Snoqualmie

Today is the 120th Birthday of Snoqualmie. Which should not be confused with Snoqualmie Falls or Snoqualmie (later North Bend). This Snoqualmie is the one with the railroad station, old locomotives and the historic log.

Dan

Nothing Witty

I'm a bit under the weather, so nothing clever tonight, just an old man wearing a fez.

A Picture from the Tolt River Road

Each weekend I get the drive my kid around, so he'll take a nap. You might ask, why doesn't he take a nap at home, like other kids. I ask the same question, over and over. I've asked the boy, and he says because it isn't night time. The upside of chauffeuring my child around for nap time, is twofold, the place get my oil changed sees me often and I get to see various narrow roads that normally I wouldn't drive on. This last weekend, I found this along the Tolt River Road, east of Carnation.

Enjoy

Dan

Sad News

In light of the sad news from the Froelich family farm, tonight pictures of goats.

Bath Time

As I sit here thinking about what to blog, I'm struck by the certain uncertainty that is the modern world. Last year at this time, we were in the midst of a financial crisis the likes we had not seen since the Great Depression, we were heading into an election and of course the age old uncertainty, how many kids would come by our house on Halloween.

A year later, we still have the uncertainty of the number of children banging on our door, the financial crisis has been replaced by a nonsensical bull market and outrageous government spending, to the tune of 190% of the federal income and of course, H1N1.

But I have found certainty in this crazy world, it is the certainty of the kid in the bath photograph, I have photos generations of Williams' in the bath.

So as a tonic for uncertain times, here are a bunch of kids taking baths.

Dan

Rolling Staking

Today marks 138 years since the occurrence of roller staking first took place in Seattle when John Kennedy opened a rink at the corner of Front Street and Cherry. About 100 folks tried on the Plimpton stakes for the first time that night. Though the skaters were all new at the pastime only one serious injury occurred and that was to the editor of the Weekly Intelligencer, S.L. Maxwell, he broke an ankle. Staking apparently was so popular, the Bay View Saloon and Brothel opened a rink in December of that year. So in honor of John Kennedy, S.L. Maxwell and the Bay View Saloon and Brothel here are pictures of kids on skates.

Enjoy

Dan

300th Self Important Blog Post!

Yup, this is number 300, and I am thrilled, no really I am. Because in the self-important world of blogging, my thousands of followers have been waiting for weeks to celebrate with me, my 300th post. So go grab a beer and take 60 seconds to read this post and then go read your voters pamphlet, more on that later, tonight it is all about me. Well me and you, the fateful readers of America's Finest Blog, because without you I might not blog at all. I take that back, I probably would still blog. If not I would be making balloons of trash bags and tin foil in my front yard, we all know that hobby ends badly. Meanwhile, I have been planning this 300th post for a couple weeks now, can't you tell, and I was going to wax on about something amusing to myself and then show you, the readers of this blog, the 10 most popular photos published here. However since, today is Oct. 18th, I've decided at the last second to change direction and show off photos of a friend of mine. You see it is her birthday and it also marks the 15th anniversary of the day we met. So here are a couple pictures of Trish for her birthday.

Happy Birthday Trish!

Dan

Port Gamble

I was going to blog about the wonders of rainy days, but instead I'm going to blog about Port Gamble. The old company town on the Kitsap Peninsula, since on this day in 1925 the Puget Mill Co. sold Port Gamble to the McCormick Lumber Co. The mill at Port Gamble continuously operated from 1853-1995, making it at the time the longest continuously operated mill in the country. But times change and due to changes in the market place and reduced timber harvests on federal land, the mill was no longer profitable, so it closed in November of 1995. However since Port Gamble is just about the cutest place in Western Washington, the town survived as a tourist destination. So tonight a couple photographs taken of Port Gamble, circa 2002.

Dan

Mmmm

Well since it is October and the weather turned toward rain, I thought I'd kill to birds with one stone. Tonight a picture of German's enjoy the summertime. Remember summer, after two days of wind and rain, it seems so long ago.

Dan

Why You Shouldn't Take Six Year Olds Steelhead Fishing

Tonight's photos were taken by my dad, back in October of 1976. He had taken me steelhead fishing on the Skykomish River in Monroe, near the Lewis Street Bridge. All I remember of the trip was that it was really cold. In fact much too cold for a skinny little six year. We didn't last too long and needless to say no steelhead were caught. For years I associated steelhead fishing with cold, mostly because it always was cold when we went. Sometimes we would build a fire, sometimes we would sit in the car. And in this instance, when a six year old is too cold and probably bored, we would just pack up and leave. Later on I realized that steelhead fishing was great fun, but that's a story for another blog.

Pumpkin Patch Weekend

Well it is Pumpkin Patch weekend yet again. Just a year ago, I was talkin' pumpkins and the voters pamphlet, now our President has won the Nobel Prize for not being George W Bush. You start to wonder if our President can live up to everything everyone expects from him. The bar seems to be going higher and higher, at some point he'll need to exceed expectations or suffer a backlash from those very people who have expected too much. It seems he simply cannot be anything but the finest President in history. Poor fella. Anyway, speaking of poor fellas the pumpkins are being taken from their patches with increasing numbers and the weekend we will have the 7th annual family pumpkin patch fun time. So here are a couple pumpkin patch photos. Not liking plug the photography business on this America's Finest Blog, but check out http://www.rustedvan.com/ for the pumpkin patch special.

Have a great weekend

Dan

Mount. Si in the Early Morning

A couple of weeks ago I got up nice and early went looking for elk, unfortunately the elk were not very impressive, but the ground fog was very impressive. I took these shots of Mount Si in and around the Meadowbrook farm. Si from certain angles has a bit of an Uluru (Ayers Rock) look about it.

By the way, Mt Si is a remnant of an oceanic plate volcano and named after "Uncle Si" Josiah Merritt. Ol' Josiah built a cabin at the base of the mountain back in 1862 and farmed pigs and veggies. Josiah was a rugged fella that enjoyed playing the fiddle, also had two wives, "Aunt Sally," who was back east and an Indian woman. When Aunt Sally came out west the Indian wife had to split.

Anyway here are a few photos.

Enjoy

Dan

It's A Beautiful October Day

What a wonderful early fall day we had in the greater east (Martin Luther) King (jr.) County. It more than makes up for the lousy football the Seahawks have been playing. Historically October 4th is an interesting day, Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar back in 1582, Belguim became declared Independence in 1830, Sputnik was launched and Leave it to Beaver premiered. Locally, the Alderwood Mall opened on this day back in 1979 and this afternoon, Ken Griffey Jr., may have played his last game. I unfortunately do not have pictures of any of these events. So what then to blog, I guess its back to the weather, and it was divine so here's a couple pictures of the fall foliage. The first is of Billy Goat Mountain, taken in the early 1950's, the second is from Olmstead State Park, October of 2001.

Enjoy

Dan

Tough Day for Chicago

Well apparently the girl from Ipanema, beat out the stinking onion today. Not even Oprah and the Obamas could persuade the Olympic committee that Chicago would have better beach volleyball venues. Well Chicago you still have this statue of General Grant, so enjoy.