The play list

I once made a play list for this really beautiful girl. It was fun trying to pick out the right songs to accurately say what I was thinking, how she made me feel and relate it all to us. Anyway she is the most awe inspiring woman I have ever met, and if you haven't yet we should get together. Lets just say the play list must have worked.

I love you Tiffanie, 98 days from today!!!!

South for the Winter

Head South for the Winter

It really is a good philosophy, and after trying it for myself I can see why countless birds, whales and the elderly do it every year.

This year I got the chance to travel to San Fransisco and San Diego for a few days each. In San Diego I got a chance to hang out with my beautiful fiance. Wanting to capitalize on our time Tiffanie and I went to Birch Aquarium at SCRIPPS with my good friend Chelsae.

Mmmm, lobster

Next stop the great San Diego Zoo

I think that elephant is eyeballin her cookie

Tiffanie is on the right with her camera at the ready, Amber is on the left and that's right both are looking at the bird passing through the zoo. Dusty and I watched these two bounce around the zoo they paid to get into taking pictures of birds that were not part of attractions. Oh how I love her.


In my travels I went to the Golden Gate area, and then went to spend some time on the rock

Want to experience a national park in another language, it only cost $1

How Pumpkin Pie really came about

Well we all knew the pumpkin came before the pie but this puts a new spin on it.

Crater Lake Marathon

Back in August a friend and I drove down to Crater Lake, Oregon for the Crater Lake Rim Run. It is a marathon distance race (26.2 miles) that runs around the rim drive in the park giving you a spectacular view as you go.
A photo from the East rim looking into the setting sun the night after the race.

The day before and the morning of the race there was a very thick layer of fog that was surrounding the area, it was also quit cold through out the area, especially for August.


The day before the run we spent some time touring around the park and attempting to see the sights. The fog made such sights a bit hard to see.
During the race the sun burnt through the fog, it then managed to burn me as I sweat off all my sun block in the first few miles.



However it did manage to rain on us almost every night

Wagons West

So pointing west mom and I streaked across the continent. We took a straight shot across just north of the route dad and I had taken a few weeks earlier. The first really cool place we came to was Badlands National Park

Baylee enjoyed the views as the rolled by from the comfort of her palace.



After applying adequate amounts of sunscreen Mom and I went for a short hike to check out this cool rock formation.

After enjoying all of the wonders of the park we stopped long enough to eat a picnic lunch. Then shortly after we were in the truck again. Still headed west.

For dinner we ate lake side in the heart Grand Tetons National Park on the shores of Jenny Lake.

The view for breakfast was about 2/3's the way up Signal Mountain.

Oh and if I forgot to mention my mother spent her first night in a tent in at least 20 years!

Baylee loved her breakfast with a view but wished there had more of it.

My cute little Mini Mom atop Signal Mt

Baylee and her loyal servant on top of Signal Mt.

A few days and plenty on miles later we made it back to Astoria, OR. After a day or two's rest we decided to take the kayaks for a paddle. We hit the John Day River.

Summer time in Michigan

So after a few days of hanging out with the family Tiffanie and I headed north to Canada. We were up there a few days to collect data for her masters project. On our trip we stopped at Tahquamenon Falls State Park in the northern peninsula.

Here we are on the steps to the northern falls, as a word of warning it is not advised to look directly at the legs. Just try to focus on the cute doggy or beautiful woman.

This photo shows why myself and countless other children called them the Root Beer falls.

And our way home we stopped at Point Iriquois Lighthouse on the southern shore of Lake Superior



Tiffanie decided to to sneak Shadow up the light tower so he could see the view from the top.









Shadow looking down the steps that he could now see trough as he walked down them.
It took a bit of prompting but he made it.

Heading out on the water to find the birds for Tiffanie's project

Heading Home

It all started with a boat. In May my father bought a boat, it was a nice 17ft wood hauled project boat. The problem is that it was is Astoria, Oregon where I live. Not Grand Rapids, Michigan where my father lives. His easy solution was he would fly out and "We" would drive the boat with MY truck. Not being one to turn down a road trip agreed, on the condition that he paid for the gas and food both ways.

Here is the maiden voyage of dad's new boat. The trailer it was on when he bought was a big hunk of rust so we had to float her to switch trailers.

The first stop on our trip was at Multnomah Falls, it is a large set of waterfalls on the banks of the Columbia River Gorge.

The next stop on our trip was Des Moines, Iowa to see Tiffanie's family. We all met at Bravos, a very nice Italian restaurant that we all enjoyed.

However before we could get back on the road dad with the help of Tiffanie's Father and Step-Father changed out the second tire of the trip that had shed it's tred

Baylee did a great job of supervising the whole event