Dad flew in Thursday night for a long weekend here in Washington. Here we are yesterday enjoying the views at Mount Rainier National Park:

And a little more visibility during a hike in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness today. I’ll post more pictures later this week. Below, pictures of Dragontail Peak, Colchuck Lake, and a mountain goat:

Hey evolution in the name of sweet, sweet cherries.

We had a bit of a heat wave there for a couple weeks, but things seem to have returned to normal for the moment. Normal is still plenty warm for the dogs, but if we get out early enough in the day and make a few detours through the park sprinklers they hang in there alright. I’ve started a pretty regular running routine again and have been getting my runs in during the daylight fringes as well. No crazy distances for my battered joints, but a few miles a couple days a week with some speed work during Ultimate Frisbee games on Sunday thrown in for good measure.

The cherries are getting ready to go. One more week maybe. The birds have already started picking at them (even though still green) and so I have I. Kind of tart in their greenness. The dogs have been gobbling up the ground scraps, followed by contented flopping around on the lawn.