Monday, March 30, 2009

Washington Pictures

Hello! Not surprising, I went up to Stevens Pass again today. The lighting wasn't great for pictures, and it was cold and windy. I've been looking at this view on the drive home of an old railroad bridge that crosses over a beautiful river. I finally decided to stop and take some photos! I also added a new section to my website of pictures that I think represent the amazing and beautiful state of Washington. Check it out at Powder Photo .




Saturday, March 28, 2009

Family Vacation

Last week I met up with my family for a quick trip down to some warmer weather. We spent the first two days in Palm Desert at Desert Springs resort. It was pretty amazing. It had a huge atrium with a beautiful bar in the middle. One whole side of it was made of glass that looked out into the pool area that was back-dropped by a desert mountain vista. The trip was designated for a little much needed R&R, so I took full advantage. Ordering tropical drinks and soaking up 85 degree sunshine, what could be better? The hotel was also surrounded by golf courses, not surprising of course. If I was any good at golfing, I bet it would be pretty fun!



After Palm Desert, we drove to Vegas. It was my first time that I was actually old enough to gamble in Vegas, so I was pretty stoked. Needless to say, I lost all of the money that I gambled. At least I still had a good time though! I loved looking at all of the beautiful hotels and the lavish lifestyle that is portrayed in Vegas. My big splurge was a trip to Jean-Philippe's Patisserie in the Bellagio Hotel. Who wouldn't want to go here?



Monday, March 16, 2009

A Powder Day at Alpental

Powder Day Madness
All racked up.

It's pretty hard to believe that it's March right now. Yesterday I woke up to snow on the ground before I left for work and today's been pretty blustery with intermittent rain showers. Out of the six years I've lived in Seattle, it's only snowed maybe once a year in the city...if that. Unfortunately, those Seattle snowfalls have only barely begun to scratch the surface of what should be amazing snow in the mountains. It's been a bit of a slow winter up at Stevens Pass and Alpental, and all I can say about the last couple weeks is - it's about damn time!! So here I am to write about a pretty sick day that David and I had up at Alpental on March 6.


Alpy Cliff Drop
David drops a cliff under Chair 2.

Bluebird Pow

It started out early, as I had to be back to work at 4 o'clock. We rushed out of the city to find ourselves in a winter wonderland just an hour later. Arriving at 8:30 a.m., we quickly put our boots on only to see that the chairlifts were already loading! Once we reached the top of Chair 2, we had to stop for a moment to stare out at the beauty of the Cascades. Bright blue skies, sub-20 degrees, and 12 inches of pow! Nothing could ruin this day. We headed over to Edelweiss Bowl and rode a few powdery bowls, face shots all the way down. Beautiful...until we reached the bottom of Chair 2. A line??? It's Friday, don't you people have to work? Needless to say, the powder was too good to get discouraged. Everyone was all smiles and even the little old man that plays the flute on the ride up was there. You all know who he is. Pieces of colorful wood protrude from his helmet like the horn of a unicorn. I guess every local mountain has it's characters.

David and I took a few more magical runs, but had to call it a day due to the annoying lines. We stayed and had some lunch, enjoying the sunshine and good vibe, then headed back to the city. Was it worth the drive for the few runs of pow? Hell yes. Enjoy the photos, and don't forget to stop by my photography site, www.powderphoto.com if you haven't seen it yet!