xo

During the week of June 8th I (Adam) had to attend a training course in Vancouver, BC. This class covered the Voltage Stability Assessment Tool (VSAT) and the Transient Stability Assessment Tool (TSAT) created by Powertech labs. Karen had talked many times about how she wanted to go to Vancouver and have the chance to check the area out so when I found out about the class I knew it was going to be a great opportunity for us to stretch out a work trip and have some fun too. The class actually ran from June 9th through the 12th so this was the perfect opportunity to stretch the trip around both weekends plus Monday the 8th.

Karen and I got to do a lot of exploring around the city and since I had a rental car we got to take a run up to Whistler and explore some of the mountains and areas along the Sea to Sky Highway which connects Vancouver to Whistler. Another big highlight was the whale watching tour that we went on which also took us to Vancouver island and the Town of Victoria. This tour was an all day affair and was a great chance to do some boating in the ocean, see a lot of wild life, and enjoy being outside in the great pacific northwest. Sadly, we did not get to see any whales, but, we did get to see harbor porpoises, bald eagles, and sea lions to name a few.

We got to eat in a lot of great restaurants and also stayed at a fancy hotel. I guess that is definitely one of the perks of traveling for work – that corporate card is a lot of fun!

Now for some pictures… Click the small ones to make them bigger.

12►

I went to the “Voices that Matter: Web Design” conference in San Fransisco – a fantastic conference with topics ranging from accessible Javascript, fluid CSS designs, usability, and the future of typography on the web.  When I wasn’t attending seminars and workshops, I got to do a litle exploring around the city and bay area.  And to make it even better, Adam came with me!  He enjoyed some vacation time and got to know the city very well while I was at the conference.  But we also had time to do a decent amount of sight seeing together – and see Wicked at the Orpheum.

Muir Woods

Coastline off Highway 1

Japanese Garden & Tea House

City Scenes

Adam may be having second thoughts.  As you can see, the tag is still on his hat.

stopping along the way to hike ,

here, overlooking Lake Michigan…. where we could see Michigan in the distance,

…and here where we appreciate the pebbly beach,

and where I appreciated a very cute boy at the beach:

….. we hiked in a bright yellow woods,

that smelled like the UP forests,

and gave us a glimpse of a deer:

the next day, we took the ferry to washington island…

we explored the island, starting first with a delightful coffee shop, and proceeding to a few small hikes. it seems that northern Wisconsin has an affinity for building wooden towers to take in the views.

we are not the type is disregard such affinities…. the view from the Washington Island tower:

…it was a bit blustery there,

we continued our explorations, surprised to learn that the island had a stave church, of all things… bringing back fond memories of our Norway trip.

we hiked around a bit more….

and Adam took this pretty tree picture,

then we headed back to Madison…..

]]> http://karenkoethe.com/2008/12/18/exploring-wisconsin-door-county/feed/ 6 http://karenkoethe.com/2008/12/17/the-best-weekend/ http://karenkoethe.com/2008/12/17/the-best-weekend/#comments Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:15:37 +0000 Karen http://karenkoethe.com/?p=12 October 18 & 19 , 2008

We had a wonderful fall weekend … starting in Houghton

We hiked along Lake Superior in Copper Harbor…..

….and enjoyed flora

…. and fauna

…… beautiful views at Lake Bailey

and were almost blown away on top of windy Mt. Brockway….

watched an MTU football game…

but the best part of the weekend was at….

… as we hiked along Silver Falls,

….  it turned out Adam had a question,

and something sparkly for me -

i said YES, of course!