Carl Setzer

I really enjoyed camping at Camano Island State Park last weekend. We've been there before, but only for the day. It's been years since I've done any camping, and decades since I've car-camped. Even more important than my enjoyment, though; my son enjoyed his first camping experience. Camano park apparently was a private camp at one point. Then the proprietor left the grounds to the state park service. Sounds like a glorious gift to your community. Our campsite has a grand view of Whidbey Island over the Saratoga Passage. And we were close enough to a bald eagle nest to hear them chittering at each other, and the crows shriek in protest.  Though we brought bikes, we didn't ride much. Mountain biking wasn't really accessible. At least not where we were. We did hike a bit, crabbed and kayaked, rode a little, and napped. And were treated to a fireworks show of sorts (over on Whidbey's shore) Saturday night. A pleasantly chill weekend. Those are far too...

I consider myself a western Washingtonian, even though Mr. Ron Rudd might not. "If you weren’t born in Seattle or the Northwest, you’ll never be one of us." Though born in Rhode Island, my parents were born in Washington, as were all my grandparents. My father and his mother were  born in Seattle. Next: my parents met at UW. And I was supposed to be born in Seattle, but my timetable was a bit off-kilter. The family was in Rhode Island as my father attended the War College . So, I guess if I must be disqualified from "one of us" status, I'll accept the consequences of my father's service with pride. Deeper: why do I consider this place "home"? Well, the biggest reason was that we always called it home. Flying out to Seattle was always "going home to visit grandma" (sorry grandpa, but it was always "to visit grandma". Lastly, this is the place we moved when my dad decided to retire from the Navy. And where I've live...

Hey everyone, Point your browser over to my new site: www.NotJustSeattle.com . I'm exploring life in the region, but trying to expand past all the Seattle-centric messaging. Let me know what you think.

Today a group consisting of my family and friends, took to the highways and ventured out to the Big Four Ice Caves . I’ve been hearing about this place for years, and it seemed a great time to venture out there. It’s about 14 miles east of the Verlot ranger station, in eastern Snohomish county.  A nice hike. Not too intense, not much in the way of elevation gain. There were a few folks in flip-flops, some in sandals (like Tevas) and most in tennis shoes. I wore my hiking boots. With my ankle's history of injury, I opted for extra protection. The terminus of the hike was packed snow, which formed the ice caves in the name. There were other caves further along the small valley, but we didn’t venture farther. Some of us went up onto the snow/ice (the ice is compacted snow, formed mostly from avalanche fallout). I, with my boots, was the only one really equipped for that. I stopped everyone once we got to the point where the rocks that fell were big enough to cause serious harm. ...