Gravy Learns to Snowboard

Chad escaped Snowmageddon in DC to spend Valentine's Day with me in Seattle. I decided Chad had not experienced enough snow recently, so I took him snowboarding! Chad had never been before, so I signed us up for a lesson together.

After the first hour of the lesson, the instructor took us up the mountain for our first run. Gravy was awesome! He had a couple ugly falls, but he jumped back up like a champ. After one of Chad's particularly painful-looking falls, the instructor turned to me and said, "Umm, yeah he's going to be really sore, so make sure he takes some advil tonight. Or a bottle of wine. Whatever works for him."

After our lesson, we took a couple runs down the mountain on our own. I asked Chad if he was having fun. The look on his face most of the day had me a little concerned. He turned to me and said, "Why would I be having fun. I'm terrible. I'm falling constantly and every joint in my body hurts. What part of this is fun." Despite his answer, I think he actually had a great time--except for the part where the 8 year old kids flew past us down the mountain as we sat in the snow trying to muster the energy to stand back up. That was not cool.

All in all it was a good day. We both left the mountain without any (new) injuries and with at least half-smiles on our faces. Next weekend, we head to Vancouver to check out the Olympics!

Snowmageddon--February 2010

Its not my style to give you an update when Kelly wasn't there too, but Snowmageddon is big enough that it deserved a posting.

The 2009-2010 winter has been one of the roughest in DC history. My first year in DC (2003) we had a blizzard, but I haven't seen a real snow since. This winter, we have had 2 top 10 snow storms and a few other significant storms--mostly on weekends of course!

The storm started mid-day on Friday. At about 3 pm, it started to accumulate. I had planned ahead. Not only did I have candles and flashlights, but I had beer, wine, candy and of course Beer! By Saturday morning at least 16 inches had fallen. Luckily I had power (and still beer and pizza).

After watching movies and G-town basketball, I ventured out to see what it was really like. Hundred of people were walking down the middle of major DC arteries (most were carrying beer or cigarettes). There were people driving, but mostly those from countries that don't traditionally have snow. I took a few pictures, did a snow angel and hit a local watering hole for a Snowmageddon brew--Chocolate stout and Banana beer.

Except for dropping snow and water on kids smoking pot under my window, the snow has been anti-climatic. I kept my power and we didn't break the record for the largest snow ever (its top 5 and my 3rd in the top 10). My unofficial tally (on top of a recycling bin) was 22 inches for the storm!

I can say for a fact that being stuck in your condo, alone, is not a great thing. I have read books, watched movies, eaten pizza, consumed beer, taken a walk, thrown snowballs, and made yellow snow. However, its not the same with out Biscuit. I wish that she could have been stranded with me too. At least she is warm and safe in perpetually rainy Seattle

I'll stay warm tonight and start the process of digging out tomorrow.

Chad 1: Snowmageddon 0.

Snow Day!

This past weekend, I had two great surprises. Well the first one wasn't a big surprise--Kelly coming to visit--but it was great the just the same. The second was a surprise--SNOW!

The weekend weather called for a light dusting of snow on Saturday. On our way to spin class, the flakes started. I stopped looking at myself in the mirror during spin for a few minutes so I could watch the snow fall. Throughout the day the flakes fell. By the end of the night, there were about 6 inches on the ground and the temperatures had dropped into the low teens.

Not to be discouraged, Kelly and I still made it to the movies, out to Matchbox and to meet up with her Georgetown Law friends. The snow didn't stop us; it merely made the trip more beautiful.

We snuck out of DC early before the December blizzard, but we did get to see the little reminder of winter. It was also chance for me to wear the snow boots I bought 5 years ago and had only worn 3-4 times. All in all, a great weekend.

Biscuit and Gravy pick their future neighborhood..... Ballard!

Chad came out to Seattle last weekend for a couple days of shopping, eating and neighborhood hunting. Although we still aren't living in the same city, or even on the same side of the country, we are making plans for the day when we stop single-handedly holding up the airline industry.

Chad and I spent a day exploring the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle last October. By some miracle, it was sunny that day, and we spent the afternoon browsing the Ballard Farmer's Market and eating hummus (Biscuit) and drinking Guiness (Gravy) in some of the restaurants and bars in the neighborhood.

Once Chad realized that Ballard had a movie theater and grocery store within walking distance, he was sold on the neighborhood. I wanted to make sure he didn't commit too quickly though, and this last weekend we spent several hours driving around Seattle, neighborhood shopping. We checked out Eastlake, Lake Union, Fremont, Wallingford, and Capitol Hill. I think Capital Hill was a real contender, until we spent 20 minutes looking for a parking spot on a Sunday night. Yikes.

Turns out, Chad's first instinct was right. After extensive research and consultation, Biscuit and Gravy decided that Ballard is the place we'll move when we finally get to live in the same city!

Snorkeling in Xpu-Ha Mexico

When we went to Xpu-Ha Mexico, the only thing we knew we wanted to do was snorkel. During our first trip together to Hawaii in 2008, we had tried to snorkel Hanauma Bay. However, due to overuse, we saw very few fish. Recently, Chad had snorkeled in Hawaii and Honduras, and Kelly in Belize and Hawaii, but were wanting to share the experience.

On our second full day, we agreed to take an organized snorkeling trip to three locations: "Turtle Bay", Yal Ku, and a centote (Mayan sinkhole). Chad didn't hold a lot of faith that he would see anything of worth. But that was soon dispelled.

At Turtle Bay, we quickly saw 5-6 large "green and white" turtles. Most of these were close to a meter long. The largest one we saw was easily over a meter long and even though we tried to stay far away, it followed us and was only 1.5 meters away. Kelly swam with turtles before in Hawaii, but Chad had only seen one turtle once (from afar) in Honduras.

Yal Ku was like snorkeling in an aquarium. A mixture of fresh and salt water, the aquarium features needle fish, parrotfish and others. Where the water mixed, it looked greasy but if you dove down to the salt water, it was clear again. A little crowded at times, Yal Ku was a one of a kind natural experience, especially compared to the "Disney" snorkeling experiences near.

We didn't snorkel the Mayan cenote but we did cliff jump. The water was deep and fresh and didn't have as many fish as the other locations.

It was a great way to start a relaxing vacation together. Our next goal is to buy Chad a snorkel and to visit more sites on our next vacations.