Timmy is One Crazy Cat

Check out the photo of Allison's cat Timmy. He's going crazy trying to get a spider!

Another Delicious Taste of Madison

After a strenuous bike ride this morning, Julie and I needed some food. So we stopped by Ogg Hall to pick up Anna, and the three of us headed to the Taste of Madison. We had a nice time at this year's Taste, and sampled quite a lot of different entrees and desserts.

We all agreed that our favorite entree came from Buraka, an Ethiopian restaurant in town that's been around for quite a few years. Our winning entree was a slow-cooked chicken with rice and lentils -- definitely something that could warm the cockles of your heart on a cold winter day.

While there was some disagreement over this year's sweet treat victor, majority rule goes to Julie and me. We thought the chocolate covered turtle cheesecake from the Little Shop of Cheesecakes in Sun Prairie was a taste sensation that could not be beat. The creamy cheesecake on a stick drenched in chocolate, caramel, and pecans has already left us yearning for more. Unfortunately, since the shop is a caterer, and since we don't plan on arranging any weddings or corporate events anytime soon, we'll likely need to wait an entire year to have this treat again....






Don't let this photo fool you -- it was quite crowded at this year's Taste, probably due in part to the beautiful weather. Here, Julie and Anna take a break from eating in one of the only empty spots along the Capitol Square.







Anna and I sample the chocolate chip cookie dough eggrolls from Bluephies. As always, they were very good, and Anna voted for them as her top dessert choice. The good news for Anna is that she can stroll down Monroe Street and have another one anytime she wants!










Always a good sport, and rarely shy in front of the camera, here's Anna hamming it up outside a cheese store on State Street. (Anna -- you definitely need to save this photo to Facebook, and use it for your profile picture!)

Here's ... Addison!

Julie and I drove to Winooski today to meet the newest addition to the Drewry family, Addison Selina Fink. Hugh and Ellen's second great grandchild is a very cute little girl, who reportedly makes life easy on proud parents Justin and Ashley by sleeping 20 hours a day.







While Julie will likely always remember the day she met Addison, little Addison probably won't because she was ... well, er ... asleep.












Justin brought a loaf of bread for dinner. Whoa, hold on a minute -- that's Addison! (By the way, Hugh and Ellen prepared us a very nice dinner tonight, including some delicious sweet corn grown by Bing and Caroline.)













Another shot of Aunt Bug with her newest niece.

Justin can't wait to dress Addison up in the outfits we gave them.

Overcome by emotion, Justin gives Ashley a peck on the cheek in gratitude for their lovely baby girl.

Welcome Back, Anna!!!

As part of our big bike ride today (see previous post), we stopped by the new and improved Ogg Hall to visit Anna. While it was great to see Anna again, it's depressing to think that back-to-college-time means the summer is almost over. Oh well, I guess we can't stop time from moving on.

Anna has a great dorm room on the fourth floor of the brand new Ogg Hall. Her room was quite spacious, by dorm standards, and it looked like a very comfortable place to spend the next nine months. And, Ogg's location can't be beat -- close to lecture halls, restaurants, and the entire downtown nightlife scene. Hanging out there kind of made me wish I was back in college again -- oh yeah, but there's that whole stopping time thing....

After touring Ogg, we strolled with Anna over to the Sunroom Cafe on State Street for breakfast. The place was jam-packed, so we figured it must be good, and worth the 15 minute wait for a table. And we had a very good meal, but all agreed that the Original Pancake House is probably a better choice for early morning fare. After breakfast, Anna was on her way to check out the locations for all her classes, and we were back on our bikes.

PHOTOS: Top -- Anna and me soak up the sun after filling up on chocolate chip pancakes and omelets. Bottom -- A parting shot of Anna in front of her new home.

Where the Streets Have No Cars

Julie and I spent some time biking in downtown Madison today for the (first annual?) Ride the Drive. The official purpose of the Ride was to "celebrate Madison's commitment to healthy, active lifestyles by riding, walking, skating, or strolling along some of the city's most beautiful streets."

As part of this ride, the city blocked off a 6-mile loop of downtown streets, and closed them off to vehicular traffic from 8 am to 2 pm. So, this was an excellent opportunity to ride on some city streets without cars, busses, and trucks all over the place!

We had a great time biking the mean streets of Madison. It was particularly fun cruising down John Nolen Drive without a car in sight. And I suppose it gave us a little bit of an apocalyptic vision of how the streets will look in 30-50 years when the earth runs out of fossil fuels. It didn't seem all that bad to me!

PHOTOS: Top -- Early on during our ride, there wasn't even much bike traffic, as we took a breather on John Nolen near the convention center. Bottom -- Later, after we had 12 miles of biking under our belts, the pedaling traffic began to resemble rush hour car traffic! This is Julie on the other side of the convention center, just before we called it a day.

A Great Visit to Washington!

Julie and I returned around dinner-time on Wednesday from our vacation in Washington. Twelve hours later we were back at work. To add insult to injury, things have been rather hectic around the house, as we're having new carpeting installed upstairs, which means we have to pack up everything and move virtually ALL of the furniture, etc. That has kept us quite busy the past couple of days. I've finally found time this morning to post on our recent Washington adventure.

We had a great visit, and it was so nice seeing Allison. We're not sure when we'll be visiting again, although we know it won't be in the fall or spring! Like so many other places, we've learned that Washington's summer weather is preferable, so that will be the focus of our future visits. It was so nice to see mountains that we've rarely seen before. Check out the photos below for all the details.




We arrived in Seattle just before noon, so we paid a visit to Marc, Keri, and Natasha before heading to Bellingham to see Allison. Here's Keri, Quinn, Natasha, and baby.












Natasha and Julie relax for a moment before we hit the road.










Robbie and girlfriend Cara, with son William, were also visiting from Spokane. Robbie seemed quite impressed with Seattle, and I wonder if he'll be moving there someday.










Natasha is starting kindergarten in a couple of weeks -- my how time flies! Here's a shot of Natasha, Marc, and me, as we check out Natasha's new school.











A couple hours later, we were dining with Allison and boyfriend Steve at our favorite Bellingham Mexican restaurant.








The next day, Julie and I were up bright and early to hike the Skyline Divide trail near Mt. Baker. We're at about 6,000 feet elevation in this shot (after driving to 5,000 feet), and the guide book said our bodies would have an uncontrollable urge to scream "wow" because of the spectacular views. All we could say was "not again," as we were concerned we would be spending another visit hiking in the clouds....









Things brightened up later in the day when we went sailing with some of Steve's family and friends on Bellingham Bay. The skies were clearing, and we knew the future looked bright for spectacular hikes.











Here's a cool sunset shot that Allison took from the sailboat.








The next day, the skies were cloudy again.... Undaunted, I went mountain-biking with Allison and Steve on Galbraith Mountain. Here's Steve and Allison near the summit. Biking up was slow-going, but it was quite a thrill ride coming down! Check out the video at the end of this post to see Steve in action on one of the trails.








The sun was out by Saturday afternoon, and we had a nice bike ride around Bellingham. Here's Allison and me at Bellingham Bay.









My main objective for this vacation was to hike to the summit of Church Mountain, elevation 6,000 feet. Julie, Allison, and I have made previous attempts in the spring-time, but snow in the higher elevations prevented us from making it to the top. Here's Julie in a beautiful meadow at about 5,000 feet, and there was no snow in sight!









Uh-oh, I guess I spoke too soon. But the snow we encountered along the way was minimal, and nowhere on the trail. That's Mt. Baker off in the distance.








The hike up Church Mountain was over 5 miles in each direction, with over 4,000 feet in elevation gain. Here's Julie and Allison (with Buddy) as we make our way to the summit. We had about a quarter mile to go here, and I really didn't know if we were going to make it because it was a very difficult hike.








The summit! It took us 3 hours and 40 minutes, but we did it!










A view from the summit of Church Mountain. It was a tough hike -- one of the most difficult things I've ever done (and I've run a marathon!) -- but the views made it all worthwhile!








A parting shot from the summit before we head back down. We were able to complete the downhill journey about 30 minutes faster than climbing up. But, even going downhill became a grueling and tiring experience. It took us 3 hours to cover 5 miles and we were going about as fast as we possibly could!







The next day, we were on to Mt. Rainier. It was great to see a mountain that we have hardly ever seen during our past 10 or so visits to see Allison! Check out the marmot posing for me to the right of this photo. We also saw marmots on Church Mountain, where they were whistling very loudly because they felt threatened!








Here's a great shot of Rainier, as some clouds roll in. Fortunately, the clouds only hung around for a short time.









We went to an old growth forest at the eastern end of Rainier. Check out the size of those monsters -- they're 1,000 years old!!!!!!!!!!!










On our last day at Rainier, Julie and I hiked a couple hours to see a 300-foot waterfall. It was beautiful. This is a self-timer shot, as we had the waterfall all to ourselves.












A parting shot of Rainier.









We returned to Seattle for our flight back home, and had time for a nice dinner and a visit to the Space Needle. We've seen photos like this one, but never believed they were real. This is our fist view of Rainier from the Space Needle, after 4-5 visits. What a great photo, eh?!





And, below, is the video of Steve on the Galbraith Mountain trail. Check out the gnarly jump!

Guess Who Was On Our TV Today?

I woke up this morning, clicked on the TV, and what did I see? Three celebrities from Waunakee! Check out the video below for a snippet. We've got the entire episode saved on our Tivo, and there are lots more segments of this charismatic and photogenic threesome. If they promise me autographs, I'll figure out a way to burn it to DVD.