Coral Colored Thingys

Updated June 14th at 7:30 pm: My readers have informed me that these are Poppies! Thank you all.









Temple Square Gardens – Tuesday, June 7th

Mt. Rainier, DC

Starting the climb in fresh snow.



Taking a break.
















Mt. Adams and the Tatoosh Range.







Tent city on the Cowlitz Glacier at Camp Muir.









Camp Muir above a sea of clouds with Mount Adams in background.




Sunrise with Little Tahoma on the right. Mount Stuart Range on the left.



Ascending Disappointment Cleaver.




The Ingraham Ice Fall.






Bethany's high point. The top of Disappointment Cleaver at 12,300'! Gibraltar Rock and Mt. Adams in the background.











Four of the finest on top of Rainier!(Jim, Mark, Theresa and Dave)




Descending Disappointment Cleaver. The tiny dots, at the top center, are tents at Ingraham Flats.

Brookgreen Gardens~The Sculptures

There are so many fabulous parts to this place that it is impossible to say which part is the best. I can say that the sculptures were the most surprising part to us.



We knew there would be some sculptures from the website, but we didn't truly envision how many there were and how grand some of them were.





It is hard to put into words how emotionally touching they were.








There were so many and they were all so beautiful that it was hard to absorb it all. I couldn't even begin to share them all here. I am going to share a few today and share some more later.

Broadway VA to Mercersburg PA

Today we traveled to Mercersburg, PA. It was only a few hours away from Mom's house, so it was a very short travel day.

Hole in the Rock

There seem to be more beleivable skulls in these rocks.

A Real Classic: Vintage Gazelle

My heart skipped a beat when I spotted this vintage Gazelle bicycle near Central Square in Cambridge. It was chained to a tree with an enormous lock, so clearly the owner is fond of it.

Judging by the decal designs and the amount of rust on the frame, I would say this Gazelle is from the 1970s. However, the cream Delta Cruiser tires look brand new, and the "O-Lock" on the back wheel looks like a recent addition. I am not sure what is that thing on the stem above the headlight mount - perhaps another lock? And the round black object on the handlebars opposite of the bell perplexes me as well. If you know what these are, please do tell.

The old headbadges were gorgeous; I do wish they'd kept them on the modern bikes!

Fork crown and dynamo for the headlight.

Rear fender with the "cotton-tail" white end and an integrated rear reflector. Love the look of those!

Gazelle was the first bicycle I fell in love with when I discovered the Dutch/transport style bikes. They have been manufacturing bicycles since 1892 and have the status of a “royal” manufacturer, which is why you will sometimes see the brand name written as The Royal Dutch Gazelle. It was wonderful to see this vintage examplar, holding up after decades of use and cross-Continental travel.

Cousins, all dressed up!

Even though none of my ancestors are included, this is one of my favorite family photographs. I love the hats and the dresses. And just look how small their waists are!

Hazlette Wise, Grace Zinsmeister, and Ethel Wise.
Not dated but I'd guess about 1905-1910.

Hazlette Wise (1885-1977), daughter of William P. and Sophia (Dunfee) Wise, married Harlo Burns on October 10, 1911 in Whitley County, Indiana. They had two sons: Maurice Wise Burns who was born on July 31, 1912 and died on October 2, 1912. The other son, Thagrus Burns, was born in 1917 and recently celebrated his 91st birthday. My grandmother, Hazlette Brubaker, was named after Aunt Hazlette, who was in turn named after her great-grandmother Sophia Elizabeth Hazlett Dunfee.

Grace Zinsmeister (1888-1983) was the daughter of Rosilla "Rose" Wise and John Zinsmeister. Rose was the sister of William P. Wise. The Zinsmeister's moved to Lorain, Ohio just prior to 1900 and lived there the remainder of their lives though, apparently, they made several visits to the folks back in Indiana. Grace was a school teacher in Lorain for many years.

Ethel Wise (1882-1966) was the daughter of James Roscoe and Miriam Minerva (Blain) Wise. Ethel married George Weick in 1919, when she was 36 years old. They owned and operated a shoe store in Columbia City.

The parents of the girls (William, Rose, and James) were the children of Jacob and Malissa (Stem) Wise.

Passiflora caerulea

Blue crown passionvine in bloom in my garden during June.

Mt. Rainier, Ptarmigan Ridge

Tina drove Mark and I around to Mowich Lake and dropped us off. We would have to climb Ptarmigan Ridge and descend the easier Emmons Glacier to get to the other car waiting at the White River Campground. This picture shows the northwest side of Mt. Rainier. Ptarmigan Ridge is on the left.
Moss covered rocks by a small creek.
The "entrance" to Spray Park.
Kids playing on the snow at Spray Park.
Colorful rocks and Indian paintbrush on the lower slopes of Ptarmigan Ridge.
This is what we came to climb! A steep 2,000' face, the icy chute below the buttress and a short rock climb.
Our route is shown in red.
The snow was absolutely perfect. It was firm, but not too hard for crampons or ice axes.
The air was about 40 degrees and calm. There wasn't any rock or ice fall while we were climbing.
Mark swinging his ice tool near the top of the face.
The sun rising near the Stuart Range as seen from 12,000'.
After climbing the face, we had two options. One was to go left and cross below a large ice cliff and get right on the Liberty Cap Glacier. We chose to go right, break out the ice screws and climb the icy chute below the rock buttress.
The ice was also in great shape.
The views looking down on the glaciers and valleys were amazing.
The last obstacle was this exit gully. It was a bit of a challenge to climb rock wearing crampons and carrying a large pack.
Our shadows projected onto the rock as we head towards Liberty Cap.
Climbers moving over the sun and wind sculpted snow at about 13,500'.
Mark checking out a bergschrund near the summit.
Doug and Mark on Liberty Cap.
A black bear at Glacier Basin.
It was a nice change to approach a climb on Mt. Rainier from a new area. It was great to finally make it up Ptarmigan Ridge. This is one climb we will never forget!