Thanksgiving Family Dinner '09

So this was the first year that we were not able to be with our family for Thanksgiving :( Therefore we needed to celebrate here to help fill a little more at home. We decided to invite everyone who was going to be in town to come join us in the Java room here at our AMLI apartment complex. There ended up being about 16-18 people who showed up! Everyone brought a dish to share which lead to WAY too much food. Wait, scratch that. You can not have too much food on Thanksgiving. But it was enough for 2nds, 3rds, 4ths and multiple leftovers.

We even had two turkeys! One was a regular turkey, while the other was a spicy deep fried turkey. Both were as delicious as you would expect. There were 3 types of stuffing, green bean casserole, bread, cranberry sauce, macaroni bake, mashed potatoes, corn, salad peaches, wine and of course 2% milk.

After 2 hours of glutinous sinning we played an intense game of Apples to Apples. After that we went back for more food with what little stomach space was left. There were many casualties of the night, myself included. It was a day to remember with good times had by all!

First Snowboarding Trip of the Season!

So one of the major reasons for moving out to Seattle was to take advantage of the close proximity mountains. After conquering Mt. Si, it was time to climb Crystal Mountain... and ride down it with my snowboard! Heck Yes!

Crystal Mountain is located 6 miles NE of Mt. Rainier. Crystal is the largest ski area in Washington featuring a total of 2,600 acres (2,300 lift serviced acres). The base of the mountain begins at 4,400 feet and summits at 7,012 feet. It takes two lifts and roughly 7 minutes to get to the top while its longest run is 2.5 miles long. The first lift takes you into the middle of the clouds, while the second takes above them. Reaching the summit we were greeted with clear blue skies and the most amazing view of Mt. Rainier. It is so close that you feel like you could touch it. It also feels like you are at the same height as it although the summit is another 4,000 feet. Unfortunately I didn't want to bring my camera up there but my friend Andy took a couple. I also posted a link below the pictures for User Submitted photos of the mountain. Take a scroll through there to see some wonderful shots.

http://www.skicrystal.com/Media-Gallery#/Photos/523/Public-Submissions

We were able to hit up some fresh powder in the back country. Although I must admit, I took a pretty big beating that day and was to left recuperating the rest of the weekend. But I am ready to go this Saturday to Steven's Pass to check out what else Washington has to offer.

As part of my preparation for snowboarding I needed some key items. First being snow tires. I happened to run across a closeout deal on TireRack.com for some incredible awesome Blizzak snow tires. The are normally $170/tire but I got them for $65/tire. Plus I got a $50 rebate for a total $470 savings). I also found a pair of used Mitsubish rims to mount them on. They are painted gloss black and I got a heck of a deal on them. The final ingredient was a roof rack to hold the boards. I decided on the Yakima rack and have no regrets. Not only does it look awesome, it is snug as a bug (you heard me). Here are the pictures I took:

Anyone that wants to come shredding is welcome! There is plenty of room!