Christmas Tree Hunting

Yesterday we drove out to the North Bend Ranger Station and picked up a permit to cut a tree in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. You follow their map, head out to exit 47 off of I-90, then along forest service roads to designed cutting areas. This felt like a first for everyone, so the excitement level was rather high. While waiting for Rich to come back with our take-away lunch from the George's Bakery in North Bend, the Santa train had simply driven by and our kids were already jazzed up by that sighting.

Anyways, we went out to the woods. It was a perfect day so we were far from alone out there. In addition to the flock of people looking for trees, we saw evidence from regular deer (?) hunters in the area. That was a chance to talk about hunting to the kids. But we were sticking to Christmas tree hunting!

It was truly stunning out there. I was thankfully busy taking this picture when Rich was experiencing a near-death driving experience with an oncoming driver who was not full of the Christmas spirit.

And the winner is! I think that the experience of it all really was the "winner".