Olympia Traverse

In mid-July, we participated in a multisport event in Olympia called the Olympia Traverse to raise money for "Friends of Mia", an organization that supports families dealing with childhood cancer. This year we had 19 participants on 4 teams, many of whom work with me at the Department of Ecology.  Eric did the paddle leg on one of the teams and I took pictures and gave logistical support.  I couldn't compete since I had had pelvic surgery just 3 weeks prior.  The event was a lot of fun and Mia's family came to the finish, which was a special treat for us.  Mia passed from luekemia this year, but her family will continue to raise money to help support other families.

The friends of Mia teams at the finish.

Water team: Eric, Stephanie, Brandi, Chris and Becca.

Eric finishing strong on his paddle leg.

Jessica, Paul, Eric, and Jenny at the paddle to run transition.

Carmen hanging out in the shade.  It was very hot and humid on race day.

Jessica, Lani (Mia's Mom), Noah (Mia's twin brother), Casey (Mia's Dad), Chris, and Keith.

All smiles after the race!

Tribal Journey - Squaxin 2012

The 2012 Tribal Journey came to Olympia's Northpoint on Sunday, July 29th.  We wanted to paddle with all the tribes coming from as far away as British Columbia and the Washington coast, but also wanted to be respectful.  So, we launched our SUPs at Boston Harbor in the morning and paddled beside the canoes to their "soft landing" and lunch at Burfoot Park.  We pulled our boards onto the shore and visited and observed.  Then we launched our SUPs with them and paddled along side them (300 ft away) down to Olympia, about 7 miles.  It was awesome hearing their songs as we paddled.  The weather and conditions on the water were perfect.  The official count was 102 tribal canoes!   It was an amazing experience for us, especially because we paddle these waters all the time.  To see the orignial peoples taking the water over again was precious and gave you goose bumps.  A day to never forget!

 Waiting for the canoes to come in for the soft landing at Burfoot Park.

 The soft landing

Yep, I thought it fitting to wear my kuspuk

 Our friends that kayaked with us to Burfoot Park

The canoes coming in to ask for permission from the Squaxin to come ashore.  This ceremony lasted many hours and probably over a thousand folks came to watch from the water and land.

Vancouver BC Birthday Vacation

During my birthday week in mid-March we took a short vacation (4 nights) to Vancouver, British Columbia. We have been trying to get up there for awhile and I wanted a get-away for my birthday. I wanted to have Eric and Carmen with me, but also get to snowboard on my birthday. Even though the weather was cold, stormy and rainy for much of the trip, we had an amazing time and made the most of it. The weather also made for perfect snowboarding conditions. Vancouver is such a cool international city. We will definitely go back when we get the chance.

"Couchy Carmen" in our nice room at the Sylvia hotel on English Bay.

Another view of our spacious, clean, and comfy room.

This funny seagull was watching us from the window ledge of our room while we enjoyed our coffees.

Not letting the cold and stormy weather keep us from enjoying a long walk along Vancouver's waterfront.

Birthday morning room service!

I had an incredible 36th birthday shredding the gnar at Cypress Mountain!

This is where they held some of the 2010 winter Olympics. Cypress Mountain is only a 30-minute drive from downtown Vancouver.

Amazing scenary! So much powder. Nothing like listening to Sigur Ros on the audio helmet and just taking in these views.

Views of Bowen Island from the slopes. On a clear day you can see downtown Vancouver from the slopes. Where else in the world is that possible?

This is a picture of Stanley Park and downtown Vancouver on the drive down from Cypress Mountain after my afternoon of awesome snowboarding.

The sun came out! Here Eric and Carmen are standing beside the seawall along English Bay in front of our hotel.

Looking back towards our hotel (left).

Delicious birthday dinner at the Fish House in Stanley Park, just a 10-minute stroll from our hotel.

Birthday cupcakes in our room to finish the evening.

Taking the water taxi to the Granville Farmers Market. Carmen got to ride too.

Friendship statue.

Dinner and beer tasting at the Alibi Room.

On our last day the sun came out again and we checked out more sites in Stanley Park. The picture above is of Carmen and Eric along the seawall looking back at downtown Vancouver.

The beautiful Stanley Park totems.

View from Stanley Park looking towards North Vancouver and the Lions Bridge. We love you Vanouver B.C.!

Betsy visit

Eric's sister Besty came for a short visit in February. We had a great time with Besty and went hiking everyday (4 hikes in 4 days). Unfortunately we didn't take many pictures, but here are a couple:

Looking out at the water from Seattle's Discovery Park.

Breakfast at Tugboat Annies on Olympia's WestBay.

TBTL 1000th

In January we went to the live recording for the 1000th episode of our favorite podcast: To Beautiful to Live (TBTL) at the Neptune Grande in Seattle. The 1000th show was broadcast live on Kiro FM. Remember the local celebrity Luke Burbank that we ran into back in December 2011 in Port Townsend? This is his podcast. We had a lot of fun. At the end of the night Eric quickly snuck Carmen in the front door and Luke said "Hey I know that dog".

Sean Detore, Luke Burbank and Jen Andrews of TBTL and Kiro Radio fame.

60-Year Storm

In the middle of January much of the Northwest got hit with what some forecasters have referred to as a 60-year storm. In Olympia we got almost 2 FEET of snow! It started out really fun with most businesses being closed, so that many folks didn't have to work. Snow Day! We relaxed and played in the snowy wonderland, but then the freezing rains came to much of southwest Washington. Everything became encapsulated with ice. Trees started breaking due to the weight of the ice and this caused massive power outages. We were lucky in that we only lost power for 28 hours. Mom and Doug lost power for several days. The experience made us all think about being prepared for emergencies and how thankful we are for great neighbors and friends.

The weekend before the big storm we had just a few inches of snow and went on a snowy hike at Priest Point Park.

The storm came in on Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning we had deep snow!

Carmen had some clearance issues with the deep snow, but she enjoyed the snow nonetheless.

Thanks to Eric's eastcoast upbringing. He shoveled our walkway. Most folks here in Northwest lowlands have no concept of shoveling their sidewalks.

Snow Day! Eric sledding at the neighborhood hill with Carmen in tow.

Yep, I snowboarded around the neighborhood. Why not?

Then Wednesday night into Thursday brought freezing rain...

Everything became covered in ice.

Our Subaru...

Trees brought down power lines.

Central Street. Notice all the icy branches hanging down over the cars.

These poplar trees normally stand straight up in the air. They looked so odd curved at the tops.

Several days after the storm Eric and I decided to hike at our beloved Watershed Park to assess the damage. The damage was massive. All the forested parks in town are still closed due to fallen trees.

We kept losing the trail. It was hard to follow with all the destruction.

Alder trees laying right across the trail.