02 December 2012
Dogs - Thanksgiving 2012
Chris and Jack
John with Bud and Louie. Yes, there are two dogs in that pile.
Roxy overseeing turkey production.
Louie jumped in when I opened the car to pack to go. I love him, but I wouldn't drive away with him. He's right where he belongs.
05 November 2012
Paddling to the Island, Tri-Cities 11.4.12
We started with breakfast. Really, where else is there to start? After, the kids entertained themselves with the iPad.
We entertained ourselves watching them with quite a bit of chatting on the side.
While the others went for a flight, Chris, Barry, the kids and I paddled across the Columbia to an island in the middle of the river. I had a middle seat.
The river rocks along the shore provided all the fun we needed.
Amazing variety of colors and textures. We all had pockets full of rocks on the way back.
Barry walked back down the beach to retrieve the canoe.
Bevan tested how deep he could wade without water spilling over the top of his boots.
Barry tells us about the salmon that surprised him by swimming up next to the boat. The fish was looking kind of rough. Spawning?
The kids get a ride.
A happy mistake with the photo stitching produces a ghostly effect.
31 October 2012
Barry's Birthday in Seattle 10.29.12
Before the party, Dad, Liz and I did a bit of site seeing. Here we are with Noguchi's Black Sun at Volunteer Park.
I like this picture of Dad.
Lynn and I at Sky City Restaurant at the top of the Space Needle.
Barry with his "smoking" ice cream sundae. Thank you, Barry, for having this great idea for your birthday. The party was so fun.
Dad and Liz, across the table.
Chris snapped a few photos from out on the observation deck looking in.
Cousins.
22 March 2012
Nepal - Last Day
Our last day in Nepal, we flew out of Pokhara for Kathmandu around lunchtime. When we arrived in Kathmandu, we dropped our luggage at Fuji Hotel so we could do a bit more site seeing. Heather, Jun, Chris and I grabbed a cab and started for two important Buddhist temples. Our first stop was Swayambhunath.
Swayambhunath is also known as the monkey temple, for its resident monkeys.
I felt charmed by the quiet of the place. There were lots of people around and music was playing, but still it felt more quiet than the busy streets of Kathmandu. I particularly liked looking out at the view of the city surrounded by what seemed to be mostly locals.
We couldn't linger at Swyambhunath too long, though. We still wanted to get across town to the larger stupa at Bodhnath. The traffic was horrible, and it was practically dark by the time we arrived.
Part of the reason for the traffic was that we were driving during prayer time, 6-7 p.m. This ended up being a good thing for our visit to Bhohnath stupa. As soon as we arrived, we easily slipped into the quiet group of hundreds walking clockwise in prayer around the temple.
It was dark except for a few lights from surrounding shops. It was magical. There were regular folks, Tibetan women and Buddhist monks in red and saffron robes. The music of horns and drums and chanting accompanied our walk.
As we walked around, the music grew louder until we came upon its source. A group of monks sat at the edge of the stupa, with instruments and offerings. People walking by gave money, candy or cookies to add to the stacks. It was beautiful. I could have lingered here for a long time, but we had to move on. Dinner and then straight to the airport for our flight out. Good-bye, Nepal. You are beautiful.
Swayambhunath is also known as the monkey temple, for its resident monkeys.
I felt charmed by the quiet of the place. There were lots of people around and music was playing, but still it felt more quiet than the busy streets of Kathmandu. I particularly liked looking out at the view of the city surrounded by what seemed to be mostly locals.
We couldn't linger at Swyambhunath too long, though. We still wanted to get across town to the larger stupa at Bodhnath. The traffic was horrible, and it was practically dark by the time we arrived.
Part of the reason for the traffic was that we were driving during prayer time, 6-7 p.m. This ended up being a good thing for our visit to Bhohnath stupa. As soon as we arrived, we easily slipped into the quiet group of hundreds walking clockwise in prayer around the temple.
It was dark except for a few lights from surrounding shops. It was magical. There were regular folks, Tibetan women and Buddhist monks in red and saffron robes. The music of horns and drums and chanting accompanied our walk.
As we walked around, the music grew louder until we came upon its source. A group of monks sat at the edge of the stupa, with instruments and offerings. People walking by gave money, candy or cookies to add to the stacks. It was beautiful. I could have lingered here for a long time, but we had to move on. Dinner and then straight to the airport for our flight out. Good-bye, Nepal. You are beautiful.
Nepal - Begnas and Rupa Lakes
The day before I left Pokhara, I headed out on the bus for Begnas Lake. The day before I had a great flight and felt that was a nice finishing note for the flying part of the trip. I had kind of envied my cohorts who landed out and got to hike around the countryside and hop buses home. I'd had Begnas Lake in the back of my mind since Matt mentioned it at breakfast one day. My goal: get out of Pokhara, walk a lot, see some countryside, maybe talk to some people.
Getting off the bus, the driver pointed me toward the lake. When I asked him about Rupa Lake, he waved the opposite way up the hill out off the main square. At the edge of Begnas Lake there were crowds of teens walking the path and a throng of cheering elementary kids waiting to get into boats for a paddle. It was loud and didn't feel like where I wanted to be. I quickly turned around, walked back through town and started walking up the other road. Ahhh, quiet.
After walking up the road awhile, I wondered if there might be a foot path I could take instead. There wasn't a lot of traffic, but I couldn't see the lake and, well, I was walking on a road. I followed the next path I saw, hoping it wouldn't just end at someone's front door. A few yards off the road, the path connected with a stone foot path. Success! Not far up the path, I encountered a beautiful little brick temple.
From the temple, I could see the lake and the Himalayas in the distance. Beautiful spot. As I walked around taking pictures, I was approached by a man who had just pulled up on a motorcycle. Ends up, he was the most recent past mayor of Pokhara. We would have talked longer, but he got a cell call that his meeting was about to start and off he went. He did give me his card so I could call if I ran into any problems.
I stopped and sat at the edge of the path to eat my sandwich at a spot where I could see the lake and the mountains. The birds were calling back and forth, I could see a boat paddling in the lake below. This was the view from my perch.
At some point, my path intersected again with the road. I ran into a man at a Y in the road. He asked where I was going. When I explained that I didn't really have a destination, he said, "Oh, you're wander walking." Exactly. I started walking down toward Rupa Lake--definitely the right choice. The fields at the edge of the lake were greener than green and dotted with people and water buffalo.
Whew, it was warm and I'd been hiking around for hours. I needed a cup of tea. The sign for Dinah's Guesthouse said I should stop in even if it was just for a cup of tea. I took them up on the offer. The owner and I shared some Masala tea and chatted. When I had finished my tea, he asked if I wanted to see his garden. He had coffee trees, banana trees, a veggie garden and a water buffalo. The day was just what I needed. It made me want to revisit Nepal with more time so I could trek and fly.
Getting off the bus, the driver pointed me toward the lake. When I asked him about Rupa Lake, he waved the opposite way up the hill out off the main square. At the edge of Begnas Lake there were crowds of teens walking the path and a throng of cheering elementary kids waiting to get into boats for a paddle. It was loud and didn't feel like where I wanted to be. I quickly turned around, walked back through town and started walking up the other road. Ahhh, quiet.
After walking up the road awhile, I wondered if there might be a foot path I could take instead. There wasn't a lot of traffic, but I couldn't see the lake and, well, I was walking on a road. I followed the next path I saw, hoping it wouldn't just end at someone's front door. A few yards off the road, the path connected with a stone foot path. Success! Not far up the path, I encountered a beautiful little brick temple.
From the temple, I could see the lake and the Himalayas in the distance. Beautiful spot. As I walked around taking pictures, I was approached by a man who had just pulled up on a motorcycle. Ends up, he was the most recent past mayor of Pokhara. We would have talked longer, but he got a cell call that his meeting was about to start and off he went. He did give me his card so I could call if I ran into any problems.
I stopped and sat at the edge of the path to eat my sandwich at a spot where I could see the lake and the mountains. The birds were calling back and forth, I could see a boat paddling in the lake below. This was the view from my perch.
At some point, my path intersected again with the road. I ran into a man at a Y in the road. He asked where I was going. When I explained that I didn't really have a destination, he said, "Oh, you're wander walking." Exactly. I started walking down toward Rupa Lake--definitely the right choice. The fields at the edge of the lake were greener than green and dotted with people and water buffalo.
Whew, it was warm and I'd been hiking around for hours. I needed a cup of tea. The sign for Dinah's Guesthouse said I should stop in even if it was just for a cup of tea. I took them up on the offer. The owner and I shared some Masala tea and chatted. When I had finished my tea, he asked if I wanted to see his garden. He had coffee trees, banana trees, a veggie garden and a water buffalo. The day was just what I needed. It made me want to revisit Nepal with more time so I could trek and fly.
21 March 2012
Nepal - Peace Pagota
We had a great room at Mountain Villa hotel. One of the best things about it was the view from the terrace right outside our door. In one direction, I couldn't keep my eyes off Machapuchare (Fish Tail). Looking the other way, the Peace Pagota always caught my eye. Fish Tail was the first thing I would see when I opened my door each morning. For at least a week after arriving back in Seattle, the thought of the mountain was very present each morning. "I wonder what Fish Tail looks like today?"
Fish Tail was a bit out of my reach as a destination, being way up in the mountains and protected and all. But, the Peace Pagota could be easily reached. Just a few days before leaving Pokhara, we had a particularly lovely sunset and looking up at the temple I realized that I didn't have much time left if I wanted to get there.
My second to last day in Pokhara I had one of my most satisfying flights of the trip, landed at the end of the lake, kited a bit and then went off to meet Heather so we could make our way to the Peace Pagota.
Our plan was to take a taxi to the top, hike down to the lake and get a sunset paddle back to Pokhara. The plan worked out nicely. The view of Pokhara was pretty great. On the way across the water, the huge gorgeous mountains peaked out from the huge gorgeous clouds.
Heather next to a sign intended to spur us on, had we been walking uphill instead of down.
When we got near the water, a fellow greeted us on the trail and asked us if we needed a boat. We had wondered how we would find a boat. We quickly negotiated a price and then followed him onto the grounds of a small resort on the water.
He paddled us across the lake. It was such a peaceful moment.
Fish Tail was a bit out of my reach as a destination, being way up in the mountains and protected and all. But, the Peace Pagota could be easily reached. Just a few days before leaving Pokhara, we had a particularly lovely sunset and looking up at the temple I realized that I didn't have much time left if I wanted to get there.
My second to last day in Pokhara I had one of my most satisfying flights of the trip, landed at the end of the lake, kited a bit and then went off to meet Heather so we could make our way to the Peace Pagota.
Our plan was to take a taxi to the top, hike down to the lake and get a sunset paddle back to Pokhara. The plan worked out nicely. The view of Pokhara was pretty great. On the way across the water, the huge gorgeous mountains peaked out from the huge gorgeous clouds.
Heather next to a sign intended to spur us on, had we been walking uphill instead of down.
When we got near the water, a fellow greeted us on the trail and asked us if we needed a boat. We had wondered how we would find a boat. We quickly negotiated a price and then followed him onto the grounds of a small resort on the water.
He paddled us across the lake. It was such a peaceful moment.
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