I can finally talk about it...The Stanley Cup Report

Thank you all for your condolences for still having to wear this NJ Devils cap.  Know that I am upbeat and went through the 7 steps rather quickly.  Some of you may not have been aware that I had this condition.  We don't have to bring it up.

Thanks Angie, for hanging out when no one else would; to cheer for a team she "felt funny about." (Angie being a Red Wings fan)  To my family who would let me completely ditch them on the phone if the game was on, I thank you for understanding.  To Merritt, who traded me labor (rigging his beams to fly) for a chance to see the game on the big screen and eat some grubbin' food. Maybe he'll submit photo's.  To the grocer at Eastlake Market who chose the Kings early in the tournament, ok I get it.  Bigger skaters + better puck handling = Stanley Cup win for the LA Kings.  

Special thanks to Sandy for giving me the remote during the struggle, and for her constant reassurance that I was out of my mind for rooting for the Devils.

I will try to put on my Canucks hat when I go out in public, but you gotta admit it would have been cool had NJ pulled it off.

And yet more waterfalls!

Yesterday Sandy, Christopher, and I went to Otter Falls and Big Creek Falls, up the Snoqualmie Lake Trail.  It was an easy 10 mile round trip that took us about 4 hours, including the lunch break and such. 

 The trail is an old logging road that is being reclaimed by the forest.  It had a nice gentle grade and was wide enough to walk three across for god portions of it.

The first falls we came to were small, but you got to cross in front of them on this really cool foot bridge.  The logs that are supporting this bridge are HUGE!  

 The next falls we got to, at the 5-mile mark, are the Big Creek Falls and were bigger and had a lot more water coming down them.  The rocks were mostly smooth, and the water had a really cool sheeting effect over the rocks.  The bridge is a lot more modern too.

 We sat on the curb and looked at our feet.  

The we got up, turned around and walked about a 1/4-mile back down to the "non-trail" that is the trail up to a tiny lake and Otter Falls.  This was the coolest of the three falls for sure.

 It's at least a couple of hundred feet to the top of Otter Falls.

By the time we got out, we were all hungry and kind of tired.  We ended up stopping at a bar and grill in North Bend for dinner.  We tried to find a pizza place, but the only one we saw was closed...oh well.  We were back in plenty of time to chill around the house before Monday snuck up on us.  Happy Monday! Yeah, right...

In to Waterfalls this year it seems

So I have been planning trips to waterfalls this year, and am really excited to see which one I pick this weekend.  Not sure which one, but with all this rain, we can be sure that the flow will be high.  Last weekend, we went to:

aka Kamikaze Falls.  

This sign-post is two or so miles back on a logging road that is being taken over by forest again, so an easy round trip.

Sandy, always out front

and here taking us across a scree field, led us up to this

My friend Christopher came with us as well.  He is from Oregon originally, not too far from where my Grandpa Earls' dad settled when the family immigrated from Canada a way long time ago. 

An all-around good-natured kid.  

2 of 3 Birds

Visit today went well. Megan and Elizabeth, Dad and I, had fun at the train park.  William, if you ever read this, know I am missing you.  And know that I will wait.  I love you. The girls were asking for ice cream on the way back.  I told them that if they would sing me a song, I would buy them ice cream.  I started them off with, "woke up this morning, smiled with the rising sun," and they answered back, "three little birds, outside my doorstep, singing sweet songs, a melody pure and true," to which I answered, "singing, this is my message to you-ou-ou," and they said...wait for it..."baby don't worry, about a thing," Why? "cause every little thing is gonna be alright!"  Yeah, they got strawberry cheesquake blizzards at Dairy Queen!

In other news, its kind of a weird day outside.  Sandy went to a rubber stamp convention and just got back.  I didn't think I would get to see much of her today, so that's nice, its still pretty early.

I miss my birds

"woke up this morning, smile with the risin' sun, three little birds, outside my doorstep, singin' sweet songs, a melody pure and true, singin, this is my message to you

baby don't worry, about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be alright"

more or less, those are the lyrics. man, I am achin'

A good joke!

Good morning, thinking of the kids this morning and came across this video of Elizabeth telling me a joke in the park a couple of months ago (complete with an explanation of the joke at the end).

I am Thor!  Thilly!

Hope

This past weekend, after a particularly rough couple of weeks, Sandy, Matt, and I went out to Shi-Shi beach just south of the Makah Indian Reservation and spent a couple of nights out there.   We arrived late evening in time to set up camp and watch the stars Friday, which I have to say was one of the more spectacular night sky visions that I have ever seen.  Two planets had aligned (Jupiter and Venus?) and were shining bright over the horizon, enough to light the water below, and the milky way was in full view.

On Saturday morning, of course I got up earlier than anyone else and walked around the beach and found a glass float.

Now, I have been going to the beach for many years and have never found one before so this was quite an event for me!  It was like God was telling me that if this fragile ball could survive the tossing and turning, so could I.  A message sorely needed.  

After that, it was pretty easy to sit around in the sunshine and do mostly nothing!

This video brought to you by those that chill