Carrie and I had been talking about trading in our little Yaris for something bigger with AWD (All Wheel Drive, which we learned is different from 4WD) for camping and handling rugged terrain better than a compact car. So a few weeks ago, after a lot of talk and research and test driving and haggling, we made our decision. Like approximately 33% of all other people in Seattle, we purchased a Subaru.

Excited about our new SUV, and with my surgically-repaired knee feeling a little bit better, we decided to take the Forester and my jacked-up leg out to the Olympic Peninsula for a spin.

Up until this point, I hadn't really done much walking other than around the apartment or a few blocks in the neighborhood on sidewalks. No hiking, and definitely no snowshoeing, so it was going to be interesting to see how my knee responded.

When we got up to the top of Hurricane Ridge, it was covered in about 6 feet of snow. It was warm a few days prior, and melted some snow, which had since refrozen. Not ideal snowshoeing conditions, especially for me, as some spots were a little icy and slippery, especially steeper spots. All in all though, I mostly managed to avoid potentially troublesome areas, and had only minor tweaks here and there.

It was a beautiful, clear day, and the Olympic range was in full view from our vantage point. We shuffled around for a while, did a short hike, took some photos and eventually headed back to our car to make our long drive back to Seattle. It was kind of silly to drive for like 7 hours for just a little bit of scenery, but it was really nice to get outside in the outdoors again, really for the first time since before my surgery. And I think the green Subaru, which has yet to be named, is going to work nicely as Carrie and I continue to explore the Pacific Northwest and surrounding areas over the next who knows how long...