The Odyssey - Our Ferry-Journey to Seattle

Neither of us had ever been on a ferry before so we were pretty excited about it. Katie pointed us in the way we should go and, babies in tow, we were off. Here we are in line to get on the ferry. We didn't have a schedule and weren't sure how long we were going to be parked here, but the people-in-the-know left their cars in line and walked up the hill for ice cream. Had we known how much time we had or where the ice cream came from or we would have done that also. The ferry ride from Port Orchard to Seattle cost us $11.

It wasn't too long before the line started to move. Here we are getting onto the ferry.

Here we are parked inside the ferry. It's very exciting! We thought the ferry ride to Seattle was great! How fun is it to ride, in your car, on a boat! It was fun. It was sort of a trip to look out the side and see that we were moving and then look out the front and it seemed like we weren't - sort of dizzying. We giggled like school girls all the way and the babies slept almost all the way.

Here we are getting off the ferry in Seattle.

We had fun in Seattle (see previous post) and then it was time to go back to Katie's house. So we pulled out our map and found the road that goes back to the ferry. No problem, I'm good at reading maps. So, we head out on the road that goes back to the ferry and everything is great until we come upon a road crew who is in the process of digging a big hole in the middle of the street where we're driving. Crap. They are detouring us. Detouring us across train tracks where there just happens to be a train going by - ever so slowly. Then the train stops (audible groans). Then a hobo jumps off the train (audible giggling). I tried to get a picture...it would have made the whole affair worthwhile...but it was night and my camera just wouldn't do it. Then said train starts going backward (screams of dismay). Finally, this impossibly long train clears out and we continue on. Turns out this road also goes straight to the ferry.

We arrive at the ferry place and get into line with the other cars that are ferrying. Soon a police officer comes by and asks where we're going. "Port Orchard" we say, and here is his reply...

"Okay, here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna pull out of here and go up there. Up there, there is a black F150 - that's a truck, a big black truck. Behind that truck is a small red pickup truck. You need to go between those trucks to the ticket booth. But you're not gonna fit. So, here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna drive up on the curb - you can do this. You have this sporty little SUV - you can do it. Just drive up on the curb and go on through. You can do it - go. GO, GO, GO!!!

So we do that. You should have seen the look on the face of the lady walking on the sidewalk. Sort of a combination of terror and disbelief. She's an idiot for keeping walking. If I saw someone driving slowly up onto the curb my instinct would be to stop and back up. Anyway, we get to the ticket booth and they say, "Just the two of you?" and we say "yes" (never mind the two babies in the back) and they charged us $16 to go back. And when we asked they said that it was 'per person' on the way back. Which also makes no sense unless the price is different on the other side or at night. Whatever. We get in line, again, for the ferry. The ferry ride to the Seventh Circle of Hell.....

When we finally got to the ferry there were people directing us where to park. The person in charge was motioning us up the ramp to the upper parking place. Then he stopped us on the ramp. And told us to put it into park. WHAT? You're not serious. It's like a 45 degree angle. We have to park HERE?! EEEK! We didn't like it one bit, but we were trapped. This is a picture looking down from our 'place of honor' on the stupid ramp.

They put blocks behind the wheels! I asked Carrie how many cars slid off the ferry into the Sound before they started putting blocks behind the tires. I bet Puget Sound is LITTERED with cars where the ferries go. Eventually, two other cars parked behind us. This made us feel better since they would slide into the water before us.
Carrie was hoping that there would be some sort of gate on the back of the boat. This seems like a good idea to me as well. So when the ferry starts to move I took a look. This stupid net is the only thing across the back of the boat. Oh good, that will save us.

So here we are, parked at a 45 degree angle, on a boat, with sleeping babies in the car. The car feels like we'll roll backward at any second. There are blocks behind the tires that don't look especially helpful and a net on the back of the boat to keep us all aboard. Then the babies woke up and they were NOT happy. They liked being parked at an angle even less than we did. Of course, we were being pulled back into the seat. The babies (in rear-facing car seats) were being pull forward. They screamed the entire way. This video isn't really for the visual effect, it's for the audio. I tried to commentate but it was so horrible that we ended up laughing like crazy people. We're NEVER riding the ferry again.

Another Fabulous Girl's Week - Washington State

My sister, Katie, lives in Port Orchard, Washington. She decided to have a Lia Sophia jewelry party for her birthday and her friend Kristy (who lives in Kaysville, UT) is a demonstrator. No problem, me and my travel buddy Carrie and Kristy all piled into a car together (with Carrie's one year old, Nadia, and my one year old, Talia) and headed to Washington.



In order to call this a "Business Convention" and write off the expenses, Carrie and I had to find some locally owned craft stores. We are excellent at finding these places and this place is especially awesome! I think it's called "A Good Yarn Shop". First of all, it's in a Victorian style building that's painted purple. Second, they were in the process of having a "knit in" which they hold the 3rd Friday of every month - all are welcome, I checked. I asked them if you had to knit to hang out with them or if I could bring my tatting along and work on that. They would be perfectly delighted to have me come and tat whilst they knit. They order dinner from the place next door and the place next door delivers it. Seriously, can you feel ENVY oozing from this page! There we were encircled by crafty girls doing their crafty-girl things and we had our one year olds and Katie and Kristy were probably bored out of their minds. I could have stayed all night. The next time I go up there it will have to be over the 3rd Friday of the month so I can go hang out at the yarn store.

Carrie and I decided that you can't come this far and be so close to Seattle and not go there. So, with babies in tow, we headed for the ferry. The ferry journey (hereafter referred to as 'the odyssey') is deserving of a blog entry all it's own so I'll skip that for now.



Here is a used bookstore that we wanted to go into but couldn't on account of other drivers on the road were being hateful and driving badly. I took a picture so that we could find it again someday.

Here is the AMAZING sunset that happened while we were walking along the waterfront.

Here is the car we parked next to in the pricey parking lot.

We had dinner at the Pike Market. It's really too bad we missed the fish-throwing guys. We were hoping to see them live and in action since we have seen them in morale-boosting training videos for work.

What would a road trip of ours be without some sort of pit-stop mishap? It would be someone else's trip, that's what. So, we stop at this gas station to top off the tank (in Boise). And then we go in to use the bathroom and they told us we COULDN'T! Excuse me....What....are you SERIOUS? What gas station won't let a paying customer in to use the bathroom. Well, it's this place - in Boise, ID. Then we wanted to give back the gas we just bought and get a refund. That not being in the realm of possible things, we went to a Cheveron to buy coke and snacks and use the bathroom. Okay, so that potty break in California - it had the worst bathroom ever, but at least they let me use it.

Talia Turns One!!

Our Talia is one year old!! I think this has been the fastest year of my life. At the risk of being cliche, it seems like we just brought her home from the hospital. It seems like we just brought Kenzie home. So here's Talia's cake. As you can see I really knocked myself out. My friend, Carrie, made for her daughters first birthday, a 2-tiered masterpiece with rolled fondant flowers and ribbon and a teddybear on top - It was amazing. It was also made from scratch in flavors so fancy I can't remember what they were. In an effort to be non-competitive I went for the understated pyrex baking dish (81/2 X 11) with store bought frosting and cake from a mix. There are sprinkles. Jade put them on.

See that trench on the top of the cake? The one that looks like wild dogs tore through my kitchen and discovered cake. Bowen helped himself to some cake before I frosted it. Typical. Consequently, the cake looks better in the dark.

We have never owned a high-chair. It's true. Never bought one. We discussed it briefly before Tali got to the planet and we decided that if we didn't need it for the first 3 we certainly don't need it for number 4. We stuck her in the swing for her birthday cake pics. How funny is this?! It was like watching pigs in a trough :) I love first birthdays.

She looks a little dazed here because of the camera flash. Let me assure you this was a look of supreme contentment and utter bliss. Cake, Frosting, Nudity - does it get any better than that?

Let's not forget the presents!! Tali is a little confused by this toy. Bowen, however, thinks it's the coolest thing ever - right after Thomas the Tank Engine, of course.
So, at one year old Tali is.....
Almost walking. Well, walking combined with falling and getting back up. She doesn't really say anything that resembles a word. Except for when she was screaming at 2am the other morning. Some of those wails/shreeks could have been alternately 'mom' or 'dad'. She likes bananas the best. She will finally take a bottle in the daytime - but not at night. She is super friendly and will wave and smile at anyone. She loves other babies and she absolutely adores the kitten. It's so fun to come home to Talia - she's always SO happy and excited to see us. It's positively infectious. We love her so much!!

We had perfect Rainbow weather for Tali's birthday! So here is our cute little house with a big rainbow over it. I think rainbows are one of the greatest simple pleasures in life and to see one that's complete is an extra treat!!

Baby Got Back!!

Here it is. The update you've all been waiting for. My account of the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay (WBR). I LOVE this race! It's my favorite thing. It's more than a day of running, running, running. For those of you who don't know what in the heck I'm talking about, here's the scoop. It's a 12 man relay from Logan to Park City (188 miles). 12 runners pile into 2 cars. The runners run in turn and the cars leapfrog each other along the way - so only one car is active at a time. So, on Friday morning bright and early (and after about 2 hours of sleep apiece) we headed up to Logan. Now, only those of us in car #1 had to get up early. Everyone in car #2 was meeting us at the first major exchange at around eleven o'clock. You may be thinking that this sounds like a way better deal but let me assure you that this is the ONLY perk that comes with being in car #2. Anyway, runner #1 (Jon) started us off at 8:10. Runner #2 was Shawn. Runner #3 was Angie. Runner #4 was Carrie. Runner #5 was Geno. And Runner #6 was me - last time I did this race I had leg #5. My first run was 6.9 miles down Avon Pass. Avon Pass is a dirt road and with all the rain that we've had this year it was a very exciting place to run. The word that comes to mind is "scamper" and I was really glad I had trail shoes. I was flying down the hill, jumping mud puddles and pot holes. There were places where "runners stay left" didn't apply because "left" was a pile of loose rocks. I know you're thinking - "Wow, that sounds AWESOME" - let me tell you that it was. The sun was shining, I was warm for the first time that day, I was running - life was good. And with my first leg completed, our car got to go and eat and rest while the other car took over.
One of my favorite things about this race is the creativity of the other runners. If you ever need a chuckle, go read the team names for the relay - they are FUNNY! Lots of teams decorate their cars and have costumes that go with their team name. I can't remember what this guy's team name was - I think it might have been Halffast.
I didn't take very many pics with my camera, so there may have to be another installment on thi topic. Our team name was "My Dad Can Run Faster Than Your Dad". We decorated our cars with the ragnarliest ties the DI and neighbors had to offer. Some of us tied them on our heads like sweatbands. This is Carrie - she was pretty partial to this Winnie the Pooh tie.

Back to the race. With our first set of runs completed we went to the local grocery store to get some food and then journeyed on to the next major exchange, Snow Basin. With the exception of my run, I was hypothermic all morning. This unseasonably cold weather is great for running - not so much for sitting in a car with all the windows rolled down. So when we got to Snow Basin we put our blanket down in the middle of the grass far, far away from any shade. I had on my dark grey sweatpants and a dark grey sweat jacket. After 30 minutes in the sun wearing essentially a snow suit, I was finally warm again.

Finally, it was our turn to run again. My second run was 8.1 miles up East Canyon. I started at about 10:30 pm. It was really dark and really cold but I totally did it. It was really an interesting run to do. You couldn't see the road beyond your headlamp so you had to watch the car tail lights to see what the road was doing. It was uphill almost all the way but there were a few times when I'd see the tail lights drop down a bit and I'd think "oh good, we get to run downhill for a minute" and we would get to run downhill. For ONE minute. There was a killer hill just before the exchange point. I didn't know it was going to be there. I came around a turn and there it was, looming before me - a line of head lights and tail lights illuminating the way and showing you EXACTLY how steep it was. A volunteer at the bottom said "the exchange is just around that bend". Oh really, just around that bend. That bend that's 100 vertical yards away. I walked that part.

My friend's parents have a fifth wheel trailer that's REALLY nice and they were thoughtful enough to park it at the CamperWorld in Coalville so that we could use it if we needed to. SWEET!!! We went there so we could eat and shower and rest - now this is the way to do the WBR! We dined on Cup 'o' Noodles and then ran over to the bath house for a shower. It was great and when I climbed into my sleeping bag I was finally warm again. I think we all slept for another 2 hours.

Back to running. My last leg was a flat 3.1 miles and I was greatful. A lot of people passed me and everytime I would think that since it was only a 5K perhaps I should try a little harder as well. But then I would think, "No, I'm not going to." About half way through my run it started to rain. At last I was done and we sent the second car off to finish the race - in the rain.

Here's where it's not good to be in the first car. You have to wait. You have nothing to do and nowhere to go and it was raining.

At the end of the race, there's a place where the entire team can meet up and finish the last tenth of a mile together. Really cool! You get a finishing medal and a group photo. And then you're done.

Anyway, I'll post more when I get a copy of all the photos from everyone else's camera.

Introducing Ember......

This is Ember....

Last weekend we went up to Dietrich, Idaho for my Sis-in-Law's baby's blessing (5th girl - he,he,he). I love going to Dietrich! Not because it's such a spawling metropolis and not because of the great shopping adventures. Dietrich is a really small farming/ranching community. I don't know the exact population but I bet it's less than 1,000. There is nowhere to shop. There isn't a stoplight. Pizza places will not deliver here. If you don't take a cooler with you to the store, ice cream will melt before you get home. But check this out:

I love taking my kids to the country to see fields and farms and livestock.

My kids love seeing their cousins and the cousins love seeing my kids.

I love spending time with my Bro/Sis-in-law (Ben and Cammy). They are the big brother and sister that I never had.

The only time Rob and I play cards is when we go to Dietrich. I almost ALWAYS start out winning (which drives Ben nuts because I have NO idea what I'm doing and only play 2-3 times a year). I NEVER end up winning.

This is the only time my husband and I go running together since children came into our life.

People stare at us when we're running (Dietrich - where every kid in town participates in athletics and almost every adult mocks us for running). It's probably because they think we're crazy, but I tell my husband that it's because they think I'm HOT!

And one of the most fun things about visiting: kittens!

I love all cats but especially the baby ones. Every time we go up to visit Cammy tries to round up as many kittens as she can - remember, this is farm country. So you can have like, a zillion cats, and it's okay. On occasion, Rob and I run an underground animal rescue operation where we select one lucky cat and offer it a chance at a better life. I define 'better life' as removal from the food chain. Last year we brought a kitten home to my brother. He named it Spicy McHaggas and Spicy is a great cat - no matter what my mom says. This year we brought home Ember.

There were 7 kittens this trip. I wasn't planning to bring any home. 3 white, 1 black and white, 1 striped rascal (like Cairo and Spicy), 1 black and Ember. Saturday the grown-ups left all the kids home for a few hours and we returned to find all the cousins in the basement with all the kittens. Kittens swaddled like babies, kittens on the bed under doll blankets, kittens in doll strollers. All of them watching a My Little Pony movie. So CUTE!

The kids were just dying to take one home and I always say 'no' because we have 2 grown cats. See previous posts. But I REALLY hate to see awesome cats left in the food chain (snacks for coyotes and hawks).

Ember is really sweet. She has grey stripes and orange stripes. She has orange fur speckled all over. Her eyes are what got me. I think I must have known her in another life.

How do Kona and Cairo like her? Not so much.

Marshmallows and FIRE!!!

Marshmallows and Fire. Two of my favorite things. Any of you who went to Girl's Camp with me know what an accomplished firestarter I am. Those same girls plus anyone in the family who's been to the campout at the farm know that I'm a REALLY good marshmallow toaster.Almost every Sunday we barbeque - even in the winter. Rob's a total grillmaster. He's definately better at cooking meat than me. He even wired speakers outside so he could listen to the radio while he grills. A couple of years ago, we got one of those backyard fire pit things - and it totally ROCKS!!! In the summer we LOVE lighting a little fire and toasting marshmallows. The kids think it's pretty darn AWESOME as well. Rob is almost as good at lighting fires as I am. He's almost as good at toasting marshmallows, too.

I know you're thinking that those flames are way too big to be any good for doing marshmallows. Well, that's just how good we are. We can toast a mallow over an open flame without turning it into a "boy scout torch". Seriously, who wants to WAIT for the fire to cook down? NOT ME!

Rob kept trying to sabotage my cooking spots by rearranging the fire. GRRRR!

The funniest tonight was giving the girls the low-down on how to properly toast a mallow. They think our way is no good - yet they are insanely jealous of our fabulous mallows. They have ZERO patience. I LOVE these hot summer days and warm summer nights!!!

Road Trip!! Part 4 - The final installment....

I have discovered Carmel, California. OH MY GOSH!! It was like walking through a fairytale storybook. I almost expected to see fairy godmother's flying through the air and the 7 dwarves to pass on the sidewalk. This pic is of the restaurant where we ate after the race. We ate out on this cute patio under an industrial strength space heater. There was a big fire going in the giant fireplace which is in the center of the patio. This city is full of perfectly manicured flowerbeds. This picture really doesn't capture how cute this place really was.

So, in order to transform 'girl's week' into a 'corporate retreat' (and write it off) I decided we needed to visit a couple of local craft shops. I did an internet search before we left and found a little place called 'Findings' and one called 'Knitting by the Sea'. Turns out they are, like, 6 blocks from each other in Carmel. Seriously, when it comes to finding things - I have a gift. Findings was super cute and had such fun ribbon and buttons and fabric and ribbon (Those of you who know me know that I have a ribbon fetish that fringes on 'illness'). Knitting by the sea was closed on Sunday. So we decided that we would leave a little later on Monday so we could check it out. So, you're probably thinking that we're crazy to head home 4 hours later than planned just to shop at some yarn store. Well, check out the novel about her 'store hours'. We were laughing SO hard when we read this. We wanted to see the store but we REALLY wanted to meet her!

Are you laughing so hard that you're crying?

Here's Carrie waiting for the doors to open Monday morning. This shop is SOOOOO cute. And Maurya is just as funny as we thought. If we lived there we could all be best friends. She has a fireplace in there - and orchids! I LOVE orchids. And her yarns were really cool. I got some dark red alpaca yarn. It was a little spendy but I figured that it's okay to splurge on something nice - if it's for me. No way am I using that stuff on something for kids to ruin.

So, anyway. It was a great weekend. Driving with no kids in the car, antique stores, yarn stores, ribbon stores, dinner at places our kids would HATE, races, sleeping in (except for race day).....that's what Girls Week is all about.

Here's a little eye candy :)

I don't know what this stuff is but I suspect - weed. It grows all over the place and it's so pretty. I wish our weeds were this nice. By the way, does anyone else notice the HUGE dandelion problem we're having this year? Come on people we ALL have to be part of the solution!!

This tree sits in a cute little park. It probably takes up half the park - this is the best climbing tree EVER. Once again, the pic doesn't do it justice.

These were growing outside Knitting by the Sea. Beautiful.

Road Trip!!! Part Three - The Marathon Route

The Pre-Race Photo Tour
So, when you're running a marathon - or any race really - it's no fun to have your camera sloshing around in a fanny-pack. Runners do it all the time - I've done it before. I don't like it. So, the day before the race we took a little drive along the course. Really, we wanted to see what I was in for - rumor has it that this is one of the most challenging marathons in existence. It's also been said that if you could only do one marathon in your lifetime - this should be the one.
Here I am! This is the staging area for the starting line. Don't be fooled by the downhill start or the lack of wind - those things go away in a few miles....

The first several miles of the course run through forested areas like this. So completely nice. I'm glad the sun was out for the photo-tour. For the race it wasn't.

The first half is sort of rolling hills. Hills that were more long than steep and hills I could totally run up. At mile 6-7 the wind picked up. The marathon runs from south to north. Sadly, the prevailing winds blow from north to south.

I think this is a photo of Hurricane Point. I wish it was better. At mile 10 you have to run 2 miles up a 5% grade. The top is called Hurricane Point. Of course, I walked some of that. Earlier in the race someone said that they thought we would run into fog. Yeah, they lied. We got wind. What was AWESOME were the Taiko drummers at the bottom of the hill just before you start your climb. So, the problem with this section of the race isn't so much the incline as it is the environment. The higher up you get the colder and harder the wind blows. At the top there were hats and sunglasses flying off all over the place. There were a few runners wearing wind breakers and they blew up like a puffy nylon balloon. The wind was blowing all the way through the mesh in my shoes - It was SO COLD!!!! But then you get to run down the other side and as you get lower it gets warmer and, after a while, less windy....

At the bottom of Hurricane Point is the Bixby Bridge. I LOVE to run on bridges - especially cool ones like this! This bridge sits at the half-way mark for the race. SO cool. This thing is gigantic! As you come off the bridge there is a guy in a tuxedo playing a black grand piano. Super Cool!

How many ways can you say GORGEOUS!!!!!! Time went by really fast in this race because there was so much beauty surrounding you every second.

Carrie and I at one of the 'scenic overlooks'. See my hair blowing in the wind. Yeah, I ran in that.

This is the Rocky Creek bridge. I forget where this falls in the race. Probably around 18 where I lose the ability to count. Isn't this spectacular?!!!

More pretty things.

FABULOUS!

See the road in the top. See how it's going down. I got to run down that. See how far down it is from the camera's vantage point? That's a hill I got to run up.

The second half of the course was tough. There were more hills. Shorter but steeper hills. By the end if I even tried to run up any sort of incline my hamstrings would SCREAM at me to 'please not do that again'. I did a lot of walking up hills.

My finish time was 5 hours 4 minutes. Not my fastest, but not my slowest by any means. Really, this race wasn't about a time - just about the experience. I felt so grateful to be out there running in such an amazing place.

TOU 2003 - 5 hr. 8 min.

SLC 2004 - 5 hr. 5 min.

St. George 2005 - 4 hr. 55 min.

TOU 2006 - 4 hr. 32 min.

Sanfrancisco 2007 - 4 hr. 53 min.

TOU 2008 - 4 hr. 30 min.

RNR Phoenix 2009- 5 hr. 14 min. (untrained)

Big Sur 2009 - 5 hr. 4 min.

Road Trip!!! Part Two.

Girls Week - Day Two. Race expo & packet pick up. At every race you have GOT to have a gigantic balloon arch. They are AWESOME. Part of the reason I like them so well is because they are cute. Seriously, who doesn't like to see a huge balloon creation? The other part of why I'm a fan is that they are visable from a long way off. Even if you're standing a quarter or half mile back from the start, you know where the start is because you can see a column of balloons floating in the distance. This is the best balloon arch I've seen yet. It's small because it's inside, but the mylar butterflies are super cool and the balloons on the sides are done up like little flowers and vines. And guess what, never mind the signs telling the runners where to go - as soon as I saw the balloon arch I knew which way to head :)After the expo we went to the Aquarium and all I have to say is "WOW"! I've seen some pretty cool aquariums and this one is in competition for the top spot. The other one that is really great is in the Bahamas Atlantis resort. I really can't decide which one I like the best.

White plummed sea anemone. The ocean's dandelions.

These are my favorite of the anemones and I cannot remember what they are called. I should start photographing name plates and descriptions.

Sea Dragon or something. Really beautiful.

Jellies!

The exhibit behind me is a tidal pool demo. So about every 30 seconds a huge wave of water crashes over this glass into the display tidal pool. Pretty cool!

This is the coolest! It's a kelp forest. They didn't have one of these in the Bahama's. I think I read that it's the only one. It was spectacular! There is something hypnotic about watching the kelp drift back and forth with the tide and watching the school of sardines swim around together.