Category Archives: Random stuff

Not adventures :)

Nov4

A bonfire, a birthday, and a river

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Saturday, 21-Oct-2023


It’s been absolute ages since I’ve hung out around a fire, swapping stories and getting to know new people. The last time was… I’d have to say BCEP, earlier this year? In the beginning of April?

Whoof. Too long.


I arrived at the parking lot late, having accidentally set my GPS to the wrong side of a river tributary, but thankfully I wasn’t the last to arrive, nor did I miss the sunset. I walked up to the Columbia with a dozen donuts and a handful of fire-color packets, twin gifts for my neighbor whose birthday it was.

It was awesome when Bethan and Courtney invited me along – I know I’m a bit of the oddball in their friends group, so it meant a lot to me that I got the opportunity to join in on their birthday adventure.

It was really fun – and also a great change to further test out the night-photography on the new camera, I’ll freely admit!

Oct29

Not backpacking in the Wallowas, and instead flying a drone in Wilsonville!

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Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – 28, 29, 30, and 31-Sept-2023


Well dang.

My plan for this fall was to do a whole series of backpacking trips – starting with McNeil Point, and culminating in a four-day adventure out in the Wallowas.

I was going to drive out to Joseph, Oregon, on Wednesday after work and stay at a motel near the trailhead. Then, I’d grab as many pancakes as I could eat, then backpack in to Ice Lake! I’d use Ice Lake as a basecamp, summitting The Matterhorn (not the one in Switzerland, that would be too far) and Sacajawea Peak… then trek out and stay overnight again at the same motel before driving back home on Sunday.

It was going to be amazing and I was super psyched…

But then the rain happened.

See, if it was just rain then I’d have been okay. Heck, I’d have been fine if it was snow! But it wasn’t either – it was freezing rain, with the temperatures hovering right in the low to mid 30s. That’s what I call “hypothermia weather”. Or, more simply put, “dying in the backcountry weather”.

Not part of my plans, to say the least, and I ended up cancelling the trip once the weather was clearly not going to change.



Disappointing, to be sure, but that’s part of the adventure of the outdoors, right? “The mountain doesn’t care about you” is the refrain I keep in mind… it’s not that I’m challenging the mountains, or that I’m conquering them. I’m just experiencing them, and making decisions that will let me keep experiencing them for as long as possible.

So I stayed home.

I made delicious meals, went for long walks, and flew the drone around the Willamette river.

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Oct15

A fancy dinner and pretty flowers

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Tuesday, 12-Sept-2023


Nice dinners out are a real treat, you know? Similar to how I’ve been working on slowing down and appreciating the little things in life, I’ve recently been trying to make a point to eat out more, as strange as that may sound, in an effort to appreciate the variety and interesting characteristics of the places I’m in.

Yeah, it hurts my budget a bit… but frankly, I’m positive toward supporting the local flavor. And I’m getting something else for my money, aside from the good feelings from supporting local and the tasty meals that come with it… I’m learning more recipes!

I mean, how many of my favorite dishes come from reverse-engineering meals I’ve had at restaurants, hmm? Exactly – a whole ton of them!

So enjoy a few quick pictures from Jess and my’s wanderings around her neighborhood, ending at a delicious little local Italian spot.