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Tag: Skagit Valley

Catching Up and Rethinking My Purpose

Posted on October 2, 2023October 2, 2023 By Tom 3 Comments on Catching Up and Rethinking My Purpose
Miscellaneous, Music, Travel

A long, long time ago, in a world before X, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, or even MySpace, this blog came into being. It started as a travel journal to document a trip across country to Samish Island, Washington, then evolved into a personal journal. The blog entries were short and were just my personal observations of … Read More “Catching Up and Rethinking My Purpose” »

Skagit Migration

Posted on November 16, 2017November 20, 2017 By Tom 3 Comments on Skagit Migration
Washington Sabbatical

Migrating Snow Geese-17

The Skagit River Valley sits along one of the major West Coast routes for migratory birds. Every fall and spring thousands of birds pass through the area, some taking up residence for the winter from Canada and Alaska. Over the past several weeks we’ve been enjoying quite the avian floor show and have made several bird watching trips.

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Random Skagit, Volume 1

Posted on October 17, 2017 By Tom 2 Comments on Random Skagit, Volume 1
Miscellaneous, Photography, Rambling, Washington Sabbatical

Skagit Flats-002

I take a TON of photos. Sometimes these don’t fit into a cohesive blog narrative, but they still wind up in my Flickr stream. I decided that I’d just post a few of these all along with a caption. These aren’t necessarily in any order nor are they meant to convey anything. I’ll be doing these all along as I come across weird things out here.

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Skagit Ideal

Posted on August 1, 2010 By Tom No Comments on Skagit Ideal
Travel

Samish Island View

You see those mountains out there? They aren’t just mountains, those are islands!

So said my soon-too-be father-in-law, Jim Wright, as we drove across The Flats for my first visit to Samish Island in 1988. The reclaimed farmland that connected the mainland to the island created the illusion that we weren’t close to water at all. It wasn’t until we gained a bit of elevation that I saw that we were, in fact, surrounded by it.

Samish Island Panorama from Chuckanut

From that moment on, I was hooked. There was so much to see and do, and it was all so different from where I lived. Over the years, and with subsequent visits I’ve built up an ideal of life in Skagit Valley County. It’s an ideal of a slower pace of life, filled with cool weather, incredible scenery, wonderful coffee and fresh baked goods, produce from the local farms, and fantastic seafood. Each quaint little town is filled with curious characters and Victorian architecture. Travel up the Skagit River, and you enter the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, with soaring trees and volcanic mountains and lakes filled with glacial waters. Head two hours north or south, and you have the cultural vibrancy of Seattle or Vancouver. If I were to move from South Carolina, I think this would be where I’d want to settle.

Skagit Barn

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