Supercross in Seattle

Alright so this is closer to home, but a little outside of the usual, so here you go.

Travelzoo had a deal a couple months back for cheap tickets to a Supercross event at Quest and I must have been in an unusually indulgent mood because I bought tickets knowing Matt would love it. He grew up riding dirt bikes all the time, and though this isn't quite the same it's about as close as you can get in downtown Seattle. I was hoping it might satiate his thirst for a motorcycle of his own, but it probably just enhanced it.

I was totally surprised by how big the crowds were for this event, and it was a different crowd than you usually see at Quest for sure, but we had a good time. Here's a small sampling of the one gigabyte of pictures that Matt took during the event. (Seeing a recurring theme here dedicated readers? Guns, large off road vehicles, and motorcycles have been Matt's only contributions to the blog thus far).

muddy

Cannon! Fire! The boys love it...

Crash!

Don't worry, they were all just fine

On a completely different note we took advantage of Seattle Restaurant Week (3 courses for $28) last week and paid another visit to the ever-wonderful Canlis with Devon & Noah. Our dear friend Jarrett was recently promoted to a full-fledged server there and we had the pleasure of enjoying the amazing food with him as our server and then getting a tour from him afterwards: kitchen, private dining, wine cellar and all. Never ceases to amaze.
(sorry for the terrible phone pictures)

Never knew split pea soup could be so good. Or green.

best salmon ever...

Dessert #4 of the night...

Jarrett (from our first visit) ($17k bottle of wine in the background...)

(also from the first visit. I hate breaking out the camera in such places)

We've got Matt's mom in town for Easter this coming weekend, another visitor from far, far away, and then excited about heading north the following weekend: stay tuned!

Chelan, WA - Sunshine & Wine

Sunshine? Wine? Good views? Good company? Sign me up.

My parents friends offered us a weekend at their timeshare in Chelan during April, and we were thrilled to take them up on their generous offer. We went with Devon (a former co-worker of Matt's) and her husband Noah, fellow West Seattleites.

After getting an early afternoon start Friday we were headed over the mountains with blue skies all around. We were delighted to still see lots of fresh snow and discover that if you came in early April, there were even snowy mountains all around Chelan. We grilled up some delicous fish and vegetables Friday night and then hit the hot tub.

Saturday after an egg scramble and cinnamon rolls to get us going we headed into the 'town' of Chelan. I can't say there was all that much there, but there were a couple cute blocks of shops and a delightful waterfront park where we basked in sunshine.

We went in search of a house for sale that Devons parents were interested in and ended up on a dirt track up in the foothills winding through orchards and finally disappearing. A great way to break in their new FJ with a few new squeaks. Thanks for nothing, GPS.

After lunch it was time for wine tasting. The first stop was Karma, which boasted a nice view, bread and cheese to go with your tasting, outdoor seating, and decent wine. They make champagne there and we got a tour of the wine cave and explanation of the champagne making process which was super interesting. (Did you know turn the bottles upside down so the yeast goes into the top, flash freeze the end of the bottle, open it up and pop out the 'yeast cap' then throw in some flavoring and other stuff and then pop the cap back on?).

Second stop was Tsillan Cellars which had another nice view, cool building, and decent wine.

The third, and best stop of the day was Benson Vineyards, which had both the best wine and the best views of the three. Highly recommended if you're in the area. We had sunshine and warm weather throughout the day, which made it all doubly enjoyable.

After we were wined out we enjoyed a gigantic bowl of guacamole while lounging in the grass, took a walk along the lake front, and then grilled up some more delicious food - steak and asparagus this time.

Sunday we spent a relaxing morning at the condo and then decided we would make a loop out of it and drive back over Highway 2 through Leavenworth since some of the group had never been there. Washington's little Bavarian village is always a good time and we wandered the shops, strolled Blackbird Island, sampled the bratwurst, marveled at the cuteness, and stopped by Kestrel - always one of the favorite wineries.

All in all, a fabulous, relaxing weekend - just what we needed.

Photo of the day

We've been busy with un-travel related stuff, so just a little something fun to hold you over.

We're headed east in search of sunshine this weekend.

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland, Spring 2009

...and one more picture preview, Nov 2011 this time
(previous one here)

Icelandic Blizzards - Movie Time!

Sooo...I am not artistic. Nor am I creative. Nor have I ever tried to make a movie before. Please excuse me for my complete lack of skill or artistry here. But I think the clips are neat, so hopefully you can enjoy it anyway. It was all taken on Lance & Val's Lumix something-or-other point and shoot camera that also has HD video and is waterproof. Did I mention it's waterproof? I think that's really neat, and if you want to buy me one I would be ok with that. I'm sure at some point Lance will make a much cooler video, because he's cool like that. But in the meantime, enjoy!

Love.Seattle.

I love my city. It may seem like we're never here to enjoy it, but we do. Every time I drive downtown and I see the mountains, the city, and the water I fall in love again. Really, every time.

We also love sharing our city with other people, because despite it's rainy reputation (ok, it's true, but that's what makes it the Emerald City) we think it's awesome and other people should appreciate it too.

We've had quite a few visitors in the last six months, despite the not-quite-finished state of our guest bedroom, and this past week we had the pleasure of having my cousin Stephanie and her boyfriend Andy with us all the way from Texas. I had been hoping to take a few afternoons off to show them around the city but I had the craziest week of work ever so sent them off with a long list of must-sees, the car keys, and some mountain gear. They spent Monday snowshoeing in the Snow Lake area (a new activity!), and hit up Pike Place market, the Bainbridge ferry, Olympic Sculpture Park, the Underground Tour, and all sorts of other sights.

Snowshoe

Sculpture Park

In the evenings we took them out to enjoy sights of the food and drink variety. White Horse, the cutest little pub ever on Post Alley, Zig Zag for some cocktails, Umi for some delicious sushi. Tuesday night we finally made it to Tavern Law. For those who don't know, they have a normal bar downstairs and then a small area upstairs modeled after a speakeasy. You have to know the door is there. You have to ring a crazy little phone to get upstairs. The bartender comes up and asks you what kind of drinks you like and some other odd questions and then brings you back a mystery cocktail.  A very delicious mystery cocktail. It's all very mysterious and fun. And no flashes allowed, so the pictures are terrible. Sorry.

Cousins @ Zig Zag

Tavern Law

Steph & Andy

Thursday night we had L&V over for some green margarita St. Patricks Day fun. Why margaritas? Well, Steph has an amazing secret frozen margarita recipe that Matt needed to sample. So we busted out the food coloring to make it festive.

Mmmm

Steph, myself, Val

Lance, Steph & Andy

We had a delightful time catching up with Steph, getting to know Andy better, and reminiscing about when Steph and I would pretend we were twins. Please, don't look at that picture too close.

Friday they were on their way back to Texas and our dear friends Ashley & Steven flew into town. We got to celebrate with an engagement party for them at our place Friday. We are so happy for them and can't wait for the big day in August. It was great fun to have everyone over to the place, and the boys even disappeared down into the basement for an hour to partake of the also-not-quite-finished bonus room. Boy are we excited for the day that's done!

The happy couple

Cheers

See? Getting there...

We like visitors. Come see us.