First Day of Kindergarten

Kindergarten, which according to the dictionary, is German for “Kind Garden”. Well, today was my child's first day of kindergarten. Having been in preschool since three, I thought him and I both would be well prepared for this day. Needless to say, he teared up a little when it was time to go. This, of course, didn't make it any easier for me either. I waved goodbye as he looked back at me over his shoulder with that sad face as he dissappeared into the building along with the rest of his class.

I was about to leave when I noticed a row of parents staring into some windows. It took me a moment to realize they were looking in on the kindergarten class. I quickly joined the other parents at the windows and watched the children, who all had looks of complete dismay on their faces. When my child spotted me, we had one last wave goodbye and I was on my way. It's definately a day we will both never forget.

I empathize will all the parents in the Wenatchee and other school districts around North Central Washington whose classes haven't begun yet. I would also like to remind them to not forget their cameras.

Site of the Week

Today I added the site of the week section to the website. It actually begins tomorrow on September 1st, but I wanted a day to make sure all the bugs were worked out. I picked North Valley Hospital to be the first 'site of the week' because they were nice enough to add a link to my site without any request from myself and I really appreciate that. Especially from a prestigious place like a hospital.

I already have quite a few websites that are lined up for the 'site of the week' spot, so it might be awhile before any new sites that link to me get a chance. So if you want to show off your new or established site, be sure to add that link soon.

On a side note, adding sites to the North Central Washington Portal website directory is, as it always has been, absolutely free. You also don't have to link back to the website to be added to the directory, it just has to be a website based out of North Central Washington.

If anyone has any opinions on the “random photo” feature I added to the website, please post your comments here as well.

Fighting the Tripod Wildfire

A resident near the fire, William Slusher, has some great photos and info on his blog (better2lightacandle) about the Tripod Complex Fire.

Fighting The Tripod Wildfire

Tripod Wildfire Squad Prepares To Haul Hose To "The Line"

Tripod Wildfire Fighters

Big Red

Tripod Wildfire Camp

Morning Briefing - Tripod Wildfire Operations

Morning Plot

More Photos from FunkeyCold's Blog

Recently I added a link to FunkeyCold's “The Lesson of Life” blog of his photos of the trip he took to Lake Chelan. He has added more photos of his trip, including some great winter photos of the North Cascades Highway. Be sure to check them out.

NCW Portal Aug 27 Update, Part 3

Part 3 of the North Central Washington Portal update includes photos of Quincy and Moses Lake.

NCW Portal Aug 27 Update, Part 2

Part 2 of the North Central Washington Portal update includes photos of Big Bend Community College.

NCW Portal Aug 27 Update, Part 1

Part 1 of the North Central Washington Portal update includes photos from the following areas; Mission Ridge, East Wenatchee, Rock Island, and Rock Island Dam. Click on the photos to view full size.

Tripod Complex Fire Shirts

Silver Star Embroidery of Winthrop is selling Tripod Complex Fire Tshirts and Sweatshirts.

More Photos of the Haze Created from the Tripod Complex Fire

Here are some photos taken the other day from Mission Ridge Road of the surrounding mountains and looking down upon the Wenatchee Valley (click on photos for full size).

This photo is looking across the surrounding mountain ridges from Mission Ridge Road. It's hard to clearly see the far ridge in the distance.


In this photo looking towards Naneum Ridge the haze isn't quite as bad but it's still present.






This photo is looking down towards the southern end of the Wenatchee Valley. The stake and flag in the forefront of the photo are from the current road construction on Mission Ridge Road.



This photo is looking directly down into the Wenatchee Valley far below. On the right is Wenatchee Heights.

Beaver Creek Cemetery Website

A first of a kind today, a cemetery in North Central Washington gets its own official website. The 100 year old Beaver Creek Cemetery, near Twisp, now has its own website. The new website features maps, a burial search, a history of the cemetery, and more.

I think this is the first North Central Washington cemetery website. If there is more, please let me know.

*update, 8-24-06*

The website was created by a company in Twisp called Tuulstone.

This is what Mike Price of Tuulstone had to say about their service,

"The Basic Cem account is a good way for these communties to protect their paper records, clean up historic data, and provide public access to burial records."

HomeMovie.Com and StashSpace

HomeMovie.Com was founded in 1999 by John Larsen and Lars Krumme in Winthrop. Their website features a complete history of their company.

Today they are launching a new website called StashSpace, where you can capture, edit, publish, share and stash your video and photo memories. The new website has three pricing options, sampleStash (which is free), nickelStash, and dimeStash.

A lot of high-tech happening these days in North Central Washington.

Haze from Tripod Complex Fire

Haze from the Tripod Complex Fire settling yesterday evening in the Wenatchee Valley.

August Sunset in the Wenatchee Valley

Trips through North Central Washington

Here are a few stories, with photos, from people who have traveled through North Central Washington.

Secret Garden, Road Trip - The Cascade Loop

Long Strange Trip, the places you will see

Flitzy Phoebie, We're Off To Eastern Washington and Backroads in Okanogan County

Westward the Airstreams, Evergreen Caravan - Stop 6 Cashmere,WA

Monica, Ephrata, Washington

A Boy And His Bike, Cascade Loop

Ted's Blog, Leavenworth - Icicle Creek

The Lesson of Life, Pictures From The Trip

Life on the Road, Lake Chelan Trip

A Quiet Evening Along the Columbia

A photo I took the other day from Rock Island of Alcoa and the Columbia River.

Moderation or Word Verification?

So bad for you, but oh so tasty, it's spam! I find recently that robot generated spam begins to plague my blog. I turned on comment moderation, but it delays comments from being posted and can seem intimidating. A person might think I am judging their comments worthy to appear, when all I really want to do is remove the spam.

I don't want people to think I am judging their comments so I am going to turn off comment moderation and turn on those awful "word verification" boxes. You know, those little boxes with funny letters that no one can read. I hate to do it, but considering I have been getting over 30 spam posts a day, I have to do something.

I understand the ups and downs of moderation/verfication, and it really comes down to a choice of the lesser of two evils. If you would like me to remove "word verification" and return to moderation, just let me know.

Four Things Most Washingtonians Don't Know About Moses Lake

I just came across this entry by Joel of Moses Lake in his On the Other Foot blog. The only one of the four I knew was that Washington had more potatoes than Idaho. Washington even has the potatoes.com website.

I grew up in Quincy in the 70's and I do recall many of the older kids having Evel Knievel toys. Now I have to wonder if this was simply because Evel Knievel was popular during that time or if it was because he made his first jump in nearby Moses Lake?

For anyone that doesn't know who Evel Knievel is, the History Channel has a documentary about his life, Absolute Evel: The Evel Knievel Story.

5 and 6 Year Old Arrested in Moses Lake

It seems to be an old article, but I must have missed it when it first came out. Here is the article, Police arrest 5 and 6 year old vandalism suspects. It doesn't say the source of the information or exactly when it took place so if anybody has any more details, please let me know.

*edit* thanks for the help Melanie, here is the link to the article for those interested.

PWB's Violent Anniversary Review and Photos

Please visit PWB Ringside for the Violent Anniversary review.

Violent Anniversary Update Coming Soon!

The show was simply amazing. Info and photos coming soon!

Violent Anniversary Tonight!

From the Pacific Northwest Wrestlings Bottom Line forum,

“PWB's Violent Anniversary

August 5th, speacial Guest's Sharkboy and Daffney.

Wenatchee Convention Center. Doors open at 6pm, show starts at 7pm. It's a gorgeous Venue, very high class and nice and cool with AC and a refreashing beer garden inside for anyone 21 and older.

Matches Scedualed to appear:
Tables challange Match
Lucha Style Match
Woman's Match
3 Team world Tag Team Title Match
Wolrd Title Match
and much more!!!

Ringside $20
Standard Seating $15
Cheap Seats $10
Children 6 and under free with paying adult

and

HUGE UPDATE! IVORY TO APPEAR ASWELL!

card subject to change of course”

Information on Ivory
Information on Shark Boy
Information on Daffney

Photos of Ivory
Photos of Shark Boy
Daffney on MySpace

*Note* North Central Washington Portal (website or blog) is in no way affiliated with Pro Wrestling Beyond.

July 31 Accident on George Sellar Bridge

The whole city of Wenatchee was backed up last night. Streets were lined up for miles with car lights sitting at a standstill. The police had the George Sellar bridge blocked off for hours, even after the vehicles in the accident were moved. Here is the story from The Wenatchee World, Speed and alcohol factors in motorcycle crash. The above photo is of the bridge after the vehicles were towed away.