A few shots from this morning running Nora by herself at the park.

And then later Mary and I hiked around on rocks. Mary nearly had a heart attack after almost stepping on a four-foot long snake. No rattlers though.

We are a bit picky about what our dogs eat. The cheapo mainstream brands definitely don’t make the grade and even some of the supposedly higher quality foods (think Eukanuba) don’t make the cut. After quite a bit of research and a few different trial runs we were really to happy to find Canidae brand dog food being offered at several stores in Grand Rapids (Chow Hound, Pet Smart). Actually cheaper than Eukanuba/similar and much better in terms of our dogs’ energy levels and coat health.

Sadly Canidae has not yet penetrated the Yakima, WA market. We were kind of bummed about this until I stumbled onto a website, PetPointe.com, offering bulk orders of dog food shipped to your front door. You have to buy at least five 40 lb bags to get the shipping discount, but three hungry dogs I think will keep this a viable option. A little more expensive than what we were paying in GR, but actually still cheaper (including shipping and no sales tax) than what we’d pay for other similar brands in stores around here (plus the convenience factor). Anyway our order processed on Monday and arrived in our driveway this afternoon.

Trammell looks a bit nonplussed in the second photo, but I’m sure he’ll be happy to get his nutrients back.

A while back I lamented the loss of my twice weekly full-court basketball game, commenting on what a rare thing I felt it was to find a fun, accepting group of people who are still competitive and energetic.

Well, I think we’ve done one better. Ultimate Frisbee, baby! I had heard rumblings from a friend out here about a group of people who get together a couple times a week to play Frisbee, so I did a little online research, dropped a few emails, and showed up at a park with Mary last Sunday to find what ended up being fourteen other players strapping on cleats and tossing warmup throws.

And it was incredible. Competent, competitive Frisbee is a beautiful thing to watch and even better to participate in. Everyone was super welcoming and friendly (patiently explaining rules and talking with us in between games about Yakima and past residences), most in their twenties or early thirties, and all pretty much down to earth.

Our throws (and legs) were definitely a little rusty the first time out, but after playing again last Wednesday and again this afternoon (and practicing with each other a couple of times the past few days) I think I’m developing a pretty solid forehand to go with an already comfortable backhand and hammer. Mary’s been playing really well too and has already figured out a forehand that took me forever to even start to learn. And of course it was also great to have an excuse to run around for a couple of hours. It sounds like the playing season extends roughly from March through October, twice a week whenever possible, with a few tourneys in the fall. Pretty sweet!

Mary took a few pictures while subbed out for a couple of minutes during a game this afternoon (I’m the one in the green sleeveless shirt).

Later Taylor drank a beer and then we took all three dogs for their usual nightly run at the school across the street where they caught Frisbees and frolicked in the sprinklers. It really has become a nightly routine and the dogs start to get all antsy and whimpery around dusk in anticipation (for the run, not the beer).

Mary and I drove down to Zillah, WA this afternoon and spent a couple of hours doing the wine tour thing. Not really my first choice for how to spend a day, but Mary got fired up after re-watching Sideways some time over the past couple of days and I suppose when you’re in an area that supposedly rivals Napa Valley for quality wine production, it’s something that needs to be done. And really it turned out to be fairly interesting. And free of course. We tasted wine at two vineyards, Claar Cellars and Bonair Vineyards, with a stop at El Ranchito Restaurant in between (cleansing our palates with tacos and refried beans). We sampled about a dozen wines in total at Claar and Bonair. Not being a wine connoisseur, they were all good.

Mary and I drove up to Mount Rainier National Park yesterday afternoon. Roughly a ninety minute drive from our front door to the park entrance. Most of the park roads are closed due to massive flooding last fall, but we were able to drive in a couple of miles and were waved in for free by a bored-looking ranger manning the entrance booth. Only saw one other couple the whole time we were there. We spent a few hours hiking along the Ohanapecosh River, checking out Silver Falls, and scrambling around on boulders before heading home. Many pictures…

Here are a couple of short clips from our outing. Below left are a series of rapids and drops right above Silver Falls (they might even be part of Silver falls, not sure how waterfalls are classified). And below right is Silver Falls (main drop).