Montana

The second phase of our trip took us to Glacier National Park.

Glacier is a really, really beautiful park. We did more exploring and hiking on the west side than on the east side. The Continental Divide runs right through the middle of the park, and the park has only one (treacherous!) road through it, so getting around isn't that easy. But it doesn't really matter, since everywhere is so beautiful!

We stayed in a lovely frontcountry campground for the first four days we were there (well, as lovely as a campground that doesn't have showers can be!). Following our Idaho experience in which a moose welcomed us to our campsite, this time we saw a doe and a fawn right across from where we were setting up our tent.We did some great day hikes. We hiked to Avalanche Lake one day. Mike and I agreed that this may be the most beautiful lake we've ever seen! It was so amazing to eat lunch and watch all the waterfalls drain from the glacial cirque into the lake.We also took the park's free shuttle bus and rode up to Logan Pass on the Continental Divide. From there, we hiked the highline trail for a few hours. Not long after we started the hike, we ran into some goats.The views from this trail were also amazing.We ended every afternoon by swimming in Lake McDonald. The water was warmer than you'd think, but if you got out deep enough, there was a pretty steep thermocline.

A map of our trip

Click here for a map of our trip.

Idaho

We left Seattle in the pouring rain, but once we climbed over the Cascades and drove east a bit, we found the sun! We stopped for lunch at this lovely state park near the Columbia River. Since eastern Washington is mostly a rainshadow desert, this park was definitely drier than views of the Columbia that we'd seen in the western part of the state.The first destination on our big road trip was a state park in northern Idaho. This part of Idaho is really beautiful - tall green trees were everywhere. As we were driving to our campsite on the first day we saw a moose.The big attraction of the state park - which used to be a military training base in WWII (how's that for swords into plowshares?) - is that it is right on Lake Pend Oreille. Lots of people bring their own boats or swim toys (since there's a dedicated, shallow, warm swimming spot).The lake is really, really beautiful, and really, really big - I feel like these pictures don't really do it justice.

The hiking wasn't amazing at this park, but there's one trail that goes all the way to the top of nearby mountain, and a ton of shorter trails.Our campsite was great - perfect for relaxing in the shade.And, come dinner time, Mike cooked dinner using our fancy new stove.And he drank the tuna juice.

We're baaaackk!

We arrived home late last night - a day earlier than planned. Why the change, you ask? Well, the driver's side window on our car went down just outside of Jasper and wouldn't come back up.

It turns out you need your car windows for all of the following things:
1. Making it less noisy when you drive
2. Keeping you warm (and keeping the cool in the car, as needed)
3. Keeping the rain off you
4. Providing security for your car and the stuff in your car.

So, without a functioning window, we decided that we should just drive straight through and come on home in one day. So we did. And the car is now at the shop.

As for the last leg of our trip, Jasper was wonderful - it did rain a fair amount, but we beat the rain the day we went hiking and we also rigged up a genius little tarp system to keep us dry at our campsite. Of course, it was wonderful to see our friends from Japan, Christine and Antti.

All told, we (mostly, me) took over 500 pictures on the trip. In a few minutes, I'm going to start loading them on to the computer, then I'll edit them, upload them to flickr, and write about each phase of our trip, complete with pictures (the last part will probably take a few days). I promise you this: everywhere we went was beautiful!

Jasper the Friendly Trip

We have been having a fantastic time on our trip (which we have named after our last destination, as per the subject).

We have very limited computer access right now, so no pictures until we return on August 6, but here are a few highlights:

- celebrating our third anniversary by white water rafting in class 4 rapids with a funny French Canadian guide

- backpacking over the continental divide in Glacier, on a 2 day trip where we hiked over 20 miles and climbed about a vertical mile (in retrospect it might have been a little better as a three day trip...)

- seeing many mountain goats, including a mother and kid who we later learned were fleeing a grizzly bear.

Idaho

Has been great so far - warm, but beautiful. We took a nice hike yesterday, followed by a very refreshing swim in the Lake. Last night it rained a little, but today seems fairly sunny. We're spending the afternoon in town, running a few errands - and then tomorrow we're off for our next stop (where we doubt there will be internet, so this might be it for a while).

Par-tay!

Last night we had a little party for the good doctor. It was a rockin' time!We're leaving on vacation shortly, and we'll be gone for a while. Expect lots of pictures once we return!

mhs, PhD

Today I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation, which means I am only a few bureaucratic steps away from being an official PhD. In keeping with tradition, my professors greeted me as "Dr. mhs" after my defense, which was very strange and exciting. The defense was a challenge -- the professors asked really hard questions, but I passed.

Tonight Kate and I celebrated with sushi at our favorite sushi place, Shiro's, in Belltown (that is the same place we went the night we got engaged). Now I am very tired and relieved. If you live in the Seattle area, please try to make it to our party on Thursday!

Here is a picture of us at dinner:

New York

After our time in Detroit, I flew to New York to visit my friend Karen [Mike flew back home to work].

This was only my second time visiting New York City. I'm pretty thoroughly a western girl, such that when I lived in Boston, I never saw the real draw of New York.

I was wrong. I have erred.

I don't know about living in the city alwaysandforever [since New York city has everything but jagged peaks], but I really enjoyed it for a week - even if it was, possibly, the hottest week on record all summer.

I went to Central Park. I loved it.And I sort of wanted to rent a toy boat, but since my last foray into sailing [in college] involved me voluntarily jumping off the boat, I kept far from even the toy boats this time. Also, I didn't want to embarrass Jenny and Karen with my penchant for tourist-y activities [oooh, oooh, can we go to the top of the Empire State building next?]

I saw Times Square at night. To be fair, that's one of the things I'd actually done on my last trip, so this time I knew enough to be embarrassed to be there with a camera. So I just gave in: Since it seems that half the world lives in New York, I had a few people to visit. I spent time with Jenny, the B-hatch, and Professor Lemieux. I also had some super-nice chill time with Karen and her dog, Daisy.And I ate well: pizza, gnocchi, yummy Mexican frozen popsicles, Mexican food, bagels, etc. [Note to self: time to think about ye olde half-marathon again].

New York: I get it.

7/7/07

Last weekend we went to Michigan for Mike's cousin's wedding.

The weekend was a total whirlwind, since in addition to all the wedding events, we also squeezed in a celebration of Mike's father's birthday. Mike's dad is a frequent commenter on the blog, although he sometimes uses aliases. . . .

Here are a few birthday shots:
Next: the wedding. First, Friday, there was an out-of-town guest dinner, complete with skits/roasts.
The bride and her brother:Toasts:
Roasts:

[this is a skit showing how the bride and groom met]

Last, the lovely bride and groom [and a strangely glowing lamp - why don't I ever notice these things before I take the pictures?]

Saturday, we had a lovely brunch outside in the backyard, followed by a little jaunt to get our hair and make-up done [the gentlemen did not accompany us for this!].

Then, we headed to the wedding. The bride looked lovely, the groom looked handsome, the flowers were amazing, and we had a wonderful time!

Pete Lake

SYL and I headed for the hills yesterday. We drove up over the Cascades to the Pete Lake trailhead. First, there is an amazing amount of development going on up near Roslyn - just a few years ago Mike and I drove the Salmon La Sac road and there was nothing out there. Not so much any more.

Anyway, the trail to Pete Lake was far from the bulldozers so we were okay. The trail is actually mostly flat (no Lake Serene switchbacks, thanks very much) and through a very beautiful old growth forest. The size of the trees is really hard to capture, but here are some attempts.The trail had a fair number of stream crossings, and there was no shortage of bugs (despite bug spray, I'm a little bitten up today).

But, Pete Lake is beautiful! It was such a lovely day yesterday and we really felt like we had the place to ourselves. Perhaps the heartier hikers had ventured on to Spectacle Lake (I think there is some elevation gain associated with that!).We had a late lunch at the lake and then we went swimming. Yes, it was cold. Very.

What a fun day!