Travel

"A Dark and Turbulent"

• Single serving Bicardi Silver
• Ginger Ale
• Microscopic lime wedge

"Coach Class Sangria"*

• Red wine (doesn't matter which)
• Cola
• Splash OJ

* Credit to Ryan Seaton for turning us on to cola and red wine.

We took a last minute trip to Lake Wenatchee this weekend. It is hard to make time for such things, but they turn out to be so important. Lake Wenatchee itself was a bit of a revelation: a beautiful high mountain lake with cute homes around the north shore. It is a little over 2 hours from Seattle, only 20 minutes from the neo-barvarian revival village of Leavenworth, and maybe about a 1/2 hour from Steven's pass. Because Steven's pass drops so dramatically in elevation the climate is really different there: ponderosa pine, lighter under brush, and sunny skies. Leavenwoth was having it's Octoberfest, which was a mixed blessing. It turns into a weird mix of roving tourist, locals wearing lederhausen and college age kids there to party in the beer gardens. We grabbed an awesome German meal, some october fest beer, and kringles and strudels for breakfast and hit the road. Arriving back in Seattle Sunday the weather had been forecast to be sunny, but was socked in with clouds. It was really nice to get away; a big little vacation. The complete album is here.

Here's a nostalgic menu of some of the favorite meals from the summer gone by with family at the Jersey Shore and Paradise Valley:

Starters
LBI Crab Cakes with Barnegat Bay Rémoulade and Mint Cilantro Chutney

Main Course
Skirt Steak Tacos with Green Salsa and Corn Chipotle Salsa

Desert
Burnt Sugar Ice Cream with Brownie Crumbles
Hand Picked Mountain Blueberry and Huckleberry Ice Cream

The end of our long vacation through the east coast and the mountain west was upon us before we knew it. We woke on Friday morning, like we had many others and ate a nice breakfast looking out at the mountain morning. But the morning quickly became a work day as we packed up three weeks worth of family gear and got the car packed. The Toonces looked worriedly through the screen porch doors as more and more familiar things disappeared around her.

After a nice lunch on the porch we posed for some family pictures. Little did we know that a bat had decided to be part of the family and was hanging right over our heads. He had taken refuge behind the barn door, and suddenly found him self out in the open when Chipp opened the door to use as a background to our portrait. We closed the door and left him in peace. A sad goodbye followed, and then we were on the road. A month of paternity leave, acting together both as a nuclear family, but also as a larger family has with my family on the East coast and Nina's on the West, is something we will miss greatly in the coming months. But it is also a period that will not fade from memory easily, and on which I will linger when in need of something cheerful. The lesson I think is that these times are worth the considerable effort it takes to make them happen, and that is worth remembering when it all seems hard.

Cooper went for his second hike to Passage falls deep in the Mill Creek valley. It was about 2 miles through a recently burned area. The falls themselves were very beautiful tucked in at the base of a high mountain meadow. It is no coincidence we are doing lots of waterfall hikes, they tend to be lower and shorter, within or on the edge of a 5 month old's good period between naps. The complete album is here.

Things are nice and slow after the last several weeks. Montana is beautiful and everyone seems real content, even the Toonces. A few of the highlights are below; a complete album is here.

Happy Baby	Dad and Cooper
Mom and Cooper	Sunset
Lightning Strike!	The Sweet Potato Experiment