Saturday, January 30, 2016

January Skies and More

A few sky photos for January ...

Seattle from Kerry Park
Just after Sunrise
(Little bump on right is Mt Rainier ---
see another view of it in section Port of Seattle Photos below.)

Early in the month in Montana

Just before sunrise in the neighborhood.
Looking over Puget Sound
Late Afternoon January 14th

Summer and Winter - With and Without ...

Summer, Jens, Montana
With Train, Without Snow

Winter, Jens, Montana
Without Train, With Snow
Either way, we like the old barn!
Port of Seattle Photos ...

We recently discovered a Gallery of Photos on the official Port of Seattle website. The images are mostly by professional photographer Don Wilson and are offered for use, free of charge, on the web to "help tell your story."  Since our story often includes the home of John's Island we want to share some of these excellent photos. These views are often from areas where access is limited.

Port of Seattle image by Don Wilson
Mount Rainier behind SeaTac Airport
(Mt Rainier -- 14,410')
Port of Seattle image by Don Wilson
A cruise ship leaving Pier 68, Seattle, Washington
APL Columbia delivering freight.
Port of Seattle image by Don Wilson
We will be sharing more of the Port of Seattle's photos from time to time, or, if you want to see them now, check out this link.

Yellowstone Park update ...

Those of you who have followed us for a while will know that we are collectors of Yellowstone National Park memorabilia. Following the Park on Twitter is a good way to keep up with news from the area. In case you missed these recent Tweets, here are a couple of screen shots ...

Over 4 million visitors to YNP in 2015!

Beautiful shot of Morning Glory Pool in winter.
A vintage postcard of Morning Glory we shared in a previous post.
Maritime Update ...

This month we spotted the USNS Rainier (T-AOE-7) pulling into Puget Sound. The Rainier is a Military Sealift Command (MSC) fast combat support ship. It appeared headed for the Naval Base at Bremerton, Washington. Wikipedia has this description: "Rainier has the speed to keep up with the carrier strike groups. She rapidly replenishes Navy task forces. She receives petroleum products, ammunition and stores from shuttle ships and redistributes these items simultaneously to carrier strike group ships. This reduces the vulnerability of serviced ships by reducing alongside time." After doing a bit of research on this ship it appears she is about ready to go into retirement.

Here are two photos of the Rainier from Wikipedia and in the Public Domain ...

U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Patrick M Bonafede
"The Military Sealift Command (MSC) fast combat support ship
 USNS Rainier (T-AOE 7) shown underway in the Western Pacific Ocean"

By United States Navy, Photographer's Mate 1st Class James Thierry
"Rainier replenishes Ronald Reagan"
Last, but not least, Good News from USDA for those of us in the Pacific Northwest ...

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service sent this bulletin at 01/28/2016 04:15 PM EST 2015-2016 snowpack comparison: What a difference a year makes.

Here is a screen shot of the info ...


The bottom line is that our snow pack is normal or above here in the Pacific Northwest for 2016. This is great news after last year's drought. Link to the full story is here.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

20 comments:

  1. Good afternoon John, what a beautiful series of photos you've shared today. I always love mountain tops with snow on them, beautiful waterfront scenes and sunset silhouettes. It looks like you've been having nice weather this past week. Where I am we've been having oodles of rain so no good pics. We had nice sunshine one day but I wasn't out with my camera. Take care and have a great weekend.

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  2. Five posts for the price of one! Good deal. I would also watch for maritime traffic if I lived by a harbor. How's that for a prairie boy?

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  3. Such wonderful pictures. I love Mt. Rainier but I also love the pictures you posted of the ships. I'm so glad I found your site, because I am always enriched when I visit your Island. :-)

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  4. An interesting and informative post.You have some beautiful pictures here.

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  5. Thanks for sharing this Very fine sequence of images, John.
    Happy Sunday!

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  6. Hello John, wonderful post. I love the images, the barn scene with the train is one of my favorites. Gorgeous views of Mt Rainier! I like the Montana scene too,lovely image. The cruise ship reminds me of when we left from Seattle for our Alaska cruise. Great memories. Thanks for sharing. Happy Sunday, enjoy your new week ahead!

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    Replies
    1. Hi John, in answer to your question our cruise to Alaska was on the Holland America Amsterdam June 2004.

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  7. Yellowstone also does periscopes. The last periscope I watched was a herd of Bison at the Mammoth Hot Springs ranger station. Periscopes only last 24 hours so I cannot give you a link but if you follow YNP on twitter you will see the periscope posts.

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  8. enjoyed :)

    a hick up in the drought...yeahhhhhh

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  9. Lots of great pictures in this post. : )

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  10. hooray for drought relief! lovely sky shots!

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  11. Thank you for the suggestion and I will have to follow Yellowstone NP on Twitter. Can't believe they had that many visitors last year!

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  12. Glad it sounds like the drought is coming to an end! Your first Montana photo with the homestead and the snow covered mountain/hill is beautiful. I also really liked your shot of the train and the tracks with snow. There's nothing like some good railroad photography! Beautiful vintage postcard of Morning Glory, and it's wonderful to see that it's beauty is still as glorious today! So many things change over the years, as is evidenced in many of your postcards, but it's good to see a part of nature still the same! Great post!

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  13. Fascinating photos throughout and great news about the snowpack at last....:)

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  14. Aw, John. These photos are so amazing and beautiful. They make me feel nostalgic for some reason.

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  15. Beautiful photos! I love the skies.

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  16. Shots amazing. Love that morning pool pictures as well.

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