mountains, mountains everywhere

Exhibit A: Mount St. Helens

So, from our kitchen window you can see Mount St. Helens. On Friday the sun was out (for the first time in over a week), the sky was totally clear and that mountain was an unmistakable presence on the skyline.

Exhibit B: Mount Adams

This past weekend we went to Arlie's family cabin which is juuuust across the border into Washington. The cabin is on the south side of Mt. Adams and from their living room, you can see that mountain too. It's just as awesome as Mount St. Helens.

Exhibit C: fun with dogs

We went hiking and exploring the surrounding areas. It was cold and snowy but it was very sunny and we had dogs with us, so that makes everything more fun. Dogs are easily amused by snowballs. Throw snowballs up into the air and the dogs try to catch 'em as they fall back down. It also makes for good photo ops of leaping dogs.

Exhibit D: ice caves are wicked!

The following day we hiked/cross country skied, snow-shoed to some nearby ice caves. Apparently in the summertime you can go deep into the caves, but in winter they are very icy and slippery, as evidenced by the snow-covered stairs. Oh, and we had no flashlights. Caves are dark 'n spooky so we only went down to the bottom of the "steps."

Exhibit E: disappointment

(though 3D photos won't really be of any use to you out there in webland)

I brought my new Loreo 3D camera (I even bought real film!) and was excited to use it, but I was totally lame and didn't check to see that it needed a battery. And not just any battery -- a funkdog 11.5 volt battery. wtf is that? So I'm already in negotiations with Arlie for another trip back to the cabin sometime next month so this camera can capture the scenery in 3D.