Off to Los Angeles...

Some friends I hadn't seen in a few years were heading to LA for an extended weekend, so I flew south to join them. We didn't have much of a plan besides "rent a car, hike a bunch, and see at least one national park, and have fun!" I think we hit it on every count! The first day started with a leisurely breakfast near our VRBO in Pasadena, and then we headed towards Santa Monica for a hike...

Amtrak Cascades

I think it has been 15+ years since I was last on a train in the USA. A few weeks ago I took the train from Portland to Mt Vernon as an alternative to driving home. It is a little slower thanks to frequent stops, but flies at 80 mph through the segments that are slow on I-5. The route is also different, winding along the water in the South Sound and through the farms in the Green River valley. The sun set by the time the Amtrak Cascades actually neared the Cascades, but the view through the South Sound was beautiful.

Change at the Year's End

There has been so much going on in the past few weeks and months, and not many pictures to show for it. Here's the bullet list, in no particular order:

• Loki didn't work out. He had an aggressive streak that an expert rainer could have handled, but expert trainers we are not. 
• We bought a house
• Flew to Quebec and back
• Started a business
• Quit a job
• Got lasik eye surgery
• Had Thanksgiving in Canada
• Flew to Quebec and back
• Started a half-marathon training program
• ...

After the disappointment of Loki, it has been hard to pick this up again and want to post... but since so much has happened and there is another trip coming up, here are some Quebec photos to start out the new year. 

 

 And a few photos from the beginning-of-January trip...

Loki the Trickster Dog

We adopted a pet. He's brunet with a squiggly white blaze that falls off the left side of his nose and a coat that makes him look like an old bearskin rug when he is most relaxed, at which point he kicks his back legs out behind him and lays flat out with his tummy on the ground.

Loki

Home away from home

I love seeing new places when I travel, but I also tend to keep coming back to the same places and people that I fell in love with the first time around. Places that I feel comfortable, at home. Gästehaus Kolp in the village of St Jakob is one of those places. Each apartment comes with mountain views and the most wonderful hosts. 

Morning coffee with a view towards Petteneu

Darmstädter Hütte immer wieder gerne!

Our second day was forcasted to be sunny, so we walked into town and used our St Anton Sommerkarten to go up the gondola towards the Valluga peak. It was still a little cold and cloudy at the top of the first gondola, so we decided to go up the other side of the valley on the Rendelbahn and hike around for a bit... after buying hats to keep us warm on top of the mountain! 

Rainy day hike (St Anton)

From Vienna, we took the train up the Inn valley to where one of its tributaries ends at the Arlberg Pass. There are a series of villages there that are relatively quiet in the summer (a few thousand inhabitants) but bustle with skiers as soon as the snow starts falling. We were too early in the season for snow, so the precipitation that fell on us left us a little soggy! Regardless, we headed up a beautiful valley to Konstanzer Hütte

Ducking out of the rain in a covered bridge