Summer is finally here!

Due to my school schedule, my summer just started when Summer Quarter ended the 23rd. Phil and I really started making up for it this last weekend.

On Friday we went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant near Silver Lake, then went to see "The Time Traveler's Wife" (isn't he sweet for taking me to a chick flick!?). Very good, very sad movie. I think Phil actually liked it too, but he might be more open minded about chick flicks than your average Joe ;) Although he hated "Bride Wars". Guess he likes chick dramas but not chick comedies.

On Saturday, we ran some errands and then headed to Bothell for a fun afternoon/evening with Joy and Dan. We walked around the Kirkland waterfront and then had dinner at a yummy Thai restaurant. Then we went back to their place and watched "I Love You Man", which was hilarious!

On Sunday, we woke up fairly early and headed up to the North Cascades for a 11 to 12ish mile hike. We got tons of awesome pictures...too many beautiful ones to choose just a few to post here. So I'm posting just one and here's the link to look at the rest of them if you so choose:

Here we are in front of Doubtful Lake with the many peaks of the Cascades behind us:


Awesome hike, very challenging, and very rewarding. If you ever do it, try July. We went late enough in the summer that most of the wildflowers were gone.

So what's on the agenda for the rest of my summer? Phil's parents are flying in on Thursday for the long weekend. Puyallup fair the weekend after that. Maybe another hike the weekend after that. Then, it's my birthday!

Road Trip

Phil's college buddy Ross visited this last week/weekend. While I was busy writing a paper for most the time he was here, I did decide to slack off on Saturday so I could join the two of them as they retraced the first couple days worth of their 2005 bicycle trip across the U.S. We went over Route 20 in the Northern Cascades and made a few stops to see the view and let the guys reminisce (which sounded like "I think the road curves left up there....yep, I was right!" and "Oh, remember we stopped to pee here?" and "Oh man, that's about where I wanted to turn around and go home!").

So here's the greenest lake you'll ever see (something to do with the minerals), Diablo Lake.


Here's me being a poser.


Here's Phil and Ross being posers.


Being a poser some more.


Here's Phil and Ross @ Washington Pass, where in 2005 they heaved a huge sigh of relief and coasted down the mountain for 12 miles until they found a lodge to sleep in at Mazama.


Shortly after we went through Winthrop, we departed from the bike route and headed towards Chelan. We took a dip in the lake and then headed to Leavenworth for dinner. Here I am with a tasty hefeweizen, and that's Ross's reflection in the mirror.


Twas a fun trip! On Sunday I finished my paper and now I have 5 weeks off until Fall Quarter starts! Yahoo!!!