Down by the River

Our new home town has a river running through it -- the mighty Columbia, which rolls on and on.

There is a riverfront trail that stretches for seven miles.  The Hounds and I have been exploring different sections.

And of course, there has been wading.

This spot was particularly lovely, so I paused for a while to do a sketch.

Another day, another section of the trail, and a visit to one of the parks alongside it:

There are plenty of benches for rest stops.

This partially uprooted tree along the river bank made for a fun drawing challenge:

The Hounds did not dive off the dock here, though they thought about it.

The main park along the trail has docks, swimming areas, kayak rentals and classes, and in the summer there are riverboats that stop there.

There are swinging seats in this park, which are ever so relaxing.

Of course, it hasn't been All River All the Time.  One morning we ventured out to the Park at the Lakes in West Richland, and along the way I spotted this sign:

How wonderful that they named a street after my dog.

I did some more sketching there:

And of course, there has also been birding -- or at least, an attempt at birding.  This is W.E. Johnson Park, which is on the Washington State Birding Trail as a designated spot for good birds:

It has a 3-mile loop trail through brush and trees, and I'm sure it's good at certain times of the year, because I've birded there before and seen many wonderful avian critters.  But apparently I chose the wrong day, because the birds were few and far between, or flying far away, or doing a great job of hiding in the brush.

I did get a pic of a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow before it skittered off to hide in the brush:

And there were several cooperative Mourning Doves hanging about:

After being frustrated by several birds that flew overhead before I could snap their picture, I took to taking photos of Things That Were Not Birds, such as landscape:

And equestrians:

In fact, this park is apparently quite popular with horseback riders, as there were large piles of horse droppings all over the trail, which made my outing slightly less than enchanting.

I also snapped a few insects -- they turned out to be more cooperative than the birds.  And then I used my brand new copy of Pacific Northwest Insects by Merrill Peterson (which I helped to proofread) to identify them.  I'm pretty sure this is a Small Wood-nymph Butterfly:

And this might be a Western Banded Skipper moth, or not, but it is at least some kind of skipper moth:

And here are three of those little skipper moths being photobombed by a Bluet damselfly:

So there may not have been many birds, but the insect life was certainly educational.

Meanwhile, the house-hunting forays continue -- I've seen quite a few now, and some were pretty darn interesting.  My favorite so far was the one built in 1964 that hadn't changed much since then -- it was wallpapered within an inch of its life, including a living room decked out with Asian landscape-and-pagoda paper that was fabulous to behold.  The kitchen had a toaster that pulled out from inside the wall, and cookbook-holders that pulled down from beneath the cabinets.  The master bath had a cathedral ceiling with skylight and a chandelier.  Wow.

Check it out:

This is the downstairs kitchen -- the upstairs one was a lot bigger.

Bathroom!

I loved it.  However, it was 2150sf and near the tippy top of my price range.  A friendly neighbor pointed out that I could rent out the basement as it had a kitchen, bath, living room, two bedrooms, and a separate entrance, but the whole place needed work and it was a bit too much.  Loads of fun to look at, though. 

So the search shall continue -- stay tuned for the regularly scheduled Monday updates!

Adventures in the Atomic City

Well, the Hounds and I have landed safely in Richland, WA, AKA the Atomic City due to its role in the Manhattan Project and subsequent atomic energy production.  It's also the place I grew up and the place I am buying a house as soon as I can find one, having retired from Seattle.

While waiting for the perfect house to turn up, Truman and Pippin and I have been out Doing Stuff, since the alternative is hanging around Not Doing Stuff, which is rather dull on the whole. 

On Friday we went to the Farmer's Market, which takes up a good three blocks of a small shopping area every week from June through October.

I bought two loaves of bread:  asiago, and maple-bacon.  The Hounds were quite popular (and they weren't the only pups there in a stroller!).

The Market is close to the river, so after shopping, we tootled on down there, passing the art gallery on the way.

We went for a walk through Howard Amon Park (named for an early settler) in 75-degree sunshine.

The Hounds enjoyed cooling off in the Columbia River.

On Saturday I met up with the local Audubon society group for a bird walk on Bateman Island.  This 160-acre island is connected to the land via a causeway (pedestrian only), and had just re-opened after a fire destroyed much of the habitat over a year earlier.  It has rebounded nicely.

We spotted 60 species during the 3-hour walk, including this Downy Woodpecker:

We heard and saw at least ten Gray Catbirds.

We were pretty sure this is a juvenile Yellow-rumped Warbler:

This is a Western Tanager:

We had a grand view of the Columbia River at the end of the island trail.  There were plenty of birds out there -- just too far away to photograph.  Pelicans, cormorants, egrets, gulls, shorebirds galore.  Plus Caspian Terns diving for fish, which was ever so fun to watch. 

We had some non-avian critters as well:

I'm fairly certain this is a Valley Grasshopper, thanks to my copy of Pacific Northwest Insects (by Merrill Peterson), which I helped proofread.

And this is a Cabbage Butterfly:

There were around 25 people on the walk, and I chatted with half a dozen of them or so, and they all seemed like fine folks. 

On Sunday the Hounds and I returned to the riverfront in Richland, where a riverboat was at anchor:

We had another nice stroll:

And another dip:

Then we checked out the annual Tumbleweed Music Festival, which features folk music, art/craft vendors, and food.  Here we are checking out the craft vendors:

And here we are listening to music.

And at lunch time I grabbed a burger.  The Hounds may have gotten a bite or two.

I couldn't help noticing that there were no big crowds anywhere.  Perhaps they came later in the afternoon or evening, but while we were there, it was low-key and pleasant, and quite a change from attending any kind of event in Seattle.  I was able to drive there in five minutes, found parking right away, right at the park, and was able to walk around without being squashed by my fellow humans. 

I even got a quick sketch in:

Afterwards, the Hounds were a little wet and a little tired.

As for house-hunting, there isn't a lot available at the moment.  I drove by several prospects, but did not like one thing or another about them, and I went to one open house which looked a whole lot better in the photos than it did in person (which I know from my own house sale is all due to trick lighting).  I also checked out the house next door to my mother's, and it was swell, though most likely not available until the end of October. 

Stay tuned to see what happens next in the Atomic City!