mt. hood

monday morning, spencer met us at the house and the merry foursome headed over to bumblekiss for brunch. bumblekiss is this great little place near dylan and kelly's that has never disappointed.

after food, it was on to the mt. hood ski bowl. like many winter resorts, mt. hood has various summer activities available on the mountain, and the first order of business for us was the alpine slide.

spencer humors my obsession with self-portraits, but just barely ;)

we headed up on the ski lift and did a few runs, getting the feel of the sleds and the slide itself. all in all, it was pretty tame.


we headed over to the east side of the bowl to try out some of the other activities. first up was the bungee tramp. i was able to get one backflip in before the bungees tightened up and my arms tired out. spencer, on the other hand, lasted longer and was more successful at multiple double-backs. (video below, for all you bloglines/rss readers)



after the bungee tramp, it was time for ghetto mini golf. they don't really call it that, but it really was pretty ghetto. we made the most of it though and had a good time. spencer got his first hole in one ever - or so he says. true or not, i think he was pretty happy about it:)


from mini golf, it was on to the batting cages. i gave spencer my token for an extra 10 pitches, and watched as he, dylan, and kelly all struggled a bit to connect. i was certainly entertained.


then for the final activity of the day; back to the apline slide for a little friendly competition. originally spencer and i were matched and kelly and dylan were racing buddies. i got pretty well smoked by spencer, and kelly by dylan. so we decided to switch racing partners. the first race i won, but barely. the second was a completely different story.

my war wound took a little time to manifest,
but i finally got the proof that i wasn't whining for no reason :)

my sled had to have had wings. i got a late jump off the start, and once i started to get going, i realized that this sled was much faster than my previous ones. i realized it as i was starting to come out of the sled and onto the track. after picking up a really painful concrete burn i rolled myself back in to the sled, and somehow managed to not only catch up with kell, but FLY by her. i think we were both a little in shock, and i was in more than a little pain!


our day o'fun had come to an end and it was time to head home.

testing testing

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portland

saturday morning meant a quick trip to the farmer's market with kelly. i love the farmers market - all the fresh fruits and vegetables, the music, the breakfast burritos. i wish huntington had a saturday farmer's market, but alas, we do not.

after a shower, i left dylan, who's not been feeling well, at home, and kelly on her way out to a work function, to make a little visit to the nike employee store. this is a visit i always enjoy making, and a nice perk of having a brother work for the company. i'll admit it, i like the feeling of superiority it gives me to be on 'the list'. just provide the employee number, my id, and i'm in! though everyone knows how athletic i am;), i am always able to find some great deals. this time, my shopping was limited to a few t-shirts and a very cool jacket.

i learned later from dylan, that even though the store is DEEPLY discounted from retail prices, nike still makes a slight profit from the store. due to the sheer volume of traffic coming through, it is the highest grossing store anywhere.

dylan and i had some downtime at home before kelly's return, and that downtime may or may not have involved a little catnap.

when kelly got back the three of us headed out to meet her mom and sister for a movie. i always enjoy spending time with them and feel grateful to have the connection. i don't think most people get to hang out with their in-law's family, and i always have a good time. doesn't hurt that i'm quite fond of them!

the movie was 500 days of summer, and we all dug it. if you like quirky artsy movies, or if you just like zooey deschanel, i'd recommend it.

the rest of the evening was spent relaxing, and sunday wasn't much different.

i joined dylan and kelly for sunday dinner with her family, then headed back to meet spencer at the house.

we spent some time catching up before dylan and kelly returned, and the four of us spent the evening laughing and talking and playing games.

and, we're off!

wow, have i been in need of a vacation! i set out on thursday, heading to northern california for a stopover with julie and her family, before making my way up to portland.

on the way, i'd decided to pick up a couple of national parks passport stamps at sequoia & kings canyon national parks. i had debated about whether to stop here or at yosemite since i only had time for one park. ultimately i made the decision based on never having been to sequoia before. though i'm missing the stamp for yosemite, at least i've seen it:)

before even entering the park the landscape began to change, as i traded the somewhat barren california highway scenery for trees, trees, and more trees. and while i have no complaints about living in huntington and my close proximity to the beach, there is just something about mountains and forests. fresh air is the perfect remedy for stress relief.

at every stop i made in the park, i was met with the most delightful smells. i don't know if clean air really has a smell but if it does, this would be it.


i stopped at the sentinel tree and the general sherman tree, which is the largest redwood in the world (by volume), but my favorite stop was an unexpected one. upon crossing over a lovely stone bridge, i noticed a group of people playing in the water below. i just couldn't resist, so i hiked down in my skirt and flip flops (perhaps not the best choice for the day), and did a little wading. i was surprised at how perfect the water temperature was - cool enough to be refreshing, but not so cold as to curl your toes. it was a wonderful break from the drive.


eventually it was time to dry off and get back on the road.


i arrived several hours later at my stopover and headed out early the next morning.

day two saw another national park stop, and one that i was reallly excited about! i'd been to crater lake in my teens and i remembered it as being spectacularly beautiful. i was curious to see if the memory would hold up in my adulthood.

it absolutely did. i wasn't sure if the blue waters of my memory were truly as blue as i recalled. and they absolutely were.

the vivid blue color is the result of both the depth and purity of the water, and it is most certainly a sight to behold.

beyond the water, there were other treasures to enjoy...

the wildflowers


and the wildlife :D


having satisfied my curiosity about crater lake--and picking up the stamp of course--it was again time to get back on the road.

my little detour took kept me off the highway for most of the remainder of the trek, which made the drive extremely enjoyable. i spent much of it parallel to rivers and lakes and pure gorgeousness.

i arrived in portland in the early evening to begin catching up with dylan and kelly and to settle into my home away from home for the next few days.

apparently, you can't do this anymore...

cliffs of moher, ireland, 2003