fire on the mountain / september snow

fall has begun. the warm sunny days have been replaced with cool crisp evenings, smelling of damp leaves and a warm fire. the rain has finally set in here in the pacific northwest. we will embrace it, and continue our adventures.

there has been a weather advisory out the past few days, saying there will be a few inches of snow (and yes, i said snow) above 4000 feet. snow in september?...we've got to check this out.
so we loaded up the car with coats, hats and gloves to go see this winter wonderland atop mt. rainier. we came upon many beautiful fall landscapes along the way. take a look:

we spotted a sign for a historical church and just had to turn off to see it.
how has life gotten so complicated?

waiting for brooke to finish taking photos of the kirche.
'kirche' is german for church.

the nisqually river...hidden somewhere between the rocks.
just wait 'til spring... then you'll see it!

'happy to be so.'

looking up the nisqually river to where a glacier used to reside.
winter is quickly wrapping us with it's fluffy white blanket.

brooke couldn't get over how the mountain side
seemed to look like it was on fire. we couldn't help but sing dave wolfenberger's version of 'fire on the mountain'

a minute after these photos were taken a group of people can walking down
the path with packs and skis strapped to their backs.

they had taken the opportunity of snow to hike up rainier
to enjoy some early season back country skiing.
it's september people!

just like going to the festival of lights...except there was snow!
...and i guess no lights.

it's september!

so tempting.

this little guy jumped out from the brush, onto the road in
front of us, to say hello.

we saw this little haunt on the way in and quickly determined we'd stop
for dinner on the way out. about a mile from the entrance of
mt. rainier np, the copper creek inn won our hearts over as one of our
favorite local eateries. they use local ingredients for their food,
serve local wines, and don't forget about the blackberry vinaigrette
salad dressing!

copper creek inn

least we forget, mt. rainier is a volcano.

meet you at the market

every tuesday during the summer months, renton puts on a downtown farmer's market, bringing in fresh, organic food from local farms and orchards around the area. it is located right across the street from our apartment in the downtown piazza, and is something we both look forward to throughout our week.

look at this stuff! how can we resist?


peaches from a local orchard


a beautiful bouquet like this costs only $5, and the smell of those star-gazer lillies fills our apartment each week with an incredible aroma.


each new week brings a fresh performance. here: a men's choir.


an older gentleman picking out the perfect ear of corn.


a small overview of the hustle and bustle of this small town farmer's market...


...on a cloudless sunny day.


some seasonal veggies


jay here, working his 'pluot' madness. ok...who here has heard of a pluot? they're amazing. 50% plum, 50% apricot.....100% delicious! jay's father owns the tiny's orchard in wenatchee, wa. hopefully we'll make it out there for a 'pick-your-own' apple fest.


these have been the best raspberries i've had in my life.


more veggies


kids play in the (manmade) stream that cuts through the piazza.

why shop at your local farmer's market? here are a few reasons:
1. all the food tastes great!
2. helps support your local farmers
3. builds community
4. you have the opportunity to personally meet the one growing your food
5. a lot of times it's cheaper than shopping at your local grocer.
6. you're eating 100% healthy, organic, and sustainable food
7. have you heard about all the (non-edible) crap we take into our bodies when we eat crops that are grown conventionally? it will make you sick. check out Cindy Burke's, 'to buy or not to buy organic.' it's a great book.

click here if you're looking for farms, restaurants and stores that offer fresh, sustainable food in your area.

labor day weekend [pacific coast style]

labor day this year held no big plans, so we decided to take it day-by-day to see what might unfold.

friday: liz
we got to see one of andrea's good friends, liz. she was in town for a wedding and was able to stop by to hang out and catch up on friday and monday.

liz m.

saturday: 21 arces
we arose to blue skies and a world of possibilities. we have been buying a lot of our fruit and vegetables at the local farmers market [right across the street] and have decided to look more into organic and sustainable foods. through some studying we found a local organic farm about thirty minutes away that was open for tours and decided what better way to spend a sunny saturday then to walk through a farm!

the 21 acres community garden behind sits behind us.

andrea found a new good friend.
when we arrived back home we started browsing through craigslist for goats;
$50.00- $100.00 isn't bad at all!
can he survive on our balcony?!

total BFF!

strange bird house.

plenty of these guys.

sunday: harambee & matt & danelle
one church we've found that we really like is just a block away and looks like, from the outside, an indoor skateboard park! it's amazing. great people, great ministry. after church we grabbed some food and then hung out with our friends matt and danelle all afternoon. danelle and matt are getting married on friday. andrea and danelle worked on their programs and thank you cards, and matt and i listened to a lot of music, told stories about teaching, and checked in with mapsforus.org. [thanks scott!]

monday:
we woke in time to have an early lunch at a thai place with liz before she was off to return her wrecked rental car and to hop a train to portland. on the way home andrea and i brainstormed what our afternoon might look like. we decided to head for up the coast for bellingham, wa.

on chuckanut drive.
right after we stopped at samish bay organic cheese farm.
some of the best cheese ever!

san juan islands in the background.

found the above painted on an old building in fairhaven. one of our favorite towns.
history: i thought rainier beer was a cheep beer my dad would bay for $2 dollars a flat.
my family nicknamed it 'the slug killer.' boy was i wrong!

next to the rainier wall.

monday night: the world is too big for us to have bed times
what to do when you're two hours from home and it's seven pm? take all back roads. we knew right away that we'd make the trip again, so we didn't stop a lot for photos.

deception pass.
a bridge connects fidalgo island and whidbey island.

deception pass.

deception pass.

on last years trip we stopped by this place and bought a brown crock. some of you may remember it; it sat next to the bench in our house. although they were closed, we stopped out front to photograph steve's awesome building. it's sits north of coupeville on penn cove. steve, the owner, is a nice guy who graduated from calvin college in michigan. he told us stories of driving from grand rapids michigan to coupeville, wa in two days when he was in college! crazy.

we arrived home after hours of driving and a ferry boat ride, tired and in need of rest.

ryan adcock

whenever andrea and i travel we can't help but listen to this guy. ryan is from cincinnati, ohio, and we strongly recommend you check him out!

how 'green' is 'green'?

from american expedition vehicles:

It seems as if everybody is trying to be more “green” these days. Terms like “conservation”, “sustainability” and certainly “energy” have seen a dramatic increase in popularity. Trendy or not, all of this attention is opening the eyes of many Americans to different ways that we can do our part to optimize our lives and conserve resources.

So, just how “Green” is our beloved Wrangler? The answer may surprise you.

One of the first places that many people begin to take note of their own consumption is behind the wheel of an automobile. Nearly everyone has seen an article that notes the various ways to conserve car-related resources and fuel. Making sure your tires are properly inflated, replacing your fuel filter, or simply driving slower will all help you increase your mileage and decrease your time spent pumping gas. Many people are taking this a step further and ditching their low Mile-Per-Gallon rigs for something they can brag about around the water cooler. Sales of hybrid vehicles are soaring and 40+ overall MPG looks to be just the beginning of what this new class of vehicles are capable of. It’s an exciting new chapter in automotive history, but everything comes with a catch.

These high MPG cars take a lot of energy and resources to create.

According to a 2006 study by the firm CNW Marketing & Research, The Toyota Prius (over its lifetime) will consume nearly 5.5 times as much energy as - you’ll never guess - the mighty Jeep TJ Wrangler. In fact, the Jeep Wrangler landed in 3rd place, in the US, as one of the cars that requires the least energy to produce (and operate) with the least environmental impact. CNW Research’s study tracked and calculated the energy cost of each car model sold in the U.S. in 2005 from initial concept to the projected time the vehicle would be scrapped. They call this the “Dust-to-Dust” value and it incorporates a great number of factors including: cost of producing raw materials, material transportation, cost of factory employees (and their own transportation to work), energy costs at the factory, cost of disposal, etc., etc.

While there is absolutely no reason to argue against investing in technology that increases gas mileage, it’s rewarding to note that our TJ Wrangler is one of the most efficiently produced vehicles on the planet. Plus, our passionate Jeep-lovin’ community provides a built-in recycling program. You’ll never see a bunch of old Jeeps lying around the junkyard or landfill. Somewhere, someone, is dying to get their hands on your Jeep for their next project.

any thoughts or expertise on the matter?