still catching up.....

Hello again,
Yes I'm still trying to play catch up on our pics from over the summer. Ugh! What will happen when I have a baby to take care of........ I'll still try to post, but I may be posting about the baby! I guess that won't be a bad thing!

So let's go back to Aug and my trip back to MN and then to MI to visit family. Erik was also in MN in Aug for a short time but I had the camera! I was actually only in MN for a very short time. Arrived last on a Wed night. Left EARLY on Friday morning with Mom to drive to Muskegon, MI. I realy wanted to see all the family there since I hadn't seen them since my cousin Rory's wedding 4+ yrs ago.  Mom and I had a very good trip together considering we did a lot of driving and we with each other 24/7 for 4 days!  So we headed across WI to Manitowok (sp??). There we hopped on the ferry that took us to Ludington, MI. I think it was about4-5 hrs, now I can't remember.   It was a nice trip, we took naps and talked and read. Great way to travel. 
Once in MI we spent 2 1/2 days seeing family. It was so great to see everyone!!! And thanks to Chere for having an ice cream social so we could see all the adults and meet the newest Gardner, Louie!  So adorable.  Before we knew it it was time to travel back. Well, that was an exciting cast off on the ferry! The wind was whipping across Lake Michigan. We thought we were going to get to spend all day on the lounge chairs out in the sun and there was no way! The chairs we blowing around and everything. So we found a good table in the cafe where we had good views and still enjoyed the trip.  Then I was home in MN for about a day and a half and then flew back to Seattle. A whirlwind trip but well worth it! Love to my Michigan family!!!!

        

Pulling in to pier in Ludington

Back end of ferry where they off load the cars

Grandma noticed the pic of her between Mom and her!

Me and my Grandma!

At Pier Marquette

Mom and Me in the wind and the sun

The lighthouse and a passing gull

Loving all the bright blue that day!

Grandma meets Louie

Looks at the waves!

Small lighthouse at the Ludington Pier



Laughing in the wind



More laughing.. love this one!

Hope you enjoyed!

New apartment

Hi Folks!
This past weekend Erik and I moved to a new bigger apartment. I made this video meaning to send it to only a few family members cuz it's a cheezy video but it was too big to send via hotmail. So all of you now get to see the cheezy video of me showing off our new apartment! Enjoy! I had to upload it to youtube to get it to work so you'll have to click the link.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q41T_Hz1Qo
PS: Now that we're moved I plan on still posting pics from my MN trip and my TX trip so stay tuned.

Pics from Olympic Penn.

NOTE: See below for first new post!!!

So I was telling you that we camped in the Olympic Penninsula in Sept. We had good weather until Sat night then it rained and rained but we still had a great time. Here's some of the pictures from the weekend.

Morning Sun on the beach



Cresent Lake in Olympic Nat. Park




Nice warm hobo stew on a cold rainy night




Begining of the Dungeness Spit




Typical PNW coast line




Awwwwww!




Our new city, Seattle! as seen from the ferry.



Summer/Fall 2010 recap

Hi Folks,

I know, I know!! It's been way to long. I am sorry but I just didn't have the motivation to post. Not sure why, maybe it has to do with being pregnant and my mind being elsewhere! Who knows. Well, I thought I would put up a post or two to recap the past several months. They were good ones.

In August we did a little hiking and travelling back to MN.

We hiked Rachel Lake. Didn't get any great pics of the lake because some clouds blew in and sort of obscured it. But it was a great hike over all. About 7 miles, 4+which was flat and then a mile of straight up, and mile of straight down!  Here's one pic. of me hanging out resting by a small waterfall.

Then we were both in MN for a while. I had the camera. I think I'll make a second blog post about that trip. When we returned to Seattle we hiked up to Iron Mtn. Totally reminded us of hiking in MT. It was on the East side of the cascades so it was drier and the vegitation was similar to MT. Again, not the best pictures that day. Here's me at the pass we hiked to.

Then over Labor Day weekend my parents came out to visit up. It was really fun to have them in our new city and show them around. We got to hang out with Aunt Kay and see some really cool places. The first evening they were here we took them to the Museum of Flight, a MUST if you are visiting. Very fun place. Here's a couple shots from our visit there.

Then the next day Aunt Kay picked us up, except Erik since he was at work, and we went to Tacoma to the Museum of Glass.  We all loved the "Hot Shop" the best. That is their actual glass making studio. Dad and I sat in there the longest, it was really fun watching them because the pieces they were making were so big!

Under the Glass Bridge



Guys in the Hot Shop

Of, course we took a trip to Pike Place Market, no pictures from that day for some reason... But I think they had fun while they were here!

Then in Sept we went on our second camping trip of the year! We hopped a ferry and went over to Olympic Penninsula.  Monika came with us and we had a great time. Did a little hiking, checked out Dungeness Spit, a long sanddune that sticks out into the San Juan Straight, and tried to dodge a little rain. It was great to be out in the woods again! See next post for pics from here. blooger isn't cooperating very well today........

Finally in Oct I took a trip to see Tara in Austin. Check for those trip details in an upcoming post....

Well, Hope you all are doing well. Watch for the new posts soon!

Mt Baker

See post below too for Sat's hike!

On Sunday we hiked on the south side of Mt. Baker. We were attempting to get to a lookout but once we got up high enough there was so much snow we went a different way. It was a much steeper hike but so beautiful. 

Here's one of our first good view of Baker.

Here's us partway up Railroad Grade trail.

Me hiking on Railroad Grade. The left side is where the old glacier pushed up all the rocks. Some places were very steep on both sides. I tried not to think about it....

Here I am on the edge of the moraine lip, past me is where the big glacier had pushed through. 

Erik enjoying the view from the trail.

The trail back down.

Coming down was much easier! Again we did alot of foot skiing or sliding on our butts!

Aren't we cute? The mountain's pretty cute too!

View of Baker from the start of the trail.

Maple Loop Pass

So we had to get out, yes, get out of the city and camp! We could only manage one night with our comflicting work schedules. On July 17+18 we headed to the Northern Cascades to enjoy the views. We found a great little campsite off the road a bit so it was really quiet and private. On Sat we did a hike recommended by Monika and Anders, Maple Pass Loop. It was spectacular!

We started out around 4800ft elev. and topped out at about 6600ft. We went around two nice lakes Lake Ann and Rainy Lake. One we could get really good view of from the trail but Rainy Lake was obstructed by some trees, darn trees, J/K. It was all gorgeous. Here's me on the trail with Lake Ann in the background.

We kept climbing and eventually got to the snow!  This trail usually has amazing wildflowers but they got a lot of late spring snow this year so it was still covered.  This next shot is a view of Black peak and Lewis Lake from Heather Pass. 

Here's a view of the trail from Heather Pass over to Maple Pass. Lots of snow!

Here I am hiking up the snowfield.  (Erik had the camera that day, just wait he'll get a couple pics in here...)

Lake Ann from Maple Pass. Can you spot the trail we were on where we took the first picture? It's on the left side of the lake up on the hill a little bit.

Keep on climbing Tonya! (BTW, climbing/hiking in snow is not as easy as a nice gravel trail. Think hiking in sand!)

Ok, see Erik was with me! Here we are after a little lunch at Maple Pass. I think we look short in  this picutre. Or maybe it's just that the mountains are soooo tall! 

Here's me with Corteo Peak and Black Peak in the background. Isn't that a cool picture????

Here we are at the highest elevation point.

Here's a view of Rainy Lake on the trail down through the trees. We did have a lot of fun going down. We did a lot of sliding of foot skiing, well Erik did that I mostly went on my butt. It was such a warm day you dried right off, plus it was cool and refreshing.

Look what I saw today....

Mt Rainer in all it's glory. Beautiful Bianchi. Fabulous flowers. Don't you love the color? Sophie is hiding from the heat!