summer so far

July 29th, 2009Tags: , , , , , , ,
| deeann, friends, fun, life, moving, outside, vacation, weather | chris | 1 comment


this past winter deeann and i decided that we were going to take advantage of this summer and get outside. i would say we have done a pretty good job of that so far. we have several trips already in the bag from the coast, columbia river gorge, backpacking to the tops of mountains, running trails, riding bikes, climbing, and enjoying friends. it has been great fun getting in the sites of the pacific northwest and even in this beautiful city of portland.

since graduating from culinary school at le cordon bleu, portland, i have worked with lovely hula hands (the restaurant i did my internship with) and lovejoy foods (a local catering group). this has been going well, although i’ve been trying to keep working to a minimum so we can keep fun to a maximum. i’m putting ideas together and trying to figure out what i will be doing in the coming months as the summer winds down.

deeann is back to work after taking three months off to rest and enjoy life a bit. she is working at immanuel hospital no longer as a traveling nurse, but on staff. so far, so good. we had such a great time during her three months off, but now look forward to having an income that actually sustains us. ;) thanks honey.

for now, we are enjoying our new home (stay tuned on this news. we moved … just a few miles though, don’t freak) and trying to stay cool as these hot days are boiling us without an a.c. portland has about a week and a half where the heat is crazy hot (around 100-105 degrees) about once a year. next week it should be livable again.

it’s beginning to look a lot like iowa

December 17th, 2008Tags: , ,
| just stuff, portland, snow, weather | chris | 1 comment

this past weekend was the first of a few winter storms hitting the pacific northwest. in the next few hours we will be getting a combination of a few inches of snow, some freezing rain, then some more snow again. this is an event that only happens once a year or so, but usually not this bad. instead of spending money on plows and clean-up vehicles, it’s better for the whole city to shut down for a few days. kinda funny, but understandable.
i just checked the forecast and we are in a winter weather warning of snow and freezing rain from 6am this morning until 10am on thursday. whew.

either way, we are enjoying this familiar weather and look forward to getting up in the mountains for some skiing, snow shoeing, and cross-country skiing.

the weekend – not all was lost

February 19th, 2008Tags: , , , ,
| backpacking, beauty, friends, fun, good stuff, mountains, snow, weather | chris | 1 comment


as most of you know, my neighbor rob and i went snow camping this weekend…or tried. we got up saturday morning and finished organizing our gear to get on the road by 7ish. rob woke up feeling a little funky. that should have been our first clue, but we were determined. the drive to sisters was gorgeous. as soon as we headed west out of salem, we just went up. around 1000 feet the snow patches started and by the time we were at the highest points(around 4500 feet), the snow was a good 6-9 feet above the car.

anyway, we got to sisters and were blown away with the views. the three sisters are just east of this small town and it sits almost within their shadow. not to mention mt. jefferson, mt. washington, and three fingered jack; three other pointed jagged peaks within 30 miles. after having lunch we drove back into the forest towards the park, edging closer to the peaks. by this time, rob is in a funk and not so sure about the rest of the trip, however he was willing to fight. so we parked the car, slapped our packs and skis on and headed up through the forest. this took some serious effort from both of us, not forgetting that rob was feeling low anyways. we found a spot to set-up camp and he decided to crash for a bit while i took off my pack and went for a spin around the area. breath-taking. by the time i got back, the sun was soon setting along with our energy levels. i dug a kitchen out in the snow and cooked up some dinner all the while going back and forth with rob on whether or not we should go home. temperatures dropped very quickly as soon as the sun was west of the mountains. (it should be mentioned that if i were in robs position, i would have wimped out before we left that morning. this is how bad he wanted to be out there!) his lungs were hacking and the aches were setting in. now that the moon was in full form over us, the sky was unbelievable. it had been a very long time since i had seen a sky quite like that.

finally, we decided that it would have been quite possibly the worst night of both of our lives if we were to stay out there. despite the sun being down, we struck camp, packed up, and started our way back down. not a cloud in the sky, the stars staring us down, and the moon giving light, making everything around us a beautiful blue. despite the fact that the sun had been down for 2 hours, everything was plain as day. we safetly made it back to the car and drove the 3 1/2 hours back home.

i would do it 10 times over, just for the drive, the views and the experience hauling a pack with cross-country skis. i had a great time and we’re both still glad we came back that night.

as for the rest of the weekend, deeann and i were able to get out for our own little adventure. since i still had the skis rented from rei and rob & lauren had a set of skis dee could borrow, we decided to go up towards mt. hood for a little go around. again, the drive was beautiful with that giant that just kept getting bigger and bigger.

about an hour later we found ourselves surrounded by snow and ski parks. we took about 3 1/2 hours around government camp and enjoyed the beautiful weather. temps were in the 50s up in the mountains and in the 60s down in portland. just an absolutely perfect weekend! this was deeanns first time on cross-country skis and she did a great job. only a couple spills(no more than me!) and a bunch of laughs. we’ll be out there again very soon.

snow camping

February 14th, 2008Tags: ,
| backpacking, beauty, friends, mountains, road trip, weather | chris | 1 comment

this weekend my neighbor and i are going snow camping in the cascade mountains. tomorrow afternoon i will be running down to rei to pick up my rented backcountry/touring skis and early saturday morning the two of us will pile our gear in the car to make the 3 1/2 hour drive. our destination: the three sisters. up until this week the cascades have been pounded with snow and have had many avalanches. thankfully, this week has been slowly warming up, the mountain roads have reopened, and we are hoping for some packed-down snow. the forecast for the weekend is perfect with temps reaching into the 50s.

we’ll be there through monday morning, cross country skiing and camping around the three volcanos. i’ll be sure to fill you all in on how the trip goes. happy trails! :)

on ice

February 25th, 2007 | just stuff, life, weather | chris | 0 comments

Snowladyburrrrr. we were pummelled with a load of rain and ice, followed by snow last night. it actually made for a great evening. our power went out at 5:00pm saturday and wasn’t back on until 10:00am sunday. it was really kind of nice. no tv, no computer, no lights. just candles, quiet and good company. deeann, ren and i sat around, read books, talked, went outside, took pictures, made a snowlady and enjoyed the calmness that the storm brought.

check out the pictures. good fun, crazy storm.