Right now I'm sitting upstairs in my aunt and uncles house on Mercer Island with my bags already packed in the car ready to be driven to the airport or the flight to Frankfurt. It has been a good stay in the Pacific Northwest. I have gotten to know my aunt and uncle more than I ever had before because I stayed for longer than a week. My usual stay is quick before moving on to Montana, Alaska, or Colorado and I never get my bearings on the city and its layout. My uncle and I got a few (not enough) ski tours in and I'm sad to be leaving right as the backcountry starts to stabilize around here (sorry Scott!). Thanks to my aunt Doreen for connecting me to the Middleton's who I will be in contact with far into the future and thanks to my aunt Marilyn for all those jobs on Bainbridge.
After living here in Seattle for 5 months I feel like I could get to most places in Seattle without getting too lost which is a huge improvement from when I first got here. I remember trying to drive to the climbing gym in Ballard and getting so lost I gave up and ended up just sitting on the couch drinking beer and watching a climbing movie instead! I loved being able to spend more time with my cousin Colin climbing even though it was winter and cold fingers were common. If you can't feel them they won't hurt! My favorite trip we got to do was a quick three day trip to Smith Rock in Oregon where we even met up with my friend Basevi to get some climbing in together. It was sunny on the first and the last day with a snowy day in between but we climbed anyways blowing snow off the hold as we went. Spending time with him in Bellingham was fun too but I'm still stumped on how I managed to be back at his place at 1pm after two failed ski attempts and one rolled snowmobile that got pinned against a tree. I hear the sled is out now so that's good! I have been able to hang out with the Boknechts more than ever and that was really fun for me to be the older sibling. I've had a fun time watching Jeffrey ski and ride his bike on everything he could and am still having trouble getting the echo of him calling my name over and over (and over and over) again. I think my score in any Wii game has gone up as a result of staying over at the Boknechts as well. It was fun to watch Ally smear cake all over her face and practice making her mouth as wide a possible! lots of good memories here and now I'm of to make some more elsewhere but I'll be back!
-Owen
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| Jeffrey ripping! |
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| Ally being wide eyed |
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| Roasting wieners at Vantage |
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| A euro point |
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| The least photographed part on PNW ski touring |
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