Having Fun While Waiting

We went for a walk at Illahee State Park.  This giant tree fell over.  At the top end the tree was taller than my head.

The tide was low and this gull caught a crab.

The Puget Sound is a beautiful area.

Low Tide exposes barnacles on the posts of the dock.  The dock rises with the water.

We found a crab on top of a purple starfish clinging to the post.

Wild flowers bloom in the woods.  I don't know the name of this one but I did learn the name of the bright yellow flowering shrubs that line every highway.  Just by looking at how much there was of this pretty shrub I knew it was an invasive species.  The name is Scotch broom and it is everywhere.

The forest looks like a rainforest because vines crawl up the trunks of trees and moss dangles down from the branches.  Everything is lush and green.  The fir trees have the most interesting vertical strips that add texture to the trunks.  The azalea bushes are HUGE and come is a wide variety of colors.  The evergreen shrubs grow so well here compared to Minnesota.  Some of the flowering trees are so pretty my eyes can't believe it.  One had dangling purple flowers all over it.  The purple flowers hung down unlike a lilac but it did smell like lilac and even look like lilac.  Another tree had six inch yellow flowers dangling from the trip of every branch.  I see holly growing in the woods.  I would love to garden here.