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 :)

Sounders Game!

I went to my first professional soccer game today! Had to teach Sarah a little about soccer before we went so she would enjoy it more and she totally caught on! It was funny to see her answering her parents questions about what was going on and this was her first soccer game ever! It was the Seattle Sounders versus the Scottish Celtics. We ended up losing 1-2 but I think the game would of ended differently of the ref didn't give that red card. Georgios Samaras had the advantage and scored the goal fair and square, there was no reason for the penalty kick and especially the red card. It was sweet to see Georgios Samaras, who I saw in the world cup, in real life on the Celtics team. He was a forward on Greece's team. Here are some pictures from the game!

Opening ceremonies

First touch of the game!

Sarah and I in our Sounders attire!

We had an awesome time and totally plan on going to more games :)

Geoducking

I went on my first geoduck (pronounced 'gooey duck') hunt yesterday with Sarah and Jess. It was AWESOME! It was a great chance to find geoducks because of the -3.0 tide at Fort Flagler.

We left mad early in the morning, around 5:45am after staying up till midnight preparing for the trip. For our caisson we had to buy a metal trash can and then figure out how to cut out the bottom without any kind of hack saw...a hammer and chisel was our idea, haha. It actually worked great! We started in Sarah's back yard around 10pm and then realized that we might get a noise complaint banging on a trash can with a hammer and chisel so we brought everything out to Mag Park to do the cutting. Sarah and Jess held the trash can as I banged on the trash can with the hammer and chisel with our only light from the headlights on Jess's car. It took a while but we finally cut the bottom out!

We decided to just drive around instead of take the ferry because we could actually make it there faster, for less money, and we could start digging sooner. The tide would be fully out at 10 am and we make it at 9am which gave us time to set up...then off to hunting. I'll let pictures do the talking of our geoduck hunting adventures :)

After geoducking we had lunch and decided we wanted to make s'mores so we bought all the stuff including these giant marshmallows and made them!

After lunch we saw this cool fort and Sarah and I went to go take pictures of the place. Most of it was pretty boring until we found a tunnel that at the deepest point was pitch black and had to use Sarah's flash on her camera to make it through...the flash made it very horror film like...expecting something to pop out in between flashes.                                                                                             

After we finished here we found Sarah's grandparent's old cabin where she has a ton of memories. From the pictures I have seen before everything looked pretty close to the same besides the drive in and Sarah went around taking pictures of everything for her grandma. Good thing the current owners weren't there...we were totally trespassing, haha. 

We then headed home from there, hitting traffic, going in circles because of my GPS and then finally making it back at about 8pm. A nice long day of fun...hopefully we do it again soon!

Lastly I would like to point out that I am slowly becoming more and more a seattlelite...I had Starbucks twice in one day :)

First Pro Baseball Game

I went to my first pro baseball game today! Go Mariner's!! It was against the Yankee's and we lost but it was still a great time! Here are some pics from the game

Sarah, her parents, and I waiting for the game to start

First pitch of the game!

Sarah and I trying to get the game in the background :)

A sweet shot of Safeco lit up with the Seattle skyline in the background