Backyard visitors.

Anniversary Road Trip

Jacquelyn and I had our anniversary last weekend.  We've been married for a long time now and it just keeps getting better and better.  We decided to go on a Road Trip, just the two of us, and spend the whole day together.

 One of my favorite photos of us together.

 Our first stop was Franklin Falls out near Great Bend for an early morning hike.  The falls have a 70 foot drop.  You can see how close we were able to get.

 It was only one mile each way and we just finished before the rain started.

 The hike was just beautiful all along a crystal clear river (Snoqualmie River) and the elevation gain was only 400 feet.  We really enjoyed it.

 Then we headed to Yakima and had lunch at Dairy Queen.  We stopped for gas at the Teapot Gas Station in Zillah.

 We saw lots of electrical wind mills.

Our next stop was Maryhill Stonehenge down by the Columbia River.

 It was built by a private person to be the same size and an exact replica of what he thought the original looked like before it got old.  It's dedicated to the veterans who died in World War I.

 We saw a statue of Sacagawea just across the river in Oregon.  She was the Indian guide for Lewis and Clark.  I didn't know she was so young, only a teenager, and had a baby with her the whole time.  We ate dinner at an Outback in Olympia.  All in all we were on the road 14 hours and drove 520 miles.

Marrying Jacquelyn was the best thing I ever did.

eBook Cover

I'm coming out with a new book soon.  It's an "action adventure comedy."  It's going to published as an eBook on Smashwords and Amazon.  Been in touch with a cover artist to develop a book cover.  Take a look at some of the concept ideas they sent and let us know which one you like best for the cover.

They start out by selecting a drawing or photograph to work with, and then purchase the license, and then build the book cover.  For action comedies the artist said most authors go for cartoon style and they sent three examples for review?  This one seemed too comic bookish for a book cover.

 Too risque for the book, which is rated G.

This one might be good if they fixed up her dress.  The thought was that a girl in a wedding dress holding a gun (which does happen in the book) might convey both action and comedy.

Here's a book blurb so you know what the book's about:

Must Save Charity is a comic adventure tale of confused identities and mistaken love.  Can Dusty Woodley, heroic national park ranger, save sweet Charity Leavenbread?  He's determined to try; but no matter how noble his bumbling efforts, the situation becomes more dire, her embarrassments more extreme, her peril more precarious, and her distress more acute.  How can Dusty stand it?  Worst of all, she wants him to stay out of it!:

They sent this concept photo also, in case we preferred photographs over drawings.  Photographs do look more professional.  The covers are very important for eBooks to attract readers.  I liked this one the best of the four the artist sent, but didn't like how her face was covered up.

So they came up with this one next and said they could work with the picture to make her attire look more like a wedding dress.  What do you think?  Send an email or make a comment on the blog if there's one you like best.

Airplane Accident

Jacquelyn and I were in a big airplane crash.

 Jacquelyn got a puncture wound in her side and a cut on her face.

There were people lying all over the runway outside the airplane.

We had to wait forever it seamed like for the emergency response teams to arrive.

Actually it was all a big airport practice drill.  Seatac Airport was doing their Triennial Disaster Re-certification Excercise and had to simulate a big airplane crash.  We got to volunteer as victims since we are part of the Tacoma LDS CERT Team.  Here's Jacquelyn getting her makeup, which they call moulage.

 A friend of ours, Travis Kienholtz who sustained a bad injury to his arm.

 The walking injured on their way out to the runway for the simulation.  Looked like a bunch of zombies.

I had big burns all over my chest and neck and face.  We had a lot of fun with the whole thing.

Hiking Twin Lakes Trail

We went on a hike yesterday.  We found a trail up near North Bend called Twin Lakes Trial, which led to some waterfalls.

 Start of the trail.

 Me scouting out the way.

 Beautiful forested woods.

 Incredible mountain stream.

 Caleb climbing around on some rocks and trees.

 Massive boulders.

 The waterfall.

It was a fun hike.  Only 3 miles round trip, fairly level, and lots of beautiful scenery.

Back to college

We made a trip to Spokane to see Jarom and Amery one more time before they left for college.  We also got to visit with Tianna and the rest of her family.

                                                     Jarom with his Notre Dame tie.

                                                Amery who will be leaving for BYU-Idaho.

Alaska Visit with Joshua and Family

I flew up later and here are some pictures from the rest of our visit to Alaska with Joshua and his family.

 Joshua, Rebecca, and Agnes in front of a stuffed polar bear.  We are visiting the "Wild Berry Products Store," which has all kinds of neat Alaska stuff to buy, and lots of candy.

 Here is Elliott, Ethan, Christian, Caleb, and Julia with a giant candy bar.  Behind them is the world's largest chocolate fountain.  Unfortunately the photo cuts off the top half of the chocolate waterfall.

 On one of our walks we saw some live moose.  This shot was taken at a steam in Anchorage just a few blocks from Joshua's house.

 There was a mother moose and two calves.

 We visited a playground with swings and had a lot of fun playing tag.   This is Elliott, Christian, and Ethan.

 Julia swinging on the bars.

At the Anchorage Museum the kids were fascinated by the bubble room.  Ethan blowing bubbles.

 Caleb making a bubble that totally encased him.

 Elliott playing on a display in the children's room.

 Julia checking out a big turtle in an aquarium.

We had time to go on one big hike.  Last time we went up Flattop Mountain, which is the most popular day hike near Anchorage, so this time we went up Rendezvous Peak.  Here's Joshua, Rebecca, and Agnes on the trail.

 Christian on the hike.  Lots of tiny wild flowers all about.

 Here we are at the top of Rendezvous Peak - Caleb, Ethan, and I.

 Joshua, Elliott and Agnes.

 What would a visit to Anchorage be without a stop at the Saturday Market in downtown Anchorage, a popular stop for all the tour bus and cruise ship tourists.  Christian and Ethan in front of a totem pole.

 We did a walk on the Marshlands Boardwalk.  This was the only day it rained on us.

We wore ourselves out, as typified by this shot of sleeping Agnes.  She is a cutie.  We had a fun trip.