The Appalachian Trail

So for the past nine years, Jen and I have taken an annual backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. The AT is 2,000+ miles long and runs from Georgia to Maine, following the spine of the Appalachian Mountains. It is a designated National Scenic Trail, is marked with white blazes, and has three-sided wooden shelters spaced about a day's hike apart for your camping convenience. Since we were living in Florida when we started hiking, we naturally began in Georgia. Each year we pick up where we leave off and keep heading north. This year brings us to northern Virginia and puts us into Shenandoah National Park. This is also the first year we've had to fly to the trail, so our logistics were slightly more complicated. Thankfully, we have friends outside of DC (Alison and Jerry Terry), and we were able to visit them as part of our trip. They picked us up from the airport on a Saturday afternoon and drove us straight to Chick-Fil-A for dinner (smart friends). Next was a whirlwind tour of DC sights (the White House, the Capitol Building, various monuments, the mall, etc...) and a walk around the Lincoln Memorial and the FDR Memorial. The next morning they drove us about 3 hours to our put in spot for the trail and off we went. We had pretty great weather -80's and sunny most days, a couple days of Scooby-Doo-worthy fog, and a few torrential thunderstorms at night - thankfully, we were in the tent for those. On day 5 of our hike we crossed a highway that led about 5 miles into a bigger town so we had planned on heading into town, cleaning up, and then meeting up with some other hikers the next morning. We called a couple of numbers we had for rides in the area, but since no one was home we decided to hitch on into town. We were picked up in about 5 minutes by this great guy who told us that he drove past the exact spot where we were standing about a week ago and saw two girls with packs trying to get a ride but he didn't pick them up. It had been eating him up all week, knowing that if it were his daughter, he'd want someone to give her a ride. So, when he saw us, he knew this was his second chance and he had to pick us up. Works for us! Last year on the trail, we met a couple of hikers, Downhill Donna and Waterman, and hiked with them the last two days of our trip. We kept in touch over the past year, and they were able to drive down to the trail and meet up with us again to hike the last three days of our trip this year. Very cool! We met up with them on Friday morning (so nice to see familiar faces!) and headed into Shenandoah National Park. The hiking in the park was great (it was just a walk in the park...), we had beautiful weather and some really nice views looking out from across the ridge. One day, we had hiked most of the morning and hadn't passed a water source and were all getting kind of low. We knew we had an uphill climb to do yet, and as we passed some day hikers coming down from the mountain, Downhill Donna stopped them and asked them about the trail up ahead and if there was any water. They told us there wasn't and, after chatting a bit, said goodbye. On we hike, up the mountain, and when we get to the top we see the same two day hikers coming at us from the opposite direction carrying four bottles of water. They had gone to their car, driven to the store, and then went around to another trail head to hike in and meet us. Awesome. This is a common phenomenon on the AT known as Trail Magic and the cool workers of said magic are referred to as Trail Angels. Well, we finished our hike, all 83 miles we set out to accomplish, and then met back up with Alison and Jerry Terry for a ride home. Alison was cool enough to take the next day off of work so we could play around town. First stop... Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Island!!!!! This is basically a little island in the Potomac with a bunch of hiking trails and a HUGE statue of TR. Very cool. Then, lunch at Bullfeathers (named after TR's expression of choice and decorated with a few photos). After that we went on a Smithsonian speed run, taking in the Natural History Museum, the American History Museum, and the American Art and Portraiture Museum. All very interesting (and free). A great day to end our trip and Jerry Terry was kind enough to stop for a Chick-Fil-A breakfast on the way to the airport the next morning. As much as I love vacations (and I did have a great one), I think this was the first time I can remember being excited about getting to go home. I think that means I really love it here...

Easter, marching bands, camping, tulips, and bonfires...

Well, it's been another busy month in Washington. First up, one of my co-workers from Chicago, Kathy, came out to visit her sister for Easter (who, coincidentally lives in West Seattle as well), and I was fortunate enough to get to squeeze in a little visit with her on a Friday night. It was great to see her and I tried to convince her that everything is better out here and she should just give up and move to Seattle. Well, while Jen and I were meeting up with Kathy we started noticing several people walking around the neighborhood in small clusters, wearing bizarre outfits, carrying marching band instruments - a tuba here, a piccolo there, a trombone,... you get the idea. Well, as the night progressed these marching band folks just seemed to multiply. Every bar we walked past had ten or so standing outside and another 20 crammed onto a stage jamming out. All throughout the neighborhood. Playing in the streets. Everywhere. It was awesome. We even came across a really large group (50 or so) in a plaza that had a full-on dance routine. Someone would blow a whistle, they'd all scurry to their places, and then start playing and dancing. Hilariously fun. One guy even climbed up on the roof of a nearby shop for a dramatic saxophone solo. We watched for 4 or 5 songs and then... they all just ran off in different directions - show over. It was so oddball cool. So the following week we had a visit from my friend, Wes. Jen and I know Wes from hiking the AT and it turns out he is going to be working this summer in Skagway, Alaska as a river guide down the Chilkat. Well, on his way up north he decided to stop by for a few days and hang out with us. We took him kayaking in Lake Union, gave him a tour of West Seattle, walked around some of our favorite parks, had a BBQ, went for a waterfall hike, and even got to go camping one night over on the coast. Nine of us total ended up at a State Park over near Westport, WA for a night of car-camping and it was a great time. We were able to walk right over a sand dune to the ocean (lovely), walk on the beach, cook on a campfire, play some frisbee, see a million stars, hike out on a jetty, watch some crazy surfers, take in some crab races (no joke), and relax. It was awesome. Wes made it safely up to Alaska (have a great summer!) and he is planning on stopping by on his return trip at the end of the season. Things keep getting better and better... Jen started her new and exciting job working for King County Parks. She gets to drive around to these scenic parks, be outside all day -sometimes on a ferry, and then do a little work. Pretty sweet. The following weekend I was spending the day with my friend, Kane (previously known in the blog as the Divinely-Appointed-Direct TV-Man in October who goes to our church and took us camping on Mt. Pilchuck - amazing - and who I have been friends with ever since- awesome). We went on a snowshoe hike to Heather Lake (lovely), grabbed some dinner, and then decided to go for a walk at Carkeek Park. We pull into the park (after 9 pm on a Friday night) and there is a huge bonfire going in the fire circle. We go check it out and we are the only ones there - no other cars, no other people, just a perfect blazing fire. We then decided that God lit the bonfire just for us and, Kane, taking advantage of the perfect moment, decided it was the right time to let me know he likes me and ask me out for a date. Yay! He is incredible and I've enjoyed him so much as a friend these past few months that I'm super excited to see our relationship grow in this new direction. He's pretty cool. Well, spring has officially arrived (Washington has the most amazing tulip fields just an hour north of Seattle - just beautiful) summer is almost here, our weather has been great (Jen and I went out kayaking in Puget Sound in 70 degree temps and got sunburns), and people keep telling me to just wait - July, August, and September are supposed to be unbelievably beautiful. Feel free to come and see for yourselves...

Olympic National Park

Since my last post we have had several more visitors; Lindsay's parents, Jen's brother Michael, and my parents all came to spend some time in Seattle. Most recently, Jen and I took my parents over to the Olympic peninsula for some sightseeing, and for an excuse to go to another National Park. We left Friday after work and in a few short hours were over on the coast staying in a cool cabin, perched on a bluff overlooking the Pacific. We hiked on the beach as well as inland through the Quinault rain forest. The next morning we played around a ton of tidepools, checking out all the sea stars, sea anemone, mollusks, and whatever else was in there. Pink and green and purple and orange. I love it. Another rain forest, this one the Hoh, where we did a couple of hikes through the green and moss and giant trees, talked to two Park Rangers (sigh), and saw 3 black-tailed deer and 6 Roosevelt Elk (who, incidentally, were named after the great Theodore, even though the park itself was established several years later by the also cool FDR). Back on the road for lunch at Forks (yes, you do have to stop and eat in a town named after a utensil) and then to Port Angeles where we would spend the night. While my parents took a rest, Jen and I went on out for a hike along the Dungeness Spit. This sounded like a nice little stroll along a sandy beach, however, it was hard work. The spit is really narrow, going out for 5 miles to a lighthouse. Meanwhile, the "trail" is nothing but driftwood and rocks, all the while dodging the incoming waves. Fun. After a little ways, we come to a sign that prohibits joggers from continuing on past that point. Joggers??? As if that were possible. Rough, but beautiful. The next morning, with dreamy blue skies, we drove up to Hurricane Ridge and the amazing panoramic mountain views. Wow. We snowshoed for about 3 miles (a first for my Floridian parents) and then headed back to Seattle, taking a great ferry ride to finish the trip. Lovely. The time just seems to be flying by, but we are doing our best to take advantage of it. Each weekend we go out with a quest to do something new - hikes (most often), kayaking, museums, restaurants, coffee shops... It's been pretty spectacular and somehow our list just doesn't seem to get any shorter.

Holidays and Visitors and Snowshoes

OK! So Happy Christmas and Merry New Year and MLK day and Inauguration and almost February. The holidays were nice for us here in Seattle. We had a few freak snowstorms in the city, which they tell me NEVER happens, and the roads were covered with snow / ice for several weeks (we don't plow or use salt - rather ridiculous, really) and the town basically shut down. People were just sledding down the streets! Pretty great. Well, my parents came for Christmas (bringing with them some AMAZING fudge from Florida - thanks, Mrs. Rhodes!!!) and we had a nice, relaxing holiday. Jen and I showed them around the neighborhood, took them on a sightseeing cruise of Elliott Bay, wandered the labyrinth that is Pike Place Market, and hiked in the snow through the forest to a waterfall. Basically, lots of walks in the parks and fires and movies and board games - pretty standard for us and enjoyable. Plus, our Alaska roommate, Emily, was scheduled for a layover in Seattle on her way back to the park after having Christmas with her family in Boston. Jen and I were able to go see her at the airport for coffee and hugs for about an hour (way too short) before she had to go catch her plane to Anchorage. Sadly, since it was snowing out, her plane ended up being delayed and she was stuck on the runway for a few hours when she could have been hanging out with us! One hour is better than nothing though - we miss her!!! Anyways, say goodbye to mom and dad, have one lone weekend to rest up and then, Anna and Phil are here from Chicago!!! Theirs was, unfortunately, a quick trip (just a long weekend) but we were determined to cram in what we could in the time allotted. They arrived around midnight on a Friday night and, after dealing with the Frontier lost-baggage counter for 30 min or so (yes, Anna's duffel was ditched in Denver), we finally made it home around one am. After a quick tour of the house we sent them to bed with the request that they be awake in the morning and ready to go by 7. After looking at me like I was insane for making such a ludicrous suggestion, they consented, knowing I had their best interests in mind, and said goodnight. They were good sports and we did leave the house bright and early the next morning. We picked up breakfast at this incredibly scrumptious bakery in our neighborhood (the twice-baked chocolate croissants - oh, my...) and then headed up to catch a ferry across to the Olympic peninsula. This was Phil's first time in Seattle so we definitely thought a ferry ride was in order (they are quite cool, after all). While standing out on the deck of the moving ferry, Anna commented, "it's so nice to feel the wind on my face and not have my eyeballs freeze." Awesome. It had been negative 13 degrees in Chicago the day before with wind chill something absurdly silly like 30 below. So we drive off the ferry and on over to Olympic National Park (sigh for the Park Rangers) and up to the top of Hurricane Ridge. Up here it was nothing but blue skies, sunshine, and not a single cloud to be found. You could see for miles in any direction, mountains, mountains, mountains, water, and even Canada (Vancouver Island is just across the strait)! To make it even better, there was this weird temperature inversion phenomenon going on where the bottom of the mountain was in the upper 30's and the top (where we were snowshoeing) was in the upper 50's (feeling like 70's because of the sun reflecting off of the snow! So great). Anyways, we snowshoed for a few miles towards Hurricane Hill, enjoying the beauty and weather and company. Good times. Back down the mountain and ferry to Seattle where Anna's duffel bag was waiting for her at the front door! A quick clean up, then out for Thai food and over to a friend's house for a movie night before heading home around one again. We said goodnight and I promised them they could sleep in the next morning (see, I can be nice). We breakfasted late at Easy Street Records, this great local music shop in our neighborhood, and walked around the West Seattle Farmers Market (year-round, every Sunday, and quite impressive). From there, down to Pioneer Square where we went on the Underground Tour, a very informative and witty description of Seattle's history - they actually had to raise the levels of the streets some 8-32 feet higher to fix a drainage problem in the roads, creating this "underground" area which went from shopping to speakeasies to murder to the plague. It's pretty fascinating. Back above ground, we made a quick stop at my favorite bookstore - Elliott Bay Books. It's beautiful. Wooden, creaky floors, multiple levels of books around crooked corners, and that somewhat endearing musty book smell... And espresso in the basement, because this is Seattle, after all. Since it was another glorious sunny day - mountains out all around - we went for another walk in the woods. This time to Schmitz Park, old growth forest down the street from our house. We took a little rest break before heading to church and then out for a pizza dinner. On Monday, I had to work, but Lindsay and Jen took Anna and Phil downtown for some more sightseeing. They wandered the market, the waterfront, and the sculpture park - again with amazing weather and mountain views. We all had dinner out together and then spent the evening relaxing, playing some card games and Yahtzee. Tuesday marked the end of their trip and we were really glad they decided to spend some vacation time on us. We miss you!

Mt. Rainier

I know it's been awhile since I've written - the main focus of the blog was to detail our time in Alaska - but I think Seattle might deserve some attention, too, from time to time. So far we've all been working (Lindsay - after school programs at the YMCA, Jen - seasonal Target help and applying for classes at the Art Institute of Seattle, Me - an ideal PT job at a clinic in the neighborhood called Sound Physical Therapy). We love our house and our neighborhood, the people we meet are friendly (what a concept!), and the teaching at our new church (Mars Hill) is fantastic. We've already had two visitors - one of my bosses from Alaska spent a couple of days with us, and my mom was here for Thanksgiving. (By the way, we love company so feel free to plan a vacation). Last weekend (for my birthday) we had the chance to head out to Mt. Rainier National Park for some hiking. Do you believe a place this spectacular is only two hours away? Incredible. I feel like we are surrounded by spectacular. Anyways, we were originally planning on doing some snowshoeing but there wasn't enough snow yet. Instead, we had a beautiful hike up at Paradise (yes, that's the official name) and headed to Panorama Point. Panorama, indeed! We could see the summit of Rainier (very clear) and the other way was Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, and Mt. St. Helens with the Tatoosh Range in the foreground. It's hard to describe, but you just can't be gloomy when you're standing in a place like this. You can only stand in awe of the Creator. We hiked, looked through the exhibits at the new visitor's center (and yes, I wanted to cry when talking to the ranger), and watched their brand new park movie! Love it. Back to the park lodge for dinner (salmon) and some Phase 10 by the fireplace. It was a nice, relaxing evening. The next day was a couple of short hikes in the drizzle to a waterfall / along a river / through the giant trees, before heading back home. It was a really great weekend. Well, Seattle has this tradition where they decorate these tour boats with Christmas lights and whatnot and then send them around to different parts of the city where they will amplify a choir on board for a 20 minute program. It's like a little parade of boats. Well, last night Lindsay and I walked down the hill to the beach and watched as the boat parade came to our neighborhood. It was pretty cool - a few bonfires going on the beach, a good turnout, a living nativity, free candy canes, and a Christmas concert. It also started to snow (lightly), which apparently rarely happens in the city so people tend to freak out when it does. By the time we woke up this morning we did have a couple inches (very pretty in the trees), and the roads were just sheets of ice. It seems they don't use salt here, but instead some areas will get sand and a de-icing liquid. Well, nothing had been done in West Seattle and since it is very hilly this made it a bit of a challenge to go anywhere. We made it out OK to get to church, but I couldn't get back up our driveway (yes, driveway) when we came back because of all the ice, and had to park on the street instead. Mild adventure. It is amusing, though, that at 32 degrees everyone freaks out about how "cold" it is when I know all those hearty Chicagoans would consider 30's to be a balmy winter's day. (I just realized that I used a lot of parentheses in this post - sorry about that.). Merry Christmas.

Mt. Pilchuck

So we pull into town on a Thursday night, unload half of the truck, and wake up Friday morning to finish the rest. While we are unloading, the Direct TV man comes to install the cable. Well, the DTV man happens to be super great and actually helps us finish emptying the truck! Awesome - especially since by that point our muscles were pretty wasted. So then, we get to talking with the DTV man and find out that he lived in Alaska for a summer and he goes to the church we were told to check out here in Seattle. Go figure. Then, because the DTV man is cool and he realized we know nobody in Seattle, he invited us to go hiking / camping the next day. Umm... yeah! So with Lindsay getting over a cold, she stayed behind and Jen and I went off with the DTV man and two of his buddies. We drove about an hour and half NE of Seattle and climbed up Mt. Pilchuck. The trail was only about 3 miles up to the top but we climbed about 2600 feet, through beautiful lush green forests, rocky slopes, above the tree line to a fire tower perched on the summit. The hike was incredible and we reached the top in time to enjoy the sunset over Puget Sound, behind the Olympic Mountains. Oh, my. Once the sun was down the star show began above (crystal clear with at least two shooting stars) with the lights of the city coming on below. We camped out in the firetower with three other hikers (hilarious older guys who go out together once a month or so), fixed dinner, and then played Phase 10 by candlelight. Not bad for our second full day in Seattle. Woke up in time to watch the sunrise over the Cascades... breathtaking. Panoramic views, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, Mt. Shukshan, Cascades, Olympics, San Juans, the Sound, OH MY! What an amazing way to wake up. On day three!? Welcome to Washington.

"Life is a great adventure...Accept it in such a spirit." - TR

All aboard! We drove onto the ferry in Haines, AK on a Monday night around 8 pm and drove off it 4 days later on a Friday morning around 8 am. The ferry (or the Alaska Marine Highway as it is officially known) connects several Alaskan towns that are only accessible by water or air. The southeastern Alaskan region is made up of several islands (the Alexander Archipeligo) and the marine routes through the islands are known as the Inside Passage. Since every road in Alaska seems like a scenic byway, why should the marine highway be any different? It, too, is a designated scenic "highway" and is another Alaskan experience not to be missed. In other words - beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Our vessel, the M/V Malaspina, made 5 stops along our route - Juneau, Sitka, Wrangell, Petersburg, Ketchikan - before reaching Bellingham, Washington. Some of the ports were reached in the middle of the night so we chose not to leave the ship but we were able to get out and walk around at Sitka and Ketchikan. We had a nice stateroom with two bunk-beds, a bathroom, and a window. The ride was beautiful and we were able to see a pod of orcas along the way (quite exciting). Bellingham is only about an hour and a half drive from Seattle so we were there before lunch time and... we have a house to live in! I found a place online and voila! We're in. We stayed in town for just a few days, making various arrangements, before flying back to Chicago to retrieve our furniture and our other roommate, Lindsay, for the trip back to our new home. Our stay in Chicago was brief, but long enough. We loaded up a giant Penske moving truck (with the much appreciated help of three very-strong friends), said goodbye again, and headed out on a Monday morning, towing Lindsay's car behind us. Our drive back to Seattle was beautiful, with sunny, blue skies and great driving conditions. So Lindsay has this theory about McDonald's monopoly that they scatter the winning pieces across the country - so she made us stop in every single state between Illinois and Washington to get some new pieces. Jen and I groaned but Linds swears she's lovin' it. As long as she shares the money though... Anyway, the first night brought us to Minneapolis, with an obligatory run through the Mall of America (new to Linds). Night number two (and I was quite excited about this one), took us to Medora, ND and Theodore Roosevelt National Park! Woo-hoo! TR and a National Park?! That's two of my favorite things. We pulled into the first visitor center and immediately saw a bison in front of the incredible Badlands landscape - very cool. The next morning we took a scenic (go figure) drive through the park and saw lots of deer, bison, prarie dogs, and wild horses. Beautiful. There was also a TR museum (!!!!), a park movie, and his original cabin that he lived in during his ranching days in ND. Very cool and I was in high-geek mode, for sure. After the park we headed for Missoula, MT to spend our last night on the road. Thursday morning brought us to Washington and a brief excursion to the town of Roslyn where they actually filmed the brilliantly written Northern Exposure. It was awesome. It felt like walking right into the TV town - it felt familiar, like we were going to see some of our favorite characters walking down the street. Very fun - we even ate lunch at the Brick (Holling's bar on the show where everybody in town goes to eat). Next stop - home! We made it safe and sound. A few words about the house - it is a three bedroom in the West Seattle neighborhood with a yard, a view of Puget Sound, lots of trees, a DRIVEWAY, a WASHER AND DRYER, and a fireplace. It's a 10 min walk to the beach, the park, shops, movies, etc... It's pretty cool and I'm excited for it once we make it look like home. E-mails are great, but there's something even better about real mail...
4927 SW Admiral Way
Seattle, WA 98116
We always write back!