Saturday, July 27, 2019

Henry's Political Leadership Camp in DC

Henry spent a week on the campus of American University in Washington D.C. for a National Student Leadership Council camp centered on politics and public policy. It was an amazing experience he enjoyed quite a bit. Mary Jo flew out with him (and then spent the rest of the week on the East Coast, in upstate NY/Vermont with Maureen and DC with Janet and then Margaret; she also got to go to a Nats game!).

Henry's week included a senate simulation (he was a Republican Senator for Kentucky), a campaign simulation (he was a communciations director for a presidential campaign), and lots of 'behind-the-scenes' tours, including of the Pentagon, Monuments, Museums, and Capitol Hill. He got to see the Senate Office Building and heard a talk from Todd Young, Senator from Indiana. Photos from the camp were posted on their blog, including these.




Friday, July 19, 2019

O Canada ... again!

Even though the month was not yet halfway complete, John had his second trip to Canada this month, going to Calgary with Jack for the Babe Ruth Regional Tournament.

We got there two days early, and went up to Kicking Horse to do a Via Ferrata. Unfortunately, there was a thunderstorm so the outing was canceled. It was nice to be there just five months after skiing there - and beautiful scenery!

Not able to do the adventure, we stopped in at Emerald Lake Lodge, and then on to Banff for a nice steakhouse dinner. The following day we drove down to Calgary and got some luge-go-karting in before heading to the baseball opening ceremonies.

Lakeside didn't do all that well in the tournament. There was an odd format and a very tough draw - you play four random teams of the 9 teams there, and four advance to the finals. All four of Lakeside opponents wound up in the final four, and Lakeside went 1-3, and did better against the opponents than other teams. Jack pitched two shutout innings in the second game loss.

Jack at Kicking Horse

Jack at Emerald Lake Lodge

The Lodge at Emerald Lake

View of Mt Rundle from our hotel in Banff

Olympic Training Centre in Calgary

They've turned the Luge Training track into a cart-track

Jack on the mound in Calgary






Jack Pitching at Issaquah

Jack got the start on Friday 7/12 against EBC at Issaquah High School. He pitched 5 strong innings, giving up just two runs, en route to a 12-2 victory.



2011 to 2019 !

We had visited Port Angeles for Memorial Day weekend back in 2011. We had Joseph stand in the same spot 8.25 years later for another photo! He's gotten a little taller...


Port Angeles for the Fourth

Three of us celebrated two countries' independence days in the space of four days as Joseph, Henry, and Dad went from Whistler to Port Angeles, Washington in time for the Fourth.

Jack had a baseball tournament in Port Angeles, so all five of us met up there for a few days, before Henry and MJ peeled off for Henry's exciting camp in Washington DC (Joseph left as well to spend the weekend in Bellevue). But we had lots of opportunity to do fun things in P.A.

Joseph, Mary Jo, and John went sea kayaking around Port Angeles harbor early morning on the fourth 

Seastar spotted on our kayak ride


We also went out to Salt Creek Park - site of many a cross-country meet back in the day


Fireworks over the Port Angeles waterfront - great view from the balcony of our hotel room! 


Lakeside Babe Ruth 18U team

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

O Canada!

After our hike of Sahale Arm, Joseph, Henry, and I continued up to Whistler. Our visit coincided with Canada Day, so we were able to celebrate the 152nd anniversary of the establishment of the country.

Whistler Village 

We did one of the longest ziplines in North America - from Blackcomb Mountain across the valley to Whistler Mountain !


Video of Joseph and Henry takign the zipline!

We also mountain biked Whistler. Pretty intense!

We went up to the top of Whistler Mountain for some great scenery



On the way back to the US we stopped in Vancouver

"The Border"

Welcome back to the USA


Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Sahale Arm !

The Sahale Arm hike is one I had talked about doing for years, and on a sunny Sunday in late June, Joseph, Henry, and I finally completed the epic Northwest hike!

The hike takes you deep in the rugged terrain of North Cascades National Park - a beautiful park but one not easily accessible beyond the main road that winds through the mountains. To do this hike we took the Cascade River Road 23 miles in from Marblemount (partly unpaved) to get to what has been described as one of the most scenic parking lots in the nation! From there we hiked 6.5 miles up through forest, across snowfields, through meadows, past lots of animals, to the foot of the glacier that leads to the top of Sahale Mountain. 

The scenery was unbelievable - I took over 200 photos myself and the boys took many more. Here are a few of them: