2009 Galleries

Cat costume contest : We took Geoff and Anita to the Puyallup Fair the evening of September 12 and happend to stumble (OK, after much searching) across this gem of a show. The reaction of the poor animals is priceless. One of the judges was booed after announcing the second place winner and then trying to claim that a mistake had been made and the prize needed to be awarded to another "contestant". The crowd won.

Cat costume contest

We took Geoff and Anita to the Puyallup Fair the evening of September ...

Updated: Sep 15, 2009 10:44pm PST

Walla Walla wine tasting : September 5-7, 2009. Our first real roadtrip in the new Bimmer! We headed to twelve wineries over 3 days, the fair and rodeo, and walked around some of the historic homes. Perfect 75 and sunny weather all 3 days!

Walla Walla wine tasting

September 5-7, 2009. Our first real roadtrip in the new Bimmer! We hea ...

Updated: Sep 15, 2009 10:38pm PST

Motorbiking in Alaska : Brad flew from Seattle to Anchorage on June 5th for 10 days of motorbike riding and sightseeing with his dad, Geoff. We both rode Suzuki V-Strom 650's, which are great bikes for "Adventure Touring", where you have to plan for gravel, dirt, and paved roads and never know what's around the next bend. All in all, a fantastic trip with great scenery, lots of up-close wildlife (and only 4 moose crossing the road in front of us!), and great companionship - a great father and son trip!

Motorbiking in Alaska

Brad flew from Seattle to Anchorage on June 5th for 10 days of motorbi ...

Updated: Jun 16, 2009 10:57pm PST

Alaska - Top 13 Photos : Brad flew from Seattle to Anchorage on June 5th for 10 days of motorbike riding and sightseeing with his dad, Geoff. We both rode Suzuki V-Strom 650's, which are great bikes for "Adventure Touring", where you have to plan for gravel, dirt, and paved roads and never know what's around the next bend. All in all, a fantastic trip with great scenery, lots of up-close wildlife (and only 4 moose crossing the road in front of us!), and great companionship - a great father and son trip!

Alaska - Top 13 Photos

Brad flew from Seattle to Anchorage on June 5th for 10 days of motorbi ...

Updated: Jun 14, 2009 10:25pm PST

New BMW 335i arrives : 2008 BMW 335i - Montego blue exterior, black leather interior. Every single option except active cruise control. (which tends to set off radar detectors...) I LOVE IT! 12,000 miles, absolutely immaculate, and 40% less than the original owner paid :)

New BMW 335i arrives

2008 BMW 335i - Montego blue exterior, black leather interior. Every s ...

Updated: May 31, 2009 8:38am PST

La Conner Tulip Festival 2009 : Spring arrived about 3 weeks late so we delayed our annual trip north to La Conner...we arrived around 11am, checked out the flowers at Tulip Town ($5 to get in, but worth it as you see tons of different colours all in one spot), ate lunch in La Conner at the pub, bought a couple of antique lamps at a lighting store, and headed home. We stopped for ice cream but when we saw the 30-minute-long lineup we decided to pass. By 3pm the region was gripped in full flower mayhem. (and we were a third of the way back to Seattle)

La Conner Tulip Festival 2009

Spring arrived about 3 weeks late so we delayed our annual trip north ...

Updated: Apr 27, 2009 10:41pm PST

Selling Brad's Audi S4 : After 5 years it was time to part with my 2001 Audi S4. 68,500 miles and a warranty that expires in 3 months...it's been a lot of fun :) It had 300hp and 375lb-ft of torque, aftermarket brakes, suspension, engine computer, exhaust, and a few other tweaks. It took 2 weeks to sell (pretty good for the middle of a deep recession) but felt like giving it away - $12,250. Up next? 2007 or 2008 BMW 335i.

Selling Brad's Audi S4

After 5 years it was time to part with my 2001 Audi S4. 68,500 miles a ...

Updated: Apr 25, 2009 10:06am PST

House projects : Before-and-after photos of some work that we've done to the house...

House projects

Before-and-after photos of some work that we've done to the house...

Updated: May 06, 2009 8:45pm PST

New Zealand - Top 13 photos : A selection of the top photos from our March 2009 trip to the South Island of New Zealand.

New Zealand - Top 13 photos

A selection of the top photos from our March 2009 trip to the South Is ...

Updated: Mar 31, 2009 3:21pm PST

New Zealand - Part Two : From Invercargill, we headed north to Te Anau (Glow worm cruise, Doubtful Sound cruise) and Queenstown (jet boats, luge, paragliding). We turned west through Wanaka out to the West Coast and stopped at Fox Glacier en route to Blenheim (wine country). From there we headed south to Christchurch where we flew home. All told, a it was a great trip and included 3500 kms of driving over 16 days!

New Zealand - Part Two

From Invercargill, we headed north to Te Anau (Glow worm cruise, Doubt ...

Updated: Apr 18, 2009 10:37am PST

New Zealand - Part One : March 10-26 trip to New Zealand's south island. We flew into Christchurch, then travelled south to Dunedin, west to see Brad's family in Central Otago, and then south-east to the Catlins and Invercargill.

New Zealand - Part One

March 10-26 trip to New Zealand's south island. We flew into Christchu ...

Updated: Mar 30, 2009 8:25am PST