My buddy KB at Global-trekker has allowed me to post on his site as a contributor. My main focus will be photgraphy, travel and issues relating to such. KB runs a smooth operation and has enormous amounts of travel and photo related items to peruse. I highly suggest a visit to check it out. For me, I’m off camping, boating and fishing this weekend. Probably the last dry weekend of the year so I better take advantage of it. See you(all 2 regular visitors) on Sunday. Hopefully with pics galore.
Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
Global-Trekker
Thursday, September 14th, 2006Detroit Lake Part 2
Saturday, July 15th, 2006I’ve been meaning to write about the camping trip we took to Detroit Lake with three other families from the ‘hood. I’m pretty sure everyone had a good time, I know I did. Did some fishing, smoring and generally goofed off. The funniest part of the whole affair had to be the boat my friend Rob borrowed. A 15 hp powered speedster I tell you. I wish I got a pic of it but I forgot. I dubbed it the “Yugo” because it wasn’t much bigger than that and kind of looked like one. It did the job for us because I caught 4 rainbow trout on the time I went out. Because of this trip I have been bitten by the boat bug. This is what I want now. Gotta to run and take a look at it in person now. Here’s a pic of some of the fish we caught.
Gone Camping
Friday, July 7th, 2006Just finished loading up the rig with our camping gear for a weekender at Detroit Lake. When i get back I’ll have photos and stories to tell, I hope I can remember what happens. See you on Monday.
I love World Cup Soccer…..
Wednesday, June 14th, 2006No really I do. Back in June 1986 I had the opportunity to live in the town of Amboise, France for a month. Ostensibily to learn the French language but with my eye on seeing as much as possible. It was like being an exchange student for a month. I lived with a nice French family in a house behind the Chateau sharing a room with another student from Mexico. On the weekends many of us would take trips to different parts of the Loire Valley. Touring various other Chateaux like Chenonceau and Chambord was a blast. One weekend, another student and I took a train into Paris to take in the sites. Unbeknownst to us, the day we arrived was the same day France was to play Brazil in a quarterfinal match of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. We spent the whole day doing what tourists do. We hit the Louvre, Eiffel Tower and the Champs. By the end of the day we were tired but not that tired to venture out into the parisian night. We found a little bistro near our hostel and decided to eat there. It was a charming little place run by a husband and wife team that sat around 40 people maximum. The place was packed with locals eating and watching the match on a TV. The owner must have brought down from his upstairs apartment because it was perched precariously on the bar. The atmosphere was electric with patrons singing and yelling at every tackle and missed opportunity. It was amazing. The longer we stayed the more and more we got into it, I have to admit I was pulling for the French. Not because I feared being killed by hooligans but because I felt a connection to the French people and their passion for the game. This passion displayed it self as the game ended in a victory for the French. The restaurant went wild with celebration. People I didn’t even know would come up, give you a big hug and kiss you on both cheeks. The owner went to his wine cellar and produced several bottles of champagne, decanting a sizable amounts for all who were there. It was soooo cool. After the celebration settled down, we headed for the Left Bank to see what action could be found. Well, it was astounding. It was as if the entire population of Paris had emptied out into the streets. Nothing but people revelling in victory and national pride. We sat at an outdoor cafe watching the parade go by drinking beers like it was the last I’d ever get. That’s how I got hooked on soccer. You folks who poo poo soccer can bite me, you don’t know what you’re missing.
A little aside to this. Since I work out of my home office I get to listen to XM’s feed of the matches. Some of you are saying “you listen to soccer on the radio? you need to get some help.” It’s actually pretty good, no different than listening to a baseball game.
OTB again, there gonna send me one of those wrap around jackets.
Bloggin from Seattle
Saturday, April 22nd, 2006We’re up in Seattle visiting my wife’s dad and doing the tourist thing. Pike’s Place Market and Pioneer Square are on the agenda. We drove up late yesterday afternoon in time to see the wonderful sunset on Puget Sound. Since the Daffodil Classic is on Sunday and is located outside of Tacoma we can head down early from here instead of getting up at 0′dark thirty and driving up from Portland. I’m alittle nervous about the ride since my training hasn’t been as extensive as necessary. What the heck. This was supposed to be a ride to train for the Reach the Beach ride but it’s going to end up being harder based on the profile they provided. I’m going to do both of the 25 mile loops which equates into almost 1600 feet of elevation gain. I know I can do it because I’ve done harder rides in the past. I’m just hoping the wind is not a factor but you never know. I’m taking a disposible camera with me so I should have some pics soon. The scenery is supposed to be fantastic.
Update** I read the evevation wrong. It’s 2,757 feet for one loop and 2,625 feet for the other, Holy Shiite!
La Connor Washington
Sunday, April 9th, 2006 
The family went this weekend up to the sleepy little hamlet of La Connor, Washington about 1 1/2 hours north of Seattle for the annual Skagit County Tulip festival. Eventhough the weather was less than spectacular, overcast and cloudy, it was a fun time had by all. I took Friday off so we could drive up early and hang out with my Father-in-law at his pad on Alki Beach in West Seattle. Since my wife used to live in Seattle in the late eighties she has some friends we like to visit. We had a great dinner with them at a little Italian place near the University District called Ciao Bella.
The food was tremendous and the company even better. I expected that if I went into the kitchen I would find Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro chowing down at a little table in the corner. The atomosphere had a touch of Goomba, if you know what I mean, right down to the fact it had a mysterious fire awhile back. Well the next morning we set off to see the Tulips, hoping they would be as good as last year. Unfortunately we were about 2 weeks early but there were a few pockets of blooms.
The town of La Connor is a cool place and this particular weekend was the kickoff for the festival so they had live music, jugglers, unicyclists and plenty of local food like CRAB, mmmm.
I was going to bring my bike with the expectation of a nice ride around the tulip fields but at the last moment I decide not to and I regretted it the whold time we were there. Why do you ask? Unbeknownst to me there was the bike rally going on that day. Everywhere I looked there were colorfully donned cyclists peddling around on wonderful roads. I will kick myself everytime I think about this. Damn, Damn, and double Damn.
A Day at the Farmer’s Market
Saturday, April 1st, 2006 
Saturday was the first day the Portland Farmer’s Market opened for the season. Being a decent enough day by Portland standards, read NOT RAINING, the family all decide it would be nice to get out of the house and see what was up. We headed downtown at about 8:30 am to get some breakfast at Mother’s Bistro. Usually this place has a long wait to get seated but we got in rather quickly eventhough the place was packed. The food is always good and consistent, you know that if you order the Eggs Benny it’s going to be ths same as the last time you had it here. We chowed down and set off for Portland State University where the market is staged. The pic to the left is of the Parks Block section near the entrance to the University. I’m not sure who the statue is, somebody famous I’d guess. As we drew closer you could tell many Portlanders had the same idea we did.
We started by traversing up and down each aisle scoping out anything we might need. Plenty of stalls with fresh herbs and vegetables, organic produce and flowers like daffodils and tulips. One of the cooliest things were the dyed Thistle. They were so fluorescent I had to snap a photo to prove it to people. Whenever we go to something like this where people bring their dogs, my daughter has to pet EVERY ONE. We’ve taught her to ask the owners first so she reduces the chance of having her face bit off but even that doesn’t always work. She spooked a Jack Russell and he nipped her but no damage done. One dog we loved was a fat bulldog that couldn’t seem to keep his tongue in his head. He had a cool name which I can’t seem to remember.
The Mad Bomber – Travel Geek
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006My friend Kurt is a traveling fool. This guy goes somewhere cool every year. Here’s a link to his travel site, it’s got some pretty cool stuff, so check it out. BTW, I added him to the blogroll. Hopefully he’ll reciprocate.
