Urban Carnivores - What's In Your 'Hood?

The other day Chris and I were doing yard work and looked up to see a coyote trotting down the middle of the street. This was at 11am and in broad daylight.

It disappeared into my neighbor's massively overgrown lot after giving us the stare down.

But our coyote sighting pales in comparison to what showed up in my parent's neighbor's yard this morning:

RIVER OTTERS!! Four, including two babies!  [Can you feel my excitement?!.]

Growing up I had a whole school of fancy koi (fish) that lived in our pond. Some of them were 15+ years old, had names, and I trained them to come up to the surface by ringing a little bell. (I was a bored teenager, clearly). One day, all my prized fish were gone, with only a few fish heads laying scattered on the rocks. Piscinicide!

My mom maintained for years that it could only have been the work of a river otter - dad and I laughed her out of the room every. single. time.

Sorry, Mom, we should have believed you.

Note: to get to Steve's yard, this family of otters had to haul themselves out of Lake Washington, find their way past the solid block of lake-front homes, cross a street, climb a hill, cross the Burke Gilman Bike Trail, zip under a fence, cross a lawn, and then dive into the pond. Don't think that these guys are exclusively water critters - they can hustle across land at a fast gallop.

Our local zoo is currently doing a research project on urban carnivores and they're asking Washington residents to record their sightings of the meat-eating animals that live in our neighborhoods.

Want to see what is in your 'hood? Check out the map.

According to user-submitted data, we had a bobcat on the field where Ben plays baseball, a red fox in Wedgwood, an opossum in Maple Leaf, and coyotes/raccoons....everywhere. The video footage of the bobcat is pretty cool - I think the red fox sighting is slightly suspect. No bears yet within city limits. I'm wondering if the bobcat population has benefited from the explosion of rabbits that our city has experienced this year - we've got bunnies coming out of our ears.

Got anything to add to the map?

xo,
Sonja

Photos. T. Dorrance. Thanks WS, for the push to get blogging again!

Trips: Camping on Vancouver Island

Hello!

It's been a while.


I go through phases with the blog....sometimes I'm johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to posting, other times it's like I've fallen off the face of the earth.

In other words, it's been a bit of a blogging dry spell.

We've been outside taking advantage of this beautiful Spring weather and trying to keep our lives only moderately crazy.

We went camping up in Tofino, British Columbia this weekend. Tofino is located about halfway up Vancouver Island on the western (Pacific) coast. We drove up to Canada and then hopped aboard a ferry over to the island. Upon landing in Nanaimo, it was a three hour drive across the island to the small towns of Tofino and Ucluelet. Vancouver Island is huge; it's the largest island in the Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand.

We stayed at the Green Point Campground at the Pacific Rim National Park and it quickly became one of my favorite campgrounds due to the secluded spots and proximity to both hiking trails and beaches. Also, Canadians seem to be a bit more respectful of personal space and noise. There wasn't a single night in which fellow campers were playing their music too loudly or causing disturbances.

 Chris and I are still figuring out our perfect camping situation. We'd love to have a location where the kids can run absolutely wild. Ben and Emma, at 5 and 2, are loud rambunctious kids and there are very few places that they are allowed to be completely free. Even at the campground we are constantly setting rules in regards to noise, destruction of vegetation, and Ben's yearning to visit all the other campsites and have a fireside chat with the occupants.

That said, we're still deciding if we're entirely comfortable striking off into the wilderness by ourselves and wild camping. It seems lovely....but also a bit risky, considering that we have two very young children. Perhaps Chris and I have seen too many horror movies about crazies lurking in the woods. You know, ax murders and shady folk intent on defending their illicit pot grow operations. 

What do you think? Would you go camping off the grid with your little ones? Would you do it if you had friends (ie additional adults) with you? If so, any recommendations for spots in Washington State? I'm of two minds on this one. 

Ben is avidly interested in wildlife and we need to start keeping notes so he can record all his critters. He's careful to list the lowly slug right next to the bears and whales. That's my boy. 

The highlight of the weekend for me was the whale watching trip that we took amongst the islands. It ended up just being the captain, our family, and another family that had two boys, ages 4 and 6. All three boys had an absolute hoot running around the boat, nagging the pilot, and playing wildly. I still can't believe that nobody went overboard.

In total, we were lucky to see 4 humpbacks feeding in a shallow cove. Ben was enthralled.

Ack. Sorry for the blurry pictures. Still haven't pulled the trigger on a new camera and my old lens is suffering.

Here was a larger crustacean, farther out in the bay.

Bottoms up!

Emma did her best to hang with the big kids but she was having a rough day, as her nap schedule was thrown into disarray. We definitely struggled this trip to get a good routine set up for Emma. A month ago we took a similar camping trip down to Central Oregon and she seemed to do just fine. But she hasn't been napping well in the car during the long hours on the road and that, combined with the late nights around the campfire, were hard for our littlest babe. So we'll have to work on that for future trips.

After the whales it was time for a visit to the local Stellar sea lion colony.

Playing? Fighting? Who knows.

If you're planning a visit, we especially enjoyed the inland Rainforest Trail and the Lighthouse Loop near Ucluelet. Long Beach (as accessed via Green Point Campground) also had nice tide pools where we spotted fish, anemones, and jellyfish. 

We went to Chesterman Beach to watch the surfers, but decided that a game of soccer was more entertaining (and warmer). Those surfers were hard core; I was freezing just watching them paddling about in the frigid waters.

The tide pools at Long Beach. I nearly dipped my phone in the water trying to get this picture. 

Ben and his dead sea lion. "Whoa Mama, check out all the flies!!!"

And to top it all off, we ran into this guy. Love them bears. 

And that, my dears, was our trip to Tofino. Definitely worth a visit.

xo,
Sonja

Halloween 2014

 Halloween began on a rather rough note for Ben as we started out with a trip to Urgent Care for a scratched cornea.

We learned that it takes three adults to physically restrain a three year old when it comes to administering (painless) eyedrops. But he was able to regroup a few minutes later and turn into a model patient for the doctor-in-training that swung by to observe the examination.

After that we zipped downtown for a visit to Chris’ office and then back home for a much needed nap (for the entire family).


And then....Halloween!

He and I have been working on his costume for a while. It finally came together last night after adding the patches to the bodysuit.

May I present:

SPACE EXPLORER

The helmet is my favorite: paper mache with plastic from a 2-L bottle as the face shield.

Ben’s favorite part is the rocket pack: two 2-L bottles painted white with red felt flames.

zoom!

I was going to do white shoes.. but ran out of time. I hear blue crocs are also pretty speedy in space.

As for the bodysuit, we took an old jumpsuit from goodwill and wrapped it in white duct tape. 

Never ever underestimate the power of duct tape.

Slap on a few printed logos and presto! DIY Space Explorer.

We’ve been running around the house all morning shouting To Infinity! And Beyond!

After our rough day, I considered bailing on trick or treating. But Ben, true to form, was having none of that. He rallied on a spectacular scale. Ironically, we opted not to wear the space explorer costume, as we were running late and I was mentally maxed out. He was wearing jeans so we added a hat, vest, and plaid shirt. Our little cowboy was now ready for the festivities.

We got to stop by Grandma’s house and then Uncle E’s house to practice our ‘trick or treating’ (and only selecting one candy) before heading over to a friend’s house for the main festivities.

Ben quickly adopted a new buddy and the two of them linked arms and ran house to house, collecting their goodies.

Spending time with friends and watching our kid have a fantastic time was great end to a hectic day. And, even better, corneas heal pretty quickly. He’s good as new today. Candy does a body good, evidently. :)

xo,

Sonja

Seattlelites - Save The Beach

Dear Readers,

There is a tiny Lake Washington pocket beach hidden away in NE Seattle near Lake City. Although nothing fancy, it's the only public beach access point between Matthews Beach to the south and Log Boom Park in Kenmore, several miles to the north.

As a kid growing up in the neighborhood, we would frequently visit the park during the summer months to swim. It has a nice sandy beach and is shallow for fifty feet, making it perfect for little kiddos. People launch kayaks and windsurfers from the site and Ben has had several nice dips here in the past few years. People bicycling by on the nearby Burke Gilman Trail often stop for a quiet break or a picnic lunch. Our family has picked up trash and my father worked to eradicate the invasive Japanese knot weed from the property. It’s a nice little community gem.

Last year the City decided to make improvements to the park, only to have the adjacent landowners file suit, claiming that they, not the city (and by extension, the public) were the rightful owners of this tiny beach.

The specifics of the case can be found in this article from MyNorthwest.com.

The elimination of this little park due to the neighbor’s land grab would be such a loss to the community.

Today the case is being heard by the Division 1 Court of Appeals at One Union Square in downtown Seattle. The case will likely be presented at 10:30am.

A verdict will likely be rendered in 2-6 months. In the meantime, a letter to the mayor, letting him know of our support for the park would be greatly appreciated. (Frankly, I think they should expand the park by about fifty feet on either side. That would get rid of the landowner problem....)

Anyway, Mayor Ed Murray can be contacted here.

Here is the letter that I sent. Please feel free to copy and/or adapt. Your time and efforts are greatly appreciated, my dears, thank you.

Dear Mayor Murray, The community of Cedar Park and Lake City are in legal fight to save the only Lake Washington access between Matthews Beach and Kenmore Park. The two adjacent neighbors sued King County (and later Seattle) for ownership of the street-end beach located at NE 130th Street. They claim that they are longtime stewards of the land and should therefore own it. So not true! Our family has long picked up trash and worked to eradicate invasive plant species at the beach. I spent a lot of time swimming at the park and am now teaching my three year old son to do the same. The loss of this water access would be tragic for our neighborhood. This is a park worth fighting for!! Please help us keep this beach public and out of the hands of the adjacent land owners who already have water access. 


Keep your fingers crossed for us, Peeps. It would be such a shame to lose our wee little park.

xo,

Sonja


Image: Google Maps. Location of the beach here.

Weekend Trip: Leavenworth

Hello My Dears!

I hope you had a fantastic weekend. We went east of the mountains to the wee little Bavarian village of Leavenworth to get a little snow play in before the winter is official over. Ben has been asking to ‘go to the snowy mountains’ for the two months. The town itself is snow-free but there was plenty to be had at nearby Lake Wenatchee State Park and the mountain passes.


From Seattle we headed northeast to Monroe before hooking up with Highway 2 and heading over Stevens Pass.

This is definitely the tail-end of the ski season: the snow is on its way out and Spring will (hopefully) be here shortly.

The sledding hill at Wenatchee State Park is pretty tame. It’s great for the toddler set but older sledders might be happier at Snoqualmie.

Bring your own sleds and be sure to read the parking fee signs carefully as the payment policies have recently changed. Parking passes can be purchased in the parking lot.

Practicing for PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018. 

A trip to the mountains wouldn’t be complete without a good snowball fight. Unfortunately Ben neglected to tell the other sledders that they were participants and he managed to tag one kid as he was trudging back up the hill.

Ben had a personal hand-warmer. Life is tough for the toddlers, eh?!

This was Emma’s first snow experience. She was unimpressed. 

It’s a pretty drive from Lake Wenatchee down to Leavenworth as you’re following the Icicle River (a great summer float on tubes).

At last! Leavenworth! You can just see the top of Emma’s head peaking out of my coat; she was content to snooze away the afternoon as we walked through town.

We started off the evening with some proper German food at Munchen Haus. We tried the brats while Ben opted for the pretzel. It reminded us of the time in Germany when Chris and I requested cheese with our pretzels at the local beer garden. Evidently the cheese sauce is an American adaptation as they provided a few slices of cheese on the side, accompanied with several odd looks. Those crazy Americans!

Major props to our hotel, The Bavarian Lodge, which was located conveniently across from the main town park. The hotel staff was exceptionally friendly and helpful. They had our room ready early and a crib (and bedding) was provided for Emma, free of charge. Ben and I also spent an hour in the pool, which was a delightful 86 degrees, great even for the littlest and skinniest of toddlers. 

The hot breakfast included in the room rate was magnificent. They’re currently constructing an additional wing to the hotel that should be finished within the next few months. 

On Sunday morning we ate a quick breakfast and then went south to Cle Elum before hooking up with I-90 and going over Snoqualmie Pass. 

We found a quiet trailhead so Ben could practice a bit of cross country skiing. This will be an activity better suited for next year but he was delighted to try them out before the snow is gone.

The nice thing about Leavenworth is it’s only 2.5 hours away so the travel time home to Seattle is pretty painless. We’ll definitely have to go back this summer to catch the harvest and do a bit of tubing on the river.

xo,

Sonja

If You Go To Leavenworth

Activities

Sledding: Wenatchee State Park. 
Costs: Discovery Pass + $20 Daily Snopark Pass. The sledding hill is perfect for the smaller tykes; older kids will likely find it too slow. Nordic skiing and snowshoeing trails also available.

Horse Drawn Sleigh Rides (Subject to snow levels. Call first)
Dog Sled Rides (Subject to snow levels. Call first)
Gingerbread Factory
Leavenworth Winter Sports Club (cross country skiing and sledding hill)

Things to do on the way out to Leavenworth:
Barclay Lake Hike (near Baring, WA, on Highway 2). A great hike for little ones, with little elevation gain and a beautiful lake at the end. Forest Pass required. (Buy one at the Baring General Store, near the turnoff for the trailhead)
Snoqualmie Sledding (off of I-90) Reservations recommended. $22/adult.
Monroe Reptile Zoo. This is another on-the-way-there activity off of Highway 2 in Monroe. The BBQ joint out front in the old school bus is also great!

Stay

Bavarian Lodge
Double Queen Rooms from $172 (including taxes). Fantastic kid-friendly hotel with excellent customer service, outdoor heated pool/hot tub, cribs available (free of charge), movie rentals (free of charge), and a sumptuous hot breakfast.

Nosh

München Haus
When in Leavenworth one must eat at a German restaurant, right? Featuring brats, pretzels, and lots of cold brews. $.

Any of the ice cream shops. Bonus points for a gelato shop.

Zeke’s Drive In (Off of Highway 2, near Gold Bar). A great on-the-way lunch stop.