Discovery Bay

The first 9 holes of Discovery Bay GC were built in 1925.  The course is owned today by Mike Asmundson, who designed the back 9 in 1996, and has done some changes to the front.  He also did a redesign of Las Colinas, and lives in Scottsdale, says the Internet.  But, he also seems to have been a local here.  As you can see in this story, the course has had some financial troubles.  The 2007 plans for a residential development never came to fruition.  

I played the front 9 with two of the members.  He had been playing there since 1947, and she was chair of the Rules committee.  He complained about a poor lie one time, and she commented on the recent rains.  I said he didn't want to hear about the rain, he wanted her to say "Don't worry, honey just move it."  That's when she told me she was the Rules Chairperson.

I see this guy on Facebook all the time, he must have played here once

There was an interesting tree

I expected more scenic vistas of the bay, but there were only a couple

And the obligatory (it's starting to seem like) tree in the middle of the fairway.  Most of them are just a nuisance, but this one is so tall and wide that it blocks the whole fairway, so the only strategy is to hit your drive past it, which I was able to do, and made par.

More pictures.

Troll Haven

They said a rich guy had more money than things to do with it, so he started this place.

There's also a castle where you can stay overnight.

And a farm, with goats and chickens.

And lots of trolls

More pictures.

The Rusty Tractor

is a restaurant in Elma, Wa, which has, of course, the eponymous outdoor decorations ...

and excellent comfort food, with an exotic twist.  Vicki had salmon fish 'n' chips, I had the yak hamburger steak.

On the way, we caught the first glimpse of Mount Rainier from the rest stop on I-90, about 81 miles away.  The smoke is from all the wildfires burning in Washington this year.

More pictures.

Seen on the road

A few signs we saw.

You thought the pet rock was good, look what they're selling now

Apparently Penny has returned to Nebraska, and is teaching physics there ...

Fans on the farm in Washington ...

And some sage advice from the Oregon DOT

Ashford, WA

September 2013

We stayed at an RV park

in Ashford, next to Mt. Rainier National Park, for Andy and Stefanie's wedding.

Next to our RV, these fungi grew and changed over the days

We ate at an interesting restaurant

where we were visited by some wildlife

Down the road was a sculpture garden created by Dan Kennert, who I couldn't find on the web.

More pictures, including lots more of the sculptures.

Mount Rainier

September 2013

Mt. Rainier is a 14,411-foot volcano

that stands 13,211 feet above the surrounding landscape.  You can see it from hundreds of miles away, on a clear day.

We went to the National Park from two different entrances, went on a few hikes and saw lots of streams

and waterfalls

big trees,

small animals

and birds

At Paradise, there's a lodge

that gets snowed in up to the roof in winter.

People used to go to Longmire

for the hot springs.

We saw some butterflies

and pollywogs

and fungi

More pictures here.  Videos of waterfalls here, here, here, here, here, here, here.  Streams here, here, here.  Butterflies, pollywogs, hot spring and hot tub in action.