That's Gneiss! #191~ Staring at trees

Plus: "Tales of the Pointless Pool: The Final Chapter"

This is a photo-heavy post, so please click through to the web page to make sure you don’t miss anything! I’m getting the “too long for email” warning…

---

Greetings from soggy land! It has rained nearly an inch here in the last four hours. I had my first opportunity to wear my new Jambu duck shoes when I took Rowland out for a walk, and I must say they worked splendidly! I was soaked but my feet were dry. Five stars, would recommend.

However, I’m not here for product reviews today, I’m here to report back on our forest getaway.

We got away, and it was good.

Our destination, Rasar State Park, is not really that far from home. It takes just over an hour to drive there with no stops. I decided to take advantage of the short drive (and alleged check-in time of 4:00 pm) to make an extra stop on the way.

FINALLY!

I’ve always wanted to visit the old Northern State Hospital site, now known as Northern State Recreation Area, or NSRA for short.

Once the largest facility for mentally ill people in Washington State, Northern State Mental Hospital was a town unto itself. The hospital was established in 1909 after the over-crowded conditions at Western State Hospital came under public criticism. Northern State’s grand opening happened in 1912.

The hospital site included patient and staff housing, a water reservoir, sewage system, lumber mill, quarry, steam plant, greenhouse, canning facilities, gymnasium, library, laundry, dining room, bakery, dairy, and 700-acre farm for growing vegetables and raising livestock. A cemetery was also included in the site plan.

At one time in the 1950s about 2,700 patients lived at Northern State. This was the full capacity of the hospital according to the superintendent at the time, but he was still being pressured to take on more patients. The public perception of mental hospitals began to change in the 1970s, and Northern State Mental Hospital closed its doors in 1976 after the State Legislature cut off funding. Some of the buildings, including the farm’s housing ward, have since been torn down. (source)

The public area is a large open space great for stretching your legs, and now includes a frisbee golf course for those so inclined. The abandoned buildings have an air of creepiness perfect for a rainy afternoon stroll.

.

.

Don’t worry! I followed the rules and did not enter any of the old buildings. I just peered in to take photos. I also noticed these fascinating dried leaves on the Teasels growing there. I’ve never noticed this before!

After a nice wander we made our way to Rasar, and our cabin in the woods.

I will admit I took this photo just before we came home, thus the sun streaming through the trees. It was cloudy when we arrived, but cleared up quickly and we had good weather for the rest of the trip. State park cabins vary on the amenities offered; this particular cabin had a bathroom AND a shower! Some have neither. The cabins sleep up to five people. There are no appliances, so one must bring everything needed for cooking and food preservation (aka ice chests). We did have one small complaint - the couch/sleeper had a mattress with a very slick cover that would not stay up enough for us to use it as seating. The top picture is the photo from the information board outside the cabins, the bottom photo is reality. Rowland did enjoy sleeping on it though!

Rasar state park is an excellent choice if one wants extensive trails for walking, but nothing too strenuous. We didn’t walk all of the trails on this trip, but made a big loop down to the river and around the wooded area on the SW corner of the map on one walk, and we did the full loop around the group camp/cabin area on another walk.

Surprisingly I only saw three slugs on the whole trip. Here are two of them. Hello slugs!

As we walked down to the river, I started taking pictures of Michael and Rowland ahead of me. This is a most common scene, as I’m always falling behind as I stop to inspect or photograph something interesting.

It was a really beautiful day by the Skagit River!

As I’d hoped, some fungi had emerged after the earlier rains. There will be much more in a couple of weeks, but this was a good start and satisfied my desire to gaze upon our fungal friends.

I spent a lot of time sitting in front of the cabin reading, or just staring at the trees. I wandered around and stared at trees. Staring at trees was apparently exactly what I needed on this trip.

It’s hard to argue with that.

.

---

Just before we left on our adventure, the neighbors started their end of summer cleanup. Geraniums were de-potted, and Grandpa leaned the pool against his truck for a good hosing off (still no deflation). It was then moved to the lawn, and I expected it to sit there for a while before any further action was taken.

The day we got home the pool was leaning against the truck again, and FINALLY! A plug had been pulled and the air was set free from its confines.

The next day I spied the pool in it’s final resting place - unceremoniously stuffed into the backyard shed.

The end.