Clear Creek Trail

I've been frequenting a local trail called Clear Creek Trail that's nearby.  It's a trail that leads into a local farm and it seems popular with the locals, as I'm always running into a variety of people also visiting the trails.  Here's a few pics from our recent visit.

Parts of the trail are paved.  This part, unfortunately is near a highway, so it is a little noisy.

Other trails are covered in gravel, dirt, or have a wooden walkway.

I love how the trees line the path here.

I'm going to need to learn the names of a lot more plants and flowers.  Don't you just love the purple color of this plant, or flower, or whatever it is?

Here is Petersen Farm, which also has trails throughout that connect with the Clear Creek Trail.  Efforts are being made to revitalize this farm, since the owner passed away.  The hope is that local farmers will get to use this farm to keep it functional and vibrant.

Wild blackberries grow everywhere along the trial!  Mmm...they are so good!

And lastly, my artsy shot for the day: one of the wooden benches that line the trail.

Life Update

We've had many questions coming our way through e-mail, Facebook, and phone calls, so I thought I'd answer a few standard questions we've been getting through the blog.

Q: Where are you living now?  Did you buy a house?
A: We are in the process of looking for a house to purchase and hope to make an offer on a house soon.  In the meantime, we are living on base in a lodge (AKA a hotel) that allows dogs.  No, it's not ideal, but we have cars that allow us to be independent, it's safe, furnished with internet access, and the base gym and shopping areas are just around the corner.  Plus, we have maid service!

Q: Did Noa start work?  Where is he working now?  
A: Yes!  Noa began work at the Naval Hospital Bremerton in the Family Practice Department.  Not only is he seeing patients, but he is also one of the staff attendings that teach and oversee the training of Family Practice residents.  So far, he really likes it.  Oh, and the hospital is really nice!  It sits right off the water, so the atrium has an incredible view.

Q: What is Julie doing?  Did she get a job teaching?
A: No, I'm not teaching this year (at least not full-time).  There are several reasons for this.  The main reason is that in order to get hired in Washington state, I need to change my teaching license from DoDDS to Washington.  This involves some testing and other paperwork.  School starts next week and we are still living in a hotel room with only a few belongings.  So, I am in no way ready to take on the challenges of a new classroom, school, and district.  However, I hope to either tutor, sub, or get a teaching job in the future.
In the meantime, I've managed to stay busy while Noa is at work.  Most of my day is consumed with home searching, either online or with my realtor.  Sometimes I visit houses or drive around town and scout out neighborhoods and recent listings.  I've also taken the dogs to local dog parks (there's a new one nearby!) and trails, which has been really fun.  I'm hoping to join some groups soon, such as a book club, Bible study, or spouse groups.

Q: Do you guys like your new state?  Is it cold?  Do you miss Okinawa?
A: So far we really like Washington state.  Yes, it's much cooler here than Okinawa, but still lovely.  We love seeing the mountains, especially Rainier.  The trees here remind me of New England, but are MUCH, MUCH taller!  There seems to be a lot to do, like hiking, kayaking, biking, and sightseeing all over the region.  We are constantly amazed by the natural beauty surrounding us as we explore new roads or drive to a specific destination.  And yes, we miss Okinawa.  More than the island itself, we miss our friends, especially at this time of year when everyone is heading back to the island for the beginning of the school year.

Q: Any big travel plans coming up?  Have you been to Seattle yet?
A: This might sound crazy, but we have not been to Seattle yet!  It's just a ferry ride away, but we have been so busy with car-shopping, house-hunting, church-visiting, and getting settled that we haven't had a day to ride over  and see the sights.  We do hope to go soon.  Other than that, we don't have any major trips lined up until October (Julie is heading to NE and we'll both be going to DC at the end of the month).  We want to use these first few weeks to really get to know our new home and explore our immediate surroundings.

Car Shopping

As I mentioned earlier, one of the first things on the agenda upon our arrival to the state of Washington was acquire some vehicles.  You may remember some of the blog posts about this very issue; if not, you can read them here and here.  

There were several things we thought would be important for the car purchases:

- they had to be within our budget

- one of them needed to be fuel efficient

- has enough storage for us, our dogs, and our future children

- newer with good safety ratings

So, we looked online...a lot. We read Craigslist and Autotrader until our eyeballs bled (okay, not really, but you get my point).  We spent a full day test driving all sorts of cars.  We wheeled and dealed at a car dealership.  We had pre-inspections conducted.

So, what did we end up with?

Meet Julie's new ride: a 2007 Honda CR-V

Yeah, I love it.

And Noa's new ride: a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid

It's pretty sleek. 

So, how'd we end up with these cars?  Three main reasons:

1: They are Hondas.  We are big Honda fans.  We had a Civic back in Florida and LOVED it.  After reading auto reviews and test driving so many cars, it was an obvious choice for us. 

2: Both were great deals.  Although we still had sticker shock at the prices of cars (especially Hondas) at first, we made out well in the end (see below)

3: In the end, they were what we truly wanted and most importantly they met our criteria (the hybrid is the fuel efficient ride, whereas the CR-V is the "family" car).

And, here are some things we learned along the way:

- If buying from a private seller, get an independent pre-inspection done (we had them done at local Honda dealerships).  This gave us peace of mind and negotiating power.

- Get a Carfax report.  We found out that one of the cars we were interested in at one point had a rebuilt title, meaning the car had been in an accident where it was considered a total loss.  Interesting that the seller didn't mention this to us when we first inquired about the car.  And, no, we did not purchase this car.

- Think long an hard before purchasing a smoker's car.  The one downside to the CR-V is that it was owned by a smoker.  We did get a great deal, but then we had to have the interior detailed and ozone bombed and it still isn't quite to the "normal" smell level yet.  We think it will get better with time, but it's still something we have to work on.

- Go the distance.  In order to acquire the best deals, we had to drive about an hour away and then spend time (and money) to take care of the pre-inspections.  It wasn't convenient, but it saved us money compared to the prices in our immediate area.

EDITED TO ADD: One more word of advice....if possible, pay for your car in full.  That's right - no car loans!  After living in Okinawa for four years without a car payment, we learned how freeing it is not to have that payment weighing on us each month.  So, we saved up and paid for these cars without taking out any kind of loan.  

Stop 4: Sequim, WA

Truth be told, we didn't go straight to stop four.  We took a couple of days to find our cars, start the house hunting process, and get our lives started in Washington state.  Yes, yes, we'll get to that... soon enough.  First a recap of our recent trip to Sequim (pronounced Squ-im), Washington.  We packed our bags one more time, belted the dogs into the car, and headed to Sequim to see Kent, Tritia, Kai, and Sophia Grubbs at Kent's parent's house.  

We know the Grubbs from Okinawa, so it was great to see them again since their summer departure in June.  Every summer they travel out to Washington to visit Kent's folks, who so graciously let us stay - pups in tow - at their house.  We had such a good time visiting with the whole Grubbs troupe and exploring this new part of the country, which is surprisingly close (45 - 60 min, depending on traffic) from where we'll be living.

The first order of business was visiting a brewery in Port Townsend and trying some of the local brews.  We had fun tasting all the flavors on the sample tray.  I'd recommend the Chet's Gold Golden Ale, Reel Amber, Port Townsend Brown Porter, or Green Tea Ale (seasonal) if you find yourself in this area.

Oh, and while we were sippin' away, the brewery provided live acoustic guitar music.  Nice!

Here's the gang!

The next day brought some more exploring.  Our first stop was Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, or the Dungeness spit.  I found out that the Dungeness spit is the world's longest natural sand spit (basically a long sand bar attached to the land), which is about 4 1/2 miles long and leads to a lighthouse at the end.  

 Here's a view of the expansive spit from a lookout area in the forest.

Kent and Sophia check out the view.

We really only spent a little time in this area, since it's right on the water and it was COLD!  Sophia kept trying to stay warm by hiding in nearby driftwood.

Meanwhile, Kai became the king of rock-throwing.

Check out this shot of the Grubbs family...I think it might be Christmas card worthy!

After lunch our next stop was Hurricane Ridge, in Olympic National Park.  The views were just stunning. I had to keep from breaking out into song.  The hills are alive, with the sound of music...

We hiked a few short trails and enjoyed the views, the animals (all the deer!), and the company. The kiddos enjoyed a small patch of snow that they discovered on the trail.  Unfortunately the snow patch was small and dirty, but that didn't stop them from playing in it.  It was Sophia's first time seeing snow after all, and she wasn't about to let it pass by.

Here's Team Juloa at the top of the ridge!

Oh no - another Christmas card contender!  Oh, the choices!

On the way down, we saw the strangest tree with this lime green and black "moss" on it.  I've never seen anything like it.

This picture was actually taken near the visitors center.  Apparently the deer are not too intimidated by people.  

Meanwhile, back in Sequim, the dogs enjoyed having some new playmates and the kids enjoyed giving them treats and having them cuddle up.  I love this photo of Gunnar and Kai.  Look how happy both boys are!

Tritia got some lovin' too!

Our visit ended with an early morning kayak trip near Diamond Point.  At first, the water was covered in fog and reminded me of good ol'days spent on an Alagash River canoeing trip from my middle school days.  The fog was dark and creepy, but the water was calm.  Here is a picture of me and Tritia in the midst of it:

It was pretty amazing to watch the clouds dissipate over the land and the sun start to peak through.

But the best part of the kayaking was the up-close-and-personal view of some bald eagles.  Amazing!

Here's the kayaking crew...with a little head peeping through!

We are so excited that we'll get to see the Grubbs every summer and reunite in Sequim!  Fun times!  Thanks guys! 

Stop 3: Colorado

Next up, the reunion of "Hampostle" or the Hammers and the Apostles, who are familiar faces around this blog.  Our first stop in FoCo, CO was to a tapas and wine bar.  I've been there once before, but it was Noa's first visit and our first visit all together.  Not only was the food AMAZING, but the day was absolutely beautiful!

Mmmm...bacon wrapped dates!  Delish!  Bacon always makes things yummy.

Hampostles!  Oh, and Mike's shirt reads: "Good enough to eat!!"  It's from one of our favorite burger joints in Okinawa called Seaside Jet City Burgers.

Mike and Jess know all the good hikes and took us to a great one at Seaman's Reservoir.  It was a perfect day for hiking.

Look how beautiful!

Mike and Noa got to spend some quality time on the golf course.  While they were out playing 18 holes, we were out shopping, of course  But, it just wouldn't be a Hampostle visit without snapping a picture before of our golf guys.

Oh, and I always love to visit them in Colorado and spent time with my favorite rottie, Sarge.  Yes, his name might sound intimidating, but he is such a lover and his little rump wouldn't stop wagging.

As always, we had a lovely visit and it ended much too fast.  Thanks, guys for making us feel so at home  and Jess, thanks for sharing your pics!  You will always be my favorite photographer.

Stop 2: California

Our second stop was to the bay area of California to see two wonderful groups of people: Noa's parents, who relocated there this year, and Herman, Traci, and their daughter, Emilia.  This was our first time meeting Emilia, as she joined their family in December of last year, and we were just smitten with her.  One night after dinner, she enjoyed dancing in the street to a local band at a street festival near the restaurant.  Traci took some cute shots of her that night.

Isn't she just ADORABLE?!

I got to spend lots of time with Traci, which is great since living overseas has kept it difficult for me to stay in touch with her.  I've known her for about 10 years now!

Traci, Emilia, and I got to go to the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco.  We dubbed this fair as having the best of the best of Etsy and most of the goods were amazing (there were a few strange tables that we chose to ignore).  I came away with a few goodies including this print...I'm sure you are shocked.  You know I can't resist a good "animal-themed" print.

Noa and Herman got to reunite with a friend who works for Google, so we got to visit the Google campus.  We had a lot of fun exploring this campus that reminded me of my college days, with all the buildings, bikes all over, and a huge cafeteria with various food stations. 

Team Juloa enjoyed trying the community bikes that are available for everyone to use.

We also spent some time with Noa's parents, Jack and Carol.  Since we've never had a Booher-Hammer-only hang out time, we took advantage of the opportunity and took off for a little get-away.  Noa's parents planned the whole thing and it started out with a visit to a local farmers market, which I loved!  The colors!  The variety!  The fragrant smells!  I just can't wait to start going to the farmer's markets in Washington! We picked up few items, drove down the Pacific Coast Highway, with the top down on the convertible of course, to a state park for an afternoon picnic.

Then they surprised us with a 2 1/2 hour trail ride!  It's been a few years since I've been on a horse and I've definitely never been on a horse that long before (I think we were all feeling it the next day).  But, I loved it!  My horse was named Melody and Noa rode Snickers.  The trail ride took us throughout forests, hills, waterways, and the beach.  We had several river crossings, like this one.

Check out the size of this tree!

Noa with Snickers, the tailgater (he really liked Melody in front of him).

Riding the horses on the beach was the best!

At the end of the day, we relaxed at a lovely sea-side hotel.  The next day led us to Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California.  Both Noa and I did not know much about the history of Hearst Castle, but the tour was extremely informative, as was the visitor's center (click on the link for more info).  

The castle was breathtaking.  My favorite part was probably the outdoor pool, with the bright blue bottom.

The castle itself is like a museum with artifacts from all over the world both inside the castle and on the castle grounds.  Here you can see one of the oldest pieces on the property, from Egypt, with one of the castle buildings in the background.

I'm so glad we were able to spend this time with Noa's parents....it was a wonderful trip!