Yellowstone Souvenir Folder [1910s] and More

From our collection of old postcards ...

Yellowstone National Park
Souvenir Folder
ca 1910 - 1915

In the early 1900s it was not uncommon for travelers to visit a place and pick up a souvenir folder of views that could remind them of their visit. This was sort of like buying a whole bunch of postcards and wrapping them into one cover. This particular folder is a very early one from Yellowstone National Park. In those days, if you purchased one of these, you could mail it to a friend for one cent postage (as long as you didn't include a message ... in that case, you needed more postage!) For you modern folks out there this surely was not as convenient as Instagram, but in our humble opinion, has a more lasting quality. Now, here are some of the images in the Souvenir Folder ...

#4304 - A Park Bear

Linking up with Saturday Critters. Thanks Eileen! Check out Saturday Critters for neat critter posts!

#4321 - Crater of Mud Volcano

#4323 - Hyman Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs

#4291 - The Sponge, Upper Geyser Basin

#5341 - Silver Gate
This one helps date the folder. Horse carriages
were phased out around 1915.

#7713 - Fort Yellowstone
Many people do not know YNP was guarded by
the US Army in early years.

#8138 - Northern Pacific Depot and Entrance to Park
The Northern Pacific was first railroad to serve YNP.

#4293 - Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
from Artist Point
This is the back cover of the folder.
A narrow cut across the top will accomodate the
closing flap you see in the next image.

Back cover with closing flap.

Have you seen Yellowstone National Park?

Recent skies ...

August 9 late evening.
Breezy conditions as clouds move out after
our first rainy weekend in several weeks.

August 11 about 8 PM

August 11 at sunset. Smoke in the skies from regional
forest fires adds to the color.

August 12 near sunset.

August 17 near sunset.

August 18 just after sunset. We did not even notice
crows in tres on left until looking at the picture later.
Do you see them? We were trying to capture the way
the mountains created shadows in the sky.

August 18 after sunset. Olympic Mountains to the west.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday. Thanks to the hosts! Check out their site for more sky photos.

Maritime Update ...

We noticed two NOAA ships in harbor this past week.

NOAA ship Bell M Shimada
in Elliott Bay at anchorage.

The Bell M Shimada is a Fisheries Survey Vessel. More info here.

NOAA ship Thomas G Thompson
near Pier 90

The Thomas G Thompson is an Oceanographic Research Ship operated by the School of Oceanography at the University of Washington. More info here.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Great Northern Ry [1930s] Dahlia Garden [2015]

From our collection of old postcards ...

Old fashioned postcard folder with 18 views.
"In the Cascades"
"As seen on the Main Line of
Great Northern Railway"

 Here are 6 of the views in the folder ...

Wenatchee River

The Oriental Limited in
the Heart of the Cascades

Business Section of Tacoma

Water Front Seattle
Olympic Mountains in the Background

Scenic Hot Springs

Along the Skykomish River

Dahlia Garden update ...

Those of you who have followed us for a while will recall our posts featuring the dahlias from the garden of the Puget Sound Dahlia Association located in Volunteer Park, Seattle, Washington. Earlier this summer we posted the first blooms. We returned on Sunday, August 16, for another look. The garden is now mostly in bloom. Here are a few photos from our visit ... we will share more on a future post.

Click on images for larger view.

Playing around with the mosaic thing. Lots to learn!

Ever wonder how bees can fly where they want so perfectly?

Some of the blooms are really large!

Just another blue-sky day in Puget Sound.

Our post with the first blooms this season is here.

Our post to last season's wrap-up, and links to other dahlia posts, is here.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Wylie Coach in Yellowstone Park [early 1900s]

From our collection of old postcards ...

Our old postcard takes us back to a time when visitors moved around the Park in horse driven coaches and slept at camp sites made up of tents. The government allowed several "camping companies" to establish the camps and one of those was "Wylie Permanent Camps."

Be sure not to miss the attire of the tourists. Although they were "camping" they still dressed formally for their tour of the Park in the Wylie Concord Coach. The coach pictured appears to be a nine passenger, four horse power vehicle.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

HMCS Vancover Tour and More

HMCS (Her Majesty's Canadian Ship) Vancouver -- Tour at Pier 90 -- Seattle

"HMCS Vancouver is a Halifax-class frigate, of the Royal Canadian Navy launched on 8 July 1989, as the second vessel of her class. She is currently based at CFB Esquimalt on the west coast of Canada. She is the third vessel to be named for Vancouver, British Columbia."  ... Wikipedia.

[Please click on photos for larger view.]

Overview HMCS Vancouver
docked at Pier 90
Port of Seattle
for Seafair 2015

Snapped this shot from opposite side of slip for Pier 90.

Welcome Aboard
Our Tour was on July 31st

Big helicoper inside bay on main deck.
The chopper can land on water briefly.
It is amazing how the rotor blades can be folded back
so the aircraft will fit inside the ship.

Cleaning the ship's bell.

Avon used mostly in rescue work.

Looking up the tower.

Flag at bow.

Bofors 57mm gun

Not your everyday warning.

Bridge
Radio and navigation equipment is impressive!

Binoculars ... or scope? Either way, very powerful.

*Security*
We are advised that we are on
Canadian soil here.

We are advised not to get too close to the anchor
chain as it is "under tension".

Read more about HMCS Vancouver here.

Not our photo but Public Domain on Wikipedia
The Vancouver is on the left.

Not our photo but Public Domain on Wikipedia
The Vancouver is in the foreground.
U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Tina R. Lamb.

Other vessels spotted on our walk to Pier 90 ...

Seattle Fireboat 2

Seattle Fireboat Leschi

Foss Kalama Tug

Foss Pacific Knight Tug

Other recent pics ...

Another unusual smoky sunset on August 1st ...

Smoke is from forest fires in the region.
In this photo the sun is about to set behind the
Olympic Mountains to the west across Puget Sound.

About 20 minutes after sunset.
Forest fires have been much worse than
in recent years.

For blogging friends here in the Northwest ...

The Seattle PI published an excellent article on why it has been so warm here in the Pacific Northwest. They started the article with this statement: "We're coming up on 17 months in a row with above normal temperatures on average, and several of those months have been the warmest on record in Seattle." They then showed us a picture that makes it all easy to understand ...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Ocean Temperature Departure (°C)

The photo shows us ocean temperature departure from normal. All that red stuff is warmer than normal. The big red blobs along our west coast are sending us warmer and dryer weather. Read the whole story here.


"The Really Big One" ...

We couldn't end this post without mentioning an article published by The New Yorker magazine in their recent July 20th issue. Entitled "The Really Big One", it begins with the premise: "An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest. The question is when." Not really surprising to most who live here, but unsettling, nevertheless. The article says that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast. That includes us. In the event it does happen, don't expect any updates or posts from us. Blogging will be the last thing on our mind. In the meantime, we will try to appease ourselves with the knowledge that it appears impossible to predict exactly when, and with what magnitude, this kind of event will occur. We simply hope it's after our watch.

Link to the article is here.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.