June 2, 2015, Blaine, WA- As mentioned earlier, I drove the length of the Puget Sound metro area, stopping only in deference to my fellow travelers, as the rush hour, and a few accidents, dictated. I stopped in Everett, the northern anchor of the metro region, in search of at least one of the port city’s well-regarded botanical gardens.
Legion Park honours the American Legion, to which I belong. It was thus a logical place to stop and enjoy the interspersing of the great evergreens of this area, with the riot of colour that comes with every well-planned garden. Not being much of a floral authority, I nonetheless present several of the plants that stood out most prominently to me, on this drizzly but glorious afternoon, when I had the place virtually to myself.
Legion Park Memorial Plaque
The Douglas fir is the signature resident of Evergreen Arboretum.
There are seven distinct gardens, within this park.
Here is a Japanese White Pine.
Someone says “Peek-a-boo”.
The Asian ambiance of the garden is scintillating.
Purple and white hemlocks co-exist very well. Let that be a lesson!
Rain is helping the engineers who are healing this soil.
Various clever sculptures accent the flora.
This is my signal to move forward and achieve!
My mother always had forsythia, as ground cover, when we were kids.
Robin kept me company, near the Rock Garden.
The Northwest Native Trail gave me a feeling that I was back on the Olympic Peninsula.
No arboretum is complete, without Bonsai.
“Nanny, nanny, boo-boo!”
Even the frontage of the parking lot is well-flowered.
Here’s one last look back.
Port Gardner Bay, just west of the park, offers a fine view of north Puget Sound.
This bay has a huge osprey colony. The birds were busy fishing, though.
Moving northward, I opted to stay close to the Canadian border, and chose this fine little establishment.
A Korean woman owns the place, and the hospitality is very warm.
Next door, Ocean Bay Restaurant offers excellent Chinese cuisine. It draws regulars from White Rock, BC, a few miles away.
This section of a mural, inside Ocean Bay, brought to mind the victims of the recent Yangtze ferry disaster.
Penny was born in a Year of the Horse, so all her strength and beauty appeared to me, through these magnificent animals.
When I arrived at Bayside, this gull was begging a local woman for food. He obliged me for this profile, a bit later.
Looking northward, I spotted the community of White Rock. Borders may be seen as necessary right now, but they are still artificial.
Thus did my very full day end, in Blaine, Washington.
A Sagittarian Seeker 