Camping, Mt. Rainier

About 2 months ago we went camping just outside Mt. Rainier near the Soda Springs area. This was located off a logging trail about 2 miles in. The first thing you notice is how far you are from everything, including the light pollution that the cities give off. This lead to some beautifully clear skies that gave me some fantastic time lapse shots.




There were 9 of us total. Some co-workers, some friends, all good people.

Brandon had just gotten a new Axe and Machete for this trip. I mean every man should have an axe (for splitting wood of course).

There was a river near by with a fallen tree that gave us a natural bridge to get across. We had many adventures on this trip.

Later during the day we went for a hike up to Jug Lake. It gets its name from the sound it makes when the wind blows across its surface. It was a good hike on a hot day.

Once we got near the top we soon realized it was the middle of mosquito season! And I don't mean 1 or 2, we're talking 1-2 million directly around us. Half of the group turned back to camp, while the rest of us forged ahead. We ran to keep the mosquitoes away, but had little success. Though we were glad we made it to the top to witness the beauty the jug lake had to offer.

Thinking the water would keep us safe from the mosquitoes, we quickly dove it only to find frigid glacial water. Although it was cooler than a polar bears toe nails, it was refreshing. That is until the mosquitoes found our heads bobbing in the water. No matter where we went we could not escape.

We found the only way to keep the mosquitoes at bay was to apply 100% DET lotion.

We made it back with tons of bites and tired but feeling accomplished. We sat and relaxed at we began a fire to get dinner going. Brandon mean while began whittling away at a stick. He ended up making a creepy rabbit to ward the evil mosquitoes away.

We also went on a mini hike to check out what these "Soda Springs" were actually about. This is a natural spring that contains high amounts of sodium. This gives the surrounding rocks a candy orange color. Leslie tried it out and said it tasted salty. Fyi.

The accompanying stream made for some great photos as well.

That night we played a game of spies and saboteurs. It got pretty heated as we accused each other of sabotage. But a very fun game.

The next morning we awoke to Sarah making an egg, veggie and potato skillet meal. Que delicioso!

On our way back we stop atop the Naches pass to check out the beautiful sight of Mt. Rainier and the surround Cascadian mountain range.

All in all it was a very fun trip with some good friends and something we will be doing again!

Ben's 30th Birthday

Now it's time for my 30th birthday! It started out with some close friends gathering at my favorite restaurant, Applebees. Eating good in the neighborhood. It was great to see work friends and other friends coming together. Even my coworker Dylan, the elusive guy that never comes out to anything, showed up! Though he's on strict diet so he brought his own meal.

Me and Leslie had to celebrate our birthdays together with a shot of "Duck Fart". Yummm!

We then headed back to enjoy my favorite cake in the world, Oreo Ice Cream cake from Dairy Queen!!!

On thursday, my friend Chirag from Texas showed up. He said he was in town for an interview (he's trying to move back to Seattle). I didn't think much of it since he was just here a month ago. On friday Chrissy took us out to eat at the Ram for some burgers and beer. On the way there, I though she was lost as she headed to the airport. Then it hit me, we were picking someone up! My friend Matt!!!! He flew in from Wisconsin for my birthday! Turns out that Chirag actually flew in for my birthday as well and he didn't actually have an interview. Man I got some great friends.

On an ice cream high and elated from the arrival of my friends, we return home. I step in the door from the garage and BAM! Surprise! I realize there is 20-30 people there just as I get hit in the face with silly string. I am in shock the rest of the night not only since there were so many people there to celebrate my birthday but also because Chrissy had planned this surprise birthday party since last October! That's 11 months. Wow I have the BEST wife in the world and fantastic friends to match. I feel so loved.

Yes, that's a 32 oz can of High Life :)

Nope, not pregnant, nor fat. Just playing with balloons.

The rest of the weekend was spend eating Chinese food and listening to many great artists at the Bumbershoot music festival. What a perfect way to spend the rest of my birthday weekend.

My 30th Birthday!

Well folks, I have officially entered the next decade of my life.  The thirties.  While I haven't been over-joyed to think I'll be leaving behind my 20's, so far life is looking bright!  To help me celebrate my birthday I thought Ben was going to take me out to dinner, just the two of us.  To my surprise, he had coordinated with my dear friend, Leilani, and threw me a surprise party on my real birthday night!  I arrived at Serious Pie to find 14 of my close friends sitting in the back.  I was shocked, and delighted!

We enjoyed some delicious pizza and a chocolate dessert.  I had such a wonderful night. 

I love surprises!!

That Saturday we had already planned an all day bash at the Egan abode complete with both a keg of Manny's and root beer!  Ben manned the grill and we enjoyed a full day with friends.  I didn't take many photos, but here are the few that I have.

 To my delight, I had TWO requests to make me a birthday cake.  My good friend, Sarah, made me the amazing orange curd cake below.  It was gone within 5 mins of cutting into it!

 Then my 12 year old neighbor who was taking a cake decorating class decided to use the three tier wedding cake for me on my 30th bday!  Look at the size of that thing!  It was a beauty.

 I had so much fun celebrating with cake, root beer floats, and friends!  Until next year...

4th of July & a visitor from home!

Happy July!  I love this month.  It's the best of the year - summer is finally here, the sun shines daily, the water glimmers, and most importantly, it's my birthday month!  30 this year, can you believe it!?  I can't.  I have spent all of my "29's" dreading this month.  Now it's finally here and I'm thinking, hey, this isn't so bad afterall!  It really is going to be a great month.

To kick it off, we had a visitor!  Brian Mitsch, an old friend of mine from high school made the journey to visit us!  Brian and I have many memories together - good and bad - that we laughed about during his stay.  I love old friends - they have seen you through so many different times in your life.  It's great to have those people who really know you.  Needless to say, we had a good time.  Here is what we did!

Celebrated the 4th of July on Hartley's rooftop overlooking Lake Union.  Hartley and Mark are always great hosts and we had a great time, BBQing, eating vodka gummy bears, and sitting by the bon fire.

 

 Just before the fireworks display Ben noticed billowing black smoke coming from across the shore.  We saw huge flames.  It was quickly put out by several police/fire boats (?) or something like that.  A couple days later when we were in northlake we went to figure out what happened and saw the aftermath.  A boat dock had gone up in flames and several boats were torched.  You can see it here.

 So that was crazy....not to mention earlier that day we had gone downtown to spend some time at Pike's place market and literally drove right by a guy on roid rage yelling "Who's the boss!?" in the middle of the street.  He ripped off his shirt, threw his phone, and lastly punched the hood of someone's car before the entire Seattle police dept showed up to stop the guy. 
Brian met nearly every police man we've got in this city in just one day.  Lucky guy. 

The next day (Friday) we decided to get out in the wilderness and take a hike!  We tried out a new trail to Tenerife (aka Kamikaze) Falls.  It was a nice trail, though the top got steep and rocky.  But the waterfall at the end was well worth it!  Stay tuned for pictures of the falls from Ben.  We were pretty beat after the hike, so we got dinner at Cactus and decided to call it a night.

On Saturday we got breakfast, and then headed out on the RED HOOK BREW TOUR!  This is always a crowd pleaser and it did not disappoint.  The beer is always free flowing, and the tour guides are a hoot.

That night we kept the party going and went to the Beverage Place for more drinks and Cards Against Humanity!  The Beverage place is one of the best spots in West Seattle.  They only serve drinks so you can order food into the establishment from the neighboring restaurants.  It is set up like a living room with couches, and tables to sit and hang out at, or play games.  It's quite fun.  We spent several hours there having a wonderful time!

The next day was a bit of a recovery day.  We didn't get out of the house until 1:30pm.  We headed out to get some lunch at King's Hardware in Ballard.  Brian's friend had recommended it, and we were excited to check it out.  It was a total hipster bar, with real stuffed animals all over the plaid walls.  There was even this nice scene above the bar. Really yummy food, and I tried this Ginger beer that tasted kind of like a spicy lemonade.  Tasty.

 After, we went to the Ballard Locks to see the Salmon jumping the ladder and proceeded to stop at all the other 'Hot Spots' around town for Brian's last day.  We stopped at the Troll, Gasworks park, Alki beach and ended at Duke's Chowder house for some soup!

 

 

Duke's Chowder House

 We had such a great weekend!  Come visit us again soon :)