Category Archives: walker

First washington camping trip!

July 16, 2013

This past weekend Walker and I went camping in Washington for the first time. We had attempted to plan a trip but were overwhelmed with the choices, the information we didn’t have or know, and lack of time we had preplanned to plan. So our friend contacted her friend who already had a Saturday trip planned so we tagged along.

We headed out Saturday morning and since the trail head was only an hour away it didn’t take long to get there. Once everyone had arrived we hit the trail. We hiked over 4 miles (up almost all the way) through alpine-like wilderness to Pratt Lake and then another 1/2 mile past that lake to a second lake where we set up camp for the night.

Before it cooled down too much we took a dip in the lake. It was cold but refreshing in a way only a cold freshwater lake in the wilderness can be. Once everyone was in their warm clothes we sat down to have dinner. It was fun, except perhaps the persistent bugs trying to bite us. We played games into the evening and went to bed relatively late for a hiking trip.

We woke up the next morning, had breakfast, took down camp and packed up, and hiked out. It was another beautiful day but we were tired and going down hill the whole way back was hard on the knees. We were pretty excited to see the parking lot.

It was a pretty short trip but we learned a little about camping in the area and I think we’re ready to venture out on our own now. Also I got to turn my phone off for 24 hours and it was bliss not checking it once during that time. We’ve recovered from our soreness and are ready to head out again soon!

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Sutra

July 15, 2013

It’s been a little while since I visited Sutra but I still wanted to share about my experience there. I absolutely love going to multi-course dinners but they tend to be a little expensive so we don’t really do it all that often. So when a friend of mine invited me to a multi-course vegan restaurant for dinner I insisted to Walker that we go, and so we did.

It’s one of those places where the food is seasonal and locally sourced. The menu is set for the evening but great care is taken to make sure everyone’s dietary needs are met so that nothing goes to waste. Everything was really inventive and delicious. They even had drink pairings to go with the meal but Walker and I skipped those because it was already on the pricey side.

While I really enjoyed both the atmosphere, the food, and the company I did leave feeling a bit hungry. I felt even worse for Walker because he needs to eat quite a bit more than me. It’s always kind of a bummer when you pay extra for a meal but then need to eat when you get home. Oh well. It was interesting and maybe I can try to recreate some of the menu items at home.

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My first seattle 4th of july

July 8, 2013

We started off our day picking raspberries and strawberries at the same place I recently went strawberry picking. So now I can also check raspberries off my must pick list. Woo! They were a little picked over since we arrived later in the afternoon but if you worked for it (getting up and under the bushes) you could still find a lot of larger and super ripe berries. Mmm…

Walker and I had been invited to a party a few miles north but we weren’t really in the mood to bike. Instead we packed a few bags with snacks and games and walked down to the highway overlook. It sounds like a funny place to watch the fireworks but we basically had front row seats. They weren’t super close but there was no one in front of us and we had a full view of the harbor and the surrounding neighborhoods.

After hours of waiting a lot more people showed up and a little while after 10 the fireworks finally got going. It was a good show and afterwards we headed home through the crowds and quickly found our way to bed. We were exhausted. Overall a pretty good first 4th of July in Seattle.

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^this one is kind of crazy because you can see the smoke from a fire that started a little while before the fireworks started. yikes!