Vancouver, B.C.

May 21, 2013May 21, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 9 Comments

The sights and sounds of Vancouver, B.C. offered a truly international experience on our Canadian Sojourn this past weekend. We took to the city by foot and spent our time hiking along water fronts, through coniferous parks, and around urban plazas. Foreign language conversations echoed off of tall buildings and blended cacophonously with the sounds of car horns and seagull caws. Peruvian Chaufa, fresh Seafood and strange new vegetables nourished our bodies. We tried fiddleheads for the first time (delicious!).

On our final night in Vancouver, we stopped into a Cathedral to listen to a performance of Gregorian Chants. The Cathedral was dimly lit and a curtain of incense smoke hung densely in the air. One monophonic chorus after another rang high into the rafters of the vaulted ceiling of the ornate Cathedral; melodious reminders that life is grand.

While the women in the chorus sang, I was overwhelmed by gratitude for the beautiful family I have and the amazing adventures we find ourselves in.

On the way home from our Canadian Sojourn, my post-vacation rumination on this sentiment was interrupted by news of a natural disaster in the community in Oklahoma we called home for many years.

I was saddened to hear the news, but tonight as I watch the story progress I’m selfishly feeling grateful that my family is healthy, safe, and in tact. The time we spent in Vancouver this weekend furthered our bond with one another, and made it difficult to stomach the news of a climbing death toll in Oklahoma.

It’s hard to believe such tragedy is ongoing while we’re safe and sound in our calm, manicured suburb following a fun-filled yet restorative vacation.

The eyes of the world are on Moore, OK as things wind down around here. We hope friends and family back home are safe and that healing begins soon for the city of Moore.

And to Vancouver, B.C., we will to see you again after our Great Alaska adventure.

Wall Art from the Archives

September 11, 2012December 9, 2012 ~ Crystle ~ 13 Comments

I’ve got six months of gestation left before this kiddo comes. I don’t even know what we’re having yet but as far as I can tell from the sonograms, it’s a human. Whew! That being said, I’ve been thinking a lot about (gender neutral) baby room stuff. I know, gag. The baby room decor from major baby retailers has left an emphatic scowl on my face. I’m just not impressed. Aside from basic linens and an essential item here and there, I’ve decided I really don’t want to pull decor straight off a shelf. Goodness, I’m already way over thinking this…

In an unrelated turn of events, I went through all my old photos from the last 5 years last night. I have boxes upon boxes of film negatives, data CDs and prints from my earlier years of film photography. Scavenging through the photos, reliving my early college days was more fun than I thought it would be. But I thought to myself; what am I supposed to do with all these images?

Then it hit me. Why not pull some of my favorite nature prints from those old backpacking trips and make them into wall art for the future baby’s room? They’re certainly gender neutral enough! Suddenly my archive browsing brought on by boredom had a direction.

I’m still pulling prints from both the film and digital archives, but so far these are some of my favorites. I really like the soft light of the outdoors from a Colorado trip I took awhile back. I may take some filters to them in Lightroom or edit them otherwise. Not sure yet, but I’m sure I’ll be too excited not to share when the end product is at hand.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on which images you think might look nice either enlarged or on canvas!

Glacier Basin Trail – Mt. Rainier National Park

July 8, 2012December 9, 2012 ~ Crystle ~ 5 Comments

Today’s seven mile hike was wonderfully scenic, albeit a bit more snowy than we expected.

Earlier this week, Jay and I scouted out the Glacier Basin Trail from my favorite hiking guide for hiking Mt. Rainier National Park. We even checked on the trail conditions to make sure it was a reasonable expectation to reach our goal of seeing the Glacier Basin Camp.

In short, two valuable lessons were learned.

Lesson #1: When the trail forecast calls for 30% snowy conditions, it’s bound to be the highest elevation of the hike.

It was, and none of us had gaiters, trekking poles or crampons to help us trapeze the snowy trail. We managed, but it was a bit more difficult without these essential mountaineering items.

I hypothesize that with this gear, I would not have spent as much time sprawled out on the snow. Snow is cold, even in July.

Lesson #2: Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen!

I should have learned the sunscreen lesson on my whale watching tour last weekend, but alack. We all have red farmer’s tans on our left arms and now sit around the living room with taut, stinging sunburnt faces.

On a side note, summer has finally hit Tacoma (today it was 82). Since our house isn’t equipped with an AC, as the local climate doesn’t really call for it, the obvious solution for our mandatory sunburn cool-down is a big batch of Sunday evening margaritas. Call it a post-Mountain Margarita and make it a tradition. We just did.

Regardless of our snowy slip ‘n’ slide defined hike, a great time was had by all.

Mt. Rainier National Park is never a disappointment. The season should remain fair for another 8 weeks or so. Hopefully we’ll get in several more hikes, with sunscreen, before fall!