Trip to Snohomish

Tom's birthday started out with brunch at my folks' house.  Tim and Ted were both here from Alaska for Auntie Bet's memorial service, and it was nice to be able to spend time around the table with them as well as Dad, Mom and Peach.

Snohomish was our destination for the day.  Armed with our new camera (we still have a lot to learn about that camera!) we stopped in at the Snohomish Information Center to figure out what we wanted to see.

Snohomish is a historic town with its roots in logging.  It's a town that does home tours and garden tours and the downtown features many antique stores, tasty eateries and other tourist attractions. Situated above the Snohomish River, it is a user-friendly town.

One of our first stops was at the Art Gallery.  We enjoyed the variety of styles and mediums in the show and were especially drawn to the paintings of a Japanese artist, Sakae Ouchi.  His colors were vivid and full of life, paintings of Northwest mountains, lakes, barns and tulips.  As it turned out, the gallery attendant for the day was Mr Ouchi, a man who was, himself, vivid and full of life.  

Tucked into the corner of a building, we discovered a cozy, well supplied shop for fly fisherman.  It even had a colorful grab bag of used poles for beginners.  

I guess it was too much for Tom.  We found a park bench at Blackman Lake and he just gave out!

Or maybe he was just tired of being shadowed by his wife!