The Guddat Gang

I've lived in the Kittitas Valley for 17 1/2 years and despite that longevity, until today I had never climbed Manastash Ridge. I'll save you from the excuses because they don't matter. With the new job starting this week, I decided that it was now or never so I woke up, got Brittany to work, the kids to school, fueled up on food and headed out to Manastash. The Westberg Trail (named after Ellensburg High School wrestling coach Ray Westberg who passed away in 1997) is a steep haul, 2000 feet in elevation gain in two miles (the trailhead is at roughly 1700 feet, so we're at 3700 feet at the top). I was in 4-wheel drive most of the way...meaning I was in 4-low, not breaking any speed records and certainly not impressing the birds that seemed to track my path up the ridge. Crisp morning. I'd say low 40s to start us off and definitely chilly in the shaded canyon portion of the trail early on. I snapped a few pictures on the way up. It was a way to cleverly disguise a ...

This is Jon. When the temp reaches 60+ degrees each day, but the wind is so prevalent you still have to wear a coat, it means spring has sprung in Kittitas. We headed out to Umptanum Falls, a family favorite, when we realized the wind was non-existent today. You do that around here. On our way into Umptanum Canyon. We made multiple stops along Umptanum Creek. The girls love playing in the water, so we made sure to capture a few pics of it all. The falls look different every time we're there. Our apricot tree is in full bloom and our Rainier cherry tree has what seems like thousands of buds on its branches, so hopefully that turns into enough fruit to make a farmers market jealous.

This is Jon. We decided to head over to Seattle to take in a Mariners game on Friday. We watched King Felix pitch a gem of a game and then watched the bullpen nearly lose it in a 6-4 victory in front of nearly 40,000 fans, including the five in our contingent since Uncle Jim met us at the game. The girls before the game. The M's gave out free T-shirts to the first 25,000 fans and we got there in time. You'll have to excuse Adelyn's expression as she was too excited to sit still and cooperate for the camera, but she's also a jokester so it's par for the course. Happy Felix Day! The view from our vantage point. Jim works just across the street from the Safe and the Clink so it was an easy commute for him to hang out. After the game, I wanted a pic close to the field with the girls. The Kittitas clan and the Mariner Moose.