We've had a fun three months of entertaining friends and family and have squeezed in a few quick trips of our own. Since we lag at getting posts up we're gonna cover all the events in brief now!
1. Visit from Mom and Pops Bauer!
What a treat this was! They were gracious not to complain about their cramped living quarters in our apartment and it was a trip of both business and pleasure...some house hunting, finance discussion and plenty of exploring and outdoor time.
Urban kayaking in the new boat. (Another sweeeeet garage sale find by the Bauers.)
Setting out for Chasm Lake, beneath Long' s Peak
Logging some miles above 10,000 feet to ready Mom for her Peru trip
Fuschia pinecones, a first for me
A steep, slippery, (scary) snow field kept us from reaching the lake, but we got close!
2. Olufs' Santa Barbara Wedding
As someone who is perpetually looking forward to the next trip to California's central coastline, I was ecstatic that Tom and Olga invited us to their wedding. The whole thing was gorgeous, with a bluff-top ceremony overlooking the Pacific and an outdoor reception in town. Congrats to the happy couple!
While in the southland we also had a brief visit with the Conrad fam, packed with a trip to the beach, a Galaxy soccer game and plenty of pool time...
3. Carl Goes North
After the wedding C flew up to Gig Harbor for a week to trim trees, ride bikes, swim in the lake and eat some good ol' home cookin'. C here, Dad and I whipped out the monster ladder for this job. The branches of this maple were hanging down over the end of the driveway. Much to the animadversion of Mom, who thought they made a nice blind for some of Dad's "treasures," we made the following dent in the canopy.
The next three pictures are from the John Wayne Trail up near Snoqualmie Pass. The trail is an old railroad grade so it makes for some lazy pedalling. There were two highlights to this trip, the first being our McGyver-like patchjob of a bike tube blowout 10 miles into the trip. With the vulcanizing fluid dried up and gone from the patchkit, we ended up having to melt the patch to the tube with a cigarette lighter, then place a soft glasses case just inside the worn-through tire (the cause of the flat). Ten miles of walking a bike would have been hell, so it was a do or die situation. Anyway, it worked, so we pressed on. Here's one of the many bridge crossings on the way...
Here we are at the beginning of the Snoqualmie Tunnel, the second highlight of the trip. The tunnel is 2 miles long and pitch black. We brought flashlights which only helped halfway through when our eyes finally adjusted. Until then, it was a lot of almost crashing into the walls.
Fun trip. Thanks mom and pop.4. Mystics in Sedona
A big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Blum who once again invited the gang out to their time share at Los Abrigados in Sedona, AZ. Red rock country never fails to awe and humble us lowly hikers. Just beautiful.
At the saddle, Cathedral Rock hike
5. Bear Peak Night Hike
Bear Peak is one of the peaks above the Flatirons.
Can you see the lovely city lights of Boulder behind us? We can too!
It rained on the way down.
Let the powder days begin!As an addendum to the kayaking section, my friend Adam Light and I taught ourselves how to eskimo roll this week at a friend's swimming pool. Maybe I'll get some pics or a vid up here if the weather cooperates this weekend. Later!
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