This year, we started the year off right with a lovely snowy adventure in the mountains. Somehow, even though I've meant to for years, this was the first year we've managed to get out for a hike on January 1st. Hopefully it's something we can manage to turn into an annual tradition! Since we were already in Eastern Washington, we had easy access to the Icicle Road, a perfect spot for Andy and I to snowshoe while his family skied. Rather than driving all the way to the end of the plowed road, we parked at the Eight Mile Creek campground to follow a quieter, less crowded route. Had we started at the end of the road, we would've shared our hike with lots of snowmobiles and rambunctious off-leash dogs. Instead, the only other people we saw on our walk along the creek were a family returning to their car as we arrived.
Read moreLife: Week 52
The last week of 2016 was filled with snow, sunshine, family, and sweets! Most of it was spent in Wenatchee, celebrating a belated Christmas with Andy's family. After the hectic scramble leading up to Christmas this year, this was the perfect way to end the year, and start off 2017. We spent hours playing with new games and toys and reading new books with our niece and nephew. We drank hard cider made by my father-in-law from the apples on Vashon and limoncello made by my brother-in-law from the lemon tree in their backyard. We ate far too much delicious food, as we usually do when we visit Andy's dad. We stayed up late playing cards and dice, and catching up on life. We went on several snowy adventures, including two snowshoeing treks, with hot cocoa - or hot rum cider! - to warm us up after. Sadly like all good things, it had to end, but with 2017 off to such a good start, I'm optimistic about the year to come!
Read moreLife: Week 24
After a mostly uneventful work week, Andy and I volunteered for our second WTA trail work crew this past Saturday. Since the trail we'd be working on was outside Leavenworth, almost a 3 hour drive from home, we spent the weekend at a rustic cabin near Leavenworth so we could sleep in a bit. When I'd checked the weather forecast earlier in the week, the weather had looked perfect for trail work - 70° and sunny. You can imagine my disappointment when we work up Saturday to rain. Throughout our extremely soggy day of trail work, I kept hoping to see the sun peek out from behind the clouds to dry us off a bit, and it did eventually, on our hike back out to the trailhead! Working all day in the rain, I did learn a few useful bits of information. First, my hiking boots are solidly waterproof. At one point I was nearly ankle deep in mud and didn't even notice! Second, for future work parties, we will be bringing a second pair of work gloves for after lunch. Putting on our cold, soaked, filthy gloves after lunch was the worst part of the day!
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