Snohomish County Bike Trails: Centennial Trail

The Centennial Trail is 12-foot wide pave trail that runs 17 miles from Snohomish to Arlington. The trail is very popular for biking, jogging, walking, as well as horseback riding. There are picnic areas and restroom facilities along the path. Development of the trail began in 1989 during the state's centennial, hence the name, Centennial Trail.

The Centennial Trail is constructed on a railroad right-of-way that connects Seattle and Canada. The town of Machias has a replica of the railroad depot originally built in the late 1890s. The Machias Depot trailhead, just south of Lake Stevens, is a popular place to access the Centennial Trail.

The Centennial trails runs through long stretches of forested areas. The newer part of the trail is north of Lake Stevens. The smooth asphalt is popular with roller-bladers. In addition, since the trail follows a rail line, all uphill and downhill sections are gentle slopes.

About 6 miles north of Machias is Lake Cassidy, which is a great place to stop for a rest and enjoy the lakeside scenery.

Centennial Trail Info
For more info on the Centennial Trail, visit Snohomish County Regional Parks. For a trail map of the Centennial Trail, click here.

For other postings about bike trails, see King County Bike Trails: Sammamish River Trail.

KCLS Library Talk

Last month, KCLS launched the official blog of the library system, Library Talk. KCLS bloggers will recommend great books, interesting music, fabulous movies you'll want to check out. They will highlight the amazing array of online resources available to those of you using our libraries - downloadable audio books, research databases, author interview podcasts, you name it. Some of our bloggers will promote services to teachers, others to genealogy enthusiasts, still others to new parents.

Stop by and give them a visit at Library Talk.

Talk Time
One of recent Library Talk postings, Talk Time!, provides information on the Talk Time program, which is an opportunity for immigrants and refugees and anyone else who might wish to practice speaking English. For a schedule of Talk Time events at the Redmond Library, see the Schedule of Events.

Seattle Art Museum Book Sale on August 23rd

You're Invited to the SAM Libraries Book Sale
This Saturday afternoon, the Seattle Art Museum Libraries and the Wyckoff Teacher Resource Center (TRC) host a sale of deeply discounted art books, exhibition catalogues, curriculum guides, posters, journals and much, much more.
Parking is free. Cash, checks and credit cards will be accepted.

Date: 8/23/2008
Time: noon-5 p.m.
Location: Seattle Asian Art Museum, Alvord Board Room

More information >>

Meet the Author: Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney (illustrator)

Come meet the author, Sherman Alexie, and the illustrator, Ellen Forney, of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. This event is on Thursday, September 25, 7pm, at the Redmond Performing Arts Center on the Redmond High School campus.

Based on the author’s own life experiences growing up on the Spokane Indian reservation, this book is both the hilarious and heartbreaking story of Arnold Spirit’s growing up and discovering the person he is about to become. With one foot in the white man’s world and one foot planted firmly and forever in the world of his people, Arnold, (Junior) discovers his life coming together in unexpected ways.

This event is part of the One Book, One Redmond, One Summer, a city-wide reading initiative coordinated by the Redmond Regional Library.

KCLS Video Book Review Contest: Great Animated Entry!

Read.Flip.Win
The July 31st deadline for submitting entries to the Read.Flip.Win video book review contest has passed. This contest, which was open to teens 13 to 18 years old, required contestants to shoot a short video (up to 3 minutes long) and post it to their YouTube account. Click here to see all the submitted entries on YouTube. The grand prize winner of the contest will win a Flip Ultra Video Camera! Runner-up prizes are Creative MP3 Players. Winners will be announced later in August.

Wendelin’s Animated Entry
Here’s a video contest entry that features a great animated book review by Wendelin: