The oil tanker Polar Endeavor

The twin hulled oil tanker Polar Endeavor is currently docked in Port Angeles, about an hour west of Port Townsend. I took the photo as much because of the sky as anything.

Click photo for larger view.

Falling into the reflection

Big Dave requested maple leaves in water. I’ve shot quite a few photos of watery leaves, but there’s little fresh water near maple trees around Port Townsend. This picture was shot at Savage Plants nursery near Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula. Google Maps tells me that it’s only 12 miles away, though it takes almost 45 miles to get there by road.

Click photo for larger view.

Meredith Wagner and Ray Serebrin on Port Townsend - Keystone Ferries

Assistant Director Meredith Wagner and Director Ray Serebrin of Jefferson County Library taking a research trip to the Coupville Library on Whidbey Island.

Hood Canal Bridge deck

It’s interesting how restricting focus can reveal shapes and patterns that we would not normally notice. This is a section of the surface of the Hood Canal Bridge. Construction forced a stop on the bridge.

Photo of the Olympic Mountains seen from Hurricane Ridge

Hurricane Ridge is located in the Olympic National Park. It’s a 16 mile drive from Port Angeles and over 5,200 feet in elevation. From the end of the road a trail runs almost a mile and 900 feet higher to the top of Hurricane Hill. This view looks eastward from the ridge toward the Buckhorn Wilderness area in the distance.

Click the photo for a larger view.

The official bicycle of the Sequim Lavender Festival

About 15 years ago some people moved into the Sequim, Wa area and started growing lavender. For growing purposes the North Olympic Peninsula has some similarities to Provence, so it was a good idea. The growers started an annual lavender festival, showing their farms and selling products made from lavender.

The festival grew and now the weekend of the Sequim Lavender Festival brings the worst traffic of the year to highway 101 along the North Olympic Peninsula. We braved the trip anyway. As you can see, the weather was less than ideal. We ended up leaving Friday afternoon in the rain. It was wet on and off until Sunday lunch time. I went to shoot photos of the lavender fields, which didn’t happen. Not only was the light heavy and flat, much of the blooms hadn’t reached full color yet, as the summer has been so cold.

This bicycle was placed by the entrance to the Lavender Festival merchant booths in downtown Sequim. There was another group of food and vendor booths at Carrie Blake Park. That belonged to the Sequim Lavender Faire, which is apparently a separate event that happens the same weekend. There are a lot of politics involved, which I don’t understand. We had a good time anyway.

Reflecting on Sequim

We spent Friday over in Sequim. The reason for heading over there was to see the Sequim Lavender Festival, though much of our time was taken up with just looking around. It’s funny how often you can visit a place and not notice things. We found several businesses that we’d never noticed before, and, here I saw the irises in the water for the first time.