Month: March 2015

And You Thought Your Cat Has It Rough!

~ K ~ 2 Comments

It’s a sad day in America when you don’t have enough space in your car to have your cat ride on the inside of your SUV. But on the plus side, the cat gets first dibs on those tasty bugs that smash into the windshield! Yummy!

At least my imaginary cat, Mr. Whiskers gets to rid in a comfy cage to his vet appointments.

Not Mr. Whiskers....
Not Mr. Whiskers….

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/weird-news/picture-captures-leashed-cat-riding-car-hood-ohio-n329396

http://player.theplatform.com/p/2E2eJC/nbcNewsOffsite?guid=nc_cattiedtoc_150324

Time to Start Doing….Something?

~ K ~ 2 Comments

Yes, it’s Friday night.  This is the time when you reflect on your week and think about what an awesome weekend you have planned.  That’s if you aren’t too busy.  Now, being busy can mean different things.  For a middle age guy that lives in the suburbs, that might be watching your favorite shows on Hulu.  For the twenty something douche bag crowd, you might be in the hip bars of your city doing the douche bag crowd things you like to do.   You might be the retired grandma at the country club, and throwing back a few glasses of wine to drown the sorrows of your life.  Remember wine isn’t for disenfranchised PTA mothers anymore.

I personally enjoy folding my laundry on a wonderful Friday night.  Maybe eat some microwave popcorn while enjoying a little Tullamore whisky to fulfill the image of a suburban father on a Friday night.

Whatever you have planned, enjoy your evening.  Best of luck to you!

Do Nothing….and get jealous.

~ K ~ 2 Comments

I hate to say this but I’m jealous of my friend.   Last night he told me he was writing a book. He has never expressed any interest in writing before and now drops this bombshell on me. I haven’t done anything except write a few blogs once in a while. And he mentioned he has 100 pages of rough draft. Talk about making me feel like I’ve done nothing with my life.

Holy cow, I need to do something right? At least whip out a few pages of something…a short story? I mentioned his book project to my wife. She said “Boy, what if his writing is better than yours? Considering I haven’t even started a novel, yeah, I think his writing is better than mine.

Drought Time in the Olympic Mountains – Does this mean I have to drink my swimming pool water?

~ K ~ Leave a comment

Jeez, I knew this was coming. With the lack of snow this winter and spring fast approaching, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a drought situation was coming.  Last night, we heard that the Olympic Mountains are in a state of drought.  This means that us water whores in the Seattle area need to be worried.  Pretty soon our Cascade Mountian Range will most likely be in a state of drought as well.

 We may be forced to turn to our swimming pools and hot tubs to water our huge lawns over the summer. I’m seriously worried that I won’t be able to relax knowing my water bill may skyrocket when the water district jacks up the price of water to combat folks like me that just leave our garden hoses running.

Frankly, we live in the Pacific Northwest so we know it is our right to allow water to pour out of our faucets without a care in the world.  Sorry California and other dry states, we usually don’t have a drought problem in soggy Seattle so we don’t care about your “feelings” about conserving water.

But now I am concerned about water and that sucks. One of the benefits of living here in Washington is the massive snowpack we get during the winter that allows us to not care about how much water we use. I might actually have to think about my water use.  That isn’t fun for me.  I shouldn’t have to think about water.  I should just able to swim, waterski, or drink water without a care in the world.

Sigh.  Now this summer will probably shape up to be a “water restrictions” summer. Great. We will be like Texas or California but without the sunshine and heat.

Thanks for reading…I’m off to turn on my neighbor’s faucet to fill up my pool.



Kauai, Maui, Sunny March Weather in Seattle! Oh My!

~ K ~ 1 Comment

IMG_5778Yesterday, we had some beautiful sunny March weather here in Seattle. I was actually out on my back deck enjoying the sunshine and working on my suntan. It must have been about 65-70 degrees out. Even after we “sprung” ahead into Daylight Savings Time, I got some stuff around the house accomplished. So spending a few minutes on the back deck with my wife and daughter was a treat that was well deserved.

We usually, have pretty gray weather around here in March but not lately. Last week, we went hiking in the sun.   I have been able to preserve my Hawaii tan for a lot longer than I thought I would. Yes, dear readers, I was gone for two weeks to Hawaii in February. I spent a week on Kauai with my daughter visiting my parents and then we flew to Maui and join my wife and my son for another week. Life is rough.

My last trip to Hawaii was two years ago and that was to Kauai. I haven’t been to Maui in 15 years. To be honest, both are wonderful places but I prefer Kauai. I admit I lean towards Kauai (since I went to school there and lived on Kauai as a teenager). My wife likes Maui because she use to live there. As I always say, Hawaii is a great place to visit but not as fun to live there.

Koi Fish Pond
Koi Fish Pond

What? How can I say that? How can I say Hawaii isn’t an awesome place to live? When you take a vacation, everything is awesome. I’m relaxed, I don’t worry about money, and I’m living in a nice condo resort with hot tubs, swimming pools, and sunny beaches. I picture myself relaxing and drinking every day of my life if I lived in Hawaii. Heck, every time I’m on vacation I think how wonderful it would be to live in Washington, NYC, Eastern Washington, etc. Where ever I am at, I can picture me enjoying living there. My family and I would be hanging out at the pool every day. In reality, you have to work or you would be retired. Ah, retirement. But you would be doing the same thing as you would be doing now. Just in a warmer, humid climate.

Now, I’m not turning down the opportunity to move to Kauai or Hawaii in general if someone offered me a job there. Both my wife and I know what it is like to live there.   But rest assured dear readers, I’m still a few years away from retirement, I haven’t won the lottery, and my online business hasn’t taken off where I can retire from school photography just yet.

Do you have a place you wish you could move to? What is holding you back from moving or even taking a vacation?Kaua'i - The Garden Isle

Back into the Thick of It: Hiking Greenwater Lakes Trail 1176

~ K ~ 2 Comments

In the Seattle and Puget Sound area, our cold winter weather is nowhere to be seen. Our snow pack in the mountains is low so most likely we will have a drought in the Puget Sound area. However, this has allowed us to do some great little hikes we usually wouldn’t do this time of year.

This past Saturday, I went with Boy Scout Troop 480 to the Greenwater Lakes off of Highway 410. These lakes are a little outside the town of Greenwater, Washington. The hike to the Greenwater Lakes is a flat hike of about two miles with an elevation gain of maybe 800-1000 feet. We logged in a total of 7 miles round trip after we hiked past the Greenwater Lakes, had lunch, and back to the car.  Trail is fairly dry but there are mud patches. 

Troop 480 Greenwater Lakes crew!

With an earlier start and a longer day, Echo Lake is a doable day hike.

One of the five bridges we crossed.



Who needs a sandwich? We have a hot lunch!

The best water is from the middle of the stream!


We used our water filters to get some mountain fresh water from the river for lunch. As you can see from the photos, we cooked up some Mountain House meals for a hot lunch on a cool, winter day.

Access to the trailhead is along paved Forest Service roads.  I estimate 10 miles out of Greenwater. You will need to pay a day use fee or have a Northwest Forest Pass to park in the parking lot.

Thanks for reading!