Snoqualmie Pass Photo Tour

I took a photo tour with my artist friend Mitch to Snoqualmie Pass yesterday.  [mitchalbala.com]   You may be able to see a representation of some of Mitch's pics at his gallery show in April at the Lisa Harris Gallery.

Here are some of my pictures:

A valley near the Alpental Ski Area.

Denny Mountain

Guye Peak

2010 Movie Favorites

The Other Guys

The Opposite of Sex

The Bounty Hunter

Crazy Heart

Did You Hear About the Morgans

Kenny

Strickly Sexual

Date Night

The Hurt Locker

Sunshine Cleaning

Last Chance Harvey

Before Sunset

Sherlock Holmes

Smart People

2010 Reading List

Around the World On Two Wheels - Peter Zheutlin
Absolute Power - David Baldacci
Chasing the Bear - Robt B. Parker
Secret Prey - John Sandford
24 Hours- Greg Iles
Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich
The Appeal - John Grisham
U is for Undertow - Sue Grafton
Now and Then - Robt B Parker
Blue Screen - Robt B Parker
Merl's Door - Ted Kerasote
Nature Girl - Carl Hiaasen
In a Sunburned Country - Bill Bryson
Echo Burning - Lee Child
Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
The Associate - John Grisham
Lying in Wait - J.A. Jance
AC-DC - Tom McNichol
Skinny Dip - Carl Hiaason
Beyond Recognition - Ridley Pearson
When you are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris
What the Dog Saw, Malcolm Gladwell
Nonviolent Communication - Marshall Rosenburg
Day of the Dead - J.A. Jance
Angel's Flight - Michael Connelly
Running Blind - Lee Child

Happy New Year!

The best TV show there ever was: Then Came Bronson

My street

This is a heavily Photoshoped picture of my street.

Joe's Holiday Biscotti

This is revised from a recipe I got off the the internet-- and I'm pretty happy with how it came out...

Biscotti

Ingredients:
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup white sugar
2 cups whole wheat all-purpose flour
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
2tsp anise extract, or 3 drops anise oil, or 1-2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2.In a medium bowl, beat together the oil, eggs,
sugar and anise flavoring until well blended.
Combine the flour and baking powder, stir into
the egg mixture to form a heavy dough. Divide
dough into two pieces. Form each piece into a
roll as long as your cookie sheet. Place roll
onto the prepared cookie sheet, and press down
to 1/2 inch thickness.

3.Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven,
until golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet
to cool on a wire rack. When The cookies are cool
enough to handle, slice each one crosswise into
1/2 inch slices. Place the slices cut side up back
onto the baking sheet. Bake for an additional 6 to
10 minutes on each side. Slices should be lightly
toasted.

Rocket Science - a little help from our friends in the Air Force...

OK, now get ready to pay close attention...

Pacific Sunset

Last Wednesday evening, September 22nd, I commemorated the end of my last camping trip for the year by watching the sunset at Beverly Beach north of Newport, Oregon.  Here are a couple of photos from the event.  Goodbye to the summer of 2010...

Crater Lake Bike Ride

On Tuesday September 14th, I biked the Crater Lake rim road with my friends Perry and Carol. From  the starting point the rim road is 33 miles long and requires 3800 feet of climbing. 

We left from Rim Village, at an elevation of 7100 ft., at about 9:30am.

 Most bikers choose to ride clockwise around the lake and so did we.   As you can see we had pretty good weather.



The whole rout is pretty much either going up or down.  Unfortunately due to a misunderstanding we had to do the worst hill at the end of the day.

There were traces of snow remaing along the road and as you can see here there was still snow down next to the lake.

There are over 30 turnouts and view points along the rout and so many chances to regroup along the way..

Crater Lake was formed when 12,000 ft Mt Mazama erupted over seven thousand years ago with an explosion thought to be forty times more powerful than Mt St. Helens.  The resulting crater filled with rain and snow melt to a depth of over 1900 feet.  It snows so much here that the entire loop road is only open for 3 or 4 months a year.

This picture is taken from one of the lowest elevations along the rout.

Here you can see Phantom Ship Island.

2010 Sisters Folk Music Festival

Here's a slideshow video I put together from a recording I did of Geoff Muldaur and Jim Kweskin playing last weekend at the Sisters Folk Music Fesitival in Sisters, Oregon.

Melakwa Lake Backpack Trip

On Monday I left Seattle just before noon to take a two day backing trip to Melakwa Lake near Snoqualmie Pass about fifty miles east of Seattle.  Due to a late start I only hiked in about a mile and found a place to camp near Denny Creek.












On Tuesday I packed up and headed up the trail toward Melakwa Lake which was about a 3.5 mile hike and took a little over three hours.

It's been a few years since I've done this hike and the trail was quite a bit steeper and rougher than I remembered.  Much of the trail is just a boot beaten track through the rocks and tree roots.

The lower part of the trail passes a couple of beautiful high falls.  They're a little more scenic earlier in the year when there's more water--  which unfortunately also means more bugs.  There weren't many bugs on this trip.

Melakwa Lake was as beautiful as I expected and I was able to spend some time hanging out on shore after dinner and watch the shadow from the setting sun move up the mountain side and then the moonlight creep back down.

On Wednesday I woke to yet another sunny day and was on the trail at 10 am.

Bainbridge Island Bike Ride

After getting scared off from backpacking on Monday and Tuesday by a bad weather report I left on an overnight bike trip to Bainbridge Island on Wednesday.

Bainbridge Island isn't far from home but is the fastest way I know to get a half a world away.

"Without going out of your door, You can know the ways of the world. Without peeping through your window, you can see the Way of Heaven. The farther you go, The less you know. Thus, the Sage knows without traveling, Sees without looking, And achieves without struggle." Lao Tse.

And it seems like there were some other people who had the same idea I did...

Everybody likes to stare out over the water... who needs cell phones, text messages, or cable TV?

...especially when you've got a fishing pole.

... or a sunset to watch.

Kitsap Peninsula Bike Ride

On Tuesday I left for a three day bike ride on the Kitsap Peninsula west of and across Puget Sound from Seattle.  On the first leg of the trip I rode to the Bremerton ferry dock downtown where I caught the ferry.  To the right you see the ferry arriving in Bremerton.

After arriving in Bremerton I rode four or five miles to the campground at Illahee State Park. 

There was lots of colorful sky  and some great views while hanging out on the water before sunset.

On Wednesday I took about a twenty-five mile bike ride from Illahee north to Brownsville ( picture to the right); then west to Silverdale; then back to Illahee State Park.

On Thursday morning I was on the 11:10 am ferry from Bremerton to Seattle and arrived in time for a late rock-fish taco lunch at Fisherman's Terminal in Ballard.

Vashon Island Bike Ride

On Tuesday I left for a three day long bike ride to Vashon Island just west of Seattle.  To shorten the ride a bit to the Vashon ferry dock in West Seattle I took the water taxi across Elliot Bay-- about a ten minute ride across the bay.

As you can see here they're well equipped to handle bicycles.

After arriving in West Seattle I continued on to the Vashon Ferry Dock via Alki Beach.  It was a good day to be hanging out on the beach but I was just riding through.

I arrived at the hostel in the middle of the afternoon after a quick stop in town for an icecream cone.

They used to have four of these old covered wagons at the hostel but are now down to just two.  Lucky for me I was able to book one of them for the two nights I planned to be there.

On Wednesday I left the hostel in the late morning for some biking on the island.  I ended up riding to Dockton Park which is actually on Maury Island.   Maury Island used to be a separate island  but is now connected to Vashon thanks to the busy bees at the Army Corps of Engineers.

Quartermaster Harbor between Maury and Vashon Islands.

Seattle's Harbor Island with Mt. Rainier in the background.