Christmas in Seattle 2014

It's interesting how different the city of Seattle is during the winter months in comparison to the summer months. The streets are less busy, everyone is bundled, and of course the city is decorated with a holiday cheer. Although I enjoy living in a small town, I will admit that seeing the Christmas Light shows and various North Pole villages throughout the city makes me wish I would get into model trains and begin a new hobby. But we will leave that subject for another time.

This year we had the opportunity to stay with my good-ol' friend Heidi. We met during our first semester in college and had lost contact through out the years so I was excited to catch up and she was excited to spend time with Ben. We ate and slept like royalty and Ben had the time of his life playing with her well trained dog, which I didn't take any pictures of. Anyhow, our plans for Saturday included a trip to the children museum and the aquarium yet after I accidentally kicked Ben at the playground, he lost his mood to be anywhere. But anyway, that afternoon we ate at Jonny and Deb's for lunch and had some pretty good haystacks for lunch with an in-meal entertainment of Ben playing with two dogs. That evening we visited the Bellevue Botanical garden where the light show has quadrupled since my days of living Bellevue. It's unfortunate that it's no longer free admission yet somebody has to pay for that electric bill. Ben fell asleep while we stood in line and was amazed and overjoyed when he woke up surrounded by Christmas lights... perhaps one of my favorite moments of the whole trip. It was fun hearing him say, "Woah!" as we wandered around looking at Christmas lights.

I always enjoy catching the ferry when I'm in Seattle. It's a great time to obtain an unobstructed view the Olympic Mountain Range off in the distance and Mt. Rainier while enjoying a nice boat ride. It's a glimpse of how serene life was before the asphalt, steel and seahawk fans arrived. We are fortunate to have family in Bremerton so just getting to their house is half the fun. On Sunday morning after racing against the clock to catch the 7:30 am ferry, we enjoyed the most amazing desolated ferry ride. There was a nice level of tranquility throughout our ride as we briefly got see a view of the sunrise, then later had fun trying to see where the clouds began and the ocean ended. Once in Bremerton, Ben had a blast playing with his cousin and his trains, trains and more trains. Unfortunately, I had to learn how to share with kids younger than myself. Since the seahawks were playing later that day, we wanted to avoid the crowds of fans on the ferry so we went north and crossed the sound to arrive at Edmonds. Since it was a nice warm winter day, we visited Juanita Park then ate some delicious veggie burgers at Kidd Valley in Kirkland.

On Monday we took our time getting back to Walla Walla. I had been wanting to see the old wagon road on the west side of Snoqualmie Pass so I made sure to take opportunity to see it. I was afraid we would not be able to traverse it due to snow yet I figured, what's the point on buying a Jeep? It turns out that the road was fine for the most part and I was impressed at the technology these new 4x4 rigs have. It's interesting how much more scenic the road is with waterfalls and views of the rivers despite that it runs between the east and west bound traffic. There is even a campground nestled between the interstate. Although the section we traveled is paved it does quickly gain altitude which made me wonder how enjoyable would it have been to cross the summit in a wagon. Anyhow, I had read about the old Milwaukee Road Depot still stands in Kittitas so after briefly seeing a nearby railroad bridge, we enjoyed some cupcakes by the old water tower. Sounds like one more thing off my bucket list to see in Washington. Once again, the trip to Seattle was great especially with the amazing hospitality from our hostess and worth the hassle of traveling during the holidays since Christmas day was spent driving in California. But I will leave that for my next post.

2014 Christmas Letter

Approximately 45 minutes ago I opened a blank Word Document and have concluded that the blinking cursor is mesmerizing and it’s time to begin jotting down what we have been up to this year.

This past spring we upgraded from our exceptionally reliable Honda Civic for a more family friendly vehicle. It was exciting to explore all the features that minivans offer as standard options yet after taking a rental minivan for a little off-roading, we began to question, “What exactly are we doing with our lives?” Both Traci and I are stubborn at the idea of driving automatic cars or “automatico” (for the Spanish reader), so that narrowed down our options significantly. It’s nice to have 4wd in our neck of the woods so after throwing my back out from placing Ben in the back seat of our two-door Civic; it was decided to either upgrade to a four door car or grab a grinder and cut open a set of doors. Since that would damage our resell value and image, we decided on ordering a Jeep Patriot from the factory.

The projects around our house continue each year as far as our wallets allow us. I was able to learn how to build and frame a tool shed in our backyard and a tad bit of landscaping. However, completion time triples with any project, as I constantly need to keep a watchful eye on Ben as he explores everything. On the other hand, we also got a chance to get out this past summer and visited the rocky coastline of Olympic National Park. The ocean was a bit frightening for Ben at first with the constant rumble of the crashing waves, yet he quickly became at ease and enjoyed walking along the beach carrying random rocks. We enjoyed a campfire right on the beach; two beautiful unobstructed sunsets and some much needed un-rested nights.

We have been blessed that Traci has been able to hold a steady job as a graphic designer for Coffey Communications for 10 years now. Her job is near our house, and therefore we are able to have lunch together each day and sometimes visit her during breaks. As for myself, I began working as an operations manager for a small, but growing local business a year ago. Although I don’t have much background in administration, the job has been an immense learning experience and very rewarding. Due to it being a small business, on many days I am required to fill the role of other team members to complete the various task. Despite being chaotic many days, I have learned better interpersonal skills, more attentiveness, greater patience and a bit of culinary proficiency while coordinating office meals. Work has kept me busy this past year (sometimes working close to 80-90 hrs. a week) but it’s good since it keeps me out of trouble. It’s an exhausting job but I regularly remind myself that there will be a day when I will miss working with my associate in spite of it all. I will be grateful I had the opportunity to stay at home and raise my son.

One tradition of ours is to include a set of wheels with our Christmas picture. Since Ben is mobile these days we thought he should show off his newest vehicle. It was a gift from Jeff Hanan and we are excited to see Ben explore his neighborhood.

In conclusion, we wish you happy holidays and pray that God blesses you in 2015. If you are ever in College Place feel free to look us up and we will be the same when we are in your neck of the woods. If you are every curious what we’ve been up to lately you can check out www.jgalan.com.
Love, Josue, Traci and Ben

(Thanks Damaris for taking the picture!)

Lyons Ferry

Traveling when I was a kid was about getting to our final destination as soon as we could. We didn't get distracted along the way much, especially since we always departed late to our next destination. I can recall beginning various trips at around 10pm... no, I'm serious. During my college years I became intrigued by "Route 66" which then followed by the Pixar Film Cars, I was eager to travel the mother road and find out about my regional history. After all, the film does talk about slowing down and how the interstates bypassed many towns and sites. It might be hard to believe that this area of eastern Washington has much history, yet that is far from the truth. There is more to this side of the state than Marcus Whitman. But anyhow.

Lyons Ferry is located at the confluence of the Snake and Palouse Rivers. People visiting Palouse Falls from Walla Walla cross this area unaware of the history this small area holds. The name itself holds on to what was once there before the vehicle bridge was assembled. It is difficult to find information online on the ferry yet from my understand the ferry worked till 1968 and operated for 108 years. It was owned and operated by E. W. Truitt and G. F. Lyons, from which I believe the name derives. The ferry still resides there awaiting its destiny, being engulfed by rust each year as it sinks. How strange it is that it help keep hundreds of cars afloat, yet it struggles to keep itself afloat without the help of anyone.

We use to go on long drives in the weekends yet as gas prices went up, our weekend trips declined. A trip back from Montana once took us 13 hours, whereas now I don't want to prolong a 9 hour trip. Perhaps it's a sign that I'm getting old and losing interest. Yet as for now, visiting historical sites in my region is as exciting as Traci at a candy shop... Funny how I was just talking to someone about this.

I retrieve the first 3 photos from wallawalladrazanphotos.blogspot.com

6th Anniversary: Olympic National Park

As I sit here contemplating on what to write I am noticing that most of my pictures consist of Ben. Funny how on my 6th Anniversary, I focused the camera more on my son rather than on my wife... hmm.. anyway. To celebrate 6 years of hilarious good times, Traci and I visited Olympic National Park and stayed at Mora Campground near Rialto Beach. We left the hot, dry and beautiful Walla Walla Valley on Wednesday and drove directly to Vantage where we met up with Traci's mom. From there we drove to Snoqualmie Pass and briefly stopped at Hyak for a quick pit stop. While at Hyak we debated walking the .4 miles to the abandoned Milwaukee Railroad Tunnel that stretches 2.3 miles but since we were short on time, we had to continue heading west towards Puyallup where delicious Haystacks were waiting. Our first night was spent at the Preston's where we ate like kings and slept like babies waking up every two hours. Perhaps being in a new place kept Ben awake most of the night as he was eager to explore and thus restless.

On Thursday our plan was to drive from Puyallup all the way to Rialto Beach via Aberdeen. We had a chance to see the Olympic Mountains from the south side and were able visit Lake Quinault Lodge. While at the Lodge, Traci and I played a friendly game of Chess while Ben sat quietly on a rocking chair pondering how many people would still own a flip phone. Anyhow, we let Ben played in the lake, then continued our journey to Mora Campground to set up camp and immediately took off to the beach. Since being at the beach brings fond memories of my childhood, I was eager to be the first to show him the waves as they crashed on the rocky shore. We had a campfire right among the piles of driftwood then enjoyed a wonderful unobstructed sunset while running and playing with Ben.

On Friday we were excited to do a bit of tide pooling so after having breakfast we headed down to Little James Island, a nearby seastack. However due to a late start on our adventures we were forced to take the higher ground back along the boulder filled breakwater. Ben decided this was a great time to take a nap so I carried him in my arms as I hopped from boulder to boulder. Since we still had plenty of energy after playing hopscotch on large coarse gravel we made our way to Sol Duc Hot Springs and had lunch in the rainforest besides the Sol Duc River. Once we finished our meal, we proceeded to walk to Sol Duc Falls but eventually turned around since I ate too much for lunch and Ben decided it was nap-time once again. Since we had not yet spent much time at our actual campsite, that evening we had supper and a fire at Mora Campground. Ben enjoyed playing with random sticks and rocks then proceeded to attack the bubbles that crossed his path and eventually wore himself out from all the commotion. Due to the fact that we would be gone the following day, we decided to take in one more sunset at the beach that evening before heading to bed and acquire some good needed rest.

On Saturday we drove more than we would have like to since it was our actually anniversary. Our goal was to drive from Rialto Beach to Puyallup via Port Angeles and catch the Ferry from Bremerton to Seattle. We had planned to walk around the space center yet being stuck in traffic wore us out and we headed south to Federal Way and celebrated our 6 year anniversary at Sub Zero with Traci's mom, Ben and our friend Ronnie. It's a ice cream and yogurt shop that grabs your ingredients and freezes them right before you... It's an interesting concept. Anyhow, after picking up Traci's mom magnum in Puyallup we drove straight north to Bellevue where we quickly visited the Cheesecake Factory. While at the restaurant, we briefly met with my sister and Jonathan then proceeded to the Edgewick Inn in North Bend and enjoyed sleeping in actual beds. On Sunday we felt bad of having Traci's mom drive the whole way from Seattle to Bozeman by herself, so we drove to Spokane then back to Walla Walla and stopped at Dayton for a quick break of sitting... Talk about plenty of driving.

It literally feels that Traci and I were just married last week. It's been 6 great years! Literally. From going to cupcake camps to working on her Plymouth, I have had terrible time trying to figure out why I am so lucky.