Friday, November 6, 2009

So Ill & Life Goes On

It's been a crazy time lately.  Basically I've been sick and not doing much in the way of physical activity. Those of you who know me well know that I'm grumpy when I'm not active.  I've also been really busy at work trying to get the new Paddlesports shop up and running.  Things are coming along and every day there are big improvements.  There have been a few shinning moments over the past three weeks and those can be seen in the photos below.  A 3 day trip up to Seattle with Julie for a fun little vacation was the highlight for sure.  We got to see and do a ton of stuff.  The highlight was probably dinner at Serious Pie, a gourmet wood fired pizza place.  This place is so good that it is probably one of my top 3 meals of all time!  Julie enjoyed the Pikes Place Market, good food, and nice hotels.  Julie has been CRAZY busy with grad school and she is wrapping up her first student teaching placement with the middle school english students.  She has also been keeping up with Crossfit and her Dragonboat training.  I think she is also enjoying her bike commute to school, even in the rain:)

I was also interviewed for a podcast by my good friend from DC Jeff Macintyre.  The interview was about the Outdoor Retailer Trade Show back in August and the state of the paddlesports industry.  Check it out at:  http://inbetweenswims.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=534555


(My good Baltimore, Portland transplant, friend Andy Maser organized an event for the 350.org movement called River of Action.  I brought a trailer load of boats from Next Adventure for the event and ended up putting them all on the water, leaving me to shoot video and photos.  Julie is the long red boat at the top right of the "5".)

(Julie having fun at the Team Huge, dragonboat, wig party.)

(The PDXKayaker film fest this year was a huge event and something that Next Adventure puts on each year.)

(I ended up MCing the raffle at the end of the movie and distributing a ton of good shwag.)

(Julie hangin' with Punch & Judy at the Kennedy School, a cool cheap theater/bar/hotel/restaurant that was converted from an old public school in PDX.)

(Julie enjoying the fashion of PDX, wearing cute boots, and the fall leaves.  She secretly admits to enjoying the change of seasons, even though she wishes it was warm all the time.)
(Julie outside the Glass Museum in Tacoma, WA enjoying a break in the rainy weather.)

(Julie on in front of the Cistene wall full of Chulley glass sculptures in Tacoma.)

(Julie lounging at the Hotel Max in downtown Seattle, WA.  The hotel featured original works of art in every room and each hallway featured a single photographer, displaying the photos on each room's complete door surface.)

(I enjoyed the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field.  The museum had such cool things as a training replica of the science capsule on the International Space Station, an SR71 Blackbird, and the original Boeing factory (The Red Barn).  We also got to walk through the first jet powered Air Force 1 and the last in service Concord.)

(I'm actually happy in this photo:)  Julie and I went for a bike ride on Vashon Island and had to take the ferry with our bikes.  It was a really hilly beautiful ride in the countryside.  This is also probably your first peak at my new full carbon bike.)

(Julie enjoying a hot tea in her robe at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Seattle.  This place was all class and luxury!)


(Doug and Kurt from Next Adventure put on a great Halloween party.  I went as Abe Lincoln and Julie was looking good in a Masquerade Ball costume.  Our friend Catherine from HI was in town visiting and rocked a disco outfit.)