Snoqualmie Valley Trail

One of the best runs I did this time back in Redmond - before I became a slacker - was the Snoqualmie Valley Trail (SVT). The SVT is 31 miles and goes from Duvall through Carnation, Fall City and Snoqualmie before ending in North Bend

http://www.duvallwa.gov/appsformspubs/SnoqValleyTrailMap.pdf

I went from Carnation to Duvall, an 8-mile stretch. Here is where I started:





Much of this area is farmland of some sorts



It was chilly - this marsh is frozen. Probably not enough for skating











Storm clouds that stayed far enough away



No beavers this day but plenty of ducks





At the end in Duvall



Afterwards we went up to Snoqualmie and North Bend. Trains seem to be a big deal in Snoqualmie - I think this train does a short loop and there were long lines



Mt Si totally covered in clouds



Funny - lived in the area off-and-on over 12 years and I never had any idea we had elk

Bikini Bowling

This was one of the highlights of my Thanksgiving weekend - a perfect 300! Link below for those long boring work calls...

http://ak.imgag.com/imgag/product/full/ap/3040935/graphic1.swf

Hood Canal

Always slack when I go back to Seattle. We went back November 7th and left yesterday, December 17th. So need to catch up - only did 1 update from Seattle. This one is from November 20th

My AT&T bosses have been kind enough to let me help out with a start-up. The start-up is founded by my buddy Gary who I worked for back around 2005-06. Anyways, Gary wanted the current team to do an off-site for a weekend. Not my thing. Essentially told him he was ruining my weekend - maybe my life - but I'd go

I left for Hood Canal Saturday. It was about 2 hours to get there including the ferry from Edmonds. The 2 pics below are of the ferry dock and a view of the Olympic mountains. I love the ferries





In short, the off-site was all good. Very good. The house was on the canal and sort of a mansion. It was for sale - I think $3.5M. Here are the views





After about 7 hours of actually working the drinking started. One of the investors dropped by - me and Gary ended up back at her house doing shots at 1am

Also of interest at this house was an attic that was a replica (so they say) of the Captain's Quarters from Mutiny on the Bounty

Seattle Runs

So...back in Redmond. Trying to prepare for a big race next year - ideally that Imogene Pass run. My two buddies are sticking with their plans and making good progress - Chuck Howarth is now signed up for the Leadville 100 and Michael Kirk should be signing up for his Mount Rainier climb any day now. So - especially now back at sea level - I need to try and run over 30-miles each week

Monday I did 10-miles on the Sammamish River / Burke-Gilman Trail. It remains one of the best trails anywhere

Here is my start in Redmond at 116th





Heading towards Woodinville



The Sammamish River - Columbia Winery is in the distance



Still some farmland - probably worth millions (?)



Overpasses in Woodinville - the second one was used for the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train



Heading towards I-405 and Bothell





A cool stretch in Bothell about 1.5-miles from our old house





Valhalla - our old neighbourhood



The least fun stretch through Kenmore - along 522





Kenmore Air, a local seaplane company



A favorite bar happens to be along the trail



Log Boom Park



And my run ended as the trail begins to wind through residential areas




Tuesday I took an hour break from the idiocy of work and went for a 6-mile run in the Redmond Watershed Trail, just a short trot from the house













Tomorrow we'll run somewhere with Hudson - he did over 17-miles last week and is all rested from the 24 hours of driving this weekend

800 Miles to Redmond

The good news was we would "get" an hour going to PST and we "got" an hour with DST. The bad news was it was raining so we didn't get so many photos

It started off well - sunny in Utah and the usual cows, horses and old barns







Then we hit Idaho (and soon the rain)



It seems we always see aviation parts in Idaho



Maureen took over the driving - just as the dark clouds rolled in



Hudson was not pleased



Entering Oregon



Cool - Satan's car



More stormy weather





Sun - hours and two mountain passes later



Not sure - looks like a kitchen on wheels



Horse sculptures



Pretty sunset (not sure what this is in the distance)



McNary Lock and Dam at the Washington border - just before darkness quickly fell



The drive took 14 hours - Washington State may want to think about buying some lights as the final hours were relatively miserable and in the dark