Diving

Well, I didn't think I would have anything super exciting to write about from this past weekend. Mostly, we planned on doing wedding shizzle. But we ended up doing nothing wedding related at all and played outside the whole weekend. If you haven't heard - we Washingtonians are in the midst of an insane heat wave. Seattle hit 103 today! Yeehaw - it's like being back in Asia, but still not as hot. Anyway, Jay's coworker Karl has a boat and likes to dive. This means we get to go for boat rides and dive with him. Very exciting. So we headed out just a bit west of Lummi Island and hit the water. It was pretty awesome to be back in cold water again. Can you believe I'm saying that? But the last time I went diving in the chilly Pacific Northwest was in 2003 in Glacier Bay! The minute I started descending, I felt like I was back in AK. Ahhhhh....memories.

Not to bore you with a million lists of cool things we saw - but I will say a few. A couple brilliant nudibranchs (sea slugs are relatives of snails with no shell on their back), hungry sea stars, copper rockfish, kelp greenlings, and a GIANT PACIFIC OCTOPUS. I've posted a video below, listen closely and watch. I tell you this is an "octopus" and then see what happens! More photos are posted in Jay's picasa account - the link is to the left on the blog.

Karl and Jay getting excited for some diving

How an octopus greets a diver

Sea lemon nudibranch - probably Archidoris montereyensis but maybe Anisodoris nobilis

Copper rockfish

Triopha catalinea (Clown nudibranch)

Pycnapodia helianthoides (Sunflower star)

Quick update cause it's bedtime!

I'm off to bed in a few seconds, but here are a few pictures to check out. All the panoramics are from Eric, Jane, and Erik's (EJE) visit when we headed off to North Cascades National Park. The cat pictures, well, are they not simply too cute to avoid? I had to post them. The remaining pictures are in the Summer 2000 album or the EJE album (Julie's picasa album)!

We will have another interested update after next weekend because we are headed to BC (Victoria) for a wedding! We met Andy and Jen in Borneo and have kept in touch since, so it will be great to see them again in a completely different place than Borneo.

Lester and Jay have a snooze

Knitting partners

Diablo Lake

Buddies Jane, Eric, and Erik visit over the 4th

Eric and Jane, old pals from RI, made the haul over to the PNW this past week and spent last weekend with us. Oregonian and former Rhode Islander Erik from Eugene also drove up to Anacortes and it was just like olde tymes. The first day we braved the crowds on the WSF to the Juans (we are starting to use the local lingo...that's the Washington State Ferries to the San Juan Islands). What a day out there! We saw orcas from a distance as well as plenty of seals and harlequin ducks. Erik even went for a swim in the Strait of Juan de Fuca to beat the heat. Later we grabbed a beer in Friday Harbor then heard some blues down by the waterfront. Day 2 did not go completely as planned due to a shady bike shop and some bike equipment problems (indirectly related), but we did get in some mountain biking in the Anacortes forest lands and some swimming in Whistle Lake. In the morning Julie roped us all into picking some cherries off our cherry tree, luckily no one got hurt. Burgers on the grill that night were a highlight. Day 3 was an adventure east to North Cascades Nat'l Park...new territory for all of us and quite a treat. Amazing that it is essentially our back yard, only 1.5 hours from home. We oohh'd and ahhh'd at the mountain scenery and did a nice little hike up to the snowline...Jane tackled it with ease in spite of being several months pregnant. We (dudes) rounded out the day with a quick dip in glacial-fed Diablo Lake, then headed to the Rockfish Grill in Anacortes (via Dairy Queen) for some brews and chews. Sadly, the next day Erik, Eric, and Jane drove down to Oregon and we were left to go to work feeling bereft and buddyless. But we have every reason to believe, bike fiascos and cherry-picking aside, that they will return!

Eric and Jane catching some evening glow on the WSF from the Juans

Dinner (burgers)

The Picket Range from North Cascades National Park visitor center, Newhalem, WA

Several entry techniques were employed to enter Diablo Lake

Erik with one of the culinary delights (surprises?) enjoyed over the long weekend

Cherry chicks

Cherry picking

Old friends

My old friend Sarah came to visit for almost a week and we had a blast together. She dealt with the fact I still had a million not-so-fun things to do (I guess that is life) and we managed to find time for tons of FUN things to do too! We did a bunch of new stuff that I had not done before as well, so there was a fun element of discovery involved with the week. She arrived on Saturday and we all piled into the new car and drove up to Vancouver, BC for a day in the city on Sunday. I've never been to Vancouver before, so it was fun! What a GREEN city. It seemed there were parks everywhere. Jay and I were so happy to be surrounded by millions of different languages and people again, it felt nice to be in a big mixing pot of culture and people. Fun! And, Tink 2 met her first rock on the highway on the way there. Erghhhhh. 10 years, people, 10 years I drove in the Northeast without a single chip in my windshield. 6 months out here and FOUR chips (one is now a crack on Maggie, it cracked within seconds of the rock impact so there was no chance to repair it). Damn Washington roads. Anyway, we went straight to a store and got a windshield patch kit, Tink 2 is now ready for more rocks. Erghhhh...

Julie and Sarah with Vancouver in the background

Jay repairing the windshield on Tink 2

Gorgeous sculpture at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver

Jay and Sarah at the museum

She came on a nice little day hike with me alongside Baker Lake

It was crappy weather and we saw no mountains.

Sarah and Julie make wedding jewelry!!