Summer Is Here.

Nothing makes me happier than to have sun and beautiful weather to enjoy the gorgeous scenery Seattle has to offer.  I don't want to jinx us, but we've had such a great spring and now I believe that summer is officially here. How do I know?  Well, because the little man on my thermometer has changed his outfit into shorts and a tank top :)

Will and I have been doing lots of bike riding outside and I have been cooking some nice summery kinds of things --- eclair cake (a cold cake), guacamole, Mexican cous-cous salad, egg salad.  And, of course we are loving our grill!

We took a bike ride up to Woodinville and stopped
to have a glass of wine and a pizza at Januk.

Saw a solar halo on our ride - amazing!
It looked like a rainbow around the sun.http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2013/06/halos-and-contrails-is-there-connection.html

Will enjoying a veggie brick oven pizza. Well deserved carbs!

Shot of Rainier on a different ride.  We could also see
Mt. Baker clearly when looking North.

Sunday afternoon ride.

Yesterday, I went with some friends from Junior League to see a collection of works by Alden Mason, a famous Northwest artist.  He recently passed away and a gallery in SLU (South Lake Union) put together a lovely tribute to his work and life.  My favorite time period that he painted was his Burpee series (below is one of the paintings). The JLS is fortunate enough to have a piece of his art in our collection.  http://www.gregkucera.com/mason.htm

 Last random update --- I FINALLY FOUND A NEW LIGHT!  I hate our dining room light (have since we moved in) and have been on the lookout for a new one.  Well, I was very happy when I found the one below.  It's the perfect mix of modern yet still craftsman and to the era of our home, plus the finishes match our other hardware perfectly.  My Dad has volunteered, um well, my Mom has volunteered my Dad to hang it when they come out here in August.  All he wants in return is some shrimp and grits... I can handle that!

Will Skis Mt. Adams and Mt. Baker While Melanie Jams with Kenny Chesney

Just a little bit ;)  I went to the Kenny Chesney concert at Century Link field in downtown Seattle.  We met up with a few other of my friends before at Pyramid Brewery.  This portion of the post will be succinct...concert, out late, fun.

While I was enjoying the concert, Will was with his ski partner, Jonas, ski-touring Mt. Adams.  I told Will that after our Europe trip this year that I was not going near snow for a very long time.  Mt. Adams is the second highest peak in Washington state, standing 12,281 ft.  It is also an active volcano. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Adams_(Washington)

I'm not diving into details of the climb, it will be best to just show you pictures.  One particular note, is that Will slipped and slid over 700 feet down the mountain.  He was wearing two layers of clothing, which remained unscathed, however, I cannot say the same for his body.  All in all, he is fine, just a little banged up but I was not happy (and he is banned from climbing for a few weeks!).

False Summit

After sliding down the False Summit

Mt. Hood:  Highest Point In Oregon

Mt. Rainier

"Volcanoes in the Heavens" -- Macklemore in  "Gold"

Summit!

Mt. Adams

The Approach:  Remnant of Last Year's Fire

My friend Gwen and her husband, Cyrus, were recently in town visiting family.  While they were here, Will practiced his crevasse rescue by saving Gwen from the depths of the backyard.

Rescue Gone Wrong!

Melanie practicing Self Rescue

Undeterred by my ban, Will and Jonas (and two more friends) headed to Mt. Baker the next weekend.  Mt. Baker is the third highest peak in Washington as well as an active volcano that is heavily glaciated.  You can actually see Mt. Baker from our dining room on a clear day.

Day 1: Tim Free Solos the Snow Bank

The Marmots Were Out And About

Cookin' In The Kitchen With Jonas

Summit

The Contemplative Descent

The last few feet to the Summit Knob

Seracs!

Snow School

Camp

Don't Fall!

Crevasses

The Cauldron (i.e., Crater)

Summit Shot!

Interestingly, Will and Jonas grew up about 1.5 hours from each other and now live about 2 minutes from each other here in Queen Anne.

Icicles, Pinnacles, Applets & Cotlets

Have I captured your attention with that title?  Or have I scared you away? I bet you are thinking "what is an applet and what is a cotlet?" Read on and you will find out.

Memorial Day Weekend 2013
Will and Melanie headed to Leavenworth.  Pulling into one of the many state campgrounds, we claimed our land for the long weekend then got to work playing outside.

On our way out of camp we stopped by a German-themed Starbucks :) then headed out to Peshastin Pinnacles to climb. http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/?selectedpark=Peshastin%20Pinnacles The drive along the Wenatchee River was scenic and beautiful.

View of fruit farms below Peshastin Pinnacles.

After a few climbs at Peshastin, we headed to Icicle Creek to try and find some more routes we could tackle.  After bush-whacking for a few hours, all we found was a snake.  I screamed and left the mountain.

Our climbing adventure for day one concluded meeting up with Will's boss, who had been out kayaking all day, in a bier garden in downtown Leavenworth, ironically, owned by an ex-lawyer.

We cooked dinner at our site, enjoyed the fire and then retired to the tent.  The next morning we were greeted by rain and grey skies.  The plan was to go mountain bike riding and maybe climb again, but we ended up driving around, checking out a few little towns while waiting for the weather to improve.  The first stop was Cashmere, WA where we stopped to enjoy a cup of coffee, however, the town is famous for Applets and Cotlets :) http://www.cityofcashmere.org/

Next stop was Devil's Gulch to ride, however, the road was closed so that plan was a bust.  We drove to Wenatchee, just about 20 minutes away and both decided it was a town we didn't need to spend any time in.   Finally, we headed back to Leavenworth to a trailhead on Icicle Creek and Will mountain biked and I had a nice trail run.

Filling ourselves up with chips, salsa, and burritos in downtown Leavenworth, we headed back to Seattle.  Thanks to all our Service men and women!