Snowshoeing at Gold Creek Basin

A few weeks ago, I asked my wife if she'd like to go snowshoeing as a family and she said that she'd like to, as long as we went for under 3 hours. Anytime getting into the woods and snow is great by me, so I agreed to that constraint. I sought out some locations where the elevation gain was minimal and we went out Saturday afternoon.

The kids had swim practice that morning, so Kids 1 and 2 and I were all up just after 5am. After their practice, I rented snowshoes at the Issaquah REI and headed home for lunch and final preparations. I've taught the kids enough about layering, that they're pretty good at getting the right gear for a day outdoors in winter, but there is always something that is hard to find. This time it was sunglasses, though lucky for them, it was quite hazy in the mountains. With a warm lunch of Macaroni and Cheese in our stomachs, we headed up to Snoqualime Pass.

I had read about Gold Creek Basin, and with its total elevation gain of only 400 feet over the 4 mile trail, that was where we were headed. A Washington Sno-Park pass is required to park there (which I had to run in and buy online while everyone sat in the car ready to go) and the "trailhead" is pretty easy to find. As you drive along FS 4832, you'll come to FS 144 just after the valley opens up. You can walk up the FS road with some small lakes on your left.

The first 4 miles (though we didn't go that far) stay in relatively safe avalanche terrain, though our weekend it didn't matter. There had been freezing rain all morning and there was a significant crust. While it didn't bond much with the snow below, it did make the snowshoes almost unneccessary and provided continual enjoyment for the boys to break off large sheets of crust.

On the off-chance that we'd find some spots to sled, the boys dragged sleds behind them. They didn't lag too much, but I didn't mind either, as I was also doing a bit of a load test myself. Next week, a friend and I are going snow camping and I was seeing how much stuff I could get into my daypack. Its a larger daypack (45 L), but I was only able to get 3/4 of what I wanted to carry in there. I'd be okay if I wasn't interested in eating! I also was reminded to think of how I load gear in a pack - it turns out I loaded all of my liquids (2 L water and 1/2 L hot cocoa) all on one side of my pack. Our trip wasn't long enough nor my pack heavy enough for it to bother me, but its a good thing to remember. I'll use my larger pack next week and have plenty of space.

Scouts Honor, Kid 2, 3 and I stuck to the road, but Kid 1 snowshoed through the trees. Since he was in the trees, he could see the lakes better and when there was an iced over part of the lake, he asked if we could go down there. We went down a steeper portion (reminder of the lesson: when you have trekking poles, you don't need them, when you don't have them is when you really want them) which everyone slid on their butts down the hill and stopped for some pictures by the lake.

As boys will do, there was some more exploring of the ice along the edge of the lake, when Kid 1 realized that "the snow next to the ice is actually over ice over water." Unfortunately, he learned this lesson when one foot broke through over the top of his boot. Luckily, it was just above freezing, he was wearing no cotton, his boots (my old Intermediate Cold Weather boots) are prett good and we weren't too far from our car, we were able to continue on without having to stop and change a sock.

We could see the road on the other side of the lake and decided that we would walk around the lake as our way back to our car. Others had snowshoed before us around the lake so we just followed their path on an easy jaunt around the lake. Kid 3 asked if we could stop for a break and we broke out the hot cocoa. As we sat there an enjoyed our still quite hot beverage, ScoutsHonor kept saying that we had postcard views. The view was beautiful and it turns out that at that spot, we only took pictures with her camera! We sat there on the side of the trail until the cold started to seep through ScoutHonor's pants and headed onward.

Because we were so close to the summit and the ski area, we still had cell phone coverage. Everyonce in a while, I could feel my phone in my pack vibrate, but Kid 2 was texting her friends and posting to facebook.

I used my Christmas present GPS to check the time and when sunset was and we had only about 45 minutes before sunset and the clouds were already low-hanging. We continued on around the lake, ScoutsHonor setting a little quicker pace, until we found a small knoll where some other people were sledding. The total height was maybe 10 feet at the highest, but it was steep enough that the sleds would go. The kids got several runs in and even made a little jump. I started to get cold there (I didn't layer up like I did when we stopped for cocoa) and we headed off.

The sun had set by the time we made it back to the car and there were still 1 snow shoer and 1 cross-country skiier who were heading out. Kid 2 had her headlamp, though it wasn't because she was bringing the 10 Essentials, she wanted to be able to read in the car as we drove home.
All in all, it was a fun afternoon. The snow conditions were terrible and at that elevation only about 3 feet deep which will make digging a snow cave a little challenging next week, but we still were outside. My GPS told me we went for just over 2 miles in 2-1/2 hours (70 minutes moving, 80 minutes stopped) which meet Scouts's time and distance criteria. Gold Creek Basin is a fun place to come for an easy cross-country ski, snowshoe, or if the conditions are "right" just a walk in the woods. There's not much opportunity for sledding, but the views are beautiful.

Directions:
Take Exit 54 off I-90. Go north. under overpass a few hundred yards. & turn right onto F.S. Rd. 4832 & head east approximately 1 mile. on this road that parallels the westbound lanes of I-90. Park along the shoulders of the road near the small bridge, by FS 144. There were porta-potties there when we went in early January.

Computer Free Weekends

The last two weekends have been computer free weekends. During both weekends, I've done some fun things and not used my computer at all! This weekend is not one of them, I've been cleaning out my inbox and doing some school work - but most importantly, not working!

The first weekend, MLK weekend, I had a workshop at school to make up for a lost quarter of Managerial Accounting and then a swim meet. This was the first ever, computer free weekend, so I avoided my computer on the Monday holiday. Thank goodness for my phone with a data connection, I was able to post a blog by email and kept Twitter updated.

Last weekend, I spent Saturday snowshoeing in the Steven's Pass back country on an avalanche awareness field trip and the Sunday I went skiing with my family.

The second weekend was definitely the better weekend! On top of just getting out in the snow, I learned how to use avalanche beacons, do snow pack evaluations and avalanche rescues. I've got one more field trip in a few weeks to go in more depth. I hope to spend more time in the mountains this winter (Wade, we need to schedule a camping trip) and having an avalanche certification will make my wife feel more comfortable when I'm out there.

Even better was that on Sunday I ran into a buddy from the Army. It was pretty crazy, I was picking up Kid 2 from ski lessons and another parent was there picking up his daughter and he looks at me and says, "Were you in the Army?" Lo and behold, we had been stationed together in Alaska and our units had deployed to Egypt.

It was a great, crazy coincidence to run into him, as he was one of the officers I had a great deal of respect for. We'll link up at some point in the near future and catch up on old times.

This weekend, alas, has not been a computer free weekend, but I'm catching up on email, bills, homework and more. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Is it spring yet?

For the last two days, I've awoken to snow on the ground. The days have been cold and the skies grey.

Today, I can barely see because the sun is shining so brightly in my window. Is this spring or is Mother Nature yanking my chain?

I'm dehydrated, sore and tired... my vacation day was great

I took a well deserved vacation day yesterday and with the kids on winter break, we went skiing at the Summit at Snoqualmie. Like the rest of the week has been, it was a beautiful day - the sky was blue and the sun was shining.

It might have been a little warm for the snow, as it was pretty crusty and crunchy, but you didn't have to be bundled up all the way. If it gets any warmer, there will be girls in bikinis on skis!

We got a late start, since Alec had swim practice that morning and after he called us a few times, we picked him only 1 hour late. He forgot his cell phone, we couldn't find his sunglasses and I found my sunglasses this morning, on the floor, fallen from my pile of gear.

The kids took lessons again, which was great. Heather and I got some skiing in on our own and then we skied mostly as a family into night. Towards the end, I started realizing that I was about to drift off on the lift, so I sat out the final runs. I was a little dehydrated, though I carried (and drank) water through out the day.

When we got home at about 9:45, just about everyone went straight to bed. I remember pulling the covers up on myself, but that was all. I just went to sleep.

When I woke up this morning, after snoozing my alarm, I still had a dehyrdation headache and my legs were pretty sore, but in a good way. Kids 2 and 3 slept pretty late, though Kid 1 woke up early (he's always been an early riser). After drinking tea most of the day, I was able to get enough water to beat the headache, but there won't be any binge drinking this weekend (like there would have been anyways).

Again, it was a great day skiing and fun time with our family in the outdoors. Its nice that we are taking advantage of the closeness of the ski area and the rest of the outdoors now.

Outdoor activities, anyway

This weekend, a college friend and I were planning on going winter camping. We were planning on snowshoeing a short distance into the Cascades, near Snoqualmie Pass, and building a snow cave for the night.

This trip was predicated by a few things:

1. My desire to snowshoe more
2. My desire to camp
3. My desire to rough it a little more than Heather is willing
4. Heather's mandate to use my Christmas gifts before I get anything new at REI

As a quick review, most of what I got for Christmas was field cooking and eating gear. I got a Titanium fork and a spoon which doubles as a tool for my MSR stove. I also got a bowl and a plate, too.

To be able to use this gear, I've got to go on a long enough expedition to have to eat. An overnight trip fits that bill.

So, Wade and I discussed an overnight trip for this long weekend. We watched weather and avalanche forecasts. We discussed what we would eat and what safety equipment we would carry and how we would mitigate risk. I geeked out a little bit and wrote a detailed trip plan.

But Wade started to get sick on Friday afternoon. And it worsened on Saturday. And on Sunday, we called it off. I say that its better to be sick at home than in a snow cave in the middle of no where. We decided we would see how Wade was doing and then maybe do a day trip on Monday.

But contrary to Heather's post, I wasn't bored around the house. We had a great day!

We went biking to Beaver Lake and then Alec and I took some mountain bike trails back to our house. It was a lot of fun and I can feel it in my legs today!

Afterwards, we played in the street (it is a cul de sac) and washed bikes, kids and my MINI.

Heather and I cooked dinner together and we had a nice, albeit short, because we were all tired, evening.

Even though Wade and I didn't go camping this weekend (note the emphasis), we still got some outdoor activities in and as Wade says, "There will be snow for a while; there's lots of it up there."

We'll have more opportunities before the season is over.

Where did all of the Seattlites go?

Yesterday, Seattle got another dose of winter weather. On the Eastside, we had snow (albeit not very much) and a snow day was called. Not a snow day for me, either in work or B-school, but for the kids.

As the time approached for me to leave for school, I kept checking traffic and the roads were all green and wide open. This seemed very strange to me. Maybe the weather was creating a problem for the traffic reporting sensors. This is Seattle, where a little snow snarls the roads!

Work kept me, so I didn't leave any earlier than usual. I was a little worried, but if I was going to be late, so were others. It took me far less than the usual amount of time to get to school - the roads were in fine condition and wide open! It was bizarre?

Where was everyone yesterday?

Did they just stay home?

Did they go to the mountains to take advantage of the snow?

I think that this one is going to be a mystery to me for a while. The traffic was exactly opposite of what I expected it to be based upon the morning conditions.

My bag just isn't as fast as me

I flew to the East Coast on Monday and thank goodness for my wife, I left home in time to catch my plane. There was an accident on 405 which would have really put me behind schedule. She told me about it, I took an alternate route and breezed around the accident.

As I was getting ready to leave, Heather asked me where was my suitcase. I had already staged it in the car, but I gave the smart-ass response, "Oh, these are all the clothes I'm taking for a 5 day trip. I'll just turn them inside out and wear them again." Little did I know, that smart-ass remark would come back to haunt me.

Because of weather, we were delayed arriving into Chicago, where I had to change planes. We arrived at B6 and my departing flight was at C20. I had about 5 minutes until the scheduled departure and all the status boards said my next flight was on time. So I sprinted through the airport. I did answer my phone when Heather called to say it was snowing, but every other chirp and beep that my phone made was ignored.

Much to my surprise, I made it on the plane. I didn't ask if the plane was actually delayed, since I was still catching my breath; I was just glad to be on my plane. It turns out that this plane was indeed delayed because it needed to be de-iced and we ended up getting into Dulles about 30 minutes late.

I went down to the baggage claim and as I came to the realization that my bag should have been the last bag on the plane and therefore the first one off - I realized that I should be wondering if my bag actually made it on my flight to Dulles. In this day of modern technology, United Airlines had a kiosk to check for missing or delayed baggage. And sure enough, "Your bag has been located and is delayed."

So, I geeked out while I told the kiosk where I was staying and several contact phone numbers and reveled in how easy it was to report my bag missing. No waiting in line, no irate people standing around. I'm sure that I missed out on being able to get something for my inconvenience from a real live person, but I wasn't really that put out.

I can go overnight and wear the same clothes the next day, no one will know. I can do without my toiletries for a night (plus the hotel had some to give me). I was even able to get by without my gloves, hat and jacket, but it is cold on the East Coast in winter.

My bag didn't arrive by the next morning, so I went to my meetings feeling a little underdressed. But the company I was at is on the casual end of the business casual and that is alright with me. And when I got back to the hotel this evening, there was my bag behind the front desk!

I'm excited that I get to shave with my own razor and brush my teeth with my toothpaste. But that is what I get when I am faster than my bag.

I'd rather be in the mountains

Friday, I flew to Oakland early in the morning. Someplace before the plane arrived, I looked out the window and to one side was a beautiful sunrise and from the my side of the plane, I could see snow capped mountains.

All I could think of while I looked at it was that I'd so love to be on those mountain ridges, watching the sunrise. I really love the winter time and the mountains.

I spent about an hour on Saturday at Winter Trails Day, trying out different snow shoes. It was great to get up in the mountains, even if it was just a short while.

My newest favorite magazine

I've got a new favorite magazine. No, this isn't some pervy post about the newest laddy magazine (but if there is one, pass it on to me, so I can check out the articles).

My newest favorite is Sunset. Sure, everybody has been reading it for years, including all my grand parents. And we've subscribed to it for at least a year now in our house. But it wasn't until just recently that I noticed it.

I really like getting into the outdoors, as my recent posts about snowshoeing indicate. One evening at dinner, I was looking at my wife and over her shoulder I noticed El Capitan, all covered in snow, on the cover of Sunset. My wife is hot, but that definitely caught my eye. I'd love to go to Yosemite in the winter with no crowds or wander though Paradise Meadow at Mount Rainier when it is under snow (and I might still do that this winter).

As I was reading it, I found more stuff that I enjoy - namely smoked salmon. There was an article with quick recipes to make with smoked salmon. Cooking is good. Salmon is good. Quick is good. I made Smoked Salmon Vermicelli for dinner that night. It was very good and very easy.

Since I had the El Capitan issue out of the basket, the next night, what did I see over my wife's shoulder, but a cover article about comfort food. You know me, I like eating just about as much as I like cooking, so I was all over comfort foods. Tonight, we had Beef-Ale Stew with Green Onion-Buttermilk Dumplings. It was really good. I'll definitely make more of that. It took two trips to the grocery store (I forgot to buy onions the first time around), but it was great.

My new favorite magazine - good eats and great places to go. I'll be checking out more of this Sunset magazine. And any laddy magazines that pass my way, too. :)

Sun worship?

Yesterday, we had a sunset. Yes, in the rainy, wintery Northwest, we actually had a sunset.

In fact, it was such an occurrence that my 5 year old came to me and said, "Dad, Dad, come look at this in the kid's bathroom. It's so pretty!"

I wasn't exactly sure what he was going to show me in the bathroom, but I'll check it out. He stood on his tippy toes and was looking out the window at the sunset over the neighbors' houses.

It was really pretty, as you can see.

"Take a picture of it so Mom can see," he announced, since she was out with the other kids.

She enjoyed it when he showed her the pictures we took, since evidently there was no sun where she was.

Winter must be really rough this year, when even a 5 year old recognizes the beauty and rarity of a sunset. What is getting me through is that I came to the realization: when it is raining here, it is snowing in the mountains.

Winter Sports Extravaganza

I've been on vacation for a whole week now - and to Heather's pleasant surprise, not worked very much. Maybe it has to do with a hard disk crash that I was subject too (but that is the subject of another, much geekier posting), but it has been nice not working too much. And on the good side, few other people are at work, so things aren't piling up too much.

We have had a beautiful winter here in Seattle. What that means is when it is raining at our house, it is snowing in the mountains and they are only 45 minutes away. This winter, we've been taking advantage of it.

So far this winter, we've been ice skating, down hill skiing, snow shoeing and my son has gone sledding with some friends and snow boarding. And we are only at the very beginning of winter.

My youngest son went to an ice skating rink with a playgroup and he really liked skating. It was really cool to see him come home and all he would talk about for the next day was taking skating lessons.

We went to the Summit at Snoqualmie and put the kids in ski and snowboard lessons for the day and they all had a blast. They picked it up quite quickly and they want to go back. I took a short lesson and it reminded me of a lot of the finer points I learned at the Northern Warfare Training Center.

I posted earlier about snowshoeing and this afternoon I am going out with a friend, his sons and my oldest. I'm looking forward to it.

This winter has been a winter sports extravaganza! We'll have to come up with some more winter activities - curling any one?

Long time, no blogging

So, I apologize for the long break between postings. It has been a few hectic weeks in our house, but things are beginning to wind down for the end of the year.

I have started a few posts and saved them in draft. Since they aren't really time sensitive, I'll finish them and post them later. But really, I haven't forgotten about my blog.

Nor have my friends forgotten about my wife's blog! I've had more than one person ask when is Heather going to post again. They tell me that my writing is good, but hers really makes them laugh! Come on, I'm funny too, aren't I?

Finals are done (last week) and my last work trip of the year is done (last week), Heather did some last minute traveling (last week) resulting in a change to my work trip, our oldest swam at the PNS sectionals (all last weekend) and then we took some well deserved time and relaxed in Seattle (photos) and went snowshoeing (this weekend).

I'm just glad it is winding down. I'm even going to take some time off! Yes, I'll really try to not work.

This weekend, I mentioned that we went snowshoeing. It was great. I just wanted to try it out, to see how it went for our family and everybody picked it up right away. I hadn't snow shoed (is that a word) since I was in the Army in Alaska and we used gigantic snowshoes. We rented some new modern ones from REI and they worked great. I caught the bug again - I want snow shoes.

We went up to the Nordic center at the Snoqualmie Summit and since the power was out, they weren't charging for the trail pass. It took a while to get everybody's snow shoes on (yes, I put on 4 and half pairs of snowshoes and I got warmed up just with that activity). We wandered off into the woods for about a mile in and turned around at a bridge? that was too narrow for me to be comfortable with my kids crossing it. It was just hiking in the snow. Serene, calm, in the outdoors.

I enjoyed it so much that I was trying to find someone who wasn't working on Monday, so I could take the day off and go again before I returned the snow shoes. I called quite a few friends, but alas, I couldn't find anyone, but it was better that way -things at work blew up, so I'm glad I didn't go.

I've now spent a great deal of time pining after snow shoes, which model, how much gear would I carry (and as a result would the snowshoes have to hold up). I'll be going again this winter. It would be a great way to experience Mount Rainier too.

More photos

It snowed again!

There is snow everywhere and school is canceled today. We have about 6 inches of snow at my house right now.





It is so beautiful out (before all the kids get out in it an play and mess the snow up -grrr!) :)

While I was outside taking these pictures, I was talking to another neighbor who works out of his house. We decided that if school was canceled, we still have to work. But if the local office is closed, then the home offices are closed too. It sounds good to me, but I've got a lot on my plate...

I just got an email from the office wondering if anybody made it into work today... Ah, winter is great.

Maybe we'll go sledding later today. You know, there is even enough snow to cross country ski, with out tearing up your skis!

I wish I wasn't wearing pants

Looking for some eye candy, are you? Photos only by request.

This morning, as I was getting ready to go running while Alec was at swim practice, I was looking for light gloves and my knit watch cap. I was already wearing some track pants and had to hustle Alec out the door. I was expecting it to be chilly, likely just above freezing.

When I got to Mercer Island, I was amazed to see that it was 50 degrees! It was way to warm to be wearing track pants. I've got to find something better for my lower body when I run in winter. Something that breathes better (that was the most part of my problem).

I'm not sure if I am secure enough to wear "running tights" but there has got to be something. Not leggings - maybe running pants. That sounds manly. I'll have to look for something. Any pointers?

Dead Sea Sledding

Yesterday evening, we went to the Pacific Science Center to see the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit with our out of town guests.

We are members of the Pacific Science Center, so admission is free, but the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit was an additional fee and with scheduled admission times. We got there at 5pm, but were able to get tickets for the 8:15 admission. No big deal, we went to Center House, ate dinner, came back and spent some time in the museum and then went to the exhibit.

The kids had fun and a butterfly landed on my face in the Tropical Butterfly exhibit.

We went into the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit and in the first exhibit our youngest kid unscrewed one of the nuts holding the plexiglass displays on the wall. I guess we are breeding art thieves and heck, if they are going to start with religious relics - Indiana Jones anyone?

There were lots of exhibits about the settlement/ruins around the caves where the scrolls were found and we went through them slowly. The exhibit closes at 10 and after about 1:30, we hadn't made it to the scrolls yet. Parker got into the audio tour part of it and spent a bunch of time just punching the code into his player. At times, I swear he was talking back to the voices on the player.

We hustled into the scroll area and it was a little disappointing. All the scrolls are obviously in pieces, but they only had small chunks on display. All in all, it was a little of a let down. They are of great historical significance, so it was neat to see it from that standpoint. I think I was more interested in the exhibits about the nearby settlement.

Heather just shared with me the full price, had we not been members, and I don't think the exhibit would have been worth it...

As we returned home, it was starting to snow. Which bode well for our sledding plans.

So we got up early this morning and headed out to Snoqualamie Summit's tubing area. We arrived a little bit later than we anticipated, so we waited until the second session of the day. It was our first time there and tubing was fun - not quite as fun as sledding and Chase and Alec really got into it. Parker and I crashed (yes, on inner tubes) on our first run and he didn't want to do it much longer. Heather and I ended up taking turns for a while.

With the tow rope, it was definitely easier, but waiting in line for the tow rope made walking up the hill much faster. It lightly snowed all while we were up there.


The tubing area was fun, but I don't know if it was worth the admission price, especially when we had one kid that really didn't want to do it. Maybe next year...

Merry Christmas

Happy Day After Christmas to everyone.

I hope yours found you well.

Ours was enjoyable. We shared Christmas Day with family and friends and it was a lot of fun.

One of Heather's sisters and her husband and infant (two separate people, not a husband who acts like a child), came the on Christmas Eve, so that they could start the morning with us.

We started off Christmas day, by making Turkey Stock. We started at midnight and with stock making, stuffing making and general chit chat, we didn't go to bed until 3 am. On the good side, we kept the kids up until 11 or so, so they were inclined to sleep in later.

We had planned on having a brunch with her husband's parents, but they were delayed so we opened presents and had French Toast for breakfast. I had smoked two salmon filets that I was planning on eating with brunch, but I forgot about them, until we got the dessert course of dinner. But more on that later.

The kids were happy with the presents they received and have been playing with them since. Parker's Nintendo DS Lite has been already charged 3 times. I'm not sure if it has needed it or he just know he needs to keep it charged.

For dinner, several friends (who happen to be neighbors) came over for dinner. It was fun in the final stages of preparation and making appetizers, at which point I still forgot the smoked salmon. We had a turkey dinner with all the accouterments.

One of Alec's friends from swimming made an avocado egg roll kind of thing which was really, really good. And his sister made some caramel popcorn - I have problems making the microwave caramel popcorn! All in all, it was really fun.

Heather had some little napkin rings that had a spot for a photo, so we went all Martha Stewart on this dinner. As every guest came in, I accosted them with my camera, took a head shot and then printed out tiny photos of them for their placecard/napkin ring. They turned out really well. Heather was brandishing a knife, a teen ager was turning away, hiding her face and her mom gave me the anti-paparazzi hand!

Merry Christmas to everyone. It was really nice to spend the day with friends.



Argh. I'm having trouble including photos here. Check out the Christmas 2006 set on Flickr.

I'll take you to the candy shoppe...

I'll let you lick my - spatula.

I made truffles again this winter. Chase, Parker and I melted 5 pounds of chocolate and made Chambord, Kahlua, Peppermint and plain (if you can use that word in reference to truffles) truffles. I also made a sheet of peppermint bark. That was really good.

I took a bunch back to my team mates in Oakland and Heather started giving them out to the neighbors today and yesterday.

I really enjoy cooking stuff for other people. Heck, I just enjoy cooking.

What kind of place do I live?

Editors note: The Northwest was subject to a pretty large windstorm last week and the Seattle metropolitan area bore the brunt of it. Because there are so many trees (part of what makes the Northwest such a nice area), there were widespread power outages. Where I live in Sammamish was out of power for almost 3 days, but as I write this, there are still places that don't have power.
During the power outage, I kept my offline blog in my Moleskine journal. I've finally transcribed it. While it misses out on the immediacy of the blogosphere, it helps keep the continuity of my blog.

December 15^th, 9:55 am

They have been forecasting really bad weather here in the Northwest. Last night, it arrived. No rain, no snow, just wind. Lots of fast wind - forecasted to be in the 60 - 70 mile per hour range.

Assuming the power would go out, I made sure to charge my cell phone (last time, the cellular networks stayed up). I made sure my laptop was fully charged so I could work on some offline things.

As we went to bed, Parker decided that he was scared of the windstorm and slept with me.

At some point in the night, the power went out. It was no surprise, it was really windy and really loud. I wondered if this was what a hurricane was like. Shortly after the power went out, Alec came into our room and his shuffling feet woke me up.

Alec: "It's too dark to see." I wasn't sure where he was going with this.
Me: "It's night time, you don't need to see. Go back to bed."
Alec: "Can I sleep at the bottom of your bed?"

By this time, Heather had come to bed, so there was no room.
Me: "There isn't any room."
Alec: "Can I sleep on the floor?"
Me: "Okay."

I woke up as the sun was beginning to rise. It was a beautiful sunrise, quite a pretty red sky. Knowing the sailor's ditty, it might portend bad things. Ed. - I really did write that. Am I good or what?

Slowly the neighbor's generators started to kick in, but still no power. And on top of all that, I had no signal for my mobile phone. I realized I had a conference call at 8 am, a phone interview at 8:30 and then a national inventory call at 10. I decided I would try to drive to the local shopping center to see if I could get a signal someplace along the way.

I headed out and saw several trees down on the side of the road and trees broken off midway up. Branches and broken greenery littered the streets. I drove out of our development onto the main road, but I didn't get far. Several trees were down across the road. Sheriffs were directing traffic and work crews were already at work and the road was closed. The only way out now was a 12 mile detour along even more rural, more wooded roads - if they were still open.

I turned around and headed home.

We have no phone service (all cordless) and no electricity. No means to communicate in or out. Alec has a small battery operated radio, so we can get some news, but I can't call my office mates in Oakland to let them know my predicament.

We make the assumption that school is canceled - the radio reports, "Most schools are closed today. A few in Snohomish county are opening late." They must be tougher up there.

I break out the camp stove to make Heather coffee and breakfast for all. Cream of wheat and oatmeal turn out okay, but we only buy whole bean coffee. We have a few gifts of ground coffee, but the one I opened and made with the french press didn't turn out so good.

I hope the power comes back on soon. I was really counting on this being a productive work day, because I would like to take some time off at Christmas...

1:30 pm

Just washed dishes after a lunch of Ramen. I'm glad to have the camp stove, because it is now 60 degrees in our kitchen. Hot water is nice.

We went for a walk to survey the damage and yes, we saw lots of downed trees. I talked to a King County Sheriff and Sammamish Police Officer and they just advised to stay off the road. They didn't have much information on what roads were open or closed.

I was able to garner that, where it was closed this morning, it was passable, but only to be closed further down. There is a fire access road to our development, but the police officer told me they had no plans to open the gate.

Reportedly, it is supposed to get cold and I can see dark clouds rolling in. So, we'll stay home, drink cocoa, cook on the camp stove and stay warm as best we can.

3:30 pm

I finished reading December's Esquire, so I check my phone again. As soon as I turn it on, I get two voice mail messages and three text messages. One is from Myla - "Are you OK?" is all it says. So, with one bar of signal strength, I call my boss.

I can tell by the way he answers his cell phone, he is in a meeting. He suggests that I save my battery, so we keep it short. I tell him we are okay and get just a smidgen of news from the rest of the world. I learn the local office is closed because few made it in.

It's a little funny. I can see blue sky in one part and dark clouds in another...

It'll be time to make dinner soon. I think eggs and bacon before the fridge gets too warm. It'll be dark too.

5:20 pm

The sunset about an hour ago, as I was making dinner. Eggs and bacon, since the fridge was warming up. We had ice cream for dessert and boy was it soft.

Candles light (or as best they can), the family room, as I write by their feeble light. This is where the "early to bed, early to rise" phrase came from. It just gets too dark to do anything else.

Day 2 December 16^th, 2:40 pm

We went out today, just to see how far we could go. There were power lines down in multiple spots. Some where just cables and they let us drive over and around them. We got down to the shopping area and Home Depot was out of generators and Fred Meyers appeared to be open. We stopped in Fred's and bought Alec a flashlight, some pancake mix and some ground Starbucks coffee.

We ran into some friends at the store and they had watched some satellite TV (somebody has excess kilowatts on their generator) and there were reports of 7 - 10 days with no power in remote areas. Goody for us in the suburbs - estimates of only 2 - 3 more days.

After we ate lunch, a neighbor came over and asked if the kids wanted to watch a movie - if we had some gas. We did, from the ill fated swim meet morning, so the kids went over.

While the kids were out, Heather and I played our own version of darts on a magnetic dart board she had stumbled across. She won, by 21 points.

If we've got 3 more days of this, I'll figure out how to beat her.

8:30 pm

After a delectable dinner of chicken quesadillas and an enjoyable game of Whoonu, we are calling it a night.

The sound of the neighbor's generators will lull me to sleep with the hopes that my slumber is interrupted by all the lights we left on, coming back on.

Still warm, still well fed.

Day 3, December 17^th, 9 am

Still no power, although, we do have hot water in our water heater. Evidently (and the credit goes to Heather) our gas water heater needs no electricity to function (as opposed to Heather, who needs coffee to function) and I took a hot shower this morning.

I think Heather is in there now. I should go take a look.

11:45 am

Almost 60 hours with no power. I've ran out of clean socks and I have no more cargo pants (to hold my flashlight, journal, pen, multi-tool and phone). My toes have been cold for a while, I think it has more to do with no clean socks and I've added my down vest as an insulatory layer.

I've been able to get a good enough signal on my cell phone to get weather from Google SMS. They're forecasting rain tomorrow and highs in the low 40s. At least it isn't snow.

I was not able to get a good data connection. I would like to check my email to see what the news is reporting on this situation and maybe find out where there is power. I'd like to get everyone out of the house for a sense of normalcy for a while (heat, light and something to occupy us other than our glowing personalities).

2:40 pm

We took another expedition to see how far we could go. What was passable before is impassable now, but because work crews are cleaning things up.

So, we headed the back way to Redmond (where they reportedly already have power), but based upon the backup, it was closed. We took some back roads and ended up in downtown Sammamish.

There were lights (both illumination and traffic lights) and we stopped for lunch. We ate at Acapulco Fresh (which was really good). They had heat. And we got gas.

We took a different route home and ended up on the other side of the closed road. Luckily for us, they have finally opened the fire access road, so there is a way into our neighborhood.

Our expedition was also fruitful in that we had good enough cell phone coverage to receive calls and check voice mail.

My messages were funny. One was from Myla, wondering why I wasn't on Friday's phone interview, obviously before her "Are you okay" text message. One was from another co-worker divvying up some work to be done - I couldn't really disagree could I? Number 3 was my mom wondering if we were okay.

5:30pm (final entry)

So, we decided that we had had enough. We are going to the movies. Hopefully, we will drive to where there is power. Fandango tells us that Casino Royale is showing in Bellevue. We'll go there, all bundled up like homeless people to wander amongst those finishing their Christmas shopping in the Bellevue boutiques.

Postscript

While we were at the movies, the power was restored at our house. By the time we returned, the power had been on for four hours, so the house was warm again. We stayed up much later than we should have because the kids wanted a warm dinner. Who can blame them.

Snow day 3 in the Issaquah School District

We are having our third snow day in a row! It looks like it is warming up outside, but there is still snow on the ground and ice on the street (at least in front on our house). However the snow days appear to be coming to an end, so says the Issaquah School District.

UPDATE

Issaquah Schools and all school-related activities are once again cancelled today, Thursday, November 30.

Although roads in some areas of the District are ice free, many roads remain treacherous to navigate. While we want students to return to classrooms as soon as possible, we put their safety first.

We expect school to resume on a normal schedule tomorrow. Thank you for your flexibility during the storm.

Sorry kiddos! Enjoy the last day!

Coming home to the snow in Seattle

My trip home wasn't uneventful, but I got home and that made me happy. The office in Glendale is pretty close to the Burbank (aka Bob Hope International) Airport, so I was able to get there quickly. I had some time to spare, but I couldn't remember my T-Mobile wi-fi hotspot account user name, so I responded to emails off-line.

About thirty minutes before the flight's departure time, people started lining up. Normal practice on South West, but I was flying Alaska. It was weird. And then, in another display of strangeness, they announced that they would load the aircraft from the rear to the front. It makes perfect sense. I was sitting towards the back of the plane, so I got to get on quickly - all those people in line had to step aside.

The airline also announced that our "non-stop flight to Seattle would make an intermittent stop in Sacramento to refuel." Evidently, the winds were high and we needed to take off on a short runway. With the plane as full and heavy as it was, we wouldn't have made it with a full tank of gas. It delayed our flight by about an hour. It sucked, but there were some advantages. Fewer crazies on the streets when we got here.

Listening to the news, I expected it to be a real challenge driving home. It was 19 degrees outside and my MINI needed snow brushed off and the windows scraped. The driver side door handle had frozen shut, so I had to crawl in through the passenger seat. I was happy because I found a watch cap in my trunk and the seat heaters were warm!

The interstates were all clear, but wet - obviously salted or some thing done to keep the ice from forming. As I got closer to Bellevue on 405, there was sometimes a build up of ice between the lanes, but people drove appropriately. It was no big deal.

Once I left the interstate, it was a different story entirely. I don't think the roads in Issaquah or Sammamish were salted, plowed or otherwise. There really were cars just stopped in lanes, abandoned. I even saw a car with tire chains abandoned on the side of the road. I had no issues driving, stopping or turning - my MINI is front wheel drive and that makes a world of difference.

The roads were icy but not undriveable. I can see that school buses would have difficulty and school was canceled again (text message received while I was on the airplane letting me know school was canceled today).

It is supposed to snow more tonight and record lows are supposed to be broken. Ah, this is really winter! I like looking out my window and seeing snow covered bushes, lawn furniture and mountains. I like this.