My First Mariner's Game of the Season

I went to my first Mariner's game of the season last night, and what a game it was. Griffey is back and scored his 400th home run as a Mariner. Late in the game Ichiro hit a grand slam to help bring the Mariner's to a final score of 11 to 3 over the Anaheim Angels. Not to mention it was a beautiful spring day in the Emerald City. I will add a photo or two to this post in a few days.
And speaking of Anaheim... I will be off soon enjoying the California sun (for the first time since I graduated in 2007) at Disneyland. Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder, here I come!

Second Beach Camping

A couple weekends ago I camped on the beach at Second Beach near La Push on the Washington coast. The weather was amazing and Second Beach spectacular. I explored tide pools, marveled at offshore sea stacks, saw gray whales at First Beach, enjoyed the sunshine, sat by the campfire roasting hot dogs, saw a shooting star, and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean just 15 paces away from my tent. On the way home, we stopped at Lake Crescent to look at a little slice of temperate rain forest. It was a great weekend, and despite having sand just about everywhere, camping on the beach is probably one of the coolest things I have done. Here are some photos...

Wallace Falls Hike

On Saturday morning, I woke up reasonably early to hike Wallace Falls in Gold Bar, Washington, on Highway 2. It was raining lightly as I drove out the trail head, but I was prepared with my hat, rain coat, and waterproof boots and happy the rain meant the trail wouldn't be crowded.

I hiked about five miles round trip, seeing lower, middle, and upper Wallace Falls. There is about 1,300-feet of elevation gain to the upper falls, so the hike is not terribly strenuous. But I will say that when the trail goes up, it is steep. This also means there are nice flat spots to catch your breath though as well.
The hike was great, with views almost the entire way. Hiking by myself, I set a fast pace and ran back down the trail to keep my heart rate up. Wallace Falls drops 265-feet within the state park, a height comparable to Snoqualmie Falls. It was very impressive to see and I really enjoyed the hike. The rain gave a very Northwesty feel to the hike as well. Wallace Falls is definitely a must-see for all you locals!

Vitamin D Levels Return to Equilibrium

I hope all of my fellow Seattleites have been enjoying the sunshine. Though the weather is going to turn chilly again tomorrow - we've been enjoying sixty and seventy degree weather here in the great Northwest. It's absolutely glorious. Reliable sources on Wikipedia report that 20 minutes of UVB exposure can return vitamin D levels to equilibrium for people. So for my health and well-being, I spent the afternoon yesterday sitting in the sunshine at Gasworks park doing nothing except people watching and restoring my dangerously low vitamin D levels. Ahhhh sunshine. Raise your hand if you forgot how wonderful the warm sun feels!

Last weekend I also camped on the beach (yes, like 20 feet from the ocean) at Second Beach near La Push. More on that soon once the weather turns crappy again. For now, my free time will be spent outside. TTFN!