Andrew and I went out for an early season backpacking trip last weekend. Ironically, one of the few snow-free trails in WA was almost all the way up to Canada, in the Pasayten Wilderness. It was gorgeous up there. Tons of creeks, rivers, valleys, and mountains and zero people on the trails.

I admit, we may have been a little too ambitious for the first trip of the season…. we were in fine shape for the distance and even the hill climbing, but our poor feet were not accustomed to carrying an extra 40-50 lb for 10 miles a day. Unfortunately, the fact that most of our non-foot parts were raring to go was not much consolation when we were 15 miles from the car, looking at Andrew’s purple, swollen feet with blisters the size of a quarter (or a stack of several quarters to be precise). I generally felt like a million bucks each day until about 4-5 miles in, at which point all of the small muscles in my feet started aching like mad. But in comparison, I think I got off easy. Dipping my tired dogs in ice water (which we had plenty of from the snow melt lakes and rivers all around us) was the ticket to relief for me. Andrew had to resort to more drastic measures, including a scalpel and a lot of consequent fluids that I’d rather not imagine.

[caption id="attachment_306" align="alignright" width="300" caption="I hurt too, but check out that view!"][/caption]

But, all pain and suffering aside… the trip was great! The location was spectacular, our camps were comfortable, the hikes were beautiful and varied, the food was delicious, the weather was perfect…. oh, well, one side note on that point I suppose… the weather was perfect except for the downpour and thunderstorm that we hiked through for several hours on Sunday.

[caption id="attachment_327" align="alignright" width="225" caption="We were wrong."][/caption]

But all is well that ends well, right? Well this is the BEST pizza I have EVER eaten. EVER. I may drive 4.5 hours back to Winthrop to eat this again.

[caption id="attachment_320" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Post shower wine and pizza. Blissed out."][/caption]

Meow mew meeoow! We hear quite of bit of that from our talkative new girl. As for her name, we’ve been trying out a bunch of them and we’re starting to narrow it down to something like: Izabella Puffymittens or Zoya Fuzzbutt….. we’ve come up with so many iterations of the second name that it’s hard to choose (Snugglebottoms, Fuzzybuns, Cuddlemuffin… you get the idea). But as for her first name, we like Izabella or Zoya.
She is quite the acrobat and does impressive back flips when taunted with a toy. She’s so quick that I haven’t managed to catch it on film yet, but I’ll keep trying. She has also taken to doing full speed sprints back and forth across the house in the morning, which is really hilarious and so adorable.

My trip to CA was a lot of fun. In Nevada City, I got to visit my family (even my elusive brother!) and Parker Pi. We went on several 7ish mile “walks”, if you can consider speed walking up hills at a jogging pace walking. And then Mom and I flew to Disneyland for a girls week. We played cards, found some edible food (not always easy in Anaheim), found some very edible hot fudge sundaes, and went on many many rides. I appreciated the rides even more as an adult. The whole place seems so wholesome… except for the fact that whoever designed those classic rides clearly ate some special mushrooms first! For example, Splash Mountain… you are surrounded by singing animatronic bunnies, singing sweetly to you as if you’re in “It’s a Small World,” right before you plunge down a watery cliff! Is it meant to be funny? Ironic? Twisted? I don’t know, but I love it. The new (newer than 1988 anyway) Space Mountain might have been my favorite. Whizzing through the stars and meteors at high speeds was just too cool to describe. Tower of Terror was also a contender for both of our favorite rides. Twilight zone meets hotel from Shining meets nightmare of elevator cables breaking. Highly recommended. Now for the pics!

It’s a Small World

Too much spinning in the Teacups?

Wheee! And SPLASH. That sock never did dry all day.

Nemo’s submarine was pretty cool.

We made friends with some goats, and visited Tarzan’s Tree House. I want to live in that tree house. Seriously. My dream house.

Despite the request not to jump out of the roller coaster, my mom looks like she might be considering it in this picture from Space Mountain.

Splash mountain and another perfect action shot.

Tower of Terror was awesome, but they took the candid picture at the wrong time. We look more like we’re having a casual conversation than preparing to plunge to our death down an elevator shaft!

What better way to end the day than by double fisting kahlua and coffee under some outdoor heaters?

She’s almost here. She’s getting bigger and fuzzier!

Anyone have any ideas for names? I looked up some Russian words to remind her of home and found Kisa (roughly translates to kitty cat) and Mila (darling or sweety). I’m also a big fan of Kirk’s suggestion- Mrs. Snugglebottoms.

I woke up feeling a bit worse for the wear yesterday. (It MIGHT have had something to do with drinking champagne until 3am to celebrate Janet’s big 4-0.) But dizzy, queasy and tired as I was, it was impossible to stay inside on our first warm and sunny day of spring. (Pretty much our first day of spring without pouring rain and / or snow and with temperatures noticeably higher than freezing.) So, I dragged Andrew over to Ballard and convinced him that we needed to go run around Discovery Park.

[caption id="attachment_189" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="We took the Loop Trail to the South Beach trail so we could visit the beach and see the views. Of course, views involve hills, and there were quite a few steep ones. "][/caption][caption id="attachment_188" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="This is where we live. Lovely. If my camera phone didn\'t suck so bad I would show you our amazing view of Ranier and the Olympics too (but it does suck, so you\'ll have to use your imagination. Believe me, it was breathtaking. Or was that the hills?) "][/caption]

I know. Looking back a few posts, I realize that I have an animal obsession going here. But adding this to the original kitty post just seemed wrong. The kitten who was reserved for us got sick a few weeks ago. She was wheezing and went on antibiotics, but nothing helped and she didn’t survive.

I know she was still young and fragile, and I know we hadn’t even met her yet, but it was still sad news to get.

As a consolation from her owner, we get to take home one of her sisters. All of the kittens had already been reserved, and this litter-mate was actually set aside for the owner, herself. I’m not sure if she was intended to be a show kitty, a new momma, or a pet, but I see why she picked her out to keep… she is very pretty and just cute enough to eat. It was sweet of her to give up her own kitty for us. It took a while after the surprise of getting such icky news, but I’m back to being completely excited for May 8th….. Kitten Day!

And now for the melt-your-heart pics…. (I am in love with those giant ears!)

I just came across some “then” and “now” pictures of Parker Pi and they are so adorable I had to share.

I am so excited about the new little fuzzball that is coming to live with us in May!  My allergies have forced us to be cat-free, but we found out that most allergic people (80% according to the always trustworthy internet) have little or no reaction to the Siberian breed because they produce such low levels of fel d1 (the protein in their saliva that most allergic people have a problem with).  Hopefully I’m in that 80%…. otherwise we just bought the most expensive outdoor cat ever!

She was supposed to be a surprise birthday present for Kirk, but since all of these kitties have waiting lists, I was lucky to find one we could even take home in May, let alone, next weekend.  So, with the b-day surprise off, I spilled the beans altogether and told him about it.  Really I was just too excited to keep my mouth shut…. I mean, come on, look at that face!

And she’s getting bigger… practicing walking… awww.

The latest pic from 3/24.  So sweet. She’s getting bigger…. and furrier!  Holy cow, roomba!

Look who I saw wandering the neighborhood this morning.  Actually she was just hanging out on the other side of our front fence.  She was very friendly…. I clucked at her and she walked right up to me and posed for some pictures.

Knitting project complete!

I mostly like how it turned out…. maybe a little bulky, but also so nice and soft.

(pattern from “Fitted Knits”)