Ramble with Me

Puget Sound… May 25, 2007

I live in the beautiful Puget Sound area of NW Washington State. I’ve lived all over the country…Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Texas…never, ever, have I found an area more beautiful than here.

When I moved here with my family, I was expecting what everyone thought about the Seattle area…rain rain rain…

Yes, we have our share of rain. But quite frankly, most of the rain comes in the winter, and that’s no different than snow in the Midwest and East. It can be quite gloomy in the winter, but no more gloomy than other areas.

But the summers are spectacular, as are the spring and fall…and the winters when it’s clear are breathtaking. You look east and you see the Cascade mountains. You look west, and you see the Olympia mountain range (the range that makes up the big peninsula in the puget sound).

You look south and you see her…the most spectacular of them all, Mount Rainer. Nothing is more spectacular than that. You come around the corner of a road and suddenly in front of you is this huge mountain, standing on it’s own, snow covered, right in front of you filling your field of vision. Fantastic. Sometimes when it’s foggy or low clouds around, you see a layer of clouds at the base with the mountain sticking up above the clouds…giving her one of her many nicknames…the floating mountain.

The weather? The weather is cool but not cold in the winter…warm but not hot in the summer. We moved here in May from Dallas two years ago. When we left it was 105 degrees in Dallas. When we got here, it was 87 and everyone was commenting on how hot it was. It rarely hits the 90′s int he summer, mostly it stays in the 70′s and 80′s. Winter will hit low 30′s, but rarely the 20′s. We get some snow but not a lot. We live on a hill, so the snow may stay several days, but no longer. Just enough to enjoy it without getting tired of it.

The rain gives the area a lush green everywhere. We live in a home southeast of Seattle, in a nice little development built in the ’80s. We have towering trees in our yard (100′ plus). Our back yard is backed by a solid wall of green trees and shrubs…all natural from the green belt. Delicious wild rasberries grow in the mix. Just behind it, the quite sound of a creek flowing. Pushing thru the thick brings you to a small flowing stream. In the winter, the creek sounds loud and fills the evening quiet. In the summer, it shares the sounds with abundant wildlife.

We often have deer come and sit under a tree in our backyard. A family of raccoons walk by occassionally. Coyote’s can be heard in the background. And we don’t even live “out in the country”. We live in a development with lots of neighbors, all with the same view.

Hundreds of day hikes in the woods and mountains are around. Most of them follow a stream or river for some distance, large enough for a mid-hike plunge into freezing water, perfect for the kids. Many pass by huge waterfalls. Remember the falls at the biginning of the TV show Twin Peaks? This is Snoqualmie falls about 20 minutes from our house.

Along the path, mini waterfalls (2′-6′ high cricks) are commonplace.

Near perfection. We love it here. We have found our sanctuary.

We are finally home.