Yarr. We be salty.

For those of you who haven't yet heard the news, Cody and I have purchased a little floating home!  She's an Ericson Sailboat, 27 feet long, and currently in slip D19 in the Winslow Wharf Marina, in Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge Island.  Right here. 

Come on aboard!  

The outside.  Cute little thing!  

Galley is sea speak for kitchen.  It's pretty basic, but comfortable!  We've got a real ice-box, and I'm not trying to sound quaint!  We keep our milk and cheese and such in a box, along with a big ol' block of ice.  A block usually lasts us about 5 days.   We've got a 2 burner hot plate for a stove, which plugs into the shore power here at the marina.  The sink is a foot pumper and only has cold water.  A little rustic, I suppose, but it suits us just fine!  

Now, we're looking forward, on the port side of the boat.  (Left side, for all you landlocked folks.)  The v berth is where we sleep, and it's shaped like a v!  Our feet go toward the bow, in the little narrow point of the v.  It's quite cozy!  We've also got a CD player, a space heater, and some cute hand-made curtains.  And at the top of the photo, you can just see the corner of the forward hatch, which lets in a lot of light, and fresh air when it's nice out.  The head (bathroom) is on the other side of that doorknob.  

We're still looking forward, but on the starboard side now.  The table folds out to a nice big size, but we usually just leave it folded.  I don't mind brushing elbows over eggs in the mornin'.  The kerosene lamp is functional, but it doesn't smell very good.  We usually just use the electric lights.  How modern!  

Yep.  That's about all there is to say about that.  

Looking aft, opposite the galley.  The quarter berth, which is actually about the size of a twin bed, is stuffed full of sails.  The boat came with eight different sails, which is a ton for a 27 foot boat.  We've got 2 mainsails, a spinnaker, a drifter, a 95% jib, a 130% jib, a 155% jib, and some others that I don't know the names of.  It seems like overkill, but it's actually great for us.  We've got sails for every possible weather condition, and can play around with different jibs while we learn to sail. 

And no, we're not experienced sailors or anything.  We're learning as we go!  The guy who sold us the boat, Dave,  is a great guy and an accomplished sailor.  He took us out last weekend in some heavy conditions that would have been too much for us to handle by ourselves.  We both learned a ton. I think he'll prove to be a great teacher and endless source of sailing information.  And Cody works for him- working on another boat and other carpentry projects...  

Cody has been tirelessly working on the boat.  He's so excited to be on the water, and just wants our little lady to shine.  I helped him sand the teak handrails that had gone grey.  We've also rebedded the traveller, the pulpit, and forward stanchions.  Cody's been up to his elbows in wires, trying to get some of the instruments working...  Not a lot of success yet, but we're still working on it.  

Ooh, shiny.  Freshly oiled handrails.   

Our neighbors.  They're mostly a quiet bunch.  

(Don't the maroon ones look like Animal from the muppets?)

We've seen otters hunting in the marina,  and blue herons stand on the ends of the docks like lookouts.  It's a beautiful place to live, the Marina.  

The best part of owning a sailboat!  We've been trying to get out every chance we get!   

The spectacular Mt. Ranier.

(which is actually taller than any peak in Wyoming.  It's 14,411 feet begin at sea level.  just sayin'.)  

Ta ta for now!  

I'm off to live the dream!  

Squamish in the Summer

Squamish.  The land of enchanted forests, waterfalls, giant granite boulders and endless cracked faces...

The sea to sky country.  

Part of the magic of Squamish, in my humble opinion, is that you can't climb there all year long.  There is a small window of fine weather, where the rock is dry and the skies are blue (mostly) in July and August.  (Maybe September, if you're lucky.)  So, we like to climb there when we can.    

This year, we brought some friends along.  Chris Jones flew in from Salt Lake City to join us, and Tim Long flew all the way from Denver, to Spokane, to Reno, to Timbuktu, and finally to Seattle to come along.   They played our travel guitar in the backseat the whole way there.  Over the Hills and Far Away by Led Zepplin is now permanently stuck in my head.   But it's better than Smells like Teen Spirit!  (which Cody is learning!)  

The climbing in Squamish is fantastic, and you can practice just about any kind of climbing there.  The Smoke Bluffs have single pitch traditional climbing- which is what I'm doing here.   A sweet .11a finger crack, near the Neat and Cool area.  

Climbing isn't the only thing in season this time of year in Squamish.  We had fresh blackberries with our oatmeal every morning.  Tim talked us into a 10 kilo bag of oatmeal during our first stop in the grocery store.  10 kilos is a LOT of oatmeal.  But the four of us managed to get through it somehow.  I think Tim  was eating at least 3 or 4 cups of the stuff every day-  to prove that we could finish it in 11 days!    

Here's Tim crushing the crux pitch on the Squamish Buttress.  We started at the base of the Stawamus Chief and finished at the very top!  It took all day, but it's nice to get some air under your feet every now and then.   Most of the pitches were moderate, but this final pitch was a real challenge for all of us at  thin 5.10b.  

On the hike down from the top of the Chief, we stopped to cool off in the creek.  After a day of jamming toes into cracks and standing sideways on ankles, the cold, clear water was bliss.  Almost as good as the burgers we treated ourselves to for dinner that night.  

Now, the base of the Chief, ( the granite monolith of Squamish) is surrounded with boulders- chunks of rock that have been discarded from the main feature over the course of it's formation.  The boulders are another main attraction to Squamish.  They lie in a dense forest, so on hot days, they're shady and cool, and if it starts to drizzle, they're protected by the canopy for a little while.  Here, Tim works on Worm World Cave (V9).  

Chris Jones on his first V10, Salad Shooter. 

Cody sending the classic Viper (V5).  Viper, like all Squamish classic boulder problems, is an arete- a mostly featureless corner feature.  Viper is vertical, but there's Baba Hari Dass (V7) that is slightly more angled, and Easy in an Easy Chair (V4) that's horizantal.  So, if you plan on going bouldering in Squamish, bring your sloper mitts, and some pinch strength!!

The psyche level near the end of the trip.   Chris and Tim loved Canada's selection of Ruffles, in exotic flavors like All Seasoned, Dill Pickle, Ketchup, and Bacon and Sour Cream.  

It was a great trip, eh?  

Devil's Tower

It's just a two for one kind of day around here.... I already posted about life in Lingle, but I just have to post about our weekend in Devil's Tower!  

Our buddy Tim drove up from Laramie to join us for the weekend.  We headed out on Friday evening and arrived after dark.   

We awoke the next morning to the tower looming above our campsite, it's splitter pillars calling our names.

After a short hike on the tourist-friendly paved trail, we ventured up to the base of the tower itself.  

Looks pretty impressive close up, doesn't it?

Kelby leading the classic and mile-long Assembly Line (5.9) pitch.  The columns of the tower make for some of the longest and most sustained pitches I have ever climbed. 

A couple of goobers on the belay!

Team Harris-Long-Scott on the Summit! All the tourists asked us what it was like up there- well, it was just a big grassy hill, covered in ants.  Not so glamourous.  But we signed the summit register, took some photos, ate some granola bars, and rapped down.  It was a hot day, and once we were back on the ground, we headed straight for the river.  

  The boys, cooling off and admiring the tower. 

After our swim, we were playing hearts at our campsite, and a friendly park ranger came by and told us about the evening program going on that night. A man named Buffalo Bill Boycott was going to be playing music and telling stories, and to quote the ranger, "It's just going to be a lot of fun." 

We headed out to have dinner, which ended up as a bust.  The KOA campsite had a diner that served buffalo burgers in the shape a buffalo.  Not so good.   

But Buffalo Bill, he was good.  He played the banjo, guitar, mandolin and fiddle.  He told jokes and bits of cowboy poetry.  He did Native American sign language storytelling, and told us history of the wild west.  It was a great show!  We went to bed exhausted and happy.  

The next morning, we climbed a bit more- attempted the classic El Matador (5.10d), and then headed over to the slightly easier but still classic Soler (5.9) and Walt Bailey (5.9).  We were battered and tired at the end of the day, but another river swim, and a real burger for dinner worked wonders.   

What a dreamy weekend!  

Life in Lingle

Cody and I are currently in Lingle, Wyoming, with the Greenwald family. Our good friend Kelby Scott spends his summers working on his sister and brother-in-law's farm.  He invited us to come work with him for a week or so, and he and Cody have been hard at it all week!    

The Greenwalds grow corn and alfalfa, and also run a feedlot of about 2000 cattle.  This is a photo of the freshly swathed alfalfa field outside of the house.  Kaylee swathed it herself!  She even let me do a row-  I managed to drive the swather in a nice straight line.  After swathing, the hay is baled and fed to the cattle.  

Did you know alfalfa has purple flowers?  I didn't either!

Acres and acres of corn!  The Greenwalds use "round-up ready" corn, so they can use round-up to kill the weeds, but not the corn.  The corn is almost 7 feet tall, and will grow to 10 feet when they harvest.  The feed almost all the corn to the cattle come harvest time-  They keep some of it to eat themselves!   

  

Kaylee and Makenna raise goats for their 4-H club.  This is Peaches, a nigerian dwarf goat.  Currently, she's about as wide as she is tall,  and is expected to have her babies sometime this month! 

After milking the goats, we funnel it into clean beer bottles and feed it to the kids.  The Alpine goats give   about 2 gallons a day!  We made some fudge from goat milk, and attempted to make cheese, but the recipe didn't work out...  We'll try again this week! 

Some hungry kiddos!  These guys drink 2-3 bottles of milk every morning and night.  They've grown so much in the past week!  

There are lots of baby animals around.  These barn kittens will handle the mouse population when they get a bit bigger!  

Sweet Emma-  one of the family Welsh Corgi's.  

One of the many beautiful spots around the farm!  

The Wonders of Wild Iris

We love just about everything about climbing at Wild Iris. 

We love the hike to the crags. 

We love the climbing itself.

(This is a route called The Devil wears Spurs, a fantastic 5.10d)

We love the wildlife.  

We found this picture-perfect nest in a limestone pocket along the trail. 

Wildflowers.  

Enough said.

Did I mention the wildlife?

These are some curious baby pronghorn antelope, coming to say hello.  They were less than twenty feet from us before they trotted off.  Don't miss their adorable furry rumps as they run away.

When it comes to living the dream, there isn't a better place than Wild Iris.

ps.  Congratulations to Bryan and Charleigh Wolfe!

 They had a beautiful day for a wedding, and we wish them all the best!

pps.  Wild Iris is about 30 minutes outside of Lander!  

Love in Lander

  

  Cody and I are currently in Lander, Wyoming, to see our good friend Bryan Wolfe get married to a lovely lady named Charleigh.   Their wedding is fast approaching!  Only two more days until they will be Mr. & Mrs. Wolfe.  Cody is one of Bryan's groomsmen, and I can't wait to see him all dressed up!  

 

Charleigh and Bryan took us and another couple, Jason and Jolene out on a four-wheelin' camping trip to Shoshoni Lake when we arrived.  We had some fantastic weather-  Wyoming summertime is pretty fantastic.  

Who says happy cows come from California?  These Wyoming cows look pretty happy to me!  They taste good too-  The Ganett Grill serves awesome burgers made from local Wyoming Beef.  Yum! 

The wildflowers are in bloom up there!  Just beautiful.  

We ended up turning around before we reached the lake, because there were some lingering snowbanks blocking the trail.  The snowbanks lining the trail (the ones you can see in the photo) were melting, and we were riding through a creek for quite a way!  

Charleigh admires the view of the Lander Valley.  

The Wyoming state flower dotted the hillsides along the way.  

So much love blooming all over this town!  Even the rocks are feeling it!