Gotta Get Out and Hike!

Had a free Saturday and LW, Asia, and I had to get out and do something - with the snow and weather I figured the best way to guarantee good trail conditions was to head over to the east-side and hit the Ancient Lakes Basin:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=47.141103,-119.92487&spn=0.044137,0.11467&t=h&z=14

After a hearty breakfast at the Harvester (who knew the Parkway and PSP don't open for breakfast until 9:00?) we were off.

Quick stop in the 'burg so Asia could go potty and we're finally in Quincy around 1:00. The Ancient Lakes Basin or Quincy Lakes, is a series of lakes created by pumping water from the Columbia up to a reservoir and then letting it run back down a series of stepped ledges towards the Columbia.

As you can see from the pics Everyone had a great time - and the best way to top off a trip to Central Washington: a tour of Ellensburg and dinner and Rainier at the Tav.






Look at that happy hiker!















Check out all the old bathtub rings on that lake!














Honest - it's central Washington not Afghanistan!















One of the coolest things about Ancient Lakes is all the water...















Asia loved it - she slept all day Monday!














Asia loves to be as close to us as possible...

I just want to get to work...

Driving 10 minutes to the transit center every day seems dumb so I decided to try the bus today. After waiting 20 minutes a bus finally showed up.

So my options are:
Drive 10 minutes and 2.5 miles to the transit center, wait for the light rail, walk from light rail... 35 minutes each way

Drive 10 minutes, 4.5 miles and park on stadium way, walk to office. Total time 20 minutes each way but I have to park on the street and still drive my car.

Walk to the bus, bus, walk from bus to office. 45 minutes each way? And 3 dollars a day... Plus the crazies on the bus!

I hate you and your transit options Tacoma!

More thoughts...

Was listening to a travel show of all things - Rick Steves - and heard this quote:

When faced with love and temptation you have to choose which one you want the most. To love and be loved by one person or to love the feeling of endlessly falling in love.
-Jennifer Cox

I heard this and thought it was pretty cool because I think it summed up my 20's. I was stuck in the same relationship for most of college and after college in another pretty serious relationship after college, and I think I really needed to date different people for a while - does anyone really know what they want when they're 21? I know some folks get married at 18 and it works out forever but I think about who I was then, and who I am now...

Sometimes you have to wait a while to be happy...

Change Sucks

I'm at an emergency management/GIS conference this week focusing on "critical infrastructure" ie. bridges, roads, water pipes, stadiums etc...

Most of the U.S. infrastructure is in a state of disrepair, this combined with the impending global warming crisis, impending lack of fossil fuels, changing U.S. and World demographics, decentralized government thats divided by arbitrary boundaries and general belief among people that they pay too much in taxes is theoretically all going to evolve into one amazing, tragic crisis soon...

On that cheery note I did like this quote:

“It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries, who have the laws in their favour; and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it. Thus it arises that on every opportunity for attacking the reformer, his opponents do so with the zeal of partisans, the others only defend him half-heartedly, so that between them he runs great danger."

-Machiavelli