Seattle

 Rialto beach on the Olympic Peninsula. It was a bit of a drive and involved a ferry ride but very worth it. Rialto is a great, wild looking beach. Huge trees everywhere and islands just off the coast. Brady and Kristi even found some tide pools. 

 Love this shot

 The best Beach cookout ever!

 Everything was so good. i cooked up some clams we had bought at pikes market. Mom and Dawn Cooked shrimp and roasted garlic over the campfire. We had a nice selection of cheese (Humboldt Fog, Fromager d'Affinois, and some good cheddar.) Mom picked up some good spreads, chips, bread and fresh mozzarella at DeLaurenti and we had some ham, Salami from Salumi and a couple other items. I'm really amazed how good everything was.

 Kids having fun looking for shells

 Old Man of the Woods

 Everything is so green and lush. This area gets the most rainfall in the United States.

 The whole crew

 We took in the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. Supposedly this is the last time Egypt is going to let these artifacts leave their country. It was really something to see. So much history and most of the artifacts look almost new.

 Lunch at Ivers. Michael is a clam eating machine. He sucked down one of my oysters too.

 There was a folk life festival going on outside the science center. Brady and Kristi tried some Kenyan food. It looked so good i had to get one. I think it was called samosa.

 Pikes Market is so fun to browse through.

 This is where Andrew Zimmern tried the Filipino soup in Pikes Market. The lady that owns the booth and served Zimmern was super nice.

 This is the soup (Salmon Sinigang) Its made from salmon collars and has a slightly sour flavor. I loved it.

Dawn eating some awesome fried shrimp at the market.

Our semi annual trip to Seattle is always a blast. So much good food and tons to do. We had sushi at our favorite sushi restaurant, some good seafood and a killer beach cookout. Embassy Suits was nice as always(you cant beat the free breakfast). The last night we switched to the Doubletree. I think I like it better. Might have to stay there next time. We found a really good Vietnamese restraunt in the mall by our hotel. Probably the best Pho I'v had.  I can't wait to do it all again!

Las Vegas NASCAR 2012

 Pho at Treasure Island. It was good but I've had better

 These next 5 pictures are from Public House at the Venetian. Its quickly become one of our favorites. This is the Poutine. It consists of Fries, duck confit, cheese curds and gravy. Very, very good!

 These are by far the best fried oysters I've had. They are in foie gras with golder raisins and cider gastrique

 Foie Gras Parfait,and Jamon Serrano I wanted to try foie gras so this seemed like a good dish. It wasn't what i was expecting. The Foie just disappears in your mouth and has a slight cheesy flavor. I would get it again. The ham was good too.

How can you go wrong with raw oysters? Not as good as PJ Clarks but still tasty. 

 Roasted Bone Marrow with bacon marmalade. Kind of gross looking but really good. Fatty, beefy goodness.

 We had breakfast one morning at Morels at Palazzo with mom and dad. This was Dawns Banana and Marscapone stuffed french toast. Sure looks good. I had the Croque Madame. It was outstanding.

 Fondue at Max Brenner

 Dinner at Delmonico. One of the better meals we've had. My Rib Eye steak was outstanding but a little pricey ($64) Dawn had the Fillet and said it was good. For appetizers Dawn had Gumbo and i had Lobster Bisque. Both were good but i liked her gumbo more...it was killer.

 Another app we had....Escargot. I thought it was good but Dawn didn't care for it. The snails were a little on the big side for her.

 Nice views and unexpected sights in Vegas

 We ventured Downtown for the first time in along time. It was fun.

 Shabu Shabu and Sukiyaki at our favorite Vegas restaurant..Swish. It takes a car to get to but is worth it. We make sure to eat here at least once every trip.

 Mom and Dad even tried out chopsticks.

 The race was fun as usual even tho Gordon didn't have the best race. Oh well, there's always next year.

You just can't beat Las Vegas for a quick trip...great eating, good drinking and enough to do to keep everyone happy. We stayed at the Venetian for the first time and i don't think we'll be staying anywhere else in the future. The rooms are unbelievable. Sunken living room, huge bathroom and 3 flat screens.

We hit up the oyster happy hour at PJ Clarks. Dollar oysters, can't beat that. Really good too. We will defiantly be going back(try Kusshi oysters if you ever get the chance). Had my favorite Thai soup while we were down there too. All in all a GREAT trip.

Oh Christmas Tree

Christmas time is here again! I love relaxing in the living room in the evenings with all the decorations up. A roaring fire helps too!

A Sunday Drive to Benchmark

Double Falls

The bridge across the South Fork into the Bob Marshall

unique pack bridge

A few Sundays ago we were bored and decided to take a drive to Augusta. We ended up in Benchmark. Double Falls is always a nice little walk and a good photo opp. The trail at then end of the road leads to the bridge over the South Fork and is the gateway to the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Its such a nice area and it was a beautiful day.

Flag Football

Michael ready for the play

Michael's flag football team is kicking some butt this year. The coach has them practicing hard and often and it shows. Michael has been playing defensive end, offensive guard and running back. Last game he had a run of at least 35 yards. Look at my you tube page, we have a video of it. He is pretty excited about football this year and really looking forward to tackle football next year.

Sluice Boxes

Some old mining cabins

playing in Belt Creek

Bear Shit

We went for a nice little hike up the sluice boxes trail a few weeks ago. Belt Creek is still running pretty high for this time of year. It had been awhile since i had been back there. It is very scenic. The bridge is even still fun to jump off.....Luckily this time my battery didn't get stolen.

Flight Over the Falls 2011

P-51 Mustang "The Little Witch" one of my favorite airplanes

B-2 Stealth Bomber, An awesome surprise

Gotta love Fat Albert

The Blue Angels

Flight Over the Falls was a great airshow. I went in not expecting much but it blew me away. Defiantly one of the best airshows I've been to. Started out with some Montana Air Guard F-15 flyby's and just got better from there. The B-2 wasn't in the program so it was a great surprise. Only the second time I've seen one. They almost look like something out of a si fi movie. The P-51 and A-10 demos were fun to watch as were the Korean War era fighter demos. Topping it off were the Blue Angels who are always fun to see. All around a very good time.

Disneyworld With the Parents

After breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe

The Magic Kingdom

Scallops at Reglan Road. They were very good. However, the chickeniver pate we had wasn't.



The new Star Tours at Hollywood Studios

What a nice way to top off my NASA adventure. We had a great time! I just wish Dawn and the kids could have been there.