It's been a fun winter, though not in Seattle, where the plan seems to be to cram 40 days and 40 nights of rain into 37 days. We skipped all that. First, we went to Hawaii for sun and fun. Next we went to Canada's Yukon Territory for snow and fun. Finally, we went to Montana for serious fun. When we got home, it was still raining!
Surfing the squirrelly waves of Oahu's Pipeline
News & Notes
No one needs an excuse to include Hawaii on a winter holiday, but we had a much better reason than just lying on the beach. We were in Oahu at the invitation of Torrie Harano, daughter of our friends Art and Carolyn, to attend her wedding to Sid Nagendran. They married on a gorgeous evening on Waikiki Beach with the sun setting over the Pacific and palm trees waving in the breeze. Evin Harano, Torrie's sister, was the Matron of Honor, and Nick Nagendran, Sid's twin brother, was Best Man. The wedding was a delightful party to launch the couple's life together.
Evin, Torrie, Sid, Nick
Naturally, we also relaxed and enjoyed Hawaii. One unexpected highlight was the Doris Duke House. Begun when the wealthy heiress was in her twenties, the house became a showcase for her interest in Islamic art. The lengthy tour covered detailed explanations of the art and gave a glimpse into Duke's life. As an illustration of her exquisite taste and her "price is no object" circumstances, notice how these spectacular wall panels are designed around pentagons and the challenging 10-star pattern. Try finding those at HomeDepot!
At the Duke House indoor beauty competes with outdoor beauty
While we were sunning ourselves in Hawaii, mushers were out in frigid temperatures, running the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race, a grueling 1000 mile battle through the wilderness from Fairbanks AK to Whitehorse YT. We raced from Honolulu to Whitehorse to be there at the finish line when Hugh Neff, this year's winner, arrived after 9 days, 1 hour and 25 minutes on the trail. Just finishing this race is an epic accomplishment, so we stayed around for the week to cheer others whoooshing across, too. That gave us time to meet the mushers (Tom Johansen, 7th), scratch the dogs (George, first across finish line), and listen to the champions' amazing stories from the trail (Brent Sass, 2nd). Check out our ePostcards for more.
Allen Moore's team pulls off the Yukon River towards the finish line
We squeezed in a brief trip to Montana to visit Jim and Julie. On one of our two hikes into the Montana mountains, we met a herd of eight young Big Horn Sheep. They were too immature to have their signature curled horns. They were very curious of us, and not fearful.
Pausing to let the Big Horn Sheep pass
Returning from Montana, we stopped in Spokane for a brief visit with our friends Anne and Mike Chamberlain.
