Born and raised in Washington. A mountain climber. Did a 2,000' elev gain easy hike before leaving. Lived in Ohio near Cincinnati for 5 months. Only brown water everywhere, and it was undrinkable. No mountains. No hills. The highest elevation anywhere near us was 300' Mt Rummke. The local garbage company was the Rummke Trash Disposal company. Mt Rummke was the local garbage hill, with bulldozers constantly running around over its surface. Never so glad to get back to Washington in my life. Clear blue water, gorgeous lovely mountains. Felt EXACTLY like your father :):):).

Was up there a few years ago (on a sunnier less snowy day :), and had to laugh, one of my buds had a half sandwich in his hand and was talking to us, when a camp robber swooped down and took his whole half sandwich. He was madder than a wet hen, and we were all laughing :).

If you are in a canoe, surrounded by ducks, what treat do you recommend? I have heard cracked corn is good, but I'm not sure it would float.

A better treat would be cracked corn, or even just rolled oats, which at least float. But I agree, bread is probably a poor choice for ducks. Hey, a bag of rolled oats is easy :). And the ducks are just so memorable and fun :).

Next summer, on an nice summer day, go down to the Canoe House and rent a canoe, and paddle over to the Arboretum. Take a loaf of stale bread. You will be surrounded by dozens of ducks, lots of fun. I think right now, there is a lot of construction, so you may need to wait until they are done with that. Also, Gasworks Park is very nice to visit. And some sunny weekend, take a ferry over to Bremerton, walk around a bit, and then come back. Don't need a car. Just a pretty ride, and not very expensive.