Summer is here

Last weekend we squeezed in some of our favorite summertime activities... Grilling, swimming, drinking a few beers, and BOATING! Hooray!

Jessi came up with the great idea to take the boat out on Sunday for some fun in the sun. It was Jessi and I, Jamie and Amy, Andy, Beth and Mike, and Frankie. We set sail at about 4pm and cruised up to Juanita Bay on Lake Washington. It was an absoultely gorgeous day. No clouds and about 85. The only problem: the wind was a blowing at 12 knots. Gulp. Oh well, I gotta learn sometime...

It's not so much driving in the wind as it is docking in the wind. No one wants to be the young guy with a big boat, making a pathetic attempt at docking right in front of a crowded restaurant (we live in front of a popular lakeside restaurant). I could just hear the screams and see the fingers pointing. I'm pretty sure I would have had no problem at the end of the season last year, but with not much experience under my belt the skills decay is huge! But alas, I sucked it up and we went.

I'm so glad we did.

The ride up Lake Union was no big deal, although it was crowded.


We weren't the only ones enjoying the day.

When we got out to Lake Washington, it was choppy! We rocked and rolled a bit, and I was wondering if we'd be able to find a good spot to drop anchor, but Juanita Bay didn't disappoint. Along the way we got in touch with one of Frankie's friends who was on a boat up in the bay and told us it was great.

I realized I was getting old when we arrived in Juanita Bay to find tons of boats rafted up to each other partying hard. Lot's of booze, loud music, and scantily clad women. It was like the French Riviera! But believe it or not, I just wanted to find a little calm spot to anchor, swim and enjoy ourselves, without the raucus parties around us. Yeah, I'm definitely getting old. So we cruised over to the other side of the bay to the "family" area and set up shop. We threw some burgers, brats and turkey legs on the grill and got to relaxing.


Must... grill... meat!


Andy working hard to keep the chair from blowing off the boat.


Mike holding Duncan. He's only sitting still because he's being petted... normally underway he whines. (Duncan, not Mike)


Frankie maxin' and relaxin'.


The ladies, chillin' on the bow. From left to right: Beth, Jessi, and Amy.


Jamie, Amy's husband. Despite appearances he's actually not color blind.


We're sinking!!! Oh wait no, we're OK, you guys can come back now.


Welcome aboard!

At about 8 o'clock we wrapped things up, futzed around with the anchor (I'm still only half sure how to use that damn thing) for 20 minutes or so, and headed home.


The sunset was gorgeous! I love Seattle.

Luckily by 830 the wind had died down to about 0 knots and pulling in was no problem. Whew, I can put off learning that skill until some other day!

-Tom