Columbia River Gorge

What a great way to spend the last day of 2011 by going to the Gorge with Cody and Bear. It's less than an hour drive from where we live on the West side of Portland. On our drive Cody got his first glimpse of Mt.Hood since it had been raining every day during his week stay during the holidays. We decided to take the historic route along the Gorge.

Our first stop was at the Wahkeena Falls which means most beautiful. At a height of 242 feet this waterfall was absolutely gorgeous. We hiked up to get a closer look and got drenched! Here are some photos.

Our next stop was Multnomah Falls. At a height of 620 feet it is the 2nd highest waterfall in the country. Because of all the rain that week this waterfall was really flowing. The sound it was making was so loud and powerful. They say that during the summer the crowds are so thick it's not worth going to so I don't expect so many people to be there on a cold December day. We made our way through the crowds and hiked up past the bridge to find a more secluded area to get a real feel for the waterfall. Bear got soaked at this location, I'm guessing he loved it. We will be spending our Summers camping and hiking the Gorge. If you come visit me I promise to take you here!

Portland with Love.

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to blog more. I have this lovely blog set up and never use it. Since I did move to Portland I feel like I have more to share. New restaurants, new scenery, and new people. Let's get one face out there, the people in Portland are the friendliest people I have met. I will get more into that at another time. The pure excitement I have every day is something new. I get chills driving to work and seeing Mt. Hood peaking out from the buildings. Cody and I are going to theGorge tomorrow to see what it has to offer. Here is a website on it, please enjoy.I will post about the Gorge on New Years day so come back and check it out! Have a very happy New Year. 2012 has a lot to offer.

Ironman AZ

Please watch this video. A good friend of Cody and I from Ohio State competed in the Ford Ironman in November and his sister Becca put this video together. You will notice a certain someone in the video :) She did an amazing job. I miss the Murray family!

http://vimeo.com/34182998

Photos

Bear up North.

Bear loves the water, but refuses to get his entire body into the water.  Here we are playing at the Blue Ridge Reservoir in Northeastern AZ. Enjoy!

Desert Flowers

I moved to Arizona last May, well the end of May.  I guess I got to miss all of the Desert Flowers in bloom, this goes with everything else in bloom.  I've never had "allergies" until I experienced April in Phoenix.  My eyes water, my nose runs, my throat resembles a desert, I'm in misery! I guess it's partially my fault because I continue to put myself outside on most days.  I went to the Desert Botanical Gardens last week and saw the most amazing things in bloom I have ever seen.  The next day was not so good for my allergies but it was totally worth it.  Whoever said the desert is just sand and nothing colorful is sorely mistaken.  I've added a ton of new pictures to my photoblog, so check it out.

Bear turned one the other day! I played a special song for him by 50 cent called "It's your birthday", he found it comical.  Cody is doing great, he has been riding his bike to work these past few days.  If only I could do that, but it would take me over an hour since my work is 15 miles away. We will be heading up to the Grand Canyon in a few weeks to take Cody's mother up to see the most amazing hole in the Earth.  This will be my 4th time in under 16 months.  It's crazy because I have met people who have lived their whole life in this state and have yet gone. I am going to take full advantage of this while I live here, why sit around on your days off and "relax" when you could be "relaxing" viewing some of the most beautiful sights in the country! People always ask me how do you have time to go all of these places and money to do all of these things? It's simple, on my days off we choose to drive 3 hrs north and experience new things and the outdoors is free, well in most cases.  Our National Park pass does expire at the end of May so we are going to continue to get use out of it.  

I finished reading the book "Into Thin Air".  It's a story about a reporter for Outside magazine who went up with a guiding group to Mt. Everest, the highest peak in the world standing at 29,029 feet.  I couldn't put this book down, I laid in bed with it at night until my eyes could physically not stay open.  It's the most exciting, nerve wrecking book I have ever picked up.  It was the worst disaster in Mt. Everest history and when it was all said and done 8 people lost their lives on May 11, 1996. Please please read this book if you are looking for one to read.  Sometimes you wonder why people put their lives at risk to do something that seems so stupid but when it comes down to it we all want to do something where it pushes our limits and the risk of death is not a factor.  Would I climb Mt. Everest? No, but there are a ton of other mountains I would climb. I would love to become a more serious climber and Cody and I are thinking about getting into rock climbing.  We have both done it a few times but it's always inside on a rock climbing wall.  Anyways, I hope all of you have had a wonderful April and are excited about May! I know I am. 

March 7th

After work I decided to go to Papago Park and do two workouts.  Here is one of them. The weather is in the high 70's and very windy.  It's going to be in the mid 80's by the end of the week! I just learned how to edit videos with music, very addicting!  Oh and I'm using a rock I found to do all of my squats, who needs a gym!