Saturday Night @ the Tumwater

This is part of the usual Sat night crowd at the Tumwater in Leavenworth, they show up to watch our friend and local music legend Paul Sweeny perform original & cover requested songs, it's always a good time.

I need to apologize to the person pictured here his name is Paul Sweeny and every Sat. night in Leavenworth he performs live music, most by request but some new stuff he wants to learn, or maybe requested earlier. Paul is very talented and I thought I had blogged about this before but guess I didn't so here it is. The other person is John the bartender/guitarist who likes to jump in when it's not too busy, normally he's hopping pretty good behind the bar most of the time. If you haven't heard Paul perform, you are missing out..
There are many friends that show up almost every week and it's a fun time, there are quite a few songs where everyone is encouraged to join in.

I enjoy it because most of it is the music I grew up to, if I really ever grew up. I still feel very young in the way I enjoy life and I believe that if I can't be a kid then I must be dead and since I'm still breathing and living life to the fullest, I'm not dead. I will take the time to smell the roses and enjoy everything around me with things turning white albeit slowly, very slow this year, I'm grateful that there is snow none the less.

Well for all the snowmobilers and lovers of everything winter related it's time to stop thinking about the summer and concentrate our thoughts about "SNOW". With the very cold temps we've been having the snow is very dry and if it had a 1-2' base would be what most of the skiers I know are looking for. Hopefully with the varying weather reports coming out we will se some wetter snow which would be very nice but we definitely don't need the rain they are talking about getting after the rain. Keep it real THINK LIVE & ENJOY LIFE "SNOW"
We found our Paradise, hope you find yours too.

Are You Really Thinking SNOW?

I came home yesterday after going out on Wed to move my truck because I had been told by the FS that they got 6" at the lake and we were supposed to be getting a good dose Wed night and didn't want to get my truck stuck in here and not able to get it out. We had gotten 9" but it was all like baby powder and if I was skiing I would love it but since I'd like to build a nice base before getting lots of very dry powder. The first photo of gauge was taken on Tues after gettin 9" on top of 1' we had before.

The next picture is of Peace & Bear Love playing in the snow which they both love to do, no need for additional coats for them they like to play and don't want anything to interfere with having fun. They are truely mountain dogs but they enjoy visiting town and seeing friends especially the stores that always have treats, thanks to Aunt Suzie, Gaby, Rhode and all of the others that always have something good to eat and of course all of our friends at Uncle Uli's where pets are allowed and everyone knows your name... We were even there yesterday when GMA came to Leavenworth and I was totally surprised byu the great turnout of people hoping to be on TV, I was just waiting for it to get light enough to drive home with my sunglasses which was all I had with me since I left my other glasses in the Ranger, we were hoping to get a nice overnight snow so I would know where to park my truck so I could still get out. Leavenworth got about 1.5-2" of snow but it couldn't have been scripted better for the snow, problem is they got more snow there than I got out here, actually it was just enough so that when I made tracks I couldn't see asphalt but my Ranger only had .75" on it when we got to it and at home I got 1.25" of baby powder.


This is what we have today after not getting the snow everyone anticipated.
So I believe that eveyone wanting to see snow needs to Think SNOW!!! We found our Paradise, hope you find yours too.

9" of POWDER

This morning we woke up to 9" of very dry Powder, it was nice to see finally, maybe this will be the beginning of the SNOW season for the year, it started yesterday afternoon. Today though we only got a 1/4" of new snow and tonight we have clear skies, so we will see what happens.
Peace & Bear just ran around like crazy several times Bear just disappeared in the new snow, there are many trails where they ran and several places that have been laid down by them wrestling with each other. Peace is quite the marathon runner, she runs to the dam when I take the Ranger up there, it's a little over 3 miles one way and almost 800' higher she seem to love running which she constantly does, when we go for walks she can be right next to us or 500 yds away chasing smells or tracks of the critters running in the snow.


Peace and Bear are quite the pair they have become true mountain dogs, they would rather be playing in the snow or on the hunt for something than being inside where it is warm, but then so would I, it is so very beautiful with the snow in the trees, changing the landscape, the snow & ice dams in the creek from the very cold temps. The other day while Peace & Bear were out playing around the river around here they came home with an old beaver skull, totally clean with a litle dirt but very big front teeth, I was surprised it was in such good shape, not sure where they found it but my guess is that the old beaver we have had problems with finally died and they found it. Maybe tomorrow we'll have to go look for the rest of it or maybe just have to go move my truck further out due to the recent snows we've had, which I will gladly do to have it a sno-park from Fish Lake. It's time to get those snowmobiles tuned up and ready to play, get those skis and snowboards waxed and ready to tackle the slopes, especially the backcountry lovers and whatever you do Think SNOW, Live LIFE to the Max, and enjoy every minute.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your too.

Maybe this Time will work

Well after a week of some very cold temps we finally got some new snow today. With the cold temp though instead of being a wet snow it is very dry and powdery and we had about 4" in about 5 hours earlier in the afternoon and it's still snowing tonight so it will be interesting to see how much we get overnight. Actually we need the snow so that it can insulate the dam and aqua duct from freezing. The pictures are from up at the dam when the temperatures stayed very cold the last 2 days, I had to go and break up the ice that was forming so that it wouldn't shut down the powerplant like it has done previously.
This is what most of my friends have been looking for the beautiful fluffy white stuff, SNOW!!! Yeah! I know many snomobilers and skiers that have been watching the sky for this great time of year to finally arrive, I know those working at Steven's Pass have been waiting impatiently for this snow to get here. This could be the beginning of a wonderful time of the year, my favorite time of year in fact.
Peace & Bear Love love the snow too and once they get out playing in it they don't want to come in no matter how late it is but I can also relate because when it snows I just want to get out in it feel it on my face and see it in the headlights. I'm very glad that I've groomed all the way up to the dam and that the snow we got earlier has formed a very nice base but I will need to stay on top of it so that I can go to the dam until the first slide over on the dam road then it can be the last time I get to go until the melt out, I hope to keep it open all winter, well that is my intention anyway.
To Ivan, Bob, Eric, Michelle, Don, Jim, Jim Jack, David M, Dave W, and everyone waiting for snow, keep those thoughts coming and we'll all be riding it soon, Think SNOW :)
We found our Paradise, hope you find yours too.