Cleaning Up the Canyon

Posted on July 22, 2011 | 1 comment

South Fork Skokomish River from High Steel Bridge


The canyon spanned by the High Steel Bridge in the southeast portion of the Olympic National Forest is a regional scenic treasure. The bridge itself became a national historic place in 1982. Sadly, over the years the no littering signs have been ignored by enough thoughtless visitors to make the canyon a scenic dump. The most recent eyesore—a couple of traffic signs are visible in the shallow water of the South Fork of the Skokomish River just downstream of the bridge (see photo).

This is a short initial post to identify what will be a difficult problem to solve: cleaning up the canyon. It’s more than 400 feet from the bridge deck to the bottom and the canyon walls are too steep and slippery for ordinary climbing. I’m also pledging to do whatever I can to assist in removing the rubbish. So far that consists of writing this post and contacting the Hood Canal Ranger District to urge them to get involved. At this point we are at the phone call and email stage. More from them later, I hope.

There’s one more photo after the jump as evidence that something needs to be done.
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Cows and Mattresses

Posted on July 21, 2011 | 2 comments

Sleeping like a cow?


The Mattress Ranch, which has two stores in Kitsap County, has been around for years. Until today though I didn’t know that the company is doing mobile marketing. That’s when I spotted their mascot, complete with the chain’s domain name, loaded on a trailer (see photo) at the south end of Silverdale. Although I can’t resist giant animal statues, the big bovine didn’t make me want to buy a mattress.
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Posted in Business Beat

Elks Care

Posted on July 19, 2011 | 2 comments

In case it rains


“Elks care, Elks share.” It’s a wonderful slogan and one that the Bremerton Elks lodge strives to live up to. Clearly some Elks also care strongly about their collector cars (see photo). Last Saturday at the 23rd annual Elks car show in Bremerton, a couple of owners pampered their entries by bringing along Quik Shade instant canopies. Given the off-and-on showers all weekend, the shelters weren’t there to keep the cars out of the sun.
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Posted in Cars

Must Be a Great Job

Posted on July 11, 2011 | 3 comments

A sweet ride


I’m not sure of the exact duties assigned to the driver of a Hostess Twinkies van (see photo). Even so, I would consider coming out of retirement if offered the job. The vehicle doesn’t look big enough to keep up with regular deliveries of the delicious snack cakes. Perhaps the job is just to spread good will and respond quickly to random spot shortages. I wonder if anyone flags the van down for a roadside purchase like it’s a Good Humor truck.

I took a quick look at the Hostess Cakes web site before posting this photo. They recommend trying Twinkies deep fried.

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Posted in Business Beat

Silverdale Needs a Tower

Posted on June 28, 2011 | 2 comments

View of Silverdale from the east


Silverdale added a Trader Joe’s this month and recently dedicated the new Haselwood Family YMCA. If the Citizens United for Silverdale gathers enough signatures, there will be a vote on cityhood next year. But even with all the progress there’s something the undisputed retail center of Kitsap County lacks that would really put it on the map. Silverdale needs a tower.
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Long Cars in Shelton

Posted on June 26, 2011 | Leave a comment

A lot of car to wash


A rare 1959 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron highlighted the Antique and Classic Car Show today in Shelton. There was no award at the show for overall length, but if there had been one, the beautiful blue four-door hardtop (see photo) would have won. Not counting limousines, it is one of the longest production cars ever made in the United States.
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Sign Down

Posted on June 24, 2011 | 1 comment

Giving its life for traffic safety


The stop sign at the south end of Rocky Point Road takes a beating. As vulnerable as unspent revenue during a session of the state legislature, it is planted in the asphalt at the Y-shaped intersection with Marine Drive. Most drivers stay well to the right of the sign as they pull forward for a clear look at cross traffic. However, last night or this morning it got nailed—again (see photo). There’s no word whether a motorist was cited for the knockout blow. By early this afternoon, a temporary sign, anchored with sandbags and flanked by orange traffic cones, took its place.

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Posted in Mud Bay & Rocky Point

World’s Shortest Culvert?

Posted on June 23, 2011 | 1 comment

No washouts expected here


I don’t know if the culvert shown in the photo is the world’s shortest, but it has to be a contender for the title. Roughly 14 inches in diameter and a bit over 3 feet in length, the corrugated metal pipe is only about 3 times as long as it is wide. The mini walkway the culvert supports provides a year-round dry crossing of the drainage ditch that lines Beck Road in Mason County near Belfair State Park. There’s a path through the greenbelt behind it to the property owner’s home.

I took the photo near the end of today’s bike ride after dodging rain showers all afternoon. If I had waited around, I might have seen the culvert in action as heavier rain moved in later and doused the area.

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Trader Joe’s Opens in Silverdale

Posted on June 17, 2011 | 2 comments

A "grand" opening?


I don’t completely understand Trader Joe’s cult-like following, but this morning I observed it first hand. A couple of hours after the company’s newest store (see photo) opened at 8:00 AM in Silverdale, there was gridlock in the parking lot and inside.
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Posted in Business Beat

Duck Season

Posted on June 15, 2011 | 1 comment

Only a month and a half until the big race


Always take your camera with you when you go to Silverdale. That’s my motto and my advice to Kitsap bloggers whose backlog is getting a bit thin. Although I posted an entry titled Duck Time in 2009, a sighting of Big Yellow this morning in Silverdale was worth a new photo. Looking cool and rested, the mascot for the Great Kitsap Duck Race was securely tethered outside Kitsap Bank on Silverdale Way. Even if we have a repeat of Monday’s high winds, the cement blocks should keep the giant duck from getting airborne.

The Great Kitsap Duck Race is scheduled for Sunday, July 31, 2011, the final event in the Whaling Days Festival. Sponsored by the Silverdale Rotary Club and about 30 other businesses and organizations, the race raises money for civic groups in the community. “Duck Season” kicked off on June 2nd this year to allow plenty of time for the thousands of available duck tickets to be sold. I have never seen the race live, but I always get a “quack pack”—a flock of five ducks—to represent me in the race. Maybe this will be the year one of my ducks splashes into the money.

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