Ferry Friday Harbor to Anacortes Looking at Mount Baker

I saw the photo you see above, on Facebook today. No credit was given as to who took the photo. What we are looking at in the photo is a Washington State Ferry, after it has left Friday Harbor, heading west through the San Juan Islands, eventually getting to the mainland, at the Anacortes ferry dock.

That is the Mount Baker volcano hovering over the scene in the background.

Friday Harbor is a town in San Juan County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,613 at the most recent census. Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island, is the commercial center of the San Juan Islands archipelago and is the county seat of San Juan County.

Washington has several towns which might be characterized as tourist towns, due to the throngs of tourists enjoying these towns. Friday Harbor is one of those towns. 

Equally touristy is La Conner, in the Skagit Valley, a short distance from where the ferry from Friday Harbor docks in Anacortes. 

Continuing east from La Conner, on Highway 20, you will eventually be driving over the North Cross State Highway Pass over the Cascades. This takes you through North Cascades National Park. After you get over the mountains you will soon come to another of Washington's themed tourist towns, Winthrop.

Take Stevens Pass over the Cascades and you will come to Washington's most touristy tourist town, Leavenworth. 

I'm likely forgetting some Washington tourist towns. Would Lynden be considered a tourist town? Lynden has a lot of Dutch theming going on...

Did You Know Washington Is Home To Many Incredible Things?

I found the following "did you know?" questions, on Facebook, and thought the questions to be shareworthy....

Did You Know?

Did you know? Washington is home to Mount Rainier, a towering active volcano that dominates the skyline and is one of the most glaciated peaks in the continental United States!

Below, that is me and my sister-in-law, Kristen's mom, Janet, hiking at Mount Rainer on a pleasant day in August of 2008.

Olympic National Park offers three distinct ecosystems—rainforests, rugged coastlines, and alpine mountains—making it one of the most diverse national parks in the U.S.

North Cascades National Park is nicknamed the "American Alps," with jagged peaks, turquoise lakes, and over 300 glaciers.

Me taking a rest on a granite slab after a long hike to Hidden Lake in North Cascades National Park.

Seattle, known as the Emerald City, boasts iconic attractions like the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, the Amazon complex and the original Starbucks.

Below, my niece Ruby is showing me the Amazon Spheres, in downtown Seattle.

San Juan Islands are a paradise for whale watching, kayaking, and exploring quaint seaside towns like Friday Harbor.

The below photo was taken with my now ancient Casio digital camera. The location was Rosario Beach in Deception Pass State Park. The water here is crystal clear, but, even so, you cannot see the huge whale, which was making its way, slowly, along the shoreline, seeking food, we assumed. The slight wave action is the only visible sign of the huge whale. This location is at the east end of the San Juan Islands, in Washington's Puget Sound.

Washington’s Mount St. Helens, which famously erupted in 1980, is now a fascinating site for hiking, learning about volcanic history, and witnessing nature’s recovery.

The Hoh Rainforest, located in Olympic National Park, is one of the largest temperate rainforests in the U.S., with moss-draped trees and serene hiking trails.

Leavenworth, a charming Bavarian-themed village, is a year-round destination for festivals, outdoor adventures, and cozy mountain vibes.

Here we see Wally and Wanda at an outdoor Leavenworth coffee bar.

Puget Sound offers stunning views and abundant wildlife, from bald eagles to orcas, making it a must-visit for nature lovers.

Nephew Theo, and me, building a sand fort at Birch Bay, at the far north end of Puget Sound. The shallow bay makes for warm water when the tide comes in on a Summer day.

Columbia River Gorge, on the state’s southern border, is a windsurfing hotspot with breathtaking waterfalls like Multnomah Falls just across the Oregon side.

Washington is the nation’s leading producer of apples, and its orchards come alive during the fall with U-pick farms and cider tastings.

The Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, one of the longest rail-trails in the U.S., takes adventurers through forests, mountains, and historic tunnels.

Well, there you go, some things you now know you can find in Washington, along with some illustrative photos...

Seattle's 2025 Waterfront

Saw that which you see above, on Facebook.

I've not seen the Seattle Waterfront since August of 2017. At that point in time the Alaskan Way Viaduct was still operational, moving vehicles, and being an eyesore of a barrier between downtown Seattle and the waterfront.

A tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct was almost finished when I visited Seattle in 2017. When that tunnel was finished, the Alaskan Way Viaduct came down, bringing on the massive rebuilding of the Seattle Waterfront into the pedestrian friendly, aesthetically pleasing reality we see in the 2025 photo of a section of the Seattle waterfront.

I am looking forward to an upcoming return to the Pacific Northwest, Seattle, Tacoma, and my old home zone of the Skagit Valley.

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival April 1-30 with RoozenGaarde

I saw that which you see above, on Facebook, this morning. A photo collage from Seattle's KOMO ABC TV, showing some of the RoozenGarde tulips currently blooming on the Skagit Flats in the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

Hundreds of thousands of tulip viewers flood the Skagit Flats during the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

Multi efforts are made to control the traffic. Such as some roads turned one-way, during the festival.

And various locations are designated Tulip festival centers, such as the RoozenGarde complex, and Tulip Town, and more.

If one was to try and designate a location as being the heart of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, the most likely choice would be the HUGE RoozenGarde complex of tulip gardens, fields and gift shop.

Googling, one finds RoozenGarde described simply as "RoozenGaarde is a world-renowned spring destination and the biggest of the Skagit Valley tulip gardens."

Have Seattle's Space Needle & Great Wheel Turned Blue & Yellow In Support of Ukraine?

I what you see here on Facebook. Do not know if it is real or faked. One never knows, anymore, unless one sees something for oneself.

But, I suspect this Support Ukraine color scheme is real. Turning the Space Needle Blue and Yellow, along with the Great Wheel on the Seattle Waterfront.

It looks like some of the Seattle Skyline is also showing Blue and Yellow support for Ukraine.

I know other towers in the world have gone Blue and Yellow in Support of Ukraine, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Is the Statue of Liberty, in New York City, able to sport changing color schemes? If so, it should be turned Blue and Yellow. If not, it is time for a Statue of Liberty lighting upgrade...

The Passing Of Tom Robbins From America's Most Misunderstood Region

The bard referenced is Tom Robbins, the misunderstood region is the Pacific Northwest, more specifically, Western Washington. Even more specifically, the Skagit Valley region of Western Washington.

MSNBC published an interesting article about the passing of Tom Robbins, titled "America's most misunderstood region has lost its bard".

I particularly liked the poetic part of the article which described the Skagit Valley, a location where I spent all my formative years...

He once said he didn't know the plot of his books before he started writing; you'd be forgiven if you weren't sure of them when you were done reading either.

But then you'd come across a description of the Skagit Valley, where he made his home, and plot seemed secondary.

"It is a landscape in a minor key," he writes in "Another Roadside Attraction." "A sketchy panorama where objects, both organic and inorganic, lack well-defined edges and tend to melt together in a silver-green blur. Great islands of craggy rock arch abruptly out of the flats, and at sunrise and moonrise, these outcroppings are frequently tangled in mist. Eagles nest on the island crowns and blue herons flap through the veils from slough to slough. It is a poetic setting, one which suggests inner meanings and invisible connections."

For decades Tom Robbins lived in the Skagit Valley town of La Conner, which is sort of the Skagit Valley's #1 tourist town. Due to La Conner's waterfront attractions along the Swinomish Channel, with the Rainbow Bridge acting as a scenic backdrop.

Before I moved to Texas I lived in the Skagit Valley town of Mount Vernon, on the east side of that town, a couple miles from Big Rock, it being one of those 'great islands of craggy rock arch abruptly out of the flats", alluded to by Tom Robbins in Another Roadside Attraction.

Hiking to the top of Big Rock was a frequent happening, for me...

Visiting Seattle With The New Zealand Family

Back during the pandemic, on YouTube, I met a New Zealand family who billed themselves as The New Zealand Family. Their YouTube videos I was watching were of a genre known as reaction videos.

The New Zealand Family seemed mostly to be reacting to videos about America.

Here is how The New Zealand Family describes their YouTube channel...

What's up NZedders! We are a family of four from New Zealand who has always had the dream of travelling to America. After the pandemic hit and international travel wasn't an option we decided to explore America and its amazing culture online. Our online family keeps growing and we want to bring you all on our journey as we try, taste and see everything the USA has to offer for the first time! Our goal is to travel to all 50 States and dive deep into what gives each one its own incredible, unique charm.

Well. I knew The New Zealand Family had made it to America, because I'd watched a couple YouTube videos documenting their RV trek up the American West Coast, including the Oregon Coast, where I watched them visit the Sea Lion Caves, finding that interesting, seeing how that attraction had been upgraded since last I was at that location.

Then, last night I saw a new video from The New Zealand Family, titled New Zealand Family see Seattle for the first time (NFL LEGEND AND AMAZING WEATHER!)

Seattle has long been my favorite city. Seattle regularly shows up on lists listing cities for various attributes, like "Best Skylines in the World" or "World's Most Scenic Cities".

I have not been to Seattle since August 14, 2017. At that point in time, I was appalled seeing all the homeless camps as we drove through Seattle on I-5. It was shocking to me.

Well.

In this video from The New Zealand Family I was pleased to learn that those homeless camps are no more, that that problem has been greatly mitigated.

Another thing I enjoyed, watching this video, is it was my first look at the re-built Seattle waterfront, and how it looks now, with the Alaskan Way Viaduct removed. That is what you see in the screencap at the top, the New Zealand mom and dad walking on the Seattle Waterfront, with no double decker elevated highway blocking the view.

A Seattle local acted as the guide for The New Zealand Family, taking them to some of Seattle's well known locations, like Pike Place, the aforementioned waterfront, and the Space Needle. 

In the video, The New Zealand Family did not make it to Westlake Center, where they could have ridden the Monorail to Seattle Center and the Space Needle.

They did not make it to Pioneer Square, which is the location of the Seattle Underground, an attraction much talked about in the video, and walking distance from the stadium where the Seahawks do their football thing and the ballpark where the Mariners do their baseball thing.

The New Zealand dad apparently is a big Seahawk fan, and hopes to attend a game, one day, and was real excited to meet a former Seahawk when they were at Pike Place.

They also did not take a ride on the Seattle Link light rail, riding the tunnel through downtown, with its five themed stations, including the one at Westlake Center.

I'm suspecting The New Zealand Family may do another video or two or three of their time in Washington. Driving across one or two of the floating bridges. Crossing one of the mountain passes over the Cascades to Eastern Washington. Going to the Washington Pacific Coast, which is a bit different from the Oregon Coast, and includes Olympic National Park, and the Hoh Rainforest.

Or they may make it to Mount St. Helens. That volcano was discussed in the Seattle video.