Salmon River Camping

Last weekend, I had the absolute pleasure of helping a friend take his son camping, and I just so happened to find my new favorite campsite in the Mt. Hood National Forest! With directions like "go down this road until you see a rock wall, turn around and go back 1/4 mile, then park and go on the trail until you see a hollowed out tree stump, etc., etc.", I managed to find a very secluded camping area on an "island" in the Salmon River. The site was beautiful and my time there was awesome and chill and quite different from camping with my usual yahoos. The hours were passed with my friend reading to his son by the fire, stargazing though my rain-flyless tent before drifting off to sleep and sitting in the sun in the middle of the river the next morning. Perfect!

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The trail with the hollowed out tree stump leading to camp

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A dry riverbed bordered one side of the "island"

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While a river rushed by on the other side

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Camp

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Sasquatch?

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Having morning coffee
(photo courtesy of RBP)

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It doesn't get any better than this
(photo courtesy of RBP)

Rivers

Portland, the city of roses, is also the city of rivers and bridges. The Willamette (it's pronounced "willamette, damnit") separates the city into the east and west sides while the Columbia separates North Portland from the southern border of Washington. This weekend, I spent a little time on both rivers. On Saturday, while biking the Springwater Trail, my friend and I pulled over, climbed down to the Willamette and spent some time sipping a summer drink while watching its waters flow by. And on Sunday, I made it out for my first sailing trip of the season on the Columbia. It was a great weekend in my favorite city!

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Sitting beside the Willamette

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The Ross Island Bridge (1 of 10 in this awesome city)

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Sailing on the Columbia with Mt. Hood in sight the whole time

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Looking up

A 4th of July Weekend Wedding

This year, for the weekend of our nation's birth, I found myself back in California. The purpose of my journey south was to spend time with family and to celebrate a commitment to love at my cousin Jackie's wedding. It was a beautiful event and a great 4 days in the sunshine of Carlsbad.

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The very picturesque train station in San Diego

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Nicely simple

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My cousin, Genevieve, singing a beautiful rendition of "Love Song" by Elton John

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Humans weren't the only guests

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The bride taking a turn on the dance floor with her dad

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A typical (post-wedding) day at the beach with my niece trying to bury herself in the sand and my nephew helping out

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Driving my Uncle Stan's vanagon getting lost in the memories of places I've been. I can't believe I rode across the nation in this same vehicle when I was a kid in the 80's. Miss you so much it hurts, Uncle Stan!

A Summit of Mt. Hood

This weekend, 11 hardy, adventurous and brave friends left Timberline Lodge to climb up and play on our favorite mountain that sits in Portland's backyard, Mt. Hood. We left out Saturday morning starting at 6,000' and climbed up to Triangle Moraine at 9,000' to camp for the night. After a full day of climbing, setting up camp, boiling and filtering water and eating dinner, we all made for an early bed. A little after 1 a.m. on Sunday, we woke up, geared up and started up the mountain to attempt to make it to the summit. My team of 3 (Jill, Josh and I) stayed together and took a more technical route, climbing up the hogsback, circumventing the Bergshrund crevasse and climbing a pretty steep route called the Pearly Gates. At around 6:30 a.m., approximately 4 hours after taking our first step, we made it to the summit! It was a magical and emotional moment in time and so great to find friends there waiting for us. For the first time since 2007, my original rope team, Bob, Josh, Daniel and I, were standing on the top of Mt. Hood (and some would even say Oregon) again.

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Saturday

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Heading up Saturday morning

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Climbing up and up

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My amazing and beautiful climbing partner, Jill.
Can you believe she climbed this thing (and in good spirits) with a hefty blister on her heel??

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Feeling happy and alive

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After shoveling and stomping a platform in the snow, Bob, Josh, Daniel and I got to work setting up our tent

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Color on white, a place to lay my head for the night

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Taking a picture of Josh taking a picture of camp

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Camp chores: melting and filtering snow for water bottles

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A cozy tent for 4 backdropped by the sunset and Illumination Rock

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Saturday

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Summit day! Jill and I take a break to enjoy the viewright below the Bergschrund
(photo courtesy of JL)

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Looking for some boot pack as I lead the group towards the Pearly Gates for a little while
(photo courtesy of JL)

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A very special sight...the pyramid shadow of the mountain created by the rising sun

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Daniel passes us, heading towards Pearly Gates left, as Josh climbs up Pearly Gates right to get an anchor set for our belay

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Jill and I climbing up the Pearly Gates while on belay
(photo courtesy of JL)

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At the summit, enjoying the view with some happy tears in my eyes

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The original rope team from our climb in 2007: Bob, Josh, Daniel and I. 4 years later, we meet at the summit again. Love these guys!

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Walking the ridge, high on the mountaintop with dramatic and beautiful drop-offs on both sides
(photo courtesy of JL)

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Descending the mountain via the Old Chute
(photo courtesy of JL)

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Jill and I taking a break from down-climbing to chat a little
(photo courtesy of JL)

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Cleaned up and enjoying a post climb celebration party and fire, followed shortly thereafter by a refreshing soak in the hot tub at Timberline Lodge. It was truly an amazing weekend!
(photo courtesy of IC)

A Weekend of the Simple Life

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to live a weekend of the simple life in Aarhus, Denmark. It was a holiday weekend, so I had 3 days off to sleep in, go to the farmers market, sit in the sun, enjoy home cooked meals and view art around the city. Thanks to my Danish friend, Peter, his girlfriend and friends for ensuring that I had a good time.

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An idyllic scene at a skate park in Aarhus where Peter and I enjoyed a cold brew in the sun

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Peter ordering meat at the farmer's market for Beef Bourguignon (which I then learned how to make later!)

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"Sculpture by the Sea" exhibit along the coastline

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Creature from the depths

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Bike corral next to train station

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The art museum, Aros, with the reflection of the late setting sun and the moon

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Peter's girlfriend, Kate, in the rainbow at the top of Aros

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Amazingly detailed and large Big Boy sculpture

Microsoft Tech-Ed 2011

Every year, Microsoft hosts an educational event where technology professionals gather to listen, learn and network. This year Tech-Ed was in Atlanta and I got to go! It was an intense, non-stop week. Days were spent with over 10,000 other participants (of only which less than 1000 were women) listening to guest speakers, taking part in interactive discussions and meeting vendors and other technology professionals. Nights were spent at dinner and attending parties. Not surprisingly, I slept the whole plane ride home!

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The scene for opening day's keynote speech

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Sunset on the Atlanta skyline

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My colleagues from Denmark boxing it out on Microsoft's Kinect
I took down the winner :-)

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The closing party was at Atlanta's aquarium and this guy was all arms

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Giant Manta Rays!

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Big fish