Carolina Christmas, Part 5

   

 

 

January 3, 2004

 

Beloved Mother's birthday was actually on Sunday the 4th, but we celebrated it on Saturday evening, the 3rd. We started with a little game of Pin The Tail On The Donkey...

 

       

 

   

 

 

We had pizza delivered...

       

 

 

 

Sister Jan brought on the birthday cake...

 

       

 

   

 

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January 4

 

While helping with some "de-cluttering" around Thompson Manor, I came across an old macramé project from my 9th grade art class...

 

 

Baby Ralip positioned herself such that she could keep a watchful eye on the eagles that Ranger Will and I brought home from the Carolina Raptor Center a few days prior...

 

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January 5

 

A parting 5:00am coffee toast with Beloved Mother as we left Thompson Manor for the Charlotte airport... and my flight back to Seattle...

 

 

Out of Charlotte...

 

 

Approaching Cincinnati, over the Kentucky countryside...

 

 

Over Montana and Idaho...

 

       

 

 

Over Washington State...

 

At this point we were over the Grand Coulee and Banks Lake, facing south. Dry Falls Dam is in the middle of the picture and Dry Falls at the top. The Grand Coulee Dam was directly below, but not in view. Chieko and I drove over Dry Falls Dam and stopped at Dry Falls just 17 days before this flyover...

 

 

Dry Falls...

 

 

Crossing the Columbia River, north of Wenatchee...

 

 

The Cascade Mountains...

 

 

Descending into the Seattle area...

 

 

Facing eastward... I-90, just south of Lake Sammamish, then through Issaquah and on up into the Cascades, east of Seattle...

 

 

Lake Sammamish, Issaquah, and the Cascade Mountains north of Snoqualmie Pass. Viewed from the ground around Seattle, these mountains rise like a mighty wall, north to south...

 

 

As we approached the Seattle area the jet turned to the south, looping into Sea-Tac from the south. I was on the left side of the plane so I was afforded an excellent view of Mt. Rainier. Those on the right side had a view of Seattle proper...

 

     

 

 

Tacoma...

 

 

Northward over Tacoma and the east side of Puget Sound, and to the tarmac at Sea-Tac. The Olympic Mountains rise to the west of Seattle, across Puget Sound...

 

       

 

     

 

 

Mt. Rainier, from the tarmac at Sea-Tac...

 

 

SeaTacPark.com, my preferred parking lot when flying out of Sea-Tac... within sight of Mt. Rainier and Puget Sound. My battery needed a jump due to the prolonged cold...

 

     

 

 

Back in Bellevue, back at my lodge...