Breakfast for Dinner

I decided that I was going to make breakfast for dinner tonight so I went and bought some bacon and pancake mix then started cooking. Here are the results.

Whistler Mountain Biking Trip

Ok, here is the epic Whistler story. Lance, Wes and I leave early from work on Saturday so we could make it to Whistler at a decent time of night. We stop to get gas and then get on our way...to bad Lance left his phone on top of the car...it flew off driving across the 520 bridge. We exit off of 520 then walk back to the the phone and when we put it back together it doesn't work. Lance took it pretty well knowing that he had insurance on the phone. We get up there about 9pm but the guys we were supposed to be staying with were gone and because of Lance's broken phone we didn't have a number to any of the guys we were staying with. Good thing Wes and Lance know locals so we met up with some other people, hit up a bar or two then they let us crash at their place that night. The next morning we get up and go over to the condo we were supposed to meet up with last night. We go to breakfast at this place called Longhorns and watch the downhill world championships but Wes and I decided to leave early to go mountain biking.

I have to say, this was the most fun I have ever had on a bike. Hitting speeds of up to 35-40mph down a mountain and flying up to 25 feet off a jump was the coolest feeling in the world. We get back a little later to take a break and find Lance at the bottom of the mountain. He had broken his lower swing arm on both sides of the bike at the weld...on his first run down the mountain. He ended up getting his lift ticket refunded but he was done for the day. We all went back to the condo to eat some lunch then Wes and I headed back out. By this time I was really comfortable on the bike so I started getting more gutsy and hitting the jumps harder and flying higher...that was until I hit a jump so hard and so high that I landed flat and flew over my handle bars doing a sweet tuck and roll and landing on my feet! I hit my sides pretty hard on some rocks while rolling scraping me up pretty bad but other than that I was fine and kept on riding. We did a couple more runs then heading back to the condo to shower, eat dinner, and party with everyone. I was so tired from riding all day that I passed out by about 11pm.

We woke up the next morning to something we weren't expecting. We walked out to Lance's car to start packing it up to leave but when we got there...it wasn't there. His car was towed. We didn't end up getting a ride down to the towing company till later that afternoon and by that time we decided to just stay one more night because we didn't have work the next day anyways. Shannon ended up letting us crash at her place which was awesome...she totally helped us out. Walking into her place for the first time I found a really interesting hat that I ended up wearing for the rest of the time I was there...a bear hat! The last picture below is evidence of that. It was awesome! Even more awesome when you wear it out to a club that night and totally making a fool of yourself doing the worm with the hat on. Needless to say, I had a blast and we didn't get back to Shannon's place till 3...then decided to check out the hot tub. I was more interested in the stars when we got out there because it was so clear and ended up giving everybody an astronomy lesson ;) By the time we got back it was 5am and we all passed out and slept in till like 12pm.

I was still super tired and just ready to get back in my own bed that night. We got up slowly, Shannon made us an awesome breakfast then we all started packing and getting ready to go. To bad about 4pm we were sitting around talking about how much fun we had and Lance and Wes got the bright idea of staying on more night and driving back 4 in the morning to make it to work on time. I tried to convince them other wise but they weren't having it...here comes last night take 3. Out of all the nights there I had the most fun this night. We ended up going out to a club...no cover charge because we know all the right people...and dancing to Dubstep music. It was so much fun! We didn't end up getting back to Shannon's place till 3:30am and since we were planning on leaving at 4am we didn't really sleep...well I got like 30 minutes. We didn't leave till like 5am but we ended up getting to work 5 minutes before we opened...just in time! That day just happened to be our first 10 hour shift so that day was super long, especially with no sleep but I made it through...barely. Below are the few pictures I took that weekend.

In line to go up the mountain for the first time!

Entrance to the A-Line trail

Jump on A-Line

Last night take two

Last night take three

Florida Vacation

Who would of thought that I would of been back in Florida so soon after graduating...well I did it, and had a blast! Ryan called me up about 2 months ago with the idea and we just hit the ground running. I had a free ticket with southwest so once I got the time off from work I made reservations.

I got there Wednesday night and Ryan picked me up from the airport in Orlando. Didn't get back till around midnight so we just stayed up talking and having a couple beers then hit the sack. Torrie and Dustin were awesome and let us stay at their place for the weekend!

Thursday we made our rounds seeing old friends. First we went by the bike shop we both worked at and said hi to everyone there, it was cool to be back, still smelled the same. Then we went to the bookstore I worked at over the summers and talked to people there. Last stop was the school and we went around talking to old teachers and I went over the the detachment to say hi to everyone. We just chilled out until the baseball game for a couple of hours then met some people at the bar across the street until the games started. We all got a beer and ordered some food because we were starving and then we got to talking to the bartender. She ended up giving us free season tickets for the Daytona Cubs (only 3 games of the Season left and they were all that week). The game ended up getting rained out so we had one more beer then headed back to the house, saving those tickets for Saturday. When we got back we played sing star, a PS2 karaoke game, a ton of fun. MY old roommate got back that night as well so I dropped by my old house to see what they had done with the place to to see some old friends. Stayed over there for about an hour then went back at went to bed.

Friday was beach day number 1. To bad it was a little cloudy but the waves were good and we still got a little sun. We went and picked up Kira to go with us and ended up going to a beach up by here house in Ormond. That night we went to dinner at the Ale House then came back and passed out early because the beach really took it out of us.

Saturday was beach day number 2. This day was much better...it was sunny and huge waves. We ended up going south this time down by Ponce Inlet and had a ton of fun. Kira and I tried to swim out the the big breaks (7-10 ft) but the under toe was really strong and we ended up coming back. Ryan and I both put on sun screen but didn't re-apply...bad news bears. We both got burnt but Ryan was way worse off than me.

Saturday was also game night! We got in free with our tickets and then Ryan and I stocked up on our beer for the game with $5 32oz cups of Sam Adams Coastal Wheat...I love this beer. The Cubs ended up losing but we still had an awesome time!

Sunday, Ryan had to leave. We made our final rounds of Daytona and then he was off. Torrie, Dustin, and I were all exhausted so we all took naps that afternoon then we did pizza and movies that night. A nice relaxing evening.

Monday I had to leave :( It was sad getting on the plane but then again, I was excited to get back and boast about my nice tan in front of all the pale seattle people.

First Downhill Mountain Biking Experience

Today I went down to Crystal Mountain, right next to Mt Rainier, to go downhill mountain biking. I had never done it before so I was a little nervous but really excited. The stupid thing about Crystal Mountain is that you aren't allowed to take the bikes with you on the ski lift so you have to hike 2 hours up the mountain to get to the top for only 30 minutes down the mountain. Our calves were burning like crazy when we got to the top so we took a little break then went down. Two minutes in we were going through this really loose, rocky section and I got a pinch flat...sucked but changed it and off we were again. The next 28 minutes was some of the most fun I have ever had on my mountain bike. There were a couple of slow techy sections in the beginning and then a super fast section in the middle, drifting around every turn, hitting little jumps, dodging roots....everything you can think of. The middle section was by far the best part. Next was a couple more techy sections, a really dusty party where I couldn't see the trail in front of me because of my friends, and then the last part which was just a wide open down hill where I probably hit about 30 mph. I almost ate it bad when I hit a rock at the beginning of that last section but I caught myself just in time. Below are some pictures of the trip.

Climbing the mountain (This is a really steep section)

Taking a breather...Chris showing off his new gloves

Another breather

Yet another

Chris found the keys to...

This bulldozer

The Top

View of the beginning of the trail down the side of the mountain

Right before we head down...that should be Mt Rainier behind me

Speeding down the mountain

Night Seattle Skyline

Tonight I took Sarah to a musical called "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying". Matt, one of the guys I work with at the bike shop, in his other life is a musician and conductor and was conducting the orchestra for this musical. It was an awesome show, great acting and really funny...Sarah and I really enjoyed it. Well after the show and on the way back we found a spot with a really nice view of the Seattle Skyline and we decided to stop and take some pictures. Here they are:

Camping - The Second Try

Our second try at camping was two weeks later and we got smart this time, leave on Thursday to guarantee a spot. Funny thing, only three camping sites were left when we got there...we made it just in time. Sarah and Jess were able to get Friday off but I wasn't able too but that meant I had to drive back to Seattle on Friday to work then come back after work was over.

The camping spot we found was sweet, a little slanted but good overall. Here are some pictures.

The first night there was the peak of the Pleiades Meteor Shower so we brought a tarp and blanket to lay out under the stars to watch. It was the most AMAZING meteor shower I have every seen! We were seeing 2-3 a minute for a little while with at least 1 a minute the whole time we were out there. Sorry, no pictures though....kind of hard to take pictures of stars.

Friday night I cooked chicken and potatoes for all of us.

Saturday, we geocached all day. Even tootk a dip in the Pudget Sound...wow that was cold!

Me sliding down a steep hill after climbing it in sandals to get a geocaches 

Cleaning off  after sliding down the hill in the 60 degree Pudget Sound

Enjoying the beach and sun!

Camping - The First Try

So Jess, Sarah, and I decide to go camping because...well...we just felt like it. We spent days figuring out where we want to go, starting with a spot in the Olympic Mountains and ending up at Camano Island (the girls really wanted showers). The bad thing about the state of Washington is that you can't make reservations at about 95% of the camp grounds and the 5% you can make reservations for are always booked. That week Sarah and I bought fishing licenses because we really wanted to catch at least one of our meals. Long story short...we didn't catch anything. We test our luck driving up Friday night after I get off of work to see if we can grab a spot...there are like 85 camping sites so we should be good...right?

We make it to the campgrounds all excited and turn in the the first section of about 40 camp sites. I'm driving through really slow in hopes of spotting that one open one. I start to get a sinking feeling after we make it through the first 40 sites with people already there but I shrugged it off because there are still 45 left. Needless to say, all the spots were full. We didn't want to leave yet though because I had printed off a star chart so we could sit out and look at the stars and know what we were looking at. We found a spot down near the water with a clear view of the sky and no lights, a perfect spot. We have trouble getting our bearings but as soon as we found the big dipper everything started to fall into place. It was so much fun...until a cop comes and says if we aren't campers we aren't allowed to be in this area after dark. He totally ruins our night vision too with his bright spot light.

So on the way back we decide that we aren't going to give up on camping since my car was already packed. After exhausting all other ideas we ended up camping...guess where...in Sarah's back yard. Here are pictures to prove it.

We had a ton of fun for camping in the back yard...totally worth it :)