Our Life in Oly

Monday, October 18, 2010

Richmond, Virginia

Eric and I flew out to Richmond, Virginia in early September to visit his family. His sister Betsy lives there. Eric's immediate family members drove down from New York and Pennsylvania to visit us for a few days. It was great to see everyone, especially Grandma Miller who is 89 years young.

From left to right: Eric's dad Dave, Karen (Dave's girlfriend), Aunt Betsy, Colin (Besty's boyfriend), Betsy, Eric, and Grandma Miller out for breakfast at a neat southern fusion restaurant called Millies.

Eric and Grandma

Brandee and Dave

Grandma and Eric about to head into the Farmer's Market

The Richmond farmers market was really nice.

I had to take a picture - so cute! I think this pup had a disability.

Betsy making pizzas for everyone.

Betsy and Ivan.

Ivan, Carmen's corgi cousin.

This picture was taken along the canal walk in downtown Richmond.

Here we are walking along the James River on a big pipe!

The beautiful James River with it's rocky reaches.

Self Portrait

Betsy, Eric, and I went on a nice afternoon kayak along the James River. We paddled on the slow water portion. Downstream of where we paddled, the river has some class V rapids!

Ahhhh...I had my hair cut and straightened.

Eric and Betsy enjoying some ice coffees. Thanks for the great trip Betsy and the rest of the Miller clan!

British Columbia and the Saanich Peninsula

After our trip to Orcas Island, Eric, Carmen, and I took the ferry to Sydney B.C. via Friday Harbor. The ferry trip was beautiful. We stayed at a nice little B & B called the Lazy Dog Cottage at the tip of the Saanich Peninsula. We did some SUP on our trip and I rode my bike around the Saanich Peninsula (40 miles). We traveled home via the Victoria B.C. to Port Angeles ferry.

A cool Stone Pub near the B & B.

Downtown Sydney on the waterfront.

Carmen playing with the Jack Russel Terriers that live at the B & B.

The kitchenette at our place.

View of Saltspring Island from the waterfront at the B & B.

Another nice view from the B & B

Summer trip to Orcas Island

We visited Orcas Island then Sydney B.C. this past July. The trip started with Kira staying a few nights with us in Olympia then we all headed up to Orcas Island to visit and take her home. There are a lot of great pictures from our visit on the Myles-Era blog. We had a wonderful visit to Orcas Island and enjoyed having Kira stay with us.

Kira and Carmen, cousins.

Our Subaru at the ferry landing all loaded up for our trip.

Carmen enjoying the beach at Anacortes.

Kira and Eric checking out the tiny world inside a saltwater pool in a piling.

Mountains inside the piling.

The ol' Ferry self portrait

Eric showing Ronna how SUP is done. At one point that sunny afternoon everyone was out on the water either on SUP boards or kayaks. Grant even snorkeled. It was a lot of fun.

Another beautiful sunset from the Myles-Era house. Thanks for a wonderful trip.

Summer SUP and beyond

Eric put a lot of miles on the Stand Up Board (SUP) this past summer. Some of his most impressive paddles included from Boston Harbor out to and around Squaxin Island and from Nisqually Reach out and around Anderson Island. Pretty impressive! When I'm not training on the bike, I sometimes am able to join him for shorter paddles. So recently on a night paddle near Olympia's Priest Point Park, Eric and I heard the blows of whale pretty close to us. We paddled quickly away from the blows to find out the next day it was likely a transient Orca whale! It's amazing the things you witness out on the water.

Eric at home on his Tahoe SUP board.

Eric and few of his fellow paddlers at a local SUP race in Olympia.

Mom and Doug came out to watch one of Eric's local races on a rainy summer day. We then had a nice dinner at the Oyster House.

Carmen watching Eric about to win one of many local SUP races.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

2010 Spring Update

The Era-Miller family has been really busy this Spring and we are behind on the blog once again, so this blog post is our 2010 Spring Update! Brandee's been busy bike racing and working on a cool urban streams study at the Department of Ecology. Eric has been busy paddle boarding and making the Olympia Food Co-op a better place. We've both been working on the yard, house, and hanging with our best pup Carmen.

Bike Racing Update...

1st place podium at the Seward Park Criterium on June 3rd. Thanks to Eric's training plan, I'm coming into form to do well in the June road races.

My new team colors look sweet!

Official photo finish of my win at Seward Park.

2nd place finish at a circuit race in Glenwood, WA. I got beat right at the line by the lady in blue to my left.

Yard Improvements...

Eric did a fabulous job on our new backyard patio. It completed our backyard! Lookout Sunset Magazine, here we come.

Sun shades, lights, and an umbrella complete our back deck.

Brandee and Carmen enjoying the back of the house.

Another view of the back yard.

Mother's Day at the Farmer's Market...

Paddle Board Update...

Eric and his friend Tim decided to go out on night paddle from Boston Harbor. They had a blast and the bioluminescence was incredible! I can't wait to join Eric on some more night paddles this summer. Eric finally purchased a touring SUP board and he's getting pretty fast.

Tim (left) and Eric taking off on their evening adventure.

Tim and Eric in the distance.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Oregon Coast - Valentine's Weekend

Yep, we are behind on our blog again...but I wanted to post some pictures from our Valentine's weekend trip to the Oregon Coast back in February. We had a lovely time and stayed at Aunt Barb and Uncle Jerry's place in Seaside. Seaside and Cannon Beach are definitely becoming one of our most favorite places.

All dressed up for Valentines Day dinner in Cannon Beach