Rhododendrons, Azaleas

Red Rhododendrons
Apricot Azaleas

Rhododendrons grow wild here, 30 and 40 feet tall, are evergreen, and are the state flower.
Rhodies set their blooms in fall for the next spring.
Azaleas are a cousin, come in more colors, are domestic, but lose their leaves in winter.
Azaleas don't seem to grow as large either.
Both are pretty in bloom, though!

More Flying over Forks

... wa-a-ay over Forks.

We've had some aerobatics being performed overhead lately.

These are pictures of two aircraft this one day, obviously military.

They seem to be practice-dogfighting.

Fascinating to watch.

They are too quick to get many decent pictures, and the planes aren't always the same.

Sometimes I don't even have time to go in after the camera - I'd miss some of the 'show'!

Very cool to watch, though.

Defying the law..

..the laws of physics, anyway. This bee seems to not know that the laws of physics say he just can't fly. He's just enjoying the treats he is finding in this pretty Chinese Coins tree. What he doesn't know ... seems to working well for him!

Flag Day, U.S.

Happy Flag Day!

Long may our star-spangled banner wave.

"Twilight Territory" launched, Thunder Weekend

Chris Cook, editor of the Forks Forum (weekly newspaper), has published a guide book of the Forks/La Push area for the "Twilight" books fans, named "Twilight Territory." He was at Thriftway (grocery store here in Forks) today to sign books and talk with people. When we were there, he was inundated a few times with fans, some traveling in packs - or are groups of fans called giggles? [Geese are gaggles, so fans should be giggles, don't you think?] Along with Chris, were Traci Kettel (shown in the picture) and Janeen Howell, who was away helping a group of fans find the Twilight clothing in the store. I tried to take a picture while Janeen was there, but she didn't stay still for long... There is more information about the book here : http://www.forksforum.com/twilight .

We got three copies, one for us, and two for daughter and granddaughter who are fans.

This is also the first West End Thunder weekend of the year. West End Thunder is a local car club which hosts car races at the local airport. We aren't racing fans, but there seem to be a lot of them who come to watch. These pictures were taken from the road as we went by.

After the heat...

Revving up...

They also have a Show and Shine of cars and bikes.

Forks fliers (3)

Grounded fliers - seagulls massing in the field. Stayed there quite a while, actually.

Forks fliers (2)

more of Mother Nature's fliers

Fliers in Forks

Mother Nature's Flying Machines taking a seed break.

We get a lot of different types of birds here, and have gotten pictures of a few, so here goes...