Rattlesnake Ledge

Good evening!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend, enjoyed some time either relaxing or having some fun in the sun. After a busy workweek we were very excited to get outside and enjoy an extra day together. Travis had his first full week of work at the new job at Mortenson and it went great! He even got to spend his second day at the Portland office helping kick off a hotel project. The rest of his week was full of training/onboarding and meeting the rest of the office. Overall he's had a great experience so far and is excited for this next chapter of his career!

We got in our first Seattle bike ride this weekend, a quick evening ride Friday night down the bike trail along Elliott Bay just before sunset. We discovered a quiet spot down by the water next to a marina with a beautiful rocky coastline. We hung out there for a bit and snapped a few pictures since the lighting was gorgeous. 

Sunday we went on a hike to Rattlesnake Ledge, which is in North Bend Washington. We realized it was going to be a very busy trail as soon as we pulled into the parking lot and saw an overflow of cars along the side of the road. Even though the trail was basically a highway of people, it was a beautiful hike. There was an elevation gain of 1,200 feet over two miles, so this made for a challenging uphill climb. It was doable though and provided a very good sweat (I'll admit, I had to stop a few times for a breather). 

It took us about an hour to hike up to the top and it was well worth the wait, we were greeted by a STUNNING view from the rock ledge overlooking Rattlesnake Lake and the Snoqualmie River Valley. It was a good thing we aren't afraid of heights, as it was a long way down and a very sudden drop off. We enjoyed a gourmet lunch (PB&J sammies) on the rocks while taking in the gorgeous views around us. I would definitely do this hike again, however, I'd get there early in the morning to beat some of the traffic, our lunch spot on the rock face was prime real estate and very crowded. Here are a few shots from up above as well as our climb back down the trail. 

Sorry, I just have to say...this first photo - what a hunk! The outdoors look great on Trav, don't they? : ) 

We bought a great hiking book today with 60 hikes less than 60 miles from Seattle, so that should provide us with a lot of great trips to dive into. Being able to get out into the wilderness and feel a true sense of adventure has been so great (not to mention the fact that hiking is free and a great workout), we look forward to our weekend exploring all week! 

Hope you all have a great week!

Cheers!

KP

Family, Food and Fun

Good evening!
I hope everyone had a great week, we sure did! We had our first visitors here in Seattle - my sister Maggie and my Dad each came for separate work visits, oddly enough during the same week. Since Trav had last week off before starting work tomorrow, he joined Maggie on Tuesday for some exciting grocery store visits around town! They also took some time to walk around The Market and enjoy a few other local spots while I was at work. After work we took Mags to our favorite spot, Rocco's, for delicious pizza and then a walk on the waterfront at sunset. 

Wednesday night we were guinea pigs for Maggie and her coworkers to test the "Amazon Fresh" delivery service here in Seattle. Although it was a tight squeeze with eight people in our TINY apartment, they were a really fun group and we enjoyed spending some time with all of them (the free groceries didn't hurt either)! 

Thursday night my Daddy-O came over to see our place and then we had some dinner at Cutters with a gorgeous view over Elliott Bay. Friday Trav and Jimbo hit the road and explored the Olympic Peninsula while I was at work (again, I was missing all the fun). Once they got home we took a drive over to West Seattle and had dinner at Salty's. The food was AMAZING. Salty's is famous around Seattle for their seafood and their phenomenal view of the Seattle Skyline on the water. Since I'm not much of a seafood fan, I found a delicious filet on the menu instead. Although I might have been the only person in the entire place eating beef, it was worth it. Wow was it a tasty steak! However, I did take the opportunity to try some coconut shrimp, Copper River Salmon and even a crab cake. I figure if I am going to live in Seattle, I have to at least try some seafood now and then. 

It was so wonderful to see family - now that we have been here a month I have to admit I was starting to get a little bit homesick. Mostly because we have such wonderful friends and family, it would be impossible not to miss them at some point. It felt great to see some familiar faces and share our new city with some folks we love : ) After Mags and Jimbo left we spent the weekend exploring a little more. 

We took a trip out to Snoqualmie Falls, about 45 min outside Seattle. Although it is more of a tourist attraction than a hike, the gorgeous waterfall is worth the trip. There is a quaint little lodge at the top of the falls that we will have to go stay at someday. It looks so peaceful and I can imagine waking up next to the falls would be extraordinary. We walked around the mile long trail and took advantage of a few great photo spots. Here are a few shots: 

After a busy week we had a nice time relaxing at home and cooking  a few good meals. Saturday night I cooked some fresh pasta from The Market - so delicious! What a difference fresh ingredients make. Travis even got in on the culinary adventure, grilling up some steaks and asparagus tonight. Yum! 

What a delicious way to end another great week! Trav starts work tomorrow at Mortenson Construction, I couldn't be prouder of him! We are both so excited to see where this next chapter leads us in our careers and our personal lives. Have a wonderful week, miss you all, sending our love!

Cheers!

KP

Discovering Wallace Falls

Good Evening,
Happy Mother's day to all the moms out there - a special shoutout to the two best moms around, Nancy Engstrom and Cheryl Biersdorf! We love you both so much and we wish we could have been together today to celebrate how wonderful you are. Please know that we are sending you love from afar! 

This week was pretty routine, I am settling into the new job and Travis has continued exploring the neighborhood since he doesn't start work until the 19th. Saturday we became official Washington residents with a visit to the DMV for our new licenses. Yes, I know...how exciting! Don't worry, the DMV was not the highlight of our weekend, we took a great hike to Wallace Falls. It was about a 90 minute drive Northeast of the city through several small towns. 

After the rookie mistakes we made last week with our hike at Deception Pass, we made sure we were much better prepared this week. With some new hiking boots, camelback water resevoirs and a few snacks, we set out on our first real challenging hike. We chose the trail to the "Lower Falls" since it was only about 2 miles - we figured we'd ease into it. We were very glad we had good hiking boots and the right gear this time since the incline was quite challenging at times. The scenery was GORGEOUS. We were surrounded by moss covered trees, flowing rivers and beautiful waterfalls. The reward came once we reached the top of the trail and saw the falls. Check out a few photos below, although they don't do it justice!

We hope to take another hike next weekend and keep exploring, we look forward to it all week! We are very excited to have some visitors coming this week - my dad and my sister Maggie will each be in town for a work visit (different days) so we will have the pleasure of spending some time with them and will enjoy a meal or two together. We can't wait to see some familiar faces! 

Cheers!
KP

Sunny Skies and Good Fortune

Hello!
We are winding down on this Sunday evening after a wonderful week full of good news and good times! The weather in Seattle over the last week was nearly perfect! It was between 75 and 85 degrees with abundant sunshine almost every day last week. It felt like Seattle was giving us a warm welcome after our first week full of grey, cloudy skies. 

In addition to sunny skies, it was a week full of good things. I had a great first week at zulily in my new job. We also successfully closed on the sale of our house back in Minnesota. As if that wasn't enough good news, Travis was offered a wonderful job with Mortenson Construction in their Puget Sound office in Kirkland, WA. He will be an Integrated Construction Coordinator and starts work on May 19. We are so blessed to have had such a positive start to our new life here in Seattle. This last week was real proof that everything happens for a reason and we made the right decision when we took this leap of faith. 

We closed out our week with a lovely day trip on Saturday thanks to some great ideas from our very own personal expert trip advisor - Jimbo Engstrom. We began our day with a GORGEOUS hike at Deception Pass, north of Seattle. Words and photos cannot do this place justice, it is truly mystical and beautiful. As you will see below, we had quite a time tromping through the woods together. We even made friends with a slug!

Once we left Deception Pass we took the Washington Ferry over to Port Townsend. We walked around this cute little fishing town and stopped for lunch at a malt shop. Our next stop was a short drive south. We ended our day at Bainbridge Island with a coffee and treat at a local bakery. From there we were able to take another ferry right back downtown. Living downtown has many perks, one of them being very convenient access to the ferry system. 

This lovely day was a glimpse into how many amazing trails, treks and adventures are right outside our door in this wonderful place. We got our first glimpse at the beauty of the Pacific Northwest that I've always loved and have been dying to share with Travis. We also discovered that if we want to make hiking a hobby, we need to invest in some gear. I don't think my running shoes and skinny jeans got me any points with the locals on the trail. Next time we'll look like real, legit hikers! 

We miss you all and hope everything is going well!
Cheers!
KP

A few photos from the week:

The Bridge at Deception Pass

The handsome photographer

Sort of Selfie

I found bigfoot while I was in the forest, he was cuter than I expected

Overlooking the beach

Trav captured this great shot of the bridge from underneath

 Enchanted forest

Mr. Slug

There were some very large trees!

There's just something about the ferries, I love watching them on the water

Small lighthouse at Port Townsend