Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving Lauren and I piled into my Honda and attempted the drive down to Eugene to visit Mom. I knew it was going to be quite the long trip, because only two days earlier we had been hit with four inches of snow, which had subsequently melted and then turned to ice in the sub-teen temperatures. For some odd reason no one up here knows how to drive in bad weather, which is very ironic considering the weather is bad 350 days out of the year. Add that to the fact that the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for traffic and the conclusion is that my car better be very comfortable. Lucky for us the maintenance light came on about 80 miles into our trip. Getting down to Oregon was the worst by far, taking the majority of the 8+ hours of driving. Once past the border, it wasn't bad at all. Of course we did stop at Burgerville on the way down, which has become a tradition for Lauren and I on our trips down south. Who can pass up the best fast food on earth?!

Mom made a great Thanksgiving dinner with everything one could eat. After eating to our hearts content we played Take 4 and Cribbage. Of course Mom won on the first game, and Lauren dominated Cribbage, leaving me to watch football in my defeat.

The following day it was off to the big game. #1 Oregon v. #24 Arizona. And what a game it was! All of us went shopping before the game to get our "spirit" on. We yelled and screamed for hours, which all payed off as Oregon ran away with a 48-29 romping.

The Dunes at Florence, OR

Yep, this happened back in September when Lauren and I drove down to Eugene to visit Mom. The weather worked out perfectly and during one of the days we drove to Florence so have a little fun in the sand. First we walked around Honeyman State Park, then our journey got a lot more exciting with a ride in a sand dune buggy, driven by a very interesting character.... to say the least. As you can see from the photo of us in the buggy before we head out, Mom does not look to pleased with the scenario. But we all survived and after taking some time to get the sand out of every nook and cranny of our clothes, nose, ears, and hair, it was off to a burger joint where we sat in classic car table. A great weekend and a lot of fun!

Happy Halloween!

I'm pretty sure the world celebrated Halloween a day early, on Saturday night. I know in Monroe for sure, since I was working last night. The city was going crazy up until almost 3 am. I was running ragged from one party to another, trying to keep the drunks from beating on each other. It's rather sad when I compare my own childhood to what I see now. Of course, I was just a little naive kid back then, trying to get loads of candy to munch on for the next few weeks. Tonight, it was pouring down rain. Very few, if any kids, were out trick or treating. But thousands were partying the night away, and making my shift rather painful. But everything is good in the world, because Oregon beat USC. Sweet! Now at 8-0, only four more games on the march to Glendale, Arizona.

Extra! Extra!

Just in case you wanted to see it, here is a link to the hike in Hawaii I wrote about a couple blogs back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEccgWmrJ6o

Still alive...

Yep, that's right. I'm still alive and kickin'. I've had a rough last few weeks with three classes at school, lots of overtime at work, and a job I'm not sure how long I will have. As with the rest of this country, little ol' Monroe isn't doing so hot in the economic category. Unfortunately the city council has directed most of the budget cuts at the police department... because horror of all horrors, we spend the most money! Gasp! Of course, there are other options, but two blind eyes seems to be the word or the day. After two layoffs in the past month and at least five other positions where officers have left and their positions were unfilled, that leaves us with the same number of patrol officers which were on staff in 2000. The average citizen might not find that alarming, until they realize the number of dispatched calls in the city has doubled during that time frame to a whopping 40,000. As a result of the latest layoffs, minimums (that being the minimum number of officers on duty to patrol the city) has been lowered to reduce potential overtime. Hmmm... does anyone see a drawback to that? Perhaps maybe a little thing called safety? Not just for the officer, but also for the citizens. But I digress. After all, it can't be that important. Especially after the latest research shows the average cost to a city if a murder occurs is a cool million.

This week a possible end to the crisis has potentially been found. As of right now, every penny has been cut from anything considered non-esential, which includes training. The coffers have been cleaned out, maybe even blow dried, because you would be hard pressed to find a single drop. We have been warned that if anything out of the ordinary were to occur, more officers would lose their jobs. What they mean by out of the ordinary is a major crime inducing overtime and added cost. Isn't that ironic. If criminal acts up, I go down in flames.

Birthday Bash!

Happy Birthday Adriel!!!! Have a fantastic day and I wish you the best in your 34th year. Wish I could be down there to help you celebrate.

Our little place of paradise

Here are a few pictures of the place we stayed at. The home was almost thirty miles north of Kona, on the northwest side of the island. This is also the driest part, so if we were looking for rain, it was the wrong part of the island. I think they get about two inches of rainfall a year here.

The front of the house

From the front porch looking in

The view from the living room

No explanation needed

Making dinner... one night we had ono fish and another evening was an amazing succulent filet mignon.

The sunset from our backyard

Operation "Dinner Out"

If you don't get the title, just watch the movie "Spy Game". On the evening of our second to last night on Hawaii, I took Lauren to an outdoor restaurant with nothing in the way of the ocean view. We enjoyed watching the sunset while eating delicious food.

Just the two of us

Can't beat this dinner table view!

Lauren

Another picture from our table

Me

Helicopter tour

On our second full day on the Big Island, Lauren and I took a two hour helicopter tour so we could take in a different view of how beautiful this place is. Neither of us had ever flown in a helicopter before, so it was really exciting. I was doped up on dramamine and Lauren did get a little sick about halfway through, but the sights were amazing.

We used Blue Hawaiian and our pilot was fantastic, with an abundance of knowledge of the island

Just before takeoff

The Pu'u 'O'o vent from above

Lava escaping the tubes and gushing into the ocean

Same as above... but notice the village in the background. They were just "lavaed" out a few months back and relocated only a few hundred yards away. Hmmm... doesn't seem too bright... maybe it's those gasses.

The northeast side of the island is covered with huge cliffsides reaching over 1,000 feet. This creates amazing waterfalls dropping straight into the ocean below. There is evidence on the cliff walls of tsunamis reaching the tops of them. Some parts of the island record annual rainfall of over 400"!

Hiking the Kahauale'a Trail to Pu'u 'O'o vent

This trail is marked many times with warning signs to "keep out", "closed" or "danger, do not enter". There was even a helipad rescue area half way into the hike. But trusting my guidebook that it was open to the public, we ventured on through the rainforest. Roundtrip it was an ankle breaking nine mile hike, up and down old lava, over and under trees with occasional sudden cracks in the earth. We made it to the end, where the forest comes to a screeching halt, and vast fields of lave are all that remain. The Pu'u 'O'o vent is the only active volcano on the Big Island at this time. The lava flows under the earth's surface through multiple lava tubes until reaching the ocean a few miles away. If you plan on hiking this trip, make sure to keep your nose clear. If you smell something funny, it would be the sulphur dioxide from the vent, which spews 1,500 tons of the gas each day. Once in a blue moon, the wind won't be blowing in the normal direction, making the hike a deadly encounter if you continue on.

From the forest to the lava

Looking at the Pu'u 'O'o vent

Close up of the steam rising

Chillin' on the lava field... we had lunch here

Admiring the "big crack" (not the plumber type)

Photo from another hike, looking back at where we hiked originally. You can see the Pu'u 'O'o vent in the middle-right of the picture, along with the edge of the forest where we came out.

Quick update

The last few weeks have been a blur. It started out with a quick move, which always ends up being way more work than you originally think. I moved out of the house where I had been renting a room from a co-worker. I'm still living in Monroe, in a three bedroom/two bath townhouse about the same distance to the police department. Now that I officially have a dedicated guest bedroom, I will be requiring all of you to visit me :-)

After three very long days of packing and unpacking, I was off to acompany Lauren on another dressage competition, this time on Whidbey Island, near a little town called Coupeville. We arrived back home on Sunday evening, and the following morning, the two of us took off for Hawaii. One of her dressage sponsers was gracious enough to let us use the house she owns on the Big Island. It was an amazing week with incredible weather, hiking, snorkeling, great food and sunsets. We even toured the island on my very first helicopter ride!

Now I'm back (to earth) and at the beginning of fifteen straight work days as our PD powers through the Evergreen State Fair right here in little ol' Monroe. I'll post pics of the last few weeks as I have time and start to settle in a little more into my new place.

Dust... it's everywhere!

Riding Watson's Gift (aka Watson)

The last four days (Thursday-Sunday) I spent down in Sherwood, OR, at DevonWood Equestrian Center. Lauren was having a show and competed with both her horses, Watson's Gift and Descartes. This was my fourth equestrian event this summer, and by far the largest. DevonWood is a huge facility and there were lots of horses. The competition started out a little rough with both horses deciding not to cooperate. But Descartes ended on a good note, riding to third place on his second and last performance of the weekend.

Descartes (above and below)

DevonWood is known as one of the largest equestrian facilities in the Northwest. The competition is fierce as riders come from all over to show against some of the best in the area. On Friday I watched the best horse I've seen in person so far, competing at the Grand Prix level, which is the highest in dressage. Saturday's freestyle event, which entails background music choreographed to the horse and rider's movements, attracted a crowd of approximately 400. Even though it was exhausting, especially in the upper 90's heat (not too mention starting off after another all-nighter), I had a lot of fun experiencing a well known show.

Face shot of Descartes

If there was one adjective to describe the last four days, it would be "dusty". With trucks passing by, hundreds of people walking, and hundreds of horses riding around the dirt paths, dust was being stirred up everywhere. There was no way to avoid it. Even after two Clariton a day, I was sneezing constantly. It's never a good sign when you blow your nose and enough dirt comes out to blacken a kleenex. Even the horses were sneezing! Whoever can invent some system to create a dustless barn will be a bazillionair.

Bowing to judges after riding Watson

For now it's back to work again. Just two days, then two straight days of training before one day off. On Saturday, I'll be taking Lauren down to Vancouver, WA for my co-workers wedding and head back up on Sunday before working that evening. Until then...

Las Vegas

This post will be super short. I went to Las Vegas on my three days off. The end. Well, maybe not that short; but as they say, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. I was there for a bachelor party of another police officer I work with. There was a group of ten of us who all flew there from Washington for the three day weekend. I had to work the night before, so after work early Friday morning, I took a quick shower, finished packing, and headed out the door. I slept some on the flight down, but as we all know, sleeping on plane flights is about relaxing as Chinese water torture.

Arriving in Las Vegas, I drove down to Lake Mead to spend the afternoon swimming and jet skiing right by Hoover Dam. Then it was time to head "home", at a house being rented only a few miles from the strip. The rest of the weekend was spent at various clubs, casinos, and restaurants, including a quick stop at Pawn Stars, the pawn shop featured on A&E. We also hung out with Gavin Smith (famous poker player) and was about three feet from Doyle Brunson, who is known as the greatest legen in poker history. He would be the equivilent to poker as Babe Ruth is to baseball.

It was a fun weekend and ended much too quickly. I got back into town about 1 am on Monday, and started working a few hours later.

Wacky Nut Farm

Two weekends ago Lauren and I made our way over to Bainbridge Island for a lovely weekend. Lauren had been invited to demo for a dressage clinic at Wacky Nut Farm. It was an amazing 20 acre farm with an on-site bed & breakfast, barn, indoor and outdoor arena, and many walking trails to take your horses on. The camp was instructed by Henrik Johansen, a well known Swedish instructor who has been training dressage for over 35 years. I sat in on some of the instruction, and watched Lauren ride Decartes as she gave examples of Henrik's teaching.

Grooming Descartes for his demo ride

(Below) Kayaking in Eagle Harbor

It was perfect weather and we took advantage, kayaking Eagle Harbor with views of the Seattle skyline, eating great food, walking around charming downtown Winslow, and enjoying the ocean breezes from the deck of our rental home. The ferry rides were enjoyable, other than having to entertain the horse during the multiple hours waiting in line. I was made very aware that horses don't mind being in a moving horse trailer, but things get much more complicated when you stop. We made it back succesfully and back to work I went. This summer has been quite exhausting. I've spent almost every day off doing some sort of activiy. Summer is only half over and so much has already been done. At this rate I'll be more than ready for school to start! Next week: Las Vegas.

Some really good pizza!

It's official!

I'm calling it now. It's way overdue. It is officially summer. Unfortunately in Western Washington, summer rarely begins before the 4th of July, as was the case this year. But the afternoon of the 5th was pretty nice, and beginning to get warm. Then a heat wave overcame us and people are lining up at stores for window air conditioners. The last two days have been in the upper 80's and today may even reach into the 90's. I've been waiting for this and am very excited for the warm weather.

In other news... my house in Eatonville finally sold. That was a very long 3+ year journey. It may be another three years before I am free and clear of it. But getting the house sold was a huge first step and I'm very happy to see it go.

Lauren and I drove to Seattle this past weekend to go Kayaking on Lake Union. We arrived too late and ended up walking around the marina on the south end. A classic wooden boat show was taking place and we were able to take tours of the inside of some very antique ships. Lauren also spotted an ice cream stand, which of course we had to try. They had some of the most delicious ice cream I have ever tasted. It was hand made and from a dairy on one of the San Juan Islands. It's a good thing I don't live there or I would be gorging on it every day.

Last week I went to the doctor because he wanted to remove two pieces of sun damaged skin from my back. I've been pretty bad about getting sun burned. When you spend most of your life in really hot places, like Indonesia and Florida, it's hard not to. This doc must have dug pretty deep, because in the end I had eleven stitches. Ouch! It's only the second time in my life that I've had stitches, and hopefully the last. I really don't like them and am really happy to have them taken out in less than an hour. So I'm off... back to the doctor to get them taken out. Then it's time to take the motorcycle out. Have to take advantage of the great riding weather!