October Saturday.

 It's an almost balmy October Saturday afternoon. The sky is heavy with clouds but the rain has held off for now and it's a breezy 65 degrees. 

It was perfect for our walk this morning and some light work outside.

Now there is college football on the TV. Tom is resting up before this evening's big Sounders soccer game at the stadium where he will be going with son Jake. It's a big rivalry match and the last regular game of the season. Playoffs will be coming up. I will be quite content to stay home and watch on TV.

We had a good week back at home after our trip to the coast. A pot roast provided us with three dinners. We still have some home grown tomatoes. Flowers were picked, of course.

Marigolds and dahlias.

Tom's deciduous bonsi are putting on a show.

There are still interesting things in the garden.

Most of our garden trees are just starting to show color. The cedar trees are starting their messy stage, dropping last years "leaves".

There's no point in cleaning up yet. There is lots more to come down.

Those zinnias in the photo above are now in a vase. 

The dahlias are almost done, but I can still find flowers in the garden for now. 

October is a lovely month. 

A Walk Back In Time

On Saturday morning, on the last day of our stay  in Rockaway Beach, we ventured just across Hwy 101 from our cabin to explore the Cedar Wetlands Preserve. We had walked the rough trail to the "big tree" before, quite a long time ago, but had not taken advantage of the new completely accessable mile long board walk through the forested coastal swamp.

Giant skunk cabbages grow here. 

So do big trees.

Non-native hardy fuchsias, obviously planted by birds. 

A jumble of undergrowth under towering trees. 

Old rotted nurse stumps support haphazard new growth. 

Tom tasted red huckleberries growing on an old stump.

Long ago someone did some logging here of some earlier forest giants. 

Most of these are legacy trees, old second growth. 

But not this beauty. 

The "Big Cedar", a survivor, estimated to be 800 to 1200 years old.

A few yards away was another giant tree, just not as giantic. 

When I had rested enough and appreciated much, we began a slow walk back, noticing more  little things, like mushrooms.

And the scaley bark of spruce trees. 

I was so glad I was able to take this walk and marvel at the nature it reveals. I love big trees.

That afternoon we began our drive home, the first  two+ hours avoiding the crowded coast highway and taking backroads, driving through the magnificent forests of the Coast Range, before emerging at Longview on the Columbia River and joining the I-5 freeway home to Seattle.

I am always happy to be home, but I will have very good memories of this getaway to the sea. 

Friday at Rockaway

 We have been home since Saturday night, but I am still processing my photos.

Friday was a slow day. We went for another beach walk. There were clouds but the weather was calm and not cold.

We did lots of sitting and reading. Then we went out to dinner, seeking the meal we had been waiting for.

Pirates Cove, down the highway in Garibaldi, has the best razor clams, and this day they were fresh from up the coast at Seaside.  They were yummy. They came with clam chowder for me and oyster stew for Tom. 

As we were finishing dinner overlooking Tillamook Bay, the sun was setting. 

The photos out the window aren't great, but the view was. 

We got a few outside before begining our drive back.

We stopped at the overlook of the Three Graces for another view. 

Then I couldn't quit when I got back to the cabin.

Inside I thought it was done, but as the sun sank lower and lower into the sea the colors got brighter and brighter. 

It was a very good day.

The next day we would be going home, but we had one more excursion in mind first.