Smilin' Jack: Somewhere, Over the Rainbow (Trout)

Or - Something's Definitely Fishy Here!!

The City of Issaquah is having their Salmon Days Festival this weekend and we're thinking of going so we thought we'd drive out there just to get oriented to the area before we drove over on Saturday. Like most other things happening here in the Great American Pacific Northwest, it'll be crowded.

And if it is anything like it was today...it will be very crowded.

Oh, and we needed to do some light shopping so I thought, after Issaquah, we'd stop at the Walmart in Bellevue for our shopping. You know, an exciting change of pace.

Yeah, I agree...slow down, Speed Racer!!

Life in the fast lane is Wild & Krazy, Y'all!!

Here we are, starting out on our little jaunt...on MLK as we are coming up on the junction with Renton Ave.

I took MLK to Rainier and then over to I-90. So we got to drive through some city scenery. Like this where the Link begins its climb into the sky and through Beacon Hill as it goes to the Emerald City.

I honestly don' know why they didn't keep the Link elevated all the way through. As it is, it drops down to street level at Columbia City and doesn't rise again until it makes the big turn over the freeway at the end of Rainier Beach.

It runs at ground level parallel with MLK and it sure screws up the traffic at every intersection. Waiting 3-4 minutes to turn left across the Link lines is not uncommon.

The Mt. Baker Link station and there, in its shadow, is The Original Philly's...which, strangely enough, does NOT have its own page on the Internet. Odd. So I can't tell you any more about it other than it is named The Original Philly's.

We finally broke through and got on I-90 heading East towards Issaquah and...who knows what!!!

Here we are!!

First stop was to the Visitor Information Center where we got maps, brochures and, hahahaha, information. Oh, and I got a pin, too.

Coho Mojo!!

So we got all the maps and brochures and promptly left them in the car when we stopped and got out. Hahaha, nothing like having a well-executed plan.

Oh, yeah, they were getting the Carnival together for the Salmon Days Festival this Saturday. It's been decades since I went to a Carnival like this. Who wants to break a record like that, right?

Welcome to Issaquah Selfie!!

This was one of the two theaters on Front Street, the main street of Issaquah. Both of the theaters are for live productions. This was one nice looking place and they had a show going on so I didn't get to see the auditorium.

And right across from that was this old Shell Station. Kinda like being in Bisbee, Arizona. They had their buildings looking like they were right out of the 50s, too.

And like Seattle, they go for the floral arrangements, too.

It's not Chihuly Glass but it is cool. And prolific. They had a number of these...things, set out for sale. I don't know about the utility of buying a walking stick with a glass figure on top of it. Or maybe they're supposed to just stick them in the ground for decoration. Again, I question the utility.

My favorite...Rubber Ducky!! You're the one!!

Reflected Glass School Selfie!!

Flowers...even glass flowers still hold a place for me.

As Carol opined, How would you get that Octopus thing home?

I would have to add, Why would you WANT to bring it home?

Yech!!

Looking down Front Street in Issaquah.

Hahaha, I could never ride that. And they did, with no paved roads to help them, either.

Issaquah is an Artsy-Fartsy little Yuppie enclave. It's Seattle-Lite. I'm thinking it's where all the Kool Kids from Seattle come to live when they have a baby...or get a new dog.

Lots of pretense here...and a buncha liberals, too.

And they share that Seattle thingie about getting outside to eat and drink whenever they can.

Lots of art store stuff.

Really!?! And there were two of them.

Two!!

Both different but both the same.

Honestly, go figure.

Adults who refuse to grow up.

Celebrating braindead killing machines bent on eating you.

Sounds legit.

A dreamy little To-Die-For Beer Bar...and Bar-B-Q.

We saw the menu in one place and their hamburger, at $12, was one of the cheapest things on the menu. Kept on walking.

I know. I admit it. I'm cheap.

Then we saw this flatiron building that just happened to be a bar.

We were going to keep on going up Front but one of our Valued Homeless felt I would love to hear about his run-in with the manager of the Safeway across the street and began telling me about it in more detail than I wanted to hear.

Gotta say, after an amazingly short period of time, I was sympathizing with the manager who told this Valued Homeless (and loud) fella that he would call the cops and have him arrested.

The Valued Homeless Guy walked across the street, against the light, and then, while still in the intersection causing traffic to go around him, turned and told me some more of his opinion of the manager.

Well, Valued Homeless Guy was turning left, still talking, so when we got the light we crossed and immediately turned right...towards this bar.

I just mentioned the bar because I couldn't see a menu, I was feeling a wee bit hungry, and there was no way I was walking into anything in this Trendy Town without having an idea how much it would cost me. Plus, they brewed their own beer. Always a killer for me.

So we kept walking on past the bar and then we, literally, ran into this!!

The Salmon Hatchery!!

ALL RIGHT!!

Salmon are truly a big deal here in Issaquah. Each year, thousands of adult salmon make the long journey home from the Pacific to spawn, completing their amazing life cycle. And, each Fall, Issaquah celebrates this miracle as the salmon make their way through the Puget Sound, rivers, lakes and up Issaquah Creek and beyond.

The city invites the public to enjoy streaming live salmon spawning action with F.I.S.H. (Friends of Issaquah Salmon Hatchery).

They guarantee there is lots of Free, Fun and Fishy adventures awaiting you.

And just to give us an idea of all the fun we'd be having, they had these out in front!!

It is an operating hatchery.

Here's one of the racetracks where they raise (?) the salmon.

And here is inside one of the raceways.

A Fish Farm as it were.

Issaquah Fish Hatchery Selfie!!

Artsy-Fartsy Alert!!

Aw, c'mon!! It's Autumn, fer cryin' out loud!!

Humor me, OK?

It's leaves...brightly colored leaves.

Then we rounded the corner and saw the viewing area by the Issaquah Creek and this dam. I honestly didn't expect any of the salmon to be able to get up past this obstacle. None did while we were watching.

But they tried.

Boy, Howdy, did they try.

And the ducks, hahahaha, they couldn't have cared less. They just swan around at the top of the creek and quacked at the salmon below.

You can see where the water is running over the dam down in the right hand corner of this picture.

You can get sort of an over-all view of what the salmon were up against. They had to jump all the way up to the calm creek water where the ducks were on the far left of this picture.

I didn't see any make it.

I can make it!! I can!! I can!!

Ummph!!

Ratz!!

There were a LOT of salmon in the creek waiting to try and scale this ladder.

Awwww, nice try, Bucko.

Just a reminder that Seagulls, regardless of my obsession with trying to get a good picture of them, are really nothing more than Feathered Rats.

Omnivorous Feathered Rats.

Haha, you might be asking yourself, Self, how did Jackie get these wonderful action shots of the salmon swimming upriver?

It were simple. I aimed the camera at a certain point where I thought the fish would jump at and then I waited...and waited...and waited...and, WAIT!! Did one of them just jump!?! Dammit!!

Hahaha, so I waited and then took a picture when they jumped. And then I snapped and snapped and snapped. And then I cropped and cropped and cropped.

Love the digital freedom to take as many pictures as I can.

BTW, I threw LOADS of pictures of the running water away.

That is one BIG fish right there!!

I can make it, I can, I can!!

Dammit.

Oh, did you hear about the two fish swimming along.

Bam!! They run into a concrete wall.

One turns to the other and says, "Dam!"

Hahahahahahahaha...

So we left the dam for a minute and walked over to where they have the fish swimming up the ladders. They have these windows built into the sides of the tanks and we were able to watch the salmon.

Coho Selfie!!

Another cobweb. I don't know but it seems we're seeing more and more spiders lately.

Is that an omen!?!

Good grief!! I hope not!!

The ducks...Hahahaha, I was watching the Arizona Sun Devils play the Oregon Ducks (and rooting for the Sun Devils) and this picture just reminded me that the Ducks lost!!!

Hahahahaha!!

I'm drawing a blank here for a caption.

You just go ahead and do it for yourselves.

We finally left the hatchery. I figured the Valued Homeless Guy was off somewhere else bothering someone else. I was right.

Looking down Sunset Way towards Front Street.

That little boutique Brewery.

A raven outside the Issaquah Library.

Kinda nice art.

And, Front Street. Almost still as busy as when we drove into the town. It's like everyone works in Seattle and drives back to Issaquah.

Yuppies.

Walking back to the mini we passed the Issaquah Train Station.

It was closed, they were using it as a staging area for all the equipment they'd need to put out for the parade and festival.

They had one of their old trollies inside this building.

Looks cool.

I guess.

Sometimes I think it would be better to live back when the railroad was THE modern and quick way to travel the world...or at least to the coast.

I think about it and then realize I wouldn't have a TV, microwave or the Internet and I laugh and get back to living in the day.

Reflected Window In the Train Station Selfie!!

The neighborhood in the Olde Town.

(I did not make that up. They do call the downtown area, Olde Town.)

(Honest!!)

OK, forgive me. It's a phase. It'll pass soon enough.

Lunch?

Then we passed this Steely Steed!!

Pretty imaginative use of...scrap.

And a LOT better than this piece of...modern art.

Seriously, who thinks this is interesting, appealing, pleasing, artistic?

I guess it means something but for the life of me I can' t figure it out.

As we got near the mini, we passed this small bakery.

Mmmmmmm...

Why, you're welcome and we just might. Yes, we just might.

Traffic heading West on I-90 was slower than a liberal admitting they've been wrong all along with this Obama thing. So, instead of raising my blood pressure, we decided to stop by a Mickey D's for a soda and an ice cream cone and then over to the Bellevue Walmart for some light shopping.

And, it was just as bad on the surface roads as it was on the Interstate.

The front view...

...And the back view.

Keen fun!!

And when we turned the corner, we saw...this!!

But I kept my cool and, a lot longer than it should have taken, we arrived at this...

A Neighborhood Walmart. It's like a mini-Wally.

And this one was like clean and semi-empty!! And the people all looked...normal. Like us.

Even the Walmarts out this way are yuppiefied!!

Hahahahahaha...

See that? Nothing left in the aisles?

You can even walk straight down the aisles!!

Carol found this SpongeBob SquarePig.

Hahahaha, a Piggy bank.The history of the piggy bank and how it got its name and shape is fun.

The piggy bank began life in the Middle Ages as a simple jar. Common orange clay, known as pygg clay was used to sculpt a variety of household wares like jars, pots and specifically an early version of the piggy bank known as a pygg pot that people would drop spare coins into.

Over the centuries and thanks to vowel shifts and the evolution of English, the word pygg for the cheap clay and pigge for the barnyard animal merged and both ended up with the modern and identical pronunciation of pig. At some point in the early 19th century, English potters started making pig banks in the shape of actual pigs as a sort of visual pun. People loved the concept and the simple clay jars that had previously served as coin storage gave way to piggy banks as we now know them.

And then I saw this Rubber Ducky.

Strong temptation to buy it but I successfully resisted it.

Barely.

The only downer was the checkout. For some inexplicable reason I am cursed in Walmarts. Whatever checkout line I get in has the current World's Champion Slowest Checker!!

If she wasn't slower than Usha at our Wally, she was a damn close second.

And that was the only register open!!

After the line BEHIND us grew by about 6 people, I went around and suggested to her that she might want to call and get another register open.

And, sure enough, as soon as we'd waited, and waited, and waited and just got our stuff on the conveyor belt, they opened up not one but two registers!!

TWO!!