Bees Arrive

Bees arrive clicking this link will eventually take you to a video ---

But there are steps needed that I have not found a way around yet. 

When you click the above link a Creative Cloud web page will open with a photo of my side yard and Keith who helped me with my first hive. 

You should see two blue buttons above the photo... The blue button labeled "Actions" is the one you will want to click on. 

The only option you should see is "Download". Clicking on this will download a file that is 81.3 MB, about 2 minutes of video. (Microsoft PC stuff) GOPRO3761.WMV is the file name doubt Apple will work but I don't know.

When this download completes there will be a button in the bottom left corner, if you click it a video should open in a new window and you will see me delivering my new bees.

All this downloading seems cumbersome and I will find a work around eventually.  For now thiss is the best I have going... Jim ... 

Getting behind again, over the last few weeks we bought some property. Here is a look at it. No house but we do have a barn we can sleep in.

The Barn

Looking North

Looking South

Looking inside

Missouri River in August 2013

Plans grow... August after Seafair (17 through 25) we shall spend a week on a trip down the Missouri River.
Books and Maps have been ordered. Canoe rentals, shuttle and singles kayaks are all easily arranged.

Looking for all interested.... Are you... The river as seen here is flat, no rapids, rocks or logs to worry about. Perfect for all ages. After a half day paddle we will have the opertunity to lazy around the camp or take several day hikes, to see awesome vistas, Indian Petroglyphs, and historic Lewis and Clark markers and trails.

Let me know if you're interested.

Canoe rental and schuttle will be your biggest expense on river (about $200) per boat.

The Face of the Taste 2013

Meghan makes her way to poster child status as she is photographed at work. A nice photo for sure, which was used, and what better photo could there possibly be, in Sunset magazine.

Engine Replacement On Track

 

Friday I decided it was time to open the new motor and see about getting it up on the engine stand. The time has come to get ready to drop into the Suburban. Dad came by with his jars of bolts we needed to accomplish this task. Together we lifted and bolted the new motor on to the engine stand. This is the fun part of replacing the motor, and finally we can see progress. Moments like this are worth the hours of knuckle busting time getting the old motor out. Mom also came to help by roasting her first batch of coffee beans. The beans turned out very nice, and are tasty too.

Undersheriff Steve Marshall

I am very excited to share some great news, a long time friend and co-worker can proudly add Undersheriff to his outstanding service career. He joined WAHKIAKUM County Sheriff's Office earlier this year. Steve started in Kirkland and moved to King County Sheriff's Office where our paths crossed around 1998. Steve shared time with me and the boys on diving trips and fish feeds. Now he left us for Wahkiakum County. He is standing proud on the right of the photo. I shamelessly feel like a proud father. We wish you the best Steve.

Missouri River

Starting to think about SUMMER! How about a casual four day float down the Missouri River? No rapids, no white water just sun and warmish water. The river is remote with little to no cell service. Many of the camp sites are good quality for the activity and reports indicate restrooms are still fairly clean and well supplied. Add two days for driving to and from for a relaxing six day vacation. We can rent canoes on site from the shuttle service. If you want to google this we would launch near Loma and camp at Wood Bottom, Eagle Banks, Hole in the Wall and Slaughter River. Exit at Judith Landing where we might camp and repack for the trip home. Each day there are interesting side hikes some of which have Lewis and Clark markers and historical notes.

Show of hands, anyone interested?

2013 A new year and a chance to post again

A new year with January rolling into the final week I notice it has been a while since I visited this blog. I think it is good to revisit this old friend and use it as a tool to reflect on wonderful adventures we have everyday. Forgetting to remember our daily events tend to make us question if we are moving forward or standing still. I for one wish to move forward. We have seen changes, big changes this year, good changes that keep us reinventing ourselves. Lets see... what is missing between my last posts? Corey has moved to Montana to be with his mother and study in Montana. Arron has moved (part of the week) to Julia's to go to school in Shoreline. I remain in Snohomish rebuilding the Suburban. Yes I am making progress but very slowly.


Frank brought over his engine hoist which came in handy when I needed to lift the cataraft onto the trailer.  Not sure I could have lifted it without the boys or the hoist. Something to think about, maybe a trailer with a tilt deck?

 

Anyway January rafting was not too bad, a little cold. The wind and rain didn't help but fun was had.

Hmmm, I could use the tilt bed trailer for other toys I am dreaming about too...

Clover Island Concert

Family visit... August

Know your dive buddy's capability

Birthday girl and her cake

Julia and I met good friends in Ballard to have a little drink and food. We had a little double chocolate cake and a single candle (fire codes were too restrictive for the full count). Was a great time. We look forward to many more days like this.

Finished River Training with a little video for fun.
This is a whitewater run on the Skykomish River
Most of this is in a place know as Boulder Drop.

Click here for video..new shorter version... 4/25

Day Two of River Raft School a fun but exhausting day.
See additional photos by clicking here..

Two days in 7 minutes. A new video to watch...

It took a while but I like the end product. I took 2 days, 48 hours of fun and over 21 GBs of video and photos cut spliced chopped and squeezed it all into just seven minutes. Not quite the same as coming over and watching 8mm movies on the living room wall. But, yes, who am I kidding, that is what it is... you are certainly welcome to come over for ice cream and cookies and I would put it on the jumbo tron, but I suspect you will be most willing to watch it in your PJ's with a cup of coffee...

Click to see the full 7 minutes.

2Top more pictures

Julia SnowMo the Redheaded Racer

Check it out... Julia wearing a stylish red helmet navigates mighty forests, icy roads, blinding white snow and frozen streams while accelerating to incredible speeds.

Down Hill Julia

Check out the video of Julia flying down Moonlight Basin in Montana...

Yellowstone Winter Vacation

Julia and I drove to Yellowstone and went on a two week winter vacation. Seems we only had one week but brought the snow back to Seattle with us and extended our wintery vacation to two weeks.

We stayed at the Three Bears Lodge which included our guides into Yellowstone and a hearty breakfast each morning. Plus a steak dinner and one free trip to the local movie theater.

There might be fancier places in town but none have the personal touch we received here. Where else can you sleep in a lodge that blew up in 2008? Seems a small gas leak was the cause, the lodge is very willing to share their burning and rebuilding story through pictures hanging in every hall.

We toured in Yellowstone on snowmobile for 2 days. The first day we went to Old Faithful, it snowed and we were able to watch the fountain do its thing. Our tour guide Todd was fantastic and showed us some back roads and was real understanding with our unfamiliarity with the snowmobiles for the first mile or so. The second day we again went into Yellowstone and Bad-boy Josh was our guide. Seems he and the park ranges have a long standing agreement. They like giving him big tickets for getting his tour groups into the beautiful valley too early. He likes to avoid them. We understand, he is all about the need for speed. He drives hard and stops fast. We rose to the challenge, it was certainly below freezing and we had a lot of wonderful stops to make before getting to the warm building for lunch, where Ms Ranger was certain to check her watch and make sure we didn't enter too early. Wouldn't want the guests to get in our of the freezing weather and warm up too soon. Josh came through with his promises and found Julia her wolf to see.

The 3rd day we headed into the foot hills west of Yellowstone on our own. We headed to Two Top as the guides had suggested. What a beautiful place. Yellowstone was incredible but I found Two Top nearly as inspiring. We had the miles and miles of trail to ourselves. Fantastic groomed trails and endless sights to see. The weather had cleared and all that was left to see was snow covered trees, sunny deep blue sky and minus 10 on the thermometers. We climbed a mountain on the snowmobile and Julia got to see a dog sled team running along the lake. At the end of these three days we had spent nearly 20 hours on the snowmobile and we both wanted more. However, we had scheduled the following days to relax and relax is what we did.

On the fourth day we were slow to wake and head to breakfast, missing the snowmobile crowd, which was usually about 6 people. Breakfast was the usual 3 minutes wait, we figure they scanned our retina and knew our order before we were seated. We wondered to the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center to learn about these wild creatures. We spent our time looking at the animals and reading the information in the education center. Afterwards we went looking for ice cream. To my surprise most people don't order ice cream in weather under zero so the merchants don't even have ice cream, milk shakes or any frozen treats, heck even Dairy Queen is closed for the winter. Hmmm that seems weird to me. We walked to a great deli and enjoyed a tasty lunch. By the time we got back to the hotel it was dinner time, and movie time.

This brings us to Saturday, the saddest day of all, the day to pack and leave for home. I enjoyed the quiet winter town of Yellowstone and I know it is only like this in the winter but I really enjoyed being in the town, feeling the hustle bustle of the tours heading out each morning. Felt sorry for how few tourists were showing up and I am hoping a big snowfall would bring a profitable winter to the town.

Driving home we decided we had to stop at Big Sky, Moonlight Basin to ski. We again found the slower pace and relaxed canter to be most enjoyable. The ski lift operators actually talked with us and asked if we were enjoying our stay. Imagine that at Stevens, Ha! After getting the feel of the runs we had a great time. Catching the last chair to the top at exactly 4 (closing time) making us the last two off the mountain - Perfection! After changing we headed back up the road to Big Sky Resort and feasted in a great restaurant called Whiskey Jacks, caught the end of a foot ball game, did some shopping and headed back to the car. Full of dinner and a great day of skiing behind us we headed to our new favorite Best Western in Missoula.

Imagine the family vacation videos of the the past now on our digital devices to show almost anywhere.. yippee...! Julia and I discussed the lack of activity on the photo library web and I will rededicate myself to sharing on the site. I will try not to be too big of a nuisance and allow you to see the pictures at your own level of tolerance. Click or don't your choice. I am moving the web page program to the new computer to speed up the time to deliver these amazing pictures. Soon but no yet these 225 pictures and 7 or 8 videos will be posted for your viewing pleasure. (I will post another entry when the time is right.)

And in closing ....

Tuesday was the funeral for Ranger Anderson who was killed at work on Mt. Rainier. She was shot by the paranoid gun crazed man from Skyway. This seemed to hit home a little extra because I grew up in Skyway, KCSO responded to the first 4 shootings and she was an unknown partner in law enforcement doing what was right. Although I could go on vacation and enjoy this beauty her loss burned deep as I walked past this flag knowing she was being remembered while I enjoyed a national parks she help protect. I thought this was a nice picture to remember her sacrifice for us. Evil is always lurking and trying to steal away our freedoms and the pleasures we enjoy. Be Safe!

OH My !!! it is 2012 already