Lining up after a traversing to the Hemispheres 

Blue Bird Baker....Josh 

Schertzl..... 

A nice serving Mt. Baker 

Seattle Stats

As an admitted student to Seattle University's Law school, they have been sending me all kinds of information trying to get me to commit to their school. Alot of the literature is targeted to out of towners, so much of it is about the city and the area. Here are some of the things I found interesting:

• Population: Seattle 572,000 And suburbs 3,388,000
• Average Rainfall: Seattle - 36.2 inches, San Fran - 19.2 inches, New York City - 40.3 inches
• The Olympic Peninsula receives 160 inches of rain annually.
• 96 espresso stands in downtown, Seattle
• Seattle residents purchase more sunglasses per captia than the rest of the US
• Washinton State is know for apples, fine wines, asparagus, wheat and salmon...all of which I enjoy from the local producers.

Come visit :)

Seattle 

Does this mean I am drinking too much coffee? Rado made himself right at home at our coffee shop, this morning.  

Rado likes to try an catch/eat/drink dripping water. Caught in action here, looking kinda fierce. 

Rado meets Dizl. Dizl is our friends Erik and Jodi's dog. She is obviously the same breed and is about nine months old. When we started searching for a pup, we quickly realized how fanatic owners of this breed are. We have now become the same way...giving extra attention to other Berners. And the dogs definately know when they are with one of their own...its fun to watch.  

Rado on Daffodil Row 

We have become very popular people all of sudden. We can't go anywhere in public without everyone coming up and talking to us. He's a real conversation piece. And its easy to see why....he is pretty darn handsome! 

A very cool pic of the small eruption of Mount St. Helens on March 8th. It also shows our incredibly weak snowpack. 

The watering hole at puppy kindergarten. A very fun time where 10 puppies gather for lots of play and a little bit of learning....just like real kindergarten. Rado is the biggest guy in the class....but not the toughest.  

Spring has arrived. It actually arrived shortly after fall as we have had the driest and warmest record. But with all the daffodils and cherry blossom out, its now official. This picture is John St. on Capitol Hill looking west at the Space needle with the Olympic Pennisula in the Background.  

Rado's Mom 

Rado's Dad 

Rado and Porter 

He didn't take long to make himself comfy in his new home. Rado has been described as mellow more than once. 

Rado and his brothers and sisters.  

PUPPY!!!

The topic of getting puppy came up a couple months ago, and recently we began researching more seriously and even looking into local breeders and their litters. Well on Feb. 16th we picked up our new puppy. Very exciting and I already know that this is one of the biggest decisions I have made in my life. School, house, moving, jobs...they all feel small compared to being responsible for such a dependent being. I can't imagine what having a kid must feel like. Anyways, after a difficult period of coming up with a name, we chose Rado Falls. (Rado most of the time) Name after Jen and I's favorite part of Squaw Valley (where we met) to ski. Silverado is the proper name and we always looked forward to days off when we knew the conditions would be good. We would often spend the entire day riding this one lift. Well, I will once again let the pictures do the talking. I am sure there will be an abundance of photos to come as we are pretty proud parents....and of course, our puppy is the cutest puppy to ever walk the face of the earth. what do you think? Oh, by the way, Rado is a Bernese Mountain Dog.

Time for me to pipe in....

Ok, so if bush is going to go around spewing off about how Social Security is in crisis and throw around all sorts of false numbers, its time for all us little people to start fighting back in hopes that a hundred quiet voices even out one loud annoying one.

Lets start with this question. If SS is already going to come up short due to less workers than baby boomers retiring, and we (the workers) all decide to pull out some money and put it in "private" accounts, then HOW are we going to overcome the shortfall?

can somebody say tax increase.

Also, did you know, that you only pay SS tax on your income up to $90,000. So if you make $150,000 you pay the same into SS as someone making $90,000. Hello! Why not make everyone pay SS on all their income! Lets try some common sense.

More to come on this issue I am sure.

Another beautiful and unseasonably warm for this winter.  

An article posted in Canoe and Kayak Magazine about our trip down the Clendenning River in British Columbia this fall (see below for details) 

"Faces of the Fallen" An Impressionistic view of unaccountable leader. 

I'm In!

Just returned from a trip to Mt. Baker. When we arrived at home there was a letter in the mail from Seattle University Law School.....and they offered me a spot in their fall class. Very excited after a long road to get here. Still applying to the University of Washington, but it feels very good to have this offer.

Dave Gregory visits the NW and brings SNOW!

Dave Gregory (friend from school, Ecuador, The Grand Canyon and Squaw Valley) came up for a visit during his christmas break of graduate school. He flew in the day before our first "real" storm hit. The first day we spent touring around Seattle seeing some of the many sights that this future Landscape Architect would enjoy, going through the arboretum, UW, downtown to Pike's Place Market and the new Library, Lake Washington, Madrona woods, and our general neighborhood. That night we reviewed the storm details and set our plans for Mt. Baker. Friday morning we woke early and drove up to the mountain, and was greeted with over two feet of new snow. Needless to say the skiing was great and the visibility, very good as well. The skiing was so good we stayed up there two more days exploring the backcountry more each day. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the speaking. A short and certainly sweet visit, hopefully soon to be repeated.

To see lots of pictures of Seattle Sights and Mt. Baker skiing go to:
http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=909310332203&page=1&sort_order=0

Table Mountain

Mt. Shuksan

On the Mt. Herman Saddle.

Some notes about Mt. Baker: There are not many accomodations, and if you find a place to stay you can rest assured if you happen to forget tampons, toothpaste and brush or coffee, you are covered....everything else and you are on your own.