Beach Camping

A couple weekends ago, Robin and I went out to the peninsula to go backpacking. It was my first adult trip overnight backpacking...I've family camped at State Parks with bathrooms plenty, and I've day hiked some. I went to sleepaway camp when I was younger and we did a one-night to a lake once, but that was with a big group and I don't remember much of it at all, except the backpack was heavy.

We stayed Friday night with the Sheriff's, and I got to catch up on all the goings-on at the "hostel". The yurt is just about finished (it is gorgeous!), and got to see some of Kevin's improvements to the half-pipe garage (e.g., a hand-painted Deadmau5 sign in glow-in-the-dark paint). Met Grandpa Joe, who was really quite funny, and a couple friends of their's from CA. It was a great group :) Luna and Willard made their appearances, too. We left in the morning after some more chats (Robin's next plan: mini golf course on the property, involving a gold elephant that's on the roof of an interior design store in P.A. that's going out of business) and went to the Wilderness Information Center to pick up a bear container and get our backpacking passes. Talked to a friend of the Sheriff's, who really worried me about putting everything in the container than had a scent, because of how aggressive the animals are out there.

Note: We did not see any animals on our trip, besides birds on the Cape and seastars. He freaked me out for nothing!

After the WIC was sorted out and we got food at Albertson's for the weekend, we drove out to Neah Bay to get our Makah Reservation Pass. The weekend weather was just absolutely beautiful, couldn't have gotten anything better. I've never been to Neah Bay, kinda neat. We parked at a private yard near the trailhead (the actual trailhead has no overnight parking, so it costs 10-20$/weekend to park at a private yard- good, cheap money for them!) The hike through the woods to the beach was pleasant. It is muddy, but this time of year it wasn't all that bad. Much of the first half of the hike is on boardwalks, and I enjoyed pointing out all of the plants I knew to Robin. We ate some wild red huckleberries (my favorite finds in the woods!) and later ate some Thimbleberries, which I'd never had the opportunity to taste before (like a less-sweet raspberry). The last part of the hike to Shi Shi Beach is very VERY steep, down a cliffside with switchbacks. There is no railing, and the trail is kind of crazy because so many people have made detours. I hate going down steep things, it takes me forever because I get scared and then I become paralyzed. It's even harder with a big backpack on and carrying Robin's very nice DSLR camera! But harder still I imagine trying to carry that big bear container in your hands (thanks, Robin...!) I forgot my camera on the charger at home, so here are some of Robin's shots. I think he's pretty great at this whole photography thing :)

Shi Shi Beach

We made our way a bit down the beach, happy to have reached our destination. Set up camp near a fire pit, and decided to walk to the Point of Arches. The hike in the woods is about 2.5 miles, my guess, and the hike down the beach was another 2.2 or so. It's harder on the beach, though! We got there during high tide, unfortunately, but it was still really pretty.

At Point of Arches

We got back to the tent with plenty of light and took a nap before setting about building a fire. Very exciting stuff, building a fire on the beach. I am really glad we had a pre-made pit, because supplies of wood and rock were limited in our area (picked over, no doubt). Chris's borrowed saw came in handy with some drift wood. Hey, quick shout-out to Chris for letting us borrow a ton of gear, including his tent! Thanks so much! Anyway, after many matches, trying to get lint and moss to catch fire and get hot enough to get the wood burning, I scolded myself out loud for not bringing the denatured alcohol we thought about using with the stove. We left it behind because of weight, and we were just going to cook over the fire instead of the stove. Then it dawned on me: alcohol...hand sanitizer has lots of alcohol...turns out, our brand had 65%. And it caught VERY well. I got a bit pyro with it, actually :) We cooked brats and a bread bun on the fire, and made delicious s'mores! Neither of us play beachy instruments, so I pulled out the portable iPod speakers and we played some Jack Johnson while drinking rum, etc. Good night, indeed.

In the morning, we packed up while the marine layer was still hanging heavy.

Me, looking camp-y.

It was low tide, so we went down to the exposed rocks and looked at the seastars, mussels and anemones. Purples, oranges and greens. So pretty! Maybe not as cool as the ones at Ecola State Park in Oregon, though.

We packed out of there around noon and hiked back to the car. Zoom zoomed up to Cape Flattery, the most northwest point of the State. It's another mile hike or so, but a nice one for sure. The fog was just rolling out, and we got to see Tatoosh Island and the Tatoosh Lighthouse. Very pretty. Saw lots of birds, including many juvenile bald eagles. There was a little sparrow-type bird who was not afraid of humans at all. And didn't take human food, which I thought was very good of him. He was just chillin'.

Tatoosh Island and Lighthouse

Cape Flattery birdie

On the hike back to the car, we passed this tree with a lot of fungus on it. Upon further research at home, I think I have identified it as Chicken of the Woods, aka Sulphur Shelf. I like this shot (hey, I took this one! :)

We dropped off the borrowed bear canister in P.A. and grabbed dinner at a restaurant on the waterfront. Finally got home about 11:30pm, after a long ferry wait. What an epic weekend :) Who wants to go again?!

MTME: Macklemore and Bon Iver

I've been hearing the name "Macklemore, with Ryan Lewis" regularly this past year, but have not made a point of listening to him (them; Lewis is a producer and collaborator). Yesterday, Ben Haggerty (aka Macklemore) was on KEXP discussing the premier of his most recent (and epic) music video for the song "Wings". The song's amazing, the video is just as good. This guy has Seattle in his veins, and regularly references "the Town". He's making quite a name for himself on the national stage, too, having been invited to play at Rock the Bells in New York (from which he will directly leave to come back to Seattle to play a gig at Bumbershoot). He is probably best known around here as the guy who sings "My Oh My", a song which he wrote in dedication to Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus. What's more Seattle than Dave's famous catchphrases "My Oh My!" and "It is grand salami time!"...brings a smile to my face just thinking about it, and tears to my eyes watching Haggerty's beautiful tribute. He sang it on opening day this year, to pay homage to the recently deceased Niehaus. He's playing Bumbershoot, and I'll be damned if I won't be right there during that set.

Both songs have really excellent videos.

Wings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAg3uMlNyHA

My Oh My:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvNQWQSwmow


Bon Iver: new album, self titled

I first got turned on to Bon Iver on the Twilight series' New Moon movie soundtrack. Say what you will about that whole phenomenon, but they have an AWESOME group of people pulling together those soundtracks. Bon Iver and St. Vincent teamed to produce the song "Roslyn", which is airy and soary and makes me feel like I could be out in the mountains just by closing my eyes. I don't think anyone else sounds like Justin Vernon, the voice behind the band (and major creative contributor, although he does have other contributors). He has this incredible, soothing falsetto. I especially like "Michicant" and "Holocene" off this record. Pitchfork gave them a 9.5 out of 10 and a "Best New Music" nod. This album is good for quite Sunday mornings, for solo walks around a quiet park, and for getting work done at work! You can't really understand what he's saying most the time, so it won't distract you from the task at hand.

Post-Triathlon: WOOHOO!

Me, about 30 minutes pre-race.

I woke up at 4:50 AM, threw my brand-new race jersey on, and my bike shorts, then the warmer clothes I planned on wearing post-race. Shoes- check. Bike gear- check. Fuel during and post-race- check. Loaded my bike up, and was on the road as daylight was kicking into gear at 5:20 AM, thinking to myself "My god, I haven't been up this early in...uhm..."

Made the drive down to Federal Way. Did you know no one is on the roads before 6am on Sunday morning? Parked in the transit lot and rode my bike to the race site at Steel Lake. Met up with the Hett ladies, racked our bikes on the same rack. Set up my transition zone (towel to dry my feet off in front of my bike, fuel/sunglasses/socks ready to go in my shoes, helmet and bandana positioned on the bike. Struggled to get the wetsuit on (those things are tight!). Chatted excitedly with the Hetts. With 20 minutes till race time, made it down to the lake to get the suit wet and "make peace with the lake", as I've heard it called. One pre-recorded National Anthem later, we were walking out to the end of a very long dock with a group of oh...30 other ladies? We all jumped into the water, and about 30 seconds later "3! 2! 1! GO!" And we're off...

I couldn't get my face to stay in the water, it was a self-preservationist thing. I'd get a bit panicked, and then I'd feel the wetsuit squeezing me, and I'd flip to my back. I did a majority of the race on my back, or a modified front crawl (with my face out of the water the whole time). Did that in 27 minutes, which I thought for sure would take me 40 or more. Yay!

Next was the bike leg, which I was most excited for. I love riding my bicycle, especially since buying this Kona hybrid off my coworker last summer (my other bike is a Novara mountain bike; it's heavy...I call it The Beast). The route was down a long hill, then two laps around the Weyerhauser headquarters (which is really quite lovely; the building is all concrete and glass, with great swaths of green vegetation growing all over it, set beyond a decent sized lake...and there's a big garden, too, but couldn't see it from the route), then back up that big long hill, and one very steep hill, then into the transition area. I held my own in the bike leg! Somewhere around 53 minutes, if I recall correctly. 12.4 miles down.

The running leg is my least favorite. I don't know where last year's passion for running went, but "the thrill is gone". The route was two laps around Steel Lake. A total of 4.1 miles. It was very hilly; the only flat stretch was in the shoulder of Pacific Highway (which was not great anyway because it was the shoulder of a highway!!). I mostly just speed walked, and then ran the downhills. I came out with about an average 13 minute mile. At the end, as I was re-entering the park for the last time to make a dash through some woods and finally pop out across the finish line, I saw Miranda. She had finished probably 10 minutes earlier, but was waiting for her mom and sister, who were not far behind me, to cross together. Almost there, almost there! I ran the whole way from her to the finish line; had to finish strong. I could hear the music (Doobie Brothers was on, which is ironic because I had just seen them two days prior with my parents..."Listen to the Music" was playing) and the announcer say my name. I was just so happy and giddy, I skipped the last 20 feet over the finish line. Jane was not but a minute or so behind me, and said she didn't see me but could hear the announcer shouting "Oh, she's skipping!" Haha.

It was a really great experience, and one which I'm sure I'll do again. More practice swimming in the lake, more hours to log in with running (blech), and more focus in the transition zones, and I know I can drop down to 2hrs 15 minutes. Maybe even 2 hours with better training.

Next year I am captaining my first Ski to Sea team, and plan to do the Seattle to Portland bike ride :)

New Restaurants: Golden Beetle

Sandy and I met for dinner this week. It had been a while since we had some one-on-one time!

http://golden-beetle.com/home

Golden Beetle is the second restaurant of Chef Maria Hines (also of Tilth, which earned her the James Beard Award of Best Chef Northwest in 2009). It is an organic "homage to Eastern Mediterranean and north African foods". You can find the restaurant in Ballard, just a short walk for us from Sandy's house :)

We split a serving of hummus and flat bread. The bread was scrumptious and was seasoned (not your typical plain pita), and the hummus was homemade and had shavings of serano pepper. Tasty!

We each had two small plates, but shared tastes of each other's food. I had the white fish falafel (with aioli and a very green sauce called Charmoula), which was DELICIOUS, and the roasted asparagus (with shaved onion, a spicy/salty sauce called harissa, and fried hatoumi cheese flakes). Sandy had the spanakopita (delicious; were shaped like cigars) and Kibbeh (lamb meat balls in date sauce and plum relish)

Everything was delicious. The price was more than we usually pay for mediterranean food (about 25$ for the meal for each of us, and we were both kind of hungry still afterwards). The wine menu looked good, but the most affordable glasses of wine were only $7. They're new, and open to suggestions, so I suggested offering cheaper glasses. I would've gotten a glass if there was a $5 or $6 offering.

They have a Happy Hour menu that I'd like to try. This restaurant is worth the visit! In addition to the good food, it's a really pleasant atmosphere. Classy, but we didn't feel lame for showing up in jeans and tees.

Triathlon 2011: Pre-race Post

It's tomorrow! Today I went down to the course site and picked up my race package and got marked up.



0.5 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, 4.1 mile run. It's all centered at and around Steel Lake in Federal Way.



The photo above is the starting line. It's a deep-water start, which means we all get in (in our own waves- I'm a yellow-capped Buddy Wave person), tread water for about a minute, then start swimming when they blown the horn.

I have never run 4.1 miles. That's the part I'm dreading. The swim will be interesting...here's hoping I don't feel nauseous again like I did during my first (and only) wetsuit open water swim practice! The bike leg will be where I can catch up. 12 miles? Psh.

Wish us luck! I will be out there with my friends Miranda Hett, her sister Jillian, their mama Betsy, and my friend Jane!

From Jill's Blog...

A while back, a group of friends and I took a bike trip to Vancouver Island and stayed in Victoria. I thought it would be fun to get my friend Jill, who is living and teaching in Abu Dhabi, UAE, some fun Canadian novelty snacks (she has a thing for foreign snack foods...) These were all chocolate in some form or another (smaller to pack than chip bags).

Abu Dhabi is a hot place in May.

The chocolate melted. My package was quarantined...Darn it!

Check out her blog post about it:
http://pilliebeesuitcases.blogspot.com/2011/06/mailing-chocolate-in-may.html

Music To My Ears (MTME): Volume 1, Number 1

I think I will start blogging about new music I love.


(Image source: americansongwriter.com via Google Image Search)

Grace Potter and the Nocturals: Self Titled

I bought this on a whim because this band pops up ocassionally on my Pandora, and they have a song on one of the Grey's Anatomy soundtracks. Grace has a raspy, rocky, edgy voice, that can sometimes get stretched to its breaking point. But overall, she just kicks ass with feisty songs like "Paris (Ooh la la)" and "Hot Summer Night". There are threads of classic American rock, rhythm and blues, and country. It's a good album for those rare sunny spring days with the windows rolled down.



(Image source: audiosuede.com via Google Image Search)


Adele: 21

For someone so young, she sure does have a lot of soul. I love love love this album, just as much as her debut, "19". Favorite tracks include "Rumour Has It", "Turning Tables" (which was covered by Gwyneth Paltrow on an episode of Glee) - both of which have enjoyed some extra success as singles - and "Someone Like You", which speaks to me on a personal level. A must-have album.