We spent the day getting some odds and ends done, and then enjoyed the beautiful day by taking a long walk, ~9-10 miles.
Well over 20,000 steps.
We really have to thank Mark for the step counter. It drives the distances.
And it was apparently selection Sunday.
It appears to be Tennessee
The goats took about three days to do their work.
3 days work
Check the previous post for the before picture.
We came across the after picture on a homeward bound leg of a walk.
But we had not reached 20,000 steps on Carl’s counter, so we turned north instead of south.
As we rounded a corner we thought we heard a baby, but not quite.
I joked that the goats had gotten loose and were roaming the neighborhood.
We were next accosted by this little guy.
Up and coming lawn mower
Pretty darn cute for a future leg of lamb.
Today’s walk had to wait for the rain to cease.
After dinner we set out.
Carl wanted to do some steps, but I was not looking forward to a walk, not a workout.
We settled on a longer than planned route with some hills and valleys.
The goal was taken from the Seattle Times sketcher piece in the morning’s paper.
We have been to the Rock before, an erratic from a glacial period.
This walk was not only a chance to get out of the house, but to avoid getting too worked up over a Sounders game on TV. The score was 1-1 when we left at about 30 minutes through the first half. It was still 1-1 when we passed a bar with about 10 minutes left in the game. As we rounded a corner for the last 9 blocks to home, we heard a roar from a bar about 1/2 block away. Our assumption that the Sounders had scored a goal were confirmed when we passed the Bierstubbe, and they held on for the win!
Other than that – a bit of work, and chance for some sunshine tomorrow.
Pemco Insurance has a series of ads about what makes Seattle quirky or different, “You’re one of us,” is the tag line.
Most of what they show is true.
They use actors, but they really wouldn’t need to if they just took their cameras out on the street.
Today we got to witness one of the Seattle happenings in person.
A few of the 25-30 goats on site.
Goat close-up
Kind of cute.
Working the hillside
We were wondering how long it would take to get through this hill of blackberry bushes.
A good excuse to get out after dinner. (Really, just a 10-minute leisurely walk from the house.)
No trolls in site, and more next to a (freeway) bridge than going above.
The day had been a gloriously sunny day. Spent batting practice sitting in the sun. The game is underway, and the sun has dropped behind the 3rd bade stands. The temperature dropped 5 degrees in a minute, and has continued its steady decline.
There is no chance of rain, so no clouds to hold the heat in. Forecast has tonight’s lows in the 30s.
Welcome to spring baseball in Seattle. And yet, there are crowds. There is a bit of a buzz about town. Maybe just a holdover from the Seahawks. It really doesn’t matter at this point. The baseball season is like a marathon, and we are just warming up in the first few miles.
I am sure the title to this post reflects a time in most people’s lives.
I was feeling pretty smug (not sure that is the correct word, because it sounds as though I am proud of this state) that I had worked over 100 hours during the last 2-week pay period. I was probably more satisfied that I had accomplished a goal, rather than the amount of time it took me to get there.
Tonight we chatted with both of our kids, separately.
They each, without hearing what the other had said, declared, “I am quite tired. I have been working a 60 hour week.”
I guess I am just a piker with my 50 hour weeks.
Ashlan is working long hours as a newly minted GM for a sandwich store in Manhattan.
Hopefully the hours will get more manageable as she gets a bit more time under her belt.
Rey is working long hours at his new position with the Tennessee Smokies.
Yes, again – for those that follow the bouncing ball – he has retired from being a soda jerk (or milkshake jerk) at a burger joint, to become a concessions person at the ballpark. He was asked to come back to the team to help out while another employee undergoes cancer treatment. The employee is a friend of Rey’s, and his new boss was his old boss when he started with the Smokies, so he wanted to help them out. Rey is well aware of the long hours that come with working for a ball club. Today was their second game of the season, and a DARE (lots of kids) game. He said he has been doing a lot of payroll activities, expects to run concessions in the suites, but spent today cashiering for the dip-n-dots stand.
This is a seasonal gig for Rey, he told them his last day would be about July 14th. That is when he plans to take a short break, and then head back to school.
While nothing is definite, he has been offered an assistantship by the University of Tennessee.
I am a proud mama.
So it is finally opening day. Home opening day that is.
I decided to take the entire day off from work.
So I started by staying at work yesterday until 8 PM.
But that was because the Board approved the 3-year long effort to update our Wastewater Comprehensive Plan!
I don’t hear the cheering – louder now.
My post meeting work time was spent sending out bits and pieces to get this sucker lovely report out the door so others can tear into it.
I noted that a first cousin once removed has just defended her thesis. Congratulations, but don’t think it is the end of being judged.
And the take-away from any of you that might choose to read it (not linked – one of the items I sent out last night was to IT to get it up on the web-site) is to not throw trash – including especially disposable wipes – in the toilet. Use the trash can.
For those that care to follow the wastewater stream, disposable is not the same as dispersible.
Speaking of crap, I spent the early part of my vacation day picking up the rat turds in the squat space (see prior blog post). Fun times.
Back to baseball.
Seattle Mariners 4 – A’s and Angels 2
Not a bad start.
Carl has made it to 50% of the games the Mariners have played this year (2-1), and a Padres game and a Tacoma Rainiers game. If helps that his main kid is in Salt Lake City, so he can roam around looking for games. He has only been on TV once to my knowledge, but we did pick him up in a montage commercial for Root Sports NW.
Carl’s Highlight Reel on Root Sports
And so, we are now trying to figure out how to get to the game.
Maybe bus, maybe walk, … all very weather dependent.
Of course, part of the fun of Opening Day is seeing people you have not seen since late September.
Time to find all of my Mariner paraphernalia, glove, hat.
As one of my work friends noted:
True to the Blue.
The title is really a little misleading.
We did have a bit of a pest problem, and they left about the time Carl left town.
Since we have been back in the house there have been occasional ants in the upstairs bathroom.
Little tiny ants. Ants that I often would not see in the morning – because I did not have my glasses on yet.
Then there was the day that Carl went into the downstairs bathroom and there were 100 or so little tiny ants.
Eewwww.
He went on a killing spree.
We did so much work on that end of the house, that we figured we had exposed an avenue in, or just disturbed a previous nest during construction. So we called in the pros. (Yes, we called one that uses low toxicity methods.)
Apparently we were not the only folks in the area with ant problems – they would take at least 5 days before they could get to our infestation. The rate of ant sightings went up and then down. Weather? Killing spree was successful? Who knew. (It was kind of like going to the doctor for a nagging injury, and then it just isn’t hurting when you finally get to your appointment.)
Saturday and the bug guy arrived. Very few ants in attendance. Until he put out his bait in the windowsills. Little drops of a sweet gel (with just a hint of poison), and some protein powder as well. Since their visit we have seen very few sugar ants (as they are called), so perhaps it did the trick.
What we did learn was that if they did come out we should not squish them. They put off a coconut like smell (Carl recognized this from his spree), but that tells the rest of the colony that it is not safe and they move. Just to another part of your wall. You can blot them up with a soapy paper towel – which will also get rid of their trail.
Bonus of having the bug guy visit was his inspection of the house exterior for signs of ants. Including a trip into our squat space. [A small space under the end of the kitchen, accessible from a hobbit sized door on the side of the house. Too low to walk into, but you definitely do not need to crawl.] And others had found their way into our space, without using the door. RATS! Rats are all over our neighborhood, so that was not too much of a surprise, but we did not realize we were remodeling a space for them too. [The contractor came back and sealed the rat doors after our report.]
As soon as the pest report was in, Carl was out.
California dreamin’ with baseball on his mind.
4 Men in a Prius is the working title for this trip.
Opening day in Anaheim, next day in San Diego, back to Anaheim, and tonight in Oakland.
I have been following the games, sometimes on TV.
Tonight I was talking to Carl on the phone during the early innings.
A few minutes after we hung up, there he was on the TV – big as life.
They were just showing the Mariner fans in attendance (M’s broadcast team).
And he was on the phone – it wasn’t with me – who could it be.
He is likely getting back tomorrow, and then it is just a few days until the opener in Seattle.
Meanwhile, at work we have been draining 2 million gallons of water from a tank outside of our office.
Actually, about 1.6 million gallons. We were able to deliver about 400,000 gallons before the level in the tank was too low to keep good pressure in the water system. So today I got to put on my rain boots and climb into the tank.
Being in water tanks is cool.
They are ethereal. And the sound echo is awesome.
Unfortunately, they are also kind of dark, and the phone camera does not do much justice.
The dark stuff is manganese. Naturally occurring. Well within allowable levels. We filter manganese out at the wells now, but only for the last few years. The hanging piece is our level float. It is connected to a guage on the outside of the tank. We also have a transducer for more accurate level measurements. The taller pipe penetration is where the water comes in and goes out to the system (same pipe). The lower pipe is the drain.
Level float, feed and deliver, and drain
Conference in the tank. (Not goofing off – that is my boss)
Roof is about 100 feet up. Ladder shadow – overflow funnel on the right
As is frequently the case I had a bit of work to do this weekend. My initial idea was to do the bit from home Saturday morning, and then move on to other things.
As usual, my plan did not come off exactly as I planned. The computer connection to work would not work, so I could not work.
But it was a nice day, so we decided to venture out on foot. When Mark and Pooh left, they let Carl keep a Boeing step counter. The goal is 16,000 steps a day. So we set out to take 16,000 steps or so. I have not measured the distance, but am guessing about 6-7 miles.
Since the home computer connection was a bust I left for work. Traveling light because I did not plan to spend the whole day. A little too light as it tuned out. No badge.
“We don’t need no stinkin badges!” Not if we don’t mind setting off the building alarm. Which I did. And then silenced the bigger and called in the false alarm.
After that rousing start, I finished two of the three things on my list.
But it was sunny and I was stiff from the Saturday walk. So after returning home, we set out for another 16,000 steps.
Different species in the two pictures, both from the Sunday jaunt.
Oh – and for those that are counting, I am officially out of the NCAA basketball tournament. Before we got to the sweet 16.
Father of Texas, professional wrestler or the Six Million Dollar Man?
I am debating which of these has a better chance of beating UCLA tomorrow.
Our family has a long tradition of participating in March Madness with a random draw bracket. We all go in wanting to get certain teams, and can be torn when we don’t get one of our favorites. And – we all want to get a coveted number 1 seed. After all, there was chocolate at stake. [Treats for each win, double if it is an upset.] But it is a random draw. And random is random.
We had a wonderful time doing the draw. We had a 3-way Skype going, with Pooh and Mark standing in for Ashlan & Rey doing the actual drawing out of the bowl. When all was said and done it was my job to enter the results into the bracket, and add the teams after they were drawn.
It was only then that I realized the highest seeded team I had drawn was a No. 5!!! Really. No 1, 2, 3, or 4 seed graced my share of the bracket. [I did manage 3 of the 4 number 5 teams.]
Still, a number 5 seed plays their first game against a number 12 seed, so you would think that I could get a few games out of my 5s. But NOOO. Two of my 5s went down to Harvard and Stephen F. Austin. As luck would have it, I also had the No. 12 seed – Stephen F. Austin, so I was still alive for the next game.
For the round of 32 I had only four teams. Stephen F. Austin (12 seed), Pittsburgh (9 seed), Oregon (7 seed) and St. Louis (5 seed). It is now Saturday evening, and I am down to one team. Stephen F. Austin. A 12 seed, slated to play UCLA – a 4 seed.
We used to joke about directional schools not having much of a chance. For instance, Michigan and Michigan State just have the name of the state. Western Michigan has to add a direction. Stephen F. Austin does not even get a state name, although you might consider it a City name. Sort of.
Anyway, I think I am going to be out of this tournament faster than anyone in our family has ever made an exit.
In addition to tracking the basketball scores we took a walk today. A few sightings.
Wheee – phone booths
We have plenty of collections at our house, but none like this.
We introduced my brother-in-law to a new waterfowl on his recent visit. Wigeons, or mallard with a mohawk as we like to refer to them. We usually have American Wigeons around Seattle. But occasionally there are some visitors from the east that arrive with their American counterparts. We had told Mark about the Eurasian variety, but never saw one. Today we spotted one in the flock at Green Lake.
Eurasian Wigeon on the left, with the rusty head
Oh – HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I will call tomorrow (I am not the best daughter today).
I have been doing a bit of work, and a lot more play over these past few days.
Pooh and Mark finally made it to vacation time, and gathered all of their vacation karma to cause the rain to cease. At least for a few days.
Foggy Sound into Kingston
It was a glorious day. Foggy crossing the sound, but the sun melted the fog as we landed in Kingston. (See – we didn’t need to get up any earlier, because we would not have been able to see as much.)
Wednesday morning we launched for the Olympic Peninsula.
Target – The Elwha Dam.
Or rather the Elwha Dam Site.
That is no longer the site of the Elwha Dam, but rather the site of the past Elwha Dam.
The dam Dam is gone.
Old Elwha Dam Site
If you go to visit the Elwha dam sites, today, you will only be able to get to the Elwha Dam. The upper dam (Glines) is on her/his way out. Because there is occasionally dynamite used to bam departing dams, we were limited to the lower Dam on the Elwha, the Elwha Dam (or past dam site).
To get to the site we followed the path to a lookout. Then we took the path off of the path – to a much better lookout. Then we took the path that was not a path off of the path, but rather a road – or a past road – that was used to get to the dam, when it was a dam. This took us right into the dam pool. (Lake Mills I think.) Except it was no longer a pool, but an area being reclaimed by vegetation.
Intrepid Wanderers
Tree Gnome (looking for a tree)
The most obvious signs of the roughly 100 years between the dam construction and destruction are the tree stumps.
Loggers Spring Board notches
Not Quite Up to the Notch
This Elwha silt is a recurring theme of the area at this time. I thought another hiker had dropped a handful of mud/silt on the ground – until I realized we were in an area where the dam pool had allowed the normal silt and mud flow to settle.
Glob of Elwha Silt
And as the water level was lowered, some of this silt stayed on top of the stumps.
Mud Cap
From a hydraulic engineer’s point of view, one exciting sight was the river meanders that could be easily seen in the mud and silt that is still the river bed.
Elwha Meanders
I really want to return to this site over the next few years – just to see the changes.
We even saw a bit of wildlife.
Wildlife Siting in a Spring Box
Then we took off to see other sites along the river.
Along the banks of the Elwha
First stop – Madison Falls.
Or rather a stop for Pooh and Mark. Jay realized that she no longer had a handle on her phone, and had just said as we left the lower dam parking lot, “Does everybody have their camera? I thought I heard something fall off the car.”
Carl & Jay headed back towards the lower dam.
Carl decided to call the phone just in case the other couple at the dam site was near the parking lot and had picked up the phone.
Except, we could hear the phone ringing.
Certain that it was in the car, we returned to Madison Falls, and spent about 5 minutes hunting the phone down. You would not have thought it to be that difficult a task – it is only a Prius. It was finally located beneath the driver’s seat – safe and sound – with 6 missed calls.
Madison Falls
Madison falls was well worth the short walk off of the road. The rain from the past week had it roaring over the drop.
Pooh wanted to find the point where the Madison entered the Elwha – to see how the clear Madison mixed with the muddy Elwha. Unfortunately this happened just beyond the No Trespassing sign.
Mud and Silt signal freeing of the river
So back to Port Angeles.
We spent a bit of time sunning on the Ediz Spit, looking back at the Olympics and trying to identify the water fowl hanging about. And we even spotted a seal, but I am not posting my picture because it looks very much like a floating log.
The next morning we launched in search of breakfast, and found the New Day Café. It was a lovely place to spend some time, but a ferry schedule beckoned and we headed to Port Townsend for the short hop to Whidbey Island. From there we went north to Deception Pass. Hiked a bit, crossed the bridge on foot (which was a bit hairier than we liked), clambered over rocks and logs, and finally headed back south to La Conner for lunch, a quilt museum (and historical house tour) and the daffodil fields. At least a few fields were in bloom. (I figured if my daffodils were blooming, theirs should be too.)
And finally home again.
And today, I finally got to use a Christmas present from the girl. (THANK YOU)
Pooh & I enjoyed a retreat at Banya5 in the South Lake Union neighborhood.
I would most likely never go to a spa by myself, but was pleasantly surprised by the easy ambience of the place. A sauna, steam room, cold plunge pool, tepid salt-water pool and hot tub filled the spa area, along with a few showers for rinsing between pools. They were all very enjoyable (except perhaps the cold plunge, which felt much like the temperature of Lake Superior). After bouncing back and forth between these amenities, we set off for home. And while I initially felt ready for anything, I now feel ready to settle down with a movie, or a nap.
I would have been happy just to make it to the Elwha Dam site.
But to have the dam, spit, pass, 2 ferry rides, quilts, flowers and at least three good meals – with a side of two sunny days in a row – followed by a spa day; this has been an excellent vacation – and all close to home. And to see much better pictures – go to RegenAxe.
[It is times like this that make me ask why we don’t take off for weekend adventures more often.]
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