Our First "Sideways" Road Trip.

A couple of weeks ago Steven and I went on a little spring break trip. We didn't go to Mexico, or Hawaii, or Southern California, or Florida (like all of my students did...). We went on a road trip to Whitefish, Montana. How adventurous are we?!? The most, actually. We knew we didn't want to pay to fly anywhere, and we also knew that we didn't feel like driving far enough for warm sunshine (though I desperately wanted warm sunshine!!!). We originally planned to go to Tahoe (I've still never been there) but our timeshare resort in Whitefish was only an 8 hour drive as opposed to the 13 hours it would have taken us to get to Tahoe. And what a beautiful drive it was!!!

 

As we passed through Idaho, I was struck by how strange it was that we were on a "sideways" road trip. I've never gone on a road trip that required me to cross a time zone before. I've driven up and down the west coast more than a few times but there was just something totally different about the west-east drive. Montana has a lot to offer when it comes to a scenic drive: rivers, fields, lakes, wildlife, mountains, farms, old broken down barns and other buildings, etc. I loved it.

Our condo in Whitefish was pretty nice. It was an older building, which I was a little uncertain about when we first arrived, but it was very specious and they had a well equipped kitchen! Of course, I cooked ahead of time to minimize my time in the kitchen but it was still nice to know I could have done some real cooking if I wanted to. The hot tub was right outside our door and we had a wood burning fireplace with a free tub of fire wood! These are the two features we enjoyed the most. Our one complaint was that the shower was really short. Like ridiculously, hilariously short. It was a very relaxing vacation with lots of board games, hot tubbing, and listening to Harry Potter while sitting in front of the fireplace.

Whitefish is about a 45 minute drive from Glacier National Park so we drove over there on our first day. We weren't really sure what to expect. We knew we wouldn't be able to drive very far on the the Going to Sun Road (it isn't completely plowed until sometime in June or even July) but we kind of thought we would be able to go for a hike. No such luck. Well, not for this fair-weather hiker anyway. It was cold and the weather wasn't very nice. Plus, we were told that most of the trails were all pretty muddy if not still covered in snow.

We decided just to drive as much of the road as we could and get out and walk around a bit here and there. We stopped at Lake McDonald first and had our lunch at the end of the dock. The water was impossibly clear and it was very, very quiet out there. A beautiful spot for a picnic.

Note the rain clouds slowly approaching...

We're so cute.

Steven said our heads couldn't touch in this photo because he wanted to try to get the mountains behind us a little bit. It only kind of worked. The clouds did an excellent job of thwarting our plan.

Crystal clear lake and a perfect reflection. The lake was so still and peaceful.

Down at the dock by the Lake McDonald Lodge. It isn't open at this time of year but that's as far as the road was open for us to drive on (about 10 miles from where we started at the other end of Lake McDonald).

Skipping rocks. Of course. Can't waste an opportunity with a lake so smooth and about a zillion little flat rocks around.

And here comes the rain. SO glad we weren't on a hike at this point!

I've always wanted to take a raindrop picture!

Much more impressive splash from the huge rocks Steven was throwing into the water.

Aaaaaand a feather. Check out the color of these rocks though. Aren't they cool? They seemed really bright in person.

At this point in the day Steven and I were more than ready to head back and jump right into the hot tub.

The next day we took some time to go into town and do a little birthday shopping and grab lunch. And on the last day of our trip it was sunny and beautiful! But cold cold cold! I really wanted to see Glacier in the sunshine and Steven was kind enough to agree to drive back there... just for a few beautiful photos.

I was so glad we had gone a couple of days before as well because this day was really windy and the lake itself was so much more beautiful when it was still.

However, the snow capped mountains are much prettier without clouds covering them. We went back to the condo for a little hot tubbing that afternoon -- it was so sunny we even got a little tan! It was 39 degrees out and we were in a hot tub and we got tan. Pretty cool.

And then it was on to the next adventure. Being the amazing wife that I am, I decided to surprise Steven with a little rock climbing trip as an early birthday gift. He's really gotten into climbing during his months working at Stone Gardens this past winter and I figured he would think it was pretty cool to do some outdoor rock climbing in Montana. I sort of thought I was going to get laughed at when I e-mailed the guy asking if he was doing any climbs so early in the season but he was excited about it and we ended up being his first rock climbing group this year (one day after the ski season closed).

Surprisingly, at this stage of the game I wasn't even nervous. Just feeling a little silly after wiggling into that crazy tight little harness.

Steven was pretty stoked and Link, our rock climbing expert, was glad to have a trustworthy person to belay him.

I don't know if you can tell from this picture but the top is way up there. At least, it seemed pretty high to me. Also take note of the portions of the climb where it looks like the rock is just flat. As in, nothing to grab onto to pull yourself up.

I really didn't want to take my turn. It was difficult right off the bat. I didn't understand how you could just grab or step onto a tiny little ridge in the rock and have it hold you. I just kept feeling like there was nothing to reach for.

Here's my view from part way up! There were a few times throughout the climb when I was really really nervous.

I even asked to come down, more than once, and they wouldn't let me. I got a little panicky but I didn't cry. It wasn't that I was afraid I would actually fall all of the way down but I definitely felt responsible for keeping myself on the rock and there were moments when I didn't think I could possible do it any longer. I did finally make it to the top though, where I promptly shouted, "Okay, I did it! Can I come down now?" They had to remind me to take a moment to look around.

My view from the top!

I couldn't turn around and look straight down, that was too much for me, so I just took a photo.

I made it! I guess I'm glad I reached the top but I do not ever want to go rock climbing again. We can go horseback riding, or white water rafting, or scuba diving, but no thank you on the rock climbing.

Steven loved it. He took a few turns and I got to belay him once.

Apparently my helmet was crooked the whole time but Steven never told me because he thought it was cute.

They talked me into trying again. It was a little easier the second time, at least this beginning part, but I chose to come down before I reached the panicky part again. I wanted to end on a good note. Plus, the sun was starting to go down and it became more and more difficult for me to hang on as it got colder.

I love my husband.

Oh my goodness! Look at those hands! Oiy. I couldn't believe how dirty the rope was. What I should have taken a picture of was my knees! Being the inexperienced climber that I am, I might have used my knees more than once to try to get up on a ledge or steady myself or whatever. I knew that probably wasn't the way I was supposed to do it but at the time, I was just committed to not falling. I still have bruises on my knees! I couldn't wear skirts or dresses the first week back to school and when I wore one this week one of my students asked, with great concern, "Mrs. Lentz! What happened to your knees?!?" Oh dear.

On our way home we stopped in Medical Lake and had dinner with some of my dad's family. We had planned to stay the night but once we were that close to home, we decided we would rather just keep driving and sleep in our own bed that night. We were so glad we did! Steven was awesome and drove the whole way. We got back around 1am and it was nice to have the whole next day to just clean up and unpack and get ready to go back to work. Fortunately, I still had the weekend before having to go back to school. We had a lovely little trip. It was just nice to get away together for a few days and relax. I'm voting for someplace tropical on our next vacation though : )

I Believe in Butter.

How gorgeous is that?!? I love butter. It's amazing how much better things taste with butter. This pile of butter was used to make a shrimp dish. I have determined that that is fish in it's intended environment -- swimming not in salt water, but in butter. Wow.

My friend Caitlin and I took a cooking class together last month at Marcela's Creole Cookery in downtown Seattle. It was so fun! We decided to go for the full experience. We shared a bottle of wine, we each purchased the bags of housemade creole seasoning and bottles of crab boil, and we ordered the extra dessert when it was offered at the end of the meal. It was more of a cooking demonstration than a class. For the most part we just sat and watched and ate but it was very relaxing and the food was wonderful and I found the chef to be very entertaining. We had shrimp gumbo, barbeque shrimp (nothing barbeque about it -- the shrimp was swimming in a garlic, creole, butter sauce and served over crostinis), smothered chicken with potatoes and broccoli, and, my personal favorite, pecan pie. I would love to do more things like this. It was such a great outing!

Caitlin with the Chef Anthony...

... helping to serve up some food.

Just stirring and drinking. When I got up to stir, I left my wineglass on our table but Chef Anthony informed me that I would be stirring for a while and made sure that my glass was full again before bringing it over to me.
Here are a few random photos from my kitchen experiences in the last few months.

Sweet potato muffins -- these recipe did not turn out how I wanted it to. I love sweet potatoes and the look of the cinnamon crunch topping on these muffins was particularly enticing but I made the mistake of following the recipe, against my better judgement, which resulted in a flavor combo that I was not a fan of. There was a lot of orange zest in the muffins as well as some chopped nuts. I should have leaned more on the brown sugar and cinnamon flavors, omitted the orange entirely, and saved the chopped nuts only for a streusel type of topping. But sweet potatoes are so darn pretty, I had to include the picture anyway.

Chicken tortilla soup! I was very proud of this meal and can't wait to make it again! I made a jalapeno roasted chicken earlier in the week (my first roast chicken!) and then made a stock out of the carcass. I felt so gourmet! I loved the whole process of boiling the carcass and then skimming off the fat and using the homemade stock to make a soup. The tortilla chips and feta cheese on top made it particularly tasty.

I am loving this quick (and cute!) little dessert right now. It started by accident when I had some left over pie crust dough  a while ago. I rolled out a piece of it and baked it for Steven (he really likes just plain crust) and then I made a little pocked pie for myself. I put a scoop of  my homemade apple butter inside with a few little slivers of butter and then sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on the top. These are so tasty and I particularly love that it's all homemade but the apple filling is pre-made so it's less of a chore to put them together.

And our current favorite vegetable -- roasted Brussel's sprouts. Well, I don't know if it's Steven's favorite but it is certainly my favorite. Especially with salmon! Yum. Such a perfect dinner.

And there's the food update for now. It had been a little too long since my last food post :)

Spring!

Well, the first day of spring was on Wednesday and I tell you what, things aren't looking too springy around here... Don't get me wrong, we have had some truly beautiful sunny days! But they've come with wind and chilly temperatures. These past few days brought rain, wind, hail, snow, sun.... and all in a very short period of time. It's been a little crazy. I was even praying for a snowday today but we didn't get quite enough, or at least, not in the right places.

 

A couple of weeks ago Steven and I took advantage of a sunny weekend by hitting up some of our favorite Seattle spots. We visited the South Lake Union Park for the first time. It's a nice enough park but certainly won't become one of our regular stops. Though I do still really want to stop by some time for their floating farmers market. It was fun to be right on the water and it was a beautiful day for it too!! Thank God for a legit reason to wear sunglasses.

 

(Steven's new Cirque jacket! even though I know you can't really see it...)

 

As we drove past SPU I commented on how beautiful the campus looked in the sunshine and Steven pulled over so we could take a short walk around the loop. I just love it there. I want to take all of my stationary or a good book and just find a place on the grass to sit and relax. It's so quiet and pretty and has so many memories.

 



 

The music building is one of my personal favorites. I definitely took some of my better classes in there. Plus, the Loop has the coolest trees.

 

We took a short walk on top of Queen Anne (didn't last long because of the wind) and Steven surprised me with a stop in La Reve Bakery. What a treat! I had a fruit tart and Steven had a twice baked almond croissant. Thinking back, I'm surprised I didn't take a picture. The food they serve there is so beautiful! I want to try everything in the case at some time or another. While we were sitting there enjoying our pastries, Steven and I were fantasizing about living on Queen Anne and being able to walk to our favorite places and having La Reve be our little spot where we take our cribbage board and try a new treat everytime. When we were in Blue Highway I heard a mom drop her son off for a birthday party and she told him he would be walking home and she would see him later that afternoon. How fun would it be for our kids to be able to just walk to Blue Highway for the afternoon?! Sigh, I don't think we will ever find ourselves living back on QA but it certainly is a nice thought.

 



 

Kerry Park. I just can't resist. I have to take a picture every single time. In fact, I have to take multiple pictures every single time. Honestly though, I think this is one of the better ones. The clouds were fantastic that day.

 

We spent the rest of the day with Tim & Annika. We drove over to Ballard for a an extraordinarily decadent afternoon snack at Hot Cakes. Wow. They have some seriously fancy chocolate treats in there. We had one of the hot cakes (molten lava cakes served in an adorable little jar with ice cream, salted caramel sauce, and toffee nibs on the side) and also shared a milkshake that had peanut butter and whiskey in it. Tim and Annika tried one of the grilled sandwiches - chocolate between two slices of potato bread with caramel sauce to dip it in, wrapped in paper and tied up with string - adorable! It wasn't quite as amazingly delicious as I wanted it to be but it was quite tasty and a really fun, special little outing. Plus, the faucet in the bathroom completely redefined our future home that I've been designing in my head for the last couple of years. Hot Cakes is right next to the Matador so I think it would be fun to do happy hour at the Matador and dessert at Hot Cakes sometime (Chad & Whit - next time you're in town!) and when we do go, I want to try a chocolate chip cookie and the butter beer. They smoke their chocolate chips for multiple hours and I'm really curious to know what kind of an impact that has on the flavor.

 

I am SO looking forward to some warmer weather!! The good news is, everything is in bloom. I love it. It is definitely one of my most favorite times of the year -- even if I do prefer it when all of the trees are covered in leaves, I still love this time when you can see everything growing and the days are getting longer. It just makes me feel so hopeful. Hopfully it's having the same effect on you!

Anniversary 2.5

Between moving into a new house, fighting wildfires in Cle Elum, and starting a new teaching job, Steven and I never really got around to celebrating our second anniversary. What we really need is a three week vacation in Hawaii but we decided that an amazing Valentine's Day date would suffice for this year. We don't normally celebrate Valentine's Day but decided to go all out since we were counting it as a belated anniversary celebration.

We had an amazing dinner at Daniel's Broiler in downtown Bellevue and then went to the Cirque du Soleil show Amaluna. Daniel's Broiler in Bellevue is on the 21st floor and has a beautiful view. We weren't on the side of the restaurant overlooking Lake Washington but it was still fun to be next to the window looking out over Bellevue. And that just means we'll have to go back again for the view on the other side of the restaurant ;)

We loved the restaurant and it was so fun going to a super fancy restaurant with multiple giftcards in hand (one saved from our wedding and another we received from my mom over Christmas). We didn't even look at the prices, which is kind of a big deal for me. I'm totally one of those people who orders by price and it's really too bad because if you're going to go out you should probably just order what you want, even if it isn't the least expensive option :) Steven had sea bass marinated in sake and I had crab-stuffed prawns with grilled veggies. We shared a huge bowl of balsamic mushrooms, which were incredible, and finished the meal with a "small" coconut fudge sundae, which changed my life. I'm not even kidding. I want to start going to Daniel's on a weekly basis just to have the coconut sundae.

The show was phenomenal, as always. Cirque du Soleil never disappoints! It's incredible how they're always coming up with something new. Every time you go to a Cirque show you think you've seen it all and then the next time you go you see something else you had no idea the human body was capable of doing. It's unreal. We just love it. I'm so glad that this "our thing."

Since we had paid off the Cirque tickets many months in advance and dinner was covered by giftcards, we treated ourselves to some Cirque merchandise. We NEVER do things like that!!! But we're both suckers for nice jackets and we each found a Cirque jacket that we really liked. I was shocked when Steven said "well, let's just get them." What?! So special and fun. Mine is really unique and I love the colors. Steven's is black and just really sleek looking. Someone at Chipotle asked him if he was in the show!! Which fit into Steven's plan perfectly as he intended to wear it around and let people think that he is in fact an acrobat. I'm sure I'll post a picture of us in our new jackets sometime soon.

I'm already looking forward to celebrating our third anniversary together and what do you know, it's right around the corner -- just 5 short months away. We'll have to come up with something really fun. Maybe that transatlantic cruise we've been dying to go on...

 

14 minutes & 48 seconds.

Isn't my husband amazing?!? Steven finished 56 out of 1500 participants! He said he was a little bit disappointed with his time (thought he had done better) but I'm just straight-up impressed! Can't believed he improved by another 30 seconds on last year's time. Wow.

Stairclimb 2013.

Hello little blog! Long time no see. I'm trying to be a better steward of my time and have simply chosen not to make the blog a priority in recent weeks. I miss it a bit and definitely have a few things that I want to blog about in the near future -- we'll see if I get around to it :)

I believe Steven is on his way up to the top of the Columbia Tower right now. He's been a little anxious about the climb this year. Work has been busy and there hasn't been as much time for training as there was last year. I'm still counting on him to be a top finisher again this year. I know he's pushing himself really hard. He even created a playlist with carefully selected Muse, Queen, and Cake songs that have a specific number of beats per minute to help him on track :) I'm so proud of him!!

Any last minute donations? Feel free: http://llswa.org/goto/stevenlentz every little bit counts! I know Steven is so thankful for everyone's support.

Home Alone.

This is the first time I've been home alone all day on a weekday in months! I really didn't know what to do with myself this morning. I had great plans to be all super productive but the sun was out and it's really hard for me to be inside by myself when the sun is out. I wanted to bundle up and go to the Kirkland waterfront and drink tea and go for a walk but I stayed home and got a few smallish things accomplished. Our big project right now is organizing the garage (not a lot in there but VERY limited storage space) and turning the glorified hallway that is our "bonus room" into a craft room of sorts for me. It's amazing how the mess always gets bigger before it gets better. I did get all of the Christmas stuff packed away nicely in three large tubs and managed to go through a ton of paperwork in our file folders. Lots to be recycled and plenty of shredding to be done.

The dangerous part about me being home alone is that it is the absolute perfect time for me to bake. I could have done a lot more than I did so it's a good thing I got a late start. I still had an unopened container of eggnog in the fridge so I made a batch of baked eggnog french toast from the brunch cookbook that Tara gave me. It was the easiest thing ever and so tasty! I think the hardest part of the recipe would be the cranberry apple glaze that I decided was unnecessary since I was cooking only for myself. I just sliced a small baguette, placed the slices in a dish, poured 2.5 cups of egg nog over them, and allowed them to sit in the fridge all day, then baked 3 of the small slices in the toaster oven for about ten minutes. Yum! I also made two loaves of oatmeal molasses bread. I made this recipe sometime last winter and absolutely love it. It was just as amazing tonight (plus, I love it when the house smells like yeast) and I've eaten three slices. With butter.

And here's a picture of the scones I made while Chad and Whit were there the other day:

Hopefully I'll be more productive tomorrow when Steven is home with me but I kind of doubt it as I usually want to take advantage of our time together at home to just hang out. I guess we'll find out.