Halloween Is Coming!!! Here’s My List Of Spooktacular Fun

Halloween Jack O'Lanterns

It’s upon us, the end of October and all the Halloween fun for the kids! Here’s my collection of fun, family events for the south Snohomish County region.

Have a fun, safe and delightful Halloween!

 

Saturday, October 26th: 
Sunday, October 27: 
On Halloween Night:
Lynnwood:
Edmonds:
Mountlake Terrace:
Mill Creek:

A Weekend Hike: Mukilteo’s Japanese Gulch

Yesterday we on a hike went with some friends at Mukilteo’s Japanese Gulch. We were looking for a a little less intense hike than the ones we’ve done this summer so far with a shorter drive. Just a few minutes from my place, with smooth trails, it fit the bill. 

Gaining its name from the workers who lived there in the early 1900s, Japanese Gulch’s 147 acres of land features a dog park, access to the Sound, and a community garden. After an attempt to develop the land as an industrial park in 2007, the community rose up and encouraged the City to acquire the land to preserve it. With many trails for all kinds of users (mountain bikers, hikers, dog walkers and families), it’s a fantastic asset to the community. 

We opted to walk the full length of the park, from the 76th Street trail-head all the way down to the Sound. Along the water I was able to check out the progress on the new ferry terminal. Coming along nicely, I look forward to seeing the final product in the fall of next year. 

Back in 2016, the City approved the Japanese Gulch Master Plan, to update and preserve the park. I just discovered the MukMaps Interactive Trail Map, which I want to experiment with soon. If you used this, let me know in the comments. I want to hear your thoughts. 

A few additional thoughts on the trails: there a wide range of trails and types. They vary in steepness and width. So most folks will find something of interest. Also, right now the trail is dry. However, come the fall rains, the trail gets wet, muddy and slick. Be prepared!

Lastly, some resources:

 

 

So, it’s official: passenger service is coming to Paine Field

I came across this at the Seattle Times: “Alaska Airlines will start passenger flights from Everett’s Paine Field

This has been hinted at for years, and then boldly stated (“Paine Field wins FAA’s approval for commercial airline flights” from 2012 and “Snohomish County OKs plan for commercial passenger terminal at Paine Field” more recently, in 2015)…at least that this was a plan. But, aside from Mukilteo’s battles, we seem to be moving this way. It’s definitely happening, and there’s a timeline: flights starting fall of 2018. The likelihood that this will be stopped is quite small (though Mukilteo hasn’t fully given up the fight yet), though I’m hardly an attorney. Delayed: sure. Stopped: hard to picture that happening.

Anyway, I see this as a mixed thing. I’d much rather travel out of Paine Field than driving down to Seatac. I’ve sworn on a few occasions that the next time I fly, I’ll travel out of Bellingham. But I haven’t yet. So, convenience is nice. And bringing in air service opens up events and conventions to the county, through Everett and Lynnwood. It also opens up the south Snohomish County region to businesses that depend on access to airports. At least a little.

I expect that service will start small and light, slowly expanding their operations. I believe the negotiations that have established a 22 flight max and the near normal business hours as sincere, but there will be pressure to increase capacity…and probably as soon as flights start. Especially since Seatac seems to be pretty near capacity and demand is still increasing.

This will bring more traffic to the area. And then there’s the aircraft noise. I’m glad Mukilteo is working with the entities at play to mitigate as much as we can. However, it will come. It will come. I’m also glad that we’re looking at significant infrastructure upgrades to the area (check out the Harbour Reach Corridor Project, for one).

It is interesting that this is just two weeks after a plane crash in the neighborhood. From a PR perspective, it’s a good thing this media cycle played out as it did. Well, for the proponents of this it is.

I’ve always tried to focus on the practical, the effective. It looks like we need to adapt to the new reality. As I see Snohomish County growing more urbanized over the next few years. This is the reality I’m referring to. My little piece of suburbia is moving away from a semi-rural feel to a far more urban structure. And this will fuel it.

My memories of Mukilteo

I grew up one city south of Mukilteo. Until I drove, it was a commitment to travel there, but we’d make our way there a couple of times a year, mostly in the summer.

As a teen, it was a fun place to drive, though the police had little tolerance for bored adolescents. With the beach, fire pits and Ivar’s, it was a very convenient place to hang out.

In those days, the Mukilteo Speedway was mostly a country highway. Two lanes, through dense trees, quite dark at night. One would expect to hear banjos wafting from the trees. Jeeps and other off road types had plenty of fun in those old woods. The Pit was a large sinkhole that was smooth enough for trucks and such to climb their way out. There were several ways out, and each of the climbs had varying levels of challenge. I stayed on the sidelines watching the show. Usually by a fire.

I still have moments when I think of the Harbour Pointe neighborhood as new. I remember when they started construction in those old woods. Hard to believe that decades have passed, but such is life.

It’s now solidly suburban, clean and well designed, a great compliment for those Boeing execs and their families. Actually, there’s a nice array of housing options, from houses to condos to apartments, and a world class school district, good ol Mukilteo is a great place to live.

Exploring Mukilteo

Though quite grey, yesterday was rather dry. A friend who has been interested in exploring local trails called us, so off my son and went, with two dogs in tow.

A Mukilteo resident, she takes her dogs regularly to the Japanese Gulch Dog Park, where I’ve never been. First, though, we briefly hike around the gulch. The recent rain did leave the smaller trails muddy, but not that challenging. The trail we took from the dog park was pretty clear. A few water laden bushes drooped over the trail, and there some very narrow spots on the trail, but it was quite straightforward. Not accessible in a wheelchair, though. Some of the bridges over small streams were rather creative in their design, and materials chosen, like several narrow boards that are a bit slick. When we got on the larger trails, made of pressed gravel, the going was quite easy.  

After a short hike, we let the dogs go into the dog park.  The dogs played reasonably well with the others. The other dog owners were friendly and respectful. It’s a very neat part of Mukilteo.

Hungry, we opted to walk down the hill to grab fish and chips at Ivar’s, ate dinner at the park by the lighthouse, then grabbed ice cream at Diamond Knot before walking back up to the van. Got there just before an evening squall dumped quite a bit of rain. Nice timing!

Though not far from Lynnwood, I didn’t go up to Mukilteo much growing up. As a teen, we’d head up there every do often during the summer. Not too much has changed there. It’s still a fun spot to park and just hang out. With Ivar’s fish bar right there, it’s pretty convenient. Paying for parking down by the beach is a but of a bummer, parking up top and walking down is easy enough.

I’ve many memories of Mukilteo, from The Pit, a sinkhole that worked great for four wheeling, to the woods where Harbour Pointe is now. It’s changed so very much over the years, yet it delights me so see these elements stay the same.

Muslim American engineer, others respond to aerospace exec’s anti-mosque campaign – The Seattle Globalist

If you didn’t know, a postcard was mailed to the citizenry of Mukilteo protesting the opening of a mosque. I can expound my standard liberal rhetoric about the value inclusiveness brings. Instead, let me simply allow one of our neighbors to speak to the matter (from Seattle Globalist) 

Muslim American engineer, others respond to aerospace exec’s anti-mosque campaign