Blue Ridge

Yesterday's walk rewarded us with views of Lake Washington and the Cascades while today's provided great views of Puget Sound and the Olympics. My husband and I walked 4.1 miles through the Blue Ridge neighborhood in northwest Seattle.

We walked a triangular section of streets west of 15th Avenue NW and north of NW 100th Street plus the loop of NW 99th Street that backs onto Swanson's Nursery.

We started our walk on 15th Avenue just north of 100th Street at the Blue Ridge Club which has a club house, pool, tennis courts and a parking lot.

Walking through this hilly neighborhood, we noted that tall trees have mostly given way to sound views. Here and there, we noted a really tall tree whose lower branches had been removed, probably affording views to the neighbors. We saw the remains of a tree; its trunk had been beautifully carved to look like whales chasing smaller fish.

Our walk took us past a stairway that led down to a community playfield.

This is a neighborhood of beautiful homes, many built in the 1930's including some impressive brick tudors. One of the tudors was for sale and we stopped into the open house. The house had many of its original details and the kitchen was small; it was still out of our price range.

This area has underground utilities and, even though it has no sidewalks, the street edges are neat and well tended. This is an area of beautiful gardens.

We saw a few walkers and a dog walker, a woman gardening and a few cars but this is a quiet neighborhood and a great place to walk.