First time up the mountain

Hal writes:

The first couple of photos come from the previous weekend. I stopped at Wright Park for the Tacoma Ethnic Fest. The park is over a hundred years old and in recent years has gone through some updating and repairs. My favorite part is they have an area for lawn bowling and you can join the old timers on Sunday and Thursday evenings to play. Pictured below is one of the ponds (it used to be the local boys swimming hole way back in the day) with some statues and a fountain.

The first performance I saw was a group of steel drummers from the Caribbean. They were playing an extended version of "Dancing Queen". This humoured me to see a group like this covering a Swedish pop hit. Cross-cultural indeed.

This group of Samoan girls was doing an interpretive Hawaiian dance while the adults played the instruments.

Sing with me now... "The hills are alive, with the sound of music. Aahhhhh..." Today Anna and I bought a year pass for Mt. Rainier National Park. Now when you come and visit us, you can visit the mountain for free with us. It was AMAZING. We went up the northern side, called Sunrise, which is only open a part of the year due to weather conditions. The picture below gives you an idea how close we were, but also the varying landscapes. In addition to the glaciers on the mountain, there are forests, rivers (from the melting ice), and meadows.



After traveling 60 miles to the base of the mountain, we drove up some switch backs to get towards the top. Here is Anna at one of the scenic overlooks on the way up the hill.

Hal at the scenic overlook. You can see the clouds rolling by at about the same height. Mt. Rainier is 14,000 feet above sea level. We only made it as high as 6,400 feet on the trails we took. Apparently you need experienced guides and gear to reach the summit. Only 9,000 people attempt the summit annually and, of those who don't turn back due to weather or altitude sickness, about only 4,000 make it to the top.

Looking down the valley into one of the lakes.

These were Anna's favorite flowers along the path. She wanted to frolic in the meadow, but was not allowed off the trail by her rule-adhering husband.

Some more flowers.

Another view of the mountain.

We were able to encounter some wildlife along the trails. In addition to the birds and chipmunks, we saw mountain deer and even a bear cub. We could see the bear cub at about 40 yards away, but he wasn't clear enough to get a good picture with. In addition to not leaving the trail, I didn't want to get in between baby and momma bear (wherever she was), so I was content to watch from afar. Can you find the mountain deer in the picture with Anna below?

Unlike the bear cub, this one was a little more photogenic.

Anna pretending to be a mountain. In case you didn't know, Anna enjoys the mountains and the fact that this is the largest "episodically active" volcano in the U.S. just adds to the thrill.

Hal along the trail.

Our other weekend activity included getting a new cell phone plan. No worries, our numbers are not changing, we just needed a new carrier. After researching the different plans, we ended up going with Sprint. This is now my third different cell phone carrier. The previous two plans I opted to go with the cheapest phone in the plan. This time, we went with something a little bit nicer. (And for the first time in my life, I have a better phone than my sisters. Ha ha!) Currently, we are in a transition period between carriers and are not receiving any calls, but that should be resolved in the next day or so.

I went with the new Samsung Instinct (aka "the iPhone killer"). Although I probably would have enjoyed the new iPhone, Apple plans cost to much and, as a non-tech person, I can do just as much with the Instinct as I can with the iPhone. So, I went from not having text messages as a part of my plan to being able to record video/take pictures and send them to people. Oh, and did I mention the satellite TV?

Whereas I went with the "toy", Anna went with the "business" (which is opposite of what the two of us usually do). Anna decided to go with the Blackberry Curve. She wasn't able to get a red one (they only had black available) but I think she will be OK. So, for the next month or so, we're both on the cool end of tech gizmos.

This next week my colleagues and I are taking a class together at Seattle University. We may spend a couple of nights in Seattle instead of driving the Tacoma rush hour traffic to/from each, but we are going to try it Monday and see what happens.

Favre-Vikings deal could be win-win

Brett in the purple and gold? It would seem odd, but the more bitter Packer nation gets about the deal, the more welcome it will be in Minnesota. On behalf of Lutheran Viking fans, we would forgive Brett his previous green and gold sins and welcome with open arms to the promised land of on last Super Bowl (and the first for the Vikings)...

If Brett Favre wants to play for the Vikings, which he seems to want to do, and if the Vikings want Favre, which they seem to, there would seem to be a deal to be made, with the NFL steering it behind the scenes. A deal for the future hall of fame quarterback could be good business for the league. Getting Favre, even though he turns 39 in October, immediately would make the Vikings' chances of getting to the Super Bowl at least as good as any NFL team's. Favre obviously knows that because he would get to play with running back Adrian Peterson and wide receiver Bernard Berrian, and have Jared Allen chasing opposing quarterbacks. The Vikings haven't refuted Green Bay's charges of tampering with Favre. The tampering issue, which is difficult to prove, would go away if the Vikings and Packers could make a deal.

St. Paul Pioneer Press

Weekend Festivals

Hal writes:

The hard drive has failed. All of Anna's doctoral work, Hal's master's work, the photos from our first four years of marriage, etc., etc., etc. This public service message reminds you to back up all your work on the computer!

But how about happier news? Let's start with our move into our apartment. Anna was able to select the paint colors for all the rooms before we painted. Although she thought she may only have a couple of choices, Anna was happy to hold a rainbow to select from.

One of our new friends is Amanda, who is currently amidst her Master's program and is an intern for the housing office this summer. Her parent's are pictured below with her at the Taste of Tacoma festival.

At the Taste there were plenty of foods to choose from. Anna is enjoying an Australian BBQ sandwich and Hal is sampling the Teriyaki chicken. Although they did not have a Dingleberry at the ShiskaBerry's (located behind), they did enjoy a crepe with apples and caramel.

Last weekend was the Tall Ships festival which comes to Tacoma about once every three years. This bridge which goes over the Foss waterway reminded me of the Duluth lift bridge.

The festival was free, but we paid to go down and climb aboard some different ships. Some went out to take people on a couple hour tour and would perform mock cannon battles with other ships in the bay. Unfortunately, all tickets were sold out for the ships when we were there. In the next three photos is Hal's favorite ship, the Hawaiian Chieftain.

Yes, I did wear my pirate shirt. But there were plenty of people there that had dressed and talked like Pirates, so I didn't stand out at all.


Although I was fond of this ship, the best named ship goes to the S.S.S. Rejoice. The man who had her commissioned named it after marrying his wife Joyce for the second time. Re-Joyce. Get it?


This is Anna aboard the HMCS Oriole, the oldest commissioned ship in the Canadian Navy.

These four ships were the most sought after for tours. Left to right (starting with the farthest ship) is the CGC Eagle (the only active duty commissioned sailing vessel in the US Navy), the Premiere Class Nina (a historically correct replica of the 15th-century ship sailed by Christopher Columbus in 1492), the HMS Bounty (as seen in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies), and the Kaisei (travels the globe on international peace missions).

A closer look at the Nina.

Hal in front of the HMS Bounty. Argh....

A better look at the HMS Bounty.

Hey, did I mention that the Hawaiian Chieftain was my favorite?

On of Anna's friends from UMD, Nils, lives in Tacoma. We joined him to watch The Shifty Sailors before. (Nils has an uncle in the group.) Click on the group web page and listen to their Washington song (or other sea shanties if you prefer).

The weather here has been absolutely beautiful, but it did sprinkle while listening to the music. But I'm still having a fun time because I have my new rain jacket to keep me dry!

Which brings us to this weekend. Anna and I went with Amanda on Saturday to Vashion Island for their strawberry festival. There weren't very many strawberries on the island, but we still had fun and a great lunch. The adventure was navigating both the bus system and the ferry system (and their non aligning schedules) to get to and from the festival. Here is a picture of Mt. Rainier. I've taken several photos, but none of them do it justice. It truly is a beautiful sight.

Anna and I also celebrated our fourth anniversary this weekend (4th = fruits and flowers). We went out to dinner but didn't bring the camera, so this photos will be our official "fourth" photo.


After dinner we came back and had some cheesecake for dessert. The berries here are always plentiful (whether in the grocery store for cheap or at a road side stand for even cheaper). We decided to go with the blackberries as a topping.

Oh, I also added some chocolate syrup to mine "restaurant style" where you just put it all over the plate.

So, we have been on a huge fruit kick since arriving. The fruit is so fresh and so cheap I won't be catching scurvy any time soon. At the grocery store there were raspberries several different colors (flavors). Anna's new found favorite are the Rainier cherries whereas Hal has been eating mostly apples.


So, my new place of employment is very environmentally friendly. Here is one example: our lawn mowing service. I have about 200 goats outside my hall "mowing" the lawn. They are surrounded by an electric fence and have a Shepard and a sheep dog to protect them. Once they finish munching on this section, they will be moved to another section of campus. In addition to getting the thicker brush that most mowers can't get, they are also kind enough to fertilize the area before they move on. (Jen, I'm sending one to Southwest. It should be delivered to the inside of your apartment while you are gone.)


Other exciting news is that we finally got our car fixed. Hooray for mobility! Also, Anna's temporary licence finally arrived so she was able to start work on Thursday. In celebration, we went to IKEA and looked at some items we plan to buy once she gets a paycheck. :)

Sorry that we are not able to phone you frequently. Our evening minutes begin at 9pm, which is 11pm central time, so it is too late to call. But please call us if you would like to hear more!