Leavenworth and rafting

One of our summer adventures included a rafting trip down the Wenhatchee River and a stop in Leavenworth, Wa. Here are a few photos from that trip.

Leavenworth is an old German settlement on the east side of the Cascade Mountains.
A la Midway, UT or Helen, GA. for those from Utah. Quaint little town that we plan to return to during the winter.

 

(In honor of Raquel) this little town was just so darling :)

The local rock band. "The Lederhosens"

 

Maybe you've noticed a running theme through the posts of Schaefer with her Friday Harbor T shirt. (she does have other clothes). It is from our trip to the San Juan Islands. In her defense she is super cute in it, and also you would see I'm also wearing my San Juan Islands shirt all the time, except I'm taking the pictures :)

 

 

Expert rafter! We took the front (much to Schaefs dismay) and we.got.soaked! Poor Schaef was a bit cold as the water was frigid, but no one fell in. It was a blast!! Great river to ride.

 

Somebody get that guy some sun. Yikes...

You may be confused about what we are doing as we look like construction workers with life vests in these awesome on-size-does-not-fit-all helmets, but yes we are rafting. And it was great times on the river! We're taking others next year- who wants in??

Dry and warm Schaefer

Wet and cold Schaefer

 

This is our group. A strange bunch they were. The guy in the orange shirt was self-proclaimed most interesting man in the world who talked enough for 5 rafts, but oh well. We had a great time riding the front of the raft! More posts to come...

 

Emily and Jonathan come to Washington

We had a GREAT visit with Emily and Jonathan earlier this summer and wanted to share a few photos from a hike we did with them in Olympia National Park.
Emily is a long-time friend of Schaefer's beginning at their time at GCSU. She and Jonathan made a stop to visit us in Olympia after they finished their Alaskan cruise! (Jealous comments previously written were edited by the chief editing officer...)



Emily and Jonathan- We chose a hike that was new to us and we wanted to keep it short (ish). Little did we know Mt. Walker was short.... but also a quite steep hike. Worth the views though.

This is at the top looking further into the Olympics at Mt. Constance. Quite the view!

Canada is somewhere out that way...

 

Either my Camelbak exploded, or I need to choose an alternative hiking shirt. Nasty!

All of us at the top celebrating our victory over Mt. Walker. (hard fought as evidenced by the hidiously sweaty man previously pictured).

Now that's more like it. Schaefer and Constance

These views are facing away from the Olympics out over the Puget Sound toward Seattle.

Roomies and besties at the windy top (Alpha Delta Pi shout out)

Emily and Jonathan. They made the hike like they do this for lunch everday.

Downtown Seattle from across the Sound. If you look closely you can see the space needle to the left.

Look closely at the clouds and you will notice a massive Mt. Rainier poking through.

More besties

Back down to the finish. Coming down was tough. I would have preferred a sled and a helmet to make my way down the steep ramps. Glad we did it, as you can see the views are fantastic. Great company too! Thanks for coming to see us Emily and Jonathan! We had a great time with you and it means a lot to have people visit us up here in the NW.

 

Part III- The Return of the King... Whale.

***Spoiler Alert***
This post is picking up where part II ended. This is a spoiler alert if you have not yet read part's I and II. We return to your favorite expeditionaries Schaefer and Rob as they search the San Juan Islands for.... KILLER WHALES!


We were lucky to get some good shots of these guys. We saw at least 7 in this pod.

Here you can see the whole family out for a swim. Notice the last guy to the left as we caught the spray from the spout just right.

Same here with these two. They got the closest to us. We even had to cut the engine for a moment and let them pass.

Capt. Carli told us the males have the larger and more sharp looking dorsal fin, while the females have a curved shorter fin. Female here.

This is one of our best shots! We got it just right as this guy breached.
We have about 100 photos of just fins  poking out of the water trying to time it just right, but this one was one of the best! (think of the view these people in their homes have every May-Sept as the whales play in these waters).

These two came right past our boat and surfaced with a big loud spray from their blowholes! Notice the male and female. Doesn't seem that close, but they were likely 50 ft at most when they surfaced. It was awesome!

The departing shot of our whales! We really lucked out and had a wonderful time following these guys around. I'll go again with anyone that wants to come see the whales!

The Kirk House B&B in Friday Harbor

This place was AWESOME!! Can you see my excitement? Once again Schaefer finds the gem of  B&B's. This was one of the best places I've ever stayed. Cozy, fancy, pleasant, and the breakfast was like eating dessert for breakfast.

Old Victorian-style harbor in the north part of the island. Only the multi-million sort come this way. You don't dare moor anywhere else. There were plenty of yuppie sailors around here.

 
At Roche harbor with my incredibly cute wife of 1 whole year!

Lighthouse shot. Couldn't go this trip without getting a lighthouse picture on the island coast.

Another day of great sunshine! We went to a park called Whale Watch Park where you of course watch for whales. We had lots to do, plus we're whale experts by now, so we had to move on. Don't we look good?!

Overlooking Friday Harbor as we prepare to leave. We spent most of the day exploring the island and window shopping. It was a beautiful day!

Again overlooking the harbor while we wait for our ferry ride home.

These are dedicated to Dennis. We can't pass a sailboat without thinking about you.
A few sailboat shots with an incredible backdrop. The water and landscape are really spectacular!

Mt. Baker. One of many volcanoes along the Cascade Mountain Range

 
Cruising on the ferry. These are the outdoor seats. It's a bit windy as you can tell, but we had a great time on them. Nothing like wearing our coats in May!

I love all the different blues in this shot. This one turned out great! Can't you see yourself out there on that boat?!

This is called Deception Pass. This bridge connects some smaller islands we crossed on our way home. It in itself was a spectacular view!

At Deception Pass with the eagles. This bald eagle was perched in plain view. He was one large eagle. 

The passage between islands leading to the pacific. Our last great view as we head home.

This concludes the trilogy. 

Happy Anniversary Schaef! The best is yet to come as they say. One in the books, forever to go. Love you!