This is a warning: this entry is pretty much an excuse for pictures. Because I've spent the past few days with a camera in my hands, which is always dangerous.

So, on the 4th, I cleaned the house up a bit, and then took some pictures of flowers. I managed to capture one of the local bumblebees on film, a couple of pictures of my orange lily, and another lily in my neighbor's yard. The hydrangeas are in bloom, as are the neighbor's peace rose and orange roses.

Inside the house, Juniper first posed for me then begged to be picked up. Later, I saw him making friends with Lucky, the cat across the way. He's making progress with Lucky. He's gone from a ten-foot flirtation to lying only about four feet from him. They'll be hanging out before I know it. (And, of course, after the playing outside there is the foot washing.

And here's what July looks like out my front window.

I took a couple of pictures of myself--one of me as a drama queen and then one peeking over a branch. Then it was time to go down to S and J's house.

I and Ray got there about 5:30, and the weather was a bit on the cloudy and cold side, so we were inside for the first part of the evening. We ate dinner, sat around and shot the breeze, and blew bubbles. I don't remember what Laura and I were discussing, but she seems to have been thinking really hard.

After dinner, Raven was a naughty kittycat. He likes deviled eggs, too!

We adjourned to the backyard, which is about an acre and a half of relative wilderness with a trampoline in it. There were moonflowers that had opened as the sun set, and a bunch of pretty wildflowers among the tangle. We hung out on the trampoline, played Frisbee (S was handling several Frisbees at once; I was impressed) and, yes, hung out on the trampoline some more. People wandered in and out of the house, the sun came out a couple of times, and then (finally!) it set. We set up for fireworks.

Taking pictures of fireworks is hard. Especially when you're sitting on a trampoline. I did manage to get a picture of one mortar, and then several pictures of people playing with sparklers that I think are really pretty.

And then, we all ran home to bed, because the next morning a subset of the July 4th crowd was going to the peninsula for the day.

I had forgotten just how big the Olympic National Forest was. Our plan was to take the ferry over to Kingston and drive around the peninsula, coming back by way of Olympia and Tacoma. We left about 9:30 AM; the minivan that Bryan was going to rent had problems so they gave him a huge 15-person van instead. I got appointed navigator. (Lucky me!)

We managed to make the 10:10 ferry, stopped in Sequim for breakfast/lunch, and then were off to our first stop in the park, Hurricaine Ridge.

Hurricaine Ridge is about 45 minutes from 101 up a steep and winding road, but it's well worth it for the panaorama from the top. (That link opens up a 149 KB picture, just to let you know. It's about 180 degrees of mountains.) We hung out, looked at the view, and shopped at the gift shop, like good tourists. I got a shirt with moose on it, so I'm happy. Some of us went for a walk up the hill to see what was on the other side, and we were treated to yet another pretty view.

And, yes, I had my dumb sun hat on. So there. And I took yet more pictures of flowers!

On the way down we stopped at a turnout and took some more pictures. This particular overlook looks north over Port Angeles to the Pacific Ocean. It had a little winding path, at the end of which was another breathtaking view. I love Hurricaine Ridge; the clouds are ever-present, but they add something to the scene that wouldn't be there otherwise.

We decided to skip the beaches at La Push and visit instead someplace I'd never been, Madison Falls. This wasn't quite rainforest (the north end of the peninsula is too dry for that) but it was pretty and lush. It was early afternoon by this time, and the light falling through the trees was extraordinary in a way I completely failed to capture with my camera. But I tried.

We drove by Crescent Lake, and it renewed my desire to stay at one of the lodges there sometime. Maybe next summer. Crescent Lake is one of those places that is scarily pretty, especially when the sun is shining and its blue is deeper than that of the sky.

Next was the Quinault Rain Forest, with a stop at a beach along the way. We stopped at a beach with the very exciting name "Beach 4", with Destruction Island off in the distance. It was getting a touch late, but the sun was still high, and I'd forgotten just how comforting the ocean is. Everything about it touches all of the places in my soul that are the slightest bit dirty, and cleans them right out.

We finally managed to hit the Quinault Rain Forest about 8. I got us lost, because we weren't going to the place I'd been before. So here we were, driving this huge van down this tiny dirt road. We turned around and found the trailhead, and wandered into the rain forest. It was twilight, despite the fact that the sun hadn't gone down yet, and the woods were silent and almost foreboding.

I so wanted to take all of my clothes off and wade into the stream, but I managed to resist the urge. The mosquitoes helped with that. But there is a kind of sacredness to this forest, with its trees filtering the light and everything so green that you could fall into it forever.

After the rain forest, we drove home. Four hours, one stop for pizza, several conversations about constellations, and me finally giving up shotgun, and I was on Queen Anne and drove straight home.

It was a good, good day.

And today, I bought paint.

and painting supplies.

And masked and sanded and washed like a madwoman.

My days of the Pepto Bismol pink hallway are almost over!

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