Ashley

This weekend my boyfriend and I traveled, hiked and camped all along the Olympic Peninsula. We first started at the Elwah River area, camping at Elwah campground and hiking up to the Olympic Hot Springs. It was a nice hike, and the hot springs were gorgeous. We didn’t get in completely, but we did stay a while to soak our feet, which was fabulous, but oxidized my toe ring!
After we left the hot springs, we decided to travel to the Straight of Juan de Fuca, near Salt Creek. We camped again, and walked along the beach finding neat critters in the tide pools, and watched Eagles, King Fishers, Gulls and Song birds do their thing.
In the morning we picked up and left again for the Hoh Rainforest. I have always wanted to go to the Hoh, and for me, this was the best part of the trip. Driving into the rainforest is unreal, and unlike anything I have ever seen; it looked like something out of Fern Gully! We did a few interpretive walks as well as the main Hoh rainforest path, visited the visitor center, and hung out at the campground with Gray Jays (birds) that decided to see what we were up to.
The next morning we got up and left again, and decided to have a nice breakfast and Kalaloch Lodge, which sits over looking the ocean. It felt good to sit indoors, and to have a nice, fatty breakfast. After breakfast we took a stroll on beach number two, visited a large red cedar at Quinault Lake, and then headed home.
It was an amazing trip, and I would certainly encourage anyone to take this trip around the peninsula!
Hot Springs

Straight of Juan De Fuca

Hoh Rain Forest

Pacific Ocean, Beach Number Two

In the giant Cedar!

Posted by Ashley at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The weather this week has been wonderful! The sun has been out almost everyday, giving me ample opportunity to explore the outdoors. This week I have been biking around various neighborhoods, and forests seeing all kinds of summer foliage and birds. After class one day I rode my bike to the Organic Farm, and just sat in the shade relaxing and enjoying the warm weather. Here are the pictures!

Posted by Ashley at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Recently I have been really into biking…and birding, so I have been taking trips down to Evergreens Organic Farm to see what kind of birds I can find. The Organic Farm is one of my favorite spots on campus. It has rows and rows of vegetables (when in season), a herb garden and free-range chickens which I often go visit (I enjoy their uncertain sounds!). The Farm sits on a large plot of land which is surrounded by a large Doug-Fir stand, but sits open with many different plants and tree surrounding—lots of open space; perfect for birding…and gardening!
As a student you can choose to work with the organic farm as an extra curricular activity, can get involved via sustainable living programs which are offered annually, or even own your own plot of land to grow your own produce! During the school year produce from the organic farm is sold to students on red square and when possible used in our own schools cafeteria, the Greenery. The farm is a nice place, very peaceful, welcoming, and would encourage any future greener to check it out when visiting!

Here are some pictures of organic farm critters and the Doug-fir Stand on the way to the organic farm!

Posted by Ashley at 07:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend was Olympia’s annual Pride Festival. I met up with my friend (and past blogger) Maxime, and we headed downtown to check out the festivities. When we got downtown we headed to Sylvester Park, where the Pride Parade started. We sat and watched the parade as women on motorcycles rode up and down the streets, followed by politicians who support gay marriage, drag queens, various gay straight alliances and PFLAG (parents, families and friends of lesbians and gays) floats passed. The parade was colorful as were the people in the park; wearing many colors and rainbows to support gay pride.
Soon after the parade we met up with a few other friends and went to eat at a local restaurant—Darby’s. The food took a while, but one of Darby’s rules posted right above the register reads “if you’re in a hurry, go to Jack in The Box!”. So we waited, and visited which was nice. This was my last day of summer before summer school session began, and I had a good time supporting my friends, co workers and neighbors as well as visiting with friends.

Check out Capital City Pride!:
http://www.myspace.com/capitalcitypride
http://www.capitalcitypride.net/

Posted by Ashley at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My favorite time has come and gone, and this year it was fabulous! I have written about this before in earlier blogs, but procession of the species is really a two day celebration of the coming of spring, earth day, and celebration of community. It was started about 15ish years ago, again, as a means of bringing community together, and every year it seems to grow and grow. This year, I invited my parents to come see the spectacle. As we sat on a wool blanket, on the sidewalk, we watched hundreds of people walk, roll, dance and skip by dressed as all sorts of animals, plants and various other species of flora and fauna.
The parade itself is an amazing feat, and you can tell by the costumes, music and dancing that preparation for this day took quite some time, and a large community effort. This kind of close interaction with the community is something I really love about Olympia. If we all have to live in this large metropolitan area as strangers, we should all be strangers together!
Here is a link to the Procession website, take a look at pictures from previous years!
http://www.procession.org/

Posted by Ashley at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)