PRETTY SCENES FROM MY SOLITARY WALK YESTERDAY

I like walking alone - I also like walking with Mike.  I decided when he does his inside the house exercises in the morning I'll do mine outside taking a walk and then we can both walk in the afternoon.

Walking alone is a great meditation and my mood really benefits by getting out alone in nature.

Here are some scenes from yesterday around our lake down the road. 

Do you like solitary walks or having company along with you?

The lake is right near all of the town's businesses (a very small town) so one can walk the lake and then head up to the stores to walk through town.  It takes about an hour to walk the lake at a good pace and then you can add more walking time by going through town.

The water level is a lot lower as they have been reconstructing a new dam for the last year or so and have had to release a lot of the water and keep it at a certain level.  Whenever we are out we go watch the goings on at the new dam.  I can't wait until its' finished and the lake is full again.  I love the look  of the red leaf tree.  I always take its' photo when I walk by.  Usually there is a lot of water behind it but this is the end where the low water level shows the most.

 There's normally a high level of water near the water slide below.

LOCAL MOUNTAIN AUTUMN BEAUTY

Mountains are amazing in fall.  We go up here to check it out about twice a year.  This is an area near Keller Peak.  There is a fire lookout station farther up from where this is that we toured a few times.  There are many of these lookout towers that are manned by volunteers whose job is to report smoke whenever they see it.  At one time we thought about volunteering when we first moved up here but that never happened.

LAST YEAR ON HALLOWEEN DAY

We went up to Big Bear because I remembered when my kids were little we visited the town and although we didn't stay for the trick or treating at the shops it was so festive. I always wanted to go back. 

Now that we live in the mountains it's not such a long drive to get there.  Last year we decided to go on halloween.  We drove around for awhile and then about an hour before the shop owners were putting out their offerings we went into Saucy's Mama's (a pizza place) to watch the beginning of the activities.  We then walked up and down through the town enjoying the chill and people watching.

What probably was the highlight for me were the kids acting like superheros.

It was also fun to just see everybody walking around and so
happy, although this one guy below was a bit scarey. 

I will definitely go back up there on the 31st - enjoy this scary day once more.  I especially love the wild animals. 

And scary faces.

These girls below were doing a dance routine (probably from the local dance theater classes)

SOME PHOTOS FROM GREEN VALLEY LAKE

Went up there yesterday to see the fall colors and was greeted with a way over-saturated look with bright sun and colors that didn't look real.  I even tried to desaturate the trees a little.  There are mostly evergreens around the lake but then you see some brightly colored trees at one end where the water looked turquoise and the trees were vivid in their colors.

Not sure what the yellow was in the water, it looked more like pollen in clumps than yellow leaf dropping into the water.  Anyway it almost felt other-worldly there yesterday.

ABOUT TIME FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM MY RECENT VACATION

These are just some more pics from Gig Harbor Washington.  I had to use an old camera because my favorite camera isn't working well so some of these didn't turn out too good.  I love the area and have really only seen the waterfront little town and haven't gotten to get to know more of the surrounding neighborhoods.  This is about a half hour from my son's place in Olalla, Washington.

We may go again at the end of March next year if they need us to watch the grandkids while they vacation with friends in Hawaii.

If so, I'll make sure to spend more time in this area.


How is your October going - other than some Santa Ana winds for the last two days it's been really nice.  I do hope hurricane season ends soon for those on the East Coast and elsewhere that experience these storms.