Sunday, March 31, 2013

Six Days in Seattle


Adam has come and gone again.  Home from OH/PA and off to Midway.  I can only imagine the exhilarating reports we'll get from our hero on the tiny island this month.

He got in Wednesday mid-day and I had some flight test fights before I could escape work for the weekend.  But then we wasted no time and jumped on the motorcycle for a joy ride up to Ballard (after jump starting the bike... after I put a new battery in the truck a few days earlier...).  We met Dana for dinner at the Walrus, and experienced our first night of poor service in over two years.  It was a little surreal and I don't think anyone knew what to think of it.  But Mustache fixed the bill and we left happy, per usual.

Thursday, Adam's stuff sufficiently exploded all over the apartment before I could get him out the door.  Up to Hyak we went for Day 1 of NW Action Hero Fun: Skate Skiing.  The snow was slow and sluggish, but Adam made it to the dam before turning around to find me.  A few kilometers in to the trek back and we found ourselves fighting a 20kt headwind.  Brutal.  I found a groove and kept my tortoise pace going.  Adam (the hare) kept starting and stopping and whining.  But we made it, and I got up to the boathouse in time to coach the rug rats.  Dinner and a movie, then off to bed.


We're just pretending to be happy and not-miserable here.


Friday we got our tails up to Stevens Pass for what was probably the last day of lift-op skiing for the year.  I upgraded to 150cm skis and Adam drug me all over the backside.  I did complete a black diamond, although it was more on my butt than on my feet.  There was a foot or so of fresh snow, and the ungroomed stuff was so deep and thick that I mostly did a lot of falling over.  But it was great fun -- much like being a kid on the sledding hill during a snowstorm.  We called it a day around 4:00 before our auto-lift passes charged us for the evening ski time.  Back to Seattle for a quick dog walk, a quick shower and a quick ride into Georgetown.  Regan and Mike were holding a Patagucci sample sale and then we had plans to drag them to dinner.  I picked up the Primo down ski jacket and pants for a ridiculous discount, but also for more than I needed to spend that evening.  The new mexican joint across the street from the showroom was an hour wait, so we waltzed down to the Neapolitan pizza place instead.  Regan insisted that she and her other gluten-intolerant people could eat there because the flour came from Europe and was non-GMO.  That wasn't enough to convince me to risk it, so I stuck to the soup and crouton-less salad.

Saturday was going to be a day of pampering, but first we motivated ourselves to get out and ride Grand Ridge.  I think we both felt the two days of skiing in the form of very tired legs.  After an out and back, we were both ready for the pampering to begin.  I dropped Adam off at the deep tissue sports masseuse, and an hour later he emerged as jello.  Then up to Queen Anne for pedicures and snacks from Trader Joe's.  I think we swung by Evo to check on my bindings (which hadn't arrived yet) and then came back for cocktails on the roof with the sunset.  Adam decided he needed bitters for whatever he was going to make, and ended up on an hour long mission to acquire it.  So we missed the sun on the roof.  But I got the kitchen cleaned!  Charming Chance checked in and ended up coming over for dinner and Ohio stories, which Adam and I were both thrilled about.  It's not often that we get spur of the moment dinner guests, but I think it might be our favorite thing.

Manly men care about their feet.

Sunday morning we actually set an alarm, put on all our non-cotton clothing, dug out the camping gear and took off for somewhere west of Yakima -- all three of us.  Gaia was not thrilled about the two+ hour car ride or the suspension bridge, but definitely had a good time at the base of the rock barking at squirrels, eating grass and sniffing everything.  Adam scurried up a climb, then belayed me from above.  I did fine for the first third or so until I got to the crack climbing part, at which point I stopped and cried about it because I had no idea how to go forward.  Eventually I figured it out, and made it to the top, but avoided climbing the crack as much as possible -- so I probably turned a 5.8 crack climb into a 5.10 face climb.  At least that's what makes me feel better about myself.  We tried one more route, this one with a three-tiered roof.  Adam left some gear in for me to go get, which he definitely put past my comfort zone, but I think I made some good moves, got it all and even tried to get around the first roof.  Gaia led the way back to the car, with a little help across the bridge again, then we went looking for some place to camp.  We found a great riverside spot with a fire pit, mentally logged it and went back in to Yakima for provisions.

Where you guys going?

I only finished the crack climb because I had to.

SQUIRREL!!

Adam may have been distracted too.

It must have gotten down to 20 degrees Sunday night, and Gaia was not pleased about sleeping in the tent.  She was all around not pleased about being cold or being around the campfire either.  But we all survived and Monday morning packed up and went out searching for the next crag.


Warmth!

What part about this is suppose to be fun, you guys?


After getting the car stuck in the snow going up FS344, we hiked in (and Gaia was excited about life again) and did some sport climbing on a south facing wall.  By mid-afternoon we were down to t-shirts and had our pants rolled up.  I got up two routes -- a 5.9 and possibly a 5.10c, but Adam insists that I went around the 10c part of the wall, so I'm not sure it counts.  Either way, I definitely had more fun than I did Sunday.  Back at the car, we re-packed for the drive home, had a beer (or gin & juice), and decided to take US-12 back across to Seattle.  As we rolled back down mushy snow, I lost momentum and got us stuck in nearly the same place as when we came in.  The tires spun for a half hour or so before Adam got out the slack line and the tow hook and ratcheted us out inch by inch.

View from the crag.

View looking the other way.

Adam saving us from the snow.

Tuesday we met for lunch at the Georgetown mexican place with Mike and Regan.  The food is great, but the service is slow.  So two hours later when I got back to the lab and saw a note from my boss to come see him, I figured I was pretty well busted for calling in sick to go climbing and then taking an excessively long lunch the next day.  Nope -- apparently he approves of that decision making.  Turns out he's taking a new job and I'm at the top of the list to take over, at least temporarily until I figure out if I want to give up the engineering gig and go in to management.  So that was pretty awesome and I am excited and terrified about it.  But it should be fun!

We finished out the week with beers on the roof after sunset Tuesday night, and dinner with a great bottle of Honig.  Adam got on a plane for Honolulu Wendesday, was able to have dinner with Mikey Brown out there and then made it to Midway late Thursday night.  I think he's already counting down the days until he gets to come home again.

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