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Another father-son bonding experience–23 hours in the car together, from Nana’s house in Rancho PV, to Seattle. Did the In-N-Out Burger vs. Burgermaster taste test.  Good ol’  Burg’master won hands down, though In-N-Out gets an honorable mention for real potato tasting fries.

Transitional weather. This is a euphemism for snow crystals in August. But we also had sunshine. Cold sunshine. The mountain played peek-a-boo with the clouds & we were treated to the wonders of Wonderland yet again. Awesome! Thank God for father-son times liket this.

                For the second year in a row, Jake earned the white jersey as the best youngest rider. This year we had brilliant sun and brutal headwinds, which turned Chuckanut Drive into a welcome respite. We snapped a shift cable Saturday morning, and did a roadside MacGiver fix which got us up and down the hills stuck in middle gear until we found the mechanic to give us a new cable just before reaching Vancouver. We celebrated with the traditional bottomless root beer float, Jake’s post-ride favorite.  Perhaps this regimen will carry him to Le Tour in 2025… who knows?  We had the pleasure of teaming up with great traveling companions, Ron & Jan for this ride, which added to the fun.

On the last weekend before Ryan hits the road for Cali and law school (with Jacob in tow as his traveling companion for the road trip), I craved some time with my sons. So after a leisurely Sunday morning I suggested a nice little day hike.  But where? My favorite trail, of course–The Wonderland, at Mt Rainier. By noon we were on the road. By 4:00 p.m. we were standing on top of Skyscraper Peak (7,078′) on the south side of Rainier. What a spectacular day with my sons!

That’s Mt Rainier behind us. It sure is nice to have a volcano in your backyard, so to speak.

San Diego de Tenango 2010

We spent a week in this village sponsored by Agros and UPC, getting to know the people, preparing the Corn Festival (more ways to eat and drink corn than I ever imagined), hand-mixing and spreading concrete floors, learning each other’s languages, praying, and admiring the beauty of life and this land.