2011 Rolled Up

Ah.......where to start? Well I've been neglecting to blog since I returned from Australia, and it's now 2012, but I'll just pick it up from where I left off. After returning from Australia in less than one piece, I had plenty of time on my hands as I wouldn't be working or playing due my fractured and casted leg. When I healed up enough to be somewhat mobile, but not well enough to work or do other enjoyable active things, I decided it was time to catch up on some much needed home improvement projects that may have been put off another decade had I not had a reason to be home for such a long time. Not exactly my favorite hobby in the world, in fact not even a hobby at all, but it was a good time to knock these projects out. So in a nutshell the majority of my spring involved the removal of kitchen, dining room, and living room floors, learning how to tile, laying new carpet, installing appliances etc... We had an INCREDIBLY rainy spring this year so I didn't feel like I missed out on too much. Amanda and I made a trip over to the Seattle area over the 4th of July for one of her friend Kristen's wedding. First stop was a visit to the Grandfolks in Edgewood. Amanda was excited to see the huge white house and all of my grandpas animal friends. We spent a day doing the usual tourist stuff in Seattle then made our way up to Mukilteo for the wedding. We spent the 4th holiday on a party boat that may as well be considered a yacht on Lake Union overlooking the city. I felt upper class for just part of a day, as many might call it, Big Pimpin. We took Highway 2 back home and stopped in Leavenworth for some mild hiking and climbing, I mean rehab. After we returned from Seattle it would only be a few days until my very good friends Pav and Dave from Australia would be showing up on a plane in where of all places but Spokane, WA! We've been friends since '06 when we met while traveling in Thailand. Since then I have visited them in Germany, England, and stayed with them while in Australia. It was my turn to gladly return the favor and show them the splendors of North Idaho. We did some wake boarding, floated the Coeur d' Alene River, and Marcus threw a BBQ that was one to be remembered.....or not remembered.

I started work again in mid July but it only lasted until the beginning of August when I had a few trades saved up to take my yearly traditional "Mountains and Microbrews" trip in the Oregon/Washington Cascades. Amanda and I loaded up my yet to be converted cargo van and had our first stop over in Hood River, where we met up with Marcus. We took the Mt. Hood Highway to Bend for a couple days of their microbrew festival, a John Butler Trio concert, floating the Deschutes River, mountain biking, and exploring the vibrant town of Bend. We spent a couple days camping and climbing at Smith Rock State Park. We ended the trip with a hike up the South Sister for a nice view of the Cascades.

In September I bought a Suzuki V-strom 650 dual sport motorcycle to add to my list of things to do/ways to get there. I've always kind of pondered the idea of having one when I was retired or something but I figured why wait. All it took was one ride home from the dealership and I was HOOKED. I put about 1500 miles on it between September and when it became time to stop riding regularly and start skiing. I can't wait until this summer when I can actually take some trips on it. I actually can't really complain though because I've been able to ride it every month of the year since I've gotten it, yep you heard that right, global warming I tell ya! Once I put the bike "somewhat" away we were in full swing of ski season and we made our first trip of the season up to Nelson, BC for some Whitewater backcountry skiing. I got a season pass at Schweitzer so most of my time this season was spent up there. Marcus, Jordan, Amanda, and I all made a trip up to Banff shortly after Christmas to ski some sweet Canadian Rocky Snow and sit in some hot springs. Only problem was there were more rocks than snow, but what snow we did find was nice. We also learned how to play curling, I mean what else do you do in Canada when your not skiing right?

For the most part things have been pretty routine around these parts with lots of trips to Spokane's climbing gym, a few film festivals, and a lot of skiing. I did sell my dearly beloved Toyota Tacoma that I've owned since it was new in '04 and picked up the new and improved '12 Tacoma. I also abandoned the camper van idea and sold it with plans of sticking to the plain and simple camper shell on the new truck for my "local" adventures. I'm about to hang up the skis for the year and pack my backpack for early March. I'll be going with Jordan to El Potrero Chico in Mexico for a couple weeks of limestone sport climbing and dodging Cartel bullets (kidding), then we'll be flying over to meet Amanda on the Baja Peninsula for her spring break where we will hang out with the Fam in Los Barriles. After I return from Baja I've got a week to recover and work a few shifts then I'm off again to cross the Pacific for 5 weeks of climbing in China. More to come as they come!