Stuff we've been up to lately

I totally neglected to mention how awesome our Memorial Day weekend was.  Matt and I both had Monday off, so we decided to spring for one of those "We should do that sometime" activities that sounds like fun, isn't that hard to pull off and we normally never get around to.  But first, we were compelled to do something fun and relaxing because we wanted to celebrate having been together for TEN YEARS. Traditionally, I think we usually manage to pull off a picnic in a park to catch up and enjoy eachother's company a bit.

This year, to get things started, I finally gave Matt the PhT gift I've been working on.  What I gave him was the balance on an account he didn't notice I'd opened.  I've been putting all my money form contracts in there since December, and I finally got paid from a couple contracts that pushed the balance up over the mark for a new bike part.  Not just any bike part, so I wanted to make the presentation special- I used two springs (Dual suspension) to FRAME the balance. ... Oh yes, I am this cheesy in my real life.  Matt is going to pick out the frame of his dreams and bike happily ever after.  Hooray.

Our weekend was also super fun.  We picked up Nana and took a different way up to Concrete, this time through Darrington.  It's more of that rural, farm-land-by-the-river-framed-with-abrupt-mountains type scenery that does good for the soul.  We hung out with Betty, taking in the FOUR hummingbirds feeders (seating for 23!) host a deafening parade of hummers.  When you see that many birds all at once, and as close as we can get to them, there is such a moment of humbling awe, just like when you see whales breaching or first catch the glimpse of an entire mountain pass.  I had that feeling a lot this weekend.

The main event, however, was to drive over the Hwy 20 pass to Winthrop.  I didn't know what to expect, but I was told there would be ice cream on the other side.  The views on Hwy 20 were spectacular.  And it's quite obvious why this pass closes from October to April every year- there was still FEET of snow packed high along the sides of the road.  At appropriate distances, there were hiking trails and camp sites that made we wish we had different gear with us.  We did get out to look at the view at lots of places, and otherwise Matt just guided us over the winding and wild road to the East side of the state.  We got out to see Mazama and Winthrop, both of which were overrun with people enjoying the sunny weather and the start of summer.  The four of us just jumped into the fray, doing a little shopping, and eating and loving the scenery and the weather.