Denver Trip

The celebration of Aunt Kathie's big 6-0 was the perfect excuse for a trip back to Denver last weekend to visit the Warren Family and of course Alyson (Savageau) Ellena.

As usual, things fell right back into place with Aly, my dear friend of 20+ years. Brett & I enjoyed seeing the gorgeous home that Dave remodeled for Aly & Dave up in Keystone and were able to get out on Blue River for a Friday river raft trip through the Rockies. Was so much fun sharing lots of laughs, reminiscing, good talks, and wishing it wasn't so far in between our visits.

Friday evening we got some special BRIDGET time! Our niece of just a year and a half is beyond words. She is already running around, dancing, talking up a storm and stealing the show wherever she goes. Brian and Anna are doing an amazing job raising that little one. Missing her already!!

Aunt Ali & Bridget being silly...
Aunt Kathie & Cousin Elizabeth

Brett & Ali @ the B-Day BBQ

Grandpa Jim & Bridget

Dad & daughter during some post dinner reading

Anna holding Bridget during brush time Bridget LOVES her swing!

Owhi Camping Trip

Last weekend we were able to squeeze in a quick two night camping trip with Brooke & Jake at the Owhi Campground on Cooper Lake just north of Cle Elum. (Thanks for the great recco Nate & Erin!) Weekend was tons of fun all the standard camping "musts"...big hike (8 miler up to Pete Lake), Warren Stew, smores, brews & card games around the fire, and even some fishing in the Lake (for Jake).

Brooke & Jake scoping out a camp site:

Cooper Lake:All set up!

Trail Head:

Pete Lake/Hike Summit:

Happy Hour Begins...

Tahoe for the 4th!

What an wonderful weekend… met up with the fam (my mom, step-dad Kermit, step-brother Travis and his wife Kendra) in North Lake Tahoe for the 4th! Rented a great 4 bedroom cabin within walking distance from the lake, spent days on the water (sailing the lake, rafting the river, etc.) and evenings on the deck enjoying whatever Travis was grilling up to eat, Brett was mixing up to drink and late nights spent enjoying hot tub dips and several games of Apples to Apples (that’s right Kermit and I reign as champions). Oh and, maybe, just maybe, a little trip across the border for an appearance at the casinos. :)

Rock 'n' Roll!

14 weeks ago, after a little persuasion from SIL, I decided to sign up for the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Half Marathon. What made me think this was a good idea when I literally could barely run a single mile (not to mention that 1.0 mile trek would take upwards of 12 minutes to complete...) I'm not sure... but each run I added a tenth of a mile here, a quarter of a mile there and after all was said and done I managed to complete the 13.1 mile race from Tukwila to Seattle in just under 2:08! While I'm no where near breaking any records or impressing the real runners out there it's a personal best, pretty rewarding, and weird to say I think I might actually enjoy jogging now?! Happy Running! weird!

Me, Brooke, Melanie & Dom (a couple of my fellow Music Amazonians... Dom is pretending the race kicked his butt, however Dom can run a 6 minute mile, so we needn't worry.)

25,000 runners - SOLD OUT!

Brooke (it was her 4th Halfer!!) & Ali

Start Time: 0:31:20, End Time: Sometime before 2:39:53 (luckily Brett was able to put down Lucy and get the camera out for this pic shortly after I crossed the finish line... as sadly my time chip didn't register :( ) ...p.s. for the fam, that big black building in the background (tallest this side of the Mississippi, is where I work!)

SURPRISE!!

Saturday, March 7th, 2009 Brett turned the big 3-0! While he THOUGHT in the midst of our travel I had forgotten and scrambled to plan a “date day” for just he and I, instead Brooke & I had been scheming for months and had put together a surprise party to celebrate his big day. We headed out for lunch and came home to a house full of friends and family with beers in hand and green T’s on their back’s ready to head down to Ballard Avenue for a Pub Crawl to support the American Heart Foundation and Fred Hutchinson research. Brett was completely shocked! It meant the world to us to have so many of you there to celebrate Brett’s life and raise money for two causes very close to our family. Thank you to each of you that traveled to be there, took a Saturday out of our busy lives and money out of your pocket (we raised almost $700!?) to participate in this big day. Happy Birthday Brett!!
SURPRISE BRETT!!The girls post surprise, pre-crawl!
Waiting for Brett...

"Uncle" Steve, Jan (Brett's Mom) & "Aunt" Nancy - First Stop: Bad Alberts (Birthday boy earned a free shot from the owner!)

The Southern Gulf

(Photo downloading not working for this blog. :( )

Tuesday a.m. meant time to leave Phi Phi and head for the Southern Gulf of Thailand. In pursuit of the Sumai Archipelago stretch (a group of 80+ islands, most famous for Samui, Tao and Phagnan (where you supposedly are able to get more "bang for your baht") we were off! The morning started strong - an 8am start on our long tail to hop aboard the ferry to Krabi. I'm not sure how it happened, as we are what I would consider smart, semi-well traveled folks - but we were conned. We have heard you haven't been to Thailand 'til you've been "had" by one con man or another, but this one kept the day "entertaining", and by that I mean... well, let's just map out our travel day.

In pursuit of Phangnan Island we knew that it would involve a ferry ride (check! success!) a bus ride (to cross Krabi Island) and ANOTHER ferry to get to Phangnan. Lonely Planet said bus shouldn't be more than 2 hours, and ferry about 2 1/2. "Con Man" quoted a 2.5 hour bus ride, followed by a 2p hop aboard the ferry, "arrive like no other transport can provide, and before dark." (I know, sounds fishy now that I repeat it, but in our groggy and trusty state it souned like a great idea. Anyhow...) I guess what he really meant is that the bus ride COULD end up lasting 6 hours (it did) and involved stops for him to drop off various shipments over the entire island (yep), pick up friends (naturallY), and drop us at a random buddy's restaurant so we could help fund a little cash in is pocket with a required bus switch and hour "layover." (we did not purchase a thing). Needless to say, this "incident" reminded me I should never volunteer for the Amazing Race or any other reality show, as my "reaction" was not one I'd want any of you, let alone National Broadcast see. We arrived in Bottle Beach/Phagnan around 10p (including 2 long tail boat trips, 2 ferries, an additional "songthaew" (a vehicle common here which is really a bed of a pick up turned public transport) across the island and another long tail to Hat Kuat (our beach).

We checked in to our bungalow (highly recommended by a fellow traveler). To say we suffered a downgrade from Phi Phi would be generous... but hey for $10/night who would expect their bungalow to have a sink in their bathroom (or a flushing toilet, or hot water) - it had none of those things - or their room to have AC (or electricity between the hours of 8a and 6p?!) :)

Luckily when we awoke and headed to the beach we were reminded it was all worth while. On Phangnan Island two world's exist. First, the southeaster corner houses Hat Rin. Home of the "young backpackers party paradise and famous for Full Moon Parties". As we were reminded it was not a full moon... and we weren't 21 anymore, we headed to the norther coast. to Hat Khuat/Bottle Beach. Our beach was beautiful, had a low key atmosphere and a bay backed by lush green jungle and PERFECT swimming water.

Our days at Bottle Beach were filled with mid morning naps on the beach, lots of delicious food, beach side beers watching the sun go down, a couple of books, bottles sunscreen, hands of cards, and refreshing dips in the water! After a few days of this relaxing it was sadly time to leave our relaxing island to head to Koa Samui.

We arrived today to the third largest island (Coconut Island/Samui) around mid-day. This area has become one of the most popular in SE Asia (even more so since the tsunami has sadly scared some folks from the Adamen Sea.) We settled in Hat Bo Phut (Fisherman's Village) on the north coast of the islands we are enjoying this romantic seaside village - it's quiet with great eats, a view and lots of shopping (which we managed to partake in for most of the afternoon.)

We get one more day in Samui tomorrow then off to Bangkok where we've already got a room booked in the hotel attached to the rumored biggest shopping area of the town (thanks for the recco Tyde's!)

...Trying hard to forget the trip is almost over, hope this finds you all well!!

The Islands... Paradise!

On Friday we landed in Phuket )poo+get= ...if you can't tell already, the symbols on this keyboard are not like home Ø= that was a smiley face! This is the largest of the islands n the Andaman Coast-on the west side of the southern tip of Thailand. Upon arrival we opted for the more chill area of the island in the town of Hat Kata on the SW side. We managed to score a hillside bungalow equipped with a huge marble deck with a view AND a mini+fridge! The beaches of Kata-Phuket were bustling. Lots of water sports, warm water, and cute children playing a game that was a mix between volleyball and soccer )volleyball net and ball, but no hands! We enjoyed our evening watching children light \fire balloons\ or at least that's what we were calling them. Looked like little mini hot air balloons that float off into the night sky + very cool, and supposedly good luck! At dinner we made the decision that while Phuket was nice + we had heard of more beautiful islands, with less +seedy sightings+ (unfortunately there is a high volume of prostitution that is popular with Western\American men in Phuket) and as our time was limited we decided to hop on the first ferry to Ko Phi Phi! \photo from deck of Phuket+Kata bungalow\

Upon the ferry we opted for rooftop front chairs + great view \ dumb decision with little SPF and no hats + we d be paying for that later Ø= After about 2 hours on the boat and 2 Dramamine for Brett, we spotted Phi Phi aka Paradise! Words can not describe and pics will never do justice. This is a top 10 see in a lifetime. The jagged limestone peaks, tropical jungle, jade water, white beaches along curved bays are breathtaking... as are the reminders of the effects of the 9.5 magnitude earthquake turned tsunami just over 4 years ago. It shakes you to think of the 6 thousand lives lost. Just being on those beaches you canæt help envisioning where the nightmare took place. But the beautiful country and its people have and continue to rebuild. They are focused on moving forward and we've been told the towns and beaches look just almost as they did pre+tsunami.The island's ban form cars, motorbikes and tuk tuks is a nice break + our beach (Hat Yao\Long Beach) has no pay phones and is only accessible by long tail. Our ocean view bungalow is fit for honeymooners (our trip +splurge+ at the price of 70 bucks-night, but heck, when a dinner for 2 WITH bottled water AND beer comes to 3 bucks, you deserve a splurge!) During the day we find time to at last just sit, crack open our books, and enjoy the beach! In the afternoon we took a break to head into town for a rewarding hike atop Phi Phi View point. Back from the hike I decide it's been too long since I've shopped )the shopping here is crazy, so cheap, and everywhere) after 15 minutes and only 15 bucks I managed to find a 100% linen sundress, a new purse-bag, AND some coconut coasters to replace those Lucy mistaken for a chew toy a few months back. \photo of room entry way in PhiPhi\\photo from Long Beach-Hat Yao\were our bungalow is\\fun pic brett caught while i was reading on a beach chair\\time for some bartering\shopping!\post hike \view from phi phi point\Our last day in Phi Phi we wake early to board our private longtail we've hired to tour us around Phi Phi Ley + the island where The Beach was filmed. Early bird DOES catch the worm + we were the first 3 +farange\foreginers+ on the beach!

This is the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. Truly.

Next stop + snorkeling! Thousands of fish, water so clear you don't even really need a mask + breathtaking!

After lots of swimming stops in amazing emerald waters we made our last stop at Monkey Beach. These silly little guys scale down the jagged slate cliffs as soon as they hear a boat, as they know a boat means free fruit. You just had it over and away they go. So cute!

Ahhh, all this computer work has me worn out, time for a break, maybe a 5 dollar Thai massage is in order this evening! Ø=

Off to Ko Phangan in the Lower Souther Gulf tomorrow!

Cheers!

p.s. We have two cameras, and for some reason Iæm only getting the smaller one to upload pics, so the really great landscape-scenic-y ones youæll have to wait for!