Goodbye Blogger!!!

I'm not posting here anymore as I've moved my blog. I found a new provider that I enjoy working with so come visit me at DorlenesDays.wordpress.com.

Walking around Bellevue....

It was a neon blizzard! And we hope that is the only form of snowflakes we see all winter THIS year in western Washington! :)

Tonight Debbie and I went for a walk with Myrna around downtown Bellevue. A little shopping, a little sight-seeing.....a little rain. It was quite nice.

Our first photo together since we arrived in the North Seattle/Bellevue field last week. It's great to work with Debbie and I look forward to our friendship growing.

We enjoyed the festive feeling in the air with the lights coming on and the shoppers out---without any frost in the air!

Fancy stores and restaurants line Bellevue Way and, though the economy has not been very good, still the shoppers are beginning to think about Christmas already and it's not even Thanksgiving yet!

Co-Workers -- and our little Friend!

Out on Whidbey Island we have a special friend, Kai Gallagher. He's 4 yrs old and such a bright spot in all the lives around him. We thoroughly enjoyed staying a weekend with his grandma Marlene and mom, Sarah. If only we had a suitcase big enough, we'd take him right along with us.

Scenery from this past week:

The incredible sunrise from our field one morning last week. We all stood and watched with wonder. A perfect way to start a new day!

Crescent Lake, or Lake Crescent, out on the peninsula. We were on our way from our retreat in the woods at Forks to Carolyn's parents' place in Sequim. Anyone for a frigid swim?

Back the way we came.....what a beautiful spot!

Sister Time on Horseback!

This past week we had a day with Carolyn's sister, Lisa, in her field out on the peninsula in Western WA. Some folks know a lot about this town, though they've never been there, due to a series of books that supposedly take place there--Forks, WA. Anyway, we were out on a horse farm/bed and breakfast there so we spent part of the day on horseback. It was a great time together. Above, I'm on Taz. He is an old horse now so I can even ride him! He was wild in his youth and, yes, his name is from "the Tazmanian Devil." The man who owns the property rode him for many years and even got bucked off at least once. Now he's a great mountain horse--he can handle anything, a true gentleman.


Finally! All saddled up. Sharry (our hostess) is on Paddy, then me on Taz, Lisa on Truffles, Carolyn on Star, and Brenda on stubborn ol' Bella. Off we go!


Along the trail through dense forest--rainforest style! It was an absolutely beautiful, if a little damp, day. The vine maple was intensely gold, orange in some places, and the moss on the trees was beautiful. Wish you could have gone along.


The trail ended in a clear-cutting operation so we wandered through the mess to find a view. This picture doesn't really do the beauty around us justice but WE enjoyed it immensely. Taz lead the way back with great enthusiasm--guess the barn was working it's usual magic. :)

Yes, we did return to our field in time for our Wednesday gospel meeting--refreshed and invigorated from our "sister time" in the woods. We're so thankful for the many privileges we find along the way.

Washington Special Meetings

Kelso/Longview December 6th

Sequim, WA December 13th

Bellingham, WA December 16th

Arlington, WA December 20th


If you want a copy of "who goes where" please email me at decross@q.com and I'll send one out to folks I know. :)


Thanks for checking in!

Mt Pilchuck

Here's the mountain we climbed this sunny Monday in early October. I took this photo from "downtown" Granite Falls. Yes, we climbed right out to the very rocky point on this mountain. What a beautiful day to do it! We'll not have too many more such nice hiking days so, after a very full and busy weekend, it seemed a good opportunity for some exercise and it's benefits.

Ah! There! We finally managed to get the sign, and both our heads in the frame! It's kind of tricky when there isn't a third along to take the photos. By "Summit", behind my head, it says "3" as in 3 miles. Here we go....6 miles on a sunny afternoon but we're a little tight on time. We ended up going up and back in just about 2 and a half hours. Not bad.

The view in the lower elevation as we came out of the old-growth forest. Notice the color beginning in the bushes. It sure was a grand and glorious day.

At one point along the trail we found a place for a photo-op. A passing hiker was kind enough to take this photo. We thought it would make a good companion photo.

This was the view down from close to the summit. Snow had fallen here and on the northeast side of the mountain it didn't melt even though the day was sunny and clear. Fall is definitely here now.
Mt Pilchuck has a lookout at the top just like Three Fingers (last week) did. So we're finally there!
Here's Carolyn climbing the ladder into the lookout. Us and our ladders!

Just across the valley we could see the mountain we climbed last week (last post). Three Fingers is over 6000 ft high and just the day after we hiked it it was covered with this snow. We just made it.
Glacier Peak is the 4th highest peak in the North Cascades at 10,520 ft. We were lucky it was such a clear day in October.
The views of the other mountains around us from the summit lookout was outstanding. Here is Mt Baker in all his glory. He stands at 10,781 ft and is the third highest peak in the North Cascade Mountains. Western Washington is SOOO lucky!
So....here we are at the summit, outside the lookout, on an overhang of rock. We thought this might be a good companion photo. What do you think? :)