Washington Tales

Stories from the Road
July 24, 2016
Olympia, WA.

Nisqually preserve is not far from downtown Olympia. It is the home of herons, ducks, falcons, eagles, and more. We walked through it today viewing wildlife-taking photos, and generally trying to be part of the ecology.

Later we toured the farmers market, where I had crab cakes for lunch. This is a fun weekend activity in Olympia. In addition to live music and numerous lunch opportunities from fish to Indian cuisine, there are stalls with fresh fruit and vegetables from local farms. If you like fresh blueberries, peaches, and grapes, you’ll like the market.

Tomorrow we play at Sallish Cliffs. This is a tribal course a sort distance from Olympia. Fairly new, the course has lush fairways, multiple tee boxes, and well-maintained greens. It is not unlike Maderas, another 5 star course in Poway. The track winds through pine forest with no houses in sight. I thought if I could package the early morning aroma of pine and crisp air, I would be a wealthy man!

Today Marle and I played an executive course a few miles from Marle and Maria’s house. A large deer at the first tee box greeted us. A few holes later Marle stepped to the elevated tee box, and a small fawn bounded away. We saw one more deer after that. Though I have seen thousands of deer in my lifetime, I never get tired of sightings.

The man, who worked at the golf course this morning had one arm and slurred his speech. He seemed somewhat slow in understanding how we were paying, but he eventually got it, and all in all he did a good job. It was good to see that he had a job, which he liked and had mastered.