The Purgatory of House Hunting

I don't really vent very often but Kim and I have spent the past couple months looking for housing in DC. Admittedly, we are limiting ourselves by looking for a 2 bedroom place in the city, but it seems that those are reasonable requests. Some of our other 'must-haves' are apparently not not so easy to fulfill. For the past two days we've been talking to the owner of a great row house in an up and coming area of town. It's a beautiful place and within our budget (barely). The only problem? It's not a huge deal, just a drug related homicide last week 30 ft. from the front door. I've always felt that not dying adds a great deal to quality of life and Kim's a real stickler for the whole "let's live in a place where we don't fear for our lives" thing. So the search continues.
Also annoying is the fact that DC is completely devoid of mid range apartments. Everything with a functional ceiling that's within walking distance of running water commands outrageous prices. There are three choices for apartments: 1. Live with 7 other students in a studio apartment with no windows. The upside to this is that it's only $750 per person. 2. Rent an acceptable apartment at an unethical price 3-4 hrs. outside of DC. This option is looking distressingly attractive. 3. Take out 3 loans and promise Don Corleone both kidneys someday to rent a newly remodeled luxury apartment in the city. But aren't there any regular apartments? No. There just aren't. Apparently all of them have been remodeled into luxury apts. in the last year. I don't need granite counter tops, but I will probably have them. I would gladly trade the work out room, business center, bell hop service, presidential suite furniture and community room with huge HD tv, bar, overstuffed furniture and Monet paintings for $100 off my rent each month.
When my dad and I visited last spring we saw one apartment complex that, thanks to rent controls, was only $1500 for a very small, cheaply built 2 bedroom apartment. It was in a high density neighborhood where parking was difficult to find. A parking pass at this apartment costs $250 per month...
So Kim and I continue the search for a place to live where we won't die or be in debt until we're in a nursing home. We'll let you know what we find. We'll also let you know if we find the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, or a running game for the Seahawks.
Kim here, things are not that bleak...well not really. We will have a great life in DC even if it is "3-4 hours outside the city" or leaving us owing our first beautiful child to Don Corleone (our first ugly child can be ours).

Mt. Hood

So for Christmas my parents gave Kim and I (give yourself ten points if you realized it should be 'me and Kim' instead of 'Kim and I') a gift certificate to the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. We tried to use it a couple of times during the year but it never worked out due to the apparent policy at the Timberline Lodge of being booked full 4 months out. So instead we used it as a brief rest in between Tacoma and Walla Walla. We spent an afternoon in Portland, and by Portland I mean Powell's book store. Neither of us had ever been to Powell's before but it is overwhelming. It's a 3 story, full city block of new and used books. We spent maybe 3 hours there and barely scratched the surface of what's available. My favorite book (which I didn't buy because I read the whole thing while standing there) was called "What White People Like" It included such entries as 'not owning a tv', 'adopting foreign children', 'Arrested Development', and 'pretending to be Canadian while in Europe'. I didn't find casserole or fondue but maybe I just missed those.
After Powell's we headed up to the lodge and had a great 3 days. We went hiking, read a lot, ate good food, relaxed, and learned the word 'hygrometer' from a dial in the sauna. The mountain looks like it used to have huge glaciers, but like Mt. Adams, now is mostly dirt in late summer. The lodge was built in the 30's by the WPA and is beautiful. Everything is wood and there are huge beams in every room. In many places it looks like whole trees were used. Thanks for the great present M&D!

Going Away. At least until Sept. 6th.

On Friday the 25th we had our going away party up at camp. I had just finished a week at middle school camp and Kim had just finished a week packing our lives into liquor boxes. Thanks to all of you who came and made the going away party a great time for us. Thanks for your words, letters, gifts, memories, and everything else. Three things about the evening really stand out: Playing in the lake with Brendan and Kevin one last time, hearing from all of you what you remember about our three years here, and Kevin standing in front of everyone in the Ricky Martin belly shirt, wet jeans he cut into shorts only moments ago, and long dripping hair, saying, "sometimes I do some strange things..." Yes you do. Yes you do.
Thanks again to everyone for coming and encouraging us. I'll just leave you with this: Life is like a river sweeping us away to a new place but the going away party was like a band of forest animals standing on the bank and waving to us. Then when we look back, the animals are all gone because they've gone to forage for nuts and avoid predators. Except there's one smiling baby squirrel that just keeps waving and then his mom has to whisk him away from a diving hawk at that last minute. That was probably one of the most profound things I've ever written... George Washington University, here I come.

A good week of local climbing

Last week at this time I was on my way home from Mt. Rainier and about to leave for 3 days of climbing in Squamish with friends from Western. Altogether it was a great week of climbing but it left me with some thoughts that I'll pass on if you've got the time...
We left for Rainier on Friday morning and hiked up to Camp Muir at 10,000 ft. The snow and fog started right at the parking lot and didn't let up until we were 50 yards from camp. The whole hike had the surreal feeling of being on some kind of mountain treadmill with the wind and fog blowing past as we couldn't see anything around us. The weather was great that night and we went to bed with plans of moving camp up to Ingraham Flats at 11,000 ft. the next morning. The weather had other ideas and we sat in camp all day Saturday as the wind and rain/snow blew like crazy. Several teams who had tried to summit that morning crawled back to camp throughout the day wet and looking pretty defeated. No one we talked to had summited. Saturday afternoon we moved into the shelters there at Camp Muir (which are like mountain side paradise resorts compared to sitting in a tent) and waited for the weather to break. I went to sleep around 5:30pm with the wind blowing as hard as ever and the snow screaming sideways past the doors. When we woke at 11 pm there were only hints of wind, and the stars were out in impressive fashion. It was smooth sailing from there and we summited around 8 am. I think we were one of the slower teams on the mountain that day but I loved the pace. I felt rested almost the whole trip up and didn't start to really feel the elevation until about 13,500 ft. We spent almost an hour at the top and then made our way back to camp, packed up, headed back to the car, ate dinner in Ashford, and finally got home close to 9pm on Sunday.

The next day Kim and I headed to Bellingham. Kim stayed with friends there for the week and I continued up to Squamish, BC for 3 days of rock climbing with Art, Jon, Hunter, and Garrett, 4 amazing men I lived with in college. The climbing was great. I had only done a few crack climbs before in my life but we did a bunch of classic Squamish cracks and I loved it. My hands have scabs all over them now and I'm doing my best not to pick at them. In addition to the climbing, the company was USDA certified grade-A.
All in all it was a splendid week of climbing.
After a week of different types of climbing with different people, I think I'm slowly starting to understand my own love of the outdoors and where it comes from. I don't particularly enjoy doing things just because they are difficult. Several of my friends, who have abilities and endurance far beyond my own, climb for the challenge and aren't as interested in doing a hike or climb that is not exceedingly challenging. I'm realizing that location and significance matter more to me than technical skills and if the route is hard, that's ok. If the route is easy, that's ok too. What means most to me is experiencing up close the beauty that I see every day from the places I live and visit. The Rainier climb was so powerful because I saw in new ways the mountain that I see everyday from Tacoma. The glaciers cracking and crumbling have a different kind of power up close than they do from 75 miles away. Brown and gray smudges become towering rock faces up close. Climbing in Squamish lets you feel and work with the rock that surrounds you when you're in the valley. I love my scabby hands because they remind me of the granite that looks so smooth from the highway but is actually all crystals and extremely textured.
I guess I'm realizing that location means a lot to me. Traveling somewhere to climb doesn't excite me as much but climbing the wilderness that surrounds me seems to give me more perspective. The mountain seen from the city is not the mountain seen from below looming above you or from on top stretched out below you.
So that's what I've been thinking about lately, congrats for getting through this, I went a little long.

Mt. Rainer

So, Patrick and a crew of 5 other guys will be climbing Mt. Rainer tomorrow morning. They will be summiting at 8AM on Sunday and will hopefully find them selves overlooking Tacoma.
I am currently taking pictures of him packing up is 50lb pack and loving his life.
As his wife of nearly 2 years, I am excited for him to come home safely and proud of him for following his dreams.