Bend Oregon

i've heard so much about bend oregon. how pretty it was, all the progressive thinking about the environment and health, the extreme sports, the beautiful vistas... it was everything i thought it might be. Matea, shown below, was my roomate during semester at sea. we didn't meet before the trip but hit off immediately. even our birthdays are similar, she's one day older than me. Jetblue flys to portland, but matea lives in bend (3.5 hours south east of portland.) so i rented a car and drove to her. wonderful idea because i had such a great time seeing such beautiful things!


i told tea the only thing i was interested in was a hike so she took me to Tumalo. we hiked 1,350ft in elevation.

shadow... without the dog.

this is the mountain that matea snowboards on in the winter. pretty intimidating.



bend is currently doing some 'controlled burns' so they don't have fires in the dry months. you can see the smoke sit in the valleys.

Mt. Bachelor... looks intense.



another picture of those smokey valleys...

you can see between the trees at the bottom where the ski trails will be in a month or so.

stump





alllmmossttt theeeereeee.



i have to admit, i saw sister do this in a shotbox photo... imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

and me.





and then breakfast.

alright everyone.... back to pittsburgh for the steeler game, then to denver colorado on monday for my last trip.

The Beaches of San Diego

From what i understand, the waves in these beach pics are quite out of the ordinary. they were huge. i've never seen such big waves... maybe 10'-12'. that's very big. that's two randis.

meet jocilyn. i haven't seen this girl in two years, and i now realize my life isn't as full without her in it.

LOVE this one.



<3













fake feet.

fake paws.

fake... whatever you call frog feet.



with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair...













Jocilyn was nice enough to drive me to the long beach airport on the way home from san diego.

we hit up this little spot for breakfast.

i'm making this every morning. potatoes, various veggies, cheese, salsa, other stuff, avacado. delicious.


Now, onto portland.