Another new addition to the house....Ping Pong!  I must admit, I am horrible at Ping Pong, but I look forward to improving my game. 

Suncadia began back in 1995 when Plum Creek Timber (which recently merged with Weyerhauser), approached TrendWest (which is now known as WorldMark – Wyndham) with an offer to sell a bunch of land in Kittitas County.  

TrendWest bought the land for $15 Million.  Bill Peare (the former CEO of TrendWest) is often cited as the founder of Suncadia.

If you've driven around the Suncadia resort, you've probably seen those 19 Miles Per Hour speed limit signs.  And you've probably wondered why 19 MPH?  Why not 20 MPH or 15 MPH?  Well, no one is exactly sure, but my hunch is that the Suncadia folks are paying homage to the coal miners who worked in the Roslyn No. 9 Mine, which was located very close to the current location of Swiftwater Cellars.  The Roslyn No 9 mine was first opened in 1930 and shut down in 1963 (the last coal mine in the area to shut down).  You can still see the entrance to the No 9 mine near the parking lot of Swiftwater Cellars as well as the pile of coal slag that is known as Tipple Hill. 

Did you know that the Brick Saloon in Roslyn is the oldest operating bar in Washington dating back to 1889.  Although, some claim that the Bluebird Inn in Bickford, WA predates the Brick by a few years.  Regardless of which bar is the oldest, the Brick is a seriously cool bar and definitely worth visiting if you're in the area.  It still has the original beautiful wood back bar that originally came from England as well as a fully-operational 23' running water spittoon underneath the bar stools.

Just purchased a Sonos Connect:Amp to power the outdoor speakers at the house.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Sonos, they make it easy to connect speakers to a a music service that you can control with your iPhone/Android.  The Connect:Amp serves two purposes....1) it is an amplifier, which means that you can connect any pair of speakers to it and 2) it acts like it's own wireless network, which means that it connects to online music services (Spotify, Pandora) through the Sonos app on your phone. 

Swiftwater Cellars announced their summer concert series for 2016.  The lineup includes:

• July 2 @ 3:00 pm - 10:00 pm -- Battle of the Bands, featuring Creedence Rising, Shake It Up, Second Hand News, Pattitude, Cold As Ice
• July 29 @ 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm -- Hot Legs Tour.  A tribute to Tina Turner & Rod Stewart
• August 19 @ 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm -- Aerosmith Rocks - Tribute to Aerosmith   
• September 9 @ 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm -- 2Souls Tour – Faith Hill & Tim McGraw Tribute

If you've never been to the a concert at Swiftwater Cellars, you should definitely check out one of the concerts this summer.  The 2,500-seat amphitheater is a great place to watch a concert.

Battista's Meadow Park is a great little park just down the street from the house. 

Amenities include: Playground structure with two slides, Basketball court (full size), Horseshoe pits, Swings for toddlers, Large grass area for throwing the football, playing bocce ball, etc, and bathrooms.

And another bonus, unlike Dawson Park,  Battista's Meadow Park is partially shaded by the large trees surrounding the park, which is great on those hot Suncadia summer days. 

Get out your golf clubs!  Prospector Golf Course opens this Saturday, May 14th.  Rope Rider has already been open for a month.  By the way, did you know that each year, the two courses flip-flop which courses opens first?  This year, Rope Rider opened in April.  Next year, Prospector will open before Rope Rider. 

Another new addition to the house (thanks Amazon!).  Complete with music, sound effects and infrared scoring.  I especially love that this system folds up for storage when not in use.  Game on!

Just picked up a gorgeous new 6-burner BBQ for the house.  Weber Summit Series S-650 complete with side burner station (in case 6 main burners just isn't enough).   Got a great deal on it too!  Can't wait to fire it up!   I'm contemplating getting a cover (to protect it from the harsh Suncadia winter weather), but it looks so darn good w/o a cover.