Lies

I'm not at all counting down the days until Lima.

4 Weeks

4 weeks until I leave for Peru. My car has been sold. Things are being put in order, loose ends are being tied. The semester is almost over. I knew it would pass quickly, but this has been faster than I imagined!

Spring Break is Over

My apologies if I left you hanging. Spring Break 2009 continued on into Vancouver, BC. I like Canadians and Canada as a whole, but Vancouver was a treat. They are preparing for the 2010 Olympics, so much of the downtown is under construction, but everyone seems excited and happy in general about life. Vancouver was fabulous. The hipsters were sweet and notably less arrogant that their kin in the United States. I bought a pair of boots that are remarkable enough to write about. Kristina and I tried a local beer. Through luck, we found and ate at the most delicious Lebanese food at Nuba. In fact, it was such an amazing dining experience that I would drive all the way back there to have it all over again. The drinks were, the food was good, the service was good, The prices were good, even the hand soap in the bathroom was good--and by good I mean perfect! I left that restaurant happy, a little tipsy and feeling like I was on point: happy, light, floating. On our walk to the hotel we passed a theater where we stopped, bought tickets, and enjoyed a spontaneous Bonnie "Prince" Billy concert. Vancouver was good and I could have stayed longer.

(John Fluevog Boots)

After the day of Vancouver we caught the ferry to Victoria. The kitsch highlight of Victoria was Miniature World. It was actually terrible, but I had so much fun watching Kristina get all geeked out taking pictures of stuff (then later I was a little jealous because she actually got some interesting shots). Victoria has a beautiful government building where we watched the 38th Parliament in session. When they approved of something they banged their palms on the table in support. We took a ferry to Port Angeles later that day. We did not see any whales.

(The best photo I took at Miniature World)

(Legislative Assembly Building in Victoria)

We stayed in Sequim (pronounced: skwim). In the morning we hiked a little way out the Dungeness Spit. Then we drove on to and up Hurricane Ridge. At the top it was sunny and amazing. We could see the other mountain tops and the snow was shiny and perfect. We journeyed on to Lake Crescent, had a little hike and drove on to find lodging for the night. We arrived to Forks, Washington (Pop. 3,221). We had a hard time finding a room because this tiny town is the home of the book Twilight and lots of 16 year old fans with parents in tow. Happily we paid for our most expensive lodging here, and we stayed in the "Jacob Room" which is "Cottage Three" plus some Twilight posters and fan art. Kristina and I had a good laugh!

(The Dungeness Spit)


(Sign I liked)


(Rock I liked)


(Shipwreck I liked)


(Sign my mom would like)


(View from the top)

From the Jacob Room we headed out to La Push. It was raining. Our first hike took us out to the beach. We climbed over driftwood and watched the waves pound in. There was a pair of Oyster Catcher birds. Our second hike took us to the Hoh Rainforest. We saw elk and heard/felt a grouse. The grouse made such a cray call that it sounded like the vibration of a herd of elk running then stampeding. I thought I was having a stroke until Kristina asked me what the hell I thought that noise was--thank god! By this point int he trip we were exhausted, so we headed back to Portland by way of the coast. It was sunny after we left the rainforest. We came home, tired and happy. It was a good trip.

(Rainy day at La Push Beach #2)

(Paynes grey river silt and green growth)

And then I went back to work. I am selling my car, my possessions, my art and just about everything that will not fit into my luggage (four checked bags, 1 carry-on and 1 personal item). There are three weeks of school and 5 weeks of Portland time remaining (I'll not dwell on this).