Amazing Weekend! Biking and Flying...

The weather here in Kent was absolutely fantastic. Not a cloud in the sky, 80-degree weather!

Saturday, I went to the Kent Farmer's Market. Not as big as the Boulder Farmer's Market, but still plentiful enough for me to buy some fruit, veg, and herbs. After a small lunch, Spencer and I headed out on an epic bike ride. We headed north, through Renton, hugged Lake Washington up to Bellevue, crossed the I-90 bridge and through the northern part of Mercer Island, went across downtown Seattle, and headed back south around Pike's Place Farmer's Market. A rough map:

The entire ride ate up the afternoon, totaling 4 hours and just shy of 52 miles. I felt exhausted afterwards, but the ride gave me reason to believe that I can stay on a bike for much longer than I thought I could!

I spent the rest of the evening eating and sitting...went to Graham's with some of the other interns, and we watched Planet Earth and Snatch on his brand new TV and Blue-Ray player.

Sunday morning, I got up to go on a flight with Kevin to Renton Airport. The weather was absolutely perfect: METARs literally read 0 knot winds and clear skies! My instructor was nice, and the flight school was friendly. No maneuvers; just an extra landing at Bremerton Airport. We flew around Puget Sound. It was beautiful. Kevin rode along in the back, and was able to snag some pictures. We saw Rainier (it was a bit hazy to see it properly), the Olympic Mountains, downtown Seattle, Bainbridge Island...

On our way back to Renton Airport, we took a shortcut through SeaTac airport. There's a passageway where you have to maintain a certain altitude, and Air Traffic Control will let you fly directly across the busy airport! Got some views of the jets that I dont' think i'll ever get again...

After my flight, Kevin did his 90-day currency flight in the same plane with the same instructor. There he is, getting ready for a touch-and-go on the Boeing-lined strip.

Goals for AY 09-10

1. Complete my private pilot's license
2. Take the GREs
3. Reread my important textbooks
4. Learn Rachmaninov's Prelude in G, relearn Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu

Putting these goals here so I don't forget about them...

Mt. Rainier National Park Cabin Trip

Spencer, one of the interns, happens to be from this area. His family has a beautiful cabin in the Mt. Rainier National Park area, and we decided to take a weekend retreat. Spencer's family built the cabin a few decades ago, and it is great! Harry Potter fans...the place reminded me of what the Burrow is like. :)

Here is what it looks like on the outside (there's a whole other floor you can't see below it):

When you walk in the front door, you're immediately greeted by beds and seating areas... obviously a place that was designed with hosting large quantities in mind (Scott is curled up, reading a book).

On the other side is a big kitchen, dining area, and fireplace. See the ladder next to the door? I wonder where that leads...

WOW! A MAGICAL LOFT!!! (Alex helps show our enthusiasm for this loft) This place was reminiscent of an awesome treehouse!

The loft was lined with lots of little rooms, with a total of six rooms and seven mattresses total. This was my room. :)

There was also a downstairs, with more rooms. I think I counted, and the entire place could hold nearly 20 people, counting by beds.

We got in late Friday night after an evening of rock climbing and bouldering at a climbing gym. Saturday morning, we woke up, made breakfast, and went on a 12-mile excursion. The trail was by Crystal Mountain, which is also a ski resort.

Spencer looking at the bare, snowless slopes:

Graham, me, Spencer, and Kevin at a nice vantage point:
View of mountains from said vantage point of Mt. Adams:
Cloud-covered Rainier:

Along the ridge...

Throwing snowballs!

MARMOT BABIES!! Sooooo cute! Mama wasn't far...

Museum of Flight

Last weekend, the interns and I went to the Museum of Flight out by Boeing Field.

There were a lot of cool planes EVERYWHERE!

Here's the M-21 Blackbird with a drone on top...

A view of the ridiculous number of planes hanging everywhere.

The last Concorde (supersonic transport) to fly!
First 747 prototype...

Lots of cool artifacts, and definitely worth it!

Fourth of July

Travis invited me to watch the fireworks show over Lake Union in Seattle with some of his Boeing friends. Turns out, traffic was -nothing- at around 7p, and I was able to get to the city with no delays! I also found a free parking spot outside of his apartment. Lucky day. :)

The show was off a barge in the lake, and it was beautiful. There were all sorts of shapes, including hearts and smiley faces. I had a strong desire for a yacht on the water, so I could have the fantastic, unobstructed view that all the boat-owners had that night...but we still were able to see the show over the water. This is the only photo I have from the night, because it was a little difficult to manage the crowds, and I was too busy enjoying the show for myself!

Lake 22

During Ryan's extended stay, we tried to visit and see as many things as time allowed. Our trips included a tour at Redhook Brewery, more seafood, movies, and the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum (which had a fabulous exhibit on Jim Henson!), the only thing I have pictures from is our trip to Lake 22 in Mt. Baker's National Forest.

It was a fabulous trail that was very reminiscent of Hanging Lake in Glenwood Springs, where the summit of the hike greets you with a beautiful lake.

Again, everything in the Pacific Northwest is so green!

The trees are also huge.
A view of the mountain range...reminds me of home!
The lake at the top...there's still snow!
Note the people in the lower left for an idea of the scale...

The Family Comes to Visit

Be prepared for pictures-a-plenty...

Last Thursday, Shi, Sam, Erica, and Ryan all flew into Seattle for a quick weekender (except for Ryan, who stayed an extra week). We tried to cram as much in as possible in three short days, including multiple trips to the Asian groceries and Shiway's old house. :)

Everyone got in really late on Thursday...Shi was supposed to be the last one in at 11:58pm, but her flight ended up being the first one to arrive. Ryan was the clear winner, with a flight delay that pushed his arrival time to just after 3:15am. With a 6am wakeup call to go to work, I was running on caffeine and adrenaline the rest of that Friday.

We did a tour of Blue Origin, and then wandered to Pike's Place Farmer's Market for food and fun. We ate at Beecher's Handmade Cheese, which had the most decadent macaroni and cheese we've ever tasted.

Ryan interrupts a photo:

Gargantuan lobster tails at Pike's:

We pretty much ate our way through the market. Peaches, honey sticks, and most free samples were devoured.

The rest of the day was devoted to the rest of the city, which included the flagship REI store, Shiway's old stomping grounds, and dinner in West Seattle at the Elliott Bay Brewpub, where we ate some great seafood and drank good beers. We were exhausted by the end of day 1, and planning day 2 was quite the ordeal back home...I think it took us about 2 hours to decide on an itinerary. It mostly included Sam looking up places to eat, and Erica and Shiway being helpful and finding things to do, and me complaining about wanting to sleep. It was kind of a mess.

Regardless, we finally pulled it together. On Saturday, we decided to earn our meals by starting the morning with a trail run in the North Bend area at Rattlesnake Ridge.

The base was already pretty with a view of a lake:

...and they're off!


The trail to the top was steep towards the end...some of us ended up walking a bit of it, but I think Sam trooped out the whole thing. The top was worth it, and had a spectacular view!

Sibling shot:

Ryan is levitating!

We followed our trail run with a protein-heavy meal of conveyor-belt sushi:

Sam shows everyone where Porter learned his habits of leaning on people to get to food (and Shiway mocks him)...like dog, like master!

After lunch, we spent the rest of the day in the Bellevue area. This included trips to Trader Joe's, the Uwajimaya Asian Grocery, and finally, dinner with our extended family. We have a set of cousins who live in Bellevue, and another set from Taiwan who happened to be visiting simultaneously.

Our aunt and uncle's house has a fantastic view from their back porch. You can see Mercer Island and the Seattle Skyline.
Speaking of the Seattle Skyline, we also went to Kerry Park to see the great views that I talked about in my previous entry. One last goofy sibling shot. :)