Melmont Ghost Town Hike #23

This morning 6 people and 1 dog headed out to find the Melmont Ghost Town about 7 miles south of Buckley.  The trip started with an unexpected detour due to a bridge closure, which added about another 4 miles to our drive.  Then the rain started even though it was forecast for dry and partly sunny skies.  Ahhhh...fall in the PNW.  We found the Fairfax bridge & maneuvered off the road into a makeshift parking spot as there really isn't any parking at the "trailhead" which is basically just a hop over the guardrail and down a quite precarious hill (thankfully they put in a metal cable with some hand holds).  Once down we encountered a lot of mud and puddles on the trail.  We did see the remains of an old dynamite depot and a stone wall.  We didn't go left when the road split but continued on and a few miles down ran into some folks who said they had kept going and didn't find the ghost town.  It wasn't until later that we realized we should have gone left at that first junction.  Oops!  So we never found the ghost town, but we got in hike #23 on our quest of 26 hikes.  We also found lots of cool mushrooms--Teresa took some to eat later if they turned out to be edible.  We also discovered the Fairfax Bridge which was really cool, old and a bit scary to cross--it has definitely seen better days.  The sun did come out about halfway through the hike, so that was nice.  Another semi successful hike.  Glad our friends came out to explore with us!

The Fairfax Bridge over the Carbon River.

Getting down was a little harder than usual due to the mud and slick rocks. 

Old dynamite depot.

The Carbon River which was far below the bridge.

James, Michele, Teresa, Clarissa and Scott

Jack-O-Lantern

Hard to believe Halloween is just around the corner!  Since we haven't had the chance to go to any of the local pumpkin patches yet, today we found a pumpkin at Fred Meyer so Gabby would have a chance to carve it.  She decided on a scared face and I think it turned out pretty good!

 

Digging the guts out is always the worst part!

Postmodern Jukebox Concert

Last Sunday Gabby, Scott & I attended a Postmodern Jukebox concert at the Paramount Theater in Seattle.  This was the third time Gabby has been to one of their concerts (the other two were down in Arcata).  They played modern songs with a 1920's twist to them.  There were so many talented performers and we enjoyed the energy of the audience.  Several people also dressed up in 20's attire, which was cool.  We had a great time!

Happy Birthday Corey!

Happy Birthday to Corey-bear who turns 24 today!  Hard to believe that it's been 24 years since that kid turned us into parents.  Corey is one of our favorite people to hang out with because she is always up for an anything.  Now that she's out on her own and learning to "adult" I hope that she will still find time for new adventures...and takes us along, too!  We love you, Corey!

Here are a few photos from her time in Europe earlier this year with her friend Amanda that I don't think I ever posted...

Day 5-Lemon Grove and Imperial Beach

This was our last full day in San Diego and also the sunniest.  We rode the trolley out to Lemon Grove to see the World's Biggest Lemon then down to Imperial Beach, which was very cute.  Definitely what I picture in my mind when I think of the quintessential California beach town.  We had lunch there and then walked out on the wooden pier.  It was a wonderful trip and I can't wait until our next one!

Kind of hard to see, but that is downtown San Diego in the background.

I thought all the surfboard benches were a cute idea. 

Day 4-Japanese Friendship Garden, Botanical Building & Afternoon Tea

Warning: lots of flower pictures ahead!  We spent most of the morning at the Japanese Friendship Garden.  It was really beautiful, big and quite hilly, which was unexpected.  We kind of stumbled upon the Botanical Building, which was a pleasant surprise with all its amazing orchids.  Afterward we strolled along the rose garden before heading back to Old Town to have afternoon tea at the Coral House.  The tea and service were lovely.

They had a few Bonsai plants. This is a bougainvillea, one of my favorite flowers. 

This is a Camellia plant.

There were lots of cute little bridges to cross.

These lily pads were outside the Botanical Building

A small portion of the rose garden.

We saw this in Old Town on our way back to the trolley.