Sasquatch 2008

Aaah, Memorial Day weekend. Time to reflect on the sacrifices of our veterans who died in battle... Or, for so many of us, a time to get drunk over a 3-day weekend! This year, Laura and I traveled to the Columbia River Gorge in George, Washington to attend the Sasquatch Music Festival, a 3-day event featuring 100's of bands.

As we've both had the experience of staying at the Gorge "campgrounds" in previous years (think camping in a huge open yard, with rows of cars/RVs/tents and over-flowing Port-a-potties) we decided that in our old age and wisdom we would forego the party-all-night scene and instead stay in Vantage, a little "town" across the Columbia River from the concert site, about 10 miles away.


We stayed in the Riverside "Resort", which proved to be quite an interesting camping experience. It was much quieter than the Gorge, but still afforded some of the interesting people watching experiences... visiting the facilities full of high school girls getting ready for a day on the river complete with full faces of makeup and using curling and flat irons to perfect their hairdos.. Seeing some of America's finest families stock up at the General Store on all the essentials (Pork Rinds, all other manner of processed foods known to Man) while decked out in their American flag tee shirts.. mingling with those fine Americans not at all concerned with rising gas prices or the Environment- cruising around in their big gas-guzzlers -- Hummers, jacked-up F150s -- hauling their kick ass speed boats and Sea Dos.. YEE HAW!! (see license plate below)


We spent Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday enjoying the beauty of the Gorge and some great bands. Their were 3 stages with bands playing most of the day. The main stage is in the most stunning setting, overlooking the river.

We hung out with friends Jean and her friend MJ visiting from Jersey, Glenn & Stacia and Amanda & Paul. People just literally hung out all day on the huge lawns in front of all the stages, eating all manner of Country-fair type food and drinking $12 beers!!

Some fantastic people watching ensued- people of all ages and styles, and on all manner of mind-altering substances. Sunsets were beautiful and the company was great. I saw a bunch of bands I had not seen before and then got to see some that I've always wanted to see. Sunday night ended with The Cure, a band I've loved since high school. Robert Smith, though a bit bloated, still has an amazing voice- it was quite an experience. Some other highlights of the weekend were Canadian sister act Tegan and Sara, The Seattle Hip Hop group Blue Scholars, and the politically charged Michael Franti & Spearhead.
Thanks, Laura, for making the trip up to the NW, and thanks for being part of a very memorable weekend.

Happy Mother's Day?

I know its a day late but I have a Mothers Day story to share. This is how my sister Lisa's Mothers Day started: She was woken up at about 9am yesterday by the sounds of her 2-year old son, Lucas (aka cutest-nephew-in-the-world), rustling around upstairs in his room. She also heard some distinct words coming from his mouth; "Eew, dirty. Icky. Dirty". So, Lisa walked upstairs to see what was up, only to find her son rubbing his hands all over the carpet. She flipped on the light and found out what "dirty" and "eew" had been referring to: the poop he had pulled out of his diaper! He discovered that it was actually kind of gross and so was trying, naturally, to get it off his hands and onto the carpet!



I know its hard to believe such a cute kid could do such a thing, but his Mom was cute too, and that didnt stop her from feeding poop to our Dad when she was her son's age...Ha Ha, I guess it runs in our family (though you wont hear me telling any of my own poop stories). Happy Mothers Day to All!!

Juneau Girls Reunion

One of my best friends since childhood is moving back to the States from Europe, where she has been living and raising her family for several years. A few weeks ago she came out for a visit and the rest of us (3 living here in Seattle and one in Montana) took the opportunity to turn it into a reunion.



Katie arrived on a Sunday and the following night we had a wonderful dinner with her family, the rest of the Girls + S.O.’s along with Katie’s mom, Karma (visiting from Bozeman) and Sarah’s parents, Karen and Dave, at the very family friendly Tutta Bella. Of course when we’re together, talk goes to all our memories of growing up in Juneau, and with the parents there it added to the reminiscing (ok, so perhaps some things we did as teenagers might be better forgotten, but there are parents to remind you of where you came from!)



Wednesday night, our dear Danielle arrived and the 5 Girls had to take the opportunity to go out for drinks. Oh, wait, did I say go OUT for drinks? Well, yes, there was that, but this party got started with Kristin passing around a KEG cup full of beer as we all drove to the airport to surprise Danielle. Then we were joined again by some of the S.O.s and Chris Anderson, another dear old friend from the AK, for drinks downtown. Man, was I cursing Katie all day the next day when I had to pretend to be sick (cough cough, sniffle sniffle) lest my co-workers discover that the real reason I slept during a morning break AND through my lunch was because my head felt like it was in a VICE. Thanks for encouraging me to drink that glass of champagne, Kate!!

A very special part of the week was having a slumber party at Sarah’s house on Friday night—Take out food, lounging in the PJs (no, boys, no naked pillow fights this time—but as I recall, very drunk Kristin and Katie DID do some air mattress wrestling, much to Sarah’s chagrin), and of course lots of talking, laughing, and crying late into the night!!! Sarah even arranged for her Dad to act as surprise Chef the next day and make us pancakes for breakfast, just like Old Times… what a treat!



The rest of our time together, we were able to go on some nice walks and hikes around town, and were able to check out Katie’s new hood (she will be moving to Queen Anne this Summer, only a 10 minute walk from ME!!!!).



Oh, I have to mention a special highlight for me (and I hope this earns me some points in the ‘favorite Auntie’ contest! Yes, Girls, of course there’s a contest!!!)……
Earlier in the week I called in sick (cough cough.. I know, I know, would’ve been better to call in Hungover after that Champagne, but who can predict when those nights are gonna happen?). Anyway, after enjoying my coffee-er-TheraFlu on the sofa Tuesday morning, I called Kate over at her hotel. My thought was that I would try to coordinate for a lunch date with Katie and Seth in between their morning and afternoon appointments. Instead, I was invited to go to the Seattle Center with Grandma Karma and Jackson (5) and Kari (2). Seemed harmless enough. As Ive told Katie several times, it really was my pleasure, but WOW did I get a taste of just how difficult it must be to have 2 little ones (Kristin, are you reading this??). We took 2 modes of transport to get to the Center. With little ones that’s no easy task (on the upside, we did get to ride the SLUT (South Lake Union Trolley—not its official name), and the Monorail. Then we had fun at the Center House at Seattle Center (Auntie Jennie, luckily having met the height requirements, got to ride lots of rides with the kids. One made me want to vomit, but I kept a brave face). In order to leave the rides, I believe I told Jackson that we could come back this Summer “anytime you want to”! (but he didn’t get anything in writing, so we’ll see). We followed up the Center House with the Children’s Museum, where I had to let go of my planning nature (“Let’s try to see all the exhibits, Kids!”) and allow things to flow (which meant spending nearly an hour in one exhibit where wiffle balls are blown through tubes using air.. Pretty cool). One of the highlights was feeding Katie’s kids ice cream for Lunch. Yah, being an Auntie is GREAT!



When Katie came to meet us at Westlake Mall I was about ready for my nap, with a much better appreciation for parenthood! I think the experience earned me some babysitting street cred and apparently Jackson did talk about me the rest of the week, which is good. (Favorite Auntie points, remember?) It’s a good thing that Kari is too young to remember that I put her shoes on the wrong feet and caused her to repeatedly fall while running down the hotel hallways- maybe we’ll tell her when she is a bit older).

Saying goodbye to both Kate and Danielle after the week was difficult, but we are all excited that Katie will be here in Seattle this Summer and hopefully now with 4 of us here, Danielle will make more frequent trips this way!

As the years go by, I feel more and more fortunate that I have these 4 women in my life; to support me in hard times, celebrate with me in good ones, and of course to remind me how really horrible my bangs were ‘back then’!! Most importantly, when Im with my friends I feel true unconditional love. Thanks, Ladies, for reminding me how lucky I am.

Spring in the San Juans

Mike and I went to visit the San Juans over the last weekend in March. We left Seattle on a Friday night and drove through the snow (and Everett traffic!) to get to Anacortes; a 90 mile journey that took us over 3 hours! We were relieved to make the 620pm ferry to the islands.

I am fortunate enough to have friends who own a cabin on Lopez island, so we were able to use that as our base for the weekend. We arrived at Michael and Bret's cabin with a bit of daylight left and were greeted by two deer, whose dinner we interrupted, and caught a glimpse of the Olympics in the distance from the cabin window. A lovely night of sitting by the fire, sipping beers and reading books followed.


In the morning, we rose early (by our standards) to head to Orcas, to do a bit of hiking. Skies were partly cloudy when we started the hike up Mt. Constitution from Moran State Park. About an hour into our 3 hour hike we hit show; about 5 inches of it.. We turned around before reaching the summit, due to having to make the ferry back to Lopez (one drawback of the San Juans before Summertime is fewer ferry options for inter-island travel), and realized later we were a very short and mostly flat hike from the top!! We only saw 2 hikers on the trek, and up at the top it was just us. The snow made everything so beautiful and peaceful. Mike really loves his new camera, and got some great snow shots! On the way back to the ferry we went to a few little shops on Orcas, including a cool bookstore and a bike shop.

That night back at the cabin, I made... drum roll please... dinner! Nothing fancy, but we had a lovely dinner (+ more beer) and enjoyed the quiet of the cabin.

On Sunday we slept in and then woke up to a hail storm.. We made a big breakfast and stayed in our PJs until well after noon! We did lots of reading and relaxing (Jennie reading, Mike relaxing- read napping-) Then we headed down to a park where we sipped our coffees while enjoying the beach, before heading to the ferry, bound for Anacortes.


The weekend reminded me how important it is to get away. I read an entire book, and Mike and I spent quality time together without the distractions of school, work, TV, the computer etc. Sometimes packing and planning for time away can be a pain, but it is so worth it to be far from the hurried pace of the city, and forget about lists of 'things to do' that sometimes turn weekends into just an extension of the work week.. I came back feeling truly refreshed.

East of the Mountains

My cousin Anje and I headed east of the mountains this weekend to visit our Aunt Barb and Uncle Rich, who live in Carlton, a little town (think post office, church, not much else) in the Methow Valley near Twisp and Winthrop. We headed out Saturday morning after a nice breakfast in Seattle, for what should have been a 4 hour scenic drive. Thinking "Ive been East of the mountains many times before, I know the way", I neglected to take one more look at my Google Map directions, and Anje and I (between me talking on the phone and her taking a much needed snooze) managed to drive 80 extra miles on I-90-- all the way to Moses Lake. I believe it was Anj who noticed that we were at mile 185 when the directions said we should have made the turn northward at mile 85! OOPS. The gas station attendant was kind enough in asking me if I needed assistance, as I shamefully gazed at the WA State map (the map I had to purchase from the store, not having one in the car of course-- OOPS again). He showed us a 'short cut' which basically just meant we didnt have to backtrack 80 miles so we were relieved, though I stayed embarrassed for another hour or so.

While we waited to purchase the map and some Pringles a nice man with an even nicer mullet asked the attendant "They lost? Where they going?". The attendant replied "Carlton", to which mullet man replied "By choice??".. We were undeterred... and on the Road Again.

We finally made it to Barb and Rich's house at around 3:30 (5.5 hours on the road!) and felt relaxed immediately. They have a beautiful house in a perfect spot right on the Methow river. The house has big picture windows and a deck and sits just above the river-- Perfect.

Rich had just returned from fly fishing in Argentina and didnt seem annoyed at all that his wife had invited house guests for the Easter weekend :) as they both greeted us warmly and Rich started making Martinis. For the rest of our short stay the hospitality continued-- with drinks, wonderful food (oh, sure, I eat steak and homemade cherry pie at home all the time!!), and touring Twisp and Winthrop (including visits to Cinnamon Twisp -a well-known bakery- and the humble Catholic church in Twisp for Easter Sunday). We went on a snowy hike, saw cows and horses and even watched a deer swim down the river.

This little piece of Eastern Wa. is a different world, and I was really happy to be in it. No traffic, no pretension, and people seem to be relaxed and really enjoying life at a slower pace than we seem to believe is so necessary in the city. Of course the best part was being with family and having time to reminisce about the past and share hopes for the future.

Barb and Rich kept apologizing that we came to visit during a 'bad' time; after most of the snow is gone (but not all of it!) and before flowers start to bloom; when its still too cold to do much hiking or enjoy a swim in the river.... But, I assured them that Ill be back soon, armed with my hiking boots or my bike.... Or.... perhaps just ready to sit on the porch swing or sip a martini in the hottub!!! I cant wait.

Joining the 21st Century

I was just thinking how 10 years ago I could never have imagined that I would be "blogging". When I graduated from college in 1995 I didnt even have an EMAIL account! (I am old).. So, now its time to start getting up to speed. Next goal: get some photos on here!! Enjoy, Mom and Dad (and anyone else who cares)..

This weekend Anje is coming to visit from S.F. and we'll be heading to Eastern Washington to see our Auntie Barb in Carlton. Cant wait to get out of the Seattle rain and enjoy the Spring weather East of the Mtns..

First Post

Ok, this is all new for me. im pretty low tech. my friends would all agree that im the most technologically impaired person they know :) i decided to start this blog so i could have a profile attached to my name when i comment on other peoples' stuff! maybe at some point, ill feel that i have something important to share here- stay tuned.

i do actually have a website (should be linked to this page already!?): http://jennie.autarken.net/ it is travel diaries and photos from my 2006 6-month trip through Latin America. If you are interested in travel in that part of the world, check it out!! Im happy to answer any questions and would also love to hear from others who have experiences of Latin America to share!

thanks! js