Enumclaw - 9/5/14

Or - The Nose Knows...

It was the kind of day where you've got nothing planned but whatever it is that interests your fancy. And my fancy was interested in doing a bit of traveling. But, first, we had to stop by Vincent de Paul's for a book which was, unfortunately, not there. Undeterred, I headed to another Vincent de Paul's over in Kent. Strike-out Number Two, although Carol did score a couple of books and a scarf. 

I figured, since we were already down that far South, we might as well do some exploring…sorta follow my rather large and asymmetrical nose and see where it would take us. 

And it took us to…Enumclaw, which is located approximately 45 miles southeast of Seattle and is the 'Gateway' to the north entrances of Mt. Rainier National Park. Enumclaw has a current population of 10,669 so it still has that 'small town' feel to it. The city boasts that it is within one hour of any activity imaginable; skiing, hiking, beaches, professional sports and big city culture. They appear to be spot on.

It's 'fly-over' country to all the Professional Politicians because it is, as you will see, truly a small slice of Patriotic America.

Hahahaha, you can betcha that Romney carried this part of Washington in the last election!!

        

Enumclaw was homesteaded in 1879 by Frank and Mary Stevenson. In 1885, the Northern Pacific Railroad routed their transcontinental mainline through the site having been lured there by an offer of cleared, level land on which they could build a siding.

 Confident the area would grow, the Stevensons filed a plat with King Country that same year and then built a hotel and gave away lots for the important things, like a saloon and a general store.

At first, people called the town 'Stevensonville' after the founders but they soon refused the honor. Someone suggested 'Enumclaw', which was the name of the sawed-off promontory north of the town, and the name's uniqueness caught on with the locals.

FYI, the Enumclaw Plateau, on which the city resides, was formed by a volcanic mudflow from Mt. Rainier approximately 5,700 years ago, or around the same time Harry Reid was first elected to Congress.

The name, Enumclaw, is derived from a Salish Native American Term that translates as "place of evil spirits" (or, as some say, the U.S. Congress), apparently referring to that same sawed-off promontory located about 6 miles to the north. It either referred to some evil incident that occurred there, maybe Obama-Care, or to the frequent powerful windstorms that sweep through the region. Native American mythology tells the story of two Pacific Northwest Native American brothers - Enumclaw and Kapoonis - whose father turned them into thunder and lightning. The City of Enumclaw says the name means "Thundering Noise".

Regardless, it's apparent the city has a good sense of both humor and patriotism.

And they like murals. I got this detail of one LARGE mural depicting some of the history of the area…and the Scandahoovians contributions to the growth of the region. In that regard, the city boasts the last Danish Hall left in the Great American Pacific Northwest, The Friends of the Danish Hall will be holding a Viking Feast this September 27th to raise money to restore the Danish Hall.

And they're going to have a Rubber Duck Race, too.

Who knows? Maybe we'll be there. Who knows?

And this one. Jensen, that's a Scandahoovian name, ain't it? Another example of their great influence in settling the city.

Like I said before, Enumclaw is very much Small-Town America. We really enjoyed the feel of the city and the businesses in the downtown area.

They had plenty of places to eat…and drink.

And that sense of humor again. 

The Love Bug!!

Look at the hubcaps. Cool, eh!?!

Reflected Window Selfie Alert!!

I told you I'd run this bad boy into the ground…and I wasn't fooling!!

Lots of stuff displayed on the street…unlike El Paso where if it were out front it would have to be anchored to something large and difficult to move with a very strong and thick chain.

That Small-Town thingie, again.

Hahahaha, I don't know what Pumpkin Jack is but it sounds delicious. Unfortunately, I refused to wipe my feet so…I couldn't go in.

Ratz.

Makes ya feel like you're in the Deep South. 

That Patriotism thing again.

We went into a couple shops and then into the Gun Store.

I wasn't going to buy but a boy can dream, can't he?

A detail from an old cash register.

Simpler times then.

This gun store had all kinds of antiques…from these toy cars to guns to uniforms to cannons to...

…these displays. Pretty cool, eh?

And this one. I would like a six-shooter like this. Hmmmmm, Thinking about it, I'd probably shoot myself in the foot trying to quick-draw it. Maybe I'll just leave that one alone.

And this newspaper from May 5, 1945.

Historical note, the Germans surrendered, unconditionally, on May 8, 1945. It was declared VE Day and people everywhere rejoiced. Then, after the party was over, they turned their eyes towards the East and Japan.

Japan would fight on until the use of nuclear weapons brought them to their knees. They surrendered, unconditionally, on September 2, 1945. It was declared VJ Day and again, people everywhere rejoiced and then they began the work of rebuilding the world and their own lives.

I saw a bunch of these…old ammo boxes. They're almost like art, aren't they. I could see them on a poster or framed and hung.

Pretty cool, eh? And made in the U.S.A., too.

Ah, here it is again. 

Slap leather, you Side-Winder!!

Hahahaha, I was one bad cowpoke when I was little. 

 Reflected Window Selfie Alert #2!!

Not an original bone in my body. Nosiree…I sees 'em and I shoots 'em.

If they had apartments on the second floor of this building, I'd consider it. I think it'd be exciting and fun to live in an older building in the downtown of some small, American town.

There were lots of shops and places to eat in this City of the Evil Spirits. 

I had to go back to an earlier shot in this blog to make sure I didn't post the same picture twice. They do look a lot alike. But, no. This is an original…although it sure looks a lot like that other one. Go ahead and see for yourself.

We crossed the main street which was named, oddly enough, Cole Street, and headed towards the Enumclaw Library. 

And ran into this BIG statue. 

They're proud of their logging past.

Pretty impressive.

And I turned slightly to the right from where I got that last picture and got this one.

Mt Rainier looms over the city and is pretty much visible from just about any point in Enumclaw.

Now, the reason we headed towards the library was that we had spied a garden and it appeared to be behind the library. So we headed in that direction to see what we could see.

And, it was a garden. A public garden for growing tomatoes, carrots, squash, peppers, cantaloupe, other assorted veggies and…flowers.

All kinds of flowers. Here, see for yourself…

Sunflowers…with Bees.

Original, eh!?!

And these...

And this one...

What the…!?!?!

ANOTHER Bee!! Wow!!

Detail of a sunflower. It's the State flower of Kansas.

And these beauties...

OMG!! A bee!! Go figure!!

I never see one of those!!

Wait! What!?!

That ain't no bee!! It's a stinking Ladybug.

Oh, Jack!! You crazy kid!! What are you up to now?

And these 'bloomers'.

Hahahaha, cuz they're flowers and they 'bloom' and they look like a lady's bloomers from long, long ago.

Hahaha, I still got it!!

Oh, and these...

And this one. With a bee.

And this one. I'll explain here. This is the back side of a sunflower (the National Flower of Russia) and is dying away. You can see the withered petals surrounding the bud of the flower.

And these…there'll be a lot of these...

Kinda creepy and 'Alien' looking, ain't it!?!

EXTREME CLOSE-UP!!

And this one...

And, finally, this one.

Pretty cool, eh!?!

Yeah, I know!!

Then, after a nice conversation with a lady there who was working her plot, it was back to the mundane world again.

But not for long!!

Here comes this ol' Flivver and it parks right across the street from the movie house!! The original theatre is still in use, how cool is that!?!

There were plenty of churches there. Remember, this is Fly-Over Country. God, Guns and Patriotism.

You betcha!!

The dignified and small Enumclaw Municipal Building. The Court House.

And overlooking it all…Mt. Rainier.

We finally hit the road and had a surprisingly pleasant drive back to Seattle. The roads were pretty clear mainly cuz I deliberately drove the back roads. There were a couple spots where the traffic was backed up for several miles…fortunately, they were all going the opposite direction from me. Thank Goodness!!

And we stopped by our little park just to end the good day on a good note and what should we see when we get there!?!

An Osprey…hunting!!

Actually, we saw two of them!! We figure one of them was Junior…learning the tricks of the trade vis-a-vis watching Pops hunting.

Getting ready to dive!!

And then Fran came along. We met her and her dogs a couple weeks ago and we bump into her now and again. Friendly lady who walks her two teacup doggies down to the park everyday.

Oh, we also saw Mt. Rainier…just not as close as it was before.

Look!! There's Chloe!! Looking pretty cuz she just got a hair-cut that day.

Then this Hot-Dog came swooping in. Unlike every other seaplane pilot who comes in from the north and lands facing towards the airfield, this Show-Off came in towards the field and then banked sharply to the right and quickly dropped down onto the lake for a landing.

It was cool cuz he really banked into that turn and, BOOM, he was down on the water.

The guy in the blue shirt was loading up a party of 4 or so adults and a couple of kids. Heading up to somewhere for the weekend.

Rich people!! Bah, humbug.

Annnnnd, he was down. Quick and easy!!

And Pops was still hunting.

This is cool cuz he is facing towards the camera. You can see the top of his head as he hovers, looking for a glint of silver indicating a fish in the water. See his beak?

So long, Rich People. Don't get food poisoning or anything.

I. Am. Not. Jealous.

And we were done. Planes taking off!! Ospreys hunting!! Flowers blooming!! Small-Town America being all Small-Towny!! Driving around this beautiful State of ours!!

It was a busy day. A good day.

Life is, even in Small-Town America, good.

Hooah!!