This weekend's special events were a little less exotic than in previous weeks, but no less fun. Therefore they qualify under the Summer of Fun rules.
Our first event was the Dock Dogs competition at Carillion Point in Kirkland, Washington. You might have probably seen dock jumping on ESPN’s Great Outdoor Games or on the Outdoor Life Network. Basically, a dog runs really fast down a dock, and jumps off the dock into the water to fetch a toy or float that the handler has tossed into the water. The object of the competition is to achieve the greatest distance on your jump.
These dogs get some major air.
It was interesting seeing the different techniques handlers used. Some made the dog stay at the far end of the ramp, then got their attention with the toy and then sent the dog after it. Another guy threw the toy, then grabbed the dog and kept pulling him back, back, back, the way you do with those windup toy cars that you pull back and release. It was great fun waiting for him to let go. One woman stood back with the dog, held the dog back then threw the toy from way at the end of the dock into the water then let the dog go. The thing that was most fun was seeing the dogs waiting to go get the toy - they were so intent and excited.
A few more pictures of dogs in flight:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michellemc/sets/72157600393231607/
After that, we went to the Washington Brewers' Festival to sample some beers. And sample we did. If you like beers, brewers' festivals are a great way to try some beers you've not tasted before.
The festival was at Saint Edwards State Park in Kenmore, and it was a nice place for the event. We arrived late in the afternoon, and a lot of people were heading out, but they had us park out in a satellite lot that was probably a half mile from the festival. It was a nice walk to the gate, and we spotted what we thought might be a few shortcuts back to the parking lot, via various trails in the park. But they all had police tape accross them to discourage you from taking them.
Once we got to the gate, we paid our addmission fee and got our tasting glasses. The 4oz tasting glass is the real beauty of these events. I like beer, and I like trying different beers, but I don't really drink that much anymore. Normally I can handle about two 12oz beers, then I'm done for. So with a 4oz pour I can try more beers.
So I started out with a blackberry cider which was nice. Then I saw Kona Brewing Company, and I like their Wailua Wheat beer (flavored with passion fruit) so I had one of those. After that my mental notes are a little weaker. I could go back and look at the beer listings but I'd rather give you the "from memory" version since it will be a more honest account of what the day was like. There was something (maybe a Belgian Wit) from somewhere with a red colored cooler. Then I decided I wanted a pretzel. No one was selling warm pretzels, I couldn't believe it. Ryan and I split a bratwurst instead. We people watched, and noticed a few trends that we discussed. Why were there so many people wearing Chicago Bears shirts? Why do you always see at least one guy wearing a Utilikilt at any event that has the word "festival" in it?
After this, I was ready to drink some more, so I got another cider from Wescott Orchards on San Juan Island. Other beers followed, I remember two in particular that were interesting. My favorite of the day was a jasmine infused IPA from Elysian. It's noteworthy that I remember all the details - the beer and the brewer, because by this point I was a little drunk. Another one that stands out in my memory was a spiced wit, with coriander, that at first I wasn't crazy about because I thought it smelled like cat litter. Then I realized I had just used hand sanitizer and that it was my hand that smelled that way - not the beer. Once I covered my hand with my sleeve, it was quite nice.
We were out of tokens at this point so we started to head back to the car. I still had this idea about finding a shortcut trail back to the parking lot but Ryan wasn't too keen on walking around in the woods near dark with a slightly drunk person. I noticed that the police line tapes had been removed from the trailheads and I said "Hey, the LAPES are gone!" I'm not sure what that word was supposed to be, I was thinking ropes or tapes but somehow it came out lapes.
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