Back to the Mountain

This weekend it finally felt like summer vacation was near as we headed back out to Mount Rainier to do some hiking. Or favorite hikes up at Paradise still have 9 feet of snow on them, so we did a new hike farther down the mountain where there was less snow. The second we stepped out of the car and started putting on our gear, it started to sprinkle. We considered waiting it out, but decided to go on anyway. For the most part the trees protected us from the rain, but we were pretty wet by the end of the 5 miles. Not a lot of great views due to the fog, but we had an awesome time being back out in the woods. We bought our annual pass to the park, so you can be sure there will be a lot of hiking posts to come!

On the way out to the mountain, we stopped at one of my all time favorite places to eat. The food is pretty good, but the atmosphere is awesome. It is on open air bar and grill with the most incredible views.

Go Twins!

This weekend Doug and I enjoyed a jam packed weekend full of baseball. Since moving out to Seattle, I believe we have only missed two Twins games at Safeco. Either we are bad luck or the Twins just don't play well in Seattle, because of all of those games I think we have only seen two wins. Even though our home team only won one of three this series, we still had a great time.

Due to lack of creative ideas left on our blog post (Sorry Dustin, your idea was bad), we did not make a circle me Bert sign. I truthfully didn't want to make one anyways because I hate being "that person" who desperately tries everything in their power to get on TV, including waving a sign, blocking the view of everyone behind you for the majority of the game. Instead of "circle me Bert" signs, Seattlites make signs about Rally Fries. Rally Fries are basically french fries covered with garlic. After the first game we went to in Seattle, we left nauseous due to the overwhelming scent of garlic throughout the stadium. The next time we went to a game, we thought we better see what these fries are all about. Now we can hardly go a game without spending $7.50 on the famous french fries.

Floors...Done!

We have finally finished the hardwood floors!!! After a lot of hard work and no play this weekend, we have completed our 3 month long project. I shouldn't say no play, we actually went to the drive in movies on Friday to see a double feature of "Star Trek" and "Angels and Demons." "Angels and Demons" was the second showing, and that was the movie that I was really interested in seeing. I figured if I took a half-hour nap through "Star Trek," I'd be able to stay awake to watch the entire "Angels and Demons" movie. I unfortunately fell asleep through the last hour of "Star Trek" and then woke up for the first half of "Angels and Demons," but was too tired to make it through the entire show. In my defense, "Angels and Demons" didn't even start until after midnight. Doug really enjoyed "Star Trek" even though he claims he is not an official "Trekkie," he reported that "Angels and Demons" was kind of boring and not nearly as good as the book.

Circle Me Bert

This coming weekend Doug and I are spending three days watching the Twins play in Seattle. We figured we should make a "Circle Me Bert" sign, but our creativity is lacking. Any suggestions of a cool slogan or idea for our sign...?

Where the Forest Meets the Sea

This weekend Doug and I packed our bags and drove south. After fighting the traffic and extremely curvy mountain roads, we made it to our destination on the Oregon coast around 8:30pm on Friday night. That night we quickly learned that we were not properly prepared for spring time camping on the coast...it was very cold! After unthawing Saturday morning, we drove down the coastal highway to Florence. We had heard about the sand dunes in Florence, and thought we'd see what they were all about. I have never seen sand dunes, and I never had imagined them to be what they were. We felt like we had entered the dessert. The dunes were huge hills/mountains of sand for miles and miles, some around 500 ft tall. It was like nothing we have ever seen before! We took a really awesome dune buggy ride, which was quite scary, but a lot of fun. After the dunes, we went to one of the largest sea caves (in the world or America...not quite sure, but it was large). In the winter, the cave is full of seals, but during this time of year most of them hang out on the rocks. I almost got kicked out for using a flash camera, but the pictures were totally worth it.

During the weekend we also enjoyed taking some hikes to some different viewpoints and beaches. We did see some gray whales off in the distance with the binoculars, but a little too far away to take a good picture.

Even though four days without showers got to be a little long, and the nights were near brutally cold, we had a great time and can't wait for our next camping adventure!

Coming up...

Next weekend Doug and I are looking forward to finally busting out the tent again. With the graduating from college, getting marrid, moving across the country, and getting new jobs our summers have been quite busy and we havn't had a good opportunity to camp for over two years. On Friday, we will be heading down the Oregon coast to Cape Perpetua which is advertised as "where the forest meets the sea." The campground is within the Siuslaw National Forest, but the ocean is within walking distance. There are over 23 miles of trails near the park. We have heard that the Oregon coast is one of the most scenic drives, so we are excited to check it out. Here are a few pictures of some of the things we hope to see.



Some other upcoming events:
-Twins in Seattle June 5th, 6th, and 7th
-Last day of School for Nicole: June 25th
-Brown family visit with Mom, Carlee, Grandma Brown, Sharri, Jessie, and possibly more: June 25th- 29th
-Driving back to MN: July 1st-10th
-Coldplay concert at the Gorge: July 11th

5 Times too many...

Doug may be setting a record this weekend as he participates in his 5th prom! However, this time Doug won't be the one wearing the tux or busting a move on the dance floor, but instead he will be assisting me in chaperoning duties. I'm assuming one of our largest duties will be to monitor appropriate dancing. I laughed when the students received the list of appropriate dancing which included some rules such as: no horizontal dancing, no 90 degree dancing, and no "freak" dancing. The students of course thought these rules were ludicrous and much too strict! It should be an interesting night.

In other news, Doug's softball team dug themselves out of the hole from their first game and came back to win their second game last Sunday with a 26-11 victory (they were once down 11-1!)