Summer Report 2014 Day 2

 

Some photos before bedtime:

 

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Today Was Fun

“Today is gone. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.” -Dr. Seuss

Following a recent post here, my friend Linda, whom I haven’t seen in a couple of years, invited us to come visit her on Vashon Island. With the temperatures hitting the 90’s here in Seattle it was a great day to get away with the children. My mother-in-law Janet joined us. It was a fun break away.

We enjoyed an early ferry ride and started our visit to the playground at Ober Memorial Park while it was still cool. The girls looked huge on the tire swing. I remember them being so little when they first played on this swing years ago.

Sean enjoyed swinging for a long time in this swing with Grandma pushing him.

Ethan and Sean discover hidden pleasures under the slide.

Any trip to Vashon requires a visit to the Vashon Tea Shop. I love this shop/cafe. I stocked up on various loose leaf teas I like getting here (Assam Breakfast and Yunnan) and indulged in some new teas (Assam Rembeng, Lavendar Earl Grey that my friend Jennifer introduced me to recently, and I thought I’d try a new Irish Breakfast tea).

As we were leaving the tea shop Ashley pointed out this sign in the window. Says it all really!

The Vashon Bookshop next door to the tea shop is another favorite. Ashley was very pleased to find the last book in the Fablehaven series. Caitlin and I also found some books that we could take home and enjoy.

After lunch at Linda’s we explored the property. We picked apples and Linda showed us a tree stump where a local woodpecker likes to peck. (Wish I could remember the type of woodpecker.)

We met the neighbors goats, on of whom took to banging its horns on the shed much to Sean’s fascination. As I held him and began walking away Sean said, “See again”. His words are coming fast and strong since he turned two at the start of August. So of course we went back and watched some more. I’m not sure Sean like waht he saw as much as being absolutely enthralled at this new spectacle.

After the exertion of exploring we spent a leisurely afternoon on Linda’s deck with a beautiful view of the water. I didn’t think to take a photo of it. I just enjoyed it 🙂

Ashley and Grandma read.

The boys played and then napped.

And Linda taught Caitlin how to use a drill to make a craft project from sticks she’d collected on our walk.

Thankfully we remembered to eat the dessert that Linda and her husband Rick prepared before we left for a mid-afternoon ferry home.

Thank you Linda and Rick for a lovely day. And Janet, it was lovely to have you with us to share the day 🙂

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Menu Plan Monday: The Wednesday Edition July 18th 2012

Bistro Pinguino Re-Opens!

Okay, so it may not have been obvious that it was closed, but here is what our menu board has looked like for the past couple of weeks:

By the way, Ashley created the board just before we left. Thanks Ash 🙂

The reason for the Bistro’s closure? Our family took a camping road trip to California. We had originally planned to drive straight to California to visit both the Redwoods National Park and then across the state to Yosemite National Park. However, last minute, James and I decided that we didn’t want to drive straight through Oregon on the less-than-scenic I-5 freeway. So we added a visit to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon too.

Our final destination was the little town of Markleeville just northeast of Yosemite and south of Lake Tahoe, where James particpated in the notoriously gruelling Death Ride, also known as the The Tour of the Californian Alps. That ride took place last Saturday and then we just drove all the way home on Sunday. We drove through the night and arrived at our house in Seattle just as the sun was rising around 4:45am.

We were, and are, thrilled to be home. We enjoyed the National Parks and the stay in Markleeville and we loved coming home. I have to say that re-opening the Bistro was both a pleasure and a relief after food on the road. We re-opened with an Italian feast, made all the easier because of our summer menu plan and having all of the ingredients already bought and stored in either the freezer or pantry. Grandma and Granddad joined us for dinner and shared in our travel stories. We even had a DVD to watch together after dinner. It was a documentary about the Death Ride, so we could all get a sense of the challenging ride James completed.

Here is the Monday dinner we enjoyed our first night home:

Spaghetti Carbonara, Homemade Garlic Bread, Green Beans, Hot Fudge Pudding Cake & Vanilla Ice-cream, Wine, Water & Milk Stout (thanks to Dave for both introducing me to the Left Hand Brewing Company’s Milk Stout and for leaving a half dozen bottles in our fridge for when we returned!)

And here is our menu for the rest of this week:

Tuesday
Massaman Curry, Rice, Normandy Veggies (Broccoli, Cauliflower, Yellow & Orange Carrots)

Wednesday
Breaded Fish, Rice, Green Beans, Corn on the Cob

Thursday
Chicken Garlic Alfredo with Penne Pasta, Tomato and Avocado Salad

Friday
Chili Con Carne, Rice, Sauteed Zuccini & Red Peppers

Saturday
Turkey Meatball Marinara, Artisan Bread (Italian Pugliese Bread), Broccoli

Sunday
Eggs, Home Fried Potatoes, Fruit and Veggie Summer Smoothie

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Family Field Trip to Woodland Park Zoo

My mother-in-law Janet’s cousin and her husband visited us here in Seattle last week. Kaysea and Gordon live in San Francisco but had just finished a cruise to Alaska that started and ended in Seattle.

Unfortunately, we only had one day to enjoy with them and on top of that it was a week day, meaning James was in work and unable to join us 😦

Fortunately, it was our first day with our friend Juliana working as our mother’s helper 🙂 Our day was so much easier and fun-filled having her with us to help particularly with Ethan and Sean.

Kaysea and Gordon are both docents at the SanFrancisco Zoo. They are also long-time supporters of efforts to save the endangered snow leopard. A trip to the Woodland Park Zoo to see the snow leopards was a wonderful choice for all of us for our brief visit together.

We were very lucky to not only see the often reclusive snow leopard but to have him hang around the window and the fence for almost an hour. Caitlin was very pleased with herself when she took this photo of a yawn.

Janet and I had prepared a packed lunch for everyone, so we ate our lunch at the snow leopard enclosure and leisurely enjoyed observation, conversation, watching the informational videos…

…and climbing around the rocks and notices.

One of the highlights was the sound of a huge thud as the snow leopard rammed the glass in an attempt to “prey” on a young girl watching on the other side. Startled gasps and excited chatter as everyone was reminded that this is a wild creature and not just large, adorable cat.

We did spend some time with the penguins, the sloth bears and the elephants (I learned that there are no elephants at the San Francisco Zoo!). Ethan and Sean had so much fun on this trip to the zoo. They were both more aware of the animals (Sean was overjoyed at the elephants) and with Juliana’s help they were able to have a lot more freedom to walk or run around the zoo.

We all had a wonderful visit to kick off our summer.

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Good Ol’ Grumpy D’s

This is one of our favorite places to hang out in the Ballard area of Seattle.

Although you wouldn’t think it from the outside, this coffee shop is a real gem.

I love going by myself to be alone and decompress. It’s a great place to think and be quiet, even if there are a lot of other people around.

Last week I went for tea with a friend and brought Ethan and Sean.

Barb and I had a very pleasant chat/business meeting 🙂 (We share our stories as well as problem solve and exchange information on household management and child rearing.)

On the morning we went, I was amused to discover that I knew 10 out of the 12 women sitting at various tables that morning (There was also about half a dozen men; I didn’t know any of them).

Ethan and Sean loved exploring this new-to-them space.

Their steamed milk, coffee, tea, breakfast muffins, sandwiches and Essential Bakery pastries that I have tried are delicious. I have been many times already this year and will continue to visit as often as I can.

Oh, and just to add to the loveliness, they have a punchcard with the image of the not-actually-grumpy owner, Dan. This is my third punch card in three months. The freebie is worth every penny spent at Grumpy D’s to get to it 🙂

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Sorry We’re Closed!

Okay, so I’m not sorry. We had a lot of fun in the snow today. I’ll try to share photos tomorrow. Uploading photos and blogging are a little more challenging with a full house and lots of fun to be had.

Btw, I heard a news reporter ask an interviewee if Seattle was closed today? There was no definite response but it sure seemed like it to us. Cities should have a day or two off more often. School is cancelled again for tomorrow. Roll on the closure of Seattle Part 2!

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Monday Musings 51: Miles of Fun

“Can miles truly separate us from friends? If we want to be with someone we love, aren’t we already there?”-Richard Bach

I wrote a little while back about how I needed to make time to get away alone; to have a chance to clear my head and think. Well I also need to get away and have fun. That’s what I did this weekend. For the first time in quite a verrrry long time I went away by myself to visit my very dear friend, Pauline.

I have been scrapbooking with friends over the last few years and that is a lot of fun. However, when I go scrapbooking I usually have an agenda: scrapbook family photos. This weekend I went with no agenda other than to have fun being with Pauline.

Pauline lives in Anacortes in northern Washington, close to the Canadian border. Our family has been up several times to visit her. A most memorable trip occurred at Thanksgiving 2010, when the four children and I went up for a couple of days and ended up snowed in at Pauline’s house for nearly a week!

Driving up to Pauline’s house I had a fabulous time alone in the car loudly singing along to some of my favorite Glee songs. I was so into singing one particular song that I missed my exit off I5 and onto Highway 20. I drove all the way up to within a couple of miles of the Canadian border and I didn’t mind a bit. It just meant I needed to turn around and spend another wonderful 30 minutes singing my way to the exit and on to Anacortes.

While we were there Pauline cooked delicious meals for me, made me lots of cups of tea (one of my most favorite past times) and showed me around The Market, her local grocery store. She gave me a little tour around their amazing spice section where a chef prepares blends of herbs and spices and rubs. Pauline and I share a love of food and it was very inspiring to look, smell and imagine our way through shelves of enticing containers. I bought a roast veggie blend that I am excited to try out soon.

On Saturday night, Pauline drove us into La Conner in her sporty little Miata, where we attended a wine tasting and watch a Lighted Boat Parade on the canal. I had a great weekend. The highlight of course being the time alone with my friend Pauline.

Thanks Pauline!

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PBP Day 3: Update # 12 The Newest Members of the Charly Miller Society

With a finish time of 55h 45 James and the rest of the team are the newest members of the Charly Miller Society. Congratulations James.

I woke the girls shortly before James was due to arrive at the finish in Guyancourt. We watched the live webcam online as we snuggled up in bed. About half an hour after he finished we all spoke with him on the phone. Although he was tired he sounded like he still had lots of kilometers left in him.

He confirmed that most of those 55 hours 45 mins were spent in the saddle with stops at controls limited to 15mins or under. An impressive endurance ride!

He’s heading off to shower and the girls and I will try to get some sleep before the boys wake up in a couple of hours. We plan to chat with James on Skype and hear all about the ride. I wonder if they had any time to take photos?

James Ride Progress PBP2011

Control	Arrival Date & Time France	Arrival Date & Time Seattle	Average Pace	Distance Completed	Distance Remaining	Time Completed	Time Remaining 56h finish	Time Remaining 80h finish
Villaines la Juhel	Mon 8/22 12:41pm	Sun 8/21 7:59pm	28.7km/h (17.8m/h)	222km (138m)	1010km (627.58m)	07h41	48h19	72h19
Fougeres	Mon 8/22 4:20pm	Mon 8/22 7:20am	27.3km/h (16.96m/h)	311km (193m)	921km (572m)	11h20	44h40	68h40
Tinteniac	Mon 8/22 6:47pm	Mon 8/22 9:47am	26.4km/h (16.40m/h)	365km (227m)	867km (539m)	13h48	42h12	66h12
Loudeac	Mon 8/22 10:39pm	Mon 8/22 1:39pm	25.4km/h (15.78m/h)	450km (280m)	780km (484.67m)	17h39	38h21	62h21
Carhaix-Pouger	Tues 8/23 2:58am	Mon 8/22 5:58pm	23.9km/h (14.85m/h)	526km (327m)	704km (437.5m)	21h58	34h02	58h02
Brest	Tues 8/23 7:44am	Mon 8/23 10:44pm	23.1km/h (14.35m/h)	619km (384.63m)	611km (379.66m)	26h45	29h15	53h15
Carhaix-Plougeur	Tues 8/23 11:38am	Tues 8/23 2:38am	22.9km/h (14.23m/h)	704km (437.45m)	526km (326.84m)	30h39	25h21	49h21
Loudeac	Tues 8/23 3:34pm	Tues 8/23 6:34am	22.6km/h (14.04m/h)	783km (486.53m)	449km (279m)	34h34	21h26	45h26
Tinteniac	Tues 8/23 7:35pm	Tues 8/23 11:35am	22.5km/h (13.98m/h)	868km (539.35m)	364km (226.18m)	38h35	17h25	41h25
Fougeres	Tues 8/23 10:08pm	Tues 8/23 1:08pm	22.4km/h (13.92m/h)	922km (572.9m)	310km (192.63m)	41h08	14h52	38h52
Villaines la Juhel	Wed 8/24 2:27am	Tues 8/23 5:27pm	22.2km/h (13.79m/h)	1010km (625.58m)	222km (1383m)	45h27	10h33	34h33
Mortagne-au-Perche	Wed 8/24 6:23am	Tues 8/23 9:23pm	22.1km/h (13.73m/h)	1092km (678.54m)	140km (87m)	49h23	6h37	30h37
Dreux	Wed 8/24 9:27am	Wed 8/24 12:27am	22.2km/h (13.79m/h)	1167km (725.14m)	65km (40.39m)	52h28	3h32	27h32
San-Quentain-en-Yvelines	Wed 8/24 12:45pm	Wed 8/24 3:45am	22.1km/h (13.73m/h)	1232km (765.53m)	0km (0m)	55h45	0h00	0h00

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PBP Day 3: Update # 11 They Made it to Dreux and I Spoke with James!

They did it! They arrived in Dreux at 9:27am, that’s 20mins earlier than the anticipated window! Now they have a bit of a time cushion for reaching the finish.

I was so excited that I had to call James. I’ve left a few messages along the route knowing that I probably wouldn’t speak with him until it was all over. Before I called I checked on the status of his phone and it was supposed to be off. I didn’t want to disrupt any cycling flow if they were back on the bikes. But the phone was on and he answered!

He was still at the control in Dreux. He was eating. He was upbeat and it was wonderful to hear the contained excitement in his voice. They are all pumped with adrenaline right now. They are hopeful they can make it in under 56 hours. Now let’s hope everything goes smoothly and the bodies and the bikes stay in good working order.

Oh, and James reported that Ben is about 40mins behind them so he may still make the Charly Miller time of 56h40 or under. James and the team set a more ambitious time goal!

You can brush up on your Charly Miller knowledge here while we await the final result in about 3 hours.

James Ride Progress PBP2011

Control	Arrival Date & Time France	Arrival Date & Time Seattle	Pace	Distance Completed	Distance Remaining	Time Completed	Time Remaining 56h finish	Time Remaining 80h finish
Villaines la Juhel	Mon 8/22 12:41pm	Sun 8/21 7:59pm	28.7km/h (17.8m/h)	222km (138m)	1010km (627.58m)	07h41	48h19	72h19
Fougeres	Mon 8/22 4:20pm	Mon 8/22 7:20am	27.3km/h (16.96m/h)	311km (193m)	921km (572m)	11h20	44h40	68h40
Tinteniac	Mon 8/22 6:47pm	Mon 8/22 9:47am	26.4km/h (16.40m/h)	365km (227m)	867km (539m)	13h48	42h12	66h12
Loudeac	Mon 8/22 10:39pm	Mon 8/22 1:39pm	25.4km/h (15.78m/h)	450km (280m)	780km (484.67m)	17h39	38h21	62h21
Carhaix-Pouger	Tues 8/23 2:58am	Mon 8/22 5:58pm	23.9km/h (14.85m/h)	526km (327m)	704km (437.5m)	21h58	34h02	58h02
Brest	Tues 8/23 7:44am	Mon 8/23 10:44pm	23.1km/h (14.35m/h)	619km (384.63m)	611km (379.66m)	26h45	29h15	53h15
Carhaix-Plougeur	Tues 8/23 11:38am	Tues 8/23 2:38am	22.9km/h (14.23m/h)	704km (437.45m)	526km (326.84m)	30h39	25h21	49h21
Loudeac	Tues 8/23 3:34pm	Tues 8/23 6:34am	22.6km/h (14.04m/h)	783km (486.53m)	449km (279m)	34h34	21h26	45h26
Tinteniac	Tues 8/23 7:35pm	Tues 8/23 11:35am	22.5km/h (13.98m/h)	868km (539.35m)	364km (226.18m)	38h35	17h25	41h25
Fougeres	Tues 8/23 10:08pm	Tues 8/23 1:08pm	22.4km/h (13.92m/h)	922km (572.9m)	310km (192.63m)	41h08	14h52	38h52
Villaines la Juhel	Wed 8/24 2:27am	Tues 8/23 5:27pm	22.2km/h (13.79m/h)	1010km (625.58m)	222km (1383m)	45h27	10h33	34h33
Mortagne-au-Perche	Wed 8/24 6:23am	Tues 8/23 9:23pm	22.1km/h (13.73m/h)	1092km (678.54m)	140km (87m)	49h23	6h37	30h37
Dreux	Wed 8/24 9:27am	Wed 8/24 12:27am	22.2km/h (13.79m/h)	1167km (725.14m)	65km (40.39m)	52h28	3h32	27h32

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PBP Day 3: Update #10 Check-in at Villaines and Mortagne

They have made it to Villaines la Juhel and Mortagne-au-Perche.  At this point there are just five of them: Robin, James, Greg, Bill and Bob. I’ve had a chance to do some detailed checking of the control times and stage speeds of the other five team mates and this is what seems to have happened.  It will be interesting to compare notes with James when they have finished and see if these deductions tally with what actually happened on the road.

As well as Robin, James, Greg, Bill and Bob, there were also Alex, Ken, Ben and Jan.

It would appear that neither Alex nor Ken started with the team. Ken left with the 90h riders on Sunday 8/21 and abandoned the ride in Carhaix before reaching Brest.  Alex left with the 80h riders but had a start time of 5:19am, whereas the rest of the team had a start time of 4:59am. Only 2 waves of 80h riders went out on Monday morning. The team seems to have been in the first wave and Alex in the second. The most recent control that he checked into was Ludeac on the return from Brest.

Ben rode with the team all the way to Villaines on the return from Brest, but dropped off the pace line en route to Mortagne. The team arrived in Mortagne at 6:23am French time/9:23pm Seattle time. Ben arrived in Mortagne 40mins after the team.

Jan looks to have started with the team. Her start time is the same as the team’s but her speed on the first stage to Villaines was slower. She arrived at the first control at 1:50pm, which was 1h 9mins after the teams arrival at 12:41pm. It is still unclear what is happening with Jan as her control chip has registered now for the the earlier controls between Fougeres and Carhaix and indicates she made it to Brest. Hopefully she is still on the road and able to finish. She will now have to finish within the 80h time limit.

So much unknown. So much to speculate about. So much to tease out and discuss with James eventually. This ride is fast, furious and fun to follow!

James is due into Dreux between 9:47am and 10:02am French time/12:47am and 1:02am Seattle time. I won’t be staying up for that check-in. Hopefully I will be sleeping and will set my alarm for 3:15am. And just to give you some sense of what they are aiming for timewise as they ride to Dreux and then onto the finish at Guyancourt I have made some rough-ish calculations (which now means I may not be able to sleep as my own adrenaline kicks in anticipating this down to the wire final 140k/87m):

They arrived in Mortagne at 6:23am French time.

It is 75k from Mortagne-au-Perche to Dreux and 65k from Dreux to the finish.

If they maintain a constant speed of 22k/h (13.67m/h), they should arrive in Dreux at about 10:04am. They need to leave Dreux at around 10am to get to the finish for 56h.

They can’t leave Dreux immediately,  as they each have to get their control card stamped.

If they leave Dreux a minute or two before 10am and again maintain a constant speed of 22k/h (13.67m/h), they should arrive at the finish for the 56h end time.

So it all depends on how their pace line works heading into Dreux. Can they pick up the pace to get in, have their control cards stamped and be out again by 10am? The pace line went from 6 to 5 riders heading into Mortagne and they still maintained their pace. Now, with only 5 riders, can they pick up the pace a little to race into Guyancourt with a minute or two of wiggle room? Breathe with me everyone, breathe! What do you think the chances are of me falling to sleep now??? 🙂

James Ride Progress PBP2011

Control	Arrival Date & Time France	Arrival Date & Time Seattle	Pace	Distance Completed	Distance Remaining	Time Completed	Time Remaining 56h finish	Time Remaining 80h finish
Villaines la Juhel	Mon 8/22 12:41pm	Sun 8/21 7:59pm	28.7km/h (17.8m/h)	222km (138m)	1010km (627.58m)	07h41	48h19	72h19
Fougeres	Mon 8/22 4:20pm	Mon 8/22 7:20am	27.3km/h (16.96m/h)	311km (193m)	921km (572m)	11h20	44h40	68h40
Tinteniac	Mon 8/22 6:47pm	Mon 8/22 9:47am	26.4km/h (16.40m/h)	365km (227m)	867km (539m)	13h48	42h12	66h12
Loudeac	Mon 8/22 10:39pm	Mon 8/22 1:39pm	25.4km/h (15.78m/h)	450km (280m)	780km (484.67m)	17h39	38h21	62h21
Carhaix-Pouger	Tues 8/23 2:58am	Mon 8/22 5:58pm	23.9km/h (14.85m/h)	526km (327m)	704km (437.5m)	21h58	34h02	58h02
Brest	Tues 8/23 7:44am	Mon 8/23 10:44pm	23.1km/h (14.35m/h)	619km (384.63m)	611km (379.66m)	26h45	29h15	53h15
Carhaix-Plougeur	Tues 8/23 11:38am	Tues 8/23 2:38am	22.9km/h (14.23m/h)	704km (437.45m)	526km (326.84m)	30h39	25h21	49h21
Loudeac	Tues 8/23 3:34pm	Tues 8/23 6:34am	22.6km/h (14.04m/h)	783km (486.53m)	449km (279m)	34h34	21h26	45h26
Tinteniac	Tues 8/23 7:35pm	Tues 8/23 11:35am	22.5km/h (13.98m/h)	868km (539.35m)	364km (226.18m)	38h35	17h25	41h25
Fougeres	Tues 8/23 10:08pm	Tues 8/23 1:08pm	22.4km/h (13.92m/h)	922km (572.9m)	310km (192.63m)	41h08	14h52	38h52
Villaines la Juhel	Wed 8/24 2:27am	Tues 8/23 5:27pm	22.2km/h (13.79m/h)	1010km (625.58m)	222km (1383m)	45h27	10h33	34h33
Mortagne-au-Perche	Wed 8/24 6:23am	Tues 8/23 9:23pm	22.1km/h (13.73m/h)	1092km (678.54m)	140km (87m)	49h23	6h37	30h37

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