HORAY

mom and dad are coming to visit in 3 days!!! can't wait

it's a shared path...jerk

So , since this is probably going to be our last assignment, or at least last one away from the mitten, i promised that i would update this more often. I am doing my best.

The weekend before last i posted about our failed attempt to go snowshoeing. Well, the next day we ended up finding more than enough snow.

Having been warned about avalanche advisory and safety, i did let scott know that where we were going and when he should expect a call from me-i was going to tell my mom, but i thought that she would freak if i gave her the number of the police nearest to where we would be for the day:)

As we drove up the mountain, i thought we would be driving forever. No snow on the ground AT ALL. then as we got higher, so did the snow. It started as just a little dusting, then 2 feet, suddenly about 4 feet on the ground and less then one hour from our place, where we ended up snowshoeing there was well over 10 feet, It was awesome.

We found the parking lot to trail, although it was still covered in TONS of snow. We parked on the road instead. We only got about two hours in because it started to rain, but it was well worth it. After the initial climb to the top, it felt as if we were only a few inches off the ground, until you saw boot prints going at least 2 feet in ( people try to hike without shoes.) As we got farther on the trail, we noticed that there were houses covered to the roofs in snow. I am talking a Brady Bunch or Facts of life special, where they are going on an innocent ski trip and Mrs. Garret ends up screaming when she opens the door to nothing but white, and then screams again when people arrive to save the gang . We were planning on hiking out to the creek that was about 2 more miles away, but like i said, it started raining and the snow was getting icy, so we took off our shoes and went home.

The rest of the week Tony and i have been working opposite days, so I worked monday, weds, and friday and he worked tues, thur, and sat. It was almost the same this week. So today was our first day off together since our last outing.

Today was 54 degrees, so we got on our bikes for a little ( 20 mile) ride. Thanks to my new gear that i got for Christmas, i can not only tell you how far we went, but how long we biked, what was the fasted i went, my average speed, the time and the temperature. I think the little gadget does more, but ih aven't quite figured it all out yet.

Anyway, we biked from our place to west seattle, which is exactly like it sounds, west of here. It is on the other side of Elliott bay- the little part of Puget sound that you can see from our apartment. We went to ALki beach which is supposed to be this great beach, but it was just annoying. Here is where i will rant a bit, so if you don't want to hear it, you can stop reading :)

I just do not understand how people can not figure out the courtesy of the path. There are signs aplenty! Anyway, for those who aren't sure here is how it goes...you walk on the side that you would drive on, so if you are going north, you would walk on the east side, if you are going south, then the west side. You should pretty much always stay on the right! Also you pass on the left. IF there is a separate path for pedestrians and bikes, you should use the path that fits you...pretty much common sense right?!?!?

well, not here! People were lined up like Dorothy and her friends in the wizard of oz, arm and arm taking up the whole lane... as instructed, when a bike passes you should shout ( or use a bell, which no one hears because they have their ipods up too loud) "on your left" to which the people should move to the right,NOPE! they ALL moved to the left!

One couple stood in the middle holding each other like we had them at gun point. Ridiculous.

Anyway after all that noise and all those miles, tony and i needed a little fuel. We just happened to end up right in front of the Pyramid Brewery, so we got a drink and some dinner. Rode home ( sober i promise, just one drink) and now are about to curl up and watch some good old fashioned tv ( i have to work tomorrow)

In just one week starts the line of visitors that we will be having, so i am sure that we are going to be doing all the tourist stuff that we have been saving for just those visits.

Sorta' snowshoeing

So i am too lazy to get up and get the camera, so after this post-sometime next week, i will upload all the photos and either post them, or email them :)
this weekend Tony took me to see Mame for Valentine's day ( early-we have to work all next weekend.) It was almost exactly the same as the book Auntie Mame, but with singing.. I loved it!! and the theater that it was in was gorgeous!!! it has been around since 1926 and the inside is decorated in asian inspired decor. I won't go into the story, but if you were around in the 50's the book was also made into a movie- which i can not wait to see now that i see how the musical mirrored the book so well..
anyway we were supposed to meet a friend who was at the ballet, but since we didn't hear from her, we decided to call it a night after the show. We had rented snowshoes and wanted to get up early to go.
The original place that we planned on going was unaccessible due to a recent avalanche, and our second choice was currently also unaccessible due to planned avalanching- getting rid of TONS of snow to avoid one.
So we decided to go to the Olympic Pennisula National park instead. i read the website that is updated often and since we have a parks pass off we went.
We got there about 4:30 and since it would be dark soon, got a hotel and got to bed early.
Early this morning we got up around 6 and got ready to go. Since a friend had told us about Dungenese Spit...see info below...we added it in our itinerary

"Dungeness Spit is the longest natural sand spit in the United States. Extending 5 miles into the Strait of Juan De Fuca, Dungeness Spit has grown about 15 feet per year for the past 120 years."

So we got out there by 10, but it was still high tide, so we had to walk carefully on the rocks so we didn't fall in :)
We got almost to the end and realized that we had been hiking for almost 2 hours and we wanted to get to the mountains before dark so we could snowshoe.
Once we got to the visitors center in the national park, we spoke with a very helpful guide who told us that most of the roads were closed due to recent hurricanes and she showed us pictures of the roads that were ruined. They looked like someone had taken a giant bite outta the road, all the way through! She did tell us that there was one road open with prime snowshoeing, but we would have to drive a bit more.
So we drove, and realized that the road was a one lane road with no snow insite ( even though she told us there would be a lot of snow once we got to 6000 feet) we made it up to about 2500 feet and when we didn't see much snow, and the road was getting thinner and thinner, we turned around..
Mom, you should be proud of me, because you know that normally i would just go on up anyway-like when tony and i went to crater lake and took that crazy road in oregon, or the one lane indian jones lanes in hawaii and ireland.
but i decided to play it safe and tony agreed and we turned and headed home.
At least we got some hiking in. On the way back home, we were planning on following the pennisula all the way around, but since most roads were closed we went back the way we came in, but not before stopping at a winery!!! The one that makes working girl wines.. Tony tasted and i had a few sips- i was driving after all :)
we bought some wine for when we have visitors-if it lasts.
then caught the ferry and just got back into our place.
But fear not!!! i have already found out the roads are open again and tomorrow Tony and i will try our hand, er foot at snowshoeing!!!
More to come...but i promise to be safe.