2nd Annual Official Tree Cutting Exploration-Expedition Adventure, Extraordinaire (Weekend Edition), END.

December 10, 2010 9:33 pm Sir Haxington Seattle

It was getting dark. The smell of fresh pine filled The Element. We thought about the guy stuck in the H3 and wondered if he had made it out yet. Dublin fell asleep.

Eventually we exited and headed to Sammamish. Pine Lake Ale House. Time to be rewarded.

You’re tired. You’ve been in a a vehicle all day. You’ve been hiking in deep snow. You’ve been up in the mountains, cutting down trees. Pushing trucks out of snow ditches. And trying to record the whole thing.

And there’s a space open right at the front. Just for you.

The Ale House was warm. Friendly. Mostly empty. The bartender is a sight for sore eyes. She’s bubbly and in a good mood. Now you are too. Yes, it’s true. Don’t judge. I’m only human.

Oh yeah, wash your hands first.

I look up at at their extensive beer menu. Most of it is local and on tap. Ohhhh yeah. Snoqualmie (Wildcat) IPA. Named the same as the forest I was in a few hours ago and where my tree came from. How could I drink anything else?

Hells yes, the beer is so… good. A little sweet. Perfect hop flavor- not too much. Super smooth. Cold, but not too cold. It’s gone in only a few minutes.

I take time to appreciate why I left Los Angeles  and came back to the Northwest. Life is good. The Northwest is truly the best place on Earth. To think when I first moved to LA and asked for an IPA at a bar, they told me they had no idea what I was talking about.

I’ll never forget that conversation. I knew I would never stay there.

Yeah, let’s get some coconut prawns too. Hell yeah, breaded perfectly. Yeah, Imma have that cheeseburger. Mmmmhmmmm.

We trade stories about the day. Everyone is fairly drained but having drinks anyway and enjoying themselves. Beers, cocktails, whatever. Let’s do it.

After another IPA, some fries, a perfectly cooked burger, good service and best friends, it’s time to call it a day.

Dinner is on me. Good times.

We slowly roll out of there, all smiling. It’s been picking up and families are pouring in. Watching the Seahawks game. The bartenders and waitresses wave us out and all say goodbye. I’ll be back.

We make it back to the joint and unload the tree. We say goodbye to our friends and we part ways.

Ugh. I forgot about this next part.

Tree in garage. Go up in attic. Get tree stand and why not, the Christmas decorations while up here. What do you mean you saw a mouse down there? I didn’t see it! Don’t worry about it! Really! Fine, get the cat. Bring him in here.

So now the cats freaking out from me moving stuff around and he starts meowing and acting like a… wait for it… scaredy cat! GG Noob cat. Lose some weight and shut up. Eat a mouse while you’re at it.

Oh hell, let’s put some boxes up into the attic while I’m up here! Stuff in the garage that should have gone up in the summer, but there were live wasps up there. F that noise. I told myself to wait until winter, and that time is now.

Move a bunch of boxes. Get down from attic. Saw-off bottom of trunk to flatten it. Cut off lower branches for wreaths later. Bring tree in through garage and into dining room. What do you mean it’s too tall? Drag tree back in garage. Saw more branches off. Saw-off more off trunk. Tree back into house. Tree goes in stand. Stand adjustments. No! I got it! No! Really! Stop it! Okay. How does it look?

Hells yeah. If you havin’ fir problems I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems but a tree ain’t one.

AOTCEEA 2, complete.