Tuesday, August 30, 2011

One Last Look

Here are the final trip photos. I can't believe summer is over. Tonight the kids had their open house at school to meet their new teachers. School starts next week, and the plants are starting to look fall like. Both kids and plants are lamenting their last days of summer. I am lamenting the impending doom of snow, and the fact that I still have no ripe tomatoes - though one is right on the verge. I would settle for one.

In any case, we spent one day on the coast doing touristy things, which involved the new Lewis and Clark center, and a couple lighthouses. I suffered in childhood from mass L&C overexposure since I grew up in WA around all of the L&C trails, trees, camps, and so on. But the kids were studying it last year, and the new center was supposed to be great.

It was very well done, and we had fun, the kids learned a lot, and really enjoyed the exhibits. I learned a couple things too, though the facts are escaping me tonight, I may remember them later. Oh!! I learned the Chinook Indians kept California Condors in their camps, they would raise them from chicks, and they were really playful and intelligent. It makes me wonder if they hunted with them as other cultures did with falcons and eagles. I'd be willing to bet they did.

Onto the pictures - most of which are lighthouse ones. I love lighthouses, and North Head, and Cape Disappointment are beautiful perfect picturesque lighthouses.






















Saturday, August 27, 2011

International Kite Festival

I have been going to Long Beach WA, since I was little, but we have never, ever gone to the kite fest. Instead we had tended to skip the crowds and go south instead. Our August trip however, happened to coincide with the first few days of the kite fest. Our final day at Long Beach, we went downtown to explore and see the kites up close and personal.