Skagit Valley Berry-Dairy & Loggerodeo Kiddie Parades From Long Ago

That is my sister holding Yogi Bear over head. My sister is in Sedro-Woolley. At the end of the Sedro-Woolley Loggerodeo Kiddie's Parade.

When we were little kids my mom and dad had themselves a real good time building floats for us kids to parade on.

I remember one year my brother and I were Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble with my sister being Wilma. My dad made a very well done Flintstone mobile which my brother and I pulled while my sister rode.

Weeks before being Yogi Bear in the Sedro-Woolley parade we were on the same float in the Burlington Berry-Dairy Day's Kiddie Parade.

Actually, if I'm remembering correctly, I think at that point in time the kid floats were part of the main parade, not a separate Kiddie's Parade, in Burlington.

Several of our neighbors also made floats for their kids. We all kept our floats secret until the unveiling on parade day.

There were prizes given to the floaters. Us kids took it for granted that we would win. And we did.

The first Berry Dairy parade I was in it was not on a float. Mom and dad decorated my bike. I have a picture of me and that bike and a couple other floats.

The last float that I remember was a HUGE Strawberry. My youngest sister, at the time, til another sister came along several years later, was dressed like a princess, sitting on top of the HUGE Strawberry. I can find no photo of this float.

None of us kids, except for my little sister, were on the HUGE Strawberry float. My dad was inside the HUGE Strawberry, pushing it, creating puzzlement among the parade watchers as to what was motoring that HUGE Strawberry.

If I remember right it was the HUGE Strawberry float  that was the float that had trouble getting over the railroad tracks that crossed the parade route.

The HUGE Strawberry float was to be the last float my mom and dad built. I suspect this was the last because  it was the most complicated to build, hardest to move. And there was that railroad track incident.

I wonder if there are pictures in existence of the Flintstone and HUGE Strawberry floats?

As the decades passed the Kiddie's Parades became much more mundane. I don't know if, in this century, Sedro-Woolley and Burlington still have Kiddie Parades.

Why is Mercer Island one of North America's Most Charming Islands?

Mercer Island: Home to Fantastic Fall Foliage

Every once in awhile I will read a list in a magazine, or online along the line of "Best", "Biggest", Most Fun", "Smartest' or some other attribute with the list pointing to what someone by some criteria decides deserves to be on the list.

This happened today whilst reading Fox News online, in a story titled "North America's Most Charming Fall Islands."

The premise of the list of islands is set up with the following paragraph...

Come autumn, Mother Nature's dazzling palette is the No. 1 roadside attraction. While it's great fun to drive through a forest of gold-and-crimson trees, sometimes you need a rest from the hair-trigger braking that's required on packed country roads. In an effort to minimize stress, we sought out places where you can see fabulous fall foliage without the crowds. These 12 dreamy islands have forest vistas interrupted only by sailboats, farm stands, and lighthouses.

Most of the Charming Islands I've never heard of.

The islands in the article are Vancouver Island, British Columbia; Heart Island, Alexandria Bay, New York; Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia; Sheffield Island, Norwalk, Connecticut; Monhegan Island, Port Clyde, Maine; Dufferin Islands, Niagara Falls, Canada; Assateague Island, Eastern Shore, Virginia; Grand Isle, Lake Champlain, Vermont; Mackinac Island, Michigan....

And Mercer Island, Washington.

Mercer Island?

This article is recommending going to Mercer Island to view fall foliage away from packed county roads? With forest vistas interrupted only by sailboats, farm stands and lighthouses?

Below is how the Fox News article described Mercer Island...

MERCER ISLAND, King County, Wash. Enjoy the perfume of fresh cider and the spice of organic pumpkin pie from restaurants serving locally sourced food. Color-seekers in Washington State often head to Mercer Island, across from Seattle in Lake Washington, for its rare autumnal palette of changing leaves. This island of 6.2 square miles was once a retreat for the wealthy and has since become an upper-middle-class community of about 22,000 residents. Yellow-and-gold hues set the tone along the bike trails that crisscross the region. Find the best foliage in 113-acre Pioneer Park on the southern side of the island, where you're likely to see tamarack, vine-maple, red-alder, and Pacific-dogwood trees. The island's restaurant community, with its organic country cred, is a huge draw. Case in point is Bennett's Pure Food Bistro, whose meals contain ingredients sourced regionally and prepared without artificial additives. The menu changes seasonally, but at any given time you can expect to find fresh seafood straight from the waters off the coast of Alaska and vegetables foraged from Washington State. 7650 SE 27th St., bennettsbistro.com, entrées from $14.

Mercer Island is a very nice location. If you are fortunate enough to live there it usually indicates you are very well off. Mercer Island is the most populated island in a lake in the United States.

I am sure there are some nice trees on Mercer Island. I've pedaled my bike across Mercer Island a time or two. I have driven all over Mercer Island. I do not remember ever thinking, wow, look at the colorful leaves on that tree.

Now, Whidbey Island, that's another story. Whidbey Island is a little less than 170 square miles, size-wise, compared to Mercer Island's slightly more than 6 square miles. Whidbey Island has a population of almost 60,000 compared to Mercer Island's 22,000. Obviously the population density is much greater on Mercer Island.

Which Island do you think you'd see a lot fewer people on as you drove around looking at leaves? You guessed right. Whidbey. Not only that, on Whidbey Island you will actually find some forest vistas and lighthouses. On both islands you will be seeing the sailboats the article mentioned. Whidbey Island has the added charm of a lot of rhododendrons, blooming colorful in the spring. And ferry boats to and from the island. And Deception Pass Bridge to take you off the north end of the island to another island, called Fidalgo, from whence you can find another bridge to take you to the mainland.

There are no ferry boats to Mercer Island. But there is a very cool floating bridge that will take you to Seattle. Where you can also find some colorful fall foliage.

Did Butch Cassidy Escape Bolivia To Die In Spokane Washington?

For years there have been those who claim that Robert Leroy Parker, also known as Butch Cassidy, bearing a striking resemblance to the late Paul Newman, was not killed in a shootout in Bolivia in 1908.

The Butch Cassidy Bolivian Death naysayers insist Butch managed to escape the Bolivian Cavalry, changed his name to William T. Phillips, moved to Spokane, where he worked as a machinist, living 29 years past his alleged Bolivian death, to die in 1937.

How Butch and Sundance met their end has always had an element of mystery attached to it. Mystery or myth.

What historians generally agree on is that Robert Leroy Parker was born in Beaver, Utah in 1866. The Parkers were a Mormon family, with 13 kids, of which Butch was the oldest. Butch Cassidy's first bank holdup took place high in the mountains of Colorado, in Telluride. After that Butch holed up with cattle rustlers in Johnson County in Wyoming at a place that came to be known as the Hole in the Wall. Butch moved on before the start of the infamous 1892 Johnson County War between homesteader and cattle barons.

After Butch left Johnson County he was caught by the law, serving a year and a half in the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie. Butch's crime was being in possession of three stolen horses. After Butch got out of prison he spent the next 20 years holding up banks and trains with the Sundance Kid and the Hole in the Wall Gang.

And now a rare books collector claims he has a manuscript with provides fresh evidence that Robert Leroy Parker survived Bolivia and moved to Spokane, where, as William T. Phillips, he penned a 200 page tale titled "Bandit Invincible: The Story of Butch Cassidy." This manuscript is dated as having been written in 1934 and is twice as long as a previous known iteration written by William T. Phillips.

In 1991 what were believed to be the bones of Butch Cassidy and Harry Longabaugh, also known as the Sundance Kid, were exhumed from their resting place in San Vicente, Bolivia. DNA testing proved the bones were not those of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

"Bandit Invincible" claims that the Sundance Kid did die in the shootout with the Bolivian Calvary. Butch somehow managed to escape and make his way to France where he had appearance altering plastic surgery in Paris. Eventually Butch made his way back to America to Wyoming to reunite with his old girlfriend. "Bandit Invincible" does not identify the old girlfriend as Etta Place.

William T. Phillips had no offspring. Phillips was cremated. So, there is no known DNA to test against any known Butch Cassidy DNA.

So, was Spokane, Washington the final hideout for Butch Cassidy? Seems like no one can say for sure, though there are plenty of skeptics, along with plenty who think there is a lot of evidence that William T. Phillips is Butch Cassidy.

My best guess is the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid got it right. Butch and Sundance died in Bolivia. I am often wrong.

Endangered Pygmy Rabbits are Back Breeding in the Columbia Basin

That is not a baby rabbit I am holding in my hands. What it is is a Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit.

The Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbits are an endangered species.

Until recently it had been 10 years since Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbits reproduced in their native habitat.

This past spring, Pygmy Rabbits bred in the Oregon Zoo were moved back to their native habit, on a wildlife reserve near Ephrata, Washington.

Wildlife managers have confirmed several litters of Pygmy Rabbit babies in the 6 acre wildlife reserve. Baby Pygmy Rabbits are called kits.

Previous efforts to return Pygmy Rabbits to their native habitat have failed. Pygmy Rabbits have a tough time in the wild, existing pretty much at the bottom of the food chain.

And Pygmy Rabbit moms are not Mother Nature's best mothers. After giving birth in a burrow the Pygmy Rabbit mother back fills the burrow, then takes off, returning once a day to uncover the burrow, yanking the kits to the surface, nursing them, then putting the kits back in the burrow, then sealing it up again.

Until this spring's successful breeding in the wild it is believed there were no Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbits left in the wild.

I wonder if Pygmy Rabbits make good pets?

USA Today & Rand McNally Decide Walla Walla Washington is the Friendliest Town in America

USA Today and map maker Rand McNally had what they called the "Best of the Road" contest where 5 teams of scouts were sent on road trips totalling 25,000 miles over the course of 3 weeks, looking for friendly people, stunning sights, terrific tastes, patriotism and fun.

After scouring America USA Today and Rand McNally decided Walla Walla, Washington was the friendliest town they visited.

Other towns checked out were places like Rapid City, South Dakota. Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Lafayette, Louisiana. Valdosta, Georgia. Woodward, Oklahoma. Nacogdoches, Texas. Lake Havasu City, Arizona and Mount Airy, North Carolina.

A total of 30 towns were visited.

While Walla Walla was the friendliest, Sandpoint, Idaho was the most scenic. Rapid City was the most patriotic. Lafayette had the best small town food. Glenwood Springs was the town with the most fun.

In the past 10 years Walla Walla has seen a big boom in wineries, with a growing reputation for producing some of the best American wines, turning Walla Walla into a destination for connoisseurs of wine. Several of the Walla Walla Wineries have earned top scores from various wine publications like The Wine Advocate, Wine & Spirits and Wine Spectator.

The Walla Walla Wineries include Woodward Canyon, L'Ecole 41, Leonetti Cellar, Walla Walla Village Winery, Spring Valley Vineyards, Cayuse Vineyards, Reininger Winery, Waterbrook Winery,  Forgeron Cellars, Tamarack Cellars, Walla Walla Vintners, Seven Hills Winery, Pepper Bridge Winery and Amavi Cellars.

Walla Walla is also known for its Walla Walla Sweet Onions. An excerpt from the Walla Walla Sweet Onions website...

"The story of the Walla Walla Sweet Onions began over a century ago on the Island of Corsica, off the west coast of Italy. It was there that a French soldier, Peter Pieri, found a sweet onion seed and brought it to the Walla Walla Valley. This sweet onion developed over generations through the process of carefully hand selecting onions from each year’s crop, ensuring exceptional sweetness, jumbo size, and round shape. Today’s growers realize they’re not just raising sweet onions, but cultivating a tradition."

Walla Walla is also known for being the location of the Washington State Penitentiary. This is the location of Washington's death row, where executions occur, by lethal injection. Or the condemned can choose to be hanged. Since 1921 the Washington State Penitentiary has been Washington's license plate factory, producing around 2,400,000 plates a year.

I am guessing the USA Today Rand McNally visitors focused more on the Walla Walla Wine and Walla Walla Sweet Onions, than the Washington State Penitentiary, when deciding Walla Walla was the friendliest town they visited.

Washington Has Almost Doubled Its Number of Obese Residents in the Past 15 Years

Somewhat surprising obesity news out of Washington today. That being that in the past 15 years Washington has almost doubled its obesity rate.

Washington's obesity rate was 13.9 % of the population in 1995, this increased to 26.4 % of Washingtonians being obese in 2011.

Washington is in an elite class of 10 states which had 90 % increases in obesity rates since 1995.

Washington is now the 28th most obese state, according to the latest data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1995 Washington was tied with California for the 32nd most obese spot.

Washington is now the most obese of the west coast states. Oregon's obesity rate is 25.4 %, California is even skinnier with a 24.8 % obesity rate.

Washington's neighbor to the east, Idaho has a 25.7 % obesity rate.

In 1998 I moved to one of America's most obese states, Texas. Since I arrived in Texas, the state has gotten less obese. I am fairly certain this shrinkage has nothing to do with my arrival in Texas.

I have noticed, when returning for visits to Washington, that many of my acquaintances. And relatives. Have grown fatter.

When I moved to Texas the entity in the photo above likely weighed around 250 pounds. The last time I saw her, in 2008, she had easily doubled, maybe tripled, in size. This entity could be the Poster Child, I mean, Adult, for Washington's obesity problem.

In Washington it is so easy to be active, outdoors, all year long. It is so easy to get fresh fruit, vegetables and seafood.

Washington needs to go on a diet, at once, and get skinnier than Oregon, California, Idaho and Texas.

The 4th of July in Western Washington

The 4th of July will be bursting out all over the Puget Sound region this extended weekend, with the 4th being on Monday.

My favorite 4th of July Parade is the Loggerodeo Parade in Sedro Woolley.

My favorite fireworks at Seattle's Family 4th on Lake Union, viewed from Gas Works Park.

Below is a list of many of the 4th of July events taking place through July 4 in Western Washington....

Aberdeen - Event: 4th of July "Splash" Fireworks Display Place: Morrison River Front Park Date: July 4th Time: 10:00 a.m. to late evening

Arlington - Event: Arlington Festival & Frontier Days Place: Arlington Boys and Girls Club, 59th Drive NE Date: July 4th Time: 7:00 p.m. to late evening.

Auburn - Event: Emerald Downs Fireworks Spectacular Place: 2300 Emerald Downs Drive Date: July 3rd Time: Noon to late evening

Bainbridge Island - Event: Grand Old Fourth of July Celebration. Place: Winslow Waterfront Park & Down town area Date: July 4th Time: Pancake Breakfast, Street Fair, 7:00 a.m. to late evening

Bellevue - Event: Bellevue Family Fourth Place: Bellevue Downtown Park Date: July 4th Time: 2:00 p.m. to late evening.

Blaine - Event: Old Fashioned 4th of July All day. Fireworks at dusk.

Bothell - Event: Lake Washington at Kenmore's Log Boom Park, off Bothell Way at 60th Pl. NE. Fireworks at 10 p.m.

Carnation -  Event: The Great Carnation 4th of July Celebration Place: Tolt McDonald Park Date: July 4th Time: Dusk

Centralia/Chehalis - Event: Summer Festival Borst Park Centralia Place: Fireworks Display at SW Washington Fair Grounds Date: July 4th Time: 7:00 a.m. - late evening

Eastsound - Event: Fireworks Display Place: Indian Island / East sound Waterfront Park Date: July 4th Time: Dusk/9:45 p.m.

Edmonds - Event: An Edmonds Kind of Fourth Place: Civic Stadium, 6th & Bell Date: July 4th Time: 7:30 p.m festivities, fireworks at 10:00 p.m.

Enumclaw - Event: Stars and Stripes 4th of July Celebration Place: King County Fairgrounds, Expo Center Date: July 4th Time: Parade at Noon Downtown, Fireworks at Dusk @ Expo Parking Lot

Everett - Event: Colors of Freedom Festival Place: Legion Park or Harborview Park Date: July 4th, Festivities throughout the day Time: Fireworks at Dusk, Approximately 10:20 p.m.

Everson - Event: Les Schwab/Hawley’s Fireworks Spectacular Place: Deming Speedway Date: July 2nd Time: Fireworks after the Races

Federal Way - Event: Red, White and Blues Festival - Fireworks Display & Celebrations Place: Celebration Park, 1095 S. 324th Date: July 4th Time: Fireworks Display at 10:15 p.m.

Fort Lewis - Event: Freedom Fest, Fireworks Display & Celebrations Place: Cowan Stadium Date: July 4th Time: 11:00 a.m. to late evening

Friday Harbor - Event: Picnic, Music, Parade and Fireworks Display Place: San Juan Historical Museum, 405 Price St. Date: July 4 Time: 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.

Kenmore - Event: Fourth of July Fireworks Place: Lake Washington, Log Boom Park Date: July 4th Time: 10:00 p.m.

Kent - Event: 4th of July Splash, Fireworks Display Place: Lake Meridian Park Date: July 4th Time: noon - late evening fireworks at dusk

Kingston - Event: Kingston Fourth of July Celebration Place: Mike Wallace Park Date: July 4th Time: 10:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m., fireworks at dusk

Kirkland - Event: Celebrate Kirkland Place: Marina Park Date: July 4th Time: 10:15 p.m.

Maple Valley - Event: Fourth of July Celebration Place: Lake Wilderness Park Date: July 4th Time: Dusk

Monroe - Event: Fireworks Display Place: Monroe Fairgrounds at the Speedway Date: July 4th Time: Immediately after Races

Mount Vernon - Event: Fireworks Display Place: Edgewater Park Date: July 4th Time: Approximately 10:00 p.m.

Newcastle - Event: Old Fashioned 4th of July Place: Lake Boren Park (13010 SE 84th Way) Date: July 4th Time: Dark

Orcas Island - Event: Eastsound Fireworks Display Place: Eastsound Waterfront Park Date: July 4th Time: 9:45 p.m.

Port Orchard - Event: Fathoms of Fun Festival Place: View from Port Orchard, Bremerton and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Date: July 4th Time: 10:30

Port Townsend - Event: Fireworks Display Place: Fort Worden State Park Date: July 4th Time: 10:00 p.m.

Poulsbo - Event: Third of July Celebration Place: over Liberty Bay—view from Anderson Parkway and Waterfront Park Date: July 3rd Time: Booths open at 5:00 p.m., fireworks at 10:15 p.m.

Puyallup - Event: City Blast Fireworks Show Place: Puyallup Fair Grand Stands Date: July 4th Time: 9:45 p.m.

Renton - Event: Fabulous Fourth of July Place: Gene Coulton Memorial Beach Park Date: July 4th Time: Events mid morning to 9:30 p.m. fireworks 10:00 p.m.

Sammamish - Event: Fourth on the Plateau Place: Sammamish Commons Park Date: July 4th Time: Approximately 10:00 p.m.

San Juan - Event: Fireworks Display Place: Friday Harbor Date: July 4th Time: After parade at approximately 10:00 p.m.

Seattle - Event: Family 4th at Lake Union Place: Gas Works Park Date: July 4th Time: Noon through late evening. The show will be simulcast on 97.3 KIRO FM and will be televised on KING 5 and streamed on KING5.com. Dennis Bounds, Meeghan Black and Jim Dever will bring you all the festivities - including a live post-fireworks concert by Seattle's own Dusty 45s.

Sekiu - Event: Clallam Bay Sekiu Fun Days Place: Fireworks Off of Olson’s Breakwater in Sekiu Date: July 9th-11th Time: Dusk

Silver Lake - Event: Fireworks Display Place: Silver Shores Resort, 4220 Spirit Lake Hwy Date: July 3rd Time: Dusk

Steilacoom - Event: Steilacoom Old Fashioned 4th of July - Fireworks Display & Celebrations Place: Lafayette Street, Down Town Date: July 4th Time: 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Tacoma - Event: Freedom Fair and Fireworks Extravaganza Place: Rustin Way Waterfront Park Date: July 4th Time: 10:00 a.m. till late evening

Tumwater - Event: Tumwater Artesian Festival Place: Tumwater Valley Golf Course Date: July 4th Time: 11:00 a.m. parade, Festival 6:00 p.m., Fireworks at 10:30 p.m.

Whidbey Island - Event: Celebrate America Place: Freeland Park, 140 E. Main St., Freeland Date: July 3rd Time: 4:00-6:00, fireworks at dusk

Yarrow Point - Event: Yarrow Point Community 4th Place: Cozy Cove Date: July 4th Time: 10:00 p.m.