The highlight of the day was a private tour of Kubota Garden with Barb; she has been volunteering there as a docent for about 10 years. She showed us her favorite places. Unlike Bonhoeffer Gardens which we walked through on Friday & the Northwest Stream Center that we toured yesterday, Kubota Garden was not meant to be a natural area. It was started in 1927 as an area where Fujitarō Kubota could show prospective clients what different types of Japanese-inspired gardens could look like. And while it is not a naturally grown garden, due to the Japanese style of gardening & Fujitarō Kubota's skill at transplanting mature trees, the plantings appear very old & natural. When she leads tour groups, Barb incorporates information in to the tour about treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II; the Kubotas were not exempt. They were lucky to still have the property to return to after they were released from the concentration camps but it had been neglected during the war & much needed to be done to return it to its previous beauty.
Approaching Entry Gate & Ornamental Wall.
Kai views garden from Window Overlook.
Spring Pond as seen from Terrace Overlook.
Dry laid rock walls of Terrace Overlook built by stone masons from Japan.
Turtles sunning themselves in Spring Pond; not able to get clear enough look for a positive identification.
Stone Garden made from rocks repurposed from old residential job done by Kubota Landscaping.
Marker for traditional Japanese Garden that was built in 1930's.
View from Lookout, 65 feet above surrounding garden.
There were a couple of interesting signs at Kubota Garden that did not have anything to do with plants; one was about coyotes. There was also an information kiosk with volunteer opportunities & events.
I really like this sign!
Just outside Entry Plaza.
This morning, while waiting for Kai to pick me up, I got to take a look at the photo album that Darla received when she retired last year. One the projects she is most proud of is the Little Bear Creek Advance Mitigation site. Here is a video that explains more about the site & has footage of the before & after conditions.
Retirees from Public Works can also have a personalized sign made for them. Most people choose signs of their names; my sign says, "Takatani ʻŌhana" which will be installed on the driveway gate. Darla went a different route with a "Do Not Disturb" (the retiree) sign that she designed to be similar to the Native Growth Protection Area signs we install on our mitigation sites.
After loading up all my things from Darla's, we headed to breakfast at Barbara & Bruce's house. There was a surprise waiting there for us, Bo's wife Barbara also joined us for breakfast! (Bo is still in Sweden.) Barbara made Swedish pancakes for breakfast & served them with various preserves.
Fancy table settings!
Swedish pancakes! Yum!
A wonderful breakfast! I'll be back for more!
Following the tour at Kubota Garden, we headed for Karen's house in Renton where we will stay overnight for my very early flight home tomorrow. The tour of the garden was planned specifically for today because it is in south Seattle & closer to Renton than any of the other places I was staying at. Karen & David prepared a wonderful fresh grilled salmon dinner; Ursula, Rei, & Aunty Florence also joined us for dinner. It was good to see the family again.
(Clockwise from right) Grilled salmon, sourdough rolls, tofu dish, cherry tomatoes; coleslaw in center.
Mixed fruit tart.
Rei cuts the tart, while Justine supervises & Aunty Florence prepares the serving plates & forks.
I got to see a lot of people on this visit starting of course with Kai when he picked me up at the airport. I think there were over 60 friends & family that I saw in 10 days. I saw Anne, Mary Kay, Mark, Charlie, Barb Y., Jen, Susan, Isaiah, Daphne, Kyle, Marnie, Shabbir, Ruqqya, David G., Paul, Percy & Kai Chan, Jeannine,
Janice, Mohammed, Eleta, Ananda, Morgan, Gulshan, Mary Ellen, Michael, Emanuel, Amelia, Irene, Gary, Norm, Carole, Lani, Crilly, Darla, Jim, Chris, Ernie, Jairul, Uncle Bruce, Bea, Tom, Lorna, Darrell, Keith, Tong, Daryl, Barb O., Tim, Dr. Tom, Kerry, Barbara E., Bruce E., Barbara T., Aunty Florence, Karen, David O., Justine, & Rei. We also saw doggy friends Koda, Joey, Jasper, Maple, Louie, Maximus, & Ollie. And kitty friends Cake, Jasmine, Sparkle, & Puakiko. No wonder Kai says I need to build in a day in the middle of my visit so he can recharge after having to deal with too many people! I can run him out of spoons quite easily.
I slept in Rei's bedroom; she & Ursula were at their dad's this weekend but came to have dinner with us. I am wondering why there is a black-tailed deer head in her room. He seems to be wondering, Who's in Rei's bed?
Before going to sleep, I usually do a Duolingo lesson. Tonight before
I started, it told me I had been demoted. Again. Not surprising since I
have been so busy I have not been able to do many lessons.
I also downloaded the boarding pass QR code to my phone. Alaska has gone heavily in to nearly everything being digital! Guess you're out of luck if you're not tech savvy.
The next episode of the eruption at Kīlauea is anticipated to start between the 3rd & the 6th.
About 5 weeks ago Tom called me; he had tracked me down through the Leeward Planning Commission. He told me they were going to hold the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Adopt-a-Stream Foundation today & wanted to know, was I going to be in Washington? He wanted to honor those of us who were there with him when he started the Adopt-a-Stream program. I told him I had no plans thus would not be there. Then a couple days later I found out about Norm's complications from surgery & thought, perhaps I should go; but still sat on the fence. A week later in a conversation with Tomiko, she asked if I could take her bag of equipment to Seattle if I decided to go; that was the 3rd thing that tipped the scales in favor of a trip. So here I am today at the Adopt-a-Stream 40th Anniversary celebration at the Northwest Stream Center! Besides seeing Tom, while there I also saw Lorna & Darrell, Keith, Tong, Daryl, Tim, Louise, Barb, Dr. Tom, Kerry, & David!
Tom with the current staff & volunteers.
Tom (center with mic), Barb is to Tom's right.
After the presentation, Kai & I walked along the 1/2 mile long Elevated Forest & Wetland Walk; it was very different from the Bonhoeffer Botanical Gardens trail we walked on yesterday. The return portion of the trail was not visible at all from the portion of the trail we were on, unlike Bonhoeffer. There was also no artwork placed in the stream or wetland.
Entrance to gift shop.
Kai checks out one of the signs.
There were several interpretive signs along the way, though not as many as the Bonhoeffer Gardens & much smaller in size & impact area. They also weren't as jam packed with so much information that the font & photos had to be reduced in size. The individual plant signs also gave you a brief description of the plant & its ethnobotanical use; it was easy to find the plant the sign indicated.
This is sign Kai was reading.
This is duck he saw.
Close-up of duck.
The cedar cathedral.
You can easily find this plant.
There was also a wetland restoration area (& more) that was part of the process to mitigate for impacts caused by putting a boardwalk in the critical area & buffer. We did not get to see everything at the Northwest Stream Center. On a future visit, I would definitely like to see the Trout Stream Exhibit & Native Wetland Plant Pollinator Meadow. If there is enough time, I would also like to see the Gate House, Entry Trail, & Solar Demonstration Project. Nearly all of these things became operational after I moved back home.
The Forest Loop Trail is on the other side of North Creek from the Northwest Stream Center. It is part of the McCollum Park facility. I would also like to walk that trail on a future visit.
Northwest Stream Center is cluster of buildings below creek near center of map.
I like the sign for the bathroom at the Northwest Stream Center. It is humorous but points out the most important part about using the restroom, Wash your hands!
Darla's guest room that I am staying in has a great view of a snag that is frequented by many birds who greet me in the morning. When she bought the house a number of years ago, it was a live Black Cottonwood tree. But after several years of watching it lean towards the house during storms, she had it topped & girdled to keep the house & its occupants safe while creating useful habitat. It is a very beneficial addition to the natural area behind her house!
We ended the day with dinner with Darla & Jim. Jim cooked the main meal & Darla made a side dish to go along with it. Everything was delicious & the staff was delightful! I would come back to this place to eat again! We also talked about them coming to visit; Darla was all for it, but Jim initially said he would not go but she could. But then he found out he could hunt for invasive Axis Deer, Mouflon, & feral pigs. My homework for when I return home: find out about hunting regulations & guides!
The presentation was also well done!
The next episode of the eruption at Kīlauea is expected by late next week.
We met Jairul at the entrance to the Bonhoeffer Botanical Gardens outside of Stanwood; she has permission to be on this private property with her guests. It was a garden created in 2002 without permits with trails through a stream & its adjacent wetlands; all the work appears to be within critical areas or their buffer. It has not been able to get permits in its current configuration & likely never will without extensive modifications to reduce impacts to critical areas as well as provide mitigation for the current impacts. The lack of maintenance has taken a toll on the gardens which are reverting back to a more natural state. I met Jairul about 17 years ago through the Snohomish County Mycological Society, i. e., mushroom club, which she was president of at the time.
The approximately 3/4 mile trail is too close to stream & wetlands.
Interpretive signs had a lot of information.
But plant signs only had name & QR codes that were too close together to easily get info; plants were frequently missing.
Jairul at Kiosk #3.
Placement of glass art above information panel is great!
However, they should not be displayed in middle of stream; too much unnecessary impact.
Apparently History Farm now gone; not sure why property owner removed it.
As we were leaving, we saw a kettle of Turkey Vultures circling overhead. It felt like Mother Nature's commentary on the state of the botanical gardens & farm.
While having breakfast with Lani a couple days ago, she told us about The Store Grocery in Anacortes; Kai was not aware of it even though it is only about 10 minutes from his house. She raved about the muffins, which she said were like cakes! We had to try them out so we went there for breakfast this morning since they also have a deli that serves breakfasts, sandwiches, wraps, & salads. We also bought some muffins to take to Bruce & Bea's later in the evening for dessert.
So many choices!
(Clockwise from top left) Cranberry Cream, Turtle (pecans, chocolate, caramel), Fresh Peach, Blueberry Lemonade, White Chocolate Raspberry, & High Energy Bran (dates, walnuts, carrots, zucchini, raisins).
This was the sign on back of bathroom door.
We stopped by the SeaBear Smokehouse so I could pick up some omiyage. They have several different types of fresh as well as cured salmon products as well as items from their cherry orchard in eastern Washington. We also met Ella who used to live in Hawaiʻi. Her husband was stationed at Schofield Barracks & their son (who still lives in Hawaiʻi) graduated from Punahou School.
I think this guy lurking in parking lot is Tom Savidge, founder of SeaBear Smokehouse.
Ella was very helpful!
Near the on-ramp to Interstate-5 is an interesting business; the large sign out front advertised "Seafood" & "Blueberries". We checked out the fresh produce by the front door of Skagit's Own Fish Market but found no blueberries even though it was surrounded by blueberry fields! When we asked about blueberries we found out it is really 2 separate businesses; they rent space from the blueberry farm. Outside we found the blueberries under a canopy; it is the seasonal part of the business at this place. I guess it's a good deal for both businesses.
Unfortunately fresh seafood won't make it home as omiyage.
But things like these will.
We got some fresh blueberries to go along with the muffins for dessert.
When we got to Seattle, Bruce greeted us at the car; it had been over 2 decades since we had last seen him! I met Bruce about 45 years ago when he answered an ad for a room for rent in our cooperative household. And Uncle Bruce has known Kai since he was born! Bea came in to our lives when Kai was about 5 years old. It's been way too long since we have seen them! Unfortunately, I was more focused on catching up with them after my bathroom break that I did not get any photos of them or our dinner!
Old-fashioned laundry chute in the bathroom.
The pig collection reminded me of the feral pigs at home.
The next episode of the eruption at Kīlauea is still looking like it will start some time next week.
