Camp Muir, Mt Rainier......and other things I have pictures of

We are leaving for Peru & Bolivia in 10 days (!) and are going to attempt to climb a 20,000 ft (!) mountain while there, so we decided we should probably do a little something in preparation. There's only so much you can do to prepare for 20,000 ft in Washington but we gave it our best. We dragged Lance along (you will have to ask him if he regrets it) at the last minute and made an early morning run up to Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier. Camp Muir is the high camp for one of the most popular routes of summiting Mt Rainier and sits at about 10,200 feet. The route is non-technical since there are no glaciers below the camp. I had done the climb before in late summer when everything looked very different, but Matt & Lance had never been up there before. You start at 5,200 ft so its 5000 ft of elevation gain, a little more than half of the elevation to the summit.

Since it was still spring we had to be prepared for anything. I had snowshoes, crampons, trekking poles, and an ice axe strapped onto my pack.

We had the most beautiful day anyone could have asked for in early May. We started out just before 8am without a cloud in sight. Throughout the day a few rolled into the distance covering our view of St Helens but nothing got close to us and the temperature was very comfortable.

Just above the parking lot

St Helens in the distance

da boys

It was very white. very white.

Getting closer

Camp Muir at the top of the rise

Lance on the final slog up. Way to go!

Up top.

This is me up top. I am happy.

This is me up top last time I did the climb. I was not happy. I was not in shape.

Lance glissading down the mountain. One of the funnest things ever.

A well earned reward at the end of the day.

****Side note. I very very highly recommend sunglasses on such expeditions. And I do NOT recommend snowblindness. It is very painful. Painful. I say this from newfound experience. I will leave it at that because, because, well, it was dumb, and painful. But wear your sunglasses people!

On other notes:

We partook in Seattle Restaurant Weeks 3 for $25 deal at Palisades. Three courses for $25 at Palisades. That's right. I highly, highly recommend you make a reservation as soon as Restaurant week comes around next year.

Not only is the view cool, but the food was amazing. Our entree was two lobster tails. Two. I stole this from their website:

"Duet of Lobster Presented Two Ways - Poached in Plugra-butter and served over ravioli and tempura fried with spicy hollandaise sauce."

A couple weeks ago we had my best hometown buddies Natalie + Joe over and showed them a good time Sunrise Heights style. Sunrise Heights is the lil sub-neighborhood of West Seattle that we live in and they hosted a Poker Night. We got there a little late so we got seated at the losers table, but I'm pretty sure that just made it even more fun. It was $5 for a bottomless cup on Mannys (delicious local brew) so I'm pretty sure that helped too. Somehow Matt won the losers table prize of $25 certificate to Hooters. We are still pondering what to do with it.

Matt and his 'winnings'

Josiah & his loot

The whole crew

Happy Hour at Taberna Del Alabardero with its $3.50 Sangria (or $14 pitcher!) and delicious tapas is highly recommended 

...As is the Olympic Sculpture Park on a sunny day

It's a fake tree. Not a real one. But I like it.

That is all. For now. As I mentioned we leave in 10 days. I'll be posting a lil preview of our adventures in the coming days.

More Medford

Yay, Jeri sent pics! Ones with humans!

Matt & Andy ran in the Pear Blossom race. Its 10 miles. Apparently its a big deal in Medford. Matt ran real fast. He got in the local newspaper for being in to top 200 (105). hahaha

Me, Matt & Andy

(did I mention I got a haircut?)

Jen & Jeri

Jen's fam, down from Issy

Baby shower time!

Matts not eating in this one. Thats good.

Cute preggo Jen opening presents

Friends and fam at the shower

Matts Homeland, Medford, OR

Last weekend we made the long trek down to Matts homeland of Medford, OR. I was able to get Friday off and Matt was able to work from 'home' that day, so we left after work on Thursday and made a late, late night out of it. Long night, but it was worth it to have three days down there before making the trip back up.

I realized when I got home and loaded the pictures on the computer that I didn't actually take any pictures of people. Which is the reason we were there. I think I have a complex about taking pictures around Matts family because all the boys give their mom such a hard time for taking pictures all the time and I don't want to add to the suffering.

We had such a nice time getting to spend time with Matts mom Jeri. She was throwing a shower for Matts sister in law (is she my sister in law too, or is there another name for that? I'm not quite sure how all this marriage thing works yet) who is 7 months preggo and super cute. We are so excited for them to be parents and it was fun to be a part of the festivities.

I always make fun of Matt for being a country boy, but really Medford is not alllll that small of a town. But he does have cows in his backyard (actually they are in the neighbors yard) so I think I am justified in calling him a country boy. Here's the neighbor pets

Cheese is one of my favorite things ever and blue cheese is one of my favorite favorites. Rouge Creamy is known for its delicious blue's and is just a few minutes from Matts house so we got to stop by. Yum Yum. I. love. samples.

I had a play date with Tug who is Matts brother Greg's doggy. He's a 1 yr old black lab puppy who is super energetic. We didn't get along very well most of the weekend (he had this terrible habit of licking me all the time, especially when I had just woken up) but we had a bonding moment outside with the tennis ball. And he is good at fetch, I will give him that.

One of the other aims of the weekend was to pick up Matts motorcycle. Its one of the many that he had in high school and it broke down way back when. He and his Dad took it apart to rebuild the engine and never quite got around to finishing it. Its almost totally in working order now though, so we brought it home with us. Matt just needs to put a few more parts on and he is sooooo excited to be on two wheels again. Its a cute lil vintage guy.

We also got to have coffee with Matts band director from high school and his wife which was really fun. We spent some time with Matts high school bff Jeremy too and it was great to catch up with him. Lots of good catching up with parents, friends, and family. We had a lovely weekend. I'm trying to get some photos from Jeri so you can actually see humans as opposed to just beasts of burden but.....

Spring!

Just a little bit of spring time goodness from our yard!

We are in good ol' Medford this weekend enjoying Matts family so I'm sure you'll see an update on that in the coming week. :)

Where Have We Been?

Well, when I first started this blog I promised to not be one of those bloggers that told you about every single un-exciting thing that I ever did. And that is still my mission. But I guess I don't want all (two) of my faithful (haha) readers to abandon me because I haven't posted in a month. So here is a brief update on some of the things we have been up to. Mainly just the things where I took pictures of because...well

who wants to read a blog without pictures anyway? Not me!

Mt Si:

Lance, Val and I (poor Matt was studying) tried to go on a snowshoeing trip, but alas, Seattles beautiful winter also means that we have had virtually no snow. We opted for hiking instead and chose Mt Si because it was a) close and b) low enough we thought it wouldn't have any snow. Turns out the last mile and a half was on snow that was not deep enough for snowshoes or crampons but just deep enough to be insanely slippery. I have a bruise on my backside to prove it. It was nice to get out and work those muscles though!

started out nice and green...

and ended up quite white!

We had a nice dinner with L&V and Bret & Jaci and drank some Kestrel wine.

Our friend Cory is a great chef, wonderful host, and our sushi making buddy. He taught us his ways for the first time last summer and we decided to have another go at it. The results were fantastic. I have never been so full on sushi. Except last time we did this.

Chef Cory

Matt enjoying Cory's Saki-tini - yum yum

The spread

Our lovely friend Val had a BIRTHDAY

I made her some yummy citrus cupcakes

(I'm trying to add baking to my kitchen skillz)

We played at Golden Gardens b/c is was a becautiful day

We went to The Garage for some pool and bowling

(pics by Val)

...and another lovely night at my parents place in Olalla with L&V

Lots of other nice get-togethers but thats all the photos I have so there's your update!

Its Official!

Peru & Bolivia, here we come!

*****Update:
Matt thinks I shouldn't share our actual itenerary with you, the world. Just in case one of you wants to blow up our plane. Or pretend to be me so I can't go on the trip? I'm not sure. But anyways, suffice it to say we are going to Peru & Bolivia May 22-July 6. So excited!!



Thanks Alaska Frequent Flyer Miles!!