in Leavenworth, my favorite of Washington's tourist towns.

Melting Mount Rainier Update From Miss Chris With Melting Mount Baker From Linda Lou

That above showed up this afternoon on Facebook, from Miss Chris of Kent. Not the Kent in England, the Kent in Washington, a Seattle suburb which has a closeup view of Rainier when the mountain is out.

I now have a photo of one of Washington's other volcanoes, Mount Baker. I had been waiting for Linda Lou to take a photo of Mount Baker from the Skagit Valley perspective.

Today Linda Lou sent me a photo of Mount Baker. But, it is from way back in June, two melting months ago. And the photo is from the Bellingham Herald, with the perspective not being from the Skagit Valley, but from the view one sees further north when one looks east to the Cascades.

In the above photo from last June, Mount Baker still looks like it has a lot of snow and ice left to melt.

Maybe after this week's new heat wave someone will photo document what Mount Baker is looking like from the Skagit Valley perspective...

Phone Call From Theo With David & Ruby Along With Hank Frank & Grandpa Jake

Yesterday, in the early evening, my phone lit up with what you see here.

Incoming call from my Favorite Nephew Theo.

I soon found myself on speaker phone talking to Theo and my Favorite Nephew David and Favorite, One and Only Niece, Ruby.

The Tacoma Trio was calling on Theo's phone to sing Happy Birthday to me.

It had been some time since I had talked to Theo, David and Ruby.

They all sounded so much older.

Particularly David.

When I was asked what I was doing for my birthday I said I was having Canadian Bacon/Pineapple pizza, and I asked if they wanted to come have a slice or two.

To which David replied, "To do such would require some sort of time traveling machine which I do not believe has been invented as yet".

David becomes a teenager next month, on 9/11.

Several hours later I was horizontal. After about an hour of being in that condition my phone made its incoming text message noise. I decided to get back vertical and check the message and found that which you see below, sent by my Favorite Nephew Joey's phone...

The text with the photo said "Papa Jake and Henry wishing you a Happy Birthday".

Papa Jake is what Hank Frank calls his Grandpa, who is also my little brother, Jake.

Looking at this photo it looks like Hank Frank is taking Papa Jake on a hike through Henry's Apple Orchard.

And are posing in front of a sign using the Dutch spelling of Jones...

Washington's Lifelong Miss Chris Has Never Seen Mount Rainier So Bare

 

Above, a screen cap from last night from Facebook, where Miss Chris, lifelong Washingtonian, is lamenting she has never seen Mount Rainier as bare as it is right now.

A follow up commenter commented that the same is true of Mount Baker. 

We are eagerly awaiting Linda Lou's photo documentation of the current state of Mount Baker.

Another person commented that Mount St. Helens is even worse. I was not aware that Mount St. Helens was back sporting a white coat after she blew her top way back in the 1980s.

All the west coast volcanoes are being seen in a way no one has seen them before, or so it seems.

The Pacific Northwest, particularly Western Washington, is currently threatened with another record breaking heat wave, of the same super HOT sort which scorched in June.

Meanwhile I am getting a new air conditioner installed today, or tomorrow...

Happy Birthday From FNJ

The above showed up in my email this morning, from my Favorite Nephew Jason, also known as FNJ. There was not much text along with that which you see above. The text simply said "Happy Bday FUD".
 

Kayaking Under Mount Rainier With David, Theo & Ruby

Text accompanying the above photo which showed up on my phone this morning, "We took an evening paddle to celebrate your early birthday".

I can not tell for sure if that is Mama Michele or Mama Kristin paddling with the Tacoma Trio of David, Ruby and Theo.

I know for sure that that is Mount Rainier in the distance behind them, and that they are paddling on Puget Sound in the Harstine Island zone.

Mount Rainier does not look to be in nearly as bad a shape, white covering-wise, as the bad shape I learned this morning is the current status of Mount Shasta, as evidenced via the photo below...

Mount Shasta is the most accessible of the Cascade Mountain volcanoes, what with being a short distance east of the Interstate 5 freeway. I don't know if there are trails up the slopes of Mount Shasta, like there are on Mount Rainier and Mount Baker. Without snow it looks like you could just make your own trail hiking up Mount Shasta.

Sure looks fun to go kayaking. Months ago I was almost certain I would be up north in Washington at this point in time, and getting to go kayaking, among other fun stuff...

California's Mount Shasta Has Lost All Its Snow

This morning on Facebook the above was posted showing the current status of California's Mount Shasta volcano.

Anyone who has driven Interstate 5 through northern California has seen Mount Shasta. I've done so more times than I can remember. I've never seen Mount Shasta anywhere near this no snow condition.

For months now, it seems, on Facebook I have been seeing the ongoing shrinking of Lake Shasta, that being the reservoir behind Shasta Dam. But this morning is the first time I've seen one of  Lake Shasta's primary water sources all dried up.

We are still awaiting photo documentation from Linda Lou of the current status of Washington's Mount Baker volcano. 

Flying Over Naked Mount Rainier With Sister Jackie

Above you are looking at Favorite Sister Jackie and Favorite Brother-in-Law Jack's view of Mount Rainier as they flew by on their way from Arizona to Washington.

Part of the text that came with the photo said "Mount Rainier has lost all its snow". 

I have never seen Rainier looking like this, with the only white remaining being the glaciers. The Mountain looks naked without its snow covering.

Linda Lou told me she was gonna send me a pic of the current status of Mount Baker, after she told me she'd never seen that volcano with so much rock exposed and I asked if photo documentation was possible.

I have never thought to wonder before why the Cascade Mountain range has so many volcanoes, whilst I do not know of a single volcano in the Rocky Mountain range.

Well, there is the Yellowstone area which is one gigantic volcanic cauldron. But, I don't think that counts as being a volcano.

Sometimes when you fly into Seattle, when Washington is free of clouds, and the plane flies the right route, one can get a glimpse of all five of Washington's volcanoes, along with Mount Hood in Oregon.

Whenever I fly into D/FW, when Texas is free of clouds, and no matter which route the plane takes, I can glimpse no volcanoes.

But one might glimpse what passes for being a mountain if the plane flies near Guadalupe Mountains National Park...

Finally We Hit 100 In Formerly Chilly Wichita Falls

Today, Monday August 9, is the first time this year I have seen my phone tell me we've hit 100. About a month behind my old home zone going over 100. 

I did not go on a bike ride today, or yesterday.

Too HOT.

This morning I had the fun adventure of chauffeuring a senior citizen to the doctor for a regularly scheduled checkup.

Which took over an hour.

I sat in my vehicle, under the shade of a tree, with the windows open, reading, whilst the old man got checked up.

I had a break from reading when someone from my old home zone called because he was stumped trying to identify the people in a photo I had sent his phone. He only was able to identify three of the five, even though he'd seen one of the two he was not able to identify, in person, two Saturday's ago.

I sent the same photo last night, that time via Facebook, to someone from my old home zone who now lives on the east coast. She was on a train returning from a vacation at an Atlantic Ocean resort town to her current home zone where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses Grant at Appomattox. She also was only able to identify three of the five, but only one of the un-identified was the same stumping one as what stumped the other stumped person.  

I knew Linda Lou, who sent me the picture, was meeting up with the person these other two could not identify. And even though I had been told, when I saw the photo I had to ask to confirm, because, well, this person did not look much like I remember her looking.

So, I can see why those other two could not identify this person who looked so different, but there really is no excuse for not recognizing the other two, Betty Jo Bouvier and Russell B...

Nephew Jason Sends Me Cascade Mountain Hiking With His Mother

When I visited Facebook this morning I soon saw there was a message from my Favorite Ex-Sister-In-Law, Cindy, who is also Spencer Jack's grandma, and nephew's Jason and Joey's maternal parental unit.

Cindy's Facebook message asked me if I was able to see the pictures of the hike she went on yesterday. And that Jason thought I would be interested in seeing them.

I messaged back to Cindy that I had not seen her latest hiking pictures, but I would go find them, which I did, including the one you see here, with Cindy at the end of a wooden bridge.

I told Cindy that I assumed Jason wanted me to see these pictures as part of the multi-front attempts to make my homesick for the ultra scenic Pacific Northwest.

Cindy messaged me back saying that Jason thought I'd taken him hiking the Bridal Veil Falls/Lake Serene Trail, and so I would like seeing them. So this was not an attempt at triggering homesickness.

I have zero recollection of taking my Favorite Nephew Jason to this location, accessed off Highway, also known as Stevens Pass, one of the mountain passes over Washington's Cascade Mountains.

I don't remember ever taking Jason hiking anywhere. I do remember taking his little brother, my Favorite Nephew Joey, on multiple hikes, to locations like Mount Baker, Sauk Mountain, and the Glacier Peak volcano.

Til yesterday Western Washington had gone 55 days without rain. Cindy and her fellow hikers got dripped on, but looked well prepared for such a calamity, as evidenced by the below photo, with Cindy in the yellow raincoat.

The south Puget Sound Seattle Tacoma zone did not get much precipitating, but my old home zone of the Skagit Valley did.

One person opined Saturday's long downpour was like Mother Nature was making up for her 55 day absence with a massive deluge.

Even with a 55 day drought Washington's mountain forests appear to still be quite evergreen.

Cindy said they hiked the Lake Serene Trail, not the Bridal Veil Falls Trail. But, even so, I am assuming the waterfall we see below must be Bridal Veil Falls. Then again, it could be just one of the many waterfalls one sees in the Cascade Mountains, which is the reason why this mountain range is so named. Because of all the Cascades cascading down the mountain slopes. 

Years ago I recollect being somewhere in the North Cascades, on a logging road, and opining that I did not recollect ever seeing so many waterfalls before. The argumentative sort in the vehicle with me then told me those were not waterfalls. If they are not waterfalls, what are they, I asked? The argumentative sort hemmed and hawed trying to come up with what these were if they were not waterfalls.

The eventual answer was "They are downhill rivers".

No I am not making that up. I don't remember how many days passed before I realized the word the argumentative sort was searching for was "cascades".

Does the above look like a waterfall or a cascade to you?

One day, hopefully soon, I will get to witness such things in person...