Throwing Yourself Down a Mountain..

Two weekends ago our weekend was - well, busy. With boring homework, house stuff, a sweet engagement party, and life. But we needed some fresh air so Sunday morning we headed east with the Chisums and our snowshoes. Goal: back by 12:30.

12:30 doesn't really leave a lot of room for climbing mountains so we parked at Commonwealth Basin and decided to see where the wind took us. Last time Matt & I did that we ended up on top of Guye Peak - which was amazing, but took all day. This morning we took a different trail, and when we found some cool icicles high up a slope and couldn't get a good enough pictue we decided the solution was to get closer.

And then the fog rolled in..

Cute

Vals pic!

Val snapped me leading up

It was steeper than it looked and a good little workout. When we neared the bottom again we still had a bit of time left, and knew we weren't going to arrive anywhere spectacular another half mile down the trail so we....practiced self arrest!

This is how you do it wrong (aka, a somersault)

Gettin ready for near death experience...not really

(All Vals pics below!)

Val's got it DOWN! 

And we all manage to clean up o.k.

Self arrest is using your ice axe to stop yourself when you fall on a steep slope and find yourself careening down the mountain. It had been a while since any real practice and there's all sorts of moves to master: feet first on your back, head first on your stomach, and the scariest of all head first on your back. We amused ourselves for 45 minutes with throwing ourselves down the mountain. We even got a spectator taking pictures and saying ' I love watching people practice self arrest. It's hilarious.'


With some added mountain confidence we bounded back to the car, took a record breaking fast shower, hit up some wine tasting in Woodinville with Jarrett, and were off to the engagement party! Congrats Josh & Lindsay!

Snowshoe: Granite Mountain, Mt Washingtion, & Sunrise Heights

Snow is probably the only thing that keeps me sane through the Seattle winters. (Aside from the occasional sunbreak, and/or escape from the state). Being able to head out to the mountains and ski or snowshoe makes things (sort of) worth it. Here's the latest adventures.

A few weeks ago, it snowed all over Seattle. We had a good 6+ inches at our house, Matt worked from home for four days, and we didn't leave the house except for a little snowshoeing. They weren't necessary per se, but it seemed like fun. We cuddled up, built fires, and found a great recipe for hot buttered rum (the secret is all in the vanilla ice cream).

The next weekend we went snowshoeing again with Devon & Noah. We were headed to Talapus or Olallie Lake (they're on the same trail) but somehow got off course (again!) and ended up on Granite Mountain. It was snowy and windy and while we were enjoying ourselves while in the trees, we turned back when we got to the wind blown avalanche chute about 2/3rds of the way up. We'd all been to the top before, and valued our lives. On a bright note, we did encounter a sweet waterfall on our stray from the trail.

Last weekend we had a breath of spring air, and it was sunny and warm all weekend! Catherine and I headed out the I-90 Corridor on Sunday with all our gear and no plan. We ended up at the Mt Washington trailhead, which WTA says is a 4 mile round trip trail with great mountain views. What they don't say is that two miles only gets you to a bench part-way up the mountain. Apparently it's actually 12 roundtrip to get to the top. All Catherine and I knew was that we had gone a lot more than two miles, the top was still a ways off, we were hungry, and there were some darn good views where we were sitting. So who knows, we probably only went 2/3rds again. We were content to bask in the sunshine.

Are you appalled at the fact that we haven't slept somewhere other than our own cozy bed in a month?! Don't worry, the adventures shall resume soon. This year is shaping up quite nicely!

Things I Love: Making Travel Easier

Here's a few apps that I sure love. Interspersed with some fotos of life in December, all except the last courtesy of Val (just to keep you entertained).  Enjoy!

Autoslash.com
It's a rental car search site. You put in your location and dates, and it presents you with a bunch of choices. You choose whatever fits your needs. Then, it checks every day to see if there's a lower rate, and if so, automatically re-books you. For my recent trip to San Diego, we had a three day rental that started out at $65, and through three effortless rebookings ended up at $31! Thats $10 a day.

Chili-night at our house with friends

Yapta.com
Val told me about this one. When you buy a plane ticket, you put in your flights, and the price you paid. Yapta checks every hour to see if there's a lower fare, and if your airline has a low price guarantee. We're headed to CO this Spring and I input our flight information a week ago. Last night, Yapta emailed to let me know the price had dropped $40/person and that I should call Alaska ASAP. In a less than 5 minute call with a very friendly agent, we got $80 back!

Bravehorse Tavern to celebrate another year of my life..

TripIt.com
You give them your email address, and they automatically scan your email for anything that looks like a reservation. When they find something, they import it, and automatically file together everything that goes in one trip. Your plane, train, hotel, car, tour (+ weather and activities) all in one place with the confirmation numbers, contact phone numbers, etc. Not only does it help me keep myself organized, but I can send all the info to an interested husband or worried mother with the click of a mouse.

Black, white & bling NYE party

Matt's spiffy Vietnam suit

Awardwallet.com
You put in your user names and passwords once for all of your mile/point accounts, and it tracks them all in one place! No more remembering 800 usernames, and wondering if you earned those points for...whatever. They do frequent flyer programs, credit cards, survey rewards, rental cars, you name it.

EvReward.com
Thinking of making an online purchase? Chances are that no matter how obscure the retailer is some airline will give you miles for it. Type in the retailer here, and they'll tell you who all will give you points, and how many per dollar so you can maximize. I got thousands of miles for my Christmas shopping!

A sad morning. Saying goodbye to Markus, the day before he heads back to Germany.

Obviously, I love TripAdvisor, Kayak, TravelZoo, and many of the other big names. But these were some slightly more obscure ones. Here's to cheaper, easier travel!