Becky's House and the Forest Trail

After Becky finished work today at Madigan Army Hospital on Joint base Lewis-McChord, we headed over to her house in Olympia to make her a little dinner and take some photos of her house for you to see.  She and Jeff just purchased their new place a few weeks ago and they have moved in.  They live on a lovely hilly, forested area in Cougar Ridge.

Here is the outside yard.  It's a 2-acre piece of property and much of it is forest.  They are tucked away in a lovely, mature subdivision with nice homes and close by away from each other for privacy.  The backyard has a great fire pit and TONS of wood for cold days and nights.

Tucked away under the family room is a large outdoor tool garage/crawl space that houses the kayaks, riding lawn mover and miscellaneous stuff.

So, let's do the house photo tour.  This is the first floor.  There is the formal living room, family room, dining room, kitchen, Master bedroom, bathroom and closet, plus a small guest bathroom, laundry and mud room area.

And, now, let's take a trip upstairs where first there is a little eye spy nook going up the stairs looking out to the front of the house.  Then, there are two other bedrooms and a game center.  The first bedroom has been turned into a craft room with a Jack 'n Jill bathroom that leads to the second bedroom through the bath or you can enter from the hallway that is a little reading nook.  I told Becky someday I'll live in the upstairs bedroom and use the craft room as my quilt room! Then, over the garage is a long narrow recreation room with a pool table, game table, large screen TV and sofa area with candy and movie posters as well as pool chairs.  A perfect hang out spot!

After take the house photos, we made an Italian Sausage and Ramen dish and then headed outdoor for an hour hike through one of the hiking trails in her neighborhood to the pond, river and streams.  We were fortunately to spy a salamander right at the beginning of the walk on the roadway making his way back to a stream.  The trail is actually part of and close to an old railroad area that ran through those parts many years ago.  There are lots of cool trails all over that lead the a small lake as well stocked full of frogs, salamanders, ducks, etc.  Come along as I talk you on a little walk with us.

A small pond behind Becky's House

Starting on the trail

Meet Mr. Salamander

Part of the trail is a boardwalk

Making the Grade - Where the Railway Came Through

Pond Loop

Stealing a photo of Becky

Meadow in the Midst

The moss was AMAZING on the trees!

Lot's of fallen trees

Another Boardwalk

Getting closer to the river.  Kyah really wanted to get there!

Moss, moss and more moss

A hollowed out tree

Father - Daughter Bonding

Becky and Kyah walking the log

Lumberjacks made notches or stumps to do their work.

A stroll thru time

I blended in with the surroundings.

There were all sorts of cool tree stumps, twisting exposed roots and Becky and Kyah hid in an old holed out log.  I took a photo of them and then the back of the tree.

Soon we came to the river.  Kyah loved walking in it and grabbed a fresh, cold, mountain drink before we started back.

I loved all the small flowers that were starting to come up in the early spring.  I enjoyed the stroll.  I'm sure they all wanted to walk faster, but when you're in the mountains, strolling is the best kind of walk so you can enjoy all the nature around you.  There's just something wonderful and magical when you spend time in the woods...it's like there are little pixie fairies casting a spell on your mind and capturing your heart.

If you look closely you can see the Salamanders in the water.

It was a fun, warm day.  I think the temps were about 65 degrees and there was a lot of blue skies and just a few minutes of sprinkling this morning.  Tomorrow, we're heading to Pike Market Place in Seattle and it's supposed to rain, so hopefully Mother Nature will be kind to us...Until then.