Roller Coaster Ride

It's been quite a while since I last updated you all on my latest adventures. I've spent the last few weeks studying hard about flash photography and I finally picked up my own flash! I figure that it will be one of my most useful tools. The past month has been quite interesting, as my boyfriend broke both his collar bone and ankle, both requiring surgery. It's been a struggle figuring out transportation and just finding easier ways for him to get around other than the useless and bulky crutches. With just a few more weeks in a cast, I think he will heal up just in time for the Seattle summer, and we can start camping!

Also in the past few weeks, both David and I had birthdays! I took him to a motocross show for his birthday down and Qwest Field and we went to Bainbridge Island for my birthday. Took some great photos that day too!

On the ferry.

I had never been to Bainbridge before, and I really enjoyed the little beaches that we explored while driving around the Island. It was just really nice to get away from the city for the day. This next photo is special to me because I can see where we live! We are in between the second and third towers on top of the hill on the left side of the photograph. It's a great location, and it's really nice being so close to downtown as well.

There are a lot more picture on Flickr if you want to check them out.

On another note, I've become really interested in the new Discovery Channel show, Out of the Wild. It's a show about nine ordinary people who were selected from all over the United States to go live out in the wilderness of Alaska. They were given a couple of days of basic survival skill training, and then a helicopter dropped them off in the middle of

Seattle at its Best

The last two days have been absolutely gorgeous here in Seattle. Yesterday was probably one of the nicest so far this year. It had to have come close to 80 degrees. David, his brother Daniel and I decided to canoeing on Lake Washington. Canoes are $4/hr for students at University of Washington. We took it out over into the arboretum that exists after you cross under I-5. Being that it was a gorgeous day, I decided to take my camera out and see what kinds of summer pictures I could get.

The first thing I saw was this little turtle sunning itself on a lot. I had never known that turtles existed in Seattle, but there it was! As we paddled around, we spotted a blue heron that had landed over in some brush. I think this photo turned out beautiful.

I've always known that Washington is a beautiful state, but when the summer comes, it brings out the beauty even more. What's funny is that as soon as the sun comes out people flock to it. You would never know that there are so many people living in this city! The traffic is horrible, the beaches are crowded, there are endless waits for outdoor patio seating at restaurants, etc. , but it's beautiful and it's worth the wait through the winter.

After our canoe trip, we rode our bikes over to Agua Verde, a little Mexican restaurant right on the waterway between Lake Washington and Lake Union. It was packed of course, as it is a tiny restaurant with some outdoor seating. It was also happy hour, so you could get an order of nachos and a house margarita for under ten dollars. Perfecto! Eventually we got sat by a window where we could enjoy a nice summer breeze and watch people kayaking on the lake. There couldn't have been a more ideal summer day.

Check me out on Flickr!

Hello from a very much changed Seattle! Sunny days and warmer temperatures lead to bike rides and crowded streets. Everyone wants to be out in the sunshine up here in my little corner of the world. Speaking of clear skies, I took the above picture up at Alpental yesterday. While I was happy to be up snowboarding, I forgot what a challenge it is to snowboard in such heavy sticky snow. Rough! Anyway, just wanted to give you an update that I will be modifying my website a bit. I will now be posting a lot of my pictures up on Flickr. My idea is that I can have more generalized galleries on Powder Photo with only the best shot. Viewers who want to see more can just head over to Flickr to see a greater selection of my photographs.

April Showers Bring...Snow??

After what seemed like a terrible winter, Washington skiers and snowboarders are experiencing extreme amounts of snowfall in April. And I'm not talking just a few inches, it's about 7+ inches a day! I spent three days up at the mountain this week, and I can honestly say that they were some of the best all season. Tuesday was filled with high winds blowing around large amounts of snow up at Alpental. David, and his broken collar bone, decided to join me that day in hopes of catching some late season powder turns in the 17" of fresh. After sitting on the lift in 70 mph winds and taking one epic run from top to bottom, we found they had closed the lifts for at least an hour. The wind was blowing so hard it was catching my board and we could barely see the people sitting on the chair in front of us! Due to some partial clearing and lighter winds, Alpental re-opened and off we went.

The next day I had to work a double, and then close on Thursday, so snowboarding wasn't able to work itself into the agenda. But today, I didn't have to work until 8. So off to Alpental we went. After calling the snow line and hearing about the 14" of fresh, we couldn't wait to get to the mountain. And it was well worth it. What an amazing day! The snow was a bit heavy, but that's how it is up here in the Northwest. Since David had recently bought his avalanche transceiver, we decided to give the backcountry a try. Ducking into the vast wilderness of the backcountry at Alpental showed us the best runs of the season. The sun even came out for a while making for some beautiful views.

Being in the backcountry is one of the most peaceful places in the world. It's quiet, with only a faint whisper through the trees when the wind blows. You feel as if you have the whole place to yourself. It's exciting. You have to be quick, because you never know what is coming up next. A chute, a cliff, a gully? It could be anything and you have to be ready. But oh, is it worth it. Those huge sprays of powder, the floating, and the feeling of knowing that you are the only one out there. No gapers traversing in front of you, no lifts, no crowds, just you and the mountain in all it's glory. I am so lucky for being able to have this experience, and it's only one hour away home :)

Washington Pictures

Hello! Not surprising, I went up to Stevens Pass again today. The lighting wasn't great for pictures, and it was cold and windy. I've been looking at this view on the drive home of an old railroad bridge that crosses over a beautiful river. I finally decided to stop and take some photos! I also added a new section to my website of pictures that I think represent the amazing and beautiful state of Washington. Check it out at Powder Photo .

Family Vacation

Last week I met up with my family for a quick trip down to some warmer weather. We spent the first two days in Palm Desert at Desert Springs resort. It was pretty amazing. It had a huge atrium with a beautiful bar in the middle. One whole side of it was made of glass that looked out into the pool area that was back-dropped by a desert mountain vista. The trip was designated for a little much needed R&R, so I took full advantage. Ordering tropical drinks and soaking up 85 degree sunshine, what could be better? The hotel was also surrounded by golf courses, not surprising of course. If I was any good at golfing, I bet it would be pretty fun!

After Palm Desert, we drove to Vegas. It was my first time that I was actually old enough to gamble in Vegas, so I was pretty stoked. Needless to say, I lost all of the money that I gambled. At least I still had a good time though! I loved looking at all of the beautiful hotels and the lavish lifestyle that is portrayed in Vegas. My big splurge was a trip to Jean-Philippe's Patisserie in the Bellagio Hotel. Who wouldn't want to go here?

A Powder Day at Alpental

All racked up.

It's pretty hard to believe that it's March right now. Yesterday I woke up to snow on the ground before I left for work and today's been pretty blustery with intermittent rain showers. Out of the six years I've lived in Seattle, it's only snowed maybe once a year in the city...if that. Unfortunately, those Seattle snowfalls have only barely begun to scratch the surface of what should be amazing snow in the mountains. It's been a bit of a slow winter up at Stevens Pass and Alpental, and all I can say about the last couple weeks is - it's about damn time!! So here I am to write about a pretty sick day that David and I had up at Alpental on March 6.

David drops a cliff under Chair 2.

It started out early, as I had to be back to work at 4 o'clock. We rushed out of the city to find ourselves in a winter wonderland just an hour later. Arriving at 8:30 a.m., we quickly put our boots on only to see that the chairlifts were already loading! Once we reached the top of Chair 2, we had to stop for a moment to stare out at the beauty of the Cascades. Bright blue skies, sub-20 degrees, and 12 inches of pow! Nothing could ruin this day. We headed over to Edelweiss Bowl and rode a few powdery bowls, face shots all the way down. Beautiful...until we reached the bottom of Chair 2. A line??? It's Friday, don't you people have to work? Needless to say, the powder was too good to get discouraged. Everyone was all smiles and even the little old man that plays the flute on the ride up was there. You all know who he is. Pieces of colorful wood protrude from his helmet like the horn of a unicorn. I guess every local mountain has it's characters.

David and I took a few more magical runs, but had to call it a day due to the annoying lines. We stayed and had some lunch, enjoying the sunshine and good vibe, then headed back to the city. Was it worth the drive for the few runs of pow? Hell yes. Enjoy the photos, and don't forget to stop by my photography site, www.powderphoto.com if you haven't seen it yet!