Kenmore Air ROCKS!

Mike's birthday, Saturday, the 18th. The plan: Fly out at 8:30am from Kenmore Air in Kenmore, Washington to Inner Harbor, Victoria, British Columbia, walk about the Inner Harbor area, have Mike’s birthday lunch, fly back to Kenmore and get home around 6:00pm.

But not all plans go as planned...

We got to Kenmore Air right after 8:00 and we were ready to fly. We’d been watching the weather on weather.com, saw blue in the sky and were hoping for no fog to derail our plans. But alas, there was lots of fog in Victoria. So at around 9:00 our pilot, Chris, advised we’d fly into Kenmore Air’s Lake Union (downtown Seattle) seaport, hang out and see if the fog lifted. No problem, we said.


We’re ready to board our Otter with just the 3 of us!

And so began the flight of a lifetime. I have seen Seattle from cars, motorcycles, boats, trains and jets. Yesterday I was treated to the view from a seaplane and it was incredible - my hometown passing below me. It’s almost too difficult to describe – and it was surprisingly very emotional for me. My smile went from ear-to-ear and my face hurt from smiling so hard. And Mike? He looked like a little kid, so full of excitement and happiness.


Birthday Boy Mike sat next to Chris in the co-pilot seat.


Chris.


The plane has 8 seats + the pilot and co-pilot seats.




It’s a short flight to Lake Union and soon enough the Seattle skyline was in view.


There was no wind and the flight was calm and the landing smooth. This is the pontoon gliding onto the water.

Inside the small Lake Union airport we found other passengers waiting out the fog. By 9:15 we were told that it was still too foggy in Victoria to leave Seattle and that they were pushing the fight out to 11:30 – if we wanted to try to wait it out. Hell yeah. We’d wait. So we got a latte and mocha and walked around the lake’s waterfront.


We ended up at the Center for Wooden Boats and checked out all of the boats. Mike also found that there are volunteer opportunities there – something he might be interested in doing.

We were back at the airport by 11:00 and found that a decision had not yet been made about Victoria. We hung out with Chris (who was also waiting to find out if he was piloting any other flights) and had a great time learning more about his life as a pilot and a boat captain. Around 11:15 we were advised that it was still too foggy to go and that the next possible flight would be around 1:00. With that info, we cancelled our day trip to Victoria, and decided we would try it another day.

So now what? Well, we needed to get back to Kenmore Air where our truck was parked. And Kenmore Air had a plan...that’s when we met pilot #2, Michael. Michael was to fly us back to Kenmore. But since Mike’s birthday plans had been sabotaged, Michael took us on a tour of Puget Sound!


This time our ride was on a smaller plane, a Beaver.


And again, Mike got the co-pilot’s seat.


Michael.


This plane has just 4 seats + the pilot and co-pilot’s seats.


By now the sun was out and we saw Puget Sound's many islands and land masses.


Here is Mt. Rainier at over 14,000 feet.


And Alki Point in West Seattle. I finally understand why it was named Alki Point.




Sailboats and cruise ships.


The Space Needle and Lake Union.


Elliott Bay, downtown and Lake Washington.




Floating bridges, Highway 520 and Interstate 90.


Looking back at the city and the Olympic Mountains to the west.


Home at Kenmore Air.

THANK YOU KENMORE AIR!!! We had a blast and someday soon we’ll make that longer trip to Victoria. More about the rest of his special day to come...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!

Rain, Rain, Go Away - Red Hook Brewery, Woodinville, WA

Yesterday it rained. And rained. And rained. But it didn’t spoil our girls’ lunch at Red Hook Brewery. (Although if you enlarge the pic you will see that my "friends" spoiled the picture by sticking out their tongues. Hmpff!)

Red Hook Brewery is in the heart of Woodinville’s wine country with over 70 wineries less than 30 minutes from downtown Seattle! Who would have thought? As I drove to Red Hook I passed sign after sign announcing, “Wine Tasting Room Open”, at well known wineries including Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia Winery, Silver Lake Winery, Facielli Winery, Januik Winery...if only I had more time and a driver with me!

But today was for visiting with my girlfriends and eating good food. I had a Coho salmon sandwich with cous cous and I must say it was one nice, moist and flavorful filet. It was one of the best sandwiches I've had in a long time - good job, Red Hook!


And we had a surprise visitor, Cheryl’s little bro, Kevin! He was attending a meeting in one of the upstairs banquet rooms and he stopped by our table to say hello.

As usual we had a great lunch and spent a couple of hours catching up with each others’ lives. One of us (and I won’t say who) is caught up in Facebook’s Farmville. And another of us (again, can’t say who) pretends she doesn’t know anything about Facebook. Or the internet. Or even email. However, she sure had some pointed questions about Farmville that made it seem like she was quite familiar with Facebook! Personally I have limited experience with Facebook...I have a page, but I rarely post to it. Can anyone tell me what the heck Farmville is all about???

Regarding the weather – I just checked the outlook for Saturday in Kenmore – there’s a 50% chance of rain! Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Aye, yi, yi...Mike’s birthday may not go as planned.

Mike’s Turning 54 on September 18th!

Mike and I like to celebrate our birthdays. We like a good party and we like to do it in style. In years past we have celebrated Mike’s birthday with VIP tickets to a Jimmy Buffett concert in Vancouver, WA...we went to New York and saw the Yankees play the Red Sox in the original Yankee Stadium...we’ve taken a week-long trip on Lake Powell, UT on a houseboat with 8 other friends...we had a big surprise party in Guaymas...and last year in Salem, OR I surprised him with tickets to a Pearl Jam show.


Here he is on the houseboat and he turned the big 5-0 on that trip!


We also rode our Harley to the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, SD that August so Mike could say he made the trip before he turned 50 and here we are somewhere en route - I think that was Couer d'Alene, ID, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

So if you’ve been reading this blog regularly you might remember that I surprised Mike last month with a Sea Kayaking trip up in the San Juan Islands – for his birthday – and we did it a month early because we were hoping to see numerous orca whales feeding in August. Alas, we saw none.

And now that it’s almost Mike’s actual birthday I have been scratching my head, wondering what to do on Saturday. Well, I came up with a fantastic idea! But it will only happen if the weather is good in Kenmore on Saturday. So I need everyone to have a brief chat with Mother Nature and ask her to please provide us with clear skies on Saturday. Okay, start chatting...

Luau in the 'Hood

Aloha! Our upstairs neighbors hail from the great state of Hawaii and Saturday night we had a luau of sorts…We combined resources and had a fantastic assortment of food from which to choose. We also flew our US flag at half-mast and took time to remember those lost on 9/11. We are very thankful for the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of the United States of America.


Mike boiled eggs Friday afternoon and whipped up his famous deviled eggs for the luau.


Mike checking out the pumpkins.


Ruschelle, Riley, Troy and Taira.

Mike and I had recently seen something about using non-stick foil on the grill and then placing the food on the foil to prevent sticking so we decided to give it a try. Mike manned the foiled grill and cooked up BBQd teriyaki short ribs and chicken/veggie teriyaki k-bobs. The markings weren’t as distinct as we had hoped for and some of the bigger chicken chunks needed more time to cook, but overall we were pleased with the foil method. Try it out!

We all sat down at the dinner table and dug in. It was nice to spend time with people we have seen in passing and chatted with over the past four months that we have lived here. And the kids – oh man, they have so much energy…it reminded me of teaching English to the little ones in Guaymas. I should have created a lesson plan to keep them occupied!


Riley still on the go...if I could only harness that energy...

We yakked and yakked at the table long after dinner was finished and noshed on chocolate chip cookies and little mini lemon upside-down cupcakes. Mahalo for a nice evening, Troy and Ruschelle!

Sturgis 2006

Sitka, the Kong-Chasing Sky Dog

It’s been just over 2 months since we said good-bye to Sitka. And we think about her all the time. It’s weird how I can be walking through the apt and wonder where she is – is she outside sniffing something in the grass or in the office patiently waiting for me to sit down at my laptop? Is it time to feed her? Or take her for a walk? Does she want a head rub or can I lay my head down on her big belly and take a nap?

The good thing is that Mike and I can remember her together and laugh about all the crazy things she did. I got out 2 photo albums (yes, real hard copy pictures I had printed before I got a digital camera) recently and looked at the many pics we have of Sitka. I’ll have to scan all of them so I can have them on my laptop, but for today I just scanned one. Take a look.


At first glance it probably just looks like she’s jumping up, right?

But if you look closer you will see that I somehow managed to capture a shot of her in mid-air, as tall as Mike, leaping for her beloved Kong.

When we see this pic it brings back all kinds of warm and fuzzy feelings. xoxo

The Evergreen State Fair 2010

Each year the Evergreen State Fair is held in Monroe, Washington which is about 20 miles from our home in Kenmore. Yesterday was the final day of the Fair and the weather forecast was RAIN. But Mike and I already had tickets to the Fair so we put on our hoodies, grabbed 2 umbrellas and drove to Monroe.

We were hoping the afternoon would be dry, but no such luck. We parked, popped open our umbrellas and decided to have the best time we could – considering the mucky mud and wet rain. Very few carnival rides were running, but the lines at the food booths were short. The scones and corn on the cob were plentiful so we got some “fair food” and sat on covered picnic benches to eat. Then we headed over to see some of the 4H vegetable and craft exhibits. After that we went to the barns to visit with some of the animals – dogs, cats, pigs, sheep and goats and cows.



Mama and newborns.


Another mama with 40-day old babies.


Big Daddy.


“Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb...”


This girl was very friendly. And notice how big her head is!


Twins.


Close friends.


Isn’t her long neck beautiful? She is so soft.


???


Another mama and baby.


Whoa! She is BIG!

And after playing with the cows we went home. It was sorta disappointing. And very wet. But any day I get to spend with Mike is a good day in my book!

Seattle Mariners v. Cleveland Indians

Today is Cheryl and Pat’s 28th wedding anniversary! And last night they treated us to another Mariner’s game at Safeco Field.


Cheryl had told me that they didn’t have any plans for their anniversary and she didn’t know what they would be doing. Sooo…we surprised them with a bag of puzzles to keep them busy tonight. HA! Then we headed into Seattle to Safeco Field.

The ballpark has a unique retractable roof that covers, but does not close up, the ballpark so that even when it is closed there is still an open-air feel. From the Mariners’ website:

The ballpark's one-of-a-kind retractable roof is designed to cover but not enclose the ballpark, thus preserving an open-air environment. The structure covers nearly 9 acres, weighs 22 million pounds, and contains enough steel to build a skyscraper 55 stories tall. The three movable panels glide on 128 steel wheels powered by 96 ten horsepower electric motors. A push of a button closes or opens the roof in an average of 10-20 minutes (depending on wind and other weather conditions). The roof is self-grounded (in the event of lightning strikes) and is designed to withstand 6-7 ft. of snow and sustained winds of up to 70 mph.


Crazy, huh? This is a picture of the underside of the roof with the machinery that allows it to open and close.




Our seats were in the Hit It Here Café which is located above right field and has a great view and full-service dining. Dining! Not hot dogs and peanuts, but actual food from a menu. The middle pic is a view of the Hit It Here Café from across the stadium. We sat just above the yellow UW Medicine banner around the letter “M”.



A waiter took our orders and we started with a bucket of spicy peel-and-eat shrimp, midget corn dogs with cheese and some nice, cold beers. Our entrees included a Philly Cheese Steak, Chicken Caesar Salad, Bleu Cheese & Bacon Burger and Smoked Chicken Nachos. The Mariners took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning as we enjoyed our dinners.



These are views of the ballpark from our seats. Nice and comfortable...no tripping over your “row-mates” when you need to get up. Feeling hot and thirsty and don’t want to spend almost $5 for a bottle of water? “Waiter, could I please have some more water?” Plus, it was easier to have a conversation without everyone around you listening in.


Who is this Major League Baseball right fielder you might ask? ICHIRO! One of the best hitters in MLB history.





To finish off the night, we enjoyed dessert – a Warm Double Dark Chocolate Brownie and Granny Smith Apple Pie Ala Mode.


We went into the 9th inning with the Indians struggling to get a hit...but they didn’t and the Mariners won, 1-0! Ta-da Mike’s happy!

Happy anniversary Cheryl and Pat and thank you for a wonderful evening!


p.s. Kenmore Air sighting!

10 - Developing Human Potential

I recently saw a job advertisement from a company in the Seattle area named 10. It included a link to their blog, also named 10. “10 is a company devoted to developing human potential. Our mission is to help people think big and achieve big to improve their lives. We motivate and encourage others to achieve their own personal and professional fulfillment.”

I started reading the blog posts and found them inspirational. Inspirational in the sense of living life to its fullest and being the best you can be.

One post I particularly like is A Difference of One Degree. At the post you can click the link 212DegreesTheMovie and see the 2.5 minute “movie.” Check it out.

I am so inspired!