State quarter collection

This is a map of the United States of America designed to organize my collection of state quarters.  So far, I collected 47 states, the District of Columbia, and three Territories.

States and Territories that I have so far

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

District of Columbia
Guam
Northern Mariana Island
American Samoa
Puerto Rico (from national park series)

Still Missing

Florida
Illinois
Michigan

Puerto Rico (state series)
U.S. Virgin Islands

Deception Pass

Stopping at Deception Pass on the way home from a week with Pam's dogs.  We walked down to the beach to verify that the water was cold, VERY COLD.

Deception Pass Bridge from the beach

"SAUKALT!"

View of the San Juan Islands.  This is where we went whale watching just a couple weeks back.

We drove all across Whidbey Island and took the ferry back to the main land late night.  Sleeping in the next morning :)

More pictures on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98866839@N08/sets/72157634850145986/

Adventure with the dogs

July, 22, 2013

Today I'm allowed to drive to Pam. Pam has Mia and Foster and six other dogs. Their names are:  Dash, Ian, Sedi, Josi, Max and Asa.  All dogs are so cute!! Dash, Sedi and Asa do agility competitions.  Pam wants to teach me, how to teach Sandy some tricks and how to walk her since Sandy is too strong for me to go with her alone.  I'm there from Monday (July 22) to Friday (July 27).  Peter said, that he will sleep from Friday to Saturday by Pam, too. But I'm not sure if that's right.

July 23, 2013

I woke up earlier than normal.  I had to feed Mia, Foster, Eddie and Tax.  They were all hungry.  After breakfast we played with the dogs in the garden most of the time.  They loved it very much!  At lunch we drove to Applebees. The food was so yummy but so much that we could not eat it all, so we took some food home.  At 7:30 pm two people arrived here and Pam talked to them about dog training.  There were an 18 months old dog and a five years old dog.

At 10 o'clock p.m. another friend of Pam came and she brought her two months old puppy.  This dog is a baby of Dash.  The women hasn't got a name for the puppy so we are allowed to give it a name.

July 24, 2013

Throughout the night the little dog was very loud, because it wanted to get out of her crate.

At breakfast we met Barb, a friend of Pam.  She knew a good name for the puppy: Dancer.  So now the puppy is call Dancer and it comes sometimes when you call the name. I played with all dogs but I had to play with Dancer alone, because she is too small.  Now the dogs are lying on the ground and some are sleeping.  Mia, Foster, Eddie and Tax are outside in their kennel and I think they are sleeping now.

Weekend at Mt Baker

Sarah at Nooksack Falls, Mt Baker National Forest

Our company: Max, Dash, Asa, Josi, Sadie, Ian, Foster, Mia

More Pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98866839@N08/sets/72157634754139448/

Dog day weekend

Visiting Foster and Mia for the weekend. Mia doesn't like the crowd and takes a break - the rest of the pack is gathering around Sarah. 

Movie Night

Today we went to the movies and saw Star Trek Into Darkness.
It reminds me a bit of Star Wars but it is much ..... Cooler!!!!
I would highly recommend seeing this movie.
Check out the trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ec_rPApKCA  

Olympic National Park

July 13th, 2013

Today we were driving to the Olympic National Park. Before we arrived there, we were at a Indians Shop. This is a different shop, that you know in Austria.

When we were at the Olympic National Park, we saw lots of deer very close to us. We also made lots of pictures. The ranger, that we met, told us that bears were in the area. Mom and I were a little bit scared but we didn't see a bear.
During the return hike we saw a marmot mother with three children. They were so cute but they weren't close to us. :(

At the end of our trip we watched some deer, which went on the street and were near the cars but nothing happened.  

Pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/98866839@N08/sets/72157634653607508/

Exploring Victoria, BC, Canada

In the morning of July 9th, 2013 we sailed with the Victoria Clipper to Victoria, BC, in Canada. We were sitting in the first row down stairs. Clouds were at the sky and the ship was very fast. We needed three hours to Victoria. I thought, in Victoria were also some clouds, but this was not true. The sun was shining but there were some winds. When we arrived Victoria, we walked to our hotel, the Harbor Tower Hotel. We had the room 412 and the room had two Queen beds. Queen Beds are large beds were two people could sleep in one of it. Then, while on the way to the harbor, we stopped at a street booth and booked a city tour on an open-roof bus. The Sightseeing Tour of Victoria ( Hop On-Hop Off Stops) tour took one and a half hour around Victoria. It stopped at 23 points were you could left the bus or went in a bus. At the coast it was very cold and windy. In the afternoon we made a "Ghostly Walks". We heard about famous ghosts and what they have done in hotels or in some other houses. I couldn't sleep at the second night because of the story's.

July, 10th

At this day we were at the Butchart Gardens. It is a beautiful garden with lots of flowers. There was also a beautiful fountain, called Ross Fountain. We were there for two hours. There was a Japanese Garden, Italian Garden, Rose Garden and a Sunken Garden. If you ever go to Butchart Garden, take plenty of time more time, because two hours are a little bit to short. After the trip we visited Thunderbird Park. There were many totem poles and there are very tall and they were painted with beautiful colors. Closed to it there were the Beacon Hill Park. On a rock we made a little break. The Park is very big and we can't see the hole Park. In the Park there is a little Pond where ducks and geese are swimming. I stood under a tree and took a picture of a squirrel, suddenly mom said quietly: "Look, there is a peacock!" On the tree sat really a peacock. After a while we saw on a tree three bolt eagles. Two children and the mother.

For dinner we ate Lassagne in "The old Spagetti Factory". It was really yummy!

July 11th

Today we had to check out in the hotel but before that we ate Breakfast. i ate muesli and Mom ate toast.
After check out we walked to the Fisherman's Wharf. It is a big Harbor with fun house boats. We saw a pirate ship but we didn't see captain Jack Sparrow. Near the Fisherman's Wharf we saw a raccoon and I also made pictures of it.
We walked a little bit more and their we saw a big cruse ship. It was really big. Then we walked back to the Harbor.
Then we had Lunch in a good restaurant by the pier. We were watching Artists.
Before we said "Good by Victoria" and drove back to Seattle with Victoria Clipper Ferry. The crossing was calmer than last Tuesdays.

Links to Pictures

• Victoria, BC
• Butchart's Gardens

Trip to the Olympic National Park

Today we visited the Olympic National park.  The day started with a ferry ride from Seattle to Bainbridge Island.  From there the trip led us across the Hood Canal bridge, one of only 4 floating bridges in existence. We stopped at a Native American art store and got a couple of dream catchers and these sterling silver ear rings:

            

From there we went through Sequim and Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge visitor center in the Olympic national park.  We left the car and went for a short hike.  Right at the start, we've seen several deer from very close.  A little climb later, a park ranger warned us about multiple bear sightings earlier today.  We hiked for almost one hour but did not see a bear.  However, on the way back we found a marmot mother with three babies and watched it for a while.  Back at the visitor center, there were at least 5 or 6 deer that allowed us to get as close as 10 feet (3 m) to get amazing pictures.

The way back went agin through Sequim and a stop at a lavender field before taking the ferry back from Bainbridge Island to Seattle.  Visibility was a great and we did see Mt Rainier, Mt Baker, the Olympics and the Seattle skyline from the ferry.

Independence Day fireworks

On Independence Day, we were watching the fireworks from Gasworks Park on Lake Union. The fireworks were fired from a boat floating on Lake Union and lasted for about 25 minutes.  Here are a few of Peter's firework pictures (click here) .

Whale watching in Anacortes, WA

This past Friday we went to Anacortes, WA, for a whale watching trip through the San Juan islands.  We saw one humpback whale and three orcas, seeing the humpback whale again on the way back to port.  Here are a few impressions from that trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mackenziehelnwein/sets/72157634546220657/

Picnic at Martha Lake

Lucky, the Schnoodle going for a swim

The Beach. Lousia and I were the only ones of us five who went into the cold water.

I with Lucky. He is also old.

Lucky, shaking his tongue ;)

In the morning we ate breakfast. Mum and I ate bread with strawberry jam. Peter ate bread with scrambled eggs. Than we made fruit salad for the picnic. Before we drove to Martha Lake we were at a sport shop, because Peter needed something. But in the end, mum bought also some summer clothes. 

At Martha Lake we had a good time and I liked the beach very much. Virginia brought  a small Kayak, were mum and I were allowed to paddle on the Lake with it. It was really fun and my jeans were wett. Dogs were allowed to go into the water, too. Lucky was swimming with his life vest in the deep water. He is an old dog but he can swim very well.

Grill Evening

        

For Dinner we will have BBQ. This is a gas grill...

... and the food. Steak, yellow squash and mushrooms. 

At this table we will have dinner in a moment.

The Chef, but I think he doesn't know what he is cooking.  We will be surprised!

Hmm! Yummy, the food is ready!

More food

Krispy Kreme - yummy :)

University of Washington

July 2nd, 2013

We visited the University of Washington. The whole University is bigger than the whole HTL Mödling! There is also a flower garden, the Red Square with George Washington Statue, a Fountain, Redwood trees,  museums, students have lessons outside and a huge library.

July 3rd, 2013

Today in the evening, mom was impossible to get out of the stores at the University village - boring shopping. 

Trying new food

So far I've tried smoked salmon kebab, crab tip, clam chowder (in a bread bowl), burritos, quesadillas, and latest Vietnamese food.  The pictures show me eating a large bowl of pho :)

Duck Tour through Seattle

Today we rode the Duck through Seattle

Quack, quack

View of downtown Seattle from the Space Needle

And this is the Space Needle from below

Our Duck for the tour

Fun at Mt Rainier National Park

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures

Sarah was using Peter's SLR (Spiegelreflexcamera) for the last couple of days and made MANY pictures.  You can see everything here:

• Mount Rainier trip
• Seattle sight seeing
• Pike Place Market

WARNING: these pictures are unedited - so a lot of bad ones in there as well ;)

June 27 - Arrival in Seattle, WA

Thursday, June 27 at 12:40 pm pacific time: touch down at Seattle-Tacoma international airport.

1:45 pm - done with customs and united with uncle Peter.  Transfer to Lynnwood for a brief break before taking the dogs to the dog park at the beach - bark, bark!  Afterwards a quick early dinner at the waterfront when a Bold Eagle flies by and lands close by on a wave breaker - cool.

Sitting on the waterfront

Welcome committee was lead by Foster

June 30 - Visit to Mt Rainier National Park

Seattle Temperature broke through the 90-barrier today.  We tried to escape to higher elevation and found plenty of snow at Mt. Rainier NP. Easy hiking off Paradise :)