I did this post last year too.. and I happened across it while switching up my blog and it has not been updated yet.. so I wrote them and asked if it would be and they got right on it.
This is an awesome site and a great way to find some local farmers markets to either sell at or just go spend some time shopping at :) Local being the key word here.. it is for western Washington. you can browse by county and then by day you would like to go. A list of the ones in that area for that day will pop up and you can click on them and learn more about them....We used this and found some fun ones last year.. I was surprised how many there were.
Puget Sound Area Farmers Markets
~Michelle
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Mt St Helen's
This last weekend we went for a road trip.... we headed out really early in the morning... going south... why south? Well we had a travel bug we found, while hiking last weekend, in a geocache. It needed to go south.. When we started looking at places to go that are south of us.. we knew it was going to be a long weekend with lots of things to do.
We wanted to explore Mt St Helens (mt that blew up in 1980's) and saw that on the way up the mountain there were so many caches.... we picked a few that we thought might be fun and headed out. So many things to explore... first stop was the Mt St Helens visitor center.. watched the movie and checked out the exhibits.. gave the kids a chance to learn a little history and find out what it was we would be exploring. We walked a little bit around the silver lake wetland haven trail, right there near the visitor center.. also found our first cache of the trip :)
We found a couple more caches as we headed up highway 504 towards Johnston Ridge Observatory (which we learned is still closed for the season)... we found a couple of tricky caches.. or at least we thought there were.. one was an old telephone receiver with a magnet stuck to it... and another was not so cool in what it was.. an old mint box.. but it had been painted and had thing taped to it so it looked like part of what it was stuck to. We also found our first nano cache this weekend.. wow it was tiny... we did our first earth cache...took our photo with a landmark and answered some questions about the area... it was a lot of fun. We did end up finding a nice cache on highway 503 to leave the travel bug in.. now we will watch to see where it goes *fingers crossed it heads to it's destination* Geo caching is a great way to get out as a family and really learn a lot of history and a lot about the area.
The rest of Saturday was full of beautiful views of the mountains.. and small hikes in the woods to explore things like beautiful lakes.. we went as far up the mountain as we can but will have to head back after may to see the view from the top.. still please with our photos.. were able to get some with just a few clouds.. that is pretty good for Washington. It was nice to watch the kids as they saw how even 30 years after the eruption that you can still very clearly tell.. in places it looks like mars or something from star trek.
We then drove to Vancouver Washington, one because we have a hotel that we like to stay in there.. and two because we all wanted Red Robin for dinner.. well the hotel worked out ok.. but the restaurant was FULL..so we drove around and did not really find anything else we loved.. so we tried a burgerville.. it sucked. Will not eat there ever again.. just plan ick.. and over priced.
Sunday we got up and planned on heading up highway 503 to the south side of St Helens. It was warm and sunny and we decided since we were so close that we would slip over the border into Oregon and drive through Portland ... we all love it there. Dave found a parking spot near the Saturday market (yes they have it on Sunday too) so we got out and spent a little over an hour just walking around seeing the sights and smelling the smells... it was so much fun.. watched some break dancers from Portland City Rockers doing their thing. We then headed back to Washington and to Mt St Helens.
Highway 503 up the mountain is abit more laid back and less touristy than 504. The signs of the eruption are not from the 1980 eruption but from ones many of thousands of years ago... had a picnic lunch at yale park... it was so beautiful.. picnic table right on the water. Then up to the ape caves.... we were not all sure if we would like this or not.. you climb underground in some tunnels that were made from the lava flow a long time ago.. it is very very dark and wet in there.... we LOVED it. We did the bottom hike.. you go in and hike down 3/4 of a mile then hike back up... next time we want to go in and go the other way..do the harder hike up 1.5 miles.. it goes over some rock hills and you have to crawl for some of it and you climb out on a ladder...we will be going back to explore that.. we will be a little better prepared.. some extra lights.. and gloves.. and knee pads.
By the time we done and back to I-5 we had a long drive to get home... we arrived home about midnight and quickly everyone went off to get some sleep before the long Monday started. That is the only problem with adventures.. is reality sets in nice and hard come Monday morning.
Click here to view more photos of our weekend.
~Michelle
We wanted to explore Mt St Helens (mt that blew up in 1980's) and saw that on the way up the mountain there were so many caches.... we picked a few that we thought might be fun and headed out. So many things to explore... first stop was the Mt St Helens visitor center.. watched the movie and checked out the exhibits.. gave the kids a chance to learn a little history and find out what it was we would be exploring. We walked a little bit around the silver lake wetland haven trail, right there near the visitor center.. also found our first cache of the trip :)
We found a couple more caches as we headed up highway 504 towards Johnston Ridge Observatory (which we learned is still closed for the season)... we found a couple of tricky caches.. or at least we thought there were.. one was an old telephone receiver with a magnet stuck to it... and another was not so cool in what it was.. an old mint box.. but it had been painted and had thing taped to it so it looked like part of what it was stuck to. We also found our first nano cache this weekend.. wow it was tiny... we did our first earth cache...took our photo with a landmark and answered some questions about the area... it was a lot of fun. We did end up finding a nice cache on highway 503 to leave the travel bug in.. now we will watch to see where it goes *fingers crossed it heads to it's destination* Geo caching is a great way to get out as a family and really learn a lot of history and a lot about the area.
The rest of Saturday was full of beautiful views of the mountains.. and small hikes in the woods to explore things like beautiful lakes.. we went as far up the mountain as we can but will have to head back after may to see the view from the top.. still please with our photos.. were able to get some with just a few clouds.. that is pretty good for Washington. It was nice to watch the kids as they saw how even 30 years after the eruption that you can still very clearly tell.. in places it looks like mars or something from star trek.
We then drove to Vancouver Washington, one because we have a hotel that we like to stay in there.. and two because we all wanted Red Robin for dinner.. well the hotel worked out ok.. but the restaurant was FULL..so we drove around and did not really find anything else we loved.. so we tried a burgerville.. it sucked. Will not eat there ever again.. just plan ick.. and over priced.
Sunday we got up and planned on heading up highway 503 to the south side of St Helens. It was warm and sunny and we decided since we were so close that we would slip over the border into Oregon and drive through Portland ... we all love it there. Dave found a parking spot near the Saturday market (yes they have it on Sunday too) so we got out and spent a little over an hour just walking around seeing the sights and smelling the smells... it was so much fun.. watched some break dancers from Portland City Rockers doing their thing. We then headed back to Washington and to Mt St Helens.
Highway 503 up the mountain is abit more laid back and less touristy than 504. The signs of the eruption are not from the 1980 eruption but from ones many of thousands of years ago... had a picnic lunch at yale park... it was so beautiful.. picnic table right on the water. Then up to the ape caves.... we were not all sure if we would like this or not.. you climb underground in some tunnels that were made from the lava flow a long time ago.. it is very very dark and wet in there.... we LOVED it. We did the bottom hike.. you go in and hike down 3/4 of a mile then hike back up... next time we want to go in and go the other way..do the harder hike up 1.5 miles.. it goes over some rock hills and you have to crawl for some of it and you climb out on a ladder...we will be going back to explore that.. we will be a little better prepared.. some extra lights.. and gloves.. and knee pads.
By the time we done and back to I-5 we had a long drive to get home... we arrived home about midnight and quickly everyone went off to get some sleep before the long Monday started. That is the only problem with adventures.. is reality sets in nice and hard come Monday morning.
Click here to view more photos of our weekend.
~Michelle
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Amazing Beach Day
I am sure I will be going a bit overboard with the beach walks... but.. they are my thing right now.. big time.. even though I hurt by the end of a 3 hour adventure on the beach... I can not stay away. I started just walking on the beach... then started collecting sea glass and shells... and I have always liked to pick up cool rocks from anywhere.. and now a friend has me looking for agates. I also love the animals I see.. eagles and sea gulls and crabs and snails and fish and bugs. Sometimes I see other people.. sometimes I do not... every single trip down the beach I find treasures and have adventures. I love it!
Last night we were watching one of the Life Series and it was about Creatures of the Deep.. we have watched most of these and they are AMAZING.. the video and the photography is like no other. This one goes to an ocean floor and talks about starfish...(and many other things) I mentioned that I do not think we have starfish on our beach since I have never seen one.. (like I know everything) Hubby said we have some on our beach too... well one day I will remember to never doubt him. Today I was walking on the beach and not only did I see a starfish.. I saw three.. and they were amazing. I also saw a big snail thing.. sort of grossed me out.. but it was so cool.
I also think I found a lot of agates... not 100% sure yet.. but whatever they are.. they are great.. the light shines through them and they glow and my mind is going over a million things we could do with them. I was lucky enough today to find some new colors of sea glass to add to my collection too.. a light green one and a charcoal one... also added three more of the icy blue color I love. I do LOVE beach walks.
Click here (flickr) to view more photos of todays adventure!
~Michelle
Last night we were watching one of the Life Series and it was about Creatures of the Deep.. we have watched most of these and they are AMAZING.. the video and the photography is like no other. This one goes to an ocean floor and talks about starfish...(and many other things) I mentioned that I do not think we have starfish on our beach since I have never seen one.. (like I know everything) Hubby said we have some on our beach too... well one day I will remember to never doubt him. Today I was walking on the beach and not only did I see a starfish.. I saw three.. and they were amazing. I also saw a big snail thing.. sort of grossed me out.. but it was so cool.
I also think I found a lot of agates... not 100% sure yet.. but whatever they are.. they are great.. the light shines through them and they glow and my mind is going over a million things we could do with them. I was lucky enough today to find some new colors of sea glass to add to my collection too.. a light green one and a charcoal one... also added three more of the icy blue color I love. I do LOVE beach walks.
Click here (flickr) to view more photos of todays adventure!
~Michelle
Beach Finds
Yesterday was a wonderful day for beach walking.. the tide was way out.. and the sun was warm... the water was so quite.. one of those days that you sit on a log and watch the fishing boats go by... you can listen to the grandpas telling their fish tales.
I saw eagle sitting in a tree and watched him for awhile.... he waited to fly until I had turned around for a moment.. I did see him later down the beach and was able to get a quick photo of him flying away....The water had gone out far enough I was able to get around some trees that had slid down the bank that most days block off a part of the beach.. it was great exploring the other side... climbing around on the drift wood and pretending like I as on a desert island searching for treasures. A lot of the adventures I have on the beach remind me of being a little girl and playing in the woods.. it does not take long for my imagination to take over and I can step into a pretend world. I did find some beautiful treasures today.. I found the sea glass pictured above and some beautiful agates that glow in the sunshine.
~Michelle
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Hello, Hi and Welcome
Well I have decided to start a new online life. When I first started online I was making wine charms / glass identifiers so the name of glass~identities worked well. Now I make lots of other things and there are many more ideas I would like to explore. I wanted a new name with a new look to throw some new ideas into. This is it :)
I know using my own name is not very creative... but.. it will cover anything and everything that I want to explore.. and it is who I am and who I love being. While trying to come up with other names I knew I needed to go with something I love.. and well..I love being me.
I want this blog and this whole online presence to have a lot of me in it... means sometimes I may talk about what I am making.. or what I am doing.. what I am seeing or hearing or feeling... I might share about my family or my friends or my home. One will never know what will be found here but it will all tie back to me :) *hint if you do not like me then this might not be the place to plan on coming back to* I want this to be a fun place.. but I also want to be able to share my "bumps in the road of my life" type of experiences too.
I am glad you are here visiting.. and I do hope you will stick around and come back often... I am hoping for a lot of interaction on this blog.. as I love reading what people have to say as much, if not more than I love writing what I am thinking. I do tend to follow back and interact with those who leave me comments here... as I am sure is how it works for most bloggers :)
I will be adding my links on the right hand side.. for all my new accounts.. would love to have you add me on any of those :)
~Michelle
I know using my own name is not very creative... but.. it will cover anything and everything that I want to explore.. and it is who I am and who I love being. While trying to come up with other names I knew I needed to go with something I love.. and well..I love being me.
I want this blog and this whole online presence to have a lot of me in it... means sometimes I may talk about what I am making.. or what I am doing.. what I am seeing or hearing or feeling... I might share about my family or my friends or my home. One will never know what will be found here but it will all tie back to me :) *hint if you do not like me then this might not be the place to plan on coming back to* I want this to be a fun place.. but I also want to be able to share my "bumps in the road of my life" type of experiences too.
I am glad you are here visiting.. and I do hope you will stick around and come back often... I am hoping for a lot of interaction on this blog.. as I love reading what people have to say as much, if not more than I love writing what I am thinking. I do tend to follow back and interact with those who leave me comments here... as I am sure is how it works for most bloggers :)
I will be adding my links on the right hand side.. for all my new accounts.. would love to have you add me on any of those :)
~Michelle
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