We live near three mountains, all around 1,500 feet tall. We've hiked on all of them, but they have a lot of entrances and trailheads we haven't explored yet. Today we decided to head out to Cougar Mountain and take the Wilderness Creek Trail. This time, we decided to bring Casey, our Basenji dog who really loves to get outside. We haven't taken her on a lot of trips, so this was a real treat for her.

The Wilderness Creek Trail is quite steep just at the start, with lots of switchbacks to lessen the grade. It is very well taken care of, with wide paths and lots of small bridges to get you over the wet parts. It has a rating of "primitive", however, meaning that you have to climb from time to time and  clamber over roots and so on. All in all, we found it to be one of the best trails we've taken, with lots of things to see.

There are lots of plants on Cougar Mountain, and everywhere you look you see giant Sword Ferns. We also saw the white, three-pointed Western Trillium. We also saw Pink Wintergreens and Red Willowherbs, along with Fiddle-head ferns.

We stopped when we saw a huge boulder and had some lunch. Casey was very patient waiting for her turn to get some honey-baked ham!

Back on the trail, we saw lots of birds, including the red-wing blackbird, and the Northwest Swift. We also saw a couple of Boreal Chickadee, but he was so small he was hard to make out. Unlike Florida, you don't see as many squirrels here, and they are much smaller. But they did chatter at us when we passed by.

Saturday dawned very bright and clear - the most beautiful day we're had this year - so we took the bus to Seattle.

Once there, I got some strong coffee at Seattle Coffee Works, and then we went in search of a little something to go with the coffee.

Found it!

We also found the "World Spice Shop", which carries exotic spices and teas from around the world. Christina checked out the loose-leaf teas, and I bought some Alderwood-smoked sea salt. I used that Sunday morning to make an egg dish over sourdough bread croutons, with crumbled bacon drizzled over it and some fresh basil. VERY tasty.

Then we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island, which is one of the major islands west of the city and in the Sound. It was a beautiful, warm trip away from the city and over to the island.

Once we got to the island, we got some lunch and then wandered around near the docks and along the waterfront.

Then it was back on the ferry and off home to Seattle. It was nice to see the sun - we hope to see him again soon!