8 blogless days later

In the midst of a four day heat wave in Seattle (I know I can't complain) and planning/running the three week Energy class at U Washington and our trip home and to Italy 8 days flew by. nothing super exciting to blog unfortunately.

Saturday we BBQd with friends in the evening (waited for the cool down). Everything was yummy. Everyone brought different microbrews from the area to sample. One thing for sure the Northwest knows how to brew awesome beer. This coming from a mostly retired beer drinker (sad to admit but true). I often feel like those commercials like the one where the guy is throwing away his beer straw helmut. The ad is for one of the Miller beers implying the guy throwing away the beer hat is growing up to a better beer. huh? Miller is a better beer than what? Schlitz? Natty Light? The Beast? Warm PBR? Don't get it plus I'm sure there are plenty of Miller beer drinkers everywhere in shock that the company would suggest ever parting with a beer helmut. Getting back, my story is a little different. I graduated to no longer being able to stomach large amounts of beer. Gin and Tonics are ok but still just not the same drive to drink. Guess college truly helped me get it out of my system.

Speaking of college... being back on a college campus has really gotten my thinking. I see these kids walking around campus with their heads in the books. I mean serious learning is going on. All I can think is man I really pissed away that time when I was supposed to be learning I don't know MATH and the other now fun sounding classes. I remember Geology 101, aka Rocks for Jocks. Did I learn about rocks? No I learned the phrase "blow off class" means easy not to literally blow it off. oops. So embarrassing. I wonder just how well I would've done if I actually tried. I mean tried like I see from my crazy students at Newport and Hinsdale High. Maybe even if I tried like Becky! hard to even imagine.

Never too late to learn I always say. Plenty of that come late October :) You bet your ass I'll take that seriously. Not only am I older and wiser, I'm paying.

Where have all the Dead Heads gone?

Years ago Chris was not a Grateful Dead fan. Hard to believe but true. When Jerry Garcia died Chris tormented Dead Heads by getting in their face and saying, "what will you do now? Where will you go? Who will you listen to without your leader?" awe...

Fortunately, times have changed, Chris found the error in his ways, and we have more Dead CDs than any other type of music. Our second largest collection is Widespread Panic. They are another jam band that has been touring for at least a decade. We saw them at Marymoor Park, walking distance of our apartment Saturday night. The show was awesome! It was 4 hours, no opening band and only a half hour break in the middle.

Where have all the Dead Heads gone??? Many of them were sighted at the Panic show Saturday night, complete with the coolest tie dye and Dead t-shirts seen. Beforehand we were worried about being among the oldest people at the show. Hardly! We were right at home. In fact, we felt quite young.

Let the good times roll!

A week of gifted kids leads to Widespread Panic!

Last Sunday the clouds rolled over Seattle and stayed around until mid-Wednesday. It was cool, almost cold in the mid to low sixties. The perfect weather to start summer school. We are teaching incoming or outgoing 6th graders about Energy. It is a gifted school on campus and connected with University of Washington. These kids had to score within the 95th percentile on a standardized test in math or science to enroll. We're talking super smart kids, all in one room!

Monday was the longest. We were learning about them and they were sorting out the pecking order and figuring us out. I'm used to high schoolers so that really made things tough. They would run rings around some of my former students any day. Fortunately not all. I've had a good number of years teaching honors Geometry to 8th graders bussed over from the middle school. They just LOVE learning and are the best kids to teach. Just like the kids we have for summer challenge.

The rest of the week went awesome (not that the first day was bad - just LONG). We had a guest speaker talk about global warming and went on a field trip to a solar cottage community. That was neat. The kids had a blast! Finally, the end of the week we created a lab where the kids attempted to generate a horsepower. Very cool!

We are finally at a point in the year where we never ever thought we'd get to. The first week of the energy class is done, two more to go then ITALY!!! Woo Hoo! It is becoming real now. Also, tonight we are going to see Widespread Panic, a band we have loved for years and years. Oddly enough it is in the park where we take Abbey to run around in the designated off-leash area. We can walk there and stumble home!

Criterium = Nascar for Bicycles

Shout out to Jeni - Are you watching breakfast at Wimbledon? We used to watch together when I was little (usually somewhere in there Martina would school someone in the game of tennis) Right now I'm watching Federer v Nadal in the 4th set. Good game. Federer is taking it at this point. This is a huge day sports day for sure! Wimbledon mens final, World Cup, and Tour de France. Which one is probably most watched by Americans?

Speaking of sports we jogged 5 miles yesterday! Sticking with it an having a good time. We ran in a popular trail for horse riding. As you can imagine there's a lot of fancy footwork needed to avoid the landmines. Our new goal is to race the Seattle Half-Marathon which is the week before Thanksgiving.

What is a criterium? Redmond's Derby Days was yesterday. Along with the usual food and carnival there are criterium races all day. Sounds mathematical to me somehow. Here's the def from wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criterium

Basically it is Nascar for cyclists. The course is a series of streets in town closed off usually less than a mile in total length. The racers go round and round for a set amount of time and crazy speeds. The last ten minutes are a number of laps based on the average lap time. In Redmond we watched the men's pro race last night. It was cool. There were maybe 100 guys on bikes zipping around in a big square block for 60 minutes. As I joked with Chris we only had to make about 20 seconds of chit chat before the racers came around again. To add excitement every couple laps the announcer would ring a cow bell and annouce over the microphone a prize for leading the upcoming lap. I wouldn't have guessed professional athletes would care but they really kicked it into high gear on those laps. Some of the prizes were a case of Gatorade, a box of powerbars, 20 dollars cash (that was a favorite).

We grabbed dinner at a place with outdoor seating on the corner of the race to eat and watch. There were women's pro and amateur racers dining next to us. We eavesdropped, not that it was too hard, and they were definitely in competition for who earned the most cash by the end of their respective race. I gathered that it is tough to win the whole race but doable to win a lap. Kept the lap averages up and the race interesting to watch.

We stayed at Derby Days after the men's pro race, last of the day, and watched an average Blues Brothers cover band and waited for the fireworks. Redmond opted to not have Fourth of July fireworks in favor of a Derby Day show. They were really cool. Definitely better colors these days and really cool effects. Do you know what I'm talking about? They are different I can't explain it. As Dad and I would say, "GCF! good, clean, fun."

With that, Federer wins Wimbledon! Not a big surprise. Next up... World Cup.

10k, the sequel

Lisa, Chris, Becky left to right taken by innocent bystander before the race two weeks ago.

Julie's in Guatemala!

Our friend Julie is in Guatemala for 8 weeks to learn more Spanish.

Check out her blog. It's like being there (without the bug bites)

http://julies-journey.blogspot.com/

Link

Surprise!

Today's hike was great!
The top was a crystal clear lake. Beautiful.

I've also included a shot of me with Abbey in her pack. That's right she's graduated to carrying her own treats.

Our First Steps in the Olympics!

Friday we made our first trek to the Olympics. We took a quick ferry over to the peninsula with car. From there we drove about a half hour or so to the forest road we needed. But a mere 14 miles to go. Unfortunately, what we have learned from our time here is that the last few miles are usually the longest. The road is uphill, mostly dirt or gravel, and windy. The miles are slow right when you want to get there the most... and of course have to pee! You hold it and hold it and hold it and hey I'm a former teacher, trust me, I can hold it.

We did eventually make it to the trailhead and I didn't have to turn around and go home for a change in undergarments. phew what a relief, literally!

So up we went. Up and up (20% grade most of the way!) and out to a meadow about a third the way. It had endless switchbacks but beautiful wildflowers and incredible views of Mt Rainier, the Cascades, and eventually Mt Baker. Chris even spotted smoke billow straight in the sky south of Mt. Rainier, we're thinking maybe Mt. St. Helens. Once done with the meadow we arrived at a series of erosion steps that were about the very last thing in the world I wanted to see. Did I mention it was sunny (not a cloud in the sky) and in the 80s? What are you going to do? turn around? stairs it is. Well, we did make it to the top and here are some photos to prove it. From the top you see all of above mentioned plus the Juan de Fuca Strait, the San Juan Islands, and supposedly into Canada. This demonstrates just why we wanted to live here.
All in a day and I get to sleep in my own bed.


Tomorrow morning we head to hike Surprise Lake. hmmm wonder what the surprise is? When I was a kid my dad would always make hot dog surprise, pieces of hot dog hidden in pillsbury dough biscuits. I remember teasing him and saying, "Why call them that? It ruins the surprise."