Tag: Washington

Seattle & Puget Sound, Washington (8-20-12)

Day 13 of Lupe’s 2012 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast.

Today, Lupe was going to see the ocean for the first time ever!  Well, not the broad expanse of the open sea, but she was at least going to see Puget Sound in Seattle.  Lupe was nearly to Seattle already!

First things first, though.  Lupe’s day started with a visit to a dog park along the Cedar River in Renton, WA just to get some exercise and sniff the morning air.  The dog park turned out to be long and narrow, as it followed the Cedar River.  There wasn’t any access to the river itself, which flowed down in a steep narrow gorge.  A bike path went through the park.  Lupe had to be careful.  Bikers whizzed silently by with some frequency.

Even though the dog park was in the city, it was cool, shady and not too crowded.  Trees and blackberry bushes grew along the bike path.  There were grassy areas where Lupe could run.  Lupe searched the trees for squirrels with some success.  In the meantime, Lanis and SPHP discussed where to go next.  Lanis was interested in seeing the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle.

Seattle, WA - a different type of wilderness than Lupe is used to.
Seattle, WA – a different type of wilderness than Lupe is used to.

The Washington Park Arboretum covers 230 acres.  A wide variety of trees, bushes, flowers and plants of all types were growing in great profusion.  Lupe, Lanis and SPHP wandered the pathways looking at the displays.  It wasn’t long before SPHP noticed that Lupe was stopping frequently to lick her left front paw.  On examination, there was a little round circle on her biggest pad.  Lupe had stepped on a blackberry thorn back at the dog park in Renton.

Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle.
Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle.

Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle, WA 8-20-12

The Washington Park Arboretum had many beautiful plants and flowers.
The Washington Park Arboretum features many beautiful plants and flowers.

Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle, WA 8-20-12Lupe’s sore paw put an end to touring the Washington Park Arboretum.  Lupe needed help getting that blackberry thorn out of her paw!  At a Safeway store, SPHP bought tweezers and a set of needles.  SPHP operated on Lupe’s paw.  Lupe was very cooperative.  She clearly understood that SPHP was trying to help her.  Unfortunately, at first SPHP didn’t seem to be making any progress removing the thorn.

Suddenly, with a little flick of the needle, the blackberry thorn popped out.  It came out all in one piece, leaving a small round hole in Lupe’s pad.  Her paw wasn’t sore anymore.  She quit licking it, and forgot all about it.  A few days later, when SPHP examined her paw, there was no sign of the hole where the thorn had been.

Once the painful blackberry thorn was removed, it was time to go see Puget Sound.  Lupe saw the ocean for the first time at Golden Gardens Park.

Lupe saw the ocean for the first time ever at Golden Gardens Park in Seattle, where she had a great view of Puget Sound.
Lupe saw the ocean for the first time ever at Golden Gardens Park in Seattle, where she had a great view of Puget Sound.
There was a nice beach at Golden Gardens Park, but no dogs were allowed on it. Lupe saw the ocean, but she didn't get to swim or wade in it, or even run along the beach.
There was a nice beach at Golden Gardens Park, but no dogs were allowed on it. Lupe saw the ocean, but she didn’t get to swim or wade in it, or even run along the beach.

Ravens were flying around looking for tidbits on the lawn near the parking area where the Element was parked.  Lanis became interested in feeding them.  The ravens seemed to like graham crackers.  Lanis’ flock of ravens grew rapidly.  Seagulls noticed the action and started joining in.

Ravens and seagulls wander the lawn near Lanis' Honda Element looking for tidbits.
Ravens and seagulls wander the lawn near Lanis’ Honda Element looking for tidbits.
Lanis started feeding the ravens graham crackers.
Lanis started feeding the ravens graham crackers.
Lanis' flock started growing rapidly.
Lanis’ flock started growing rapidly.

Seagull near Puget Sound, WA 8-20-12The decimation of Lanis’ graham cracker supply led to a loss of interest by his flock of followers, which soon abandoned him.  Although Lupe hadn’t been allowed on the beach, she had at least seen the ocean.  Lupe had to be content with that for the time being.  Maybe it was time to check out the Space Needle?

Lupe saw the Space Needle, but there wasn’t any open parking nearby.  Lanis was ambivalent about paying to go up in the Space Needle, anyway.  Carolina Dogs aren’t generally that interested architecture, although Lupe would have liked the view from the top.  SPHP was pretty certain the view would have been fabulous.  However, since Lupe probably would have been prohibited from going, and there didn’t seem to be any place to park the Element, Lanis drove on.

It had been 5 days since Lupe’s first experience with the luxury of motel life back in Bozeman, MT.  Lanis and SPHP both needed to get cleaned up, and were looking forward to soft beds again.  Lupe certainly wasn’t going to object!  Soon Lupe was checked into a motel in Tacoma.  Now that she had a better idea what to expect, Lupe acted like living in a motel was the most natural thing in the world.

In the evening, Lupe, Lanis and SPHP went to a park.  There was a big pond, trees fully equipped with squirrels, and a very spacious lawn for Lupe to race around on.  The park was a popular place.  Lots of people and other dogs were around.  Lupe played Frisbee with Lanis and SPHP.  Sometimes Lupe invited herself to play Frisbee with other people when their Frisbees strayed conveniently close.  The sun set.  It grew dark.  Time to head back to the motel for a long luxurious snooze.

Puget Sound
Puget Sound

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Dry Falls & Crossing the Columbia River, WA (8-19-12)

Day 12 of Lupe’s 2012 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast.

Lupe and SPHP went down to Howard Lake early in the morning before Lanis was up.  The lake was calm and quiet.  Even the fishermen weren’t up yet.  Perfect!  Lupe and SPHP took the single track trail heading S along the E shore.

Lupe saw ducks floating peacefully on the lake.  She crossed a tiny inlet stream.  Near the S end of the lake, the trail left the shoreline and went back into the cedar forest.  A large crane was spooked by SPHP’s approach, and flew away with a great flapping of wings.  Lupe found a few early-rising squirrels.  SPHP did as much as possible to discourage her from barking at this early hour.

Looking back to the N, it was possible to see some of the higher mountains to the NW Lupe had seen the evening before on the mysterious Great Northern Mountain Trail No. 117.  At the very S end of the lake, Lupe crossed another small inlet stream, shortly before reaching the broad cedar-lined trail on the W side of the lake.

By the time Lupe and SPHP had completed their circumnavigation of Howard Lake, Lanis was stirring.  It was time to break camp, and continue W.  Lupe was soon on her way.  NW of Libby, a huge beautiful river, the Kootenai, flowed NW paralleling Hwy 2.  Near Troy; Lanis, Lupe and SPHP turned S on Hwy 56 in order to go see the Ross Creek Scenic Area Giant Cedars.

The turn for the Giant Cedars off Hwy 56 was 0.5 mile S of Bull Lake.  The side road ended at a trailhead 4 miles from the highway.  Lupe, Lanis and SPHP all took the 1 mile loop trail through the towering forest.  A small creek meandered through the area, and the trail crossed it several times.  The ancient western red cedars had huge trunks.  Ferns and moss grew between the monstrous trees.  The forest felt prehistoric, like a dinosaur could come crashing along at any time.  Lupe hadn’t been allowed to go on the Trail of the Cedars in Glacier National Park, but the Ross Creek Scenic Area Giant Cedars had to be just as impressive.

Lupe’s travels continued.  Hwy 200 took her W into Idaho for the 1st time.  Idaho became the 4th Lupe state!  Soon huge Lake Pend Oreille was in view SW of the highway.  At the N end of Pend Oreille, 3 bears ran across the road, right in broad daylight.  They were gone in a flash.  At Sandpoint, Lupe got back on Hwy 2 again.  Washington became the 5th Lupe state.  The American Dingo’s empire was expanding rapidly!

Hwy 2 took Lupe through Spokane, and then out onto barren plains in eastern Washington state.  The area is probably quite pretty at other times of the year, but in late August it felt like a desert.  It had been 95°F back in Sandpoint, ID, and it wasn’t any less out here.  The sun beat down mercilessly.

The Element was air conditioned, of course.  Lupe rode in comfort past yellow wheat fields, and many black fields that had burned or been plowed under.  Dust devils whirled across the desolate landscape.  Far to the N, mountains were on the horizon.  To the S, there was nothing.

SPHP had bought a fried chicken at Safeway in Spokane.  The plan had been to eat it at a city park in one of the little towns along the way.  However, there didn’t seem to be any parks.  Lupe passed through Deep Creek, Reardon and Davenport, and found nothing.  On the way to Creston, there was a forlorn rest area with a couple of picnic tables.  Lupe, Lanis and SPHP devoured the chicken there, but there wasn’t a green blade of grass anywhere.  The place was like an oven.

Of course, at Creston there was a pretty nice little park, but with the chicken already gone, there was no longer a reason to stop.  Lupe continued W.  Past Coulee City, Lanis turned SW on Hwy 17.  Soon Lupe came to a most amazing sight – Dry Falls.  Lanis and SPHP had never even heard of Dry Falls before, but there was a parking area and a little visitor center right next to Hwy 17.  Lupe, Lanis and SPHP stopped to take in the scene.

Dry Falls is thought by some to have been the site of the mightiest waterfall ever known. At the end of the last ice age, it is estimated there were recurring floods here with a volume of water 10 times that of all the rivers in the world combined!
Dry Falls is thought by some to have been the site of the mightiest waterfall ever known. At the end of the last ice age, it is estimated there were recurring floods here with a volume of water 10 times that of all the rivers in the world combined!

On the opposite side of a chain link fence were sheer 400 foot cliffs down to a broad canyon below.  As the name implies, there is no giant waterfall at Dry Falls now, but the huge canyon downstream is thought to have been carved by recurring flooding on a cataclysmic scale at the end of the last ice age.  A volume of water 10 times that of all the rivers now in the world combined plunged over a precipice 5 times as wide as Niagara Falls.

The canyon below Dry Falls.
The canyon below Dry Falls.

Hwy 17 eventually sloped down into the canyon several miles downstream of Dry Falls, and went past a series of lakes.  At Sun Lakes State Park, lots of people were actively boating, swimming and camping.  Of all the lakes, Lenore Lake was the largest.  Hwy 17 went for miles along its E shore.

Lenore Lake is the largest lake in the Dry Falls canyon, but is miles downstream from the falls. This photo looks back upstream toward the N.
Lenore Lake is the largest lake in the Dry Falls canyon, but is miles downstream from the falls. This photo looks back upstream toward the N.
Lenore Lake in the canyon downstream of Dry Falls. Photo looks S (downstream).
Lenore Lake in the canyon downstream of Dry Falls. Photo looks S (downstream).

The entire canyon below Dry Falls was close to 20 miles long.  Along the way, the canyon walls slowly became less impressive, gradually fading away completely before reaching Soap Lake.

From Soap Lake; Lupe, Lanis and SPHP took Hwy 283 SW to I-90.  Pretty soon, Lupe came to another river gorge, that of the mighty Columbia River.

Lupe crossed the Columbia River on this I-90 bridge.
Lupe crossed the Columbia River on this I-90 bridge.
The Columbia River.
The Columbia River.

The light started slowly fading as Lupe, Lanis and SPHP rolled on W of the Columbia River.  Suddenly it didn’t feel like it was too much farther to Puget Sound and Seattle.  Off to the N of I-90, an impressive mountain came into view in the distance.  SPHP figured it was probably Mt. Stuart.

The bright searing heat of eastern Washington state was gone.  Clouds hung over the Wenatchee mountains ahead.  It was much cooler and foggy as Lupe went over 3,022 ft. Snoqualmie Pass.  Darkness fell.  Near Lake Sammamish State Park; Lupe, Lanis and SPHP stopped for the night.  Lupe was almost to Seattle.  Tomorrow, Lupe would see the ocean!

Links:

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Want more Lupe adventures?  Choose from Lupe’s 2012 West Coast Adventure Index, Dingo Vacations Adventure Index or Master Adventure Index.  Or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures.