Finally

At last a post! Winter is almost here and I am way behind on blogging and updating my personal and professional pages. What have I been doing? Well, writing and writing, and hiking and hiking. There are still a handful of hikes that are on my list in the Eastern Washington area and now is the time to do them. It's the time of year when the rattlesnakes and ticks have disappeared and the tipping point for snow on the higher hills.

Writing for Washington Trails Magazine is a welcome time-suck and the date of January 7th is looming on the horizon. That is the date when I do my check-in with the Publisher of my new day hiking book and give them the progress report. This progress reports consists of me having a good portion of the book completed and submitted. Ack! So, write, I do. Daily. Whether my brain is cooperating or not.

 Additionally, I've been doing presentation on my current book and enjoying helping people figure out their plan for the Wonderland Trail next summer. Last night, I had a presentation at the Seattle REI for 120 registered attendees, but nearly 140-150 people came- standing room only. No pressure. But, I babbled with the best of 'em and things went well.

Now, lets back this train up to October. On October 18th I brought a group of neighbors to one of my hiking list picks in Eastern Washington. It was a spectacular hike with changing fall colors and the perfect time of year! Everyone had a great day. Check out the Umtanum Creek Canyon photos in the gallery on the link.

 The busy month of October had me hiking nearly up to the date we left on vacation for Florida. What's in Florida you might ask? We'll, we went to find out. And, in doing so, learned that it's a fun place, with lots of crazy people and wickedly delicious food. I had so many pictures that I felt a little like a mosquito at a nudist colony. Where to start? I've finally narrowed them down and added them to my Smugmug gallery on the link.

 Thanksgiving came and went and we had a fantastic time with neighbors. Family was scattered, so we'd planned for a quiet dinner with just the two of us. Then we learned a couple of our neighbors had no plans, so the invites went out and I secretly worried and calculated about quantities. Would the turkey be large enough? We had gone with a fresh, organic bird from a local shop, so the order for a 10-12 pounder had already been taken. Why was I worried? The leftovers completely overwhelmed us. Of course, I cooked enough food for a ranch of hungry cowboys.

That leads us up to now,  the weeks before Christmas. I'm really looking forward to being home this year and having a quiet one. And...with any luck, my snow dance will work for the mountains. Hopefully these posts won't be so long- far and between. Till then...Happy Holidays!

Catch up on pictures HERE.