Camps for Champs: I've said it once and I'll say it again

Yesterday I was on my first non campsite based camping trip and, to date, my favorite camping trip. The last trip I went on was good company and definitely had some perks but this camping trip was just above and beyond.

Firstly, we biked to the park in which we camped, secondly we cooked trout wrapped in fig leaves on the embers of a fire, thirdly, there were barges floating by our shore at all hours of the night, fourthly, such good company. fifth, did I mention we camped on the shore?

The weather was beautiful after raining intermittently all day it cleared up where we were and gave us a pretty sunset and some light to collect firewood by. Delicious snacks were packed and, of course, no pictures were taken. Sorry guys, you're just going to have to imagine. The one downside is: the ground is not comfortable to sleep on. Who knew?

Hope you all are getting some adventures yourself.

Zoobie doobie doooooo

Today was sadly enough Katelyn's last day in town. It was a wondrously, not too rainy day here in Portland. But, even better than the outstanding weather, it was free zoo day! So, we went to the zoo. 

We saw plenty of animals, most of them bipeds in small herds, wearing rain jackets, and pushing strollers. We did see more unusual species too. Some of our favorites were these bronze lions but we also spotted some tiny bronze elephants too. 

It's been nice having family around. We spent Christmas together, went hiking. She saw one of my favorite parks and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry while I worked. We got donuts, and made cookies, had many a quiet breakfast together and kept up a pretty good running regiment. We volunteered together, drank a beer together (or part of a beer depending on which one of us you were watching), tried some Portland specific foods, went to see a whole gaggle of cheap movies at second run theaters. We had a Harry Potter movie marathon to welcome in the new year and of course went to the zoo.

Of course, I'll be glad to have more space in my room as I'm sure Katelyn will be glad to sleep on a regular bed. But, mostly, I will miss hanging out.

Into the Wild and other Christmas Adventures

Katelyn and I spent Christmas morning hiking at a spot called Angel's Rest. Much of the time, we were wondering about what in the world we were doing outside, in the rain on Christmas day.Some of the photos may reflect that.

Katelyn, unsure about the babbling brook. 

 Me "why are we doing this"

 Katelyn's finally coming around to the hike (in the background is the beautiful Colombia River)

 A beautiful tree burnt in a past year's forest fire

 A little gnomey doll we found on a tree.

 At the peak of our hike

 There was a lot of fog but we know the view would have been spectacular

Bracing against the cold under this tree.

 Frowning at the cold, in front of the void.

A window into the void through these rocks

pictures really can't do it justice

We spent the rest of our day baking labor intensive cookies, making (and eating) curry and coconut rice and watching Christopher Nolan movies with my friend Jon. Making cookies, eating curry and watching movies is my and Jon's new Christmas tradition. We did it last year and hopefully we'll do it in years to come. After Jon left Katelyn gave me some delicious looking canned foods to eat. We got into one of them this morning. 

Canned goodies

To continue our Christmas festivities we will be opening a package we received in the mail today from home.

Hopefully you all are having safe travels and fun times out there over this holiday season.

Canyons and other adventures

Hey! Hey! Pictures. Yep, I've got something special for you.

Yesterday Katelyn and I went to an awesome canyon while Stephanie was at work. Yay to visiting sisters who live in awesome places!

Then last night, after the work day was over, we all headed over to Aspen to meet with Stephanie's friend Jenny, eat an overpriced dinner, and watch a kinda strange show. Sorry, I don't have pictures from the show. I forgot to bring my camera there. But, here's the canyon

Black Rock Canyon (see that little river down there?!)

Some of the high peaks inside the canyon which was crazy deep

Rocks, bush, and the sky at the top

Lichen on the rocks at the canyon

Stay tuned for more great pictures. It's vacation baby!

Silly emails and guacamole

I applied to a job today. How is that different than any other day you might ask?! And I will say, "That in itself is not so absurd

but what comes next you haven't yet heard".

OK. OK. I know. That was awful.

And that's the thing. I just applied to a job using lines like that. It was an email only application with my cover letter and resume attached. I didn't want it to go unnoticed so I titled it "dynamic and diligent FOH delight" and then I went on to use an acrostic! That's right as in:

Aren't I
Crying a little on the inside?
Reason being:
Oh that I've begun to try
Stupid

Toddleresque
Intelligence insulting

Crap to get a job.

Like that. But hopefully more job winning and less negative. It might reduce my chances of getting the job but I never feel like my chances start off that high and who knows?! It might up my chances too. It is only a restaurant job.

Other than that, I went on a hike with my exercise buddy Marika the other day. It took 2 hours! I'm not that outdoorsy and usually after 2 hours in the beautiful wilderness I would have a headache and a runny nose but luckily good health and fun time prevailed! Here's to being outside. Tomorrow's a run and also a friend dinner and tonight's a friend's show.

This week is shaping up quite nicely (besides the weird antics to get a job).

Sunny days.

It's been beautiful here in Portland OR ever since I returned home from Augusta, GA. It's almost as if the city is welcoming me back. The weather has made the neighborhood and surrounding area ripe for our picking. Here are the last few of my days in pictures.

My friend Jonathan and I went Hiking to Mirror Lake.

learning to be outdoorsy

Mt Hood behind Mirror Lake. Beautiful.

A tree we saw on our hike.

A sunflower I saw whilst I was walking around the neighborhood

note how clear and blue the sky is in the background

A tree with some beautiful leaves in my neighborhood

Moss growing on a wall down the street