Christmas in Seattle

We made the 2,306 mile aeronautic trek into my hometown of Seattle late Tuesday night (well, actually, my hometown in Edmonds…but those are just details). After a short weight at the baggage claim for our bags, we were off to the house.

Wednesday morning came around awfully quick.  Though, as is always my favorite – going from East to West means you naturally wake up kinda early.  Given I’m not an early bird, this is a bit of a cherry on top moment.

We (My brother, Dad, The Girl, and I) and began our short trek over to Stevens Pass ski area, about 90 minutes from Seattle.

IMGP8728Below is the life up the steep section to Seventh Heaven – with the toughest runs inbounds at Stevens, all double diamonds.  We saw, we conquered, and we moved on.   Though, the camera was regrettably not deployed during that section.

IMGP8731 This is my brother.  I have no idea what he’s doing.

IMGP8735I found a run named ‘Skyline’- which…is vastly different from the long 100 mile National Park road that I ride in the summer.

IMGP8738

It’s unclear what the sign is specifying here.  Likely it’s the jumps in the terrain park, but I certainly wouldn’t wanna be caught standing next to the arrow that says small.

IMGP8748 IMGP8757In the final few runs, the sun started to peak through the clouds.  It was always sorta poking around, but never quite as nice as until the end.

IMGP8762I played around a bit with the Real Ski App.  This is pretty interesting.  It allows you to use the camera and it overlays the run names/chairlifts, etc onto the image.  As you turn, it updates.  It uses an internal accelerometer, compass, and GPS to do this.

IMGP8772Here’s a quick few second video showing it rotating at the base with all the stuff automatically showing up on the screen.

You can get more info here (it’s free for some Ski Areas).  To be fair, while this is cool and interesting…it’s also by and large completely useless. ;)

Oh – and don’t forget to buckle-up!

IMGP8777

Here’s my little GPS track of the place using the Garmin Edge 500:

image

On the very last run, my brother and I raced from top to bottom.  We hit 50mph, which is still 20mph off of our recorded record.  We suspect given the conditions that day and with one more run with one of us spotting, we could have done 60mph probably.  Oh, and of course, I won. ;)

image

The next morning (Christmas Eve), the Girl and I bounced all over the Seattle area checking out places.  Even though I lived here 22 years, I found (after the fact), this pretty cool page with places to take photos in Seattle – check it out though if you’re planning a trip here.  Here’s a couple of quick pictures from the market:

IMG_8093 IMG_8102 IMG_8112IMG_8130That night my Dad and I put together the turkey brine, that’s him below doing the patented quad-pour of stock.  And I also cooked up a beef tenderloin roast, check out my carving job.  It’s pro.

IMG_8149 IMG_8151And then I wrapped up Christmas presents to put under the tree.  I even cut out little Santa heads from the wrapping paper as name labels.  Though, the panda bear on the left package got a bit of a head wound.

IMG_8188

And soon, before you knew it – it was time for Christmas!

IMG_8197 Check out these bike ornaments I got:

IMG_8206Or perhaps the little bike crank below.  It’s a compact crank.  Haha…get it? Oh..no? Go read this then.  It’s alright, soon you too will be a bike—wannabe-jedi (I’m not a bike jedi, just a wannabe).

IMG_8282

Can you beat this?

IMG_8215

My brother then cooked up some breakfast, here he is hard at work.

IMG_8231In the mean time The Girl and I went out for a run with view of the snow covered Olympic mountains and the Puget Sound.

image Upon our return, we were all put to work.  My initial job included the Quince Cranberry sauce that I make.  Good stuff.

IMG_8243 IMG_8252

Along the way Mr. Turkey came out of the oven too:

IMG_8256

And finally, it all ended up on the table.  And in my belly.  My belly was full.  Very very full.

IMG_8267 Oh – and then there was dessert.  Sooo good. The Girl puts the finishing touches on a pumpkin torte.

IMG_8278

Post dinner I spent a fair bit of time getting cozy with the printer.  I was printing off all of the confirmation information for the two week trip the Girl and I are embarking on.  I always like to have a paper copy of complex international vacations.  I don’t worry as much on business trips, but for vacations with over a dozen flights and half a dozen countries, little pieces of paper can sometimes save you.

IMG_0034

So with that…catch ya on the flip side (of the world…)…

FOUND THIS POST USEFUL? SUPPORT THE SITE!

Hopefully, you found this post useful. The website is really a labor of love, so please consider becoming a DC RAINMAKER Supporter. This gets you an ad-free experience, and access to our (mostly) bi-monthly behind-the-scenes video series of “Shed Talkin’”.

Support DCRainMaker - Shop on Amazon

Otherwise, perhaps consider using the below link if shopping on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. It could simply be buying toilet paper, or this pizza oven we use and love.

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked.
If you would like a profile picture, simply register at Gravatar, which works here on DCR and across the web.

Click here to Subscribe without commenting

Add a picture

*

4 Comments

  1. Wow, what a holiday. The meal looked fantastic. Gotta love bike ornaments, I got one this year as well. Safe travels!

  2. Very exciting! It looks like you got some cool gifts there. Have fun on your travels!

  3. Wow, What a great Christmas! LOve the snow!

  4. Those ornaments are off the hook..literally I suppose!

    Looking forward to the travels!