And we're back...

It's been a long time, folks, but we'll be moving back east in just a few short weeks and I'd like to get back into writing. Living in a new place helped us realize that we never really explored or took advantage of our great location back East (unless you count every bar in Newport). We intend to camp and hike in New England just as much as we did here and I'd like to continue writing here at what I guess should now be kategoeswestgetsmarriedgoeseast. It is a convenient way to keep track of pictures and stories chronologically. So, we're back!!

First up: check out some wedding pics at kenluallen.com/gallery. Password is seattle.

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Available for pre-order now at Amazon.com!

Couldn't resist...

More of my favorites :)...

east meets west meets SOUTH!!

In exactly 40 days, we will be on a plane to Quito, Ecuador. With all of the weddnig planning hoopla, we haven't really taken any time to consider the honeymoon (or the fact that we don't speak Spanish) so last night I stopped off at Barnes and Noble and picked up a Spanish phrase book along with a few travel guides for Ecuador. Within 5 minutes or cracking open those books I was trying to convince Casey to extend our trip - not because I simply wanted to but because we HAVE to! There is so much to see and do between the rainforest, the historic colonial era cities, the coast, the Andes mountains and the Galapagos. How could we possibly do it all in 8 days? Our current itinerary includes two nights in Old Town Quito (one night when we arrive and one before we leave) with 4 nights in Banos and 3 nights along the coast at yet-to-be-determined beaches. Get a napkin because you're about to start drooling:

Hotel Patio Andaluz, accomodations for our first night as honeymooners:

Quito:

Next stop: Four nights at Luna Runtun in Banos along the Avenue of the Volcanoes. I can't say more about the volcano here because my mom will read this and call the whole thing off so if you're interested in learning about the volcano next to Banos, called Tungurahua, see here.

While in Banos, we're planning to seek out recommendations on the best beaches along the Pacific Coast and then hop on a few buses to visit the best spots Saturday thruogh Tuesday before making our way back to Quito. Example:

If -and I really, really hope that this is possible - if we're able to get a few extra days, we'll plan to take 3-4 days at the end of the trip to fly to the Galapagos Islands before returning to Quito. Everyone we've spoken to has told us that we have to go to the Galapagos and it really didn't sink in until last night when I saw photos of marine iguanas and blue footed boobies and of course, the giant tortoises.

6 weeks, 3 days...

... until the wedding! Since we're getting so close the family planned a great weekend for the bachelorette, bridal shower and guys golf outing (men, men, men, men). I have included some pictures below! Thank you Mom, Dad, Melissa and especially Lindsey.

Engagement Shots

Last weekend while in Rhode Island Casey and I spent a muggy morning in East Boston with our amazing photographer, Ken Luallen. I stole a few shots to include below but you can see them all at kenluallen.com/gallery, password is seattle. Perhaps you may want to order a few life size shots for around the house and above the mantle.

Spring Project - After...

A Little Taste

The nightstand is finally done! However, I still have to move all the books, vacuum and set it up in the bedroom so we're not quite ready for the big reveal. Here's a little preview...

Penrose Point State Park

Friday evening traffic is never appealing, but the promise of a campground at the end of the road was sure to reward our efforts. We peeled out of Seattle (no, Kate was not driving) just after 6pm and headed south to Tacoma, west to Gig Harbor, then south again to Penrose Point SP, which is located right on the Carr Inlet. As the crow flies, this place is only about 40 miles from Seattle, but traffic and the lack of a direct route turned this into an hour and forty five minute journey. Not to worry, the sun sets around 9:30 this time of year, so we had plenty of time to set up camp and check out the campground before getting the fire going. Of course, we were armed with beer and Pirate's Booty, so we didn't hesitate to park our rear ends in our camp chairs and hang out around the fire before an early bedtime.

After a comfortable night, we pryed ourselves from the tent and had some coffee and muffins before heading out for the day. The sun was out, so we headed out on the main hiking trail to the shoreline and followed the shore around to the main beach. We saw a handful of seals, a few early boaters, and a sweet view of Mt. Rainier. Other than a short visit by a family, there weren't any other people on the beach.

On our way to the main beach, we ran into a couple that lived nearby, so we chatted them up and asked about the best areas for clam digging. The didn't hesitate to disclose the local sweet spot, so we parted ways and headed directly to 'town' in an effort to arm ourselves with the best clam-digging gear we could find in the middle of nowhere. I ended up with a plastic shovel that couldn't pick up dog sh*t and Kate conveniently declared the soil rake as her own. Well, the plastic shovel didn't do anything except bend, so my hands became my primary tool. After a solid two hours of digging, we came away with about 45 clams (Littlenecks and Manillas, mostly), which was just over the daily limit for one person. We didn't intend on eating a million clams, so we took our fair share and headed back to our camp-site with a bucket of clams and sunburn on all of the skin that the sunscreen missed (read: I now have a cross between a wife-beater and a straight up farmer tan). Yes, Mom, our sunscreen efforts were genuine.

Now....for the best part of the trip. We basically ate like kings (and queens) Saturday evening. We got the fire roaring and then threw a few of the clams on the grate for a quick appetizer. They were damn good, so we didn't waste much time preparing the orzo and skewered veggies. Everything was delicious, but we ate so much that we really couldn't bring ourselves to do anything beyond the dishes after our amazing meal. We sat around the fire with full tanks and some Leinenkugel Amber until we realized that we were both comatose and needed to go to bed. The sun had not set when we retired for the night, so I'm guessing that it was roughly 9pm. Yes, our dinner was that good.

Sunday morning arrived after another great night of sleep and so did some good coffee and another dose of camp fire. We enjoyed our morning stroll so much the day before that we did it again on Sunday while we enjoyed the remnants of our coffee. We toyed with the idea of waiting for low tide Sunday afternoon to grab more clams, but we still had 15 live clams from the day before, so we headed back to camp and packed up our gear. Once we loaded everything in the car, we hit the road and stopped in Gig Harbor, which is on the way home and just west of Tacoma. Gig Harbor is a great little town that has a very East coast feel. There are tons of boats, shops, and some great restaurants (according to the crazy Norwegian guy that ran the local jewelry store that Kate steered us into for a quick visit). One of the places the jeweler mentioned, and one that I've heard great stories about, is Tides Tavern. As you can tell from the name, this bar and grill is famous for luring unsuspecting sailors in for a pint or ten and spitting them out the back door to find their boats hard aground at low tide. The drunken sailor is then faced with a predicament that has only one solution.....back to the bar for more beer! Kate and I had a great lunch and got out of there quickly because we were nervous that our car would have been aground had we stayed any longer.

We hit the road again and paid the $4 bridge toll (thieves) before hitting Tacoma traffic and joining the rest of the weekend warriors on I-5.

We had a great weekend and would highly suggest Penrose Point as a great place to stay for a weekend, or even a week or two. There's probably a good reason why the closest town is called "Home."

Before: The Room

I can hardly bring myself to post this picture of our bedroom, it's so awful. But the big reveal wouldn't be as impressive without this photo to provide comparison. The new nightstand is drying in the yard at this very moment. "After" photos soon!

Tanjoubi Omedetou, Kate!!

Casey gave me an early birthday gift today!! We went to Uwajimaya for a sushi class!! There will be lots of exclamation points in this post because I was so excited and it was the best!!

We learned a LOT of stuff, way to much to get down in one post, not to mention I've already forgotten things. We bought a maki-su and a rice paddle to prepare sushi rice and roll different makis. We'll have to have a little sushi-making party to demonstrate our skills. We started with futomaki; maki meaning roll and futo indicating that it is large. Then moved onto a smaller maki that would be good finger food at parties. Lastly, we learned to make an inside-out roll where the rice is on the outside rather than the seaweed. Then we got to pick ingredients and experiment on our own. I made a shiso (strong herb in the mint family) plum sauce and cucumber mini-maki at the chef's direction which was very good. We had so many left-overs to take home, we'll be eating sushi for days!! There's so much more to it than you would ever think. More time, more ingredients, more prep. It's definitely not just rice and roll. Can't wait to test our new skills!!

Lake Wenatchee State Park

This past weekend, Casey flew down to San Francisco for a boys weekend so I decided to go on a little adventure myself. We got out of work at 2pm on Friday, I packed up the car and headed out to Stevens Pass to camp at Lake Wenatchee on the eastern side of the Casacades. The goal was to stay at Glacier View campground; smaller, right on the water, a bit more primitive and hopefully a little quieter and private. Unfortunately, despite there being 20 out of 23 sites available at 3pm, all of the campgrounds around the lake were full by the time I made it out there. I thankfully managed to grab the last site at the state park before dark which, in hindsight, was perfect due to the fact that it is the only campground around with runnig water and showers. The only problem was that the site was for one night only and I planned to stay until Sunday. Because I have long trained in the art of procrastination, that was obviously a problem for tomorrow.

Oh, and let me get this out of the way right up front, I was alone. Just me. No one else. Holiday weekend, in the woods, in a tent, no friends, all alone. Mom, get over it. That place was so crowded with families, I had a better chance of getting bit by a family dog than a wild animal. And now for my weekend...

I had just enough time to set up my tent (neighbor kid: "Daddy, that girl is using that little tent all alone") and start the fire before dark. Let me tell you; boil-in-a-bag rice is excellent for campfire cooking. No mess, no measuring, no problem. Boil the rice, dump out the water and use the same pot to saute some vegies. Pour the rice, soy sauce and chili paste back in the pot and you've got campfire stirfry with one pot to rinse. Done and done.




















Saturday morning I woke up on a mission to find a new campsite so as not to have to cut my trip in half. Well, one person's tragic medical emergency is apparently another person's vacation saver. Sorry bald guy with the Corolla and I hope you're feeling better but that site was all mine! A quick move 3 sites down and I was ready for a hike. The trail was open to mountain bikers, hikers and horseback riders. This meant that the first 3 miles were spent looking down to avoid massive piles of horse shit every 15 feet and no opportunity to look at the scenery. It kind of ruined my mountain high for a bit but after a handful of large blown-over trees blocked the trail I was past the horse bombs. Now here's where we learn a lesson about maps that are to scale and those that are not. What looked like a 1 mile hike was actually 6 miles in and another 6 out again. Oh, and by the way, that small little circle signifying that you will be climbing a mountain is so cute and easy looking on a flat page. Not so, my friend. I got to a point where I was climbing 20 feet and stopping for a rest, climbing 10 feet and stopping for another rest. I was ready to stop at noon but kept going until 1:30 because every time I felt like I was getting close to the lookout, the switchbacks would turn me around again and end me back into the woods. I eventually got above the snow line where the trees thinned out allowing a view of the lake below. But hiking in the snow in boots and no snowshoes is worse than jogging on the beach so I promptly sat down on the ridge for a quick lunch (no bears, no bears, no bears, pleeeeease) and then hustled back down the mountain before my legs gave out beneath me. Nothing exciting on the way down except some odd grunting in the brush about 10 feet off the trail. I, of course, convinced myself that it was a bear and gave serious thought to banging two sticks together while I walked. But then I felt self-concious about how silly I would look. Which is pretty sad when you're on vacation alone, potentially about to be eaten by a bear and you're concerned about not looking cool. Coroner, "Well, the remains are pretty chewed up but I bet she looked good! Not like that loser with the sticks."

About the pictures... Taking a picture of yourself using a stump and a few rocks for camera support is tough. I thought those were deer tracks but they were definitely from a mountain goat which is probably what was making noise in the woods. There's a section of the trail that cuts through a large area recovering from a wildfire from a few years back. Very interesting landscape and fascinating to see the different vegetation making its way back around the charred trees. The lake is where I started and probably about 7 miles away.

After a 12-14 mile hike (plus 2 miles along the lake that morning) and after a winter of doing nothing but lifting my beer to my mouth and back down again, I got to my tent and was asleep at 3:30pm before my head even hit my pillowcase full of clothes (i.e. pillow). I was so filthy, I then had to drive to the grocery store after my nap and buy a towel and bar of soap. I have no mousquito bites whatsoever and you can see from this video that is a nearly impossible feat. I think I was too stinky and dusty for even the bugs.

Now, here's where I am very liberal with the word "camping". There's a bar walking distance from the campground that serves $2 Session lagers, our new favorite beer, and $5 food PLUS karaoke at night. No amount of money could have enticed me to stoop over that campfire and cook myself another meal. My muscles were so sore and weak, I would have fallen into the flames and then probably would not have had the strength to get back up. But mostly: Mountain townies + $2 beer + Kate = A.MA.ZING. And, as everyone knows, beers on Saturday means breakfast sandwiches on Sunday. And the 59er Diner on the way out of town totally delivers! Of course, the owner is from New England which explains everything because I think Westerners are born without the part of the brain that knows how to make a breakfast sandwich. The 59er Diner "Stacker" was open-faced on toast with a pile of hash browns, grilled onions, garden herbs, tomato, swiss and an over-easy egg right on top. Perfect after a day of hiking and an 11-hour exhausted, comatose sleep.

It really was a perfect trip. I could be sweet and nice and say that it would have been better with Casey or friends and family but I think it was actually a very important experience to go alone and I truly had a great time. I look forward to going back with a bunch of people but I'll also really value the experience of going it alone.

Spring Project - Before...

I have a rickety, particleboard and white veneer piece of awfulness that is making a poor effort at being a nightstand next to my bed. Every time I reach over to turn the light off I brace myself for the whole thing to crumble and books to come raining down. It was time for a change. So I haggled the Goodwill guy down to $9.99 for the nightstand shown above which sounds like a steal until you notice the mildew on the drawers and realize that when I first opened this drawer there was a live snail inside, no joke. But I will not be deterred!! Case and I picked up some patterned paper, white spray paint, drawer pulls, sand paper and acrylic spray at the Home Depot and we're getting to work on this bad boy tonight. I hope to have some dazzling "after" pictures before the end of the week. Stay tuned!

Red wine, white wine, dark beer, light beer

It's like the grown up version of "one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish" and also a good description of our Sunday. We went to Delille Winery on Sunday for a barrel tasting of two soon-to-be-bottled wines and several recent vintages along with food from the Barking Frog. I think we've recommended it before but if you are looking for some new wines to try, check out Delille. The 2007 Doyenne Aix and D2 will both be bottled in June and are worth a try. The great thing about these red blends is that, while a particular cab might be super big and tannic or a grenache too high in alcohol on its own, the winemaker can mix them with complimentary grapes until he or she has just the right flavor profile.

Redhook Brewery is located right across the street so that was our obvious next stop. Nicole and I each got a 5 beer sampler for $6. Then we paid $1 to go on the brewery tour which involved standing in a glass room overlooking the brewing rooms and drinking 5 more samples of the same beer. The equivalent of two pints FOR A DOLLAR. They run three tours a day. What's everyone up to next Sunday? :)

First Mariners Game of 2009

This past Tuesday was 80 degrees and sunny and my pale skin could hardly take it. I was squinting like a mole all day and was sweating after 5 minutes of walking outside. Clearly, living in Seattle is really taking its toll. But it was too good to be wasted so Casey and I made a last minute decision to go to the Mariners game. It was a gorgeous day, the ballpark is right downtown, Griffey is back, the M's have had a great start to the season and they were opening a series against last year's AL champs. Sold out, right? Nope. We bought $8 bleacher seats 20 minutes before the game, walked in and sat behind the dugout.

Dad, you'll be sad to hear that Seattle seems to be consumed with soccer and all love for the Mariners seems to be lost. In the inaugural season, the Sounders have set attendance records and are the first MLS team to have greater than 28000 fans at four consecutive games. In the interest of full disclosure, I am also loving our soccer team and can't wait to go to a game. The other night, we walked to a English ex-pat bar in our neighborhood that shows UK and European soccer pretty much around the clock. They happened to have the Sounders game on that night and the place was PACKED with loud cheering fans in SOUNDERS FC scarves and blue and green jerseys. That's what fans should be like. I may have to become a soccer convert... at least until I can get back to New England.