So what does a dinner at Denny's consist of at 10:00 on a Friday night? Pancakes, eggs, sausage, hash browns & milk, with a side order of pierced, tattooed & mohawked.
This is our "less than elegant" contribution to SkyWatch Friday.
To see more wonderful SkyWatch Friday photos, click here.

While my wife and I were taking a walk downtown the other day we spotted this "not so welcoming" light pole. I knew the spikes looked familiar, I'd seen them before. My wife reminded me that they are all over various ledges at the State Capitol and other buildings on the Capitol Campus. Quite the rude awakening for the unlucky bird that doesn't look before he (or she) plops down here.

After a record tying 104 degrees today here in Olympia for some odd reason we thought it best to go out for dinner rather than adding to the problem by cooking at home. Before dinner though we decided to take the short drive to Millersylvania State Park in Tumwater. Not only was it a peaceful drive, but this photo of Deep Lake seemed like the perfect opportunity to capture our contribution to Watery Wednesday.
P.S. My wife double dog dared me on the title. Always stirrin' the pot.

For more refreshing Watery Wednesday photos click here.

Well, we did it. We hit 101 degrees here in Olympia today. They expect it to be slightly warmer tomorrow. If it hits 100 degrees at Sea-Tac Airport it will break the all time record. Even though it was 98 degrees inside at work today, even though we have to wrap our dogs in cool wet towels & I don't even want to talk about what it's like to be in shorts and sit down on a hot leather car seat just look at what we get to look at in the evening. You've got to admit it's hard not to stop and just stare at a sunset like this. Here's hoping everyone affected by this heat stays as cool as possible, puts down lots and lots of water and if you know any seniors check on them.

And today I would have been glad to go swimming with her. It was 99 here in Olympia today, and even though I know for a number of you it gets hotter where you live, that's pretty warm for western Washington. I'm not whining mind you. Our summer started off early this year and there's no sign of it letting up, so put on that speedo and dive on in. I'm sure this Harbor Seal is friendly enough.

This afternoon my wife and I decided to get out of the house, grab something cold to drink and take a few photos. We ended up downtown near Capitol Lake and Budd Inlet. While we were there we watched a seal playing in the water and doing a little fishing. Turning around and looking the other way, this flower box really caught our eye. It's surprising that anything is blooming as warm as it is right now. You can see the Legislative Building in the background.

We thought it would be nice to bring some nature a little bit closer so we picked up this hummingbird feeder. You know what they say. The way to a bird's heart..........
If we have some luck and yours truly is able to get some good shots, I'll be sharing them right here. For now I guess I'll just sit here and tap my foot until they start showing up.

As I'm posting this photo of the boats at Budd Inlet in Olympia I am remembering how comfortable it was the night I took this. A nice warm evening in the 70's just a couple of weeks ago. We are headed for a string of hot days over the next week, some approaching 100 degrees. Not what some of you probably imagine when you think of the Pacific Northwest. So right now I'm enjoying looking the boats, the water & our contribution to SkyWatch Friday.

Click here to see other amazing SkyWatch photos.

Some of you may remember seeing this little tree growing out of the stone and concrete from a previous post here. My wife just loves this little tree growing and thriving in a less than ideal environment. Don't be surprised if it ends up on here from time to time. It's interesting to see it change from season to season toughing it out.

Those of you that have been following along on our sometimes strange journey are at least familiar with our Boston Terrorist Muffy. First of all the name doesn't quite fit as we have witnessed her try to take out a Great Dane at the dog park without even hesitating. So, when we told my wife's friend we would dog-sit her Dachshund named Boo-Boo we weren't quite sure how it was all going to work out. Those two ended up acting like long lost brother and sister. As you can see we had them sharing the same lead. Just when you think you know your dog.......

For our third and final entry from this past weekend's Capital Lakefair I thought you might like to see the latest in transportation brought to you by The Church of Living Water. The "Monster Bus" is definitely an attention getter at local events and car shows.

Continuing on with scenes from Capital Lakefair this past weekend, the parade draws an amazing crowd. People line both sides of the street from start to finish. It's really nice to see so many people pull their kids (and sometimes Dads) away from the X-Box and spend an afternoon together outdoors. There were beautiful floats, marching bands, cheerleaders and more, but this lady really got our attention. With all due respect, she is no spring chicken, but let me tell you she had as much spring in her step as the kids. More than some of them. It was really warm Saturday. There were people all along the route making sure everyone was taking in water. Anyway, our hat's are off to this lady, whoever she is. My wife even commented that she hopes her legs look like that when she's that age. You go girl!

Several days ago I posted this photo. Well, everything came together last week and Capital Lakefair started Wednesday July 15th. Due to work and other things we didn't make it there until Saturday afternoon. We managed to see about half of the parade then made our way to where the action was. Lots of rides, lots of food, lots of people. That pretty much describes what was going on. I'll post more photos over the next couple of days to give you a better idea of what all was there.

As this is my first official post for "Skywatch Friday" I thought it should have some sort of local significance. If you drive through downtown Olympia you cannot miss this crane. This is to be the site of the new Olympia City Hall. For more detailed info about the project click here.

To check out more amazing Skywatch Friday photos click here.

Tonight when my wife and I came home from work we had company waiting for us. Her brother and cousin (complete with baby) were there waiting for us. We hadn't seen this little (I use the word loosely) guy in a while and man has he grown. He's 4 months old and weighs 27 pounds! What a hunk! With an appetite like that, you can't blame me for getting nervous when he started staring at my finger as if it was a sausage or something.

This is another shot from last night's stroll around the Capitol. This monument is called "Winged Victory" and it honors those who served in World War I. It is bronze on top of granite, with the following inscriptions:

East face: WA State Seal, "To the memory of the citizens of the State of Washington who lost their lives in the service of the United States during the World War 1917 – 1918",

North face: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend"

West face: "Their sacrifice was to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world"

South face: "They fought to safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom, and democracy."

The monument was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30th 1938. It currently is in good cosmetic condition as it was fully restored during August & September 2008.

What? Another fountain after last night's post? I didn't think you'd mind. Here we are in the Capitol city of Olympia and I haven't really posted much from the Capitol Campus. Tonight after dinner I took a drive there. As you can see the sun was starting to set so I tried to fit in as many shots as I could. This beautiful fountain is a replica of "The Tivoli Fountain" in Tivoli Park in Copenhagen Denmark. It was presented to The State of Washington by The Olympia-Tumwater Foundation in 1953 by then foundation President Peter G. Schmidt. The fountain is surrounded by benches and grass. It is a popular place this time of year for people in the area to take their lunch.

Over the past several months I've shown you various sculptures from around the Olympia area. Several have been from State of Washington offices such as this one at the Dept of Revenue, or this one in Tumwater reminding us of Mother's Day. Today as we were driving through downtown Olympia we spotted this fountain in front of the DSHS offices. It's a beautiful bronze statue called "Water Lily" by sculptor Rosiland Cook. I think one of the things that we noticed first about it was the facial expression. So many times I can't stand the expressions on statues but this one was fairly realistic. If you think Lily would look good in your garden or fountain follow this link for pricing and ordering information.

It's still in the "setting-up" stage right now, but in a few days this area around Capitol Lake is going to be packed with people. Every year in July Capital Lakefair happens. Five days of fun including food, rides, boat races, a car show, a parade, fireworks & more. So, if you happen to be in the area between July 15th through the 19th come check out the happenings.

House of the Lord that is. This is not a religious post of any kind. Quite the opposite actually. I appreciate architecture that is pleasing to the eye. Whenever I drive past the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church my eyes can't help but look. If you do decide to follow the above link, two areas I would suggest you check out are "Us & Our Church/The History of Our Church" and "Our Pipe Organ".

Sometimes, through my job, opportunities come along now and then that you just don't pass up. This evening was one of those times. After work my boss & I took a drive to Lakewood, about 30 minutes north of Olympia. Classic Reflection Coachworks was holding a hospitality night and tour of their amazing shop. Most of you are not familiar with this company. Simply put you take them your 1998-2004 Corvette & they will turn it into the car of your dreams. The design is cool, the quality of the materials & workmanship second to none. Check out the above link to their website, then start saving your pennies.

So, I couldn't just post a photo of myself with my camera gear without showing you where I got the bug. This was my father Don Sr. As you can see this was taken in November of 1958 which means he would have been 29 yrs old. Since I was born in August of 1957 I would have been 1 yr & 3 months old. We were living in Spokane Washington (where I was born). Dad brought out the camera & light meter often to capture memories. He was always good at remembering to photograph everything from sports to first day at school to birthdays to simple days out in the yard. Dad passed away in 1981. Looking through the boxes of photos I really appreciate the memories he remembered to record.
P.S. This was scanned from a fairly small photo. I didn't even realize it was slightly fuzzy until I scanned it.

All right, I'm going to stick my neck out on this one. Yep, that's me in the late 60's, a skinny young kid holding onto my trusty Kodak Brownie. Even before the photography classes in high school, and yes even before digital I loved to photograph things. This particular photo was taken at Ft Nisqually in Pt Defiance Park in Tacoma. At that time I was involved in soccer. At the end of the season there was a Canadian exchange program. A Canadian soccer team would come down to our area & each of their players would stay with a member of the U.S. team for a weekend. A month or so later our team would then go up to Canada and stay with that player's family. It really was a wonderful program, and of course back then it didn't take an act of Congress to travel back and forth. Anyway, this is only one of many old photos I'm going to be posting as I organize 50 years or more of photographs. Okay, you can take your shots now.

In a recent post here, I told you about The Crosby House, a historical house in Tumwater. Located about fifty yards from that house stands The Henderson House Museum. Built in 1905 for German brewmaster William Naumann, and standing right across the river from The Olympia Brewing Company it was considered "state of the art" for it's day. At 2-1/2 stories it had such ammenities as hot & cold running water, steam heat from a coal-fired burner & electric lights in each room. In 1909 the home was purchase by John & Catherine Rohrbeck who stayed in the home more than a decade & raised three children there. John Rohrbeck worked for the brewery for more than 40 years, first as an accountant and later as an officer of the business. When the brewery shut down in 1921 the Rohrbecks sold the house. After the repeal of prohibition in 1933 during the construction of the new brewery, workers rented rooms in the old Victorian house. Jumping forward to 1974 the City of Tumwater decided to purchase the old house. They restored it and developed it into the Henderson House Museum, named after another pioneer.

Another shot from Sunday's trip to Westport. It was so windy and cold even the seagulls looked like they'd rather be indoors. They were nice enough to stick around long enough for a quick portrait before our Boston Terrorist chased them off.

Today we decided to pack up the dogs and head for the ocean, Westport, specifically. The farther west we drove, the worse the weather. By the time we got to the beach it was so windy and cold we only spent a half hour or so there. After that we got back in the truck and decided to head south to Grayland. Every time we're in that area we stop at Bennett's, a restaurant right along the highway where the food is amazing and the service if possible is even better. We highly recommend it. After lunch we were driving along when we spotted this flying saucer sitting outside a curio shop. Too bad the shop was closed. We would have at least checked out the price. Hey, it even comes complete with alien pilot. You can't see it in this shot, but on the other side of the bubble there was a cinder block on the saucer. I assume it was there as sort of an anchor. You can't just have UFO's flying around town now can you? Anyway, we passed on it and headed for home the old fashioned way.

Remember, nothing says Independence Day like a polypropylene bird made in Taiwan sitting atop a dealership selling Swedish cars.
All kidding aside, Happy 4th of July to everyone. I hope it has been a good one.

This colorful display of flowers courtesy of Pt Defiance Park in Tacoma. If you like flowers, or photographing them, now is the time. I know the "flower bed" idea has been used many times before, but this was too nice to pass up.

We have had a run of unusually warm dry weather. In the 80's today and approaching 90 Friday and Saturday. With the 4th of July and fireworks coming the risk of fire is a definite concern. Here's hoping everyone has a great 4th, and if a stray bottle rocket comes at you.........DUCK!

Happy July everybody!
Looking through our collection of old 35mm cameras, "empty" is the state most of them are in.
Please, follow the link below to see some wonderful contributions to theme day.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants