Seward's Folly

Today marks 145th anniversary of the purchase of Alaska.  For us Seattle folk this is a very important date, as much of the city's success is due to our proximity to Alaska.  Tonight, Mt. McKinley from a 727.

Milwaukee Road

In 1909 the Milwaukee Road was completed on this date.  Consider Seattle circa 1909, three transcontiential railroads from the East, three lines running to British Columbia and two lines running to Portland and points south.  Add to this numerous steamship lines to points across the global, Seattle was an amazingly easy place to get to considering there were no passable roads to connect major cities in Pacific Northwest.  Of course in June of 1909 the Coast to Coast race was "won" by a Model T and the rest they say is history.  Tonight a picture of the Milwaukee Road near Snoqualmie Pass.

Enjoy

Dan 

Tangible Things

I walked with my boy on the trail that once had rails of the Milwaukee Road's Monroe Branch when I realized there is more to leaving that meets the eye.  The boy and I came across some old railroads ties, stacked and off to the side.  He asked what they were for and I explained, the rails were affixed to the ties.  Then it dawned on me, this trail and the rails of the line that preceded it, are crucial to my being.  It is the Milwaukee Road that employed my Great-Grandfather.  It is the Monroe Branch that brought my Grandmother to Tolt from Wisconsin.  In Tolt she met my Grandfather. Without this line, my Great-Grandfather would not have had a job in Tolt to transfer too.  My Grandmother and Grandfather would not have met, my mother would still be in the aether, as well as I and my son.  I exist because of this line.  Knowing this, it is even harder to leave this place, it is to leave behind this history for myself and my family.  95 or so years ago this line brought a family that left their history in Wisconsin to move west,  it is a degree of solace to know that in the end that decision is what allows me to sit and type now. 

A Few Moments in Coulee City

So on the anniversary of the creation of the Port of Coulee City, which by the way mostly maintains a park, medical clinic and moorage for 25 boats, I thought I would give a few thoughts on Coulee City.  Coulee City has a couple memories for me, one is the A La Cozy Motel, where my father and I stayed several times when we would go fishing at Banks Lake.  Every time I pass the place I am glad to see it there.  The other memory of Coulee City is when my Mom and I went for a drive to the Grand Coulee Dam and we stopped for lunch in Coulee City.  My Mom was a bit sceptical about eating in town, I assured her it would be fine, and it was, she raved about the turkey sandwich, it was real turkey.  Funny how a town of 600, two hundred miles from home can hold so many memories.

Whatever Floats Your Boat

So I went to the local newspaper, well Seattle's newspaper today to see if I could come up with something to blog about.  It worked.  Not to fear, I won't chat about Iran, gas prices, elections, corporate restructuring, etc, because our local newspaper headline read something like a new house boat for Lake Union.  It is troubling that the biggest news of the day in a metropolitan area of few million is a new house boat.  We either live in the most benign and uneventful place on earth, or possibly the print media is trying to hasten it's own demise.  Whatever, I don't really care, because houseboats are fun, fun photograph and, apparently, prone to rats.  Thanks newspaper!

This Street

So tonight a photo of the street that I live on.  Now you may ask why I would do that, and the answer is I just don't know.  But was I can say I sort of like the photo.  And this looks so completely average, like so many other soggy suburban streets in Western Washington.

The Barefoot Schoolboy Act

On this date back in 1895, the State Legislature passed a bill, the so called "Barefoot Schoolboy Act."  Sarcastically this post could commemorate the feat.  Instead it is mostly about using property taxes to fund schools and John Rodgers.  The bill was the brainchild of a future Populist Governor John Rodgers.  Rodgers used the bill as a springboard to get into the Governor's Mansion in Olympia.  Rodgers would go onto be the darling of the progressive movement in the State, winning the governorship twice, dying in office a year into his second term.  As governor he championed further eduction reforms and advocated for a strong central government.  As for the Barefoot Schoolboy Act, it tied eduction to taxation of real property. Thus ensuring our children are in the middle of the ideological fight between the left and the right.

A Lonely Highway

Tonight for no other reason than its been a while since a lonely highway photo has made it to America's Finest Blog, I give you this photo.  Two lanes of black top stretching into the great unknown.

Another Fall

Word from the papers is that another hiker has fallen from Rattlesnake Ledge.  It is a friendly reminder that things can always be worse, or that things aren't as bad as they seem.

Route 66

In December 1998, a friend and I drove from Kansas City, Mo to Ellensburg.  Well to Wapato because that's where her car gave up the ghost.  From Springfield,  Mo to Flagstaff, Az we paralleled the Mother Road.  Like Mr. Steinbeck's family, we had most of my friend's worldly belongings in her car.  Unlike Steinbeck's family we were not destined for peach orchards in central California, but home in Washington state.  Also unlike Steinbeck's family,  we spent very little time on old US 66.  Our adventure across America was a plastic one, full of nights at the Motel 6 and meals at Dennys.  This was partially do to the death of Route 66 and the car culture.  No longer is getting there half the fun, that shift and the controled access highway killed the roadside attraction and the unique quality of each American highway.  We feel into the get there sooner mindset and missed out on several things.  We drove late into the night, so many sights were obscured by darkness, two were in Arizona, Two Guns and Twin Arrows.  We laughed at the names and wondered if Couple Cannons was next.  What we missed in the darkness was the dead heart of America, ghostly ruins of a time that we where adventureous, a time that the curio was worth investigating and when we were not ruled by the comparison to the plastic America.  That is to say, that different was to preferred, almost revered (at least on the road), that safe and predictable was to be avoided, or at leasted wasn't considered necessary.  Today I had a chance to return to Twin Arrows, to consider what has been lost and then drive a few miles of the Mother Road.  I can say I was a bit disappointed when the relics of the glory days gave way to Home Depot and Best Buy.  It just proves that the past is behind us. 

An Impressive Sunrise

To see the sunrise at the Grand Canyon was amazing.  It could only have been better without the early stages of frostbite.  While I struggled to find suitable spot to shoot and feeling in my fingers, my wife took this photo.  My wife wasn't without her struggles, she was dealing with a very cold 5 year old.  Just a note, sub-zero wind chills and little boys don't mix well.