JULY TO THE END OF 2018 - A BLURRY MISH-MASH

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Well, life gets in the way sometimes. The last few months half-year have been nothing short of hectic and all over the place. Despite having a ton of fun and tons going on, it got to be a bit much at times.

Right now I'm cooking some potatoes as 2018 is slowly coming to a close, and thinking back (kinda half-heartedly) on all the shit that's happened. In order to keep this blog up despite the lapse in posts, I figured this would be a good way to try and wrap up 6 months in a flash. So, here goes!

July

July was a helluva month. The whole nation's independence thing was cool and all, but the thing it really afforded me was a week off. Oh hell yeah. Not one to let such amounts of time go completely to waste, I teamed up with my damn good buddy Andy, his fiancé Megan, and their friend Liina. Where to? The wilderness!!!

Beerfest

But first, before we dip into July, I finally made it to the International Beerfest here in Portland! It'd been on my list for a while, so with a colleague from Germany in town, we decided to scope it out and see what all the chatter was about.

Quick Thought - Summer in Portland with things to do in town is abso-fucking-lutely lovely. There's nothing like having a good bit of stuff to do, a clear mind, blue skies, and two wheels of fury to cart yourself around on. This was another one of those days, and as always, it was supremely enjoyable. :-)

Sometime midday I met Jerg over at the beerfest, and the fun began!

I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I was definitely in for a treat. We splurged and got the package deal, or whatever it was, so we could sample a good bit of goodies. I have no remembrance of what all I got, although I do remember getting one that tasted exactly like a smoked sausage. Sounds weird, but it was downright delicious. The weird one was some beer from Japan. I can't remember its shtick, but it was blue. Let's just say I won't be having that one again anytime soon.

To spice things up within the pavilion, Deschutes or somebody sponsored a pie jousting contest. Just as crazy as it sounds, it was a bracket tournament of people riding shitty bikes and throwing pies at each other. Needless to say, it was pretty entertaining.

The Duckabush Trail

After that weekend though, it was prep time. We had a good 5 days planned out in the woods, so it was time to get ready. I had my trusty backpack (with some fresh new patches, thanks Mommy!!!), a shitton of gear and food, and I was ready to go.

We hit the road one fine day, headed up towards Washington's Olympic Peninsula for our adventures.

(From here on out, this is all gonna be quick hits written months after-the-fact...) So nice to get out and back into the wilderness for 5 days of hiking and camping!!!

We had an amazing campfire every night, and I was enthralled.

For animal sightings, we woke up to 2 bear cubs the first morning, but no mama bear, saw a ton of pheasants, and even a herd of ~25 elk on our day hike!

At some point, we set up camp just in time for the hail storm to hit, but overall we had pretty beautiful weather, especially on the last day where I bushwhacked to Big Hump, and had aaaaaaaamazing weather and views!!!

My little jaunt over to Big Hump also included a bit of a slip. Plus side, I've now got a nice little racing stripe down my left hamstring...

We all made it out alive though, and stopped by Hama Hama Oysters to chow down as a delicious reward. On the way back home, we stopped through Oly and I got picked up by my family to go hang out at my sister's place for a couple days.

Mountain Biking at Whistler

It was a bit of a rollercoaster if I was going to be able to make this trip, but it ended up working out, and I am so thankful it did!

Andy, Joel, and I had a fun ride up, including a stop at a really ghetto McDonald's in Tacoma. Then, when we got to Bellingham, we stopped off at the Transition Bike factory showroom :-O

It took a bit of time, but we eventually got into Canada after a wait at the border. Through Vancouver and Squamish, we reached Whistler! What a place!!!

It was an early-ish night, with a little bit of wrenching and hanging out with the crew. I last-minute decided to go tubeless on my tires, and thank god I did... After a quick night's sleep, we went right into riding in the morning!!! Needless to say, but all of us were super hyped to hit the trails.

Holy shit I was floored. Whistler Bike Park is unbelievable. There was so much riding, and all of it was AMAZING!!! Earth Circus was definitely the highlight though. I crushed it.

Crank it Up, Blue Velvet, Una Moss, all the other trails were pretty damn awesome. Minus all the friggin braking bumps. Those tore me to shreds. I was really surprised at my progression throughout such an amazing first day!

The second day morning was rough. I crashed a couple times, my hands were killing me, and I just got in my head.

But, with a nap and coffee after lunch around midday, things totally changed. We headed up to the Top of the World and got some amazing views in such a beautiful place.

We took the full trail down, and it was hard but really good. From there we headed back to Earth Circus and I ended up shredding it again. I felt like a little kid. I was honestly completely blown away by the flowiness and awesomeness of that trail. From there back up to Blue Velvet, and loved that one too.

Before calling it a day, I ended up making the spontaneous choice to hit A-Line and ended up sending it!!! (aka hit all the jumps, landed them, and did great, including this ~15ft rock drop!!!). We went back up and hit it again to round out the riding. Seriously, what an amazing place!!!

From Whistler I had to head straight to the airport, as I was running a conference/workshop in LA the next day. I said adios to Joel and Andy at the Vancouver Airport, and flew on down to Southern California for work. It wasn't all that bad though, as I was able to see my 'ole buddy Dusty G (Ben), who's down there working for SpaceX, and his cool girlfriend Becky. A big highlight included seeing a picture of mine posted on their fridge :-D and getting up at the ass-crack of dawn to see a Rocket Launch from the beach. Overall a good trip.

'Laska

Back when I was a young buck in my exchange program, I met a bunch of great folks along for a similar ride. Two of those folks ended up liking each other and got married this summer! Sam grew up in Alaska, so that's where they got married. And luckily enough, me and my cronies got invited to celebrate!!! Therefore, a grand 'ole journey was in store.

I made a good two week trip out of it, including a nice little 3-day solo backpacking trip to start it off. Via recommendations from a number of people familiar with Alaska, I chose the 26-mile route over Crow's Pass to get acquainted with the amazing beauty of Alaska's wilderness. It was well worth the trip and the scary experience. (here are some notes I took during the trip)

In preparation for the trip, I had a busy-ish day, mostly because I was dreading packing. A backpacking and outdoors trip AND a wedding, that’s a rough combination to prepare for. It sure took me a while to get things situated, all while answering work emails and stuff. But, lo and behold, just like always, I got my bags packed and was on my way to the airport! (Yes, I still always bring wayyyy too much)

Weirdly enough, I got there before the ticket counter for JetBlue was even open. So I checked in and had to wait in line. They opened a bit late, but no worries, I eventually got everything checked in. While waiting in line though, there was a dad with his (~5-7) year old kid, and the kid was a whiny little bitch. It kept screaming about something, and had no discipline, eventually just up and walking behind the ticket counter, and his dumbass dad didn’t even blink. What fucking idiots.

Thank god I was out of there, and weirdly enough, I was the only one in the TSA PreCheck line. Boo yah. Quick in (I always forget to empty my water bottle), and off to the Alaska lounge, where I snagged some dinner and read my book before getting on the flight.

First time with JetBlue and it was a pretty ok experience. Middle seat was empty, ESPN was covering the Packers Training Camp, and I got some sleep. I woke up to the pilot saying we were coming in for landing; I didn’t realize I was that tired. It was a bit cloudy on the approach, but I got to see some of the beautiful mountains on the landing and taxi, which made me even more stoked to arrive!

Deplaned and made my way to baggage claim. Hell yeah to the giant moose statue!!! I hope that turns into some foreshadowing... Popped out of the bathroom and my bag was the only one on the carousel. Definitely didn’t expect it to be that fast!

All bags safely in hand, I snagged an Uber and chatted with the guy, who “practices leisure”. Kinda think he’s just a ski bum. But he was nice and helpful as he dropped me off at the pay-for-what-you-get motel. Didn’t need much, just a place to crash and do some repacking, and this place fit the bill. Easy check-in, and I was down for the night before the start of adventures!

BEEEEEEP. BEEEEEEEP. BEEEEEEEP. Thank you Mr. Fire Alarm, I was really looking forward to an unannounced 4am wake up. After 15 minutes of standing in the parking lot wondering wtf was going on, and some random dude preemptively giving us the ok to go back inside, a fire truck came and I think the owner showed up too, but then we could go back in. Sheesh.

I had a few errands to do before heading off to my backpacking trip, so I got up and got ready fairly earlyish. First stop, food. Middle Way Café was right next to a number of shops, and it was high on google, so I stopped in and was blown away by the Mexican Benedict. What a killer way to start the trip!!!

Then Walgreens, the grocery store (how do they not have dried fruits?!), and the local mountaineering store to wrap it all up. The goods in hand, headed back to the motel, repacked, and made my way to the van rental place.

Nope, wasn’t picking up a car, but they were kind enough to let me drop my extra bags there! Got there and chatted it up with Darren, the owner, about my trip, and what to do in the area, and the fact that there was a bear attack on the trail I was headed for two weeks prior, and some other stuff. Really nice guy and an enjoyable, relaxing chat! Ready to go, I walked out and made my way to the highway.

The last time I’d hitchhiked was in New Zealand. But, not one to pay $100 or something to get to the trailhead, I figured I’d see how humanity is doing these days. I walked down to the next on-ramp and posted up. There was some construction on the other side of the street, and the lady working was interested in this random dude with a giant backpack just posting up, so we had a little chat, mostly about traveling and work. No sooner than we’d started our conversation, when I heard a honk and a grey Mercedes sitting there. Definitely wasn’t expecting anything quick, but I was pumped to get going!

I got picked up by Dee. From Toledo, wearing a Buckeyes hat, he previously lived in Okinawa and Germany, ranted about the marines/special forces taking over their base. Super nice dude. Went way out of his way to take me a little further than he was going! Dee dropped me off at a turnout, and I threw out the thumb again, and got a couple waves and smiles.

Not tool long after though, I got picked up by another Mercedes, this time by Karl from Poland. Another nice dude. Chatted about money (he seemed well off), safety systems in trucks, living in Alaska, and more. He was on his way to Kenai to do some dropnet fishing. Karl dropped me at the turnoff to Girdwood, making damn good time.

I crossed the road to see the view and put on my boots, then crossed back over to find a ride up the road, and as soon as I put my thumb out (no joke), Katie, Jean Lou, and Greg picked me up! They used to live in AK, now in ND, but came up for a visit. We had a really nice chat, and they drove me all the way to the trailhead! Holy cow that was generous!!!

I got situated, ogled at the view, and eventually hit the trail.There was a slight bit of a drizzle, but I got warm quick. There ended up being a number of people on the trail, so despite the heightened awareness for bears, only saw a couple on the other side of the valley, across the ravine.

There were beautiful views all the way up the valley. Across to the other side to see two giant bowls, just gorgeous. The trail eventually opened up past the tree/brush line; and wow..... I kept on keeping on, and even detoured to the old mine remains. Kinda crazy seeing giant pieces of scrap metal just laying around in a national forest, and with signs posted that the ground has metal contamination. Interesting.

I eventually circled back to the trail, although I could’ve kept going, but the go-around had amazing views of the whole valley, from the bottom all the way to the river chasm at the top.

I slowly made my way up. Once at the top, I was floored by the view. It was an awesome amphitheater with the clouds starting to break up a bit, and some peaks started to come into focus in the background. I loitered a bit to enjoy the view.

Once I continued, the views just got more insane. The trail crested the saddle, next to a beautiful little pond and one of the camping huts, and after a short ridge, it then opened up to Raven Glacier and the valley to the side where the trail continued. Absolutely beautiful.

I wanted SOOO badly to find a tent spot right at the bluff looking out into the valley, and ended up spending a ton of time in the search. That was not a good idea while being hangry and stubborn. I eventually found a spot and put my tent up in the high wind. I tried to re-situate it, but that wasn't happening, so found a new spot. This time I built a small wind wall, but the effort was a little meek. Oh well. The tent was up. I almost skipped dinner but decided against that.

Good thing too, because it was my first time with my little stove! I found a beautiful spot to post up, cook, and eat. Finished that up, hid the bear can, and found a comfy spot to just sit and admire the beauty. Great way to end the day.

It was windy all night, so I was thankful for the earplugs. Of course I wake up at 6:30, but nah, back to bed. Got up at 8, and didn't realize I was so tired. The first night of vacation always brings things into focus. I was slow getting things together, but pumped some water, packed up camp (packing up a tent in high wind is difficult too) and then found the perfect breakfast spot. The stubbornness paid off!

Some delicious breakfast hash with a giant glacier and a beautiful mountain valley to gaze at. Hard to beat that. Full and satisfied, I hit the trail, and with nothing but gorgeous views. It was a long way down the saddle into the valley, and every step was a new lookout. The landscape changed from rocky to a little meadowy and the grass grew along the way.

As I made my way further down the valley, I started to get more paranoid about the bears. Nothing happened though. There was a pretty cool bridge halfway down across a ravine, and I was still digging the sights. Once I started getting tired, I went a bit further and posted up at a little spot to enjoy the views and chow down on some Pad Thai.

Rested and fed, I was ready to go. Shortly thereafter I hit one of the most beautiful sights I’ve seen, and easily the best vista of the trip. The valley I was coming down merged with another valley, and the trail came over a slight hump before the intersection. From there, you could see the incoming mountain valley that led back up towards a glacier hidden behind a rock structure. It was just beautiful.

Despite it being my only goal/must-have for the trip, and being miles away from the nearest people. I still hadn't yet seen a moose. I was a little bummed. But, as a small consolation prize, I saw some tracks (I think)!

From there it was down into the river valley, and time to ford it (the river, that is)! Well, it went just about as poorly as it could have, short of me drowning. I got tunnel vision and didn’t realize the water was flowing so fast (I realized it, but didn’t adapt to it), and the frigid temperature (glacial runoff) froze me pretty hard. Another no-no, I was dead set on crossing, but not even 1/4 of the way I slipped and started rolling hard.

I rolled back around and got back up, but slipped again. It was a desperate doggy-paddle that got me to the sand bank, and there was still a ton left. Thankfully, long-story short, I made it across, but in bad shape. Both knees were beat up something fierce, and my bag got soaked. Thankfully I had the wherewithal to put my kindle and phone in a dry bag, and I almost forgot to take my camera out of its holster, but it somehow came away unscathed in the bag. Huge crisis averted!!!

Because of the wetness, everything got pulled out and put on trees in the hopes for some air drying The whole time I was sitting there letting everything dry, about an hour and a half, I was just wishing I wouldn't have crossed, but doubled back the way I came. Eventually things got to a dry enough state, so I strapped it all to my pack to continue drying and soldiered on. I was not happy, and still sketched out for bears.

There was another fording, but thank god this one had a rope across. There I chatted it up with another solo packer. The trail continued on, but I needed water. Unfortunately, all of it had rock dust, and I was getting worried. Thankfully I found a spot in the nick of time and slowly filled back up.

Stubborn me kept soldiering on and needed to find a spot to camp. Lo and behold I found Tim and Ivory posted up (a couple I'd met on the trail the first day), so I chatted with them for a hot second and got SUUUUUPER jealous - they saw two moose!!! So much jealousy. But I found a camp spot near them, put everything out to hopefully continue drying, made dinner, made camp, and hit the sack. Not how I envisioned the day going...

The hike out was just beautiful along the way. It was pretty varied too, some swampy/marshy spots, rocky and bouldery, river beds, a great little mixture. I was enjoying the views along the way, and ended up making pretty good time on the way out.

It really did go kinda fast, and soon enough I was walking through the nature park and got to the ranger station/trailhead. I got there, hit the loo, and sat by the road ready to hitchhike back to Anchorage.

Well don't ya know it, Mama Bear and her two little babies just then wanted to stop by and say hi... They crossed the road about 100m ahead of me, and thankfully turned away after I told them off. Funny enough though, about 5 minutes later I hear a voice in the woods going "Get outta here!!!" I think that's where they headed.

Funnily enough, a guy named John originally from Corvallis ended up giving me a ride out! Awesome guy, we talked about what it’s like to live up there and how laid back it is. Honestly, sounded really enticing. But he dropped me off at the freeway onramp, and then Bruce picked me up. A bit of an older dude, hard of hearing, but he talked about finally finding a woman that would be willing to move up here with him. He dropped me outside of town, and I ended up biting the bullet and just getting an uber from there to the van place.

Once at the van place, our noble steed was prepped and ready for an adventure. What a dope setup, seriously. Huge shoutout to Britta and Darren at Get Lost Vans (https://getlostvans.com) for the excellent service they're running up there!

After a shower and repacking, laundry and some groceries, the cronies started rolling in. Colin flew in, then we headed to the Bear Tooth Grill to post up. Laura showed up, then Ryan and Helen too! We had a nice little section going, then I headed back to the airport to get Zack and Katherine. The gang was nearly all there!!! We chatted a bit with Phoenix, our waitress, on some tips of places to go and things to do, but then we hit the road in search of a campsite. The first one was full, but eventually found a place in the dark to host our first night as a crew.

Woke up and the crew did breakfast to start the trip. It was an awesome morning.

Packed and satiated, all limbs still attached, we headed down to Seward to rendezvous with the last people in the gang and then go on a boat cruise with the whole wedding group! We got there early, walked around, had some beers in the van, and time for some general tomfoolery.

Dawn and John showed up with Sam and Chelsea and the rest of the wedding folk, and then it was off to the boats! I gotta say, what a beautiful day. It was foggy to start, but it eventually burned off, and we got a glimpse of some absolutely gorgeous scenery, as well as some wildlife.

Post tour, we grabbed a beer at a seafood place. Most people didn't want to eat there because it was too expensive, but fuck that, I had some chowdah. I do what I want. Then, as always happens with a big group, it was a bit of a mess trying to decide on where we all wanted to eat. Eventually we found somewhere, and I did a pretty good job of not giving a fuck or worring about what I could control. Just went with the flow. Eventually we found some place, and I snagged some delicious crabby cakes and ice cream. Boom. Then off to the campsite we had to find.

Once we found one, we had an awesome night of chilling around the campfire, walking to the river and looking at the mountains, and an overall damn good time. Eventually, we hit the sack.

The next day, it was a trip up the Harding's Ice Field. The whole gang was ready for a little outdoorsing, and we had a splendid time heading up the hill. Unfortunately, about half-way, some of the team had to head down and make their way to Kenai for wedding preparation stuff. But me, Laura, and Ryan pushed on all the way up to the hill and were rewarded with some amazing sights.

It was nuts to see ice, as far as you could see. Just a gigantic glacier, solid ice, white all the way across. It was really impressive. Looking off into the distance, I had the urge to trek across it, and just walk across the glacier for what would be days on end. That'd be a crazy trip.

To celebrate the successful neature adventure, Ryan, Helen, Laura, and I headed back into Seward to grab a beer at the Seward Brewing Company, before trekking over to Kenai to meet up with the others. On the way though, we stopped off and had some killer barbecue in Cooper Landing, and all that came out of it was some moose coloring.

I can't remember what we did that night, but the next morning we had breakfast as a family at this awesome diner. Grumpy hostess, sassy and funny waitress, shitty coffee, rustic decorations, and delicious food. It had everything you'd want.

From there we went and got prepped and pre-gamed for the wedding at the hotel. They had it at a fishing logistics center that had built a hotel and restaurant and stuff onto it. It was a really sweet venue, and the perfect place for a party.

Needless to say, the wedding was a hoot. Zack was the officiant, and Chelsea got him a faux Sheriff's badge to go with it. He did a great job, our two lovely friends Sam and Chelsea are now connected forever in marital bliss, and the party that followed was a hoot.

After the reception, we headed out to some kinda bar with a limo (was surprised they had a limo in town, honestly), and things got a little interesting.

Fun was had, alcohol was drunk, and so were a lot of people. One helluva night though to celebrate Sam and Chelsea, two fantastic human beings, and an even better pair together.

Woke up, and we all still had some days left together. Went for a stroll around the hotel place, and it was quite pretty.

That day, we headed into Kenai and explored around a bit. Thanks to our gang's infatuation with thrift stores, we ended up doing an impromptu Secret Santa, where everyone had $5 to get their person a gift. That was a fun little adventure.

From there we headed to the beach. A little sunshine, a nice beach, beautiful mountains in the backdrop, and general time for some relaxation and shenanigans. And of course Dawn and Katherine went on their traditional 20mile walk while the rest of us played around on the beach. We had a rousing game of throw rocks at sand piles going on, something you definitely didn't want to miss.

Because we've got a brewer and a wine-maker in the group, and because we are who we are, there was always some kind of fun to be had with some kind of alcohol close by. BUT, because we were all in a new place, we made sure to sample the local fare. Of course that also means stopping at pretty much every brewery we came across. Oh yeah it was fun.

That night and the two (I think) nights after that we crashed, well, parked the van, at Sam's parents place. It was perfect. A nice cozy spot in the field, friends, food, fun, perfect times just hanging out with everyone. AND WE SAW MOOSE!!!!!!!! ZOMFG MOOSE IN LIVE THEY WERE THERE I SAW THEM.

As penance for our stay, we had to do some yardwork pulling rocks from the ground in the morning. No sweat, everyone pitched in to help out while Katherine just kinda played around on the tractor. Just kidding, but she was digging the photo op.

Our adventure for the day - Homer. Was an awesome little excursion down to the small town, and coincidentally also to North America's Westernmost Roadway. But Homer was really cool to walk around and explore. We got breakfast at this tiny little crepe cafe, walked around all the shops and stores and boardwalks, ate a few things here and there, grabbed a beer at the Salty Dawg Saloon, and I personally had a great time walking around and enjoying the day with everyone.

Another night of good fun with the group out in the pasture, drinking, hanging out, and having a merry old time.

The next day, our gang started its slow dwindling down, as Ryan and Helen had a flight out, and Kat and Laura had to go get a car to hang out for a bit longer. But, all said and done we headed back towards Cooper Landing and went on a nice little hike up Russian River. Saw some salmon jumping around, wandered up a gorgeous valley, saw a big lake, it was a beautiful hike for a grey day.

Any night with a campfire is a good night. And we had a good night hanging out at camp, eating some grub, chatting it up, and enjoying the beautiful place we were hanging out at.

Sadly, we had to say adios to Kat and Laura, as they were the next group to fly out. The group size dwindling, and Zack not feeling too hot, Colin, Dawn, John, and I hiked up a peak just outside of 'downtown' Cooper Landing and were treated with an amazing view of the whole valley. It was a slog, but we all made it up, had some victory beers at the top, and it was fantastic.

Down and reunited with Zack, we got back just in time for it to start getting a little wet in town. Sensing the cold and wet, we headed over to the Sunrise Inn for a little bit of a warm-me-up drink. I also had THE BEST bowl of clam chowder I've ever had in my entire life. It was thick, flavorful, and just down right amazing. After that though, we hung out there, had some cheap beer, played some pool, and got to pet the bar-dog.

That night, we headed back to a campsite, posted up, stayed dry, Zack cooked some delicious dinner, and had another night of comfy camaraderie. The next morning we were back on the road, but stopped again at the Sunshine Inn for some breakfast before jetting out of town.

From there it was back up the highway we came towards Anchorage. Not to just blow on through, we made a detour and took the tunnel through to Whittier to check the little anomaly of a town. Needless to say, it was well worth it.

For those that are unfamiliar, Whittier is a tiny town in Alaska that is kinda cut-off from the rest of Alaska. It's a deep-sea port, so very helpful and full of history there, but the only connection is a one-lane tunnel that is used for trains that every now and then pass through, and cars can pass on through to the other side. Definitely a cool place. It's super mountainous and gorgeous.

Well, we drove through the tunnel, parked, and then started exploring the town. Honestly, it was all really scenic and quite cool. Checked out some shops, walked around the marina, then went and walked up to the actual town, aka the former barracks building that houses most of the town's residents, the grocery store (shoutout to Colin's new Filas), and then an abandoned building on the edges of town. It was a great little place to walk around and enjoy the history and ambiance.

But, with a late-day deadline for Anchorage, and a good time walking around, we jumped in the car and barely made it in the next shuttle back through the tunnel. Overall a worthy excursion to Whittier, no doubt.

We stopped at a viewpoint after the tunnel to check out yet another glacier and its beautiful setting and backdrop. Of course, it was just gorgeous.

Our group, never one to go too long without some kind of liquid refreshment, we headed a short ways up the road to Girdwood and posted up at the Girdwood Brewing Company for a bit, enjoying some beer and a nice patio.

After that though, we had to drop off Dawn and John at the airport for their flight back home. But before then, we went to Gumbo House, and I had the best Po'boy of my entire life. Alaska's a kinda weird place to achieve that, but seriously. It was amazing.

Now, it was down to the Three Musketeers - Colin, Zack, and I. Because I'd forgotten my credit card at the brewery (I did that earlier in the trip at the barbecue place...), we headed back towards Girdwood but had a few stops and camped out along the way. It was a gorgeous night, so we went and poked around on the railroad tracks next to the highway before finding a rest stop to setup shop for the night in, and playing cards and drinking wine in a van down by the river. It was awesome.

A great night's sleep got us ready to head back to Girdwood. Before we could get my credit card though, we headed up the tram at the ski area there to go wander around the mountains. It was a beautiful day for it, so we enjoyed some free roaming at the top, cooked up some smores on the peak, goofed around a bit, and had a dandy 'ole time. Followed that up by a snack at the bar, and then back to Girdwood for another round. A helluva day to send things off right.

Shenanigans thoroughly achieved with our steed, we headed quickly to the rec center for a bit of a repack and rinse, then took the van back. Again, huge shoutout to Get Lost Vans for the amazing vehicle we were able to use while up there!

We all had some time to kill before our flight, so we headed back to the Bear Tooth Pub for some food and beer to pass the time. Colin was the first to leave, and it was sad to see the lovely ginger off to his flight. But Zack and I still had some time to kill, so we walked over to Chilkoot Charlies for some cheap beer, pool, and random stand-up night. It was a dive bar, but an awesome one at that.

Then, we eventually had to grab our bags and head to the airport. And this was easily the best, most fun airport experience I'd ever had. Continuing the binge of the evening, we got checked in and through security, and headed to one of the first bars we saw. Fuck it, vacation, right? So we had a couple cocktails, were being rowdy but not too rowdy, having a damn good time of it all. Eventually I see the clock edging towards my departure, so we paid and started walking. Well, the same kinda shit happened with my train experience in Dresden, and I rolled up to the gate right as they were about to shut the door. Thankfully they didn't, and Zack and I did our little shooter of tequila to send off the trip on a drunkenly fantastic note.

That trip was easily the best, most fun trip I'd been on in a while. Having so many great people together to explore, hang out, get into trouble with, and just enjoy each other's company was absolutely amazing. I'm really blessed to be friends with all of these folks, and it was truly an awesome experience to share some great memories with all of them on this adventure!!! We need to do something like this again, and soon.

Goat Rocks

Not one to rest or anything, the day after I got back, some buddies from college were in town, and they were up for some backpacking. So, naturally, I was in. Goat Rocks is where we headed, and it ended up being beautiful (no surprise there).

It was Alex, Drew, Ben, and I, we carpooled up to Washington and spent an hour on logging roads just to get to the trailhead. It was pretty packed, but we suited up and hit the trail.

Unfortunately, it was pretty grey, rainy, and wet that day. The trail was pretty, but we didn't quite get the full experience with the weather we had. Despite that, it was a nice hike up to Goat Lake, where we found tent spots, posted up, and hung out and drank to stay away from the cold.

It was a cold, windy, and wet night. But when we woke up, it was absolutely perfect. Just beautiful. Blue skies, no clouds, sun was out, we hit the jackpot. So we packed up, explored around the campsite for a hot minute, and then hit the trail. Damn we got lucky.

At some point, we got to a bit of a junction, and Drew's feet were killing him. He decided to jet down to the car to find some relief, but Ben, Alex, and I dropped our packs and hiked up to the peak nearby. It was a quick-ish jaunt up, but we were hit with some absolutely gorgeous views of the entire area, from Hood, to Adams, and Helens and Rainier. It was breathtaking.

After the beautiful views at the top, we slowly made our way back to the car. But actually we made pretty damn good time. Drew was patiently there waiting for us, so we packed up, hit up a bar in Packwood, and then made the quick trek back to Portland. Every time I go backpacking, I ask myself why I don't go more often. It's always a relief and joy to get out into nature and just soak it all in. I love living in the PNW.

More Biking!!!

After Goat Rocks, I had a bit of a normal period (which would be rare in the proceeding months). I filled this with biking during smog alert days, and mountain biking! That's when I had my first big crash of the summer. I rented a demo bike at Sandy Ridge, and the dirt was really loose. I ended up landing a jump but went into some roots and fell on top of the bike. It didn't end well.

Those took a while to heal, but they added themselves nicely to my scar collection on my left leg! Other highlights, finishing up and using my road bike around town (though that happened earlier in the year I think), putting up some artwork from my travels, including a couple pieces from Alaska, some hanging out with the family, and more biking!

Before heading off for my next trip, I ended up taking apart my mountain bike to get all of the suspension fixed. Stripped it right down to the frame (kinda) and sent everything off.

Off to Deutschland, Part I

Working for a German company on my project, I sometimes I get the chance to head back to Deutschland for work. This trip was a quick-ish one. I got to go over for some fun driver training (driving around on wet pads and targeted braking and drifting and such) as well as some meetings. Thankfully, this afforded me some time back in Karlsruhe to check back in with the city I used to live in, see the light show on the Karlsruhe Castle, meet up with some old colleagues, my old manager, some old friends, and just have a grand ole time. I even got to go to a Wine festival in Heilbronn. That was yummy, and has provided me the only wine glass I possess.

More Biking (and mishaps)

Got back from Germany and shortly thereafter had my parts back to reassemble the mean green machine. I love working on bikes. After a few nights and brews of tinkering and wrenching, the 'ole trusty steed was ready to rock and roll, and looking pretty damn fine to boot!

Mmmmmmm, what a beaut! Rearing and ready to go, I headed out with my buddies Andy and Andrew and hit the trails. My bike was feeling soooooooooo good, like buttah. Thankfully Unfortunately my head wasn't in it, so I wasn't riding so hot.

Before the summer started, I set a goal for myself to hit a line of gap jumps and drops before the end of summer. The previous time I hit the first five features and was super pumped and proud! Naturally, I had to try for a little more that day. Let's just say, it didn't end well...

I got the first two features, but scrubbed too much speed into the third and rammed right into the landing of the jump. Fuck that hurt. My body flew over the bike, and my head slammed right into the wood. My hands took a huge brunt of the fall and hurt like hell, and naturally my legs got scratched up too. Adding to the scar accumulation for the year. It took a while to recover from this one, but I eventually came out the other end ok. My thumb still hurts from that in January though.

Bald Mountain with the Brother In Law

Ever since my sister and brother-in-law moved out the West Coast, Best Coast, they've been slowly getting back into the woods. My BiL had never been backpacking, and was super eager to change that! So I finally had a free weekend, and we made a nice adventure out of it by heading down towards Ramona Falls near Mt. Hood and doing a little loop in the neature. It was pretty. There were some fall colors, some wildlife, a perfect lunch spot looking out on Mt. Hood, and a little bit of clouds. Definitely a great first trip for Aaron!

DC with Peewee!

A common theme of the fall was work sending me all over the place. This time, I had to head out to DC for a workshop I was hosting. Don't ask me how that works... But the big benefit of that was I got to squeeze in a visit to Peewee! Hot damn! Of course the visit included a visit to the best sub shop in town.

Then we took those subs to the National Arboretum to walk around, check out some monuments, and even take part in the random spicy pepper fair. Twas delicious and, of course, spicy.

We also went to a bar to watch the Buckeyes win and enjoy some whiskey and food, then snagged some ice cream from Jeni's (shoutout to C-Bus!) to make mamma jealous. :-)

The next day, she and I got up and walked just out of her door to Eastern Market. Just like last time, we hit up the breakfast burrito place and it was deeeelicious. Did a little walking around Eastern Market, and then headed towards the mall. We rented some scooters and did a good bit of buzzing around the place, enjoying the beautiful day.

Eventually we ended up at the Jefferson Memorial so she could fill her corgi fancy at the "million corgi march". It was about as interesting as you could imagine.

We met up with her friend, did a little more walking around, and then eventually headed up to a music fest! I somehow stumbled upon the fact that Misterwives :-O was going to be in town the same time I was, so naturally I had to go. And I roped Peewee and Katherine into joining! It was an AMAZING time. Great to catch up and hang out with those two, and of course Misterwives was UNBELIEVABLE!!!

The next day, we three plus Katherine's roommate packed into Stella (Peewee's car) and headed out to the Shenandoahs! We headed down there, enjoyed the beautiful drive, stopped at the ranger station and gift shop, and then went on a short hike to get a nice lookout over the area. It was definitely flat compared to the PNW, but a very beautiful area!

After that though, I unfortunately had to work. The workshop went well. It was small, but fairly productive. And we got to go to a nice restaurant for dinner one of the nights. And then before I ditched town, I met up with Peewee and Kat again for dinner at one of the DC staples. I forgot the name, but it was pretty good.

Quick trip to CA

Along the theme of driver training stuff, I got to go through the driver training program for automated vehicles down in California. That was pretty cool. It was a quick trip though, but I was still able to fit in some time to see my boy Zack. And eat some good food, aka Rosalina's breakfast burritos. Oh yeah. That and the falafel place. Benefits of having lived down there and having a best friend who kinda knows the area. Kinda nice too, because the morning I flew out, we grabbed breakfast at a nice little diner to try and hash out our next travel plans. Then when I got back, I got to go on a nice little walk with Mommy. :-)

Off to Deutschland, Part II

Not more than a few hours after I landed back from CA, I had to unpack and repack for yet another trip to Germany. This time I was off for four weeks of fun, including some hiking, mountain biking, a wedding, and of course some work. It was going to be a full trip!

Before I could even get back off the ground though, they canceled the first leg of my flight, which set me into a bit of a scramble. Things worked out, and I had an interesting connection, but I made it over there just in time to get to Koblenz for the last bit of driver training I was scheduled for. This one was fun, as we were trying to get to the limits of vehicle dynamics, and had the outriggers for some of the exercises. Fast forward, I passed, and had a fun and insightful time going through the training!

After that, I headed down to Stuttgart for a couple days of work. The weekend was booked with a nice little jaunt in the Alps with some colleagues. Thankfully, I had a car, so I picked up Aimee and Julia, and we headed down to Austria, Elbigenalp to be specific. Aimee got lucky and was able to find three bunks at one of the huts. So we headed down, grabbed some pre-hike soup, and then headed up the hill, slowly getting into more and more snow. It was a beautiful place.

We made it up to the hut, got a little comfy, but headed back into the snow to wander around for a bit hoping for a break in the clouds. Luckily, we kinda sorta got a small break and saw some peaks off in the distance, but it was really faint. Regardless, we had a nice little time wandering around before heading back to the hut for the night. Dinner was delicious, and we cozied up and sat around for a bit before nodding off for the night.

Sleep hit me like a ton of bricks, and the morning was super relaxing. Eventually we mobilized and made our way back down the mountain. Twas another beautiful hike down the way we came.

Once we got back to the car, we continued our nifty little adventure. A short ways down the valley was a big 'ole suspension bridge. So we kept our hiking boots on and wandered down thataway.

Still with a good bit of daylight left, our journey led us over a really gorgeous mountain pass on the way over to Liechtenstein. The pass road was just gorgeous, and the clouds abated for a bit to be able to stop and soak in some scenery.

Shortly thereafter, our trip got into the tiny country of Liechtenstein! Weirdly enough, that was my third time being there, but it was nice to be able to show Aimee and Julia the castle and the view of the land. There's not a ton to see there, but we tried to get into the castle. The royal family didn't answer :-(

From there though, we headed back to Stuttgart. A great weekend though with great company, and a great way to get a little breath of fresh Alps air!!!

That week was pretty short, as there was the national German holiday that Thursday, and everyone was out of the office on Friday. Work went by quickly, and soon enough it was a day off. Thursday was low-key. I went for a run up to one of the beautiful lookouts in the area, overlooking Untertürkheim. It was a slog; I'm really out of shape.

Friday morning I got up early and at em and drove down to Freiburg. I'd brought my mountain biking gear minus my bike, but was ready to ride. Got to the store shortly after they opened, snagged a bike, and headed to the trail. Freiburg's got a good number of trails, but I ended up doing just one of them on repeat. It was an awesome trail, with a good bit of variation, and I had a great time. The ride up was a slog, 4.5km and 500m vertical, but it was well worth it. I even randomly meeting Patrick and Michael, both of which live in Stuttgart, and one is married to one of my colleagues from my development program. What a small world!

Unfortunately, I was dying of hunger when I was done, and was on a bit of a clock to get back to Stuttgart. The ride was fantastic, and I dropped the bike back off at the store, grabbed some heavenly döner, then a coffee and cookies before hitting the road. I got a parking ticket, which was a bummer, but made good time getting back to Stuttgart. Why the rush? I had a ticket to the VfB Stuttgart football match that night! My friend Yann had a few college buddies in town for the weekend, so he let me tag along to the game and shenanigans. It was a great time! Stuttgart played terribly, but as always, it was great to watch all of the antics and sport stuff at the stadium. After the game, we snagged some beers at the local sports club just outside the gate and made friends with some random friendly folks, before I made the short walk back to my hotel.

The next day was extremely lazy. I grabbed some mett and other breakfast stuff and headed to Yann's place to sit around and watch football all day. The mett was delicious, and we had a really chill time just doing nothing. A great way to spend the day.

Then on Sunday, Aimee, Julia, and I drove out to the Pfalz to meetup with my good buddy Christoph and one of his former colleagues. We had a hike planned out and had a great day with the fall colors and grey sky to get outside.

The day was really gorgeous, and filled with good conversations about philosophy, psychology, work, what's going on in our lives, and more. Definitely a great way to spend the day.

That was followed up by another week of work. Due to some of the stuff I'm working on, I had to head over to Munich for a quick meeting on Friday. Luckily enough, I was able to take the train and enjoy the ride. It was a pretty easy trip over, pretty relaxing with that reserved seat in an ICE life, and I eventually made it to the office. It was a pretty quick meeting, discussing some stuff and planning for a training module in 2019, and soon enough we'd set up a plan and I was on my way. Not to get out of town too quickly, I wandered around a bit of down town and continued to enjoy the fall weather. And, throwing back to my very first time in Munich with the Z-Z-Tobes, about 6 years ago, I headed over to the Augustiner Brewery before hitching a ride back to Stuttgart.

Early that next morning, I pickup up Philip and his girlfriend, and we jetted up the Autobahn to a tiny little dorf just outside of Dortmund. Why, you ask, would we find ourselves there for the weekend? To celebrate Florian and Katja's wedding!!! Florian is a friend from my development program, and through beers and a quick visit from my time in September, he'd let me know that him and his now-wife planned their wedding and they invited me along! Naturally, based in the states, it's a bit tough to work that in. But thanks to enough work to do in Germany, I was able to plan on being in the country to celebrate with them!

So there was a whole crew of us from CAReer that were able to make it up for the weekend to celebrate. We all intermittently arrived throughout the afternoon on Saturday, and eventually we slowly made our way down to the reception. One kinda weird thing for me, the celebration included no ceremony, as that was done a little more intimately within just the families at the courthouse. Then, the legal stuff out of the way, it was time to party! It was a fun reception, full of great food and fun. At some point they played a game where Katja and Florian had to sit up front. Behind them, a screen would state something on it (for example, childhood friends of the bride or groom), and then the party-goers who belonged to that statement would have to stand up, and then Florian and Katja had to guess what tied those people standing up together. It was a good time. Then, gulasch soup to end the night. Omnomnomnoms.

Another quick week of work, and then I was jetting back home, just in time for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

Another short week of work got me to the four day weekend that is Thanksgiving. I love short work weeks. The day before Thanksgiving, I made it a short day and ended up getting my Opting Outside in early with a long wander through Forest Park. It's pretty sad how rare I make it over to Forest Park, especially considering how close and how huge it is! We had a beautiful walk through the colors, and I was totally wiped by the end of it thanks to not eating enough beforehand. But, afterwards we replenished at a new (I think) brewery I spotted on the way out, Sasquatch Brewing Company. Some cards, a delicious beer, and a fantastic sandwich, a killer way to wrap up a fantastic day.

The rest of the weekend was filled with food and family. My sister, BiL, and nephew made their way down from Tacoma for the weekend. And for Thanksgiving, we just chilled at my mom's to eat and hang out, but did actually make our way outside for a short walk at Powell Butte.

Friday, everyone minus my mommy (she had to work) headed downtown to OMSI. The main goal was the Tutankhamen exhibit, but my little nephew was having a grand old time wandering around and exploring all of the exhibits! And being a goofball at a coffee shop.

The rest of the weekend was pretty lowkey, watching football (GO BUCKS!) and hanging out at home. I finally lit a fire and got back in the kitchen, and made a killer breakfast hash. It's my new favorite breakfast.

Oh Beardless Me...

I'm sure of you know this, but for Movember, I put together a little fundraiser to shave off my facial forest. Long story short, we raised about $500, which turned into $1000 because my company matched all donations up to $500 during the month of October. Hot Damn!!! Well, my crew from CBYX put in a good effort to win it out right and get the chance to shave it off themselves. But, the wild card that he is, my former coworker Josef came in late with the dark horse bid to win the rights. So, once we were both back in town from Germany after Christmas, it all came off... And in one piece...

Let's just say it was a very interesting experience, getting it all hair-sprayed together and then cut off in one piece. That fits Josef's M.O., but it was a fun and interesting process nonetheless.

Additionally, I gotta say, after not being freshly shaved for over three years, I definitely thought I looked a little uglier clean-shaven than I do. I was surprised to say that I looked pretty ok without a beard. Good to know I've got options.

Off to Deutschland, Part III

No December is complete without another work trip to Germany, right!?! Wrong. But thankfully this time wasn't all work. One week of work and a completely bullshit "workshop/townhall", and one week of kicking around in the Alps. That'll do for a way to wrap up two months out of the last four months of the year spent in Germany.

The biggest bonus of this trip though, the Christmas markets. Oh fucking yeah. Glühwein for days. I got a few trips in and a good number of Glühweins down the hatch to celebrate. I love Christmas markets, and the Glühwein (mulled wine), and the Stockbrot (stick bread, essentially dough wrapped around a stick and baked), and all of that good stuff.

I also learned at a team breakfast that Friday morning that the Danish are really good at chocolate sprinkles, and that you can't buy them in Germany. Crazy.

That Saturday, I took the quick train ride up to Heidelberg to meet up with a couple of friends that I'd met in the Philippines, Alex and Hugo. I'd communicated with Alex the whole time to set up the rendezvous, so Hugo was completely surprised when they showed up! So lovely to see such genuine and friendly people. :-)

We walked around town, took a jaunt down the Philosopher's way overlooking the town, and then rounded it out with a trip to the Christmas Market. So great to see them. It was brief, but always lovely.

That night upon returning to Stuttgart, I went to my buddy Eli and his family's house to hang out for a bit. He and his family are over there on an expat contract, and it's been cool to stop in and visit with them the couple previous times I'd been over there. Super friendly and welcoming people, and a real hoot to hang out with!

The next morning though, it was off to Switzerland. My new friend Chrisse came and picked me up at the hotel super early amidst a few inches of new snow that hit Stuttgart that night. No sweat though, as we made good time of getting out of there and getting down to the mountains.

We ended up making really good time down there, and got to Laax just in time to get in a half day on the slopes. There, we met up with Thomas and Alex who'd beat us down there by just a hair, and we got to shredding. Holy cow, what an awesome mountain.

Our lodging was at this awesome place called Boarder Camp. It was in a village a bit away from the lifts and up high on the hillside, but the owner, Jambo, along with his girlfriend/wife Diana and the cook Dieter, provided an absolutely fabulous experience! Great breakfast, with some absolutely delicious dinners from Dieter, it was the perfect place to stay, hang, and enjoy the area.

James showed up that night, and the group was complete. Every night was filled with the delicious dinner from Dieter, and usually some card games or good ole conversation around the tables. As I said, it was a great place to be. Over the next couple of days, we hit the slopes.

Unfortunately, the new boots I'd gotten were way too small and caused my feet to go numb as soon as I tightened them up. That was a huge bummer, but I did my best to not let it ruin the time. On one of the days, I ditched the board altogether and ended up going snowshoeing on a part of the mountain that was still closed. I ran into (not literally, thankfully) some of the snow cats grooming the runs and getting ready for opening, climbed to one of the peaks close by (and think I was able to see to the other side of the Alps, aka to the flatland towards Germany, might be crazy though), and had a whole area completely and serenely to myself. That was absolutely beautiful.

James and I ended up staying an extra night in case an extra bit of snow came down, but it didn't. That night we went out to some small restaurant and had some of the best pizza I've ever had, along with a killer dessert. But on Friday morning we got all packed up in our tiny rental car and made our way back to Stuttgart for the night, before flying back home to the States just in time for Christmas.

Christmas

Not even 24 hours at home after landing, and my mommy and I were off to Tacoma to meet up with the whole family! What did we do for Christmas? A whole lot of lounging around. Peewee made some UHHHMAZING christmas cookies, little Jeffrey got his first experience tubing with all of us at Snoqualmie (we tried to get kicked out on our last run, but the attendants didn't give a shit), I made Tacos al Pastor from Zack and I's time in Mexico (they turned out ok, but I've got some room for improvement), then for Peewee's birthday we took the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle, walked around downtown and the market for a bit, and polished off a bucket 'o seafood at the Crab Pot. That was deeelicious.

After traveling so much at the end of the year, I was pretty stoked to have the last few days of the year at home in my own bed. I wasn't feeling super hot, so I ended up just chilling out for most of it. But, that included a Winterhawks game (it's nice to be able to walk to the stadium from home), and a short hike. I wanted to snowshoe, but there wasn't enough snow on the ground to really warrant it. Either way, it was still gorgeous!

That's a wrap for 2018.

Goals and Stuff

When I was living in Japan, and it's happened every so often since then, I went through a weird patch of not feeling like I was doing anything with my life. Yes, a little weird considering the circumstances, but that's me. So, to try and push myself in the right direction, I set up some goals that I meant to complete by the end of 2018. Those three years have come and gone, and I got some of my goals done, but not a lot.

That being said, I'm super pumped for the top two especially, and all four in general that I achieved. Paying off my student loans 6 months ahead of my goal and just 5 years after getting out of school, now that's just nuts.

And traveling to New Zealand has only made my desire to go back and potentially move there just that much stronger. It's such a beautiful country, with so much nature to soak up, it's impossible to get it all. I can't wait to go back.

Well, I'm back into one of those funks re-thinking my life, and it's good timing, as it's helping me put together my next set of goals. It's not finalized yet, but here's some stuff I'm planning on working on over the next three years!

Time for me to get to it!!!

The Single Life

One reason I'm into one of those down-on-myself slumps is because I'm single. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of things I enjoy and make full use of being single. But it's been a minute since I've had an actual relationship, and I kinda miss it.

There's a lot I could say to this effect, and it all floats through my head on a daily basis. But, I'm not sure why, but I'm hesitant to share all of it here. Either way, to summarize it up, thanks to an amazing human being and fantastic friend named Roland, my mind got whipped back into realizing that putting pressure on myself to find a relationship is foolish and fruitless.

Yeah, if I had a partner/girlfriend, I'd be ecstatic. Problem is, I wouldn't necessarily have improved on anything in my own life. That's no good. What good am I not contributing the best version of me possible to a relationship? No dice.

So, as much as I want a partner in crime, an adventure buddy, and a best friend, I gotta focus on me. I need to grow, to learn, to explore, to adventure, to do the things that I want to do and learn and enjoy. Through that, who knows what'll happen. Likely that nothing will, but at least I'll have worked on and improved on things that are important to me.

What's Next?

At this moment in time, I can't remember the last point in time where I had so little planned and coming up. There's some stuff, but there's nothing big on the horizon, and that feels really weird to me.

Middle of the month I head back down to Sunnyvale for a few days to check out some potential test sites and run another workshop. Then, Zack is flying back up with me and Colin is coming down from Seattle, and we're heading down to Corvallis to go partake in the Dark Beer Fest at Ryan's Brewery! That'll be a damn good time for sure.

Then in the middle of February, Colin, Zack, and I are all flying out to frigid Minnesnowta to hang out with the bride and groom, Chelsea and Sam! This is also going to be an absolutely awesome time. I mean, look what Chelsea already has planned for us...

Right now though, I neither have a work trip planned or on the books for Germany, nor a big fun trip. Zack and I had plans for June, but due to some classes he has to take, we won't be able to hold our originally planned adventure for Portugal, Spain, and Morocco. So, that's leading me to think of what I could do during the first half of the year.

The leading idea - fly into La Paz, bike down the Most Dangerous Road, check out Lake Titicaca, then pop into Peru to hike to Machu Picchu, mountain bike near Lima, and do a bunch of other cool stuff in between. Putting some feelers and doing a bit of research to see how this idea plays out. It's looking like the most likely, but still open to other ideas.

But yeah, that kinda sums up what's on the horizon. We'll see if I get some kind of normalcy here in Portland for a bit before I keep getting schlepped here and there for some work stuff.

Toodles!!!

Original Publish Date: January 4th, 2019