One Beautiful Day in March
It was one amazing weekend, well day actually. After a whirlwind day visiting with friends and running errands on Saturday, Marissa and I decided to head off to my parent’s cabin in Eastern Washington.
Upon waking up to an amazing morning with crystal clear blue skies, Galt and I decided to hike the ridge and see if we could get a clear view of the community where the cabin is located:
Upon returning from our little hike, we found an amazing homemade breakfast of Huevos Rancheros waiting for us (well me, I am sure Galt didn’t get any…).
Yum, who doesn't like Huevos Rancheros?
That one meal pretty much invalidated my whole hike, but sometimes you have to go with the flow!
The rest of the day / afternoon was punctuated by naps, snacking, and a bit of plinking…
You talkin' to me? (said with a smile)
Nothing cooler than doing a little shooting in the afternoon. Upon our return, we had homemade enchiladas… More yum, more arterial plaque. 
All worth it.
As all good things must come to an end, so did our 24 hour foray to Eastern Washington. The rain hit where it always does on our return to Seattle; halfway between Easton and Snoqualmie Pass.
It was an amazing day.
Po-Po Learns about DimSum
Marissa’s Po-Po (Chinese for the Maternal Grandmother) learns about DimSum…
Some Galt Updates
Marissa asked me to post a few Galt videos…
Here is one of the first ones of him learning the stairs:
And of course enjoying his new bed…
Almost off Oahu
We’ve had a great three days on Oahu.
- We’re staying in the Hilton Hawaiian Village Vacation Club, thanks to a birthday gift from my mom.
- We’ve had amazing meals with friends and family: pupus, some of the best Vietnamese food ever, delicious Korean BBQ, and Laoatian/French cuisine.
- We’ve swam in the Pacific Ocean at every opportunity.
- We’ve driven to the North Shore and sampled all sorts of ice cream and shave ice along the way (and swam a little there as well).
- We’ve hiked 5 miles through the Honolulu hills.
- And we’re off to Kona tomorrow for another 7 days
I am so thankful for the fun times, the great company, and the tons of memories that we’ve collected. Here’s some more pics and highlights.
- Matsumoto Shave Ice. Just as we stepped into the shop, it started to pour down rain. We have good timing
- Lilikoi shave ice with ice cream and red beans on the bottom. It’s amazingly delicious!
- As our afternoon on the Northshore came to a close, we were greeted by the most amazing rainbows. Yes, it rained, but doens’t this make it worth it?
- Today we went on a hike with Anders and Molly. You have to ask them the name of the hill… it had a lot of vowels in it. Something like Nuu’ala… yeah, I don’t remember.
- Gorgeous views from along the hike, looking out onto Honolulu.
- And the mountains in the distance, covered in the clouds that would soon come and rain on us. It was awesome and so fun!
- Wild orchid at the top. We ate wild strawberry guava, picked fragrant ginger flowers, and admired the beauty. Then we turned around just as the rain hit and hiked down in the warm tropical rain. Good day.
31 in Hawaii
It’s been a loooonnnng time since I’ve posted to our blog. I’ve neglected to post about anything in regards to our awesome summer… the trips to the cabin, the purchase of a Toyota Tacoma (a failed attempt at cashing in on cash for clunkers), my painful back spasms… but I’ve turned a new leaf. For my new year’s resolution, I vow to post more often, beginning with these pictures from our first days in Hawaii. What a great way to ring in my 31st year!
Ice Cream at Bubby's: Tanya and Chris joined us for a birthday dinner. After too many tapas.. sorry, pupus... we went out for ice cream. YUM.
Beachside of our hotel. Everyday thus far we've gone for a morning swim.
Dole Pinapple Plantation: It was meh. Ice cream was good.
Pinapple fierceness
Flora and fauna at the Dole Pinapple Plantation Gardens.
A Golf Balls and Gunpowder Weekend
This was my first invite out the annual Golf Balls and Gunpowder. As you can see from the video, there was lots of gunpowder!
Here’s to hoping that I get invited back next year! 
A Neighborhood Cat Sees Dinner
And the chickens run for cover!
Portland – The Home of the Hizz
Marissa had the opportunity to head down to Portland this past weekend to see my sister and brother-in-law and of course The Hizz, our 11-month old niece. So, of course we jumped at the chance. In addition to seeing them, we also got to see our friends the Quackenbush’s from Vegas.
After arriving late on Friday we had two options on Saturday. Either suffer through the heat in Portland or head west to the coast where it was 30 degrees colder. Thankfully, my brother-in-law was kind enough to read off the temperature in 2 degree increments the entire trip out there and back.
Once we arrived though, we realized that we hadn’t packed enough clothes and that we didn’t know when the fog would dissipate. So we huddled in the tent for warmth, company, and lunch…
The Hizz shows off her wrestling skills by pinning down dad until he taps out.
View after the Fog Lifts
On Sunday we decided to head out to the Portland Brewfest for cold brew and hot, hot weather:
It was a great weekend. Portland is simply one of the coolest cities. I can’t wait till I get to go back.
We were the cheer squad for the Chelan Man Triathlon
Not me! After participating in the Chelan Man Sprint Tri two years ago and doing horribly in the swim (Marissa can tell that story) I begged off this one. Though, we did have a chance to see some friends!
And they are off!
For our support, we got to stay at our friend’s parents’ beautiful place on Lake Chelan which included (not necessarily in the following order); amazing food, innumerable dips in the water, fishing off the end of the dock, a drink or two, a cigar or two and a few quick swims.
View from the back porch
Not A Bad Evening
We had a great sail last night on Elliott Bay aboard a friend’s new 49′ Beneteau. You couldn’t have asked for more; beautiful boat, amazing weather, cold beer, and great wind! Take a look:
The Capt'n
The Crew
The View
View Astern - Don't they look slow?
Time for a closeup
Buried the Rail
Now for the video: