Mt. Rainier Ski Tour: Part II

Two Sundays ago we took our skis to Mt Rainier for another shot at skinning up to Camp Muir to ski down.  The day was perfect... not a cloud in the sky and about 75 degrees and sunny.  Not kidding, it was really warm even though we were skiing.  We made it much further than last time and we both really enjoyed the day.  We made it about 1,500 ft. shy of Camp Muir, so total elevation gain was over 4,000 ft (parking lot at Paradise up to Muir Snowfield).  The snow was kind of choppy in places at lower elevation but pretty nice up on the snowfield still.

Mt. Adams

Mt. St. Helens

Told you --- tank top skiing!

Glaciers to the left of the snowfield.

Stopping for a banana break :)

View from Panorama Point 

It's hard to tell from this photo, but from this point you can
see three volcanoes: (L to R) Mt.Adams, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens

 

What's in store for this long weekend?  You'll have to wait and see :)  Tomorrow is Bunco night and I have made a fascinator!  I'll post some photos of  Bunco festivities, too.  And after this weekend...moving into the new house!!!!!!!!! (I would put more exclamation marks, but think you get the point.)

Biking to the Island

What island, you ask?  Mercer Island.  Two weekends ago (I'm a bit delayed with my post) we rode from our house down along Lake Washington Boulevard and across the bridge over I-90.  It was a beautiful and hilly ride, with nice views of Rainier. The sun was shining and weather was lovely.

Rainier coming out for the day.

Green Machine: Juicing

Before I get into the real subject of this post, I wanted to share a few photos from my run this morning at the lake.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day today!  Everyone in Seattle was enjoying the weather and soaking up the sun --- including the turtles and me :)

So now to the post --- juicing.  I've been thinking about juicing ever since I watched the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  Two of my friends did the '7-day cleanse' and said they really liked juicing.  I decided it was time to try this and cleanse my body out and see how I feel (it can certainly help out my waistline, too).  I ordered my super-duper juicer on Amazon Prime, and within two days, the beautiful stainless steel machine was at my doorstep.  Will decided to jump on board the juicing boat with me so today we purchased all the veggies needed to get started.  Tomorrow marks day one of the 7-day cleanse. Hopefully it will go well and we will feel fabulous!  I'll be posting throughout the week so check back to see how it's going.

Bunco

Yes, Bunco.  Some of my Junior League friends from my transfer group decided it would be fun to have a bunco night once a month.  Blake hosted this month's get together and I'll have to say, I had a lot of fun!  Turns out it's not just a game for middle aged women in the south :)

Next month's theme is 'Derby' party. We're going to make hats and have mint juleps!

 

Having a 'Bunc-off'

Hostess, Blake.

Trip Report: Yakima Skyline Ridge/Rim

Last Sunday, April 29th, we headed out to the Central Washington desert to get some much needed sun and warmer temperatures.  Kal and Amy invited us to tag along on their trip along the Yakima Skyline Ridge, a beautiful trail that follows the Yakima River.  We climbed over 4,500 feet and covered just over 15.5 miles.  

My goal of the day was to get some sun, see wildflowers and wildlife...and of course get some exercise.  I believe I counted a total of 15 different types of animals we saw that day including: big horn sheep, deer, snakes (!!), cows, alpacas (farmed), just to name a few.  We also saw many types of wildflowers and a few cacti in bloom. Luckily, Will was leading the trail when he came upon two snakes in a row.  I would have screamed and caused a commotion --- Will just picked one up with his trekking pole and moved it off the path (he thought it was dead, turns out it was just taking a nap in the sun).  The day was long and tiring, but beautiful.  Kal posted a nice summary of the trip here: http://w3.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2012-04-30.4877065559/

Here are a few photos to accompany the trip report, for those of you who are 'visual' like me ;)

Hiking the first section of elevation to gain the ridge. 

Amy taking a little break in the flowers.

Sleepy snake.

Kal, Amy, and Will navigating. I decided I'd be more
useful taking photos to document the day.

Giada Visits My Work

Yes, Giada, as in, Ms. DeLaurentiis. I work in the books division of a large company and every now and then we have an author visit to talk about their new book.  Well, last week it was Giada!  She was her perky self, and answered all the questions we threw at her.  Some 'insider' information I learned was that she is going to be on a new Food Network show with Bobby Flay and Alton Brown...they each have teams that compete with each other. Also, she is writing a children's book that will be out next year.  It is not a cookbook, but has a few recipes scattered throughout.

Her new book is called Weeknights With Giada and is full of easy, weeknight dinners. It also includes some variety, other than all Italian foods.

My photos are terrible, but here are a few anyways.