Bellevue Sunset

 John's been spending most workdays back in the office. It's still somewhat empty, but comfortable and productive. With short winter days, whenever it's relatiely clear out, he sees a slightly different view of the sunset than from home.

Cougar Mountain Part 2

 On January 17, MJ and John returned to Cougar Mountain for their second hike to complete all the trails in the park. We parked at a different trailhead but in the same genearl north-eastern area of the park - we did a longer, though flatter, set of trails, touching on the set of trails we did two weeks ago, therefore extending the portion of the park we completed. MJ wore a mask for most of the hike, having gotten a positive test for Covid on Friday!

Cougar Mountain Trails - Part 1 of Many!

 John and Mary Jo set a goal in 2021 to hike all the trails in the vast Cougar Mountain Park. There are a little more than 35 miles of trails, winding their way through the park. While we have done some of them before, we decided to be more methodical this year to complete all of them.

We started on January 1, 2021 doing a 2.5 miles loop in a far corner of the park we hadn't been to before. It was a steep climb up, and we carefully noted on our map where we had and hadn't hiked so we can complete all the trails.

Big Sky 2020

Our Christmas ski trip was to Montana - Big Sky - this year. This is our third trip there, every other year since 2016, and we stayee in the same cottage we stayed in for our first trip there in 2016! 

MJ and the boys drove to Bozeman on Tuesday, making it all the way (10 hours) in time for dinner Tuesday night (at Backcountry Burgers in downtown Bozeman). John had flown there on Monday to continue working for a couple of days. 

On Wednesday morning we drove up to Big Sky and the boys skied off. We checked into the house that afternoon and got seven days of skiing in - the snow coverage wasn't as good when we first got there, but it snowed on Saturday which filled things in a bunch. Still, the tram to Lone Peak wasn't open, the boys stayed busy mostly on Powder Seeker and Challenger. John did most of the runs off Ramcharger (lines for a eight-person lift move much faster!) and Elk Park Ridge off Thunder Wolf. Mary Jo skied two days, mostly off Southern Comfort and Swiftcurrent. Joseph and Mary Jo also snowshoed one day. 

Everyone skiing was wearing masks and we cooked at home almost every meal, just one dinner out on Christmas night and a takeout another night. Our nights were spent playing shuffleboard (twice) and poker (twice - Mary Jo the big winner both times). 

We wound up leaving a little early so we could drive home ahead of a big storm coming across Washington, and all made it home safely to close out 2020!

Christmas 2020

Christmas fell on December 20 this year in the Rodgers household, as we opened presents on the Sunday before we headed to Big Sky. 

Big presents this year included ski gear for all (new skis for Joseph, boots for Jack, and gloves/backpack for Henry), books and assorted other things for John (air pump for bike, compact car vac), and a new large puzzle holder and bike helmet for MJ. 

The cats also got a new tunnel that attaches to their old one plus a automatic laser pointer.

Board games this year were so-so. Unstable Unicorns and Wits and Wagers.