Ben and Laura visit

We had the most lovely weekend last week with Ben and Laura Eisenga coming up here. They had not been away from their kids for the weekend in like forever. They left the kiddo's at home with the grandparents and stayed two nights up here.

Saturday we got a chance to go to the apple orchards just outside of town and it was perfect weather.
I had to carry the bucket and picked an apple from about every tree I passed....not sure which ones I got in the end, but most of them are good.

Ben and Laura

We also went up to Mount Spokane and warmed up by the fire in the summit house.

Holy cow is that one good looking couple.

They actually really still love each other even after kids.

Brenda and Laura are a little too much like high schoolers when they get together minus the pillow fights.

With no kids we had a chance to go out to a nice restaraunt downtown call the Catacombs. It was a very small restaurant in the basement of a historic hotel and really fun.

For more details or pics you can check out Laura's blog....off to yet another week of work.

Brenda also made a giant leap into the 21st century this weekend. She finally got a cellphone. After the years and years of resistance we thought it would be good for her to have one for the very long drive she has to take every day. I don't know much about phones, but I have tried to teach her as much as I can and she is now out there and mobile so world beware.

To the westside...last weekend

Thursday I got a chance while the woman was out of town to got o the "Pig Out in the Park" downtown Spokane. There was two stages with great music and about 50 food vendors. everything but the food was free and I had a great time.
Live Bluegrass is so much fun to watch.

Here is what I had for dinner....Gyros are very goodAnd here is another band

And a overview of the mob of people down there on a Thursday night.

So last weekend we got a chance to go over to my parents house in Burlington. It takes over six hours, but with the three day weekend it made the drive worth it and it also was nice that we got a chance to drive through the Cascades. We had a great time going on a couple of walks/hikes and going blackberry picking. Blackberry bushes are on every roadside there and they are huge. It was amazing that at every stop the bushes had thousands of berries on them and no one cared if you picked them. We came home with two big ziplocks and have made a pies we almost polished off with friends last night....it was very good.

Hiking along the waterfront...such a good time.

Here are my rents acting like they like each other...and after three kids.

Sunsets out here are great because there are clouds. In California they only had smog which did make for good sunsets, but then you couldn't breathe... you can't have it both ways.

Fairbanks or bust

It was a week ago now that I was up in Fairbanks Alaska for work. I got a call a couple weeks ago and they needed my services for a job up there for one day and I said sure. Free ride to a state I have never been to....of course. I booked the ticket for being in AK for two days but only ended up being there for about 40 hours total. I got in late the first night and worked the next day and then had a chance to go fishing (good thing I brought my rod). Jason is one of my coworkers from KY and he had been there for about a week so had the spots scoped out and killed them the previous night. Then I flew out the next day which made it a very short trip, but a good time.

Lots of grayling were caught and we had a blast. I got one on my second cast...now I know I am a good fly fisherman, but I think it was also a good spot to fish.

Here is Jason laying siege to the aquatic sasquatches. He caught more than I did, but I know next time to bring more elk hair caddis flies.

Brenda has been very busy since she got hired two weeks ago or so at Northwest Christian. She is going to be teaching PE, health, and a leadership class to Jr. High and Sr. High kids. She loves it and although I lost my home cooked meals when I get home from work...I think she may like that better. Actually I know she likes it better.

This weekend we went to the northern Idaho fair. It was cool to get back to the standard fair atmosphere you only find in a small town.

Here is Brenda posing next to the animal creations out of vegetables and fruit. I can't believe that people submit these things, but I think they were kind of interesting.

We watched the Rodeo and it was pretty interesting. They had all of the standard things, but since it was a "pro" rodeo there were almost no locals entered in the events. Not the small town stuff I was hoping for.

Of course there is a lot of patriotism here. It is really kind of cool to see how everyone seems to really love the US up here and does not complain about it all of the time. Everyone was reverent during the entire national anthem and then they actually prayed in public. In CA there would just be a "time of silence" so no one would be offended (political correctness gone over the edge and yet another example of liberals scarred of normal average Americans).
Here is a bareback riding action shot.

Washington does seem to be a bit behind the times. Example: there is no place to recycle here. I mean, we got bottles and cans coming out of our ears and everyone here just throws them in the garbage....really.

Famdamily good time

With Paula, Kevin, Lindsey, and Landon coming out to visit us last week it was very busy. Luckily I had to work in Sunnyside for 3 days and got to spend a lot more time with them than originally thought. We had a great time together visiting Coeur D Alene the day they arrived. Kevin and I got the snorkels out and with the water being so clear we went out quite far and had a good time.

Here is Landon at the beach doing his favorite thing in the world, throwing rocks.

Paula wanted a ride eon the bike so that was all I needed. We went for a great ride not far from the apartment and saw a lot of deer.

At Jim and Sandi's we ate outside a lot and go to take a few pictures of the model T's. Here is Landon enjoying the T.

The girls looking good as always.

We also went to Ben and Laura's house for dinner. Addison and Ashton get bigger each time we go there.

Here they are getting along as always. rriiigggggghhhtt

We also went to the public pool in Sunnyside and got a chance to go off of the diving board. Landon and Lindsey went off also and it was very impressive that they were not scared. Those kids love the water.

Last week I worked in Idaho all week and we got to stay over there again. We picked huckleberries, relaxed, and had a good time. My parents wanted to see us and drove over this weekend from Mt. Vernon. We spent Saturday visiting Manito Park and Downtown Spokane. For dinner Brenda and I thought it would be cool to go to the local western dinner theater. We went and had a blast. It was pretty funny and the music was very good. I would recommend it for anyone coming to the area, and we are sure to go again when the have bluegrass nights.

Here is Brenda and I at Manito Park. It has the most beautiful gardens and is free so I love it.

Here is a snapshot of the melodrama....it was very funny.

Mom and Brenda inside the Barn/Theater.

Here is the wall AC unit, a waterfall with fans blowing through them. It really worked well and looked kind of cool.

Mom and Dad loved the show.

1800+ miles in 7 days....Sweet

Yes once again it has been a while since a post. I figure about every two weeks is about right nowadays as I have to find time to squeeze this posting in and also find time to explore our new surroundings here in Spokane.

Last week Friday (two Fridays ago) we left on a 7 day motorcycle tour of Banff, Jasper, and Glacier. We had a great time and although it rained and was cloudy a lot of the time it never rained while we were riding or when we were hiking. I thought that it was perfect camping weather if you came prepared...which we were.
Nice lake on the ride up. I thought it was a great lake, but there was so much more to come.

Ferry ride in BC was awesome. No wait going north, while the line on the other side to go south was backed up for about 1mile...I mean 1.5K.

The lake was as still as could be and a great ride.

This was the view from the mens room where I took a leak. It could not have been more relaxing.

Me with the clothes you will see me in for the next 4days...same underwear as well.

Here was a waterfall about .5K from our overflow campsite that night. Canada has these communal overflow sites that when the campgrounds fill up people are never left high and dry without a spot to stay. When will the US figure out that this is a great idea?

Brenda was wiped out after a long day on the bike. The highways in BC were essentially abandoned and very fun to ride on a bike.

Here are some Scottish people we met at the campsite. We had a great time talking around the campfire that night and loaned then our torch(flashlight) as they had forgotten theirs. The spoke English, but with that accent we could barely understand them.

Murry, Ian, and my self. thy had just made toast over the fire to go with their cheese whiz for breakfast.

Goodbye BC and hello Alberta.

With all the wildfires in BC blowing into Alberta, when we arrived at a our campsite in Banff, we could hardly see the glaciers and mountains surrounding us.

But then the next morning the sky had cleared and this is a pic from the door of the tent....nice.

Lake Peyto lake overlook...just amazing.

Without Brenda obscuring the view....although she is something to behold as well.

On our way back from Banff we saw four of these guys...man they taste good.

Then, on to the hike to the falls and the ink pots. The falls were great and the ink pots did not disappoint either. The ink pots are pools of water where cool water springs feed the pools, but move the heavy sediment around the bottom of the pool without making the water cloudy...not sure if that made any sense, but it was very cool.

On the trail...same shirt.

A thunder storm blew in while we were up there and we got a little rained on, but not enough to get us to wet.

The next day it was off to Lake Louise and to meet up with Ike who just also happen to be in the area visiting. That morning it was foggy, but once we got above the fog at Moraine lake we saw the most beautiful colored lake of the whole trip.

Moraine lake. We almost canoed on the lake, but they wanted $45CAN for one hour. Normally not a big deal, but with the US dollar getting kicked in the nuts recently I was way to cheap to fork that kind of money out.

Moraine lake again.

Then Ike and Leah at Lake Louise and hiked to the Tea House for lunch.

Here us the view from up on the mountain.

Some of the glaciers.

And us after the hike by the hotel there.

Brenda and I by the lake....same shirt.

On the way back to the campsite we passed by bow lake every day. This day it was just right for a picture.

Another pic from our campsite.

The next day we drove to Jasper and visited a ton of sites

Columbia icefield was cool. Again they try to get you to pay $85CAN to take a bus with big wheels into a ice parking lot on the glacier. Instead we hiked to the edge of the glacier and drank the fresh runoff.

The Ice in the water was so crystal clear I really wished I had some Tanquerey and tonic...mmmmmmm

The river cut a deep channel in the rocks here and made quite the site.

Notice the slight rainbow on the right.

About 1 mile up the road we found horseshoe lake where I went cliff jumping into the crystal clear water.

Then we took a hike to the angel glacier.

I think that the water may be a little cold at this lake.

An ice cave in the glacier, but I did not go in it. It was about 10' tall and 20' wide.

A different waterfall later in the day. There are a lot of waterfalls.

A different falls, but you get the picture.

By the angel glacier.

The next day we stopped at Radium hot springs on the way out of Banff and headed out to Glacier NP. Brenda's parents were in whitefish with a slew of other Model T's driving the roads around that area and we got to stay with them at the resort. Brenda was very thankful to get a shower, but I did not take one the whole week.

On the way into the park.

Once at the top of the pass we hiked to hidden lake and saw these guys along the way. The hike was very easy and we are so glad we took it.

Another shot...I bet they taste good.

Then we ran into a bunch of these guys. The trail was only about a mile and well worth it.

Babies also along the trail.And this lake was at the end of the trail.

Later we drove the rest of the going to the sun road and stopped for lunch at this lookout a short hike from the road.

Same lake different angle.

Here is a pic of us on the going to the sun road. What is missing in this picture? You got it, helmets. No helmet law in MT and so much to see allowed me to ride without a helmet as much as I wanted. I choose to go without one on the slower park roads, but put it on when I got on the highways outside of the park.

Brenda singing the Sound of Music.

We got home yesterday and had a blast. we look forward to going back again and hope it will not be to long. We got a lot of other pics and stories to tell, but I guess you will have to call us if you want the Brenda and John comentary. FYI: new number is five-zero-nine-nine-two-tw0-1855. Please call anytime as Brenda is at home normally when not hitting the pavement looking for a job.