When I first saw that there were two eagles in the Eagle Tree, my first thought was Double Eagles, obviously a throwback to another time and place where those coins were used in everyday commerce.
But, as I got ready to write this blog, I wondered what, exactly, is a Double Eagle and how'd it come about.
First off, let's talk about what a Double Eagle is . . . it is a gold coin of the United States with a denomination of $20. The coins were made from a 90% gold and 10% copper alloy.
Fun Fact: By law, only deceased persons can appear on a U.S. coin today. Also, when the U.S. first began minting coins, they stayed away from putting a person's head on a coin because it was too much like the Europeans who would put their royalty on their coins.
Most money used in the 1850s were coins. We were on a gold standard and the money was made of an equivalent amount of precious metal. .
The first Double Eagle was minted in 1849, coinciding with the California Gold Rush. In 1850 regular production began and continued until 1933. Prior to 1850, Eagles with a denomination of $10 were the largest denomination of U.S. coin. $10 Eagles were produced beginning in 1795, just two years after the first U.S. Mint opened. Since the $20 gold piece had twice the value of the Eagle, these coins were designated Double Eagles. In 1850, the Double Eagle had the purchasing power of $1200 today.
Hahaha, that was a long way to go just to explain my random thought. But now I know a bit more about our history.
And here are the two eagles . . . sitting up high and pretty in the Eagle Tree.
Moving in a bit closer.
What a surprise it was to find the two of them here. When we'd first been driving down Rainier, I had seen the one eagle in the Eagle Tree as I was driving along and so we quickly turned into the drive to the park.
When we pulled up we were astonished to find that there were TWO eagles in the tree, not just the one I had seen briefly while driving.
Unfortunately, the lower eagle was partially obscured by some branches but the higher eagle was well presented against the overcast sky.
Hahaha, love the new camera. It's so cool to reach out and get so close to the subject.
Oh, here's the lower eagle. You can get an idea of what I meant when I said he was obscured from view. Stupid branches.
We were there a while and, believe it or not, it got a bit boring standing there watching the two eagles . . . sitting.
So while aware of them, we did look around a bit and spotted ourselves a Common Merganser. We enjoy watching these Daffy Ducks on the Cedar River . . . they'll dive under the water for 10+ seconds and surface a good distance from where they started. It's tough keeping up with them. In fact, this and the other pictures I got today are among the best I've ever gotten of this fast and elusive duck.
It was a dreary day but there was some let up every so often. Looking south from near the lake towards the City of Renton.
And then, turning around 180 degrees, I got this shot of Lake Washington with the overcast sky. You can see the Eagle Tree and the Double Eagles there, on the right. The Eagle Tree is the tallest tree and you can just barely make out the two dark spots that are the eagles on the right hand side of that tree.
We call it the Eagle Tree because of the many times we've seen the eagles in that particular tree. It's evidently a good place for them to perch and then view the lake for anything of interest.
Looking east across the lake towards the hills surrounding Renton.
After a while, we gave up hoping the eagles would fly away giving us a chance to see where they went and get some shots of them flying. But we, and when I say we, I mean me, ran out of patience.
Just goes to show, we got back to the mini and were turning it around when I glanced back at the Eagle Tree and . . . those rascals were gone!!
Doggone it!!
Cursing our luck (and my impatience) we headed the mini and went onto the store for our shopping.
After shopping, I put the mini on Rainier Avenue and began driving home. I had to go slow so that Carol could scan the tree-tops looking for another eagle. We even pulled into the park to see if the eagles were back in the Eagle Tree.
I didn't expect to see anything there and we didn't. Back out to Rainier Avenue heading on home. Carol asked me to slow down a bit and I did. I still didn't expect to see anything.
I was wrong.
Pull over!!
And I did. Same as the other day, Carol was out and I was in the mini fiddling with the camera bag and getting the camera out. But I did and then I moved down to where Carol was pointing up to the sky and saw . . . an eagle way up high!!
I could make him out pretty good, way up there.
And then when I zoomed in I saw that there wasn't one eagle up there.
Nope!!
There were TWO!!
What the . . . !?!?!
There were two. Seriously, two!?!?!
This was too much.
Oh, believe me, I got plenty of pictures but I'm only going to treat you to these few shots. Hahaha, no begging now, this is all you get.
But if you're like me you're feeling pretty doggone lucky to have seen this pair twice today!!
Seriously, what are the odds?
How do you beat that? You can't. So we just kept on with our little adventures. I had wanted to come back to the park with the pier in it and so rather than go straight back to the Hole-In-The-Ground, I headed over to the Mt. Baker Park and the pier.
Artsy-Fartsy Alert!!
I wanted to try and get that pier from some different angles. I wanted to do a bit more exploring, visually, photographically, of the park.
Specifically, I wanted to shoot the pier from a lower angle. I was hoping I could do it without getting down on the ground so I adjusted my screen and shot this while bent over.
I think I'd like to try it even lower. Although I do like this, I want to try it again.
Hahaha, that's the neat thing about being retired. I can do it any day I want to.
Hahahahaha!
OK, I've told you before, I present the pictures pretty much in the order in which they were taken. So it will appear as if I am bouncing around a bit. I am.
And so, from the pier we're gonna jump, rather abruptly, out to the lake and a cormorant.
He looks like a snob, doesn't he?
This place is only a couple miles from Seward Park but it's a different kind of scenery. More urban, I guess, than Seward.
And here's Lake Washington Boulevard Park. Another reason I came back was to stop by this park and see what it is like.
A look at Bellevue across Lake Washington with the Cascades in the background.
And, because I'm such an original guy in everything but my photography, I shot one with the pier and Bellevue (with the Cascades in the background).
Here's I-90 as it crosses Lake Washington going to Mercer Island. With the Cascades in the background.
And, still feeling a bit Artsy-Fartsy, I got yet another shot of the pier.
And another. I know, you're wondering when I'm going to stop. It's an interesting subject and so I predict that you'll see this pier at least once more in one of my blogs. Maybe more.
For a little variety, I shot an old dog out walking his old dog . . . on the pier.
Looking along Lake Washington Boulevard as it follows the shoreline of Lake Washington.
What's this!?!
Mt. Baker Park Selfie!!
So we left the Mt. Baker Park and drove on over to the Lake Washington Boulevard Park. It's a lovely park, not real big, though.
While we were there, a fire-fighting tug was practicing on the other side of the I-90 floating bridge.
There were a lot of views and the overcast sky lent itself to making some of the pictures.
An extreme close-up of the City of Bellevue.
It's hard, but you can just make out the base of Mt. Rainier way back there.
Awwww, a ducky!!
Hahaha, I couldn't resist. It's not like I've never seen one before, right?
A long view, the new camera has a moderate wide-angle, of the I-90 Floating Bridge and Bellevue across Lake Washington.
The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge is a floating bridge that carries the eastbound lanes of I-90 across Lake Washington from Seattle to Mercer Island. Westbound traffic is carried by the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge running parallel to it. The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge is the second longest floating bridge on earth at 6,620 ft, whereas the longest is the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge just a few miles to the north on the same lake, built 23 years later. The third longest is the Hood Canal Bridge, also in Washington, about 30 miles to the northwest.
Along with the east portals of the Mt. Baker Ridge Tunnel, the bridge is an official City of Seattle landmark. While the bridge originally had an opening span at the center of the bridge to allow a horizontal opening of 202 ft. for major waterborne traffic, the only boat passages currently are elevated fixed spans at the termini with 29 ft. of vertical clearance.
The bridge was the brainchild of engineer Homer Hadley, who made the first proposal in 1921. Construction began January 1, 1939 and was completed in 1940. Originally a toll bridge, the tolls were removed in 1949. The bridge sank in a storm on November 25, 1990, while it was undergoing refurbishing and repair. The current bridge was built in 1993. The eponymous Lacey V. Murrow was the second Director of the Washington State Highway Department and a highly decorated U.S. Air Force officer who served in WWII. He was also the oldest brother of CBS commentator Edward R. Murrow.
Lacey, like his younger brother, Edward, was a heavy smoker. Edward died from lung cancer in 1965 and Lacey, who also had lung cancer, committed suicide in 1966 rather than let the disease take him.
Fun Fact: While I was laboring away in TSA, I got to meet and have a pleasant conversation with the then retired Governor Rosellini. He was governor when they set up and opened the Seattle World's Fair. Nice guy, too.
A view from Lake Washington Boulevard Park.
They had some beautiful trees along the lake shore in this park.
I know these next two pictures of are of the same subject but they're really different pictures because of the way I've used my lens. The first one is zoomed in and you can see the detail and feel the low-lying clouds drifting through the trees.
And in this one, I've moved back out and given you a feel for the lake as well as for the shoreline along Mercer Island and how it was interacting with the weather of this day.
And what better way of ending a blog than with a picture of this beautiful lady.
I mean, it fits, right!?!
Hahahaha, I did exactly what I set out to do today. I got to go back to the lake and shoot the parks there again. We went out hoping to see an eagle and got to see two of them . . . not once, but TWICE!!
It was great!!
Life is good.
Hooah!!
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