Lee convinced me that rather than doing my laundry I should take the motorcycle out for a long ride today. She told me, "I'd be out there." So away I went.



I arrived here in the Seattle area exactly three years ago today. In an apparent coincidence I took the bike out for a very long ride to re-visit the Gorge. My route back took me through the Yakima Canyon and then into The Rainier National Park.





I took this picture of Tara at the Gorge. It is one of my favorite pictures from that trip. When I made my way across the Columbia River, I knew I would want to visit that area again once I had some experiences from beyond the Cascades. I can't say I have anything profound to say. But, I have to ask, three years later and what am I doing? I don't feel I can cut and run. I won't go back to Florida. I (hopefully) won't cook again. And it is premature for me to return to New England. I'll get back on the bike tomorrow and I'll go to work. I have to think about this more. Check out this other picture of Tara.

Read a 4 year-old's take on God. Go!

I'm going to start running again on Saturday. I've taken quite a while off for my knee. I don't feel much from it now but when knees are involved, I can't be sure. Another long run could bring it back. It looks like I'm going to breakfast tomorrow at Beth's at a ridiculous hour in the morning. We used to eat there before work every Friday before the shop moved to Mukilteo. Denny's is a poor substitute. You can't have enough punks and cigarette smoke in the morning, is what I say. Y'all have a good weekend. Venceremos!

I took a long ride around Mt. Rainier yesterday. After I pieced together this picture, I think I like the one below of Mt. St. Helens better. We were a little further away than the last visitors station and there is a nice contrast between the foliage and the gray of the wasteland. The Rainier picture was taken on either route 7 or 161. Here, distance doesn't work so well. I had to get this of Rainier because the previous day we were nearly fruitless in this quest. If there were more variation of terrain then I think it would be more impressive. I wonder when this one is going to go up? I want to be more than a state away. Yellowstone might just go too. Another continent would be advisable then.

This is a better picture.

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Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

Yup. There it is.

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Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

Brother Jerry and his traveling partner, and wife, Judy, are visiting after their tour of Alaska. We are on our way to Mt. St. Helens today.

"Yes, the world is not a totally evil place. There are always cats in pants."

I don't know why I took this series of the bridge. What I liked were the hills in the background. I went to Issaquah for coffee and the paper, and then on to North Bend to see whether they had any work shoes for me. They didn't. It was such a beautiful day that I decided to head up Route 2 and I ended up in Skykomish. It was a perfect motorcycle day. Not being able to run has had a negative impact on me. It was nice getting out of town, if even for a short time.

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Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

I went out for coffee today and ended up in Skykomish.

I haven't run in two weeks. I'm giving my knee enough time to hopefully fix itself. I passed on this morning's run here in Bellevue. I may go over to Greenlake today to get some new shoes. I have a list of other chores as well. Tomorrow is the Seafair half marathon I won't be running. On the positive side, I think my knee is coming along relatively well. I had some knee problems in Florida that lasted for what seemed a long, long time. I'll get more boat pictures here soon. Happy sailing.

I went down to the Wooden Boats Festival on Lake Union today.

Happy fourth. Enjoy your long weekend. If you have it, enjoy the sun. Aum Peace.