42 years - Together

     as my husband & I were contemplating our life together, he said today "we're closer to death than we've ever been, both of us are contemplating how to live without the other, knowing that it could happen anytime. Even the dog who's on her last legs could leave one or the other of us completely alone"

    This is what I've had to live with for 42 years. He has an interesting and quirky way about him that always makes me smile. The above statement made by him was all said in jest, just so you know ;-)

Tomorrow we are celebrating our 42nd anniversary with a bicycle ride & picnic on the Centennial trail in Snohomish county, one of our favorite places to be. Marriage for us has been a journey of ups and downs, great joy and great pain. We've both had our moments of utter stupidity and then of incredible strength for each other with unconditional love. To us marriage is a lifetime commitment, when the bumps of life come along we put in the effort to be better. After all, marriage is really just learning how to accept each other where we're at.

42 years 

pretty good for a young couple, that started out the way we did (me 17 and pregnant, him 19 and going to college).

When we were married we were told by someone that it would never work, 

well just look at us now!

Blanchard Mtn./Lily and Lizard lakes Trailblazer hike

I should have titled this the "Separation hike". 14 of us met at the Bellingham Senior Center this morning to sign in and to talk about where we were going and to split up for our carpool rides to the trail head. When we got to the Blanchard Mtn. trail head on Barrel Springs road we realized that one of the cars wasn't with us. Thanks to Ed who had a cell phone, we got in touch with them and since they had gone to the wrong place, they decided to go on their own hike today instead of trying to find us. The driver of their car miss-heard our destination and had headed for Chuckanut drive. So they had 3 in their group and our group was now 11.

This is where we were all supposed to meet

getting ready to hike

Today's hike would be all in the forest except for a trip to North Butte to check out the view.

As we were going along my left calf that I had injured in 2011 was feeling pretty tight. It had been getting really sore the last mile of last weeks long hike, I told my husband that I didn't like how it felt so we talked about it and agreed that instead of hiking up to North Butte with the rest of the group, we would continue past Lily and Lizard lakes and hike on down to the car and wait for them to return. Our leader Pat agreed that this would be a good idea.

"OUR" separation, they went left - we went right 

This separation would shorten our hike by a little over a mile. Since we left the group we could now hike at a slower pace that was more comfortable for my leg. 

We didn't really go to these lakes, just passed by the sign

The trail to Lizard lake was so cute, a trail crew had lined the path with rocks. We decided this would be a nice place to sit and eat our lunch.

It was nice to take a more leisurely walk with my husband. The trail had several benches on the way down. So of course I took the opportunity to have my picture taken!

I noticed this tree along the trail (in the photo below), it had completely outgrown it's mother tree. 

Now that was a good "mother" ;-)

last bridge on the way out

We only had to wait about 40 minutes for the group to rejoin us. Not too bad, and my leg survived. I think ice will be my friend for the next few days.

together at last

I will be skipping next week's hike to Park Butte, I'd like my leg to feel better before I go again, besides next week is our 42nd wedding anniversary. 

Our shortened hike today just right! 

Endomondo stats:

7.82 total miles hiked

818 Min. altitude

2160 Max. altitude

10735 Total ascent

10740 Total descent

Elbow lake from Pioneer camp Trailblazer hike

What was advertised as a 6 mile hike for our Senior Trailblazer group turned out to be a 10.45 mile hike. We had a long drive before we could begin our hike. We drove about 2 hours to get to the Pioneer camp trailhead to begin our Elbow lake hike from the South trail access 14 of us started on an overcast day.

We hiked through a very lush forest and the Maidenhair ferns were everywhere.

We had a couple of short creek crossings. The rocks were very slippery.

We stopped for lunch just beyond this trail marker.

After lunch we hiked on to the first lake.

Lake Doreen

and then on to Elbow lake. My husband supplied the visual "Elbow"

Do you see a Sasquatch in the bush below?!

No, just my husband being silly with some moss that was laying on the trail.

Here he is - my husband the "Sasquatch"

Marjan with the clingy greenery sticking to her socks, posing with the "Sasquatch"!

Looking back towards the lower area of the Twin Sisters range.

The rest of the hike was on a logging road and turned out to be MUCH 

longer than we thought it would be....

and MUCH wetter!

It poured on us for a good couple of miles at the end our hike, boy was it nice to see our car again.

Endomondo stats:
10.45 total miles hiked
2123 Min. altitude
3598 Max. altitude
8604 Total ascent
8820 Total descent

Garden Goodness - Onion Tart

We are having a bumper crop of Onions this year! We plant them every year but they don't usually get very big, but I'm thinking that they are flourishing this year because of all the 80+ temperatures we've had this summer. Whatever the reason, I'm thrilled because we now have enough to try a recipe I've not made before - Onion Tart. I scoured the internet for recipes, and finally settled on this one I saw in a blog. Here's the link for it:

 http://dishingupdelights.thedailymeal.com/2009/06/free-form-onion-tart.html

My didn't turn out as pretty as the one pictured in the blog, but my oh my was it ever delicious!

P.S. We even have ripe tomatoes already, 

unheard of at our house to be ripe by mid August. Yippee!

Scott Paul Trailblazer hike

Today 18 Senior Trailblazers headed to Scott Paul trail, and what a gorgeous day it was!

We hiked through the trees for the first few miles, enjoying the old growth forest.

As soon as we got to a clearing we stopped for a snack to enjoy the views -

Then we split into two groups. One group would continue on and hike the entire loop and the other group would hike a bit farther and then return from the way we'd come up.

I was with the group that was going to complete the loop.

nice view just after lunch

hiking beneath the glacial moraine

just a bit of snow left on the trail

looking towards the railroad grade

Me, with Mt. Baker!

Narrow trail before heading down

fun small suspension bridge

our exciting stream crossing

Walking through Schrieber's meadows to end the hike. My husband joined us on this hike and I have to say a big thanks to him for helping us with our stream crossings. 

My Hero :-)

Endomondo stats:
8.73 total miles hiked
3314 Min. altitude
5256 Max. altitude

Skyline Divide Trailblazer hike

18 Senior Trailblazers met at the Senior Center to begin our hike today. Wow! Since it's too large of a group to hike as one, we split up into 2 separate groups. One group hiked a little quicker and the second a little slower so it was great for everyone. We only hiked to the ridge, so it was about 4 1/2 miles round trip total today. The full Skyline Divide hike is 9 miles round trip if completed according to the guidebooks.

after hiking through the forest for a couple of miles we came to the open meadows just before the ridge. The flowers were just beginning to show, mostly Lupine and Valerian.

just had to share Helen's hat!

Some Parks workers past us and told us about the butterfly research they were doing in the area.

Views from the ridge

I liked this picture of the tree just showing through the fog on our way out.

Endomondo stats:
4.44 total miles hiked
4268 Min. altitude
5908 Max. altitude