Whistler Adventure

Mark and I just got back from a week in Whistler and boy did we have a great time. We started out mountain biking, then moved on to bungee jumping, hiking, and exploring some off-road trails.

Day 1

No photos of biking...did not want photos of my injury. After that we Bungee Jumped

Mark jumped first...

...then me. It was the scariest yet most exciting thing I have ever done!



Day 2
We spent day two exploring some of the logging roads and off-road trails.
We came across this honor system produce stand run by three kids. There was a welcome message from them, a radio playing and plenty of produce, pop, and a few snacks to choose from. They had a lock box for us to put money in.

This was a windy lake we found.

This was on the edge of a look-out on one of the logging roads. Someone had built a little rock statue similar to the Olympic statue on the Whistler Summit.

I think this was actually day 3 or 4, but was a cool wooden bridge over the river that we found.

This was a great playground we found on the shore of a lake in one of the many really nice parks Whistler has to offer. Can't wait until we go back next year with friends and their kids! The kids will love it!

Day 3

We spent day 3 on the peak hiking as much as we could given my bum leg from biking.

I can't figure out how to get this right side up, so just tilt your head! This is the new Peak 2 Peak gondola that goes from Whistler to Blackcomb. It is a huge gondola that you can walk around in and is a 11 minute ride with great views!

We hiked from the Peak to this alpine lake. Mark jumped in and based on how cold he said it was and the fact that he could hardly even breath in the water I decided to stay nice and dry on land.

Day 4 was spent driving around and exploring more.

Day 5

We had no idea there was a Down Hill race time trial taking place, so Mark spent a lot of time taking photos while I shopped a bit. Then I came back to watch some of the time trials and we both finished up the day with last minute shopping.

Red Bull Exodus is the first mass start down hill race that has ever been done at Whistler and from what they said that has ever been done with world class riders period. There were riders from all over the world trying to qualify for the race and out of 400 riders only 150 would make it to the actual race the next day. During the race they would start at the Peak, take around 30 minutes to get down the mountain and hit speeds over 50 miles per hour. They were hitting that same speed in the time trials and had some pretty good jumps at the bottom of the course.

Day 6

We decided to come home a day early so we could avoid traffic at the boarder and have time to relax before joining friends for a B-Day party the next day.

There are more photos and Mark has a video of his bungee jump on our photos site: http://markyeatman.smugmug.com/

Summer Update

I have been really bad about updating the blog this summer, so here is a quick run down of what we have been up to...

Scavenger Hunt 2009

This was a fundraiser for Relay For Life and TCC

Me, Gina, Mark and Reggie completing one of the photos.

I think we were supposed to fit as many people as possible into the shopping cart.



We Celebrated 25 Years of Relay at the Relay For Life of Tacoma. This was my last year as the event Co-Chair.

Fight Back Ceremony with Jeff Ross.

Bob and I with the Leadership Team.

Camping trip with the family to sprinkle my Grandparent's ashes.

Saying a few words before sprinkling them off the bridge into the river.

Me with my Sister and her three kids. Adorable and a lot of fun!

Me and Mark with my niece Sophie.

Mark's sister got married and Mark was the photographer.

Amy and Ivan.

Amy and I.

It's quick, but now I am up to date!

Memorial Day Camping Trip

We spent Memorial Day weekend camping near Ocean Shores with Bob and Michelle and Grace, Mary - Michelle's Mom, Katie and Alie - Bob's nieces and Emily and Rebeca - Mark's nieces.

We had great weather considering it was the coast! No rain, and sunny afternoons.

We found Grace hiding in the storage above our bed!

Michelle and Grace before bed time.

Grace hitting the ball "by self".

We had a harder time beating the kids than we thought we would. It took several games but Bob, Mark and I finally won one!

Me, Mark with Grace, Katie, and Emily.

This was after what started as a very scary monster hunt. The girls caught one monster named Mark and Bob jumped out at us on the way back to camp.

Katie, Emily, Alie, Rebeca.

Mark was trying to nap, but the girls would not have it.

Bishop enjoying the beach.

Emily helping to launch the kite.

Mark and I think Rebeca flying the kite.

This is what extreme cold and wind on the beach at 11pm looks like!

Spaghetti anyone?

All the girls on scooter and bikes.

Fire Ride Along

Mark was kind enough to bid on, and win, a Ride Along and dinner with the Lakewood Fire Department at a Relay Fundraiser. Even though he did not really want to go he knew I would love it and thought I could find a friend to go with me. So Gina and I set off on our adventure with the Fire Department.

Gina and Kari...on our way to help with a broken wheelchair.

Gina and I breaking windows at the training facility. This was really cool!

Part of the window I broke.

Kari was kind enough to give us a tour of the building they do their training in. (I drive by this place several times a week and have always wondered what it was like on the inside and now I know.)

While we were touring fire com and seeing how fire calls are handled there was a call that came in for our engine! So thinking this may be the only action we see all day Captain decided we had better go priority (lights and sirens) to check out a guy the police had arrested. He has a bit of a scrape on his head, but that is what happens when you try and punch an officer!

Giving the fire hose a try back at the station…Wow are they powerful!

Gina in the Captains spot!

Our second call of the day was the car fire that wasn’t. But we got to go lights and sirens again so that was fun.

On our way to a call.

Ron was putting the finishing touches on our meal when the second call came in. Interestingly enough when a call comes into the station the power to the stove top turns off, so nothing burns while out on a call, but the oven continues to cook. So we came back to burnt scones that were going to be strawberry shortcake.

Gina and I were hungry enough that we were wiling to give the burnt scones a try. Thankfully one of the guys ran to the store and got more scone mix so that we were able to enjoy perfect Strawberry Shortcake after dinner!

Ron had a pork roast cooking all day and it was absolutely the best I have ever had. I had been hearing for weeks that Ron was the best cook and we were going to have an amazing dinner and it really was a great dinner! Plus he shared his Raspberry Vinaigrette salad dressing recipe with us, and sent us home with some as well. I ate salad every day until I had used all the dressing it was that good!

Enjoying Strawberry Shortcake in the TV room. Those chairs were really comfortable!

We had so much fun touring the station, seeing the training facility and hanging out with everyone. Due to the “riders curse” we did not see a big fire, but everyone put effort into making sure we had a good time anyway.

Thank you to everyone at the station and from Engine 20!

A Big Thank You to Kari for showing us around and answering our questions all day. Kari had two shadows with her all day and was willing to show us anything we wanted to see and answered question after question for us.

An extra special Thank You to Ron (Captain) for the first priority call of the day, and for the amazing food! You are a great cook!

I hope that we win the auction again next year!

Magnus Visits Us!

We had a visit from one adorable little boy...my cousin Magnus. Uncle Randy, Aunt Nancy, and my cousin Tracy visited with Tracy's son Magnus. He is the cutes little boy ever!

Tracy, Magnus and me.

Magnus making himself at home in Mark's chair.

Magnus playing guitar hero.

Magnus watching NCAA action with Uncle Randy.

Looking cute!

Thank you for visiting Mark and I. Let's not wait so long to do it again. Thank you also for the ice cream maker...can't wait to try it on the next camping trip!