{13march2012: Whistler - part 2}

Continuing on our walk...



Since we were in so much snow we had to have some snowball time.

(BTW, throwing a snowball and trying to take a picture at the same time is pretty tricky!)

I had Darwin pose for some pretty pictures as well.

We came across a short wooden bridge and Darwin LOVES crossing bridges, so she ran over, and when she saw we weren't following she ran right back.


Darwin figured out stopping in the snow isn't very easy and she came to a sliding stop, almost into me!


We ran Darwin in a few more loops before heading back to the cabin.


Jason and I had spa time, then came back for a late dinner.  Sunday was the big day Jason was looking forward to, so come back and check out how it went!

{23jan2012: snowmaggedon 2012}

***Thank you for the condolences for my Grandma. It all happened really quickly, but Im glad I was able to go back and see her again. She's back with my Grandpa so Im sure she's happy now.***


When snow happens in Seattle, everything seems to come to a stop. Seattlites just don't know how to do snow. It seems like every year for the last 3 years or so there's been one big snow storm a year that brings the city to a halt. We missed the last one (Thanksgiving 2010) as we were in Hawaii. 
Last week Sunday the snow started in Seattle. It was coming down lightly so we thought we'd take Darwin over to Marymoor to see her friends then head home. It was not to bad driving over and it was very pretty at the park (excuse the poor iphone pics).


The snow was falling pretty steadily so we started to worry about the drive home so we called it a day and headed home. It's a good thing we left when we did because by the time we were back in Seattle the snow had fallen a bit more and roads were already backed up. The main freeway had a line of traffic to get on it so we decided to drive though downtown. We saw a car sliding and not able to move and our wheels started spinning a little, so we decided to park the car by our office and walk home (2.5 miles or so).


Though it wasn't originally planned, it turned out to be a fun walk home and we got to see the Seattle Center covered in snow!

We stopped a few times to throw snowballs for Darwin, which she loved.

Darwin got to check out the EMP and watch the monorail go by.

We were all getting hungry (and cold) so we hurried home and spent the rest of the day relaxing on the couch. Little did we know that Sunday was just the start of Snowmaggedon 2012!

{09dec2011: Thanksgiving weekend part 2}

In the morning we decided to check out the beach again. The only problem was the tide was almost at high tide and so our wide open beach we were able to run on the afternoon before was now gone.

All the waves and moving logs were a bit disconcerting so we left the beach and packed up our things so we could head out for breakfast and the hike we had planned.

Before leaving the coast we stopped at one more beach just to check it out.

We then headed to Forks to stop for brunch, then continued on our way. It was a bit of a drive from Forks to Sequim where were planning on hiking so we didn't get there til 2. As we drove up the hillside the dry grounds turned to snowy/ice. I was driving at this point and Jason's usually the snow driver (me being from Hawaii and all) and I slowed down to pass a fallen branch in the road. I guess I slowed too much because our wheels lost traction and we started slipping. EEEK. After awhile we stopped moving and the wheels were just spinning. Jason had to get out of the car and start pushing. I was aiming for a flat spot on the side of the road, but it took a good 10 minutes to get there because I kept sliding in the wrong direction. We luckily had our snow chains in the car and got out to put them on. Can I just say those things are NO FUN. A couple tries in the chain on the right side popped off and got wrapped around the back of the wheel and we couldn't pull it off. I was worried for a minute we'd have to call a tow truck to rescue us, but instead I got out the car jack and jacked up the car (my first time ever). We managed to reach under and behind the tire to get the chain off. Whew. We decided to try one more time to get the chains on and we somehow managed. By this point it was almost 3 and the sun was going to go down around 4-430 so we drove a little hoping to find a place we could let Darwin out to run and stretch her legs (we had let her out while we were chaining up the car, but we kept her on her leash close by so she wouldn't run off). We drove and drove and  couldn't find anything so we turned around and headed back down so we wouldn't be caught driving on the snowy hillside in the dark. We passed the snowy road, and took of the chains and ended up at the base of the hill at a closed campsite near a river and let Dar run around. 

After that we loaded back in the car and headed home.
It was a LONG road trip and we didn't even get one hike in! It was disappointing, but I have to say, entertaining. Snow, rolling logs on a beach, rain, icey roads, snow chains, jacking up the car... it was a pretty filled couple of days even if we didn't get to do what we were planning.

{17jan2011: Snowshoeing continue}

Back to our snowshoeing adventure!

Darwin did really well being off leash even when we passed other dogs.  I think she was more excited about being in the snow than seeing other dogs.

I did manage to almost lose my hat (it was hot so I put it in my pocket and it fell out) but some nice people walking behind us pointed it out.  I did lose my lens cap though... not quite sure how.  And we lost Darwin's tags somehow too!  Oops!

After some "off the main trail adventures" (a lot of sliding on our butts and trying to stay upright) we took a little break.  We had an energy bar, while Darwin snacked on an apple.

We all had a blast and are planning our next snowshoe adventure.

{14jan2010: snowshoeing}

***Before we get to snowshoeing, I've got a question for you all. Darwin has a split ear tip (don't know if another dog nicked it or it just split from shaking her head so violently).  I took her to the vet yesterday (more on that in another post) and got a topical medicine for it. The thing is because she keeps shaking her head the split keeps opening up and bleeding everywhere.  I've been trying to tape/wrap her ears so they can stay still and heal, but all the methods I've tried have slid off.  I've tried gauze bandage strip, a bandana, and and ace bandage, but they all slip to the back of her head.  The vet tech said we could use a tube sock to tie her ears down, but I assume that will just slide off as well.  I'm going to run to the drug store at lunch and get liquid bandage and maybe a wider ace bandage... but I was wondering if anyone had tips on how to secure her ears down.  Thanks so much!!!

Now, onto snowshoeing!

Jason and I got snoewshoes for each other for Christmas and we finally broke them in the other weekend.  We received a book about snowshoeing locations in Washington and found the Lower Gold Creek Basin just east of Snoqualmie Pass.

View Larger Map

When we got there the lower part of the trail was full of families and kids sledding.  Darwin was super pumped to get out of the car and into the snow.  After passing the most crowded area we strapped on our snowshoes and proceeded up the mountain.  

There were quite a few other snowshoeing families that had their dogs along with them so we waited til we passed the more crowded spots and were further up before we let Dar off. 

The forest road we were walking on was pretty groomed so the snowshoes weren't really necessary, so Jason thought we should really get into it by going off the road and onto the soft powder.  Darwin was quick to follow him, but a little too quick as she kept stepping on the back of his snowshoes.

She'd try to run back over to me, but sink in the snow.

Of course all that off the beaten path romping resulted in a bunch of scrapes on Darwin's legs.  She left a blood trail again, though not as bad as on our Twin Falls hike.

So many pictures... this post will be continued!