![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nwhikerI'm going to call today a peak Pacific Northwest Day.
First we went out to Snoqualmie, in the Cascade Foothills, to take a ride behind a 1899 steam locomotive the railway museum has just restored. Dh was fireman, and is training to be steam engineer (he's been a qualified diesel engineer for... probably almost 20 years now. TBC, at the museum. BNSP, UP, or Norfolk Southern are not going to let him out on the mainline! But still. AC was out there too, and when he wasn't being trained, dh was training her, alas with Dipshit, to be steam fireman. (I hate the way Dipshit shoehorns his way into any photo with AC in it. Actually, basically, I can't stand the guy). Anyhow, they had a blast! Last run of the day, dh did has engineer (in training) with AC as fireman. Talk about dad-daughter days! We got a ride behind the locomotive, in a beautifully restored car I hadn't seen before, and pretty much had a blast. My nephew was with us, as was my MIL. The run we were on was for donors, not the general public, so no mask issues either.
After, we hung around a bit, taking photos etc, then drove to a nearby burger joint where we got to-do lunch (I skipped. Nothing WW friendly on that menu!). We went back to eat at a nearby park, on the Snoqualmie River. It was pretty.
On the way back, with Perry and Linnea, they were talking about floating down the river. Ah yes, but there is a BIG WATERFALL right past where we were, and it's not a good idea. I pointed out that there was a line across the river to help people decide to turn back. Perry mentioned there was one at the entry of the Ballard Locks.
Ballard Locks? asked Linnea.
So we headed home, for a quick change of clothes and a pick up of soda, and headed out to the Locks in Ballard. Despite websites claiming they're open there are under construction, so no crossing the canal to watch the operations from the center, and no easily getting across to see the fish ladder. Sigh. But we got to see a boat rise rise rise from Puget Sound level to Lake Washington level, so that was cool.
When we left, I noticed that the bascule train bridge was up, which was cool. Trains? asked the kids. There is a line here?
Well, of course there is. The one that goes all the way along the coast, and that Perry takes to and from Bellingham, though he'd never been that far south. So I told him to take a left, rather than a right to head home, and we headed out to Shilshole Bay, and the Golden Gardens Parks on the Sound.
We got to see boats, and trains went by behind us. We talked along the water to a jetty, and then came back to the car, and sat on a bench to watch the sun set. Pretty. Only issue is that just as the sun was setting three older men got out of the water just in front of me, pretty much ruining all my shots. Ah well.
Pretty much peak PNW from Cascade Foothills to Puget Sound waterfront, with a good amount of big iron engineering thrown in!
And the Very Best Part? The weather! A beautiful, sunny, crisp fall day, with blue skies and slanted sunlight.
Photos: I put some of the best ones from today in a set at Flickr: Peak PNW
And for the record: Snoqualmie Falls.
First we went out to Snoqualmie, in the Cascade Foothills, to take a ride behind a 1899 steam locomotive the railway museum has just restored. Dh was fireman, and is training to be steam engineer (he's been a qualified diesel engineer for... probably almost 20 years now. TBC, at the museum. BNSP, UP, or Norfolk Southern are not going to let him out on the mainline! But still. AC was out there too, and when he wasn't being trained, dh was training her, alas with Dipshit, to be steam fireman. (I hate the way Dipshit shoehorns his way into any photo with AC in it. Actually, basically, I can't stand the guy). Anyhow, they had a blast! Last run of the day, dh did has engineer (in training) with AC as fireman. Talk about dad-daughter days! We got a ride behind the locomotive, in a beautifully restored car I hadn't seen before, and pretty much had a blast. My nephew was with us, as was my MIL. The run we were on was for donors, not the general public, so no mask issues either.
After, we hung around a bit, taking photos etc, then drove to a nearby burger joint where we got to-do lunch (I skipped. Nothing WW friendly on that menu!). We went back to eat at a nearby park, on the Snoqualmie River. It was pretty.
On the way back, with Perry and Linnea, they were talking about floating down the river. Ah yes, but there is a BIG WATERFALL right past where we were, and it's not a good idea. I pointed out that there was a line across the river to help people decide to turn back. Perry mentioned there was one at the entry of the Ballard Locks.
Ballard Locks? asked Linnea.
So we headed home, for a quick change of clothes and a pick up of soda, and headed out to the Locks in Ballard. Despite websites claiming they're open there are under construction, so no crossing the canal to watch the operations from the center, and no easily getting across to see the fish ladder. Sigh. But we got to see a boat rise rise rise from Puget Sound level to Lake Washington level, so that was cool.
When we left, I noticed that the bascule train bridge was up, which was cool. Trains? asked the kids. There is a line here?
Well, of course there is. The one that goes all the way along the coast, and that Perry takes to and from Bellingham, though he'd never been that far south. So I told him to take a left, rather than a right to head home, and we headed out to Shilshole Bay, and the Golden Gardens Parks on the Sound.
We got to see boats, and trains went by behind us. We talked along the water to a jetty, and then came back to the car, and sat on a bench to watch the sun set. Pretty. Only issue is that just as the sun was setting three older men got out of the water just in front of me, pretty much ruining all my shots. Ah well.
Pretty much peak PNW from Cascade Foothills to Puget Sound waterfront, with a good amount of big iron engineering thrown in!
And the Very Best Part? The weather! A beautiful, sunny, crisp fall day, with blue skies and slanted sunlight.
Photos: I put some of the best ones from today in a set at Flickr: Peak PNW
And for the record: Snoqualmie Falls.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}