A Sunny Day on Mount Rainier

We only spent a few days in Seattle Washington. We got to Seattle around 4pm, and by the time we found our hotel the day was all but lost. Still the hotel we stayed at had a great staff. No matter how many questions we asked them we always received clear answers that made our stay and travels very comfortable. The hotel was the Best Western Plaza by the Green in Kent, Washington. The hotel is near two highways that make it very accessible to your nearest adventures.  Give them a try if you ever go to Seattle.

Day Two was open to anything we wanted to see. With great advice from the hotel front desk guy we set out for two places, Mount Rainier National Park and Snoqualmie Falls. Let me tell you we were very glad that we did! Al from the front desk of our hotel had the best suggestions.

We first set out for Snoqualmie Falls. The travel time was about a forty minute drive from our hotel. Not bad. Now we planned on staying there most of the morning. Hiking, taking some shots of the local area and such, but the trails were under reconstruction. I guess that area of the country had quite a bit of wash from the spring rains and trails needed some serious work. The only ares open to the public were the overlooks and the near by village. A shame to, because we really wanted to hike down to the falls and get some close ups. This could have easily take the whole day though. For that, I’m kind of glad the trails were closed. So we jumped back into the car and traveled to our next destination, Mount Rainier National Park.

Mount Rainier took some time to get too. The ride was a  little over an hour through some winding country. All in all it was a nice drive, just a little long. Now we aimed for the Paradise Inn and ranger station at the base of the mountain. About 5400ft above sea level. This place was awesome! Scenic views from all around. More day hikes then you can take in one day. It was 86 degrees the day we were there. Snow all around the trails. We hiked right up to Paradise glacier…in our shorts and t-shirts. We hiked to 7300 ft. It was simply awesome! We may have seen only one percent of the park, but we felt that this place was one of our better adventures. If we do it again, then we will probably be going there in mid August staying near Mount Rainier. I wouldn’t mind taking a week to hiking this park. Mid August is when all the wild flowers come out. Locals say it’s the best time to see Mount Rainier National Park.

If you find yourself near Seattle, Washington, USA, this park is a “MUST SEE”!!

 Snoqualmie Falls from the overlook.

Mrytle Falls

Carmen near some snow on the trail we hiked.

Jim, taking a cool break.

Hiking in the Rocky Mountain High

Actually the hikes aren’t that bad in Rocky Mountain National Park. Buses get you close to where you want to begin your hike. The rest is up to you. You can drive and park near those trails and camp grounds, but there are a limited number of parking spaces. So get up and go see this national wonder!  This park is awesome!

Words of wisdom though, if you are going to Colorado to specially hike in RMNP? Then stay in Estes Park or some where near it. Our hotel was on the south side of Denver. An hour and half drive to Estes Park. Estes Park, for those who don’t know, is the city at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park. Lodging seemed a little pricey, but you save in the cost of travel and time.

We only spent three days in the park. The first day was sunny and partly cloudy. The next two were over cast and raining. We went down four trails. Oh yeah, talk to the bus drivers! They can give you a better idea of maximizing your  hiking experience if this is your first time out in this park.

Bear Lake, a place my wife has always wanted to see. I thought this hike was relatively easy. From the station where the bus drops you off you at ten paces from the lake. The hike around is a little over a mile, but very scenic. We caught an access trail to Alberta Falls after we hiked Bear Lake.

Alberta Falls, the access trail from Bear Lake to Alberta Falls was moderate to strenuous. However, that’s my cup of tea….but not really Carmen’s. I think I could have spent all day on this hike. This hike made you work a little bit, but the scenic views and roaring water made the hike worth it. There were more waterfalls up the hill but we stopped at Alberta Falls. We were running out of daylight. Next time though! 😉

Sprague Lake, we experienced in the rain. Much like Bear Lake, it doesn’t take long to get to the trail or lake itself. Very scenic and a nice easy trail.

Bierstadt Lake Trail, I loved Bierstadt trail! Straight up, long and it felt like you were on the edge of the world! A funny story about this trail…after stopping to catch our breath for the third time, a couple in their 70’s passed us. That’s right! They PASSED us!! They were great though. They have been hiking together for 45 years. We kept pace with them and enjoyed the “getting to know you” conversation all the way to the lake.

This place was fun, but you really need a month of hiking throughout the park to get the feeling that you did anything. We are planning a return trip in the near future!

Bear Lake

Mountain tops overlooking Bear Lake.

Bear Lake

Bear Lake

Alberta Falls

A lone Elk

Sprague Lake

Sprague Lake

Bierstadt Lake

An Artistic Side of Denver

The second day in Colorado we spent in Denver. This city has a lot of character to it.  We drove around spotting tons of artistic building and blocks. I think we both have a secret passion for geometrical design and architecture. Denver has a good mix between new and old structures. Even though our images are more of the geometrical design and newer side of construction, this city still has a renaissance feel of the early 1900’s. On one of our passes in downtown Denver we spotted a little pizza joint call Sexy Pizza. We never did stop and eat there. Traffic was heavy and we were running out of time. But that just gives us a chance to try it next time. 😉

We even stopped in the Denver Botanical Gardens and had lunch. We HIGHLY recommend going to the Denver Botanical Garden. This was one of the better botanical gardens we’ve been too.

Here are some the images we took.

A mighty stroll threw the Garden of the Gods

Our first full day in Denver Colorado we decided to drive south. To check out a little park on the west side of Colorado Springs. This park isn’t a state park or a national park. It’s actually a city park donated from a family back in 1909. It’s name, the Garden of the Gods is based on a group of massive land formations sprouting up from the ground making an interesting garden of sorts. Paved and unpaved trails stretching all throughout these gigantic land formations for you to walk around for days. Driving and biking makes it  easy to navigate through this park. We hiked for a little while on the trails, then drive to the next one. Making this park great for day hikes. We didn’t see any camp grounds, but there are plenty of spectacular places for picnics. There is rock climbing in the park, but you have to be a licensed rock climber to get close to the rocks. Here’s a link for more information, http://www.gardenofgods.com/parkinfo/index_113.cfm. I can only hope that these images help describe the beauty and enormous fun that is the Garden of the Gods.

My beautiful having a snack.

Top of the world.

I’ve never seen a tree show it’s butt before. 😉

My best Farside imitation. 🙂

Overlooking the rock formations and valley of the main area of the  park.

This shot here was taken from the railing at the parks information center.

This was a great day. Even when we sat to eat back at the park information center a huge deer came up and started eating a bush right next to us. He was no more than ten feet away. For more information on the park, http://www.gardenofgods.com/home/index.cfm?flash=1

The Giving Garden; A jogging Zucchini that turns into bread….

There is a house that has a little garden in the front yard. In the garden there is a sign that simply says “The Giving Garden”. Anyone who walks or drives by can help themselves to what they need or would like from it. The owner simply wants share with the her community. We want to share her stories with you….

I spoke with the gardener the other day. She said she had quite a bit of work to do in the giving garden. The zucchini were growing wildly. She needed to pick them so that the plant could start new. Just as she was putting the zucchini in a basket next to the garden a neighbor came up and started asking some question. I think the neighbor wanted to know more about the edible flowers. The gardener talked to the neighbor for quite some time, when suddenly they looked up and a young lady jogging by grabbed a zucchini. She yelled to say that she was taking one to make some zucchini bread.

The gardener simply replied “Take some more! There are five there.”

“No thank you. I only need one. Someone else may need them.” replied the jogger.

The gardeners heart rocked with joy. She wasn’t sure if her garden was going to be understood or even acknowledged in the beginning. Yet in this one simple act, that last all of two minutes, she realized her efforts were vindicated. She said that she is still smiling.

A busy Saturday

I woke up this morning with what I thought was a short list of things to do. We were in dire need to redo the blog header and the background to our twitter page. I started with twitter background. In doing so I realized that the header we had got lost when our computer crashed last April. Then I realized I didn’t have one of the fonts from the original blog header.  So Instead of searching for it, I started over. We changed it up just a little. The background took the longest. Twitter doesn’t tell you how many pixels to use. So it was a trial and error all day long to get the artwork to fit on the screen. I think I finally got it though. You’ll have to check it out and let us know what you think, B&B on Twitter.

We also added a Facebook page Blisters & Bunions. Go by, like us, and write something on the wall. Let us know what you think about the new artwork (below). We love having comments. 🙂

^^  The welcome page to the new Facebook page.  ^^

^^  The new twitter background.  ^^

^^  You should know what this is, the new header. It’s at the top of the page. 🙂  ^^

Questionnaires and Forms

We’ve recently started to make and monitor forms and questionnaires with in our blog. That’s right it’s Q/A time!!! Our forms won’t be anything of importance or lengthy, just fun. Feel free to give them a try on the new page, Blisters and Bunions of the mind. Watch for the scroll bar to the right of the questions. Some questions and the “submit” button may be hiding. As always, let us know what you think and Enjoy!

Us

The Giving Garden; The story of Lillian

There is a house that has a little garden in the front yard. In the garden there is a sign that simply says “The Giving Garden”. Anyone who walks or drives by can help themselves to what they need or would like from it. The owner simply wants to share with the her community. We want to share her stories with you….

July 21, 2011

On Tuesday I went out at 6:30am to water the giving garden and some other areas in the yard. I wasn’t paying attention to the driveway. Lots of people use it as a “turn around”. I was concentrating on the plants and the effects of the weather, bugs, weeds, growth patterns and everything else in the garden. At some point I turned around to find a woman standing, ready to talk to me. Her silver Volkswagen was parked in my driveway.

” What did I do now?” was the first thought though my brain.

She introduced herself and told me how one day she happened to be walking down the street and came upon my garden. We talked and exchanged garden ideas. I shared any dill I had with her. I always encourage everyone to try my edible flowers. Of course, most people are skeptical. We talked a bit more, then she left and I went back to my work. She, like the rest of us, is learning how to grow and cultivate in this world as much as any garden.

The next day she came to my door and gave me this card. I’ll be looking forward to seeing her again. 🙂

I have a great many blooms on the lemon cucumbers, and I am very anxious to try them.

~ The Gardener

P.S.

The card simple said ” It was so nice to meet you. Thank you so much for the “fresh” and “dried” dill you gave to me from your “cute” sidewalk garden. May you have a great day and good week. ~L”

Not quite Angel Falls

A few weeks back we went up to Lake Rabun to familiarize ourselves with hiking and some of the falls in that area. Minnehaha and Bad Branch were the two waterfalls that we saw that day. The other two falls we were going to see were Angel Falls and Panther Falls. Not to get confused with Panther Creek Falls which is further south than Lake Rabun. Both these waterfalls, Angel and Panther, are on the same trail. Kind of a two for one deal. You should note right now that when trekking to these falls, follow the street signs and map/ navigational directions to ANGEL Falls. Panther Falls is considered to be apart of Angel Falls trail. Beautiful as it may be, the signs lead to Angel Falls. But I digress….Angel Falls is off Lake Rabun Rd at the recreation area. When you turn into the recreation area it looks like a camp ground/ camper park there is a bulletin board to the right to pay for the CAMP park. It’s $14 to camp there. Follow the signs to the parking area at the beginning of the falls. There it’s $3 parking for the falls. Much better then the confusion that Carmen and I had at the entrance.

The trail is just under a mile, one way. It’s a slight incline to Panther Falls. Which is 600 yards before Angel Falls. So you may get tired quicker in the “getting there” part of this journey. However, the really neat aspect of the this trail is that it’s been somewhat landscaped. Stone steps, two benches one of them built of stone right into the side the hill, and several bridges.  It appeared that there was some flowers planted too, but there has been a lot of flood/ wash damage. Several large trees were up rooted and lying in the middle of the stream. There were many spots along the trail that had trees canopying over us. I can’t tell you how many times I thought it would be cool to landscape a hiking trail. And here it is!  Especially one that had so many twists and turns. Now I know some may say “That’s NOT hiking! It has to be in the woods with little to no trail.” I may like that idea, but I also liked this change of pace. This different thought of what one community has chosen for it’s falls was surprisingly nice.  I say this because I got the sense that Angel Falls has been kept up by the local community.

Angel Falls hike is great for beginners that have taken a few hikes already. The slight incline makes for a great workout. However, when we got to Panther Falls we realized that we were losing light too fast. So we turned around and headed out of the woods. A much shorter and quicker walk in that direction. The slight downward trek helped push the tempo and we reached the car fairly quickly. Angel Falls will have to be for another time.

Enjoy the images. These images are of Panther Falls and the stream/river leading to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuna for my love, crackers anyone?

A couple of years ago we had scraps in our fridge. Not much more in the pantry either. We did have enough for one of my favorites. So I got everything out and started making tuna fish sandwiches. Carmen working in the back office didn’t have a clue what I was doing. About half way through she came out from the office and asked what I was making. When I explained I was making tuna fish sandwiches she looked at me and said “No thank you!” Being half done I simply said “Ok.” I wasn’t going to tell her that I was making it for the both of us. I figured if she got hungry enough maybe she would try it. So I kept going. I mixed the ingredients, toasted the bread and settle down at the table with my meal. I left everything out just in case she wanted to give it a try. About 10 minutes later she asked if she could have one. “Sure!” I said, and proceeded to make her one of my infamous tuna fish sandwiches.

Now I should tell that I’m ok at cooking. Nothing to brag about, but if there is one shinny gem in my repertoire it’s tuna fish sandwiches. Carmen confirmed it that day. She tasted it. Made all sorts of yummy sounds and looks. Then looked at me and said I should get paid to make them. It felt good. I don’t remember who taught me how to make tuna fish sandwiches. I think it was one of my sisters. It could have been my mother. I’m not sure. I just know that I have amended the recipe to fit my hunger and tastes over the years. So now I’m writing this recipe for Carmen. I hope you enjoy it too.

I start with 5 cans of tuna in water. I have an old fashioned can opener that lets the lid fall in the can. Be careful, the lid and edge of the can could injure you.  I push the lid inward to drain the water and make the tuna dry. Dryer the better. When the tuna is drained of all water, I put the tuna in a big bowl. Repeat that for every can of tuna you plan on using.

Next we add the seasoning and veggies.

1 green or colored pepper, diced to the size you prefer. I like them around a 1/4 inch or smaller in size. Just enough for texture but not over baring. Add to bowl with tuna.

1/2 sweet onion (any kind of onion will do), finely slice the onions. You don’t want them too bold. Add to bowl with tuna.

The greens from two scallions, cut them up like the onions. Add to bowl with tuna.

6-10 leaves from some garlic chives, actually I use scissors to cut these up. The size is to your liking. Then add to bowl with tuna.

2 table spoons of Montreal Steak seasoning, I actually add the two table spoons at different times. Once before I add the mayo and mustard. The second about half way through the mixing of everything.

The amount and mayonnaise and mustard is dependent on how dry or wet you like your tuna fish sandwiches. I like mine dryer. I add just enough of both condiments so that is covers and mixes with all the ingredients.

I should note; There are many more ingredients you could add to this recipe. I’ve added diced pickles, dill, celery, lemons and lemon juice before. I’ve even added flax seeds before. However, this is just a base recipe. The amending to this recipe is dependent on what you have in your kitchen and what you desire in your taste buds. 😉

After mixing everything together you have options. It can be a sandwich, which is how we started, a wrap or it can be served as a dip. As a sandwich, I toast and spread mayo and mustard on the slices before adding the tuna mixture. I have also added a slice or two of tomatoes. I’ve even added bacon to the bread. Kind of a half BLT and half tuna fish sandwich. As a wrap, all I’ve used is lettuce. I’ve tried to use spring roll skins, but they are temperamental. I think there is a timing issue that I just haven’t gotten down. As a dip, put it in a bowl and eat it with some chips or crackers. Very yummy!

Lately we’ve been trying out being gluten free. So the sandwiches are no more….unless we find some good gluten free bread. The wraps and as a dip are both good options. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as Carmen did that day. I hope you amend and experiment with this recipe to your liking. Enjoy!