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.