It's All About Me...

Eventful Labor Day Weekend - And It Is Not Over Yet

It has been quite a busy weekend for us and we still have one more day to go. We started the weekend with a very nice hike up to Rattlesnake Ledge. Yuka, Vince and Gizmo met at our house; we got that before 10am and it was not too busy yet. Gander and Gizmo were both off-leash for most of the hike and this was Gizmo's first time being off-leash on any hike. He did very well, but it was very clear from the beginning that Gander was determined to be the boss or the leader of the hike. Everytime Gizmo intentionally or unintentionally slipped past him to be in front, Gander would race up front to lead again. And if Gander noticed Gizmo trying to move up, he would look back and block Gizmo from advancing. It was quite interesting to watch them.

We had a bit of a rest at the Ledge and then headed back down just when the crowd started to arrive. At the bottom of the hill, both dogs played in the water. It was clear that even though Gizmo knows how to swim, he would not do it voluntarily! He was running in and out of the water but never got more than chest-deep. Meanwhile, it was hard to get Gander out of the water!

After we got back to Issaquah, we went to the Brewhouse for a nice pub lunch. I have never been a big beer-drinker, but perhaps Dan was right about the fact that I never had really good beer. I enjoy the occasional Guinness and Caffrey's but not so much the 'regular beer'. However, I might have to change my tune since the pale ale that Dan had was actually quite tasty... I will just have to try out more of the beers they offer at the Brewhouse! In fact, we just might go back tonight to pick up some for next weekend when the karate weekend.

Yuka and I talked about planning something for the dojo's 'auxillary club members' when the students are training. It just so happens that the Issaquah Artwalk is next Friday and a new wine bar/tapas restaurant is opening that night. It should be a fun outing for both visitors and the locals!

After a morning of hiking and a pub lunch, Dan and I were set to have a relaxing afternoon. But that was not to be! When Dan went to the garage to fetch the cherry wood we have to make a few hiking sticks for our friends, he discovered that out water tank was leaking! Water was flowing out the top. It hasn't started for long as the water was just reaching the garage door. After turning the tank and the water off, we emptied the tank and headed to Lowe's to shop for a new tank.

To make a long story short, even though the people there did not know much about the tanks they carry and it was a pain arranging installation, they tried very hard and after much time spent at their computer and few phone calls this morning, we did end up having a new tank delivered and intalled this afternoon. So we have hot water again . Apparently, the last tank lasted just short of 20 years, so we should be good to go now.

Dan resumed what he was doing 24 hours ago and was just about to start working on those hiking sticks when he noticed thousands of birds flying into the evergreens at the neighbors'. It was very creepy to hear all the chirping and to see them arriving in droves. I missed the biggest flock that was deep and covered the sky when I came back inside to get my binoculars, but I still witnessed some dramatic arrival. When I looked into the trees with my binoculars, I could see so many birds just sitting on the branches. But all of a sudden, they just launched off the branches and took off. It went dead quiet within 2 seconds.

The whole experience was quite amazing though creepy nonetheless. At first I thought some kind of natural phenomenon was about to take place.... earthquake or big storm... but I believe Dan was right when he guessed that they were migrating. In fact, they all came from the north and flew south when they took off. Unfortunately, I have no idea what kind of birds they were.

Now that we have hot water and we could resume enjoying the long weekend, I can start to think about our plan for tomorrow - going back to Rattlesnake Lake with a picnic and maybe the kayak and just hang out at the beach. I have to go into work tomorrow to do treatments in the evening, but at least I willl have most of the day to play.

posted by Anne-Gigi @ 6:54 PM