The Burnhams

Our best buds, the Burnhams, recently relocated to Fort Collins.  They are one of those soul-mate families you meet once in a lifetime, and fortunately for us, our paths keep crossing.  We first became acquainted in Livingston, Montana when Mark and Jim Burnham worked in the Bindery at Printing for Less.com.  Marlene is a mama that I have often emulated, she is courageous, innovative and extremely resourceful.  The Burnhams push the envelope, and are often viewed by the boomers as a bit crazy.   They have moved all over the country, often with no more than a couple hundred dollars to their name.  “Those kids need more stability!” some will claim.  I don’t agree.  They have stability of family, and the wealth of time together.   Fortunately, they found a living situation in Fort Collins where they can enjoy both.  Below are a few photos of a recent girlie play date.  I am far from the most feminine of girls, so how is it that I am raising these two?  🙂

After 3 years of long distance, we live within 3 miles of each other

Eliana donning the new playsilks my mother bought in India

Aletheia and Eva dress for the ball

Purses too!

It was quite the performance

Notice, high heels. Hilarious.

Clara, hat's off

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Mark’s Birthday Celebrated in Seattle

Our last day in the northwest happened to be Mark’s birthday.  One final trip into the city, this time to the Arboretum at University of Washington.  The girls particularly loved the floating walkways and all the friendly mallard ducks.

Mark, Clara and Uncle Mikey

Clara exploring

Birthday Papa and his girls on Lake Washington

Clara couldn't get enough of the water

Friendly Mallards

Pussy Willow

After the marsh walk, we met up with my aunt Laurie and cousin Kate at the Fuel Coffee.  Photos should be forthcoming.

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Sunny Seattle

Day three here in Seattle, and the sun was shining again.  What luck!  We returned to downtown Seattle for another day of exploration.

First stop, to Pike Place Market as we strolled towards the water.  Eva wanted to say hi to her crab buddies first.

Yummy

An extra special treat was seeing the live crabs.  I was just hoping that Eva didn’t want to take one home for a pet.

Eva loved these crabs

'Get me outta here'

Seattle is truly vibrant, especially when the sun is shining.  Everyone was out, smiling, and sometimes breaking out into song.

Spontaneous dance party

Great quartet of R&B singers

Back to our favorite little green space near the market, my brother-in-law Mikey steals a kiss from his son, Jacob.

Close up, Jacob gets a kiss from Papa Mikey

A lookout on the rooftop of a conference center on Alaskan Way.   Great views of the Olympic Peninsula and Mount Rainier today.

Opa and his grandkids

Eva loved these binoculars, but she was disappointed that “all I can see is sky”.

Eva

Mark refused to take a photo in front of the Space Needle, claiming it was cliché.

Papa posing with Seattle skyline

These following photos were taken at Myrtle Edwards Park.  According to one local resident, it was a formal rail yard.

Sailing on the sound

Andy Goldsworthy-like cairns

Eva and a very delicately balancing cairn

A lovely walk in the park with Oma, Papa, and my girls

Cairns, Ship and Olympic Range

One more Eva pic

Time to go home...

Until tomorrow.  Good night, and time to watch the Olympics.

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Pike Place Market, Seattle, WA

We are visiting Mark’s brother and sister-in-law near Seattle, Washington.  Here are a few photos from our Valentine’s Day.

Mark and I, Pike Place Market

Thanks to Mikey (Mark’s brother) for taking this photo.  We have so few of the two of us.

Park on Elliott Bay

There was a gentleman at the park throwing crumbs to the gulls.  If you look closely, you can see the crumb suspended in air, and the gull who is about to catch it.

Feed the birds

Clara has been under the weather lately.  Although she is very smitten by Opa and cousin Jacob, apparently she was not interested in posing for a photograph.

Clara, Opa, Jacob

One Happy Opa

Girls goofing around on Elliott Bay.

Clara and Eva, two hams

Someday she will smile for a photograph, not today

My Clara

What a lovely day.

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Happy Birthday Brother

Celebrated my brother Kevin’s birthday today.

First stop, to New Belgium for an afternoon tasting.

Erica, Kev, Eva and Clara

Eva, actually resembles me for the first time

Clara as the Ranger

Kev, 'Tappa' and Clara

Papa's here!

Mean Mama Ranger

Bop and Tappas’ for dinner.  This was my first attempt at cookie decorating.  Results were ugly, but edible.

Kev's Cookie 'Cake'

My mom made our favorite Polish dish, pierogi.  Although she cooked all afternoon, the 120 or so pierogi were barely enough to feed this hungry crew.  Oh, were they delicious.

Out of the boiling water and to the fry pan

Frying batch 1 of ??? don't forget the bacon and onion

Eva's blessing begins... "Earf who gives to us this food..."

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Bicycle play date with Sawyer Gray

I discovered these photos on my camera today.  They were from a few weeks ago, when we met up with a high school friend of mine Chris Gray and his son Sawyer for a bicycle ride around Fort Collins.  We met at an older park on the corner of Lemay and Horsetooth, cycled north to New Belgium Brewing for some ‘samples’, and met up with our friends the Burnhams on the Mason Trail en route.  For the kids, the ‘play’ part of the date was at the park, and unfortunately the only place where I pulled out the camera.  We played later, after tasting a few delicious seasonal brews.

Clara

Eva showing off for Sawyer

Close up, Clara

Chasing after Sawyer, trying to get a photo

He couldn't escape the action shot while sliding

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What to do with the Dukester?

Hayduke is our first-born dog.  A member of the family.  Our first responsibility as a couple, now a sibling for the girls.  He has been the topic of much conversation as of late, because many of our plans cannot

Yep, he's the best dog ever

include our George Washington Hayduke.  Moving overseas, a bicycle tour.  Family and friends have generously offered to take him, but we wonder how that will affect the girls.

Perhaps we can pull Hayduke on a tour?

Or the girls could devise a clever disguise to get Dukey on the plane?

Dukester looking forlorn in my folk's garage

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Drifthisers

Since arriving in Fort Collins after leaving my job in San Diego, Mark and I have schemed.   Fort Collins is a homey resting spot.   A place to rest, enjoy home cooked meals, warm beds, toys for the kids, and plenty of miles of bike trails to circumnavigate the city while making the next big plan.  But where to next?  We appreciate Fort Collins for all of its wonderful attributes, but it is the place of my birth, and the place where wanderlust takes hold the quickest.  Since I left for University in 1999, I have often stopped back in the Fort for short periods to recover, and plan my next move.  Now that I have a husband, and two children, you’d think I’d have grown up.  Or at least have a grown up plan.  Not the case.  We’ve had so many hair-brained schemes since departing the land of endless summer that our SoCal friends have begun referring to as the ‘Drifthisers’.  Funny.  They never visited the Wandering Cyclehisers Blog.

Anyway, for the curious, here are a few of the ideas we’ve considered/are pursuing.

– Erica goes back to school for an agricultural PhD program, somewhere overseas or in the Northwest

– Mark gets a bicycle-related job in Missoula, Montana, Eugene or Corvallis, Oregon

– Stay in FoCo and develop Mark’s Handyman on a Bike business in Fort Collins

Mark and I have each applied for positions in organizations that we are waiting to hear back from.  We are keeping our fingers crossed, as each will offer unique new experiences, thriving local food systems and plenty of miles of country roads to tour on bikes.  If the above-mentioned plans fall through, the major contingency plan is this:

– Move what is left of our belongings to a storage unit in Bozeman, Montana and begin the Last Chance America (LCA) tour from Bozeman, and south down the Adventure Cycling Association’s new ‘Sierra-Cascades’ route

What will it be?

SierraCascadesMap

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