Explorations of Jackie & Joe: February 2012

Monday, February 27, 2012

Denver

February 18-27, 2012

Joe went to Denver and Silverthorne, Colorado for a week to do high altitude testing on an 18 wheeler truck for work.

Mile High Stadium.

The Rockies.

It snowed 4” or so overnight.

Joe made his first snowman while on the company’s time.

Eisenhower Tunnel, the longest mountain tunnel and highest point on the Interstate at 11,158 ft above sea level.

Deer crossing the highway.

Frozen Lake.

There were people ice fishing, dogs running, go karting and snowmobiling on the lake.
Jesus walked on water, I walked on an ice lake, 2 feet thick.

We drove up to the Continental Divide. It was so cold but the view was worth it.

Ice castle near the hotel in Silverthorne.

Denver Airport.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Sunset Run Downtown

February 15, 2012

Here is another beautiful sunset run along downtown Seattle waterfront.

Thursday, 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.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

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.