...A Sunday evening sunset from my backyard. 

After that my battery was dying, so I didn't take many more pictures. We did have some quality events with a good number of us falling at a stream crossing where the algae was as slick as ice. Then there's the bridge over a deep ravine and pool we were eyeing as a jumping point for that hot day we were all envisioning. By the time we got to the waterfall you see, I had taken off my socks twice to wring them out and try to dry them somewhat. Since I had my shoes off, I stepped out on some wet rocks to get to a rock in the middle of the water where I could take a seat and snap the pic. All six of us loved the ride here and would go back in a heartbeat. Two-thumbs up for a travel experience just outside my front door. 24 / 7 - o u t s i d e ! 

I had to get one of Steve and Mike as well. I think it was shortly after this that we met up with the rest of the crew. 

Another one of the spot with my mug cluttering up the view. It had been way too long since I had hit the trails on bike and I was having a blast. 

That emerald green water sure looks inviting. It was soooo clear and cold. I'm looking forward to making it back out there and taking a dip on a hot day. It was only about 69 for a high that day and we were riding in the very shady woods, so that cold water wasn't quite necessary. 

 

I forgot to turn off the flash here, so you'll have to excuse Steve's reflector strip on the back of his pack. This was one of the early stops at a bridge going over a small waterfall. 

Siouxan Creek Mountain Biking

It seems that I'm having problems with posting pictures through my usual picasa->hello->blogger method, so I'm giving Picasa's "Blog This" a try. Anyway, like I said, it's been a little crazy for me. We made the trip from NC to OR in less than 5 days, starting on Monday and getting to my house on Friday. So it was myself, my dad, and two dogs. Then the movers got here a bit earlier than expected on the following Tuesday and ever since my house has been absolutely overflowing with "stuff." Boxes everywhere and a difficult prospect of finding somewhere to put everything. I've managed to get out of the house a couple of times and unwind though. I went to the Goldfrapp show at the Crystal Ballroom on May 10th and had alot of fun. I was really impressed at how good the show was and how crowded the place was on a Wednesday night. I don't think I'll miss another show of theirs if they come back around. And then there's this picture. Mike (aka "Southside") rode his bike over to my house on Saturday, we drove over and picked up Steve, and drove up to Siouxan Creek in Gifford Pinchot National Forest, which is near Mt. Saint Helens in Washington. The views of the mountain you get on the drive out there while heading up SR 503 make the drive alone worth the trip. We met up with 3 other buddies of Mike after we started pedalling down the trail. 

Of course I made sure we stopped at Multnomah Falls so that Dad could take a peek. Luckily we still had enough sunlight as it was starting to get late in the day. 

A better picture of Dad here. 

The next day I did the drive from Salt Lake straight through Boise and on to Portland. I started taking more pictures once we were stopping along the Columbia. Here's one of many. 

Another pretty cool view while driving down the road. 

The truck and dad with the rockies in the background... 

Seriously strong winds here at the next rest stop were making these flags sound like the roar of a jet engine. It was wild. 

...and a picture of just the monument 

I set my camera on a bench, tried to line up the shot, and set the timer. The picture of us didn't turn out too bad. :) 

We eventually got to Denver and spent the night at another LaQuinta near the airport. This one had an indoor pool and hottub though, which I took advantage of. The next morning we took off again. This time we headed north to get on I80 in wyoming and head west to Salt Lake. This turned out to be a pretty cool section of the drive with some patches of snow on the sides of the roads and high winds which we got to really experience at the rest areas. 

Speaking of long, straight, kansas roads...here's a great example of what can lead to tunnel vision and heavy eyelids. 

Here ya go. We stopped for a rest break here in the middle of Kansas. Talk about a big blue sky and alot of straight road. Anyway, I saw this phone booth sitting the middle of this gravel parking lot next to the service station. Behind it you can see that there is nothing else nearby and if you were to turn around in place you'd not see much else. Something about it struck me and I snapped a pic. 

And here we have Tippit, a schipperke. You might as well name him "Little Devil." High energy, disobedient, difficult to train, and would rather play than eat. He's an absolute handful that I'm trying to turn into a decent frisbee dog. Gotta tell ya...he barks too much! 

A picture of one of the two little troublemakers that are running around my house now. This is Jesse, the pug. He's a little "slow" and overweight, but a really sweet dog. 

Well I got behind a little in posting again, but it's been pretty crazy for the last few weeks. I flew out to NC and drove across the country with my Dad and two small dogs in my Dad's extended cab truck. We started out on Monday, April 24th, and drove to Nashville, TN. We spent the night there in the first of many LaQuinta's since they are so pet friendly. The next day we drove through St. Louis and stayed at another hotel just south of Kansas City. Here we have a picture I took while driving of the arch in St. Louis. 

And I'll be caught up to the present with this final picture of the other thing I accomplished this weekend...getting "started" on trimming these bushes in the front of the house. What you can't see in this picture is two trash cans full of trimmings on top of what is piled there half as high as my car...Alot of work still to be done! 

Here's a pretty good pic from the Death Cab for Cutie show I went to last month. They put on a good show, but the coliseum venue was horrible. I don't think I'll be going to another show there. I enjoyed the times I got to see them at smaller venues like the Crystal Ballroom alot more... 

...it turned into a pretty nice sunset