Things to Do

Things to do on the weekends and vacations.

150 Miles on the Boosted Board

It has been two months and I have put over 150 miles on my Boosted Board. I was not sure how quickly I would adopt to riding the board, but I have used it to commute to and from the train almost daily since getting it. That is a little less than 2 miles each way. The board has delivered everything I was hoping for.

Someone’s first ride on the Boosted

First the quality of the ride and the remote connection has been perfect. The board has disconnected from the remote exactly once so far. It was right after I started it up, so I assume it probably never paired. It goes over bumps, cracks and obstacles very well. As my confidence has grown I find myself maxing out the speed more and more often. I graduated to Pro mode within about two weeks of first riding it.

The board has proven itself to be useful not only as a last mile commute option but real transportation. I have used it to go to run errands. I have used it to open up myself to taking the bus where it is hard to get close to my actual destination. I can use the board, with the extended range battery, to comfortably go around 10 miles.

The most interesting part is how much of a conversation starter the board is. At least twice a week I have had perfect strangers come up and ask me about it. Many have seen them around and are genuinely curious about the utility of the board. Almost all of them have been very friendly. I did have one woman come up to me and tell me that “those things should be banned from going 50 mph on the sidewalk and running everyone over.” I had to agree with her on that sentiment. But since the board doesn’t go anywhere near 50, nor could I imagine that, I decided she did not mean me.

At any rate, the quality has been excellent. After 150 miles the board still looks pretty much brand new. I have jumped off a few curbs so they are some scrapes on the skid plates. However, the board itself is perfectly fine, other than a little dirty. Overall, I totally recommend it as the last mile solution. Plus it adds a bit of fun to each end of my workday commute.

New Electric Skateboard in the shipping box.

New Board is Here!!!

Yep, the board is here. I decided to get an electric skateboard back in December then spent a few months researching until I picked a board. I had narrowed my choices down to three, and ultimately picked the Boosted Board. The only negative against the Boosted was the seven mile range. Ease of use, reliability and weight were all much better than my other two choices. However, price is what drove me over in the end. Boosted dropped their prices by 20%. I have to assume they are blowing out inventory in anticipation of their next generation of boards. Since this is my first board I’m happy to get a deal on a proven board. They have also allegedly solved the range issue. They are shipping extended range batteries that should push the range up toward twelve miles.

New Boosted Board in the box

Brand new Boosted Board in the box and my daughter’s feet.

Here is everything that comes in the box with the Boosted Board.

The Boosted Board Remote

Someone’s first ride on the Boosted

I of course had to take it for a spin as soon as I unboxed it. It as simple to ride as I was hoping. The acceleration and braking are smooth. I have no problem imaging myself riding it in the city. I graduated from beginner mode to eco mode in about five minutes. It blasts up the very steep hills around here even on eco mode. Finally, it is fun. I hadn’t quite realized how fun it would be to ride one of these compared to a regular longboard. It is like going downhill all the time.

Choosing my First Electric Skateboard

This year, I have decided to experiment with an electric skateboard to solve the “Last Mile Commute Problem”. Step one is picking my first electric skateboard. There are lots of resources for learning about these devices. You can read Reddit, lots of videos on Youtube, vendor pages and generally search the Internet for reviews and opinions. The first thing I learned is that electric skateboards have been around for a long time. Even with this long history the technology is rapidly evolving. The second thing I learned is that there is no perfect all-around solution for everyone. Each board has good and less good stuff about it.

My first decision I realized was to determine if I wanted to go the DIY route. Seems fun but not at this time for me. That sent me evaluating production boards. The next interesting tidbit was that there are lots of boards manufactured from Chinese parts. It is easy to buy a complete board from a Chinese company, or you can buy a Chinese board that has been marketed by an American company, just for a significant markup. Some of these boards were compelling. However, in the end I wanted a board that would come with good customer service from a company that was clearly trying to build a brand and move the technology forward.

Next up I had to figure out what traits were important to me when I was evaluating boards. This boiled down to range, speed, weight, ease of use and reliability. The downside of my EUC is that it is difficult to get started going uphill if you don’t have something to hold onto. My EUC is 25 pounds and you do not want to carry that for long distances. After the EUC experience I knew I wanted to get under the 25 pound mark. My ride is only about 2 miles each way and I can charge the board at the office. I also know that I’d like to go on longer rides on the weekend so I was looking for something in the neighborhood of 12 miles of range. I do not need the fastest board, but I also do not want the slowest board. I assume I will get more and more comfortable and be able to increase my speed as I do. I wanted a remote that had smooth acceleration and braking and had a reliable connection. This was how I began to evaluate boards.

I wound up with three interesting boards. First, the Boosted Board, which seem to be very common and it is a US company out of the Bay Area. Second, was the Evolve Carbon or GTX. They have a US distributor for an Australian company. Finally, I was very intrigued by the One Wheel. This is from another US company out of Santa Cruz and the board embodies the snowboard/surfboard style. Boosted Boards are available at several shops in town. They have had a great marketing campaign and several YouTube VLogers have made them famous, especially Casey Neistat. The Boosted comes in around 15 pounds, 7 mile range, 22 mph top speed and reviews all claim it is one of the most user friendly boards and remotes. The range was the only negative on this board, but if I can charge it at the office maybe this is not such a big deal. Price for the board around $1400.

The Evolve boards have an all-terrain wheel option which is compelling given all the cracks and bumps in the pavement on my way to the train. The boards come in around 21 pounds for the all-terrain option, 17 pounds for street. They have an amazing range of 18-31 miles depending on the wheels you are running. A top speed in the 22-26 mph area. The remote is reportedly twitchy especially in GT mode. Their v1 remote had an issue dropping the connection to the board quite often. That is supposed to have been fixed by the v2 remote that boards ship with now. I like Evolve because they appear to be innovating and the option of street or all-terrain would be nice. Price for the 2 in 1 Evolve Carbon $2160.

Finally, the One Wheel is not exactly a skateboard. There is no remote, it looks more like a balance board with a large wheel. I have watched a guy in our neighborhood rip on one and it looks fun. The original One Wheel has a 5-7 mile range, the new model claims 12-18 miles. Top speed of 12 mph and no remote to deal with, your body is the remote. This one will have a learning curve since it is another self-balancing device, but you ride it much the same as you ride a snowboard so that makes sense to me. However, it rolls in at 25 pounds and looks like it might be more awkward to carry than my EUC and I anticipate some similar hill start issues, or maybe not. The One Wheel come in at $1500 to $1800 depending on the version you get.

Well that is it, I narrowed it down to three and finally picked one of these. Which would you pick? Next time we will unbox my new board and then see if an old guy can learn to ride one of these and eventually commute on it.

Let’s talk commuting

This site is, generally speaking, about doing fun things, not anything related to work. I prefer to focus on the weekends and vacation time. However, I am making an exception and today we are going to talk about commuting to work. Now hang in here with me for a moment. I know, the commute is worse than working sometimes. I don’t think it has to be that way. Why can’t we add some fun to our daily commute to ease the pain of having to work in between enjoying the weekends?

Let me explain what I mean about adding some fun to your commute. We live in a moderate sized city with adequate public transportation. Traffic can be, and usually is, horrible everywhere around Seattle. Geographically speaking building roads in Seattle is a challenge. The greater metropolitan area is bounded by mountains to the east, and Puget Sound to the west. Between that the land is punctuated by lakes. Needless to say, many commuters that use cars spend up to an hour or more in traffic each way, every day. For several years I was one of those sitting for hours in my car. Then I made a change.

Today, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. For the past 11 years I’ve been working in downtown Seattle. I have had various commuting strategies over the years. I have driven of course. I have also ridden a bicycle, walked a few times, taken the bus, light rail and had a sort of hybrid commute. This brings me to my point of introducing some fun to your daily commute.

My commute is around 6 miles each way. I am able to fairly easily use transit to get to and from work each day. I have two transit options. First there is a bus stop at the end of the block where I live. The bus goes downtown, very close to my office. It takes about 35 minutes door to door. However, my bus is infrequent. It is scheduled every 20 to 30 minutes. Alternatively, I can take the light rail which takes about 10 minutes and there are trains every few minutes. Unfortunately the train is almost 2 miles from my house and there isn’t parking at the train station. I can walk, but that adds a significant amount of time. I can get a ride but then that I need to rely on someone else. This is the “Last Mile Commute Problem”. Last year I did some experimenting to solve this problem.

Riding my Longboard

Last year I rode my longboard to and from the bus station occasionally. Yep, I am a middle aged man riding a skateboard. Now that added a measure of fun. Unfortunately, I can only ride it about a mile because we live up a significant hill and I wind up walking up and down the hill. Then I got even more creative and I learned to ride an Electric Unicycle. Now the EUC works, more or less. I can ride it both downhill and uphill. The Segway Ninebot One S1 that I bought has a top speed of around 12 miles per hour. It is fun to ride and solves the “last mile” commute problem. However, it comes with some challenges.

Me on my Electric Unicycle

The major problem with the unicycle is that starting is tricky and if you need to start going uphill then I need to find something to hold onto. You start by kicking like you would on a skateboard then stepping on. With a hill that is a no go. Between navigating traffic and the hills I wind up starting and stopping a bunch, if I have to go uphill I wind up needing to walk. Verdict on the Electric Unicycle is that it takes about the same amount of time to get home as it would if I just rode my skateboard.

The past year, learning to ride the EUC and doing some commuting on it has intrigued me about solving the last mile commute problem. The EUC might be the solution but there are other vehicles out there that are electric and compact and light enough to carry onto transit. This year I am going to try to solve the problem with an Electric Skateboard. Since I skateboard already this feels like maybe a good solution. We are going to find out together if this old guy can learn a new trick or two.

Riding my Longboard down the road

The next article we will examine how I have selected the Electric Skateboard that I am going to use to learn and commute aboard. We will look at the different features and how I made my decision.

Here is my crabbing gear: pot, bait box, line, buoy, weight and measuring guide

Crabbing for beginners: How to catch and prepare Dungeness Crabs

Crabbing is one the best, most easily accessible recreational fisheries there is. You do not need a bunch of special gear or tackle. You just need a couple of things, easily obtainable from your local sporting goods supply store. Then you need a little bit of knowledge and you will be set. Ok, let’s get started.

What do you need

First and foremost, get a license and be legal. In Washington state you can get your license through Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. They will also provide you with the most current regulations and information about seasons. Anything specifying a regulation here may be out of date so be sure to check with your local Fish and Wildlife agency before engaging in any kind of fishing activity. Failure to have a current license or to follow regulations will result in dumping whatever you caught, fines and potentially jail.

Now that we got the serious part out of the way, let’s go shopping for our crab gear. Everything you need can be found at your local sporting goods store that sells fishing gear. Often hardware stores will also carry this stuff when crabbing is in season. You will need one crab pot, there are requirements for the pot, so again, check with your local fishery agency. In Washington State each person is allowed to fish two pots, maybe you get two. You will need line, between 100 and 150 feet. You will need a crab buoy so you can find and retrieve your pot and the bounty inside. If the line you get is the type that floats you will need a line weight. You will want a measuring guide to make sure the crabs you keep are the proper size. Finally, you will want to have a bait box or something to hold the bait and keep the crabs interested.

Here is my crabbing gear: pot, bait box, line, buoy, weight and measuring guide

Do I need a boat?

I believe most people use a boat to go crabbing, it certainly makes more areas accessible. However, you do not need to crab from a boat. You can crab from a pier or you could use a kayak or even a paddle board. Using different techniques than I describe here you can even catch crabs in shallow water, where there is eel grass, by scooping them up on a pitchfork or a shovel or a net. Whatever you do, do not let access to a boat be a limiting factor.

When can you go

Your local fishery agency will determine seasons. In Puget Sound the Dungeness season generally runs from roughly the beginning of July through Labor Day weekend. Then they normally have a winter season that starts sometime in October and runs through the end of the year. However, check the rules before heading out.

Where should I go

The most important thing is where. The second most important thing is probably bait. I am primarily talking about Dungeness here. These you will find wherever there is a sandy bottom. I’ve caught them anywhere from 30 feet to 100 feet of water. In Puget Sound you can also fish for Red Rock Crab. These are smaller, but still tasty. You find these where there is a rocky bottom. Watch others and talk to people to see how successful they are at a given location. Don’t give up, sometimes you have to be patient to find a productive spot.

What bait should I use

Common wisdom tells us that crabs will eat anything. Therefore you can use anything for bait and people do. You will see people using everything from salmon to chicken to cat food. I have had the most success using salmon. If you go to the fish counter at your local grocery store they will often sell you, or give you in some cases, the trimmings and heads and spines from the salmon. This is pure gold as bait.

Catch some crabs

Load your bait box up with bait, make sure the doors on your pot open and the lid is shut. Carefully lower your pot into the water. You will want to make sure you have enough line so the pot actually touches the bottom. You will want to allow at least another 15 feet of line beyond the pot touching down to allow for the tide change. If you are using a line weight be sure to attach it to the line after you play out a few feet of line beyond the pot touching down. You do not want your line floating on top of the water when the tide goes out and you have excess line in the water. It can get caught in the boat props.

Now you wait for your pot to fill up. How long you wait depends on you. Some people leave the pot overnight. I have even talked to folks who will leave it for a week. My secret is that I only leave the pot for one to two hours. I try to time that around a tide change. My theory is that once the bait is gone there is nothing to keep the crabs interested and it is possible for them to get out. Also, if the spot you are in isn’t working then you can move and try a different spot. If you choose to leave your pot overnight or for a long period of time be sure to weight it down. People lose pots all the time from the current sweeping them into deeper water.

I have a pot full of crabs, now what?

You pull up your pot and it is full of crabs. Now you need to sort them. Today in Washington you can keep 5 properly sized, 6 1/4″ or greater, male crab per day. Get rid of the females and juveniles.

To handle the crabs grab them at the back, far away from the claws. They will be a little more subdued if you flip them onto their back. Use your measuring tool to check the width. You measure at the widest part of the back shell. To identify the females flip the crabs over onto their backs. The ones with the wide abdominal apron are females, the narrow abdominal apron designates the males. Finally, make sure none of the crabs are in the soft shell stage. To check push the elbow of the claw forward and gently press on the body where the claw normally covers. If it depresses the crab is soft and you should return it. Carefully return the crabs you cannot keep to the water.

Clean and cook the crabs

You have a choice, you can cook the crabs and then clean them, or clean them and then cook them. I prefer the latter. To clean them pop out the abdominal apron then pull the back shell off and the body of the crab will come out in two pieces. You can also just flip them onto their back and quickly slice them in half with a quick, hard blow from a large knife. Then pull the back shell off.

Now, pull the mouth parts and the gray lungs off. Then clean the gunk out by spraying with a hose or dunking them in and out of water.

A batch of cleaned crabs

Next you need to cook them. I advise cooking them outside. The odor from cooking crabs indoors lingers for a while. Bring a pot of water to a boil. I season the water with some crushed garlic cloves, and either salt or Old Bay. Once the water is boiling, toss your cleaned crabs in and boil for fourteen minutes.

Cooking crabs in a pot of boiling water seasoned with Old Bay and Garlic

Time to eat

Now put the bowls of crabs on the table. Serve with melted butter and squeeze some lemon juice into the butter. Sourdough bread and corn on the cob are great sides. Enjoy!

Cooked crab for dinner

The entrance to the Whidbey Island Fairgrounds

Whidbey Island Adventures – The Fair

Toward the end of July each year in Langley, the Whidbey Island Fair rolls around at the fairgrounds. Until we had attended this event a few years ago I had only been to major fairs. A small, community fair, is different in size. While this means there is less to see and do, it turns out there is still plenty of fun to be had.

The main concourse at the fairgrounds with barns on one side and food vendors on the other.

Walking into the fairgrounds you will see the barns for the indoor exhibits off to your left and the stalls for the food vendors on your right. You will have no problem finding all of the fair food that you know and love and shouldn’t eat but will anyway. There is a variety of burgers, dogs, ice cream and plenty of fried items.

Inside the various barns you will find arts and crafts exhibits from members of the community. Educational exhibits such as robotics from local schools. Of course there is a single barn of commercial merchandise from local vendors. Since it is all isolated to a single place it makes it easy to skip the sales pitches for things you really don’t need.

The arts and crafts exhibits are really the best. You can find excellent examples of quilts, knitting, photography, painting and flower arranging. There are many categories for both adults and children as well as beginners to advanced. The wide range of categories encourages broad participation from the community.

An excellent example of the wonderful quilts you can expect to find.

The area displaying all of the quilts

The area with the flower arrangements

Sprinkled around the fairgrounds you can visit historical exhibits from around Whidbey Island. There are a couple of old cabins on display. There is also a barn dedicated to historical farm tools and tractors. One of the highlights for me is the lumberjack area. Not necessarily historical but they use both modern and historical tools during their demonstrations.

Historical farm tools and wagons and buggies

An example of one of the oldest logging wagons on the island

Along the edges of the fairgrounds are the livestock barns. The best part of any fair for those of us who live in the city is the opportunity to see farm animals and talk to the 4H kids that raise them. In addition to seeing the animals in the barns, they also do various demonstrations of the animals. There are dog agility sessions, horse barrel racing and even wagon racing.

A couple of sheep posing for the camera at the fair

Horses pulling a wagon racing at the fairgrounds

An Alpaca demonstrates agility

Finally, no fair would be complete without carnival rides and games. They have them here.

Exiting the Fun House at the fair

Even if you don’t live on Whidbey Island, a trip to the fair is a great outing for your family.

Fishing in SE Alaska

The Lodge

As I posted a couple weeks ago, It’s Vacation Time, I spent 5 days fishing in Southeast Alaska with family. Here is the overview of the trip highlighting one of many possible destinations for an Alaskan Fishing Adventure.

Getting there
For us, being from the Seattle area it isn’t a bad trip. We fly from Seattle to Ketchikan on Alaska Airlines. The Ketchikan International Airport is situated on an island across from the small town. It’s an interesting flight into the airport between the cruise ships and fishing boats crowding the harbor and the seaplanes taking off and landing everywhere. After getting off the plane we have to take a seaplane to our ultimate destination. We check-in with Pacific Airways and then head down to the seaplane dock right outisde the airport doors. You climb aboard the seaplane and fly to the amazing Clover Bay Lodge over on Prince of Wales Island. Now you are ready to go fishing.

The Seaplane off to the lodge from Ketchikan

Time at the lodge
Once you are at the lodge, and you get your license, it is fishing from dawn ’till dusk with meals in between. You head out in an 18 foot skiff that comfortably takes up to 3 people. The boat is equipped with all the gear you need: rods and reels for salmon and halibut, tackle, bait etc. You are free to explore the area, but honestly, most people wind up congregating wherever the fishing was best most recently. When you head in for meals, your hopefully full fish box, is taken by the dock staff. The fish are cleaned, vacuum bagged and frozen for you. Over meals and evening drinks the conversation naturally leans toward who caught the biggest Salmon or Halibut and where! Plans are made for the next outing and the cycle starts over.

Heading out in search of Salmon

Mornings start early for most of us. People start heading out just as the sky begins to lighten, around 4:30 AM. Then some folks will go out after dinner and fish until the sun sets around 9:30 PM. It makes for a long day but I don’t know anywhere else where the fishing is this incredible. Add in the spectacular Alaskan scenery and wildlife. The wildlife we regularly see includes eagles, black bears, deer, porpoises and whales. Every year I have gone up we have had lots of whale sightings including some very close encounters. Typically we will watch humpbacks and sometimes there are orcas as well.

Going Home
Heading back to regular life is just like heading to Alaska except in reverse. However, there is the added burden of at least one or more 50 pound boxes of fresh Alaskan fish. Most of us have an extra freezer for the fish we bring back. I also recommend a smoker because fresh smoked salmon is a wonderful treat.

Check out more pictures in my portfolio.

It’s Vacation Time!

Most of the time we write about things to do and see on the weekend — all within easy access of Seattle. However, August this year is vacation time for our family. There will be less time spent visiting the Briny Beach Cabin than we do the rest of the year and a bit more time out away from Washington State.

First on the agenda is a trip up north to Clover Bay Lodge, just outside of Ketchikan, AK. During this trip there is lots of time spent fishing for salmon and halibut and plenty of viewing of the wildlife including eagles and bears. Here is Chef Ellie from Kid Foodie after catching her first big one!

Her first fish!

After Alaska and a couple weeks back at work it’s off to Frankfort, MI and a week spent on the white sand beaches of Lake Michigan, also known as The Third Coast.

The beach in Northern Michigan

As soon as we get back from our visit to Michigan a couple of us will head off to the happiest place on earth for one last bit of fun before it’s back to school and work!

Main Street USA in Disneyland!

Hopefully that will hold us over for a while. Chef Ellie will be heading back to school. I will be out of vacation for the rest of the year and we will be back to focusing our weekends on exploring sights around home.

A little unsure on the first day of Kindergarten, a very long time ago.

Check back for the story of these adventures and as we enjoy August together.