Camping at Lake Billy Chinook

Our friends Joel and Jenny invited us to go camping with them and Jenny's parents at Lake Billy Chinook. Neither Jaime nor I had been there before so we were excited to go. We left Wednesday morning and got back Sunday afternoon and it was one of our favorite camping trips we've taken!


Here's most of the group hanging out at the campfire. The drinks were flowing throughout the trip and everyone was throwing them back. It was a fun group of people even though most of them are Ducks ;). Fortunately a couple more Beavers (Kevin and Sabra) showed up later to help even the odds.


Here's more of the group (including Jaime of course). We had tents scattered around the couple campsites we had across from each other but everyone mostly stayed around the main site where the food, drink, and fun was located.


Here's our hosts Randy and Carol Coleman. They have been hosting this trip for a long time and they are real LBC (Lake Billy Chinook) experts. In the background you can see the ever present BIG BOAT and their H1 Hummer. It was an imposing campsite (especially with all the rowdy people ;) to say the least! A HUGE thank you to the Colemans for inviting us and supplying everyone with an awesome week of fun in the sun!


Joel and I were the last ones up a couple of different nights. One night (Friday I think) we got camera crazy and took a bunch of blurry pictures. Here's one that turned out for me.


While Joel and I amused ourselves, the girls whipped up some Rotelle and chowed down ... munchies anyone?!?


Here's Joel, Jenny and Carol showing the typical activity we participated in at LBC: floating around on noodles while soaking up the sun and enjoying cold beverages. It was really hot most days, we think at least one day was over 100 degrees!


Jaime found a new favorite beer, Tecate. Joel was our hook-up and brought a bunch of beer that we got at a great price... FREE! Needless to say we had sunscreen on almost the whole trip, but the Tecate and Miller Lite helped deal with the burnt spots that somehow did not get much sunscreen.


Some of us were drunker than others and here Kim is showing off the form that allowed her to pass out in the boat ... and stay there all the way back to the campsite.


Here's the two master cooks. Randy is whipping up a batch of his famous spaghetti while CJ is assisting. CJ's real specialty is breakfast, where he kept us all well fed and looking forward to the morning meal (not an easy task after all the drinks that went down).


Here's a close up of what the spaghetti sauce looked like. Randy has honed the recipe over the years to include a specific list of ingredients: any half empty bottles of booze and lots of spices. Ummm, I can still taste it (even though it was supposedly not as spicy as in years past).


And of course Carol and Randy came prepared for the aftermath of spaghetti night. Which was good because, it sure got the better of me ... after wolfing down three platefuls I made an unplanned trip to the bathroom as most of it came back up.


Hey look I made it into a picture! Just kidding, but it was hard to remember to take pictures while having so much fun. The pictures we did get don't do the trip or the people involved justice. We got to enjoy a new part of Oregon and meet some cool new people at the same time. Hopefully we can do it again next year!


So we stayed up too late, drank too much, played in the water every day, were treated to hot sunny weather and generally had way too much fun. A pretty perfect camping trip if you ask me!

Brewfest

We made it to Brewfest this year (last year we were busy getting married) and even managed to gather up a few friends to hit the event with us. I didn't get too many pics but I made up for it with drinks!


The girls were looking for the short lines so they could refill faster! We actually remembered to bring our tokens left over from past Brewfests but then we bought a bunch more and didn't use them all so once again we have some extras ready for next year.


It was great to have Tom and Emily along! Congrats to them as they now have a little one on the way (but too bad since Emily couldn't drink). In the background you can see Blake (Jaime's brother) on his cell trying to hook up ... with a buddy from work. Oh well, I hear he has a few new prospects back in Seattle.


Jaime was having a fun time, as was I. It was a pretty warm day so we had to make sure we kept our drinks full ;)


We were also really glad to have Kelly and Ron stay with us and go to Brewfest. It was great to see them and we're looking forward to their wedding/renewal coming up soon!

Hike on our First Wedding Anniversary

For our first wedding anniversary we decided to not buy each other presents but to instead go for a hike together. So we borrowed some fanny packs, packed up some water and snacks and headed to Bridal Veil in the Columbia River Gorge!


We did the shortest hike that starts in Bridal Veil called Angel's Rest. It was 2.3 miles each way and gained about 1900 feet of elevation! It was a real workout on a warm day so we tried to get an early start, we hit the trailhead at about 11 in the morning.


We saw a creek and a waterfall along the way! We stopped a few times on the way up but we moved right along- it only took us about 45 minutes each way!


Here's a picture about 3/4 of the way up the trail. There were some spectacular views and it was starting to really get warm. The day started with some clouds but by the time we took this picture they had mostly burned off.


Here's a shot looking East up the river. We had a little friend who was looking for handouts that snuck into the picture...


Here's a great shot Jaime took looking west down the river. We had an awesome panorama at the top and could see for miles. The hike was a real workout, even on the way down, but definitely worth it! We had a great first anniversary! For more info on this hike see localhikes.com.

Fourth of July in San Francisco

Kodi took us into San Francisco to see the city and for a tour of Alcatraz!


Monday we went into San Francisco to go tour Alcatraz. We stopped at the Golden Gate viewpoint and snapped some pics!


Here's a shot of the girls joking around. It was really windy up there but I think it helped lift the fog a little so we could see the bridge better.


Here's us going down Lombard street, the "curviest street in the world". Kodi had me drive us in the city and boy, the hills of San Francisco are no joke!


Here's a pic from the boat we took out to Alcatraz. It was a pretty short ride but really windy. We had some great sunny weather so we weren't even chilly.


Here's a picture of one of the old buildings that burned down a while back. We had a bit of a hike to get up to the actual prison.


Here is a picture of the inside of the prison. It was actually somewhat smaller than I imagined. We were on the self-paced audio tour (we all got headsets with a digital playback machine that guided us through the prison). It was really interesting and fun to hear and see everything as we walked around.


Here's the obligatory cell shot. They were smaller than I expected but taller too. Huh.


The door was locked open so Jaime made it out of the slammer ... heh.


They left most of the signs and other things up from when the prison was open, it was so wild to think that this was once a real prison just across from such a big city! It was really cool to see, we all really enjoyed it. Thanks to Kodi for being a great tour guide all through the weekend!

Jelly Belly Factory and Napa Valley Wine Tasting

On Monday we decided to go to Napa Valley and do some wine tasting, but we stopped at the Jelly Belly factory first...


The girls were really excited to visit the Jelly Belly Factory over in Fairfield. I felt that I didn't need any extra jelly or belly, but I was excited too.


We had to wear some cool hats when we toured the factory... we couldn't take any pictures while in the actual factory area but here's a shot of us in the lobby.


We bought a couple bags of "Belly Flops" (aka irregular or rejected Jelly Belly's) to take home ... the girls favorite flavor was Juicy Pear, mine was Cotton Candy. We had a great time at the factory, we highly recommend it!


After the Jelly Belly factory we headed over to Napa Valley for some wine tasting! The first place we went was at the north end of Napa, called Sterling vineyards.


The winery at Sterling is actually up on a hill so you can take a gondola (aka tram for Kodi) up to it. Here's a shot Kodi took of us on our way up.


Here's the girls with one of the Sterling tasters. They had a terrace area where you could see the whole valley, it was awesome! The wine was pretty good too!


Here's a picture of us at our last stop at the Domaine Carneros winery (in Sonoma). They had some sparkling wines that the girls really liked. I tried some Pinot Noirs that I enjoyed as well. This place was beautiful and we really liked the service, our favorite!

Road Trip to visit Kodi and Nate!

For the Fourth of July weekend we decided to drive down to Vacaville (outside San Francisco) to visit Kodi and Nate. The drive was pretty long but we made good time. Unfortunately Nate's plane had some problems on his current mission and he got stuck in Japan. We missed him but Kodi was an awesome hostess and tour guide!


Jaime and I split the driving, but since it took us about nine and a half hours (eight and a half on the road, plus some stops) it was still a looong way.


Here's the fun of driving! By the end of it Jaime was keeping herself amused by rocking out to some classic tunes...


At least we had some awesome scenery like Mt. Shasta! When we drove past Lake Shasta we both had fond memories of college craziness!

Jaime's 10 year High School Reunion

We spent the weekend in Eugene so that we could attend Jaime's 10 year High School reunion.


Here's what Kodi called the "Prom pose". Us guys were lucky enough to escort the three hottest Sheldon grads from the class of 1995. All of us (from left to right Erin & Mike, Jaime & I, Kodi & Nate) had a few snacks and drinks at Kodi's parents' house (thanks Nila and Dave!) before heading over to the big shindig.


Here's the hottie mommas all ready to go ... now with liquid courage!


Here's a group shot at the hotel (Valley River Inn). We sat with Angie and Mike Chapin (on the left). We had not seen them since our wedding so it was great to talk to them!


Here's a shot after the girls had been to the bar a few times... they were quite the social butterflies and said that they really enjoyed talking to everyone they met. Nate was happy to "talk" to them too!


It was a pretty long night, but all the girls walked out under their own power. Dave (Kodi's dad) won the Good Samaritan award for dropping us off AND taking our rowdy group back home. All in all it was a fun reunion and the girls had a great time!