Thursday, August 31, 2006

Snohomish High Class of 1996 Ten year reunion


Here is a list of classmates that are as yet unaccounted for!


Send their contact info to info@snohomish96.com or send them the web address above if you know how to get in touch with any of these classmates.

40 Great Road Trips

Popular Mechanics Magazine: 40 Great Road Trips

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Favorite WA Roads - VFRNW


I found this list of suggested motorcyle roads in Washington State as compiled by members of the VFRNW group. You can leave a comment to this post if you'd like a pdf version instead of this graphic/image version.

My new Quota

I am happy to announce that I have a new (used) motorcycle. It's been over a year since I sold my 2002 Honda VFR and I have finally found another bike that I can be excited about. It's not the fastest or the sexiest two wheeled machine on the road, but it's unique, it's comfortable, it's a V-twin, and it was a great price (especially compared to similar bikes by other makers).

Moto Guzzi V11 Quota ES

Moto Guzzi V11 Quota ES


I picked it up on Saturday as only the third owner of this bike and it has less than 13000 miles. Mine also came with MG branded Hepco-Becker hard luggage and a 'factory' windscreen, but I took the shield off because it caused me horrible wind buffetting on my helmet. I went out for my first ride without the shield last night and although I do feel more wind, it's a much more comfortable wind than with the screen. I've started doing research on parts and upgrades and I may look into a more popular replacement screen if the wind becomes a problem on long freeway rides.

I'm excited because I think this bike is well suited for a ride my dad and I have talked about since I was young. We're making plans now to ride the Pacific Coast Highway next summer. He recently upgraded to an '86 Goldwing so he's definately ready for a long haul. I'm thinking about getting a handlebar mountable GPS as well as Chatterbox type radios. But first, I need to spend some time getting to know my bike and tuning it up. I am really looking forward to that.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Montana road trip wrap-up

Here's the whirlwind finale to our Montana summer vacation:

Kari hadn't been sleeping well so her Mom gave her a sleep-aid on Wednesday night. It worked wonders so I let her sleep in. I woke up early and was making coffee when the phone rang and Cliff came running upstairs to the kitchen. I didn't know it but apparently the phone had rang early in the morning from his security team at the Kalispell airport. This was the morning of the big news in London of the foiled terror plot. He had to run into work employees get settled with the new rules. I sat and watched the news and went through the rest of the pot of coffee before anyone else woke up.
Kari and I took Molly and Olivia to the waterslides and Brad and Jordan met us there. Brad's real estate partner Garret joined us later and we all had a really great time. After an afternoon rest (and aloe vera) we rejoined at Brads for a BBQ. Kari's dad Mike was there along with their cousin Riley and some of Brad's other friends.

Friday morning we met up at the Montana Coffee Traders in Columbia Falls with Brad, Jordan, Riley and Mike. We had some really good food and great coffee. We did a little site-seeing / driving around and our first stop was Glacier Raft Co where one of Brad's friends works. Kari picked up some cool outdoor clothes on sale and then we took off for West Glacier. We went through Apgar and had a brief stop at Lk McDonald. On the way back toward Columbia Falls we drove over Hungry Horse Dam. That night was a big dinner with the Buhmiller family at Gerry & Linda's property at Star Meadows, west of Whitefish. It was a beautiful ranch on some really beautiful property and we had a great time sharing a meal and laughs. Brad suggested we had back to Whitefish to the Great Northern tavern. We shared a few pints and listened to live music. Then we rendevoused in Columbia Falls for darts and huckleberry pie at Brad's house

Saturday morning, Kari, Molly & Olivia got started on their crystal growing project (a Christmas gift). The rest of the morning went by pretty lazy, then we got cleaned up in the afternoon. The memorial service for Kari's Grandma (on her dad's side) was to be held out west of Whitefish at the Streich family cabin. We had been warned the access road was rough, but I didn't really expect to use four-wheel-drive. It was a gorgeous, natural setting, avery nice service and we had some nice conversations afterward over a late lunch. That night, we had dinner back at the Crick home, played some more Spite & Malice afterward, and then started to pack up.

We got up early Sunday morning so we could be home at a good time. We loaded up Rexx and drove to the Buffalo Cafe for breakfast. We got there a few minutes before they opened but it was well worth the wait. We took another quick stop for a huckleberry milkshake at St. Regis then set the cruise control on I-90 eastbound.

Friday, August 11, 2006

We made it to Whitefish!

I'm almost caught up to today on these journal entries. Here's the one I wrote about our arrival to Whitefish on 8/9.

On Wednesday, Kari and I sleepily packed our stuff up to check out of the Prince of Wales hotel. The wind was howling over the bluff all night so neither of us slept very well. But we managed to stumble around until we got the car loaded. We drove into the Waterton village and picked New Frank (cafe) for some eggs and coffee. We trekked back across the border fairly easily and drove south to St. Mary, MT to re-enter Glacier Park. I had never driven through Glacier Park but I'd heard a lot about the Going to the Sun road. It was even more interesting and beautiful than I had imagined. They're starting to do some restorative work on it, so we encountered a couple short delays, but we enjoyed seeing a bear and mountain goats along the way.

Even before we got through to West Glacier, Kari was excited to stop at the Huckleberry Patch for a milkshake. She volunteered to take the wheel for awhile after we stopped and I was glad to take a break. We arrived in Whitefish to find her sisters jumping on the trampoline with their cousins. Olivia was excited to show us the nearly completed addition on the house as well her she and Molly's 'new' bedrooms. We unloaded and unpacked and Kari took a nap to recover from the long night in Waterton. We played some more Spite and Malice and then Brad and his new girlfriend Jordan stopped by after dinner.

Waterton

It's roasting in Waterton today (drafted 8/08/06). I'm sitting under a fan, sipping an ice-cold beer and I still have sweat beading on my forehead. We went for a short hike today but we got so hot we didn't stay out long. The drive up from Many Glacier was nice after we woke up and checked out from Swiftcurrent. We grabbed a few morsels and some bad coffee from the little motel store and drove north across the Chief Mountain border crossing. Waterton Park is really beautiful. The Rocky Mountains are just as impressive in Canada as they are in the US and the lakes here are dazzling. We hiked to a nice lookout over Waterton Lake where we could look south back toward Glacier Park.
Kari should be down shortly and we're going to participate in High Tea here at the Prince of Wales Hotel. The hotel sits on a bluff above the lake and overlooks the town, which is right on the lake in the midst of these mountains; it's really beautiful. We thought about taking a kayak or canoe out on the lake, but we couldn't find anyone who would rent them. As we drove back through the village of Waterton after the hike, we saw quite a few nice places to stay and/or eat. Maybe we'll try one out for a late dinner.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Montana Travel Journal Update

A few days have gone by since I've updated our Montana travel journal so I'm going to just hit the keynotes to bring you up to speed. Thursday included buying a DVD player and some computer speakers for Marge and concluded with Glenn & Anna joining us for a very nice dinner at Bridge Creek in Red Lodge. After some delicious Grandpa specialty waffles for breakfast, we followed Grandpa around his Yellowstone Boys and Girl's Ranch. He showed us the impressive new Equestrian Center, the updated Administrative building and plans for a new driveway. Kari and I then took off from east Billings on I-90 and headed for Three Forks.

We had a short lunch stop at Taco Johns in Livingston and arrived at Trevor and Courtney's house a little before dinner time. We had a lot of fun playing with baby Lyle and showing him the Mater toy we brought him. After dinner they showed us a new game called Settlers and I think Kari and I got a little addicted. We didn't win but we definitely wanted to play again. On Saturday morning, Pony Days was happening at a small town in the area so we hopped in their Dakota Club Cab to check it out. We grabbed pancakes, eggs and coffee at the Mason Hall just before the parade started. Afterwards we walked through the small craft fair in the park. Courtney also showed us an abandoned bank building that she wants to turn into a bed & breakfast.

Our ultimate plan for the day was to tour the Lewis and Clark Caverns, but Trevor also thought it would be fun for us to see a couple nearby ghost towns. We had fun walking through an old hotel and playing some silent movie machines. After we had walked around Nevada and Virginia City's and grabbed a quick lunch, we departed for the caverns. Once we signed up and paid for our cavern tours, we had a little time to tour the gift shops and buy some ice cream. When it came to our turn, we hiked up to the start of the caverns and took some photos. The tour took about two hours and although he was humorous, our guide was kind of slow (the group behind us caught up a few times) and his flashlights died by the end. We all had a great time (even little Lyle in his Baby Bjorn) but were ready for some rest and refreshment after crawling around inside the mountain for a couple hours. Trevor and Courtney made another delicious dinner and agreed to play some more Settlers with us after Lyle was put to bed.

Sunday morning started at a more relaxed pace. We shared breakfast and then packed up Rexx (aka our 2005 Nissan Xterra). We made a quick stop to fuel up and grab some sandwiches at the original Wheat Montana before heading north to Glacier Park. The roads were really rough and made for some slow going at first. We started to see and smell the forest fires as we began breaking west at St. Mary. We arrived at the breathtaking Many Glacier Hotel before dinner time and checked in. We cleaned up and shared dinner at the hotel's restaurant and then we were ready to head to bed early after a long day on the road.

We didn't have far to go on Monday. We enjoyed a breakfast buffet at Many Glacier Hotel and then packed up and checked out. We loaded our luggage and drove a short way up the road to SwiftCurrent Motel. We had expected to hike first and check in later, but we were able to unpack our things before hitting the trail. I'm really glad we did too because after we came down from the Swiftcurrent Pass trail we were both thoroughly exhausted and dirty. The hike was beautiful and we saw some wildlife and beautiful scenery. There were quite a few fat chipmunks (we called them Chubmunks) near the trail on the way up and on the return trek we encountered a good sized moose quite near the trail. After showers and naps, we shared lasagna at the Swiftcurrent restaurant, then drove back to Many Glacier Hotel to play Spite and Malice and watch the sunset over cheese fondue.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Family BBQ in Billings

Wednesday was a good day to get chores done and we kept it pretty low key. We caught up on some laundry, ran around and did some shopping. I had a homework assignment I thought was due Wednesday that I needed to watch an obscure video clip for. We spent hours combing video rental and retail stores to find it and never could. Fortunately, the class instructor posted a video file where I could download and watch it and she also gave until Monday to turn it in.

Wednesday night we went to Glenn and Anna's house in west Billings for a barbecue. We picked up Great Aunt Winnie at her new townhouse on the way and she's doing really well at 90 years old. Anna's dad was also there as were Sean, Heidi, little Kylie and new baby Taylor. They just finished their new house next door to Glenn and Anna. We got a quick tour after dinner and had a really nice conversation time over peach pie and ice cream.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Missoula to Billings

Tuesday morning we woke from our KOA Kabin and went to find breakfast at Bernice's Bakery. After enjoying strong coffee and fresh baked goods, we hit I-90 eastbound for Billings. We took a lunch-break in Three Forks to share tuna sandwiches with Kari's cousin Courtney, her mom Linda and baby Lyle. Courtney and her husband Trevor recently moved to Three Forks with baby Lyle after Trevor finished vet school at WSU and joined a local practice.

We met my Grandpa Bob at the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch on the east end of Billings at around 4:30. After a tour of the great new greenhouse, we followed him to their new townhouse. After unpacking, Kari and I enjoyed dinner together with Grandpa Bob and Marge at Johnny Carino's.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Windy in Lake Chelan

We were expecting sun burns and splashing around in the cold lake water. What we got instead were wind burns and cold breezes forcing us to wrap up in beach blankets while we lay by the pool. It wasn't a typical eastern Washington, summer break but we did have a great time. We stayed at Campbell's Resort which is right in the town of Chelan, on the lake. We had a nice Mexican dinner at El Vaquero and also enjoyed tasting some of the local wines.
The white-caps died down on Monday morning so we took a wave-runner out for an hour before we checked out and hit the road. When we were planning this trip, we left our Monday lodging plans pretty loose so, I got online at Campbell's and made a reservation at the KOA in Missoula. We took highway WA-2 through Spokane and enjoyed seeing the quieter side of our state before rejoining I-90 and breezing through Idaho.
We dare not break tradition, so we took a pit stop in St. Regis and Kari was very tempted to keep heading North into the Flathead. We joked about how bad the roads got once we crossed the Montana state line and not much later we encountered several teams of road workers diverting traffic to work on the Interstate. We arrived in Missoula hungry and drove strait to the Fuddruckers for dinner.
After checked in to our little KOA kabin, Kari wanted to show me around her alma mater. We drove through Missoula to the University of Montana campus. Her sorority house is in a beautiful neighborhood and the main campus is also very nice with a large central clock tower and natural landscaping in the main 'oval'.