Looking for Sunshine

I was able to synthesize a little vitamin D today up on Mt. Spokane. The forecast calls for pea soup below 3000 feet the rest of the week so Walter and I trucked up to Mt. Spokane to get in a bit of sunshine. Oh, and we took Nancy along too.

It was a good day. It was cloudy when we got there but quickly cleared up. Though we were in Mt. Spokane State Park we were actually roaming around on Mt. Kit Carson. This is my first outing with my new snowshoes, which I actually like more than I thought I would. They are Yukon Charlie's; basic aluminum with synthetic decking. I expected to hate the bindings because my old MSR shoes had the best bindings I have ever used. These turned out to be ok once I got them cinched up. And I got them from Costco!!! And they were $30 cheaper than the same pair at REI. They came with telescoping poles which I did not need. One of Nancy's poles collapsed on her today and I could not get it fixed. I prefer to use just one pole so I gave her my spare.


The snow was sort of melty but not slushy. Walter was able to stay on top. I think the little boots that he wears help a bit with that. It is impossible to get the poodle hair out from between his pads and they collect huge snowballs that hurt his feet. He was really tired out from the day. At one point I stopped to put on some more clothing and he thought we were resting and tried to take a nap on my pack. It was cute. There were also some really cool whispy clouds that rolled in for about 5 minutes. It was a Middle Earth moment.

So here are some pictures:

Walter and me towering above the Smith Gap toilet

The cool weird whispy Middle Earth clouds with the sun

More Middle Earth

Looking down toward Spokane: The white in the background are the tops of clouds

Not getting it right

Ok, I am not a weenie, but this weather totally bites. It has been raining for the past several days. Everything is a huge mess. Walter and I were going to go hit Mt. Spokane yesterday morning but the rain was too intense. Last night I checked the ski report and it said that it was 30 degrees up there, so Nancy and I hurried up and headed out for a nighttime snowshoe (we wanted to walk on the cross country trails so I could not take Walter). We got up to the Selkirk Lodge and the thermometer said 40 degrees. There was a horribly cold wind blowing the rain sideways. We opted to go into the lodge, light a fire and have some tea. That was fun. We sat there in the dark and stared at the flames. No one else was around...because they all know better. I figured that if the weather was better today I would take Walter somewhere, but it sucked until around 4:00 this afternoon. I just ended up at the gym which was packed with tons of kids because all the school districts have been cancelling classes because of the weather.

The flooding is not too bad on this side of the Cascades, but the coast is getting hammered. Lots of flooded rivers and homes. There is a lake out in my street, but I have high enough clearance to get around it. The therapy gym at work flooded last night. Glad I had the day off.

My next weekend is supposed to be better. If I can get around ok Walter and I will be bonding in the bush somewhere. At the moment, Walter is doing what he does best which is sleeping. Just took these of Walter and Elliot snoozing while I goof around online. Oh, and today is my 44th birthday. I bought myself a new pair of hiking boots.

Walter

Elliot

A New Year

So, 2008 was a sucky year, huh? But for me it was pretty good. I finished school and got a job. I passed my national exams. I had enough money to pay high gas and food prices. The guy I voted for was actually elected president. My house is clean, my freezer is full. Not too bad. (ok, I have tried five times now to separate these paragraphs and I am not sure what the hell is going on with the code...so sorry to the format police).

Nancy and I stepped out of the comfort zone and joined the throng at First Night Spokane. It was wonderful. Tons of stuff to do, see, and hear. Nancy caught one of her favorite local folk singers, Ruby Divine. We watched the Harran Irish Dancers kick it up with the Celtic Nots. We rode the beautiful Loof Carousel with its wonderful wooden horses. We watched glass and ice sculpters. We even sat in on a really bad bluegrass band for about five minutes. All that and we were home by 11:15pm!!!!

We have continued to have unreal weather. Another storm is supposed to be blowing in tonight with 7 more inches of snow. Walter and I are going somewhere on my next days off if the weather is not too horrid (it is supposed to start raining...I wonder what that will look like on top of 30 inches of snow). I just have to get out with my doggie. I will of course post about it. Here are some of the pictures from First Night...

Ruby Divine..a great folk singer

Nancy hitting it off with the glass bead maker

A downtown street. There were fires burning on each block with a really big bonfire in Riverfront Park. Just really cool

Nancy in wool...with poodle pin

The beautifully restored Loof Carousel

Harran Irish Dancers at the Opera House

The dragon that totally cracked me up

Ok, this is funny. The Arena parking lot was total ice. This truck parked on the hill and must have slid back wards. Someone put ice chunks under the wheels to keep it from sliding any farther but it was in the middle of the roadway blocking in other cars. Can you imagine the faces of the owners when they got back to their truck?