Sunset Run Downtown

February 15, 2012

Here is another beautiful sunset run along downtown Seattle waterfront.

Ski Summit Central

February 9, 2012

For the GGLO Thursday ‘crit’ we went skiing near the Snoqualmie Pass, about an hour and half east of Seattle. It was too far for Joe so I carpooled over with a co-worker. It ended up being not so great skiing conditions at Summit Central. The base is at 2,840 feet and had maybe 8 feet of snow packed up on the sides of the parking lot. This was the visibility at the top of the ski lift.

This was near the bottom where you could barely make out the lodge.

We ran this long route all night which I believe was a blue (more difficult) route. I feel quite a few times. The slopes were powder and not mostly ice like we’re used to back on the east coast. It was a lot easier to make turns but the steeper slopes I had trouble keeping my speed in control. The last 2 times I went to a ski resort I attempted to snowboard so if I’m calculating correctly it may have been 8 years since I’ve skied last! This picture was also around where I completely wretched my knee on my fourth run down the hill before we took a break to meet all my co-workers for drinks and dinner at the lodge. I spun around almost backward with my ski staying forward and never popping off. It really hurt but I attempted to shrug it off.

Here is looking back up the slope from the ski lift.

The visibility became even worse after dinner. I took at slopes as slow as possible since my knee was killing me.

I was limping the next day.

SAF Volunteer Night

February 8, 2012

A big reason for my downtown architecture walk yesterday was to see how comfortable I would be volunteering for the Seattle Architecture Foundation as a tour guide. Tonight I went for to the SAF Volunteer Open House at Tom Douglas’ Palace Ballroom. Not only was there yummy food, but I happened to win a door prize, a Fremont Troll Chia pet! Now hopefully I can get enough sunlight at my desk in Seattle.

I did sign up to be a tour guide. Time to beat this phobia of speaking in public. I can see no better way to get over it than to talk about my passion; architecture.

Seattle Walk & Run

February 7, 2012

Today at lunch I went for a walk around my office because it was beautiful out.

Fraternal Order of Eagles

Washington Athletic Club

Rainier Tower

Cobb Building which GGLO renovated a few years ago.

Seattle Tower

Post Alley

Gum Wall

The beautiful day continued so I did my first run along the waterfront on Elliot Bay Trail during a wonderful sunset.

Snowshoe East Fork Foss River Trail

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Today was beautiful, so we drove Joe’s 4-wheel drive Nissan Xterra east to the Cascade Mountains to go snowshoeing for Jackie’s first time. Joe picked out the East Foss River Trail. It was before Steven’s Pass, after the Skykomish Ranger Station just off of Hwy 2. We drove nearly 2 miles to the end of the plowed road, but no one was parked at the end so Joe decided to go further to see what the conditions were like at the next trail, Tonga Ridge. The roadway was covered with about 2 feet deep of snow. After about a half mile there was a suburban that looked abandoned so Joe slowed down to take a closer look as we passed. Bad idea. We got stuck in a rut not used or packed down enough. He tried to rock the car out, but it wouldn’t budge. We dug the snow out in front and behind. No luck. I tried pushing to try and give some momentum, no. We were stuck in the snow. What a great start to the day! With this warmer weather and the sun out in all its glory, the snow had begun to melt at this spot of the road, making it soft and easier to get stuck.

We called AAA. They said that a tow truck can be there in 3 hours. 30 minutes later we get a call back that they will be there in an hour around noon. After many issues trying to reach the tow truck driver, we find out that we are .5 miles out of their range. They would not go onto the unplowed Forest Service Road which is “unmaintained” in the winter. We basically needed to figure out a way to get ourselves out on our own because no tow truck company would agree to get us out of this location.  

Fortunately Joe talked a few snowshoers that had just arrived, to help me push and try to get the Xterra out. It only took one other guy pushing with me to get us out of the rut. Joe continued to back the car down to the plowed parking area and I walked down to join him.

After a very eventful, stupid mistake to start our day, we were just happy to finally be out safe and able to snowshoe the rest of the afternoon.

The scene of the incident, check out the size of the rut where Jackie’s hiking pole is and one to match in the other tire wheel well along higher icy snow edge.

Ready to finally snowshoe.

The trail weaves through a beautiful old-growth forest along the bottom of a wide river valley. It is a gentle hike without slick steep slopes, a perfect first trail to begin with.
We ate some sandwiches and grapes and admired the frozen icicles along the rocks.

The Foss River bed below.

Pine needle caught in the snow.

The snowshoe trail.

Snowshoeing was a great activity for the 2 of us to do to spend time together after almost 2 weeks apart. We could talk endlessly about everything that’s been going on over that time.

I wore all kinds of layers since I always get cold. With the sun out, I was burning up. Halfway through our hike I was no longer wearing my jacket or hat and was down to 2 shirt layers.

More of the trail.

We watched a jeep with low tire pressure drive over tree logs over the road with no problems whatsoever. We have all the luck.
Our snowshoe gear which we bought for cheap on Craigslist.

Back at the snow incident scene.

I guess this road sign is good target practice?

On our drive home.

We stopped for dinner in Monroe at a Thai place. We agreed to share a bottle of wine when we got home and enjoy more time just the two of us. Note the engineer’s idea of an ice bucket for the bottle of white wine: my watering can. I do have to say it worked out well.

Thompson

January 22-February 3, 2012
Joe was so excited about going to Thompson “freeze your nuts off” Manitoba that he only got 3 hours of sleep before his flight out early Sunday morning.

He was there for 13 days to do cold truck testing for work.

Joe described the extreme cold well: Words cannot begin to describe how cold it is outside. You must breathe through your nose so the cold air has more time to "warm up" before it pierces your lungs. As you stand there, the coldness creeps deep into your bones. At this temperature, the snow crystallizes. It's not like the flakey goodness at the ski resort.

On his day off of work, they went ice fishing. They drove 7km onto Paint Lake in Thompson. The ice was a meter deep!

Joe started to get used to the Thompson weather after 13 days. He was ballsy enough to saw Wisconsin weather seems to be for sissies, but what he really meant to say was he was finally ready for a January game in Lambeau Field. I finally converted him into a true Packer fan!