Visit from Bryan & Emily

so this week was the last week of family visits for the summer. we've enjoyed that almost all of our family members have made a visit to the pacific northwest to see us! all family members have individual personalities, and it has been cool to see what has transpired in each visit!

with bryan and emily's visit, we had to stop by and see the
fremont troll!

sister and brother; starcho and brub ...
respectively.


we also hit up the seattle underground tour.
the jury is still out on this one...we're not really
sure what we thought of it.

we thought it would be cool to camp out at the base of mt rainier and do a short dayhike the morning after.

we burned wood, drank beer, and made 'smores.
all had fun!

the next day we drove up to sunrise visitor center and hiked the sunrise rim loop trail. the wildflowers were explosively in blown. it gave us a good test drive of our national audubon society field guide to western wildflowers! it also gave brooke a chance to work on his depth of field technique.

Daucus carota; Wild Carrot or Queen Anne's Lace

Erigeron speciosus; Showy Daisy

happy hikers!

Lupinus polyphyllus; Blue-pod Lupine

Dugaldia hoopesii; Orange Sneezeweed or Owl Claws

andrea found a new friend: lichen.

she likens the lichen!

it was a harsh winter this year; a lot of snow at higher
elevations. so these blueberries are a little late. but
soon they will be a delicious snack for a little black bear!

Linum perenne; Wild Blue Flax or Western Blue Flax

shadow lake.

indian paintbrush. we're still looking for the specific name.

at the conclusion of our day hike we raced home for some much needed showers; for it was time for salmon and bluegrass!

if you come to visit and request seafood, you will be
taken to ivar's salmon house! and it will rock your world!

after dinner we snuck off to the tractor tavern. the tractor is a nice little dive in ballard. it's home to many-a-fine american roots, country, and bluegrass bands. we saw the infamous stringdusters. what an amazing band of musicians!

for the encore they walked out into the center of the floor
and said, "ya'll...we're going to give you some traditional
bluegrass!' the crowd cheered and they broke into three
songs with no mics and no pa system! just them, their
instruments, and a crowd of folks on the balls of their feet!
it. was. awesome.

we posed for this photo after the show, brooke walked away and a woman walked up with an armful of records, thrusted them into his hands, and asked if he'd sign them. his response was, 'um...ok. but, why?' the dumbfounded woman explained how she wanted all of the band members autographs, and 'you played the dobro.' brooke thought quickly about signing them and running, but kindly explained that he wasn't in the band. brooke turned, and a college-age kid, who seemed to be having a way too good of time stepped in and said...in his best monotonous stoner voice, 'you guys rock. amazing. i mean, you guys were, are amazing.' brooke's response, 'thanks man. we try hard to play our best for you guys.' guy who had way too much fun, 'awesome.'


monday morning was our last day with bryan and emily, as they had afternoon flight back to ohio. andrea took them to bainbridge...you know, it's not a visit to seattle without a ferry boat ride!

bryan and emily, thanks for coming to visit! come back soon!

tye's visit [seabird]

i was excited to hear that seabird was making a trip out west this summer to play a string of shows. i was even more excited to hear that my good friend tye would be playing drums with seabird for their western dates!

we got to see seabird on sunday night and they rocked! we highly recommend you check them out! buy some of the music, shirts... whatever you can to keep their bus running!

monday after their show, since their bus had broken down in walla walla, andrea and i got to go eat dinner with the band and hang out for a while. quality guys! after dinner we did our best to show tye seattle in an evening. we hit up cafe ladro's and a ferry to bainbridge and back.

proof we made the trip. [photo thanks to tye]

although his visit was short, it was great getting to see him! we look forward to the next time tye and seabird are in the area!

Tofino: Vancouver Island - British Columbia, Canada, eh?

once again, time off has snuck up upon us. thursday at 430, just before leaving the office, brooke found out that the office was closed on friday. what does one do when they find that they have a four day weekend and no plans? you make plans...of course! ... and go BIG!


with in a few hours we made plans, found our birth certificates, withdrew cash, ran to rei, and had all of our camping gear loaded [note: always keep all of your camping gear packed in one to two boxes. that way, when an opportunity arises, you don't have to spend countless hours finding all of your gear!].

the destinaton: tofino, british columbia

we've heard so much about this place from books and magazines, and have spent quite a few hours dreaming of it's remoteness. tofino is a small surfing town located on vancouver island which floats off the shore of british columbia, canada. there is a lure to canada that is hard to explain. most people [americans] think that canada is 1] an extension of the united states, or 2] nothing but wilderness and degenerated people who love beer, hockey, and snow...in that order.

what very few americans realize, due to severe disillusions that they have to be better than everyone else, is that 1] canadians are quite possible the kindest people in the world, 2] their country is far more beautiful than ours, and 3] they love hockey, beer, and snow...in that order.

we set out early friday morning towards tsawwassen, bc to catch the ferry that will carry us for two hours over to vancouver island. unfortunately, we missed the ferry by three cars! the story of our lives. so there we sat for two and a half hours waiting for the next ferry. lucky enough, bc ferries has a new ferry terminal that rivals any major airport terminal. so we strolled in for some coffee and souvenir shopping.

when in british columbia, try salt spring coffee co.
fair trade and organic. mmm.

the bc ferry ride is worthy of it's own blog post. it was quite amazing.

upon landing at nanaimo, we started the three hour drive out to tofino. i, brooke, can say that it was the most cognitively taxing drive i've ever made. quite difficult, and completely wore me out.

once we arrived in tofino, we grabbed some dinner at shelter [the best pan-seared salmon i've ever had] and found a camp site.


******start saturday******

we woke to a morning that had a chill that sent shivers deep, a fog that you could cut with a knife, and a taste of salt in the air. we were in pacific rim national park.

to grasp the rich culture of this area, we set off to the wickaninnish interpretive centre. there we set off on a day hike that took us along side of the pacific ocean to south beach and florenica beach.

andrea and full totem pole.

brooke and bear friend. both have a love
of eating salmon.

canadians have the greatest signs.

this is typical pacific northwest scenery.

the trees out here are slightly larger than normal.
andrea crawled into the trunk to have a closer look!

our friend, the banana slug!

we descended a wooden staircase to find south beach
in all of it's glory.

a few treasures.

poor crab, he never had a chance!

andrea feeling the glory!

brooke feeling the karate kid!

the small tide pools were filled with beautiful creatures.


ahh...the pacific coast. where the rocks are plentiful, the waters are roaring, and the evergreen trees grow tall.


this guy needs a big hug.


the maze of stairs leading us through the rainforest from beach to beach.


this quiet beach was the home of the Esowista Tribe.
calm waters against the mighty mountains.


self portrait


the lay of the land. taken from 'Radar Hill,' a
Pine Tree Line radar station.

******start sunday******

we spent the day in town, Tofino, to check out the shops, explore the artist studios, and experience the waterfront at the base of the mountains.

just in time for a float plane landing.


while keeping our eye on the boats and float planes coming and going, we noticed a little harbor seal swimming around in front of us, then looked up to see a bald eagle soaring above. we looked at each other with that look in our eyes, knowing that this was exactly where we needed to be at that instant.

we picked up a few 'essentials' at the Tofino Co-op Market and headed back to base camp for dinner.
yes, that is a large raw steak on the grill in front of brooke. it was amazing.

******start monday******

before jumping in our car we took a quick morning stroll along long beach. the morning fog and giant driftwood create a sense of peace in this place.
we know we'll back for a visit again soon...this place is too precious to only get a small glimpse of.


soaking it all in.


as we began our trip across the island, we ran into these two guys! a black bear and her young cub! they were enjoying their morning eating berries and prancing through the brush.


"come along, young one...it's time to move on to another patch."


"i'm coming, mom! wait up!"


another quick stop. along the falls on the kennedy river.


water rushing through the glacial grooves.


brooke, the photographer.


our last stop on vancouver island before jumping on the ferry was in Nanaimo. we enjoyed this quaint little sea town.


andrea, overlooking the harbor, on the large mast.

we managed to miss the ferry by 3 cars (again) and had to wait 2.5 hours for the next one. we were ok with it. it meant just a bit more time on this wild island we have grown so fond of. canada is beautiful and is filled with too many places we long to explore.