The Beaches of Kauai

Four days after Brian returned from Russia, he and I flew even further west (not helping jet lag at all) to Kauai, Hawaii. What an awesome island. I've been here once before with some great girls from Alaska, and was very excited to get some warmth and sunshine!!
We did come here for a reason, Brian's great friend, Paul is getting married on Saturday. Good excuse to come to Hawaii I think!
The beaches have been superb and the water is so warm and lovely. We went snorkeling and saw some amazing fish and even watched a turtle for a long time under water. Those pictures are all film pictures on my awesome underwater camera and guys bought me.

DAN, BRIAN AND ADAM

I THINK THIS IS WHEN BRIAN WAS ACTUALLY CHILLED A LITTLE SO DAN STARTED BURYING HIM IN THE SAND FOR WARMTH.

THE WATER IS SUCH A NICE COLOR!

Being with these guys all day for 3 or 4 days in a row is definitely fun for me. I laugh AT and WITH them more than I laugh in a normal day when I'm by myself. Here was a moment on the beach when four of them grabbed hands and all ran as fast as the could into the water. Maybe trying to walk on water? or maybe just enjoying the silliness of the moment.

Our day two of attempting to snorkel didn't go as well, we went to a "not so good" beach and didn't see much of anything. But as always, they made it into a treasure hunt and searched for random objects that people had lost. They found a whole lot of snorkel gear people had dropped, a few random small toys, and best of all some money!

NOT A BEACH SHOT, BUT THESE GREAT TENTS ARE WHAT WE SPENT OUR FIRST THREE NIGHTS IN, NOW WE HAVE MOVED INTO OUR RENTAL FOR THE NEXT THREE. 

BACK IN PORTLAND!!!

I (Brian) have made the 27 hour plane ride back to my smoking hot wife. She fought through rush hour traffic and greeted me at the airport with a big huge smile. We hung out with each other for the next 36 hours until she had to go back to work.

MY WENDY IS THE PUZZLE MASTER. I HAD SOME FRIENDS DO THIS PUZZLE FOR ME THEN I WROTE A LETTER TO HER ON THE BACK AND DESTROYED IT SO SHE HAD TO PUT IT BACK TOGETHER TO READ THE NOTE. SHE FINISHED IT WITH 1 WEEK TO SPARE!!! ICE CREAM PROVED TO BE QUITE A TRICKY PUZZLE PICTURE.


We are now sitting in the airport getting ready to head out to Kauai for my friend Paul's wedding. We will be there for one week soaking up the sun. It will be quite the contrast from the far north Russian city of Arkangelsk to the hot sand beaches of Kauai.

Yesterday I got an opportunity to go to a recording studio in Portland to watch my friend Troy Welstad produce a record for a new artist named Nathan French. I have only seen the recording process on youtube and it was so cool to get to go and see what it is really like in a studio. I was in the control room, behind the glass was a drum room, guitar room, and grand piano room. The record sounds like it will be really good (because Troy is producing it, and he is a perfectionist)

 TROY AND MICK DEBATING " NO I THINK WE SHOULD DO THIS, NO THIS, NO THIS WOULD BE BETTER." BEHIND TROY AND THE GLASS IS JEREMY ON DRUMS.

THIS IS DEAN THE SOUND ENGINEER SITTING IN THE CAPTAIN'S SEAT AS THEY CALL IT. HE IS REALLY GOOD AT WHAT HE DOES. SOMEONE WOULD SAY "CAN I GET A LITTLE MORE BASS IN MY HEADPHONES? AND HE WOULD PICK ONE LITTLE KNOB OUT OF THE 800 ON THE SOUND  BOARD. QUITE IMPRESSIVE.

Arkangelsk Part 2

It is now my second day back in Moscow and I am packing up to go see my cute wife!!! I get to fly backwards in time so even though the time traveling will be like 23 hours, it will actually on time wise be like 8 hours. I think the jet lag will be easier coming home (even though it wasn't very hard coming to Russia) I am super excited. But I did promise part 2 of my adventures in Arkangelsk, so here are some more fun photos...

 THE LONGEST BRIDGE IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY OF RUSSIA IS LOCATED IN ARKANGELSK.

 THIS IS THE SIGN THAT WELCOMES YOU INTO THE CITY.

 THESE ARE TWO OF MY FRIENDS ALYONA AND LERA, WE ARE STROLLING IN DOWNTOWN ARKANGELSK

 THIS IS ONE OF THE ROUND A BOUTS IN ARKANGELSK. THIS PICTURE IS FROM THE 8TH FLOOR OF AN APARTMENT I STAYED AT FOR JUST ONE DAY.

Arkangelsk Part 1

I'm back (brian) from the distant land of Аркангельск (Arkangelesk) Russia. I just got done with a 23 hour train ride and got home and decided to blog so you could all see how amazing this city was. It was by far my favorite place in Russia, no questions asked. The people were so amazing and the place was such a warm place (not literally because it's so far north is was actually cold weather) but it was a warm place because every person, and I mean every person was so nice to me. I got to help redo some stairs at a church and hang out with some amazing people and see the sites of one of the farthest North cities in Russia. I have a lot of pictures so I wanted to blog in pieces so here is part 1. Hope you enjoy some of them.

 THIS IS ME WITH A SEAL STATUE, WHY A SEAL STATUE YOU ASK? RUSSIA HAS SEEN MANY WARS WHICH HAVE CUT OFF FOOD SUPPLY FOR MONTHS AND YEARS AT A TIME. SEAL MEAT AND FAT HAS KEPT MANY PEOPLE ALIVE FOR GENERATIONS, AND FOR THAT THEY FELT IT NECESSARY TO HONOR THIS COOL CREATURE.

The next pictures are of Malye Karelia, This is a place about 20 minutes outside of Arkangelsk. It is an all wooden village that people can go to in order to experience what life was like 100 years ago in Northern Russia. It took a better part of a day to walk around the whole place, and even then I'm pretty sure we missed some buildings. I think I am going to try to convince Wendy to move into an old wooden house with me and live like Russians 100 years ago. Eating seal fat, and baking berry pies, drinking fermented bread with water and sugar. It could work...

 THIS IS MASHA'S MOM (EKATERINA) AND MYSELF AT MALYE KARELIA HANGING OUT WITH A TRADITIONAL BABOOSHKA. SHE WAS SHOWING US ALL OF THE DOLLS SHE MAKES AND EXPLAINING HER LOVE OF TRADITIONAL DOLL MAKING.

 MASHA, LERYA, AND I TAKING A PICTURE AT MALYE KARELYA ON WHAT COULD BE THE LARGEST HILL IN ARKANGELSK.

 THIS IS THE CHAPEL WHERE WEDDING PARTIES COME TO TAKE PICTURES. ONE WORKER TOLD US THE RECORD FOR A DAY WAS 38 WEDDING CEREMONIES ON A SATURDAY TOOK PLACE AT THIS CHAPEL. WE SAW MANY BRIDES DOING PHOTO SHOOTS.

 THIS IS A OLD RUSSIAN Качеле (kachelye) or CAROUSEL, THE LITTLE KIDS JUST DIDN'T HAVE THE STRENGTH TO GET THIS THING GOING, SO I STEPPED IN TO HELP.

THIS IS ANDREI, HIS WIFE NASTYA, AND I WALKING IN DOWNTOWN ARKANGELSK. ANDREI IS THE PASTOR OF THE CHURCH IN ARKANGELSK THAT I GOT TO HELP REMODEL. THEY WERE SOME OF THE NICEST PEOPLE I HAVE EVER MET. 

Yellowstone National Park

Our second park was Yellowstone. A much different park that the Tetons. Sarah and I were both very much impressed with the Tetons grandeur. Yellowstone is equally as impressive, but in different ways. It is full of strange phenomenons like Old Faithful and bubbling sulfur pots. Randomly steam will come out of holes in the ground or mud will be boiling. We even saw a lake of acid, worse than any battery acid we could come in contact with. UGH. Plus Yellowstone is full of wildlife. Which we were lucky enough to see a lot of.

FIRST STOP: OLD FAITHFUL, BLOWS EVERY 93 MINUTES OR SO, GIVE OR TAKE SOME. 

I THINK SARAH AND I WERE BOTH AMAZED BY THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE WATCHING THIS EVENT. EASILY 500 PEOPLE SITTING ON THE "SIDELINES" WATCHING OLD FAITHFUL BLOW!

THE GRAND PRISMATIC SPRING, A VERY DEEP BLUE COLOR WITH BRIGHT ORANGE SURROUNDING IT. 

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS

YELLOWSTONE CANYON. BEAUTIFUL COLORS!

SARAH THOUGHT ABOUT DIVING OVER, BUT I HELD HER BACK.

WALKING DOWN UNCLE TOM'S TRAIL TO GET A VIEW OF THE LOWER FALLS. THIS TRAIL IS ABOUT 340 STEPS DOWN, QUITE A CLIMB BACK UP. 

SARAH AND I REALLY ENJOYED SEEING THE WILDLIFE. WE ESPECIALLY GOT EXCITED WITH THE GRIZZLIES. HERE IS ONE IN A FIELD OF FLOWERS. 

PRONGHORN DEER

BLACK BEAR VERY CLOSE TO OUR CAR!

AND ONE OF THE COOLEST WAS ONE OF TWO WOLVES WE SAW. IT WAS GETTING PRETTY DARK AND HE WAS QUITE FAR AWAY, SO PICTURES ARE LIMITED. 

The funny thing with Yellowstone is you know there is an animal ahead if there are cars lining the roads or even stopped on the road with people jumping out with their cameras. I think both Sarah and I felt a little touristy and silly as we did the same things, but oh well, might as well join the crowd in this situation right? We had fun and saw some amazing wildlife that we don't see on a regular basis. 

Teton National Park-Road Trip Part 1

Sarah and I headed off on another road trip. We always seem to choose a national park to visit. This time we headed to the Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone. We didn't plan a ton for the trip, just were hoping to do a two or three night backpacking trip up in the mountains. We didn't plan for a summer of "colder than normal" weather and tons of snow leftover, so we weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into. As you can tell by the pictures, the weather was great for the first few days. At the ranger's suggestion we planned for one day hike and two nights in the back-country. 

OUR 13 MILE DAY HIKE TO SURPRISE LAKE

TRULY MAGNIFICENT MOUNTAINS

SECOND DAY OF HIKING: OUR HIKE INTO OUR CAMPSITE, HERE I AM RELAXING!!

DAY THREE: HIKE UP TO LAKE SPLENDOR FROM OUR CAMPSITE IN THE CASCADE CANYON NORTH FORK

OF COURSE WE DECIDED TO HIKE A LITTLE FURTHER UP TO PAINTBRUSH DIVIDE

WE MADE IT UP AND SARAH CLIMBED EVEN MORE!! IT WAS A TOUGH HIKE, BUT THE WAY DOWN WAS MUCH EASIER SLIDING AND RUNNING ON THE SNOW. 

UNFORTUNATELY ON THE WAY DOWN THAT DAY, THE CLOUDS ROLLED IN AND BY THE TIME WE GOT TO OUR SECOND CAMPSITE, IT HAD STARTED RAINING. UGH

SO, WE STARTED HIKING OUT LATE IN THE AFTERNOON.

STOPPED ALONG THE WAY TO HAVE SOME DELICIOUS SPAGHETTI! SARAH DOES A GREAT JOB DEHYDRATING FOOD FOR THESE TRIPS.

So, it was a very long day of hiking for us. 17 or so miles...and the last few were pretty exhausting. We were very happy to see our car and take our shoes off. The next day we headed to Yellowstone! More pictures to come!