Before:
During:
After:
Yip. It's now a real Jeep and it runs great! :-)
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Colin's new Jeep - before and after
Colin finally got his new Jeep and we took it for a test drive this weekend to Eastern WA. Here are some before and after pictures:
Monday, August 23, 2010
What a busy weekend it was!
Friday: date night (as always). It was fun (as always) but both of us were exhausted, so we ended up going back home and going to bed early. Good thing, because the rest of the weekend was packed!
Saturday: bought a Jeep!! Colin got the 2-door Wrangler in dark green. Classic. We'll take off the back seats and just turn it into a 2-seat Jeep. He got a dual top (hard/soft), though we're hoping there's enough summer left to drive it without a top for a bit. That's what Jeeps are all about, right? We already have a bunch of roadtrips/hikes planned for the upcoming weekends, so we'll take it off the road soon...
After we spent the afternoon in the dealership, we rushed home, changed and went to the 2010/11 opening of the Seattle opera season. We bought season tickets again (our third year) through their Bravo club, which is open to the "young" opera goers (40 or less). They have some really fun events and we've very much enjoyed them. Before we started subscribing to the opera, we had membership to the Seattle Symphony for a few years, but although enjoyable, it ended up being kind of depressing because everyone else in the audience was above 85. It seems that the opera in Seattle attracts all sorts of ages and in particular, there are lots of young people. Their general director is one of the most amazing men we've ever met. Colin and I go to all of his lectures/Q&A and continue to be in awe of his immense knowledge, energy and wit (he's 74). I think he single-handedly has transformed the opera experience for Seattelites.
Anyway, we were a bit nervous about this one - 5 hours of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde! - but it was truly wonderful. We even went to the post-performance Q&A and didn't get home until past 1:30 am! I think Tristan could be my favorite opera, if only it were edited a bit more aggressively. In any case, it was really enjoyable.
Sunday: Colin had to work, so Tiger and I headed out to Eastern WA, in search for ghost towns. I'm thinking of doing a photo series on ghost towns in the Pacific NW. There're lots of them...remnants of the gold rush, former logging towns, mining towns, etc. Some have completely disappeared, some are semi-gone and some have reinvented themselves and have made a come back. I got a couple of old maps (100/150 years old), overlaid on a current map, which helps locate where the ghost towns are relative to today's roads & towns. I've also been digging around the Net a lot lately. Yesterday I was mostly in the area just on the other side of the mountains, but my friend Kathy and I are planning a trip to Okanogan county, which is 6-7 hours Northeast of here and where one can find a bunch of ghost towns. Something to look forward to in October.
The highlight of yesterday's trip was the town of Liberty, WA. It was a little gem of a ghost town, once a booming gold town. The surroundings are beautiful, there are lots of buildings still standing, but the best part of the visit was meeting Hawaiian Harry. Hawaiian Harry, who is indeed Hawaiian and must be in his 60s is one of the few residents of the town and owns a hotel! I chatted with him for a long time and he showed me around. What he told me was that there are only 15 inhabited homes in Liberty at the moment, but the town had up to 3,500 people back in the day. In the ~1880s, one of the main guys built a hotel (the same building) and offered cots for 50 cents/night to people who wanted to try their luck at panning for gold. Apparently, there was lots of gold in the area and after a few years, the hotel owner left the town with $2 million in his pocket! That's a lot of money for those days. Eventually, almost everyone left and the town died down. Fast forward 100 years: Hawaiian Harry fell in love with the general area and purchased a large property not too far from Liberty where he lived with his wife for a number of years. After watching the Liberty hotel on the market for 5 years, he eventually decided to buy it (for $180K), update it and move in. He now has 2 rooms that he rents - one has a NW feel to it and the other one has a Hawaiian decor (who knew one could sleep in a Hawaiian room in Liberty, WA!). I was a bit rushed but want to go back, take Colin there and sit down and listen to Hawaiian Harry at length...what a character! So, that was yesterday's adventure: 370 mi and the discovery of some pretty neat places that I'll have to go back to.
Saturday: bought a Jeep!! Colin got the 2-door Wrangler in dark green. Classic. We'll take off the back seats and just turn it into a 2-seat Jeep. He got a dual top (hard/soft), though we're hoping there's enough summer left to drive it without a top for a bit. That's what Jeeps are all about, right? We already have a bunch of roadtrips/hikes planned for the upcoming weekends, so we'll take it off the road soon...
After we spent the afternoon in the dealership, we rushed home, changed and went to the 2010/11 opening of the Seattle opera season. We bought season tickets again (our third year) through their Bravo club, which is open to the "young" opera goers (40 or less). They have some really fun events and we've very much enjoyed them. Before we started subscribing to the opera, we had membership to the Seattle Symphony for a few years, but although enjoyable, it ended up being kind of depressing because everyone else in the audience was above 85. It seems that the opera in Seattle attracts all sorts of ages and in particular, there are lots of young people. Their general director is one of the most amazing men we've ever met. Colin and I go to all of his lectures/Q&A and continue to be in awe of his immense knowledge, energy and wit (he's 74). I think he single-handedly has transformed the opera experience for Seattelites.
Anyway, we were a bit nervous about this one - 5 hours of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde! - but it was truly wonderful. We even went to the post-performance Q&A and didn't get home until past 1:30 am! I think Tristan could be my favorite opera, if only it were edited a bit more aggressively. In any case, it was really enjoyable.
Sunday: Colin had to work, so Tiger and I headed out to Eastern WA, in search for ghost towns. I'm thinking of doing a photo series on ghost towns in the Pacific NW. There're lots of them...remnants of the gold rush, former logging towns, mining towns, etc. Some have completely disappeared, some are semi-gone and some have reinvented themselves and have made a come back. I got a couple of old maps (100/150 years old), overlaid on a current map, which helps locate where the ghost towns are relative to today's roads & towns. I've also been digging around the Net a lot lately. Yesterday I was mostly in the area just on the other side of the mountains, but my friend Kathy and I are planning a trip to Okanogan county, which is 6-7 hours Northeast of here and where one can find a bunch of ghost towns. Something to look forward to in October.
The highlight of yesterday's trip was the town of Liberty, WA. It was a little gem of a ghost town, once a booming gold town. The surroundings are beautiful, there are lots of buildings still standing, but the best part of the visit was meeting Hawaiian Harry. Hawaiian Harry, who is indeed Hawaiian and must be in his 60s is one of the few residents of the town and owns a hotel! I chatted with him for a long time and he showed me around. What he told me was that there are only 15 inhabited homes in Liberty at the moment, but the town had up to 3,500 people back in the day. In the ~1880s, one of the main guys built a hotel (the same building) and offered cots for 50 cents/night to people who wanted to try their luck at panning for gold. Apparently, there was lots of gold in the area and after a few years, the hotel owner left the town with $2 million in his pocket! That's a lot of money for those days. Eventually, almost everyone left and the town died down. Fast forward 100 years: Hawaiian Harry fell in love with the general area and purchased a large property not too far from Liberty where he lived with his wife for a number of years. After watching the Liberty hotel on the market for 5 years, he eventually decided to buy it (for $180K), update it and move in. He now has 2 rooms that he rents - one has a NW feel to it and the other one has a Hawaiian decor (who knew one could sleep in a Hawaiian room in Liberty, WA!). I was a bit rushed but want to go back, take Colin there and sit down and listen to Hawaiian Harry at length...what a character! So, that was yesterday's adventure: 370 mi and the discovery of some pretty neat places that I'll have to go back to.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Erna's 90th birthday celebration
I finally got around to posting more pictures from Erna's 90th birthday celebration. You can see the slide show HERE.
M
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Wheels
Colin has finally decided to replace his 15-year old jeep with a more respectable car. We both love the jeep because it's super utilitarian and handy for our weekend activities. We've folded down the back seats and have lots of space to transport Tiger, chicken manure, garbage, tiles, camping gear or whatever else needs to make its way to or from the island.
However, the Jeep now makes painfully screeching noises, mysteriously stinks of curry (source unexplained for the last two years), and has layers of stains on the seats. Of course, there's also the ridiculous gas mileage, not to mention the impression the car makes when parked in the Microsoft parking lot.
So anyway, after much convincing, Colin has decided that it's time for change. He has narrowed down the selection to two curious choices: Jeep Wrangler (2 door) and Smart car. We test-drove those over the weekend, but didn't pull the trigger on either. So, maybe this weekend we'll end up with a new car? What shall it be?
Update: Two hours after I posted the above, Colin's Jeep refused to start. We may be buying a car sooner than this weekend!
However, the Jeep now makes painfully screeching noises, mysteriously stinks of curry (source unexplained for the last two years), and has layers of stains on the seats. Of course, there's also the ridiculous gas mileage, not to mention the impression the car makes when parked in the Microsoft parking lot.
So anyway, after much convincing, Colin has decided that it's time for change. He has narrowed down the selection to two curious choices: Jeep Wrangler (2 door) and Smart car. We test-drove those over the weekend, but didn't pull the trigger on either. So, maybe this weekend we'll end up with a new car? What shall it be?
Update: Two hours after I posted the above, Colin's Jeep refused to start. We may be buying a car sooner than this weekend! Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Family visit in Ontario
With three birthday celebrations (Erna's 90th, Colin's 37th and Vic's 67th) and lots of family members flying in from all over, it was one packed weekend!
Friday evening with the German side of the family:
Celebrating Colin's birthday on Thursday:
Making corn soup for Colin's birthday:
...and of course, his favorite ribs!
Colin displaying his abilities to handle snakes (dead, the grass type):
Erna driving herself to her 90th birthday party! More pictures of the party to follow.
WA trip
In the Colville National Forest (Northeastern WA)
On the banks of the Columbia river:
Tiger admiring the Grand Coulee Dam:
Images from the roadtrip through Eastern WA. The wheat fields were amazing!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Vacation is over...
After a fabulous week off, Colin and I are back to work. We spent a few days in WA camping and then headed up to Blue Mountain, ON to be with Colin's family and celebrate Erna's 90th. More pictures to follow...
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