Long Weekend Recap

This past weekend was a longer one for me.  I had my usual every-other-Friday off followed by the Memorial Day Monday off.  A nice break.

Camera error (OK, operator error) has me with a lack of photographic evidence.  You'll just have to take my word on everything.

Friday was a bit damp but not damp enough to depress the spirits of me and the visitor.  We made our way east and a bit south to take in some of Mt. Rainier National Park.  Given the damp, the mountain proper did not make an appearance.  However, other fun things were had.

I started the visit by purchasing the $80 annual pass that gets me into all National Parks and Recreation areas.  From there it was a short drive to a parking area and a hike of Kautz Creek Trail.  The trail begins very near Kautz Creek and heads generally north in direction and up in elevation.

The Kautz Creek trail ends in the Mirror Lakes area and not too far south of the South Tahoma Glacier.  However, we did not make it that far.  I'm guess about two miles into the hike we started to see snow.  A bit farther and the trail began to get slick.  A bit farther still and it was time to turn around.  We did not want to slip, fall, and damage our persons in our inappropriate for snow travel shoes.

Post hike it was up to the Paradise Visitor Center.  The Center was closed but the Inn was open.  Wine was the ticket.  The closer to Paradise we drove, the more snow we saw.  At road terminus it was several feet deep on either side of the road.  It was snowing as we made our way inside.

Departing Paradise the car thermometer registered 34 degrees.  By the time we left the Park heading back to here it read 58 degrees.

Saturday was biking day.  Since is was to be rainy pretty much all day in pretty much all areas, we elected to drive north to Sequim, WA and ride the Olympic Discovery Trail.  This section of the trail is in the rain shadow.  So - no rain!

Sunday and Monday were spent sleeping in some.  I struggle with "sleeping in."  I typically get up at 4:30 AM.  So, sleeping in to, say, 7:00 AM is a feat.  The other portions of each day were spent in, and around, the Seattle area.

Saturday evening we did manage to sample some of Bitterroot's (Google it - I'm too lazy as I type this to fetch the link for you) finest barbecue food.  In addition to great food, their whiskey menu has numbers (different types/brands) in the hundreds.  I needed to drive so I only sampled a couple and over much time.

I do believe I have a handful of pictures taken with the crappy camera phone.  I'll see if I can't get them posted on here sometime soon.

Coming up this weekend is the Gear Up Expo (www.gearupexpo.com) in Everett.  The game plan is to put my carcass and a bike on the ferry at Bremerton and take it to Seattle.  From there I'll ride the 35 miles, or so, to Everett and the Expo.  I'm thinking Surly Big Dummy so I have capacity to haul if I end up buying some gear.  I will do better on the camera end so I'll have pictures to post.  You sit on the edge of your seat and hold your breath.