Cross-country skiing and paddling in the Hood Canal

What great fun we have had the past few weekends. I love snow and even though the snow we received was short-lived, it was a sweet time. We drove up north two weeks ago and hit the cross-country trails at the base of Mt. Baker. The most exciting news is that we stopped in Bellingham along the way and I got a new pair of cross-country skis!!! I kept looking online on Craigslist to find a used pair, but felt like giving up because everyone was selling their crappy gear. Well, I already had a crappy pair of skis and boots. In fact, I think I've had those skis since middle school? I have good memories associated with those skis and boots - Lake Placid ski trips in high school with our dear friends the Lockmans, skating down Narragansett Beach with my friend Erik at night, many solo trips into the woods behind UNH while I was in college, and even playing in the apple orchards behind my parent's house either with or without my parents. So I send those skis off to a thrift shop with a fond farewell. I will miss them. But my new skis are totally cool and my boots are silver! I love silver! And we got a good "end-of-season" deal....

What a day!

Well, you can't really see the new stuff - but it is there and I was happy (but beat by the end of the trail - we were out for hours and it was awesome).

The Nooksack River and Jay relaxing

Last weekend was fun too! Instead of hitting the mountains, we hit the water. I had to go to a conference on growing shellfish on WA beaches - and it just happened to be at a swanky resort along the Hood Canal. Jay and I both went down on Sunday....he got up early and headed back north early Monday morning to work and I spent two more days at the resort. We brought the kayaks and went for a paddle at the mouth of the Skokomish River. We saw a new bird!! The canvasback duck!!! I don't have pictures, but it was a treat to see a new duck and it was a beauty. Actually, "it" was a whole big flock.

After our paddle we hit up the swanky resort - the Alderbrook Resort. Normally rooms are all over $200 a night. But for the conference they were only $77 and we didn't have to pay a dime because I was there for work. We got there early to take advantage of the place. It was a really beautiful resort with a great window seat in our room, a big pool and hot tub, and even two saunas! We hit them all up. We also ate at the yummy restaurant for a treat - and although they served Chilean sea bass (a real pet peeve of mine) the veggos options were tasty.

Barrows goldeneye

Paddling the Hood Canal

Alderbrook Resort