Traffic jam, in Paradise, and a snowball fight, to make things right!

Isn't it ironic?!

The weekend trip to Seattle for 4th of July was interesting. Flew out Friday and came back Monday and we managed to visit Mount Rainier on Saturday and Snoqualmie falls on Sunday. 

We had a single goal. Get to Paradise point and let kids play in the snow. I was also dreaming of having a hot cocoa there after some snow play after our previous experience there. 

The trip was supposed to be 3 hours but it took us an extra hour because all of Seattle citizenry decided to visit Mount Rainier on that day. There were 50 cars stuck at the entrance to the park and by the time our turn came to pay and enter, we had spent an hour at the park entrance. Once in, we made a mad dash to Paradise point. My instinct is to stop at every pretty vista point to take pictures. But given the delay, it was going to be touch and go, so we drove straight to Paradise.

That is where my inner Morisette was awakened. There was a traffic jam, in Paradise! There was no parking for a good mile. Dropped everyone outside the point and parked 1.2 miles away and hiked back. 

Then we made it to the snow and all was forgotten! 

There were smiling faces all around. Given there were 2 males and 8 females in the group, the decision making on how far we hiked at what rate was decided by the ladies. Given the tension in the vehicles prior to the hike, we were all happy to play in snow. There were points where the snow had caved in and water was flowing underneath.. fortunately we did not have any fall in's! Here is a life saving tip for my fellow travellers who are driving the vehicle. Never come between a womans bladder and the nearest restroom.  

There were a lot of pictures and picturesque scenery. We made it back out after playing in the snow with a 10 minute stop at Narada falls and drove back towards Seattle. Given the 1.2 mile hike back to the car, there was no time for anything else. We are getting used to these rush trips on Seattle visits!

Here are some pictures in HDR. 

 

You can see Jr. and her grandma on the bridge. I was already in "let's go" mode as we had to get back in time for dinner. Here is another life saving tip for male drivers.. Never come between a woman who is perceiving her children to be starving and the proposed dining location!

We did have other little things that entertained us, like this baby squirrel which seemed to be comfy around people. That was a surprise given our backyard squirrels run away!

Or me amusing the family by doing Triangle pose barefoot on the snow. I am getting better at this as time goes by. All that pulling in your inner thighs towards each other to avoid slipping, works.  

On a side note, I did get pictures from the plane on the way back from above the cloud line. The camera was right under the seat and the zoom was put to good use. 

Don't think we can ever tire of Mount Rainier or Paradise. Even if we spend a couple of hours there, we always have a great time! 

The national parks should let us buy the pass ahead of time online or with our phones and let us keep moving if we show the pass on our phone. They should seriously try to go the app way, especially on long weekends.

A few words..

After the last Asia trip, I came home okay. Then we ate at an Indian restaurant, which we have only visited once before more than a year ago and both me and MIL ended up with food poisoning. Wife and kids did not get hit although the little one complained of tummy pain, went into a fart spree and then declared herself okay. MIL and me were not that lucky. She was throwing up and I was feeling like an over pressurized cannister that did not know how and when it was going to explode for most of the weekend. 

So my yoga attendance in the last 5 days has been spotty at best. Finally made it back to class this evening. Walked in with low expectations but as usual there is the "now that I have made it past that door, better make the most of it" philosophy that kicked in and started doing the best I could.

It was almost the end of the class and we were doing the final stretching pose on the floor when the teacher mentions my name and says "pull your little thighs just above your knees up and towards each other and then stretch"!

Was trying to process that on the fly, given I have never heard anyone say that to me or another student before. 

The first question was "what are little thighs?" then my brain went "it is something between your real thighs and it is above your knees.. so even if we don't know what that is, just pull whatever muscle you can pull up and towards each other in that region!" 

So I tried to locally clench something in that area upwards and inwards and sure enough, like magic, my body went down a good six inches lower and towards my feet! It was MAGIC !

When we got a chance to do the second set, gave those "little thighs" a big inward curl and was able to repeat the stretch!

Have been doing this for 5 plus years. All it takes is a few words to click at the right time in the right way and there is a world of a difference in the result. 

Have come to the conclusion that teaching yoga cannot be an easy thing. Even if a person can do the poses and internalize how to use their anatomy to make changes, it is very difficult to communicate that cause and effect to another person using mere words. 

For all I know, what was moved may not be little thighs, but the learning continues. 

Happy Father's day!

Another year when Father's day ends up in rush mode with me traveling. Did not plan it that way.. realized much later that today was Father's day.

The kids have made some surprise gifts for me which I am guessing are things they did in art class. Have to wait till I come back to see those!

They asked me what Daddy's request was for a gift. Given how they are both at a phase where posing for pictures is a chore, asked them to come pose for a few pictures in backyard and also wear what I ask them to wear.. 

They agreed. Then realized it was one of those "let's take the same picture" deals and went "oh no! he is now going to ask us to look an an old picture and position just like that! 

This year my MIL is here. So went to Yoga class at 6AM and got a rose from Bikram Yoga San Jose, just like last year and the many years before. Last year Father's day was International Yoga day.. this year they are a day apart. For us every day is Yoga day! 

and here is how things have changed in a year..  

Let me make a few forward looking statements.. 

1. My hair will grow back

2. The kids have grown taller and will continue to grow taller

3. Here is to many more International Yoga days and Father's day's and roses from BYSJ! 

Time flies, sometimes with its arms and legs stretched as far as possible, like a 747 taking off.. 

Happy Father's day to my dad and all the other dads out there who are close to their kids! 

It is time to go listen to yet another story from an Uber driver who has survived persecution of some kind in the middle east or another conflict area. This year it has been 6 for 6.. Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Ukraine.. I am too bummed out to talk to Uber drivers on way back and one does get to converse on the way in, especially when it always a Sunday morning with no traffic.

Here's to all those dads who are trying to do the best they can, with the cards they are dealt, not necessarily due to any fault of their own.