2007 in Pictures

I know, I know...I'm just as sick of all these "year in review" things as everyone else. That having been said, Anya and I compiled a group of our favorite pictures taken since moving to Seattle in May.

It seems like we take a copious amount of photos and some of them, by sheer accident, happen to turn out to be pretty decent. Whether or not you regularly look at our Flickr site, I think and hope you'll find this interesting. Plus, there are only 30 of them so it won't take too long. They're arranged by date taken (oldest first); I commented about each one to add context.

Happy New Year!

Skiing again

Unable to resist the calling of 16" of fresh snow in the last 24 hours (about 60" in the last 7 days), Anya and I skipped work on Friday to go skiing. This also would be Anya's last chance to ski for a few weeks; she leaves Saturday to visit her parents in Belarus for New Year's and beyond.

Eighty miles, 2 hours, and a snowy 4,400 foot ascent from Seattle is Crystal Mountain, a large ski resort in the Cascades that borders Mount Rainier National Park. Conditions were, to use a well-worn skiing cliché, epic. Neither Anya nor I have ever skied in so much fresh powder, which requires a different skiing technique than typical groomers, moguls, or Minnesota ice. It's really tiring, but incredibly fun. We're both exhausted but happy.

This time we remembered the camera and took some beautiful pictures.

Christmas in Minnesota

Anya and I just got back to Seattle after spending a snowy and cold (but nonetheless fun!) few days in Minnesota over Christmas. We took a few pictures of family & friends, and also some embarrassing pictures of me that Anya made me upload. Enjoy.

Stevens Pass

We got to go skiing again this weekend, which was very exciting! We went to a ski area called Stevens Pass, which is about 1 hour 45 minutes Northeast of Seattle in the Cascades. About 18 inches of snow fell this week, in 3-4 inch increments, which made for fantastic conditions: lots of fresh, soft snow and good coverage.

Our friend Alex skied with us, but none of us brought a camera along so there aren't any photos. It was cloudy all day anyway, so most of the pictures would have been of the giant trees that line the runs. Just imagine really large spruce trees with their branches drooping under the weight of all the snow.

Skiing

We were finally able to get the ski season underway! On Saturday we went to Crystal Mountain, a large ski area just outside of Mount Rainier National Park. It was basically a perfect day; completely cloudless and about 28 degrees. From the top we could see all the way to Mt Baker (100 miles away), which is pretty rare even in the summer.

The snow conditions were better than we expected. They had several feet of snow during that storm last weekend, but then they had a bunch of rain which severely depleted the snowpack. There was still grass & dirt sticking through in some areas. There was, however, a few light snowfalls during the week, which made for some nice fluffy snow on top of a good base. Only about 10% of their total area was open, so all the skiers were crowded onto a small number of runs. It got icy by the afternoon, but it was great to get out and ski again.

All the pics are here.

Puerto Vallarta

Anya recently returned from having a great time in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She was there with her college friend Karina, who goes to grad school in Monterrey, Mexico (she's from Ecuador originally). They were also joined for the last couple days by Karina's boyfriend, Felipe.

Anya wrote comments on her multitude of pictures; looks like a beautiful place!

Storms

If you've been paying attention to the national news, you probably heard about the storms that hit the Northwest earlier in the week. On Saturday it snowed in Seattle, huge airy flakes that danced in the breeze and melted as soon as they hit the ground. Then it turned to rain and we had almost 5" in 24 hours. Things were wet but it was fun to see snow again!

The statistics you read on the news are somewhat sensational. Coastal areas on the Olympic Peninsula (about 100 miles west of Seattle) recorded winds of over 100 mph. Many areas recorded 10+ inches of rain in a 24 hour period. But none of this really caused any major problems. The areas that got battered by wind are used to that sort of thing (at least as much as you can be used it). It's actually not that uncommon. And the areas that got the heaviest rainfall are places that average 200-300" of rain per year.

The only major problem that occurred was a flood 90 miles south of Seattle in the town of Chehalis (cha-HAY-liss), and that was mostly caused by poor suburban planning. A giant, newly constructed (and controversial) strip mall anchored by Wal-Mart was built in a flood plain; apparently they didn't consider what would happen during a heavy rainfall. A bunch of people's houses got flooded, and I-5 is still closed.

Some better laws and intelligent planning (like don't build a strip mall in a swamp next to a flood-prone river) could have prevented the whole thing.

Thanksgiving

My parents came to Seattle to visit for a few days this past weekend. Anya made a wonderful salmon dinner for Thanksgiving (none of us are overly fond of turkey), and my parents were able to spend time with some of their friends here.

Since my parents have been to Seattle quite a few times, we took them down to Portland for a couple of days. We showed them around the city; walking and taking the streetcar to different neighborhoods. My mom excitedly did some of her Christmas shopping (Oregon doesn't have any sales tax), and we were able to drink some great beer. Contrary to the stereotype, it was sunny the entire weekend (both in Seattle and Portland) and we all had a good time. There are some random pictures here.

Now my hope is that the sun goes away and the rain comes...not so much because I'm fond of rain but because I'm fond of snow (in the mountains). Most of the ski areas around here rely entirely on natural snow; they usually have plenty of it and making snow is very expensive and very wasteful. It's been sunnier and drier than normal, so the ski season's start has been delayed. There's snow in the forecast for the weekend, though, so my fingers are crossed.

Disneyland

I spent this past week at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. REI sent me there for a conference, but there was ample time to have a little fun and take a few pictures.

I attended the World Congress of Business Analysts, which probably sounds a lot more impressive than it is. The conference was, overall, hit or miss. Some sessions were very good (interesting, informative) and some were quite bad (boring, irrelevant). It also offered a good opportunity to get to know some of my coworkers better; REI's contingent was 12 strong. For this reason alone it was worth going.

We stayed at the aging Disneyland Hotel, which is also where all the classes were held. This was convenient because I was able to take advantage of the beautiful weather (80's & 90's every day) to go swimming in the beautiful pool at lunch time. All the families were at one of the theme parks during the day, so the pool was deserted.

The entire Disney complex in California is smaller but far more convenient than Disney World in Florida; you can walk everywhere. The hotels are connected to the parks via Downtown Disney, a pedestrian corridor with shops, restaurants, and surprisingly active nightlife (which we took advantage of).

Without apparent irony or sarcasm, they call Disneyland 'The Happiest Place on Earth.' This is surely only true if you are 7 years old and aren't footing the bill. Parents spend extravagant sums of money buying Disney-branded crap for their kids: every little girl is a princess, every little boy a Pirate of the Caribbean. No wonder kids these days have serious entitlement issues.

I'm fortunate that my employer was footing the bill. My only real expense was entry into the Disneyland park itself for an evening. Some of the rides (the roller coaster style ones) were genuinely fun for adults, and a new Indiana Jones ride was very entertaining. Lines were pretty short, and we timed it so that we wouldn't need to buy the overpriced food in the park.

It was a good trip. I learned a few things, the weather was nice, and I got to hang out with some very fun people. Anya was a little jealous, but she's going to get her revenge: she's going on a girls' trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to hang out on the beach in a few weeks.

Review: Espresso

At Stumptown in Seattle, Oct 07

I've resisted posting reviews on this blog for the reason that I always saw this more as a way for friends & family to stay in touch with what's happening; a sort of travelogue for Anya and I in Seattle. I don't expect that anyone really cares which restaurants or movies I like. Curiously, however, I've been asked about this topic several times recently so I thought I'd write something up.

Intro: I love espresso, and Seattle is a great place for a person like me. I'm pretty spoiled. I also drink my espresso straight. I don't add milk or water, so these ratings don't apply to other drinks (latte, cappuccino, macchiato, mocha, etc).

Here are the ratings on a 1 (terrible) to 5 (excellent) scale. These reflect only drink quality, not decor, service, food, price, convenience, etc. Since having a good barista is a big part of the equation, I'll only list places I've been a few times to average it out. These shops are in Seattle unless otherwise noted.

• Espresso Vivace ***** Sweet, dense, carmelly perfection; not a drop of bitterness. Seattle's original espresso, still the gold standard
  
• Stumptown Coffee ***** Precocious newcomer, now tied with Vivace. Fantastic crema (the fine bubbles on top). When Seattle is destroyed by the next earthquake, I'll happily drive to Portland just to drink this
• Victrola **** Probably closer to 4.5 stars, this is excellent espresso but just a hair shy of Vivace & Stumptown
  
• Caffe Vita **** (as served at Motore) 4 stars means very good. Better than 99.9% of espresso in the world
• Caffe Umbria *** Tries to be Italian style, 3 stars isn't bad at all
  
• Caffe Ladro *** Only if the places above aren't around. A little on the bitter side.
  
• Zeitgeist *** Cashing in on rich history. If they hired decent baristas they could probably get another star; the attention to quality isn't there
  
• Fonte Espresso *** Popular at Seattle restaurants; usually served on the watery side
• Attibassi *** An Italian brand served at Tutta Bella, our favorite Seattle pizzeria
  
• Peace Coffee *** Minneapolis' hands-down best (as served at Espresso Royale Cafe)
  
• Nordstrom *** Yes, the department store. Best you'll find at a mall
  
• Peet's *** West coast chain, best of the big guys. Bolder and richer than many others.
  
• Uptown Espresso ** Seattle chain known more for lattes
• Allegro ** Whole Food's house brand served at their cafe, made in Texas (ugh). Quite like Starbucks but a little bolder
  
• Starbucks ** They use an automated machine; at least it's consistently mediocre. Overly bitter, overly watery. Weak crema.
  
• Tully's ** Northwest chain; same problems as Starbucks
  
• Caribou Coffee ** Theirs got less bad over the last couple years; can be outrageously bitter and abrasive in the mouth
  
• Dunn Brothers * I really like this perennial Mpls underdog chain, but DO NOT order the espresso. They burn the hell out of their poor beans; it's like they make espresso out of a French roast
  
• Cafe del Diablo * They serve it "Cuban style" with cane juice; truly awful
  

If there's some that I've forgotten, let me know.

Vermont

This past weekend I went to visit Matt, a good friend who recently moved to Burlington, Vermont. I took quite a few pictures, and Matt posted shots of our hike on his site. Anya unfortunately had to stay in Seattle, but I think she had fun without me around (although she's too nice to admit it).

Matt and I took advantage of gorgeous weather on Friday to climb Mount Hunger, a 3600' hump in the Green Mountains with spectacular views. After a leg-burning hike through birch and spruce forests (and some scrambling over icy rocks near the top), we were rewarded with a perfectly sunny and almost wind-free view from the top. From there we could see nearby Mount Mansfield (Vermont's tallest) and the Stowe ski area on its flanks. In the east we could see across Vermont to New Hampshire's Presidential Range, including snow-covered Mt Washington - New England's highest peak. To our west was a great panorama of New York's Adirondack Mountains. After our hike we walked around Stowe, which despite the large ski area has maintained its quaint New England village feel.

Back in Burlington on Saturday, Matt showed me around the University of Vermont (where he's doing his Master's in Special Education). The campus is spread across the top of a broad hill with great views in all directions. The campus, with its old, oversized red-brick buildings felt a lot bigger than you would expect of a school with only 12,000 students.

We then walked around downtown Burlington, which is centered around pedestrian-only Church Street. It's a lively place with many shops, restaurants, bars, etc.; the many transplants from Boston and New York also means that there are a lot more options for good food & drink than would typically be available in a town of only 40,000 people (fun fact: Burlington is Vermont's largest city, but it's the smallest 'largest city' of any state).

It was a great weekend; it was a lot of fun visiting with Matt and getting to see his new surroundings. Burlington is cute and is a nice place to visit.

To finish, I'll just comment on some Vermont stereotypes:
- Maple syrup: yep, there's a lot of it and they seem proud of it
- Cheddar cheese: yes, and Vermont's cows have much more scenic beauty than their Wisconsin counterparts
- Beautiful fall colors: probably, although I missed the best of it
- Mean East Coast people: Not true, Vermonters are actually quite friendly
- Ben & Jerry's: Nobody goes there since they sold out to Unilever

Victoria & Halloween

Our friend Victoria was in Seattle visiting us this past weekend; although she wasn't here very long we had a fun time showing her around for a couple of gorgeous fall days. She's going to send us some of the many photos she took; I'll put up a link as soon as they are available.

In the meantime, here are a few pics from Saturday. We went to a Seattle Symphony concert (hence the dressy clothes) and then went out to a couple nightclubs to celebrate Halloween. Victoria was a cat and Anya and I were autumn trees. The creativity was all thanks to Anya; I claim no credit.

Pumpkin Carving

Last weekend our friends Alex and Crystal threw a pumpkin-carving party; we took a few photos.

I hadn't carved a pumpkin in many years, and actually Anya and our friend Pavel had never carved one. I think that was the impetus for throwing the party; it's just one of those things you should probably try at least once.

It was pretty much like I remembered it: gooey. The whole exercise was a little like taking a trip down memory lane back to 4th grade, except we had wine instead of Kool-Aid and salmon instead of Fruit Roll-Ups.

Cave B Estate Winery

When most people think of "Washington," with its temperate, moist climate and bountiful water and trees, they're actually thinking of Western Washington. But the strip of land between the ocean and the Cascade Mountains that typifies the "Pacific Northwest" is only part of the story.

If you cross the Cascades, as we did on Saturday, you get to a completely different environment. Eastern Washington, which makes up a majority of the state's land and a minority of the state's population, is very different from Seattle. This is a vast, dry land of rolling brown hills, canyons, and tumbleweed; arid except for pockets of irrigation.

Heading east out of Seattle on I-90 you go through the mountains and, descending, enter a desert landscape which could easily be mistaken for Arizona or New Mexico. You reach the Columbia River, which has used its Cascade and British Columbia meltwater to carve a huge gorge. After crossing the Columbia, you reach what might be your destination: wine country.

Cave B Estate Winery is a fairly well-publicized place: it has a spectacular setting, a reputation for fantastic food, and its 2.25 hour drive from Seattle makes it one of the closest wineries in the up-and-coming Columbia Valley winemaking region. We chose Saturday to visit because they were having a Harvest Festival. We could watch as the freshly picked grapes were de-stemmed and put into the fermentation tank. There was freshly squeezed apple cider (from apples grown on the estate), hay rides for the kids, and a grape-stomping competition. And of course there was plenty of wine and great food.

While Columbia Valley wine doesn't yet have the worldwide renown of regions like Napa or Sonoma, visiting Cave B was in many ways better than our experience in California. Great scenery aside, Cave B was far more peaceful: none of the bumper-to-bumper traffic or tourist busses. There is a small inn on the property that we're thinking would make a great weekend getaway, especially since Eastern Washington is far sunnier (although much colder) than Seattle during the winter.

We took a lot of great pictures, see them here.

MN Trip

Anya and I both had a fun time visiting everyone in Minnesota this past weekend. It was unseasonably hot and sticky; we were disappointed not to see any October snow.

We didn't do a good job of taking very many pictures. What we have is from my family's traditional fall get-together: the fish fry. My Grandpa loves to go fishing and every fall he fries some beer-battered walleye for us to enjoy. It was a beautiful (if warm) day at my uncle's farm near Pine Island, MN. Some cute pics, many of my 7 year-old cousin Nicole, are available here.

For those of you that we didn't get to see on this short trip, we'll try to catch up with you at Christmas time.

Middle Fork Snoqualmie River

We decided to forgo Mount Rainier on Sunday due to rain/snow at higher elevations; instead we went on a hike in the Cascades about 40 miles East of Seattle. The trail roughly followed the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River and meandered its way through some very beautiful old-growth temperate rainforest.

It was, of course, raining...but we were prepared for that; it worked out for the best because we had the entire trail to ourselves. Some of the trees were huge; others were smaller and so covered in moss that, in Anya's words, "they look like they're wearing sweaters." The only wildlife we saw were a pair of giant slugs (we didn't know they could get that big); check out the pictures here.

Fremont Soapbox Race

Today we attended a rather curious and entertaining event. The quirky Fremont neighborhood in Seattle played host to a Soapbox Race. We took a few of our own pics, but it was difficult due to the rain (which didn't stop an estimated 30,000 people from showing up) and the speed of the cars. The race was sponsored by Red Bull and had a similar atmosphere and theme as the Flugtag events they also sponsor (look it up if you're not familiar). The event's website will hopefully post some more pictures or videos here.

It was about a 7-block long course along Fremont Avenue with one banked 90-degree turn and several chicanes (zig-zags). It's a relatively steep stretch of street - you use your hand brake and curb your wheels when you park there - and the announcers claimed that the racers were able to attain speeds of over 30 mph. The entire course was lined with hay bales for safety; crashing into the hay was the preferred method for stopping at the end of the course.

The race was organized time-trial style with one car racing at a time, but speed was only part of the objective. Each team had to perform a small skit for judges at the starting line (usually to music), and "style" was the primary metric used to rank the racers. There were some pretty spectacular crashes; unfortunately we only saw those on the jumbotron as none happened near where we were standing.

Many of the cars were very creative: there was a ferry boat dragging the Space Needle behind, a large salmon on wheels, a rolling toilet, and a scaled-down version of the Fremont Troll (which anyone who has visited Seattle may remember). It was a unique and fun event.

It's snowing!

Yes, snow. Okay, I’m exaggerating a little…not actually here in Seattle, but up in the mountains nearby. They had a dusting a couple of nights ago, and then today more than an inch fell in the Cascades at places above 4000’. Both Anya and I are eager for the ski season to begin, so this was exciting news for us!

Meanwhile, down here in Seattle, autumn has clearly begun in the past week or so. Some of the trees are turning colors, but it’s not as dramatic as in Minnesota owing to the fact that more of the trees here are coniferous. It’s been getting comfortably cooler, highs in the 60’s, and foggier in the mornings. The fog usually is gone by the afternoon, and we’ve been having some of those beautiful (if chilly) fall evenings.

This weekend we’re going to try to go to Rainier for one last hike this year; the majority of the roads in the park close for winter on October 10^th. If we can remember to bring the camera along this time, I’ll post pictures.

Portland

This past weekend Anya and I again visited the wonderful city of Portland; we took a few pictures.

Unlike our previous trips to Portland, we decided to do this trip in a day rather than stay overnight. It's a 2.5 hour drive each way, but it feels faster than that because you can drive 80+ mph. With the exception of a short stretch in central Washington, Interstate 5 is a 6, 8, 10, or 12 lane freeway the entire 180 mile distance.

That's not to say that it's not a long day. We got to Portland early enough to have a late breakfast at a bakery that probably has the best bread in the world and didn't get home until about 11 pm.

We spent the majority of the day in the Pearl District, a neighborhood we've become fairly familiar with. It's the former industrial/warehouse area near downtown that's been Soho-ified and is now Portland's go-to place for eating, drinking, art, and non-chain-store shopping. REI Portland, a flagship store, is one of the only exceptions to the non-chain rule. We spent the day in the Pearl District eating, drinking coffee & beer, and enjoying Oregon's sales-tax-free shopping.

We also went to a neighborhood along the riverfront that had a vibe not unlike the St. Anthony/Main area in Minneapolis. Portland is on the Willamette River just a few miles upstream from its confluence with the Columbia, and the Willamette here is similar in size and sliminess to the Mississippi. I have to point out that anyone who played Oregon Trail as a kid will remember that this was your destination.

REI; Naches Peak Loop Trail

Last weekend, with my parents, we went on a relatively easy 4.5-mile hike called the Naches Peak Loop. The hike was a few miles away from Mt. Rainier itself and straddled the National Park and an adjacent wilderness area. The trail is in a sub-alpine area filled with beautiful Cascade vistas, alpine lakes, and spectacular views of Rainier itself.

Most of you who read this blog are probably sick of seeing pictures from Mt. Rainier. It seems like we go there pretty often and always take a lot of pictures. The pictures are always, to us, a bit disappointing because photographs fail to really capture the beauty and grandeur of the place. Nevertheless, we're going to keep posting the pictures we take there; some of them do turn out really well (for photographs). Click here to see them.

My first week of work at REI went very well. My manager and team are great; I think they're going to be wonderful to work with. Everyone that I've met has been very kind and helpful to the new guy. There's a positive vibe around the office - a very welcoming and friendly environment that I'll enjoy.

The commute hasn't been bad, either. It's taken about 20-25 minutes to go to work and 30 minutes to come home...traffic moves along at 60-70 mph with almost no slowdowns. Not as nice as walking to work like I did in Minneapolis, but certainly tolerable.

Parents' Visit

For the past week, my parents have been here to visit us for the first time since we moved. Although they've been to Seattle several times previously, I think they enjoyed seeing it from our perspective. For our part, it was fun see them and show them around our new environment.

The highlights of their time here were our day sailing (see Sailing entry below) and a day hiking in Mt. Rainier National Park (pictures coming soon). We also took some pictures of various things in & around Seattle. As the photos show, we kept quite busy.

In Seattle, summer is considered to last until the end of September; in fact, September can be the most pleasant month of the year weather-wise. My summer, however, is over. My parents leave tomorrow and I begin my new job at REI. I'm excited; it will be nice to have something to do and to have a change of scenery.

Audi

As previously mentioned, I had to bite the bullet and buy a car. New cars are overpriced, especially nice ones, so I went with a Certified Pre-Owned Audi. It's a 2003 Audi A4, 40,000 miles, with a 1.8 liter 4-cylinder turbo engine and the Quattro All-Wheel Drive system. Having AWD will be very helpful once winter comes and we spend (hopefully) most weekends in the mountains skiing.

So far I'm really liking my car. The gas mileage of course isn't as good as Anya's Civic, but it's a comfortable car that's a lot of fun to drive. We took it to Mt. Rainier this weekend; here are a few pics of the car (I'll post pictures of the scenery later).

Sailing

My parents are here visiting us for Labor Day weekend; they have longtime friends, Kathy and Larry, who have lived in Seattle for years. Yesterday we were fortunate enough to have them invite us to go out in their sailboat for the day. As usual, many photos were taken; they are here.

Kathy and Larry's boat, Starr, is an ocean-ready 36' sailboat, complete with living quarters (including a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen). Every summer they take several weeks off to sail the boat north of Seattle to the San Juans, a group of beautiful islands near the Canadian border.

Our trip was a bit more abbreviated: we had fairly steady winds to sail across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island, a large island usually accessed by ferry from Seattle. We ate lunch and cruised through Port Madison, a small inlet lined by beautiful trees and expensive houses. It was a sunny and clear day, so we enjoyed beautiful views of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, the Cascades, and the Olympics.

Sitting at the front of the boat, legs dangling just above the water and salty breeze in our faces, was exhilarating. I've been in motor boats many times before but there is definitely something special about having nothing but the wind to propel you.

Finally, a Job

After about 4 months of searching and a couple of close calls, I accepted a job yesterday! I'll be working for REI at their headquarters in Kent, WA, a suburb south of Seattle. Although it has been fun to have some time off during the summer, I'm looking forward to getting to work. I start after Labor Day, which works out well because my parents will be visiting us over Labor Day weekend.

I will be a Business Analyst working with their Online (rei.com) and Marketing divisions; my responsibilities will be similar to what I did at Target. I'm excited about working for REI, and not only because I like shopping at their stores. They're a very respected company amongst people in the retail industry, and they've been named one of the "Best Companies to Work for in America" by Fortune magazine for the last 10 years in a row.

Really the only downside to the whole thing is that we'll have to buy a second car. There really isn't any way I can commute to REI using public transportation...Seattle's bus/train system isn't set up to accommodate reverse commuters. Although Anya could use a bus to get to work it's simply not practical (it's a 60-90 minute ride each way and is actually more expensive than driving).

This weekend and next week I'll be spending my time car hunting, which is an activity that I'm only mildly looking forward to. There just aren't very many cars out there that I like, and they all seem irrationally expensive (for what you get).

Crystal Lakes

Yesterday, Anya and I went on a hike to some beautiful alpine lakes and took a few pictures.

We drove to Mount Rainier National Park and hiked the Crystal Lakes trail. It climbed 2300 leg-burning vertical feet through dense temperate forest to sub-alpine forests and meadows filled with wildflowers. The objective was a pair of crystal-clear alpine lakes at 5800'. Although it was too cloudy to see Rainier itself (a few miles away up the valley), we did get great views of the jagged and rocky peaks surrounding the lakes. Overall it was a cool and cloudy day, but it was sunny at the lakes and warm enough for some hardy (or crazy?) people to be swimming.

August in Seattle

Sorry about the lack of recent updates.

I'm continuing to search for a job. I've had several interviews with REI for a position at their headquarters in a suburb of Seattle; I feel pretty good about the job but will have to wait for a couple more weeks for their answer. I've thoroughly enjoyed having the summer off, but it would be nice to have some income (I'm sure Anya would appreciate that as well).

Over the past few weeks we've been semi-seriously investigating the possibility of buying a house or townhome of our own. Although we already knew this, we're finding that real estate in Seattle is very expensive compared to Minneapolis. We toured one small, dingy house built in 1904 (and hideously remodeled in the 60's...it probably hadn't been cleaned since then). The house had noticeably settled to one side; it seemed that even a minor earthquake could cause a total collapse. Because it was in a desirable neighborhood it was listed for more than $400,000. We found one nice (but not luxurious) new 3-story, 1800 sqft townhouse in a very good location (a leafy residential neighborhood within a few blocks of coffee shops, restaurants, pubs, a grocery store). It was $815,000.

Since we're not really serious about buying anything right now, it is fun - although a little discouraging - to look at what's out there.

Matt & Taja's visit + hiking on Mount Baker

Sadly, Matt and Taja are long gone; it was great having them around. I've been lazy (actually, trying to find a job), but I've finally uploaded some pics taken during their visit.

This is a two-part entry, so...

On Saturday, Anya and I took a trip to Mt. Baker; click here for those photos.

Mount Baker (10,778') is another of the Cascade volcanoes - of the same ilk as Rainier & St. Helens - about 90 miles north of Seattle. Compared to Mount Rainier, Baker is shorter, less prominent, and less visible - it takes an exceptionally clear day to see it from Seattle. Perched amidst the North Cascades (the 'American Alps'), Baker still gets its fair share of visitors due to its beautiful natural surroundings and spectacular alpine scenery. Its real claim to fame, however, is its ample amounts of snow.

Mount Baker is the snowiest place in the world. There's a ski area at 4300' that averages about 600" of snow per year (yes, that's 50 feet) which is the highest snowfall of any ski area in the world. In the winter of 1998-99 they received 1140" (that's 95 feet of snow), which is more snow than has ever been recorded in a single year anywhere on Earth.

These mountains take the brunt of storms blowing in from the Pacific Ocean, so winter (as you and I would define it) lasts about 9 months of the year - even at a relatively modest 6,000 feet in elevation. Spring comes in mid-July here, and you'll see that the flowers are starting to bloom.

Of course all that precipitation isn't possible without plenty of clouds. We didn't actually see Mt Baker when we visited; at least not the summit area. It was shrouded in clouds despite everywhere else being sunny. The picturesque peak you see in our photos is actually Baker's non-volcanic 9,127-foot neighbor, Mt. Shuksan.

As you can see, there is still plenty of snow left at 5,140' at the top of the dead-end Mount Baker Highway. The pictures at the beginning are from a place called Artist Point; the later ones are from a very scenic valley nearby in an area called Bagley Lakes.

Matt, Taja, and Mount Rainier

Matt and Taja are here visiting us for the week; on Sunday we went hiking at Mt Rainier. The pictures are here.

Now that it's finally summer, the flowers were in full bloom and the wildlife was out. We saw chipmunks, deer, a marmot sunning himself, and a black bear hunting for berries. We all had a very good time and enjoyed Mount Rainier's abundant natural beauty.

Portland & Cannon Beach

This past weekend we took a trip down to Oregon. The photos are available for both Portland and Cannon Beach.

Back in the 1960's & 70's Oregon had a visionary Governor named Tom McCall who is credited for making Portland the way it is today. McCall was a big environmentalist and accordingly enacted many 'green' laws. He permanently set aside huge swaths of state-owned land as wilderness areas, increased funding and acreage for state parks and forests, and shut out big-business tourist development by making the entire coastline (including all the state's numerous beaches) public property, free for anyone to use. His most influential act, however, was a law placing an "Urban Growth Boundary" around all Oregon cities. This severely limited suburban sprawl and protected Oregon's natural beauty. (As an aside, Tom McCall was a Republican...interesting how things have changed.)

The UGB forced Portland to grow denser rather than wider; the acres of asphalt parking lots common in cities like Minneapolis and Seattle are unknown to Portlanders.
This density, along with Portland's narrow streets and short blocks (200 ft instead of the 360 ft standard in many cities), makes it very pedestrian friendly. We parked our car the entire weekend; everything you want to see or do is within walking distance or can be easily reached on the streetcar (Portland also has the best public transit system in America).

The downtown core area has a lot of great old architecture and seems to always be bustling; it's reminiscent of a small London. A short walk away, the Cultural District has big musuems, Portland State University, and lots of tree-lined streets. A short walk in the other direction brings you to the Pearl District, a masterpiece of smart planning and easily one of the most livable urban neighborhoods in the country.

Portland has great bakeries and restaurants, a thriving microbrew scene (there are 80 craft breweries in the city), great coffee, and is just an all-around great place to walk around. It's been called the best place in America to live, and you'll find no argument here. It's a 2.5 hour jaunt on I-5 from Seattle, just close enough to make a long day out of it...which Anya and I will certainly do in the future.

On our way back to Seattle we took a long detour over to the coast (60 miles west of Portland) to a town called Cannon Beach. Check out the pictures; they portray the rugged and beautiful coast better than I can. The beach was great, but even on a 80+ degree day in the summer the water (coming straight from Alaska) was extremely cold.

Seattle, 2 months on...

It's been exactly two months since I moved to Seattle (and 3 months for Anya), so I thought I would write a little bit about some of our observations and address some of the common stereotypes.

1. The People
I've always suspected that "Minnesota Nice" was an exaggeration; a quaint illusion that was perpetuated more by outsiders' stereotypes than by anything Minnesotans actually did. My time in Seattle has backed up my beliefs: Anya and I have found Seattelites to be no more or less friendly than Minnesotans.

People here are laid back, neither annoyingly gregarious nor overly cold. This is probably predictable: of the 50,000 people who migrate to Seattle (and its environs) each year, half are from California. Restaurants are casual and unpretentious. Things might be changing (the Four Seasons hotel opens next year), but stuffiness is generally looked down upon; dress codes are rare.

Seattleites are outdoorsy, but it's hard not to be when there are such beautiful natural surroundings. It seems that nearly everyone is a skier, climber, kayaker, mountain biker, etc.

People here are also somewhat self-effacing. They don't brag much about their city, and they seem to idolize San Francisco...it's impossible to read a newspaper article about some infrastructure project without seeing a description of how they did it in San Francisco. The two cities are probably pretty similar: temperate climate, tech-based economy (we don't have Oakland, though...so read into that what you will).

2. The Climate
To say about Seattle,"It rains all the time," is about as accurate as saying that it "Snows all the time" in Minnesota. Since we moved here it's been cool (50's) to warm (70's), and rained only occasionally. There have been only two weekends where our plans were dampened by all-day rain, but both of those times we were in Canada (we don't know what the weather was like in Seattle). Anya would like it to be a bit warmer, but I've found it pleasant to walk around without needing shorts and sandals. On several occasions locals who know that we're new here have apologized for the "bad spring" we're having...this always confuses me as I've liked the weather so far. Summer is said to begin on the 4th of July, so we'll see how that goes.

3. Coffee
Yes, people here drink a lot of it and they like it 'strong,' at least by MN reckoning. Yes, there are quite a few Starbucks. I've been told there's one place downtown where you can see 4 individual Starbucks locations without turning your head (I haven't seen this but I don't doubt it). But there are also plenty of local, independent coffee shops and roasters, as I've discussed previously.

Perhaps the most unique coffee-related thing happens when you leave the city. Anya and I have driven through a fair amount of small towns on our way to hikes in the mountains. There are two things found in every small town across the country: a bar and a gas station. In Washington, there is a third ever-present element to small town life: the drive-through Espresso hut. Usually they're cute little log-cabinesque structures, barely larger than a parking lot attendant's booth. They all have the same red neon sign that announces, in large letters, "ESPRESSO." I've never actually stopped at one, but I suppose it's reassuring to know that even in a small town I'll never have to resort to drinking gas station coffee.

Overall, both Anya and I like Seattle very much. Compared to Minneapolis, Seattle has an even more screwed up transportation system (although it's getting better), more homeless people, more petty crime, and costlier housing. It also has better food (including tons of great locally-grown products), a better climate, less violent crime, more urban neighborhoods worth exploring, more innovative companies, a downtown that's alive after 5:00 and on weekends, more tech jobs, more super-rich people giving vast sums of money to local cultural institutions, more great local coffee, beer, and wine, and more day or weekend trips to interesting & beautiful places.

Mount Rainier

Yesterday Anya and I again went to Mount Rainier for a hike; pictures are here.

I've already written about this topic, and posted a bunch of pictures. However, there are two main entrances to Mount Rainier National Park that visitors coming from Seattle use. Previously we went to the southern (and busiest) end of the park, known for its cascading waterfalls, old-growth temperate rainforest, and bumper-to-bumper weekend traffic. This time, we went to a much less crowded area named Sunrise in the northeast corner of the park.

Sunrise is set on a sub-alpine meadow at 6400'. July is "spring" on this part of the mountain (the snow is finally melting), and the wildflowers are in bloom. Many trails criss-cross these meadows; some descend to the forests, others ascend into high alpine tundra where nothing but moss and small grass can survive in the 3-month growing season.

The pictures don't do it justice, but they do a good job of approximating the scenery on our hike: secluded lakes, hardy wildflowers, chipmunks, the occasional marmot, snowfields that last until August, and sweeping larger-than-life views of the Mountain itself and its glaciated flanks. We obviously had a fantastic time, and can't wait to go back.

Olympic Sculpture Park

Today was a perfect Seattle summer day, clear and warm (but not hot), so I walked to the Olympic Sculpture Park and took these photos. There are some really great pics worth checking out (I don't take credit for this...the camera did all the work).

The Olympic Sculpture Park was recently built by the Seattle Art Museum as a place to exhibit some of their large-scale sculptures. It's on a former industrial site on the waterfront in a residential neighborhood called Belltown, approximately 20 minutes on foot from our apartment.

The OSP has become one of my favorite places in Seattle. On clear days it offers spectacular views: west across Puget Sound to the Olympic Mountains, and south past downtown Seattle's skyscrapers to a looming, snow-covered Mount Rainier. The park also has lots of trees, green space, and beautiful wildflower meadows. Oh, and the sculptures are cool too.

The pictures tell the story better than I do; I've captioned each one to provide some context (view the slideshow and click on the big "i" to see these).

Fremont's Summer Solstice Parade

Fremont is a neighborhood in Seattle that is a very artsy kind of place popular with hipsters, hippies, and various non-mainstream types of people. It has a sign that says "Welcome to the People's Republic of Fremont" and there is a prominent statue of Lenin that was moved there after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Every year they have a parade to celebrate the Summer Solstice, and it's a big event in Seattle. I, personally, find parades to be very boring and tedious, but this was quite different from any parade I've ever seen before. Tradition dictates that preceding the actual parade, a large group of people (anyone who wants to join in) can bike down the parade route wearing nothing but body paint. People use a rather liberal definition of "body paint;" some create elaborate "outfits" for themselves while others had no paint at all, obviously preferring to capitalize on the rare opportunity to bike around completely naked in public without getting arrested.

Once all the naked people passed, the actual parade began. Again, this was not a typical parade: no marching bands, no old people riding around in old cars, and no politicians. Instead, you get pretty much what you would expect from a parade in the most liberal neighborhood of one of the most liberal cities in the U.S. Some of the parade was musical (like the group wearing leather, makeup, and tattered old wedding dresses blasting death-metal); some was theatrical (a bunch of 'Egyptian' slaves carrying heavy 'stones' with which to build a pyramid at the end of the route, being whipped along by the pharoah and Cleopatra), and much was political (like Condi, Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush chained together as prisoners being herded along by people wearing "Arrest the War Criminals" t-shirts). This last, of course, received a loud cheer from the crowd.

Anyway, words don't really do it justice, so check out the pictures. Pics from Anya's camera (you'll also see a few pics from our friend Alex's birthday party). Our friend Pavel took some even better shots of the parade.

Vancouver pics...

...available here.

Stumptown Coffee

This morning I visited my favorite local coffee shop, Motore Coffee. It's 2 blocks from our apartment I've been frequenting it ever since we moved to Seattle. I've gotten to know the owner a bit; he's just a local guy who loves coffee and decided to start up his own café. I've chatted with him a few times about the coffee industry, which is no small topic in a city like this.

Right now is an interesting time for the specialty coffee business in Seattle. By 'specialty' I don't mean the big guys like Starbucks, Tully's, and Peet's; rather I'm referring to small, local roasters who strive more for quality than quantity. This niche is filled with about a half dozen main players, most of which have been operating since the espresso revolution in Seattle in the 70's & 80's. Almost any non-chain café or restaurant will serve one of these brands, and Motore is no different.

But a shakeup is starting to occur. Eight years ago a Seattle native who grew up working for these Seattle-based roasters moved down to Portland and started Stumptown Coffee. Portland is justifiably renowned for its great beer, but Stumptown put Portland on the coffee map in a big way. In 2005 & 2006 Stumptown was named "Roaster of the Year" by Roast magazine, which is to coffee as Vogue is to fashion. Now, Stumptown is opening a couple coffee shops, a tasting room, and a roasting plant in Seattle. They're in the process of courting café owners to make the switch and start using Stumptown beans, and the owner of Stumptown was in my café today.

I had heard of them before but after having a conversation with Duane, the founder and owner, I understand why Stumptown is different from the rest. Duane and his team regard coffee with the same kind of passion, dedication, and rigor that a oenophile reserves for wine. It's not just "mild, medium, or French roast." Each coffee is named solely from where it came from: country, region, town, and sometimes even the name of the farm. They have estate coffees where 100% of the beans came from the same field. They have daily coffee tastings (called 'cuppings') where you can taste the difference between Brazil Fazenda Serra do Bone, Rwanda Karaba E Lot, and about 20 other varietals.

The one I tasted today was called Finca el Injerto, which, I learned, is made by a guy named Arturo Aguierre in the Huehuetenango region of northern Guatemala. Stumptown works hard to ensure the quality of their product by building exclusive relationships with their farmers. They regularly pay 3 or 4 times the minimum fair trade price; Duane explained that enabling Arturo and his family to live decent lives is not only socially conscious, it's the best way to ensure quality beans in the future. Duane visits all of his farmers in Central & South America, Africa, and Indonesia at least 3 times per year (a Starbucks buyer usually visits once per year).

Finca el Injerto was wonderful. We prepared it in a French Press and unlike most coffees available in the U.S., it was neither bitter nor acidic. I tasted a hint of cherries at the beginning with a chocolate milk-like aftertaste. Only after coming home and doing a little reading did I learn that last year's crop of Finca (because Duane is anal about freshness it's only available during certain times of the year when the beans ripen) was considered by aficionados to be the best coffee in the world.

Because of their uniqueness, Stumptown's beans are a little more expensive than most (around $14/pound), but after meeting the guy responsible for this I'm more than convinced it's worth it.

Vancouver

Anya's friend Sarinya was in town visiting us from Denver this past week. We had a fun time showing her around Seattle and eating copious amounts of sushi (which will probably be a recurring thing with visitors from non-coastal areas).

The three of us also took a weekend trip to Vancouver, BC. It's one of those cities that's kind of like San Francisco: you go there expecting to like it because of all the good things you've heard. It's been named one of the top three cities in the world in which to live by several different sources; when you mention to Seattlites that you're going there the most common response is "Oh, Vancouver is so cool!"

Most of the hype is justified.

First off, Vancouver is in an incredible location. The downtown area is on a peninsula that sits between a bay and two large inlets; except for a narrow strip it's surrounded entirely by water. At the tip of the peninsula is the huge Stanley Park (yes, it's the same Stanley whose Cup all Canadians seem to covet), which has wonderful views and stands of old-growth forest. Directly across the inlet to the north lie towering mountains. To the west across the Strait of Georgia you can see Vancouver Island, which the city of Vancouver is confusingly not on.

Secondly, Vancouver is a very modern city. It's grown tremendously in the last 20 or 30 years, which is evident by its innumerable glass-and-steel office and condo buildings. It's also a very diverse city, not least because of hundreds of thousands of emigrants from Hong Kong that moved there before that city passed from the control of the British. This density, verticality, and diversity has lead to a very walkable city with lots of activity even on the cold, rainy days we were there.

We stayed in Yaletown, a former industrial area now filled with new residential towers. At the heart of Yaletown are about a dozen square blocks of converted old warehouses that are Vancouver's hot spot for restaurants and bars. This is where real Vancouverites hang out; it's fun to see those neighborhoods rather than the typical tourist areas.

And that brings me to my real point: Vancouver's biggest attraction should be the city itself. My sense is that most of the beaten-path tourist areas (the waterfront, the public market, the zoo, the museums) that you read about in travel books are pretty standard. They're the kind of thing you could find in most cities. Vancouver is best enjoyed by avoiding those areas and exploring on your own. Almost all of the downtown peninsula, with the exception of Gastown and Chinatown is a pleasant example of what a modern city can and should be: green, walkable, lively, safe.

You get the sense that Vancouver is probably a better place to live than to visit. Most of its appeal is in the everyday things rather than the flashy sightseeing attractions. I suppose that's why I liked it so much.

Some random facts that I found interesting:
- Vancouver has only 2 million people in the metro area; half the size of Seattle and about the same size as Portland
- Vancouver gets 48" of rain per year compared to Seattle's 34"
- In 2010 Vancouver will become the first coastal city to host the Winter Olympics, and will also be the warmest city ever to host the winter games (it rarely gets cold enough to snow)

Mount Rainier

This weekend Anya and I spent a day at Mount Rainier; check out the pictures here.

Mount Rainier is a 14,410 foot high volcano about 60 miles from Seattle. From any part of the city with a view south on a clear day, it's a prominent feature on the horizon. Even though Seattle has views of mountains on both sides of it (the Cascades in the east and the Olympics in the west), Mt Rainier is so big that people who live here simply call it "The Mountain."

The pictures don't really do it justice; when you're nearby it's so massive that it's difficult to believe it's only one mountain. Its immensity dwarfs any other mountains I've ever seen; there are places where the land rises more than 13,000 vertical feet in a matter of only a few miles.

Since it sticks out far above all the other nearby mountains into the wet wind coming off the Pacific, it (like the other nearby volcanoes: Baker, Hood, Adams, and St Helens) gets clobbered with snow in the winter. We visited on June 2nd and it was sunny and about 70 degrees; check out our pictures for the ones where the snow was still almost 9 feet deep on the side of the road. This ample precipitation means that it's the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states, and it remains snow-capped throughout the summer.

The mountain is in Mount Rainier National Park, one of the oldest and most frequently visited national parks. It's also a historic site because of the prevalence of 1920's & 30's era log buildings known as 'parkitecture.'

During summer weekends (the park is only open from May - October), it gets very crowded with people driving along the highway to enjoy the scenery. The cool thing that we discovered is that it's easy to escape the crowds: since most people never go far from the highway or the main visitors centers, you can take even a short walk into the forest and have a completely different experience from the average visitor.

We walked along a trail (see the pictures at the end of the set) that climbed along the Van Trump Creek; our destination was Comet Falls, a 300 foot waterfall 2 miles distant and 1200 vertical feet up from the trailhead. We were turned back by icy conditions on a steep, exposed slope shortly before the falls, but not before seeing giant trees, raging rapids, and dozens of small waterfalls. We both definitely want to return someday to go all the way to the large falls.

For anyone still reading my ravings: if you're coming to visit us this summer and are even remotely interested in doing something outdoorsy, we'd be happy to take you to Rainier.

Memorial Day weekend

Find pics from the weekend here.

After getting some new furniture delivered and taking time to organize our things once and for all, Anya and I are finally feeling settled and were able to do some fun stuff this weekend (not that furniture shopping isn't fun, but living out of boxes gets old).

We had planned on going to a wine festival being held by a bunch of Washington wineries, but it turned out to be rainy and somewhat cold that day (it was nice the rest of the weekend, though). Instead we went to the Redhook Brewery, which started in Seattle but relocated years ago to a suburb called Woodinville. Unlike most seemingly nature-inspired suburbs, this one actually lived up to its name and was quite green and foresty.

The brewery has a large pub with surprisingly decent food, but we of course were there for the tour. I've been on quite a few brewery tours over the years, but Redhook's was by far the most drinking-oriented. Despite being available nationwide, Redhook is still a relatively small brewery, and as such there were really only 3 rooms to see. The tour guide was humorous and personable, and led us back to a central room after each short informative speech. This central room was where the real "tour" occured, as a different beer was given to us to sample each time.

Overall, this tour was the most worthwhile brewery tour I've ever been on. I didn't learn much about beer or the brewing process, but the tour only cost $1 per person and included a small beer glass and essentially unlimited beer to fill it with. For anyone visiting us who is a beer enthusiast, I would highly recommend it.

Another day during our weekend we devoted to seeing some of the beautiful nature that surrounds Seattle. We drove about 35 miles east into the Cascade mountains to Ollilie State Park, where we walked on a recommended trail. We went on a 2-mile path (each way) through a temperate rainforest and along a mountain river to a pair of waterfalls. It was a very beautiful place with lots of huge old-growth pine trees (actually firs and hemlocks), ferns, and moss. The main waterfall was around 150 feet high and we got a nice view of it from an overlook and a special foot bridge. In total the trail gained about 1000 feet in altitude, so it was a decent workout.

Trip to Victoria, BC

To celebrate our 1 year anniversary, Anya and I took a weekend trip to Victoria, British Columbia this past weekend. View the photos here.

To get there we took the Victoria Clipper, a high speed passenger ferry (it goes about 35 mph, which seems pretty fast for a boat its size) that makes the trip from Seattle in about 2.5 hours. Overall the ferry experience is rather like an airplane trip; you check your bags, get a boarding pass, go to the gate, take your seat on the boat, wait, collect your bags, and go through customs - it's Canada, after all. The seats and food were only marginally better than most airplanes, but the views were great (assuming it's a clear day you get spectacular views of the Olympic mountains for most of the trip).

The hype for Victoria is that it's a quaint European or British-style town with cute streets and lots of small cafes, pubs, restaurants, and shops. To the extent that it's supposed to be a good tourist destination, we found it to be somewhat overrated. Although the downtown area is compact enough to walk everywhere, it's too big to be called cute and too rundown to be called quaint. Boring 60's and 70's government buildings (it is the capital city of BC) abound everywhere except for the area immediately around the harbour. Because of the temperate climate compared to most of Canada, Victoria is somewhat of a retirement hotspot. This has lead to the construction of glass & steel condo towers which, while quite fitting for Seattle or Vancouver, seem looming and out of place.

Perhaps I am making it out to be worse than it was; we stayed at a good hotel and ate at some wonderful restaurants. Overall, it was a very good Anniversary weekend! It's just that the city did not impress us. The two highlights of Victoria itself are the British Columbia Parliament building, and the 1908 vintage castle-like Fairmont Empress Hotel. (See the pics).

The definite highlight of the trip was the second day, when we took a bus 15 miles outside the city to the Butchart Gardens (again, check out the pictures...link is above). Several generations of the Butchart family have spent 100+ years converting an old limestone quarry into fantastic rolling gardens. It's hard to describe, and harder to come up with a comparison...the best I can do is "Disneyland for botanists and landscape architects." There are many different sections; a Japanese garden, an Italian garden, a rose garden, and the signature "Sunken Garden" where a giant cleft in the ground (the result of the quarrying) was filled with hills of flowers, a pond, lawns, moss-covered rocks, and walking paths. The cold weather and rain didn't really dampen the experience, in a lot of ways it seemed appropriate to the climate and made everything feel very fresh and alive.

As I said before, it was a good weekend getaway; the splendor of the gardens made it worthwhile. However, I don't think Anya and I will be in any rush to go back to Victoria, especially with so many other good destinations near Seattle. We're already planning a trip to Portland sometime later in the summer, which is a city that is quite different from Victoria and drastically under-rated as a weekend getaway. Until then, we have a countless number of places to explore and things to do here in Seattle.

Coffee

It's fun not to have a job. I spent the past week walking around, exploring different neighborhoods close to where we live, visiting different museums & tourist attractions, etc. The weather has been great; contrary to popular belief it's not always rainy and gray in Seattle. We're doing well at figuring out the lay of the land...where is the best sushi within walking distance, who has the best pizza, the coolest wine bar, etc.

I've also been trying to find the best coffee, which is no easy task in Seattle. Of course there is Starbucks and their Caribou-like counterpart called Tully's, but there are also plenty of independent coffee shops. I've counted at least 6 such small, "craft" shops & roasters. They're all based in the coffee-Mecca neighborhood called Capitol Hill, but most have opened a few branches around time. Luckily, there are 3 branches within a few blocks of our apartment. Some specialize in American drip-style coffee, some in very strong Italian style espresso, some in cappuccino & latte. I've read that some of the best baristas, the ones who can make hearts or palm trees out of the foamy milk on the top of your latte, can make $40k/year and get full benefits! That's how seriously they take it here. For those of you reading who are coffee drinkers, needless to say I will have plenty of great places to take you when you come to visit.

Have to run now. Anya is building a small forest of a garden on our balcony and we have to make our 3rd trip to the nursery in as many days :-)

North Cascades National Park

Updated: see the pics here.

Being sick of constant unpacking & organizing, we decided to take a break Sunday. We drove ~2.5 hours to North Cascades National Park. Neither of us had been there before, but it has a reputation of being an extremely beautiful (and uncrowded) place. It didn't disappoint.

The north Cascades are nicknamed the "American Alps" because they are steep, jagged, and covered with glaciers and could easily remind you of Switzerland or Austria. The road takes you past countless small waterfalls (the kind people buy posters of) that run down the side of the mountains every few hundred feet. There are several large lakes which were formed be dams that give people like Anya & I cheap electricity, but that doesn't make the lakes any less impressive.

We have lots of other cools places to explore also, but I know both Anya and I would like to go back sometime.

Finally in Seattle

Sorry for the lack of updates. Anya and I (and all of our stuff) are now moved into our new apartment in Seattle. Most of our things are still in boxes, but that's a different story. We're going to spend the next few weeks unpacking, organizing, and acquainting ourselves with our new neighborhood.

We will have plenty of room to accommodate guests, so consider this your invitation...

Anya in Minneapolis this weekend

Just an FYI...Anya will be in Minneapolis this weekend. We're going to be pretty busy with packing stuff & preparing to move, but if you're around give us a call.

Weekend in Seattle

I just got back from spending the weekend with Anya in Seattle. We saw some really cool stuff, and it's definately worth checking out the pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79366206@N00/sets/72157600081212311/

There are admittedly a lot of pictures, but there's basically 3 different places pictured:

The bulk of the pictures (starting at the beginning) are from the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The Skagit Valley is a super-fertile valley about 60 miles north of Seattle on I-5. They grow a ton of flowers (primarily tulips & daffodils) there, and have a big celebration every spring. I'm not usually a big flower person, but this was a really interesting place to spend a few hours. The pictures, however impressive, don't really do it justice. The effect of having tens of thousands of bright flowers carpeting a field is unlike anything I've seen before. On a clear day we would have seen some really cool views of the Cascades and Mt. Baker (one of the volcanoes and also the snowiest place on Earth), but even this time of the year they're usually shrouded in clouds.

After the many pics of the tulip festival are some additional pics of the Japanese Garden in Seattle. As the pictures show, it is also a very beautiful place that we will happily take any visitors. Unlike the tulips, though, I'm pretty sure it will stay impressive year-round. It's perhaps 10 minutes from downtown Seattle but feels like you're out in the country. Those goldfish are about a foot long.

The last few pics are of Snoqualmie Falls, a very impressive 300-foot waterfall about 30 minutes' drive east of Seattle on I-90 (and only maybe 10 minutes from Issaquah, were Anya works) at the edge of the Cascade Mountains. If they get heavy rain or snow, there can be water flowing across the entire ridge.

-Erik

Pike Market, Belltown,...

I spent most of the day on Saturday walking by Pike Market (famous for fish), Belltown and Downtown. Pike Market is a fun place, there are many little shops and cafes. I was expecting a very big area with fish but the area with flowers was bigger. I didn't see such a variety of tulips before - very pretty! I wanted to buy a bouquet but since I was going to walk for another couple of hours I thought that my bouquet wouldn't survive. Although, I bought some bread and roasted hazel nuts. I also walked down to the bay area were I was greeted by local homeless people. The views of the bay area were very nice but I wouldn't recommend it as a romantic spot.

Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79366206@N00/450124968/in/set-72157600041671394/

Japanese Garden

I had a nice trip to Japanese garden. It is beautiful; everything is blooming. If you come to visit us in May it might still be in bloom.
Japanese Garden pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79366206@N00/sets/72157600056977741/

Walk on the Mercer Island

I (Anya) went for a walk from my apartment to the downtown Mercer Island; it took me about 20 minutes one-way. There were a lot of people biking. Just as in Minnesota, many bikers, for some reason, like to bike on the road rather than on a bike path... I was talking to Erik on the phone most of the way, he, probably wanted to make sure that I didn't get lost. The weather was great today, sunny and blue sky! Always rainy Seattle???
There are some new pictures taken during my walk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79366206@N00/

We found an apartment

After an exhaustive apartment search all day Saturday, we found a really great apartment to live in. It's a very nice, new, never-been-lived-in condo within walking distance to most of the cool stuff in Downtown Seattle (restaurants & bars, the fish market, shopping, and cultural things like the art museum and symphony hall, etc.). It's on the 9th floor and has fantastic views of downtown; from the balcony you can also see the Space Needle and (on a clear day) the Olympic Mountains across the Sound. It's only a 1-bedroom, but the living room is spacious so we're going to arrange something so guests can sleep there.

Of course you're all invited to visit us anytime after we get settled, and now we'll have a nice place for you to stay.

New Pictures

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79366206@N00/
Seattle, Parties before going to Seattle, Skiing in Colorado, and etc.

Weekend in Seattle & Mercer Island

We arrived to Seattle this Friday night and drove to Mercer Island to find our temporary housing. We thought it would be very easy to find the apartment building. Well... there are, probably, about hundred buildings that look the same as our building, so we drove in the dark for a while.
Mercer Island is very green and a lot of trees are blooming. There are many pretty houses facing the lake, I would definitely not mind to live in one of them. Another nice thing at Mercer Island is the air; it smells very nice - fresh pine tree smell.
I made a little trip today to Issaquah (my office is there) to buy some groceries at QFC and stop by at Target. Surprisingly, the whole Washington state decided to go to Target, I have never seen it so busy in Minnesota. While my little trip, the weather was changing from rain to sunny. Yes, there is sun here! The most outstanding fact about my little trip is that even being "directionally challenged" (as Erik says) I didn't get lost. I am thinking to explore something tomorrow too.
Well, I am ready to sleep now since I didn't adjust to new time zone yet. Erik will tell you more about our apartment search.

Anya moves on Friday

It seems very fast, but on Friday, March 30th, Anya moves to Seattle to begin work on April 2. Her company is paying for her to stay in corporate housing temporarily while we seach for an apartment. I'm going with her this weekend so we can begin the hunt and then going back in a couple of weeks to continue. Luckily Research in Motion also connected us with an apartment hunting firm; since this is all happening on pretty short notice, we're going to rely heavily on them to help us find a good place to live.

Going skiing

If you try to email one of us and we don't respond, it's because we'll be in Colorado skiing until March 24th. We'll respond when we get back.

Welcome

Welcome to the blog. This is where we'll be posting info, comments on our experiences, links to pics, etc about our upcoming move to Seattle.

To give you some context, here's what's going on:
On March 12, Anya accepted a fantastic job offer in Seattle. She's going to be moving there to start work at the beginning of April; I'm going to follow at the end of April.

Anya's going to be working as a Usability Analyst at a company called Research in Motion. Most people haven't heard of them until you clarify that they're the makers of Blackberry devices. Anya is going to post more about her new job later.

I don't yet have a job arranged there (and I haven't yet quit from Target), but I'm going to be searching soon.

That's about all we know for the moment. More later.