We are stinky Bloggers - but we're working on it!

The Not-So-Recent-News Update (that you may already know):

At the end of January there was an announcement that Sprint would be laying off several thousand employees and offering a rather nice severance for those who would volunteer to leave. As we've been thinking about a move back to the middle of the country for some time, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to get some (paid) time off to travel, move, and look for jobs.

Mark's last day of work was at the end of March. We spent two weekends cleaning out every drawer and closet in the house, washed down the walls, and had the carpets cleaned. We put our house on the market on April 3, had offers on April 4, finished with the inspection and had a signed contract on April 10. Our closing date is May 15. We feel like our hard work paid off! Don't believe me? Check this out: http://picasaweb.google.com/h2ogood/HomePicS
Mark still wishes he could have gone skiing on those weekends!

Right now, Mark is doing his best to get things sold on Craigslist (and succeeding!) and I'm in my last week of work. Then it's packing time! We are hoping to pull out of Seattle (and head towards Dani's parents in Maquoketa, IA) by May 5. We'll spend a little while there getting them and Murphy, our dog, better acquainted. Murphy will be an Iowa dog for a while as we plan to travel for a couple of months (planning Spain, Morocco, France, Ireland). That's why I'm trying to get in Blog mode now! :)

We plan to return mid-July and start looking for jobs (Minneapolis, MN is our major focus but we're also keeping our eye on Madison and Milwaukee, WI). We also hope to spend time with family in Iowa and Texas this summer before heading back to the "real world".

Europe Trip

Here's a short (179) photo slide slow. You can view the pic's full screen here.

Our trip started in Prague, then went to Budapest, Slovenia, and ended in Croatia.

Enjoy!
Cheers, -Mark & Dani.

Glacier Nation Park Trip

To see phots from our Glacier Nat'l Park trip, go to:

Glacier Nat'l Park

Aug 29, 2006 - 58 Photos

Watch the video from TouTube:

Indian Head Peak loop hike

Day 1
On July 1, we set out from Seattle early in the morning to hit the trail and spend a weekend in the backcountry. Our plan was to do a 26-mile loop in 3 days.

We set out on the Indian Creek Trail which stays along the White River for about 2 miles. This would have been a nice, flat, beautiful way to begin our trip had it not been for the mosquito convention taking place. Needless to say, we hightailed it trying to escape being biten...there was no escape and by the time we took the camera out for this photo we were covered in little, red bumps!

Once we got past the mosquitos, over a gradual incline, the hike became fun! The weather was beautiful, it was a holiday weekend, and we had nothing but each other and Murphy...that is until we stumbled upon this bad boy track. This set the stage for a weekend of clapping, singing, and random talking so as not to startle any bear.

At home we did some research and found this to be a rather good size black bear print.




We hit the snow and only vaguely lost the trail. At just under 11 miles for the day, we reached a segment of the Pacific Crest Trail and camp.








We set up camp, dried out socks and boots, filtered water, and prepared a yummy dehydrated pasta meal. Ok, it wasn't all that yummy but we were really hungry!