smashing pumpkins

it is our goal (and when i say "our," i mean "my") this year to participate in more holiday traditions. to kick off, we bought our own fireworks in july (and then were sorely shown up by all of our neighbors who must have saved for their pyrotechnic displays for months). since that terrible understatement, our lives have been pretty devoid of special occasions.

but the holiday we owe to the Celts, All-hallow-even, is upon us.

here is bryan cleaning out the pumpkin guts. an impressive feat given his disdain for organic ickiness. but it was all he could contribute as the lefthandedness doesn't lend itself well to carving.

i think we did fairly well for our first time.

The Return

Do you remember what you were doing on April 20th, 1999? I do. Owen Young, Mark Taylor, and myself were at a gas station in Bellevue, Washington. Some punk kid asked us if we wanted some weed. We politely declined.

To us, the little road trip to Washington was an epic adventure. When we planned the trip, I seriously believed Owen just wanted to do some serious riding in the Pacific Northwest. It didn't even cross my mind that his girlfriend was from the area and it would be the last time he would see her before spending two years as a missionary. Fortunately, Owen has always been a man of priorities. The girlfriend thing didn't interfere with the riding at all (in fact, girlfriend's mom even washed our muddy clothes at one point in time. Thank you, girlfriend's mom).

I receently revisited one of the trails we rode. Preston Railroad. It was just as good as I remembered. Halfway through the ride, I realized I was riding the same bike on the same trail that I rode 7 years ago. Unfortunately, my body isn't nearly as supple anymore. I decided on the spot to begin investigating full suspension bikes. It was as if the Bontrager had returned to give me one last good ride before entering retirement.

One highlight of the ride came at the end of a nasty, rooted section followed by a sharp switchback. I cleared the section with relative ease, but two riders waiting below the switch back gave me a node and said "Nice." For someone who hasn't done any serious riding in a very long time, it was rather gratifying.

sweetness

i just found this photo from last year's rockin birthday party.

is it just me or does kenny always seem to have a fistful of candy?
his elixir of life.

pardon me

though it was wonderful to have the wheeler's around this weekend, we would be remiss if we were to not include a brief segment dedicated to our very first guest in the beautiful yellow room: matto.

here we are at the bellevue botanical gardens. for those who are to also invite him as their guest, we have a word of caution: matto is a touring machine. he's nonstop action, ready to get his money's worth out of every adventurous undertaking.

but some of us still need our naps in the afternoon and just aren't as young as we used to be. sorry, matt, next time we'll make it to the zoo.

From the other side

I saw this hanging on a door outside a classroom today. Tommorrow marks the first day of class for thousands of students throughout the Seattle area. It also marks the first day that Emily gets to use her college degree for its intended purpose. Generally speaking, I can't say that her students have been blessed with an overabundance of privilege, but I think both teacher and students stand to learn a great deal from the arrangement.

It was odd to see the sign on the door. It was a testament that some time over the last 4 years, we've made the transition into adulthood.

San Something

My parents were having a bit of trouble with Canadian customs. It seems that the Canadian government doesn't feel a great deal of expediency when it comes to renewing work permits (odd given the shortage of labor associated with the Calgary oil boom). Since their renewal didn't come in the mail before their permits' expiration dates, they had to leave the country for 24 hours and get their permits renewed on re-entry.

Because SEATAC is one of the closest airports to Calgary, they seized upon the opportunity to visit us over the three day weekend. On Saturday, we left at 4AM to catch a ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor. We spent the rest of the day on a whale watching vessel, chasing Orcas deep into Canadian waters, and cruising around the islands. Spectacular part of the world.

See more pictures at our Flick site

opening day

welcome to washington: forests, mountains, lakes, asian food--a veritable dream land for one, bryan wheeler. emily tags along on most adventures, though as of yet, she has not allowed him to eat much asian food.

here we are atop the seattle space needle. Note to the public: not worth the overpriced 41 second trip to its peak.

And yes, it is a long way down.