Hawk Hunt

The first week of February brought good friends back to town! And though it seemed

like a short and fast visit, have no doubt that we maximized our time with neighborhood

favorites and the great outdoors (spoiler alert).

Mount Rainier, Paradise

A fan favorite, Paradise is the name of an area at approximately 5,400 feet on the south slope of Mount Rainier. On a blue bird day the views are so incredible that a camera of any mega pixel just doesn't do it justice. We lucked out with amazing sunny, mid-40 degree day both days, but we could not have picked a more magical trip to Paradise. Ok... Maybe the snowflakes could have been a little bigger and perhaps had a little more of a theatrical descent, but these snowflakes with a light breeze were like a shower of glitter. The sun hit them just right and the fog rolling through the mountain peaks were a perfect backdrop.

Mount Erie - Play it Again

When our original plans of Lake Serene and Bridal Veil Falls didn't pan out, we turned to a solid staple - even when you just discovered that staple the week before. Shortening the hike to the Mount Erie loop we were able to spend a relaxing afternoon soaking up the sun, the views, and enjoying lots of laughs over looking the Sound.

Quickly becoming one of our favorite spots, we popped over to Deception Pass. However this time we decided to walk across the bridge and take in a new view. With multiple stops along the long, long bridge, Matt spotted three seals or sea lions... not entirely sure, but it was fun to try to spot them and where they might pop up next.

#hawkhuntchampion #micdrop

Extra Special Edition: Guest Blog Post from Justin

After our first time visiting the Starcks last March, Matt and I talked about making quarterly trips to Seattle, because why not? It’s awesome, there’s a ton to do, and Ted and Erin are, you know, pretty solid people overall. Well…um…we have not been able to keep up with the quarterly visits, unfortunately, but this trip certainly made up for it as we got to check out Ted and Erin’s new house, packed in a lot of activities, and brought along a new special guest, one Abby Shaddox!

I had never been to Mount Rainier National Park and it was pretty incredible (bonus points for getting to stop at a delicious Ukrainian bakery/tire chain emporium outside of the park, because of course that exists)! We really lucked out with the weather and the snowshoes definitely came in handy as we experienced less “post-holing” compared to one of our hikes last year, which meant SIGNIFICANTLY less complaining from Matt. We got some amazing photos of and around Mount Rainier and even got to drink some extremely appropriate Rainier trail beers to celebrate our collective awesomeness.

Ted and Erin introduced us to a game they play in the car called “Hawk Hunt.” Essentially, if you spot a hawk, you get 1 point. A bald eagle is 10 points. Zero points are awarded if the bird is in-flight when you spot it. I don’t remember the final point tallies, but Erin won in a landslide, which surely means that she cheated somehow. I am convinced that she hired people to place birds of prey at various points along the route. Either way, I am going to see if there are local “Hawk Hunt” training centers in Milwaukee that I can attend to help me come back stronger next time. You have been warned, Erin. Game on!

We reached the top of Mount Erie after a relatively quick hike that involved a great deal of Dua Lipa and I must say, there was nothing “eerie” about the views from the top, if you know what I’m saying. We enjoyed another round of well-earned trail beers while taking in the purple mountain majesty (#Merica). After Mount Erie, we headed over to Deception Pass State Park, the former stomping grounds of sailing enthusiasts Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey, for whom many of the areas landmarks are named. Speaking of place names, I read on a plaque that Puget and Whidbey dubbed this area “Deception Pass” because of a particularly impressive magic trick that one of their fellow sailors performed while navigating through these waters (no need to fact check me on this).

Other highlights of the trip included 18 holes of golf (w/playing cards!) at Queen Anne Beer Hall, multiple brewery/cidery visits, listening to Matt tell us about the adventures of his hero, Wes Bulgington, leaving childhood photos of myself in Erin’s home office, debating how one becomes an Olympic-caliber luge athlete (I mean, are there talent scouts for luge? Is there an ideal body type for luge? So you steer the luge with your feet…? Why does one choose luge over skeleton? We may never know the answers to these important questions…), and of course, spending so much quality time with some of my favorite people in the world.

Until the next quarterly visit! Thank you, Ted and Erin!