August 17, 2002 - Black Diamond, WA (Seattle area), etc.
Well, I guess I'd better get something posted here or somebody might get to thinking I've gone to meet my maker. Not that I'd mind doing that, it's just that at the moment we're having a lot of fun right here.
We left La Conner, WA, and parked at Lake Sawyer near Black Diamond, in a Sunrise Resort park. Anybody want to buy a campground/resort membership with 9 home parks in WA, OR, and AZ? Let us know. We have a couple different ones for sale. And speaking of "for sale," we've lowered the price on both Moby Dick and the Road Abode. Really getting to be a pain in the neck and expensive too, having us both drive whenever we move. See Rig Details for an update.
Steve and Sharon came to visit us in La Conner on their way home from a conference. They really aren't all that glum to be around. Actually they're a lot of laughs most the time. To say the weather had cooled off would be a mild understatement. Shortly after I took this picture, we went inside. After being here for better than two weeks, playing put'n take with our storage locker (we were 300# overweight in the trailer), we finally took a day off from visiting friends (and mooching meals - yum!) keeping Dr. appointments, running errands, and getting caught up at home. On the right is Lockhaven Marina and Apartments. We used to live here. Not in the apartments, they weren't here in 1977. We lived on our boat, a nice old 46' Chris Craft built in 1946, and we had moored here for the better part of a year.
Our slip was just to the right of the covered slip here. And the picture on the right shows one of the reasons we came all the way to the Ballard Locks. Well, I guess they're actually the Chittenden Locks, but the locals call them the Ballard locks because they're located right next to the little town of Ballard. Which is sort of unfair to the people living in Magnolia, which is on the south side of the locks. Whatever. Anyway, the "Tall Ships" are coming through the locks (leaving the salt water of Puget Sound and entering the fresh water of Lake Union/Lake Washington) for a three-day celebration. They're on their way south after attending a regatta in Canada. In the picture on the right, those two blue flags are flying from the tops of a schooner that is just entering the locks, and the banks of the locks are loaded with people. The ship is coming from the west (left) going east (right) in this picture.
Talk about a mob! The north shore was covered with people, and the south shore where we were was crowded as well. Don't people have jobs anymore (this event occurred on a Thursday)? This water is salt water, west of the locks. In the left picture another tall ship is entering the locks, and in the right picture is fresh water flowing through the outlets in the dam.
Wherever we go we see something new. On the left is a guy with big floats on his feet and a kayak paddle in his hands, walking across the water. Not all the spectators were on the banks. On the right is a -- yup, you got it--a flower. Of sorts. And a glaucus gull sitting on the cross-wire with a great view of the incoming ships. And I'm still marveling at all the people!
We've walked over to the top of the fish ladder, and I'm not at all sure what this "modern art" is all about. Did they bury a bunch of elves and leave the toes of their shoes sticking out? Is it waves cresting? I've got to confess I've never had much appreciation for stuff that doesn't look like what it's supposed to look like. And then looking out toward Puget Sound and some incoming boats and ships. The railroad bridge is up, or open, because of the heights of the masts. Both the tall ships and the private boats can make the bridge go up. Actually, as I recall, about the only time it goes down is if there's a train coming.
Even with the tall ships coming in, the normal lock traffic continues. On the left is the Goodtime II, a tour boat that takes people around the lakes and then out to the Sound. We've been on several cruises for different reasons in the distant past, and have fond memories. On the right are a couple of the tall ships that are in the locks, getting tied up.
On the left, the flag in the background is perhaps the largest 13 star flag we've seen., and on the right is a maze of lines (or ropes, for you landlubbers) that these square rigged ships use.
And people were crawling and climbing all over the rigging. On the left is a person (there were both males and females) walking along a single line, and then a boy scout troop from Tacoma perched happily on one of the booms. Again, notice all the lines! That blue thing in the picture on the right is a bicycle helmet being worn by somebody shorter than me. Lots of bikers were here, which made getting around in the crowd interesting.
Fellow out there on the end in the picture on the left is a photographer taking pictures of us taking pictures of him. And on the right is the Europa, a steel hulled ship from Holland.
People in the rigging, and yes, another bicycle helmet. Did I mention it was crowded? And then a shot of the bow of the Europa with her half-nude figurehead. The lower half was sort of part of the wave that had been intricately carved.
In was in the mid to upper 80's (sunburned my head just a little -- gotta remember to stick the Tilly's--sun/rain hats--back in the Jeep) and, sure enough, while in the locks the crews of the ships got into a water fight. And in the picture on the right you can make out the sign "Lockhaven Marina" where we used to live. While we had a couple of different slips there, our main one was just under that sign. The black bulbous thing in the lower left of the picture is the bow of a tugboat that was waiting to go out to the Sound. Again, this is all fresh water, and part of Lake Union.
People crawling out onto the bowsprit to get a better view of the people watching them. And then to the applause of the crowd and cheers from the crews, the locks opened. The current comes in pretty strongly, and the lines all have to be tended closely. That slack line running from ship to shore was quickly brought up tight.
Aren't these ships wonderful? This weekend is an open house for all 20 of them. $10 buys a ticket that allows the holder to visit all 20 ships and take tours. We'll take a pass. Enough of a crowd already for us. And the traffic! We're really having trouble adjusting to the crowded roadways we used to travel daily. A trip that used to take 20 minutes now takes at least 30 minutes, and sometimes longer. Amazing.
The Hawaiian Chieftain from Honolulu leaving, and then this guy up there on the yardarm of the following ship. Somebody in the crowd hollered "Jump!" to him, and he did! Hanging on to the lines of course, he swung way out and then back again, accompanied by much applause. The captain shook his head and said the only reason he does it is so he can get more bananas! Great fun had by all.
On the left, a black ship with no identification at all....not even an identifying flag! And then on the right is the Yankee Clipper with the uniformed young people saluting the crowd.
And to finish off the sightseeing, we had to go below the fish ladder to see who was on their way upstream. YIKES! That's a REAL fish! Good sized salmon. Looked to me like a Sockeye, but I could be wrong. The bright white panels in the last picture, are pictures of the fish, and the green windows looking into the various steps in the ladder. Friendly crowd and we had a great time re-visiting some old haunts besides. As we left at 4 PM, I jokingly told Barb that if we hurried we could catch the 6:00 news at home. Turned out to be a bit prophetic as we got home at 6:10! What traffic! We feel sorry for the people that have to commute in it every day.....like Barb did for over 13 years.