Here are the highlights for 2014
·
Skiing
Montana.
Long on our list to take the train from
downtown Seattle to Whitefish Montana and ski.
Whitefish Montana was where
Peter proposed. It was a complete surprise to me and Montana will always
be a special place for us.
·
Alaska.
Our minds were blown by the wildlife and
nature.
Alaska has long been high on our
list to visit.
Such a big state, so much
to do, where to start?
We took the state
ferry up from Bellingham WA to Juneau Alaska, camped on the ferry deck during the
3-day ride up the inner passage.
Our 5
days kayak trip in Glacier Bay national park was a highlight.
No motorized vessels were allowed.
When our paddles are still, the only sound we hear
was seals breathing and sea otters cracking shellfish.
We had perfect weather, comfortable temperature,
no rain and no mosquitoes.
The short flight
between Juneau and Glacier Bay was another unexpected highlight, the propeller
plane was such a scenic flight and it got us to where we need to go.
|
|
|
5 days kayaking in Glacier Bay National Park |
we pitched camp any island whenever we want. |
|
we saw no one in 5 days and were out numbered by bears on every island. |
|
·
We did a few ski trips that have been on our dream
list.
A successful ski outing to the
summit of
Mt St Helens, this time in
January during a temperature inversion.
We sat on the summit in T-shirts and enjoyed the sun and perfect blue
sky.
We skied off the summit of
Mt Baker and
Mt Shuksan (separate weekends).
We have climbed both mountains before and attempted skiing Baker
before.
We did both in style and wonderful
weather condition.
We made our first
venture into the ragged ridge on Highway 20 and did a loop trip skiing
Mesachie Glacier.
 |
| With Jack and Peter on the crater rim of Mt St Helens. soaking up the sun on a January day before the ski down. |
|
 |
| View down the crater of Mt St Helens, Spirit lake filled with old trees from the 1980 eruption and Mt Rainier in the distance |
|
 |
| Skiing down Mt St Helens a sweet 4,000 ft run |
|
 |
| Hiking up the summit pyramid of Mt Shuksan with our skis. |
|
·
We successfully summit peaks that have been
long on our list, each takes a full weekend.
Buck Mountain,
Luahna Peak,
Mt Fernow, Remmel Mountain are on the Washington Top 100 peaks.
Luahna was our 3
rd attempt and
finally completed and returned via an elegant yet bushwhack loop trip. Buck was
attempted on back to back weekend, it is usually a 3-day trip and we only have Saturday
and Sundays off so it’s 2 long days.
We found wild raspberry for the first time on our way to Remmel Mountain. We summit
Little Devil Peak on our second attempt
this year.
Labyrinth Mountain and
Chikamin Peak (separate weekends) were scrambles
that have been long on our to-do list and somehow we had never gotten around to
attempt, we are amazed at the areas so close to us that we have yet explored.
Mt
Redoubt and
Mt Spickard are
Washington Top 100 peaks, also long on
our list with a long approach that involved driving to Canada then hiking back
into Washington State.
We summit
Star Peak and
Oval Peak in
the Sawtooth Wilderness, we bivy ((no stove, no tents) overnight on the summit of Star Peak under the
stars and completing our attempt in the previous year
(it was on ski).
 |
Spickard summit 2nd time up. it was a whiteout the day
before and we
decided to go back up the next morning,
it was worth the extra 2000ft+
to see the view. |
|
 |
| a different kind of rainbow, just as pretty |
|
 |
 |
| View of Mt Rainer from Buck Mountain |
|
·
Our wedding
in Thailand.
The primary
objectives for our wedding were 1) spend time with our family and getting
the families to meet each other, 2) a wedding on the beach at sunset, no one
should have shoes on, and 3) to be surrounded by our immediate family who have
never met each other until this year.
Blenda,
Peter’s Aunt, officiated the wedding and had beautiful words for the
ceremony.
Arvo, Peter’s dad, manned the BBQ
for an excellent dinner after the wedding.
Biking around the resort with Daddy and Mommy.
Unlimited Mai-thais, beach and sunshine and just
spending time with family.
·
Hong Kong.
It was great to catch up with my immediate family
over our wedding Banquet.
·
Finally visiting
Japan. We had perfect
weather touring Tokyo.
Great food, amazing
energy, I loved the city.
Our main
impressions of Tokyo
- This city is throbbing with energy. Pictures can show the busy junction but
nothing beats an experience eating in a ramen store. The staff is efficient, the whole shop stops
and greets you when you come in, yell out the order to the chef after taking
your order and the chef yell back to confirm.
The entire staff stops for a second and thank you as you walk out the
door. The energy is beyond words, you
have to go and experience it.
- The city is immaculately clean. There seem to be no garbage cans anywhere on
the street yet the streets are clean.
- People are polite and orderly and dressed in
perfectly pressed suits even on the weekends.
- The elevator lady at the big department store. The red lipstick, perfectly pressed uniform,
and over the top cheerful greeting, all for an elevator ride. It was unreal.
- The food is tasty and has been so thoughtfully
and carefully arranged. Menus are all in Japanese, it's quite an adventure to not read or speak the language and no one in the restaurant speak English.
·
Beijing and
Shanghai. I spent about 10 days visiting China mostly for work. I had a chance to see the cities. My main impression.
- The two cities are so different. Beijing is spread out with historical sites from the dynasties. Shanghai is metropolitan and very modern.
- I thought I'd blend into the local crowd, I still think I do until I have to speak, then I really don't blend in.
- Thirsty. I was constantly in a drought in Beijing, I was so thirsty all the time. I wake up in the middle of the night of thirst. It was weird. A friend reminded me to bring lotion for Beijing (thank you Joni) and oh I was going through my lotion quick that week.
- Two friends from Hong Kong now live in Shanghai. The availability of shopping and good food rivals, if not exceeds, that of Hong Kong. My friends seem to each have settled very comfortably in Shanghai. This is definitely a highlight of my year to catch up and spend time with friends and get a glimpse of how they live.
- Dancing and Singing in the public is a thing there. oh especially in Shanghai, they love to Sing and Dance.
- The sense of personal space is quite
different. I never adjusted to it. when you line up in Beijing, you
can feel the person's nose hitting you in the back.
- The heating system is out of control,
it's turned up over 100F / 30C and can't seem to be turned down. This was
the case in local supermarket (I was close to turning around and
leaving), multiple customer offices, my hotel room (I figured out how to
turn off the heat and pop the window open), and our brand new office
which was just moved into the week of the visit.
Oh and this little guy is a highlight for us every day. Here is Tjorven in his usual spot in the afternoon sun watching the boats on lake Union.
We look forward to seeing what 2015 will bring
 |
| Touring the tidewater glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska |
