Pipe Creek Skiing
Dad was fail once again. Not that “fail” is all that foreign a concept to Dad. Dad is definitely not afraid to “fail”. Dad’s theory on “fail” is similar to Thomas Edison’s thoughts on life, if you try enough times, the successes will outweigh the failures. So Dad soldiers on, knowing that good things will come in the end.
This time Dad’s “fail” had been showing up a few seconds too late to buy his Snow Pass. To use the Snow Parks in Washington state, one has to buy a Snow Pass. Dad had decided to take Mongo cross country skiing on Saturday at the last minute. Now he had waited just a smidgen too long to get in line for the snow pass, and there was a tourist had jumped in front of him, asking how to go hiking in the snow. On a weekend morning, every second counts on the way to the mountains, because multitudes of other outdoors people are heading there also.
The ranger was trying to answer the man’s question of hiking in the snow. but apparently the tourist’s English was a bit limited in the realm of the winter sports vocabulary, and the very idea of snow shoes was completely foreign to him. This was causing the ranger to have a difficult time conveying the concept across the cultural divide.
There was nothing else to do but wait. Dad had just seen the new Star Wars movie the night before at Cinerama, so he engaged in some Jedi calming routines while he waited. But despite his best efforts with the force, his right foot was still tapping.
The ranger’s descriptions of snow shoes grew to include big sweeping elliptical arm movements. Their conversations was starting to look like a very awkward ballet, that might go on forever.
Eventually, the winter tourist departed in the general direction of REI’s rental counter, but by this time, Dad figured his chances of getting to a nearby snow park and back before dark were shot. He approached the counter.
“I’d like a Snow Pass”, he droned to the ranger.
“For today”, asked the ranger. “You know, they’re only good for one day, and it’s kinda late to get started for today.”, he added cautiously.
“No. Tomorrow will be fine”, moaned Dad.
“Okey dokey. We’ll fix you right up”, chirped the ranger.
Dad took his snow pass and headed home.
However…
Wild Seattle Weather
Seattle is not known for wild extremes of weather. In Oklahoma, Dad had seen the weather change from sunny and 80°F at 2:00 pm, only to become a blizzard by 9:00 pm. In Oklahoma, they say, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute”, and it is true. In Seattle, it is more like, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute… and it will still be drizzling.”
This last weekend was an exception. A line of squalls had been forecast to roll through Seattle, and with them came the hope for some meteorological excitement. And on Sunday, the promise was fulfilled.
Dad and Mongo, however, had left the house blissfully unaware of the weather forecast. All Dad had noticed was that the sun was for a few minutes, and it seemed like to a good time to take Mongo out for a romp. Mongo was up for anything. Dad was happily clueless.
Lunar New Year in Seattle
The Lunar New Year is a big celebration in Seattle’s International District. The International District or as it is also known…
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge
Dad had been traveling quite a bit after the start of the New Year. He was gone so much that Mongo and Drewbie started to notice the absence of his jovial presence in their everyday routine. However, Dad did manage to zip home for a quick weekend in Seattle, and Mongo made no bones about his expectations. Read More…
Spring is in the Air…
Mongo and Dad have already begun to notice the heralds of Spring, and it’s not even March yet.
Hike to Dewey Lake in Mount Rainier National Park / Wenatchee National Forest
Mongo and Dad decided to take Spork on a hike to Dewey Lake. Actually, Dad does most of the deciding, but he still prefers to bounce these ideas off of Mongo, who is almost universally positive in his response. Over the years, Mongo has developed into an excellent “yes-man”.
Dewey Lake and nearby Tipsoo Lake are two excellent spots to take scenic photographs of Mount Rainier. Tipsoo Lake is right off HWY 410, and is on the agenda for many of the charter bus tours of the park. Dewey Lake is on the opposite side of the highway from Tipsoo Lake and down in the valley. It is a six (6) mile round-trip hike to the lake. It is about nine (9) miles round trip to hike from the highway and go all the way around the lake. Far less tourists ever make it to Dewey Lake.
It can be difficult to avoid the crowds at Tipsoo during summer. Early dawn is one of the few times when there is still a little solitude to be had on the lake shores. However Tipsoo is a very small lake which can be walked in just a few minutes.
Tipsoo Lake at Sunrise
Dewey Lake, however, stands as one of the monarchs of alpine lakes. This long, broad lake boasts scores of shoreline pockets that offer up the elusive solitude often hard to find in a mountain lake basin. Stunning scenery also awaits, with tall Naches Peak towering overhead and a rich forest cradling the opposite lakeshore. If that isn’t enough, Dewey hosts an impressive population of trout for the anglers among us. Indeed, the lake is stocked periodically by plane–fish are emptied from tanks in free-fall dives during low overflights of the lake.1
So early one morning, Dad bundled Mongo and Spork into the back of the truck, and set out for Dewey Lake. Once again, they left later than Dad would have liked to, but one makes do with what one has.
They arrived at the trail, and started on towards the valley. Dad had carefully researched the authorities in charge of managing this trail, and determined as long as he started on the trail in National Forest, he could avoid traveling within Mount Rainier National Park.
Not that Dad dislikes the park, but in the National Forest, Dad does not need a leash on Mongo. Spork gets a leash wherever she goes. Spork is a bolter. Bolters can make hikes extra exciting.
The Other White Meat
Mongo will eat almost anything. Things he will eat include tomatoes, apples, pears, lettuce, socks, hats, and rocks. The last three have proved costly to remove. During one vet trip for intestinal distress, the vet looked at the x-ray and said, “Well, there’s a few pebbles and some loose change in there, but that should all pass. ” So it did not come as a surprise that Mongo liked cauliflower. In fact, he’s not the only dog in the family to like cruciform vegetables. Back in the day, one golden retriever, Hudson, waited until Dad had planted all the broccoli and cauliflower starts in the garden. Then as soon as Dad went inside, Hudson pulled up all the starts and ran joyously around the backyard munching on them. Dad caught a glimpse of Hudson reveling in broccoli through the window and sprinted out the back door to find more than half the plants gone. A fence was eventually had to be installed around the garden to keep Hudson from pillaging the vegetables, when Dad became frustrated that all the almost-ready broccoli florets were disappearing!
However, none of the girl dogs in the family seemed to enjoy leafy greens. One golden girl, Dixie, did enjoy sneaking strawberries from the planter next to the back door, but that was about it.
So while Dad was using cauliflower as a substitute for cream in an alfredo sauce, it came as no shock that Mongo enjoyed a few cauliflower twigs that Dad tossed to him. The shock came when Mongo missed a piece of vegetable that Dad tossed at him, and it landed near Spork. Spork is legendary in the family for being finicky. She’s been know to turn her nose up at dog food if it has too much filler in it!
Mongo’s gallery
Mongolope 
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