le Citadelle de Quebec

In my previous 3 trips to Quebec City, I have never had a chance to visit the "castle" at the top of the town. Two weeks ago, I took the Saturday before the party to wander the Plains of Abraham and learn a little more about the active fortification.

a sunny Sunday on Lake Union

 Emily asked a few weeks ago if I could pick her up at the airport on Sunday. It was the perfect excuse to spend a sunny day neighborhood-hopping in the Emerald city.

Our first stop was the Center for Wooden Boats, where we snagged a beautiful little lapstrake skiff and rowed up wind onto Lake Union.

Skillfully maneuvering us out of the harbor

Coasting back to town with a tail wind

Fun times in Hockeytown

I've heard the Quebecers say that "Calling Detroit 'hockeytown' is like calling Montreal 'motor city'." Detroit disagrees.

the Sugar Bush

I've been to London, Ontario a few times. Yank Thank freshman year, last October... It's a neat little city. I got to stay with Erika for two nights this time, which left us a little more time to explore. I really like travelling with friends who are foodies and locavores, and Erika is one of the best. A pastry chef who's lived in London her entire life and is a regular visitor to the farmer's market. Saturday we went for a late breakfast at the Root Cellar, where I had eggs-in-squash on kale (!). We met up with two of Erika's friends and headed to a visit to the (year round!) farmer's market, and then headed to a Sugar Bush!

Yes, that's a coyote on my head. He's really warm!

Mt Constitution Hike

I try to put up a blog post within a week of an adventure or event, so this is rather late...

Winter in the PNW has been unusually warm and sunny this year. So warm and sunny, in fact, that M and I decided to go on our first hiking adventure back in February. He has spent several weeks in the past year working on Orcas, coming back every time with stories of hiking/running around Moran state Park. A sunny Valentine's Day weekend was the perfect excuse to go explore the lakes, trails, and mountain on the east side of the island.

Sunshine in the San Juans

 Despite my long silence, I really have been adventuring in the past several weeks! Getting 2 weeks off from work was wonderful. The first was taken over by Christmas and a nasty head cold. The second week, I was lucky enough to be visited by friends from Sweden! Russ and Josefin invited Maria and I over for dinner when I was in Göteborg this summer. They were in the area for Christmas with Russ's family, so we took a day to explore the San Juan Islands.

Me and Josefin, Mt Baker behind us

Il fait froid au Québec!

It's cold in Québec!

Despite my rather lax approach to learning French since I was last in Quebec City, I am certainly enjoying my time here. It's like a grown up version of Erasmus, a gathering of people from all over the world for a common purpose with lots of eating, drinking, learning, and laughter along the way. Last night I finally got a chance to take a walkabout around this beautiful town. With temperatures around -14*c (~5*F), none of my co-workers were interested in joining me!