Christmas with the Davises and the Harros!

This Christmas we had many things to look forward to! The Harros came down from Alaska to celebrate with us and we all met up in Olympia for a combined Davii/Harro extravaganza. It was also my niece's 1st Christmas!!! The only thing missing was that my brother Jason and Sister-in-law Sasha couldn't make it due to I84 being closed :-( (Though they did end up being able to make the drive to Portland on the 29th and it was so great to see them!)

My Mother with her amazing blueberry pie!

Disclaimer: Now I will be one of those people who posts way too many photos of babies...but she's just too darn cute and perfect not to! Think of it as a break from Reuben!

I want some of Grandma's cinnamon roll! Mmm sugar!

Anastasia Jae

"What's this?"

All things are edible...

Ana and Laura...she's so close to walking (Ana that is)!

Our baby and his loot! Those shreds of tissue wrapping are his handiwork. He then hoarded all of his gifts so that the other dogs couldn't steal them.

Then off to enjoy the winter wonderland!

The entire Harro family all together for the first time in over two years!

John, Denise, Laura, Mark, Daniel, and Elisif

SNOW!

About a week ago it started to snow in Portland...Steadily shutting down the city in the "Arctic Blast" of 2008 per the stupid news anchors of our local news, who choose to report on each flake and its impending doom rather than giving us news that matters.

Reuben loving it

  

And being goofy

Walks in the snow

Then it really snowed!

Reuben experiencing "death crust" for the first time. "Mom, why am I falling through the ground and getting stuck?"....

..."And why are your making me wear these booties?" Almost got it!

Throughout all of this madness I managed to pass my CCRN certification test for work that I have been spending the majority of my free time studying for! I had to drive all the way to Salem because the night before my test I got a phone call saying the Portland testing center was closed due to inclement weather and my test was cancelled. But after an early morning drive to Salem with no issues it is finally done! It was took quite an effort to study after being out of practice for two years. Some have you may have notice that this fall/winter our blog has been empty of outdoor alpine/ice adventures typically seen in previous years (I sure have!), but now that our Peru trip is done, and my test is over with we should be back on track to doing the things we love!

The "arctic blast" continues today. Daniel's parents were supposed to fly in today but got stuck in SeaTac. My parents are awesome and went and picked them up and took them to their home in Olympia. Laura, Daniel, and I will meet up with them on the 23rd as previously planned! It all works out except they will miss our Christmas Party tonight :-( Though we aren't getting as big of a turnout tonight quite a few close friends are getting hardcore and coming over! Off to make my spiked cider!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Fun in Hood River

Hood River R and R

Elisif has been studying for her CCRN test (a critical care certification test for work) for the past few weeks and with my working three shifts in a row we have not had much quality one on one time. Elisif surprised me with a wonderful hike in the Columbia River Gorge, Mitchell Point, and also an amazing night at a B&B in Parkdale, OR (just outside of Hood River) all to ourself.  We had a hot tub with views of Mt. hood on a clear night, and we also ate some amazing tacos at Parkdale's local pub, the Elliot Glacier Public House.  Remember that Monday night is taco night!!  In the morning we woke up to spectacular sourdough pancakes with local blueberries and Vermont maple syrup.  I have one amazing wife!!

Hood River B&B

Our Room

Views...

Reuben and I on the trail

l

Team Harro and The Man

Elisif and Reuben on top of the ridge

Crazy Reuben

Love:

True Love:

Rapping off Dragontail

John trying to stay warm on route

NE Face Couloir Dragontail Peak

John Frieh, Dave Burdick and I were going to head out to Montana / Wyoming for some ice goodness, but due to the weather we decided to stay at our local NW crag and do some climbing on the NE Face of Dragontail Peak just outside of Leavenworth Washington.

Dave drove to Levenworth (2.5 hrs) while John and I drove together from PDX (5 hrs) we encountered cheep gas prices $1.77 which has been very nice.  We all met up at 8:00 pm and headed to the trailhead to sort gear and grab a few short hours of sleep.  Temps at the trailhead where nice and cold in the (20's) and clear skies.

3:00 am my alarm sounded, I love alpine climbing!!  We brewed up some water for drinks and choked down some food, usually I am not that hungry at 3:00 am so it is always a forced breakfast.  We hit the trail at 4:00 am and blasted to the base of the route by headlamp in 4.5 hrs.  We started into the couloir at 8:30 am for some good climbing.  As we stared with some M(fun) mix solo climbing the route just got better and better as we ascended.  As we made our way up we found everything from fun ice pitches, high quality mixed climbing and waist deep wallowing.  We reached the summit col at 1:00 pm for a easy 70 meter rape onto the glacier.  Once on the glacier (south side of Dragontail) we headed down to Asgard pass for the final and most loose / slippery descent which seemed to never end.  Getting back to Colchuck lake at 3:30 pm.  We gatherd our gear that we stashed at the lake and headed back to the car arriving at 6:30 pm, 14.5 hrs on the go.  Just another good weekend...

View a Trip Report here at Cascadeclimbers

View all photos in our Picas web album.

Daniel

Peru Trip 2008

Ok so finally I post about our PERU trip- better late then never. I wanted to get all of my pictures up on picasa first. My dinosaurus computer kept freezing up, it can't handle even the slightest bit of strain on it's memory. Soon we will get a new one! This one wants to die.

October 21st we set forth on our journey at noon after I had worked 5 nights in a row. Super crappy! Daniel snuck me a benadryl and I slept like a baby. After many a layover We arrived in Cusco at 9am on the 22nd and hit the ground running. We spent 3 days in Cusco acclimitizing and exploring both inside and outside the city. We each got diarrhea once and took cipro, which cleared things up in a heartbeat. I think we each were affected by the altitude a little bit, first I had a bad day and had to go pass out for a while, then it was Daniel's turn the next day. Mr. Pukey visited me for a day and a half from the altitude, but none of our ailments ruined our trip in the slightest. Actually, I think it was good because we each got some alone time.

Then on the 25th, off for the Inca Trail for 4days, 3nights. Our group was great. This was our favorite part of our trip for sure! We spent an extra day in Machu Picchu and hiked up Wayna Picchu to get a better view the 2nd day, well worth it. The next day, the 30th we took the IncaExpress bus to Puno and saw some sights on the way. On the 31st We took a boat on Lake Titicaca and toured some the floating reed islands, did a homestay on Amantani Island, and toured Taquile Island on the 1st. Important lesson learnt by a certain individual: do not get drunk at 13,oooft elevation in Puno, it will result in continuous vomiting down the side of a bus with your head hanging out of a window on a 6hr ride to Arequipa while your husband laughs at you. Not exactly sure why that one had to be learned the hard way. Anyway...moving on! The 2nd-3rd was spent exploring Arequipa. On the 4th we went on a tour of the Colca Canyon. The night of the 5th at 8pm we boarded at flight home. Once again, after many a ridiculous layover we arrived home at 4pm on the 6th.

Check out Picasa for all of our pics http://picasaweb.google.com/TeamHarro

Here are some highlights!

We......

saw tons of churches:

Stayed in some really cool hostels:


Explored Amazing historical cities, colonial architecture, and what remains of the Incan Empire. Absolutely amazing what the Incans accomplished, and how much still withstands today:

Rode horses to ruins outside of Cusco:

Ate way too much good food:

Hiked the Inca Trail:

Made some good friends:

Got attacked by sandflies:

Experienced Machu Picchu:

Spent way too much time on a bus:

Spent way too much time on a boat on Lake Titicaca ;-) It was slow!

Spent time on an island made of floating reeds, Uros:

Did a homestay with our "mama" Valentina on Amantani Island on Lake Titicaca:

Saw condors:

And the deepest canyon in the world:

Kissed an Alpaca

And participated in odd road-side attractions:

And went a little crazy, with each other at times, with our inability to speak but a few words in Spanish, with our first time traveling....but overall had a wonderul time, really, truly nothing go wrong, came back with great memories, and both of us wishing we were back!!!!