Ahoy, 2024!

Olympic National Park Jan. 2024

✴ Happy New Year! ✴

It's a new year and we are back after a short hiatus in December. We spent this first month of winter enjoying the temperate and wet coast of Washington. The days are short and grey, but we are happy with the rainy, 55* days rather than the bitter cold of the Northeast. In between outdoor adventures (more on that momentarily) and playing board games, Trisha has been working overtime in Grit City, starting and occasionally finishing knitting projects, and reading steamy fantasy novels; Chuck has been doing camper projects, starting a book club, and striving to be the best stay-at-home-husband possible (including, but not limited to, honing his chef skills and chauffeuring Trisha to-and-from work).

The last time you heard from us, Chuck was still in Mexico. He has since returned and is now a NOLS sailing instructor (in addition to already working as a sea kayaking instructor). Woop! He returned in early December with a few pictures and a lot of new stories. This was an exciting adventure for Chuck because he returned to the site of the NOLS semester course he participated in as a student almost two decades prior. That course in 2004 helped to build the foundation for his career as an outdoor educator. His mom remembers him returning from that course so many years ago and musing about how awesome it would be to be a NOLS instructor. And here we are, full circle. Here he is in Mexico sailing drascombe long boats in the Gulf of California and sleeping under the stars 🟉🟉 And below, a couple of oldies from his time as a NOLS student in 2004.

2023 NOLS Mexico

2004 NOLS Mexico

While Chuck was having warm-weather adventures, Trisha was in Washington exploring her 10th National Park of 2023: Olympic National Park in Washington. Ian, Christian, and pups took an early ferry from Seattle to join in the fun for breakfast at the gorgeous Lake Crescent Lodge, a hike around the lake, and a trip to Harbinger winery in Port Angeles. The next day Trisha took the trip up Hurricane Ridge for her first ski of the season - it was magical. 

Since our reunion in Gig Harbor on the 6th of December, we have spent our longest time yet cohabitating the Lil' Home. We have found a rhythm and routine in our tiny space, but challenges certainly arise in 100 square feet of livable space. This has become very apparent during the wettest season in the Pacific Northwest when we need to dry our outdoor gear somewhere (is anything ever really dry here?). We solve the space problem by spending time outside as much as we can and utilizing other community spaces like the YMCA (hot tip: Gig Harbor, WA has the nicest YMCA we have ever seen. 10/10 would recommend). 

During mid-January, western Washington experienced a cold snap that sent businesses, government agencies, and the general public into a tizzy. Temperatures stayed below freezing for the week, record-breaking blizzard warnings, closed National Park areas due to snow, hospitals offering overnight accommodations to employees, our campground had frozen pipes, and there was overall panic and mayhem in the region. So, naturally, we took this opportunity to go tent camping. Trisha had a few days off and we spent a couple of nights in the quiet of Olympic National Park and the Hoh Rainforest where temps were in the 20s at night - balmy by Maine standards. 

Enjoy some pictures of our adventures and good times over the past couple of months.

Trisha's Birthday

Trisha saw her first whale in the wild off Defiance Point in Tacoma on her birthday. A humpback was swimming through the sound along with seals and other critters (jellyfish!). A magical birthday delight!

Day Hikes of December & January

Hiking with Ian and the puppers

Rainier in the background. A walk through Grit City

New Year Celebration & Ian's Birthday!

We decided to ring in the new year with a dual celebration with Ian at his little lake cabin. We did this by eating a lot of snacks, playing boards games, and listening to/watching fireworks as the clock struck midnight (Chuck was obviously asleep at that point).

Duwamish Head Sailing Race

Chuck spent one Saturday this January crewing a sailboat in the Duwamish Head sailing race in Puget Sound. It was a 31-nautical mile race and the second in the race series this year.

Olympic National Park

The coldest week of the season... We camped at Mora Campground and explored the coastal trails of the park and reservations. The coast can be through-hiked and many places are not easily accessible by car. Such a unique area.

        

Crystal Mountain for the Boys

Farris made the journey to the PNW for a ski trip and a sleepover in the Lil' Home! These two have skied together in seven states over their two-decade-long friendship and ski brotherhood. What a journey. They are now the old men on the mountain, spending the après hours drinking tea, playing cribbage, and going to bed at 8pm. 

Seattle 

We spent our last free weekend in Washington together exploring Seattle. We visited Pikes Place Market, found some nice parks, went to the Space Needle (but not to the top - it was very foggy), ate tasty food, and went to a Kraken game (so fun! but they lost in overtime).

That's all for now!

Stay tuned for more adventures in the coming months. We will leave you with these silly photos of Chuck doing important work, Trisha having a silent rave in the campsite, and our new chicken nugget dino pillows (Squirrelly and Stubs). You can also check-out our nature photos on the flora, fauna, fungi page if you want more pretty nature stuff. Until soon xoxo