Tag Archives: washington

Deception Falls

We almost missed Deception Falls. I had put it in to the GPS when we headed across US2 over the Cascades but the GPS had picked up on the place I marked and decided an alternate road would get us close. It did but on the wrong side of the road and that had a benefit we hadn’t anticipated which will be the subject of a separate post. However, we had missed the falls and we continued on our way east.

When we made the return trip, as we got closer to the spot I had marked, we realized it was coming up and started to debate whether to stop or whether we were happy to continue home. We debated for a while over this but, as we got closer, the sign came up for Deception Falls and, since we were there already, why not just stop. Thank goodness we did. The falls are really cool and they are right next to the road. The level of effort is virtually zero for a great result.

The falls run under a bridge which you can cross but, aside from looking upstream and down from the bridge, it is worth looking through your feet. The surface of the bridge is metal grate which allows you to watch the water tumbling beneath your feet. On the other side, you can walk along a path that runs up alongside the flowing water. You are so close to the water, you feel like you are almost in it.

Steps take you up to nearer the top of the falls where you can watch the water crashing down over the rocks. All of this is just a few steps from the parking lot. It is very impressive (and rather popular) so definitely worth the time. We came away wondering how easily we could have bypassed this location and what we would have missed if we had done so.

Washington Park Arboretum

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Wherever we live, we tend to end up at the arboretum and Seattle is no exception. The Washington Park Arboretum is near the university (and I think the university has something to do with managing it) and close to Lake Washington. We paid it a visit at the beginning of Fall with some hope of seeing a bit of color in the trees. The layout of the arboretum is rather long and thin so, while you have a choice of paths, you tend to make an out and back trip as you walk around.

We chose a good day to be there with the sun out and the colors shown at their best but we were either a little early for the full fall colors or the types of trees there were not the sort to turn too dramatically. This wasn’t a hindrance for us, though. Walking through the trees was really great and surprisingly peaceful given how many people were there. When we turned back, we took a larger path and that had a lot more people on it so maybe our choice of outbound trail was a good one for avoiding the crowds.

One end of the arboretum comes up to the lake. It is rather close to the SR520 bridge across the lake so not normally the most peaceful of spots. On this weekend, they were carrying out part of the rebuilding program on the bridge so it was closed one way and things were a bit quieter. Any other day, though, and I suspect that the noise would be rather obvious.

It’s a Long Way to Bole

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There are plenty of widebody flights out of Paine Field. Since the flights are normally not very long compared to the capabilities of the aircraft, they tend to be light and get off the ground quickly. A delivery flight is a different proposition if it is for an airline based a long way away. Ethiopian was taking delivery of a 787. The flight was a direct one from Everett to Bole. Consequently, it was fueled up well. Still, it didn’t have much payload and I was surprised to see it get off the ground pretty quickly. They had a long flight ahead of them.

P-8 in the Wild

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Despite the number of them that are now in service, I have very little experience with the Boeing P-8 Poseidon. I had only seen one flying and that was a test jet at Boeing Field. When we got to NAS Whidbey Island, the P-3s were the thing I was more interested in but I certainly wasn’t going to turn down an operational P-8 for the first time. It didn’t take long to get one. We had not long arrived when one departed past us on the shoreline.

As we moved around for the arrivals, we got a bit more P-8 traffic. Some arrivals showed up. One was lacking in anything colorful for squadron markings but another included a bit more individuality. I wonder whether we shall gradually see more color showing up on the jets or whether they shall be a fleet of bland, gray jets. Fingers crossed!

Unnamed Waterfall

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I took a wrong turning as we went over Stevens Pass and, instead of going where I had intended, we took a back road which was probably once the main road across the mountains. It twisted through the woods, never getting too far from the current highway, but being far more enclosed and far narrower. Fortunately, not much traffic was coming the other way, so it was easy enough to navigate. We crossed a small bridge which was over some falls. I can’t be sure but, judging by the map, the water seemed to be called Martin Creek so maybe the falls are of the same name?

Index Road Bridge

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I mentioned the bridge in Index in a previous post and I thought it deserved its own post. The bridge is relatively new having been built in the late 1990s. The road to the town in on one side of the river and the town is on the other so the bridge is pretty important! There is a rail bridge too, but the road is the way for most people since the trains don’t stop anymore.

It is an arch structure. The roadbed is suspended from the arch by a selection of cables. These come down in pairs from the arch and into the bed of the bridge. The structure is steel and, whether it was assembled on site or elsewhere, you can clearly see how the sections were assembled with the bolts through plates at each of the joints.

The arch shape is attractive and the symmetry of the bridge when viewed from the end is also very nice. Because the area is not too busy, they have not cluttered things up with too much fencing to segregate the pedestrians from the traffic so the whole thing has a simple look to it. A nice job by some engineers!

Great Scot!

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Dassault make some very elegant looking jets. The Falcon 7X is a particularly good looking one in my opinion with perhaps the only issue being the extension of the fin below the tailplane which looks a bit like a fix for something. This example was at Boeing Field heading out. I don’t know where it lives because it has a Manx registration which means it could be from almost anywhere. I did like the rest of the registration, though. I hope they are Scottish rather than just someone called Scott!

UPS’s New 747-8F Freighter

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Boeing breathed a big, if perhaps temporary, sigh of relief when UPS signed up for a bunch of 747-8F freighters. These jets are now starting to come off the line and, before they get allocated to the long runs across the oceans, I figured I would try and catch one at Everett. Conditions were a little gloomier than I had hoped for but the timing was driven by luck, so I had to make do with what I could get. The 747 may be disappearing from operators around the world but the freighters will continue for a long time and the 8F is the better of the most recent versions in my mind. The extended upper deck of the 8I is a little too long for my tastes. UPS colors are not bad either. Hopefully I shall see more of them in service.

Index Sits Below the Mountains

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The route across the Cascades via Stevens Pass takes you right past a small town called Index. It is tucked in amongst the mountains and alongside the river so it is no shock to find it is a popular space for outdoor activities. The mountains provide plenty of climbing options including Index Wall. The river is good for rafting and kayaking.

The mountains around the town are the thing you can’t help but notice. There is an old hotel in the center which, judging by the signage on the outside, is targeting the outdoor adventurers. It has been there since the late 1800s so I imagine it has changed its clientele over the years. The railroad also runs through the town so I suspect it once used to have more railroad business.

The river was flowing well but not too high when we were there. It has some pretty substantial rocks in the river bed so the water must flow with some force – I suspect during the spring when the melt is coming off the mountains in volume. The bridge into the town across the river is a modern construction and is worthy of its own post so don’t be surprised when that shows up.

CAG Growlers

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NAS Whidbey Island is the home for all of the Growlers in the fleet. It is a fair chance that you will get a bit of Growler activity on a visit and we were not disappointed. What was really pleasing was to see a bunch of the CAG aircraft in action. The first glimpses were as they taxied out for departure and you could see the planes coming up the taxiway. Unfortunately, the heat haze was a bit of a problem while they were on the ground.

Naturally, if they were launching, they were likely to be coming back at some point. Sure enough, we got them come into the overhead and down the approach. Even when airborne, the heat haze was a bit of a problem. Better than on the ground but still an issue. In a time of gray jets, it is certainly welcome to get something a bit more colorful, even if for some of them that is only black and white.