Sunset of the Year

Friday night, 9/24, featured the brightest sunset of the year, as the mix of clouds with the setting sun lit up clouds not just near the horizon but throughout the sky!

Coeur d'Alene

Back in February, when the three of us had gone to ski at Whitefish and Schweitzer, we had booked a hotel room in Coeur d'Alene as a place to stay between the two. Our plans changed mid-trip, and we moved the hotel room out, and John and Mary Jo finally went in September.

Coeur d'Alene (CDA) is a small city right on I-90 on a large lake in Idaho. The lake is in a beautiful spot, surrounded by mountains with lots of boats and ringed by beautiful lakehouses. We stayed at the Coeur d'Alene Resort, which is right on the lake near the "downtown" area, and had a room with balcony overlooking the lake. It was a short trip but very nice!

On the way to CDA, we stopped in Spokane at the O'Doherty pub

Naches Loop Hike

On Labor Day, Henry and John went up to Chinook Pass to hike Naches Loop. It was socked in with clouds when we got up and we thought we wouldn't have much visibility, but the clouds cleared to a clear blue sky as we approached the pass, and it was a wonderful day weather-wise.

The hike was relatively short (4 miles) and flat, and filled with families with young kids. Despite the crowd, we got to see some great scenery, walking by a few lakes and having great views of Rainier. Henry also did a short 2-mile spur down to another lake.

Kayaking at Lake Keechelus

On Sunday of Labor Day weekend the three of us loaded the kayaks in the car (including MJ's inflatable) and headed up to Snoqualmie Pass. While it was a bit cloudy in Bellevue, once we got over the pass it was clear blue sky. We went over to Lake Keechelus, which was fairly crowded with campers and dirt bikers. We dropped our kayaks in the lake and had a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains while we paddled around. Very nice afternoon!

John Turns 53

John's birthday was the Friday before Labor Day weekend, so he took the day off and had a very nice, relaxing birthday. Mary Jo and John went to a very nice breakfast at the restaurant in the Hyatt, kayaked through Mercer Slough, and for dinner the three of us went to a wonder sushi dinner at Ginza in downtown Bellevue. For dessert  Mary Jo got a wonderful set of 12 bundt cupcakes from a shop nearby, with six-plus flavors, including White Chocolate Raspberry (John's favorite), Carrot Cake, Lemon Raspberry, and Chocolate Chocolate Chip.