Roslyn

  It was a rainy weekend and we decided to do what we often do when faced with a rainy weekend:  grab the daughter and the dog and head east over the mountains.  In about an hour the sun begins peeking through the clouds and pretty soon you're in sunny Kittitas County.  Or "Kitti-tatas" as my daughter pronounces it.  Spot the "A" on the Google map below and you're at the place:

We'd brought a picnic with the intention of having lunch on the rocky banks of the Cle Elum River at Salmon le Sac but stopped for a restroom break in the old mining town of Roslyn.  Roslyn has never shed the glamor it attained decades ago as the setting for "Northern Exposure."  You're not going to see it in the screenshot below, though.

As I've done with past explorations, I try to discover the secret algorithm that Google street view uses when you enter the name of the town.  For Roslyn, the letter "A" denotes Google's "center" of town.  In this instance it's mid-block at 1st and Pennsylvania, facing the Pennsylvania Building.  This building is about as un-Roslyn as you can get, but now I'm oriented, Google-style.  Except the restrooms are one street down.  To get there, I cross the street:

 and bask in its bustle, its quirky charm and free parking.

It has a certain funky appeal made all the more so when we discovered what awaited us across the road from the restrooms:

Restrooms opposite Pioneer Park, Roslyn

This is the way Pioneer Park usually looks,

Screenshot of Pioneer Park, Roslyn

 but on Father's Day it looks like this

and this:

A rally of Vintage Trailers had taken up residence at the edge of town.  Many were from B.C., and when they get together they re-enact the good old days of the 1950s and 1960s with stunning accuracy.  The gals swap vintage martini glasses and make the trailers look like every teen-age girl's haven away from home.  This one really reminded me of my bedroom when I was in highschool:  surrounded on three sides by windows, just room for a bed and off the pantry so I had access to both food and telephone.  Halfway in and halfway out of the family home it was important that I be have privacy, the ability to come and go without being noticed and basically camp in the garden.

The young woman who owns the trailer on the right, above, didn't respond to my question "Do you get good wifi in the campgrounds?"  She looked at me uncomprehendingly and I later realized I'd broken the solemn rule of the vintage trailer lifestyle:  talk of nothing that came after 1964.  Once I understood that, it was OK.  Actually, it wasn't OK.  It was a little weird.

 

Trixie Belden and the Red Trailer Mystery sits on the book shelf.

This wasn't so much Father's Day as Mother and Daughter day, and we happily entered some twenty or so Barbie's Dream Houses

come to life.

The guys show off their crafty skills (twirling airplanes made of beer cans and a table and improvised chairs fitted over the propane tanks.  They drink beer and smoke cigars.  Here they're playing "Mammas Don't Let your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys"and here's a classic live version by my man

Waylon.

Nifty solar power hookup as explained by dad and a gutted trailer redone with a Swedish minimalist esthetic.  This appealed to me.  It was practical and made room for the reality of kids.

This was an exception, however.  It all began to feel a bit "film noir-ish".  Maybe it was the movie we watched last night:  "They Live by Night" which had two young run-aways spending Christmas on the lam in a tiny motel room, creating a bit of family they never had in the few days they had left together.  They spent money he'd robbed from a bank on tinsel for the tree (his first) and lights for the mantel.  They were "playing house", making it up as they went along.

UPDATE:  My friend Heidi Dean,  Newport Hills Community Club president, passed along the word that her old schoolmate has written posts for "Sisters on the Fly".  On their website, you can find 55 pages of photos of their caravan trailers.  It's a group dedicated to empowering women through the spirit of adventure and pride in your trailer.  Cowgirl spirit.  It's much more than that, too:  they spent this spring demonstrating "Microdwelling" at the Shemer Art Center in Phoenix:

"'Micro' spaces have become a trend in recent years, especially in urban areas where space is limited and the costs of living are high.  In its second year, MicroDwell 2014 is an exhibition of owner built and human inhabited micro-dwellings that highlight the environmental benefits of conscientious material selection, use of salvage materials, and minimization of waste.  Varying from practical to artistic, structures on exhibit are required to be 600 square feet or less, self-contained, modular and portable.

While the idea of less is more may seem like a new concept, 'microdwelling' has deep roots.  Indeed, 1950s families lived in 983 square feet and vacationed in 200 square-foot trailers.  These spaces were more than enough then and Sisters on the Fly have long appreciated this concept, creating warm and welcoming spaces with a lot of imagination (and a little patience.)  Since the group's inception in 1999, the members have been finding, restoring, and traveling in uniquely decorated, one-of-a-kind vintage trailers with whimsical names such as Sister Sioux, Rhinestone Cowgirl, and Calamity Jane.  While these trailers are not a requirement of traveling with the group, they are the ideal for gathering at the end of a long day of fishing for good conversation and great food." 

It was time to leave this brave new world and eat egg salad sandwiches.  Sitting on the banks of the Cle Elum River, we watched a Western Tanager swoop from a treetop to the river over and over and mused on humans and their nesting behaviors.

  

Everett and Olympia

Labor Day weekend  we found ourselves along two very different waterfronts, Everett to the north of Seattle, and Olympia to the south.

Everett's downtown was walkable but rather lifeless.  It frustrated any attempt to access the waterfront by walking.  The jetty, Hat Island and Whidbey Island lay just beyond in  Possession Sound: a stunning gateway to the San Juan Islands.  But there's only so much you can do with a large military complex at your front door. 

Signs abound for a Sunday farmer's market but it turns out it lies far to the north, and is only accessible by car.  You never actually see the water here because the restaurants crowd the view and the market is a small strip of canopies near the road.  Once you get there a confusing array of parking lots ensures you do plenty of walking, but it's through a myriad of parking lots for waterfront businesses.  Ironically, the historic ship "Equator" sits alone, rotten but dry in its own covered parking stall.

The "Equator", abandoned in 1956

The "Equator" first structure to be placed on the Everett Historic Register

Rotting hull of the "Equator", built in 1888

The "Equator" carried Robert Louis Stevenson (author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped), second from left, through the islands of Micronesia.  All photos of "Equator" courtesy of EverettSource.com.

View of battleship in Everett's harbor

There are signs of new life in the area between Everett's downtown and waterfront:  five and six storey apartment buildings which all appear to be the work of the same brave developer.

Abandoned man in Everett, new apartments in left background

Everett's working waterfront--military base, railroad and industry--walkable from downtown, but fenced off to the public.

Everett's waterfront one and only (and sadly empty) Anchor Cafe

The Spar Cafe, where we had lunch in Olympia.  One of many McMenamin Brothers projects to breathe new life into old Main Street buildings throughout the northwest.

Olympia, on the other hand, has never had to deal with hulking gray battle ships (the one sheltering in Everett's waters was impressive)...and therefore is gentler, guiding you from downtown along one of its several inlets, past a beautiful and tidy marina to the right, and fields of logs and dry docked hulls on the left.  There is a burgeoning museum complex down there.  A peaceful setting, without any commercial intrusion.  It turns out that the restaurants are on the west bay of Budd Inlet, and we were on the east bay.  Although it was peaceful, we missed the Tugboat Races that occur every Labor Day on the west bay at Percival Landing.  With all the cafes left to discover downtown, a quick walk away, we were spoiled for choice.  Within a very small area you could get a hot cuppa joe at New Moon Coop Cafe, C & D, Olympia Coffee Roasting, Sizizis, Burial Grounds, Batdorf and Bronson, Dancing Goat Espresso, Darby's Cafe, Caffe Vita, Traditions Cafe,  Cafe Via, Budd Bay Cafe, Volcano Vapor Cafe ohh--and one Starbucks!

Olympia's working waterfront--logs

Olympia's SwanTown Marina

View of the Children's Museum from the waterfront

Children's Museum in Olympia.  Loved the woven "nests"

Children's Museum in Olympia, with WET Science Museum beyond.  Loved the red wall.

Downtown Olympia, State Street Theatre

Capitol Theatre in Olympia

Olympia: The highly original  Darby's Cafe and Buck's Fifth Avenue Culinary Exotica

Across from Darby's. the Big Whiskey Saloon, illustrating the extent to which Oly is willing to go to preserve its history.  From Google Street View

Hello, Kalama!

Letter A marks Kalama

Kalama Main Street 1

The Kalama I thought I knew:

Interstate 5 races from Mexico to Canada behind the concrete wall and beyond that the Columbia River divides Oregon and Washington.  The place to stop for a popsicle when enduring the slog between Seattle and Portland.  Lovely by train.  But then you wouldn't get to see Kalama.

Something was different, though.  Why do the new pavers end at the bench, halfway down the block?  The mark of a makeover.

Still lots of free parking on First Street, I noticed.

Kalama Main Street 2

Definitely something different.  K had been spruced up.

Kalama Main Street 3

Kalama Main Street Detail

K had color, and it appeared to be welcoming me.  To a point.

After all, in a lifetime of living in the northwest,  I had stopped relatively infrequently in Kalama. It is conveniently located on our frequent road trips between Seattle and Portland or Eugene.  But its near neighbor on the banks of the Columbia was the Trojan Nuclear Plant (be careful if you google this--but worth it for the video of its massive implosion).  A gigantic concrete hulk, it was the set for "China Syndrome."  Or so it was rumored until IMDB listed a nuclear plant in El Segundo as the actual location.  But you couldn't look at this structure, a landmark seen from miles away on any freeway trip in my younger days, and not reflect on the potential destruction of the planet.  And now I'm kind of sad it's gone--not the nuclear energy, but the building.

Trojan Nuclear Power Plant

 In nearby Yelm, the mothballed-satstop-nuclear-plant is being rented out to movie makers.  At least they had a little foresight.

Satsop Nuclear Power Plant near Yelm

So I usually resisted the temptation of a popsicle or a gas station restroom.  Seeing that tower was enough to frighten me off.

But now Kalama is shiny and new, and there is no more nuclear tower.

On a historical note,  Lewis and Clark were wet and miserable, as usual, here in 1806.  They found the valley "crouded with Indians".

Google Street View, however, revealed Kalama on an early morning even sunnier than ours, and they found the I-5 underpass in the process of being painted by an energetic group of community activists:

 I remembered being quite taken with this mural, but also thought the matching planters gilded the lily a bit.  It is under the freeway, after all.

And on the other side of the underpass, leading ever closer to the river banks of the Columbia, were these gallant soldier puffballs.  From about a hundred previous posts, we know that puffballs are the wily tricksters of the plant world.  These rascally deceivers were trying to hide something.

Busted!  Guarding the City's sewage treatment plant.

We retraced our steps.  Later in Google Street View, I found the monkey puzzle tree I had seen from the freeway outside the town's gas station.  It appeared rather ghostly, its shadow exaggeratedly spindly and elongated..  like the puffballs it appeared ominous.  Not nearly as ominous as the nuclear tower, but still...I almost felt I was being warned.

Fir St and First

Back home, I wondered, where does Google Street View land you if you enter "Kalama?"  Where is it's "port of entry?"

I soon found out:  at the intersection of Fir St and First (love that!), and just as in real life, Google Street View revealed that K's Main Street is full of the amenities of modern urban design:

Freshly painted crosswalks.  Check.

Distinctive pavers.  Check.

Curb cuts with adaptations for sight/impaired pedestrians.  Check.

Landscaping on all four corners.  Check.  

American flags on three corners.  Check.

Bench and matching garbage containers.  Check.

Tasteful street lighting.  Check.

Historic plaque on bank.  Check.

Street trees of appropriate scale.  Check.

Even half a block from First Street, where all the urban design boxes are ticked, the parking lot next to the antiques mall has been given a make-over.  Sturdy bench, bark and shrubs.  Is it just me or has the parking lot gravel been groomed?

 Playfield complete with another American flag is directly across the street on the right.

But the same building from behind reveals the Kalama I know and love.

We were on a mission to find the riverfront,  so we quickly found our way back to the two-lane hole in the wall under the underpass, above, on the right.

And this time we found on the banks of the river:  Logs.  Lots and lots of logs.  Many many more than I remember seeing in a very long time.

 

 And in places, the Google Street View revealed the Kalama riverside that I once knew, behind the new facades of industry.

 Peek-a-boo views of the river, more logs, and an actual house for sale with a forest of ominous storage tanks behind and a hasty makeover in front.

When was the last time I saw a floating log boom?

And now I remembered.  Kalama is a port.  I'm sure there used to be a sign saying that.  In fact, that's all I ever knew about Kalama.  A freshwater port on the Columbia River.

Home to some of the largest grain elevators in the world.  Sending out corn, soy and wheat carried by train and truck.  The Chicago of the Columbia River.

  Aha.  So two separate Kalamas have evolved side by side.  One is the old Kalama with the nuclear tower and the grain elevators.  

Again I'm struck by how difficult it is to actually access the waterfront from the town.  Later I learned it is home to the tallest totem pole in the world (140 feet).  There are four of them in all, and they are supposed to reside at the Marine Park, which we never found.

So I never did see the totem poles, which was a disappointment to me because I'm a huge fan of Chief Lelooska, who did them for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair.

Here is the sign denoting a Recreation Area south of the logboom.  It turns out to be a snappy new marina.  Interestingly, the sign doesn't face the town.  Is anything ever easy in Kalama?

The other, newer Kalama, is a meta-version of the old Kalama.  A recreated home town, complete with dusted off totem pole, a new marina and park, to lure all the businesspeople and developers to locate here.  Because business is booming in Kalama. Now, an $88,000.00 Homeland Security grant (earmarked for video cameras) also serves to entice visitors, future residents and businesses to the town.      The riches of homeland security frequently rain down on waterfront towns in the form of urban design amenities.  You see it all the time.

A week after I got home  I discovered that Kalama is an international port to large bulk carrier ships, all of which carry soy, wheat and corn to Asia and Mexico.  The ships go out to China, Bangladesh, Mexico...but more importantly, they have their maiden voyages in Kalama.  This is a big deal. These ships have come from all over the world.  Why do they have their maiden voyages in Kalama?

These ships go out of their way to start their maiden voyages in Kalama because it actually saves time and money. Traditionally, carrier ships like the Storm Rider, Coral Crystal, Q Keen and Figalia are required by the Coast Guard to treat their ballast in open sea water to remove invasive species, including bacteria and viruses.  Kalama is on the Columbia, a freshwater river.  They can treat ballast  in Kalama be cause it is host to PANASIA, an experimental way to treat ballast non-chemically, and in fresh water.  In a 2-step process, PANASIA removes larger objects through filtration, and then treats the remaining ballast water with UV light to remove most bacteria and viruses.  It's is still not approved by the Feds, so apparently Kalama enjoys special status.

It's amazing what you can find out when you wonder what's behind the matching garbage cans on Main Street.

If you want to know the itinerary of MV QKeen and see 20 other photos taken by enthusiasts around the world click here.  This marine traffic site has the coolest live mapping technology which can trace the paths taken by all the big ships that pass through Kalama.  Or anywhere in the world.  Today the QKeen is in Cartagena, Spain.  As of eight minutes ago.  She left Quebec on May 11, arrived in Spain two weeks later and is now bound for Gibraltar. For the press release on QKeen's maiden voyage from her first port of call click here.  The Port of Kalama's Marketing Manager gives each boat a plaque naming Kalama as the boat's first port of call. (Even though the boat was built in Korea).

For more on the Trojan Marinex Posidonia Ballast Water Treatment System Stand 1.106 and their voyage to "US Coast Guard-type"approval, click here and watch the ballasting/de-ballasting process on a video.

If you really want to pursue ship-spotting as a hobby, another great resource is Professional Mariners website.  Click here for a piece on the AMS (Alternative Management Systems) which was awarded to Panasia, along with a number of other makers of ballast treatment systems.  However,

The Coast Guard-accepted systems won’t automatically be type-approved later.

“An AMS gives a signal that the maker is serious about getting U.S. type approval and they are going down the path, but it’s not a guarantee,” said Jad Mouawad, senior engineer for piping systems and pollution prevention at Det Norske Veritas.

For the moment, I'm seriously thinking about becoming a spotter for MarineTraffic, the website where I originally found Kalama's ships.  They say they need "area coverage" for the port of Kalama, to record the ships that come and go from the port there.  Hmmm.