Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 12

Today was a travel day.. we were going from Butte, Montana to Ogden, Utah. Our next destination is Arches National Park but it would have been too long of a drive, or at least to long of a drive for us. So Ogden is a halfway point. Nothing really happened. The drive was nice. Idaho is a very green and hilly place. It did get hotter as we went south. North Utah wasn't what I expected.. it's also farmland and very green.

One thing that did happen is I broke Harry HD video camera. Not on purpose, it was an accident but I felt horrible so we stopped in Idaho Falls, Idaho at a Best Buy and I purchased him a new cam. It was a costly mistake on my part but I hope the broken cam is still usable.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 11

Well today we were visiting Yellowstone, but the day started off badly.. actually it stated last night when we got to the hotel and I realized I booked us a hotel that was about 125 miles / 2-1/2 hours away. Now it wouldn't be bad if we didn't have to come back to the hotel later that night. So my mistake added an extra 250 miles to our already 3500+ and an extra 5 hours of driving for the day which takes away time from our visit to the park.

Anyways we get to Yellowstone around 1pm. We enter the west entrance and just a few miles in we see a group of Moose's. One actually crosses the street and walked about 5 feet from me.. it was pretty cool.

When we entered Yellowstone wasn't what I was expecting.. I expected tall trees all over the place and there as nothing but acres of tiny (5 feet) trees all over. I mentioned this to Harry and he said "wasn't there a fire here years ago" and that is why there were no big trees.. they all burned down and what we saw were the re-plants. There were larger trees in other parts of the park and there were also blacken trees that have yet to be re-planted.

A few more miles and we see a few Buffalo's/Bison. We decided to take the south route as this is where the majority of the Geysers and hot springs are. We stop over and over at each group of geysers/hot springs. We took tons of videos and pictures. Because we had the dog we had to go one at a time while the other one watched the dog. I took all the pictures and Harry took all the video, expect the video I took with my still cam for my blog.

We wound up at Old Faithful and missed it by 5 minutes. Since this is something that both Harry and I really wanted to see we waited the 90 minutes for another eruption... and it didn't disappoint. Again because of the Dog I was back in the tree area (where dogs were allowed) and I took pictures and Harry was up where the benches were with the video camera.

We only had a few hours of day light left so we headed toward the north exit and on our way we came across the Mud Volcano section. There were several cool hot springs like Dragon's Mouth and a Mud hot spring.

After that we headed out as the we were losing light but as we were leaving we saw a group of Elks and stopped to get some pictures and video.

Now it was dark and we headed out of the park which was going to take an hour just to get out. A lightening storm started, then rain and then dusty winds. I was driving these small windy roads getting blown around and not being able to see because of the heavy rain and dust. There was one moment where I was stuck between two hills and a gust of dusty wind swirled through and there was a moment where I couldn't see anything.. it was a very scary and slow drove back to the hotel. We got back to the hotel at 1am and there was no time to do any blogging or anything.

Next up Utah!!!

Day 11 - Yellowstone - Mud Hot Springs

There are several of these hot springs that spue mud instead of water.

Day 11 - Yellowstone - Dragon's Mouth

This is a cool cave where the hot spring/geyser is inside the cave.. It looks as if it's a mouth spouting smoke.. ie Dragon's Mouth.

Day 11 - Yellowstone - Old Faithful

Here is Old Faithful erupting. This is the final seconds of the eruption. Harry took video while I did photos but you can take only so many photo's so I switched to taking a little video.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 10

Today we planned a visit to Glacier National Park. We got up at 8 am and packed up the truck and were ready to leave by 9.30. We took US Route 93 north. Once we reached the junction with Highway 40 we followed it east to US Route 2 and followed it to the west entrance of Glacier National Park. We got a annual pass for all National Parks for 80 bucks. That might sound a lot, but by the time this vacation is over it will have paid for itself.

First we checked out the visitor center and Lake McDonald. We followed the "Going to the Sun Road". We got to see lots of forests, rapids, white water, water falls and lakes. Then the road started climbing. We got to see the aftermath of an avalanche. It was a narrow and windy road, fortunately Harry was driving but he found it fun to drive. He just loves driving mountain roads because it reminds him of home and roads in the Austrian Alps. The higher up you get the more amazing and breath taking the views become. The view right in front of you is absolutely breath taking, you turn around and there is even a more amazing view. Harry and I took tons of pix and video. Shortly before we reached Logan Pass the road narrowed to a 1 lane road since an avalanche had taken out part of the road a couple of years ago. We were in luck and there was no wait on our side. Once we got to Logan Pass we drove by several snow fields. We also saw a mountain goat on one of the snow fields. That was very cool.

Once we passed Logan Pass we went down on the east side. The road on the east side is not impressive as it was on the west side.

Once we reached St. Mary's we jumped onto US Route 89 and followed it south, until we reached the junction with highway 82. We followed highway 82 until we reached the junction with highway 83. we followed it south to State Route 200 until we reached I-15. We were driving through lots and lots of rural area's of Montana. Rolling hills as far as the eye can see. It was pretty amazing. It gave Harry and I a very good idea what the great planes must have felt to the first settlers.

One thing we learned is that if you go on a road trip through rural Montana make sure your car has enough gas and you bring enough food and water with you, as it might be a few hundred miles until you can stock up on these items. As there was nothing... nothing in the rural parts of Montana.

We finally reached the city of Helena. I'm talking about a real city and not some tiny, rural townships. We had Wendy's for very late lunch and then continued on the I-15 south. around 7.30 pm we finally reached our hotel in the city of Butte, Montana.

Glacier National Park - Day 10 - The Weeping Wall

Glacier National Park - Day 10 - Rapids

Glacier National Park - Day 10 - Beautiful Lake

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 9

Wow.. what a horrible night sleep. Went to sleep at around 1am and when I say sleep I mean sit there in the drivers seat tossing and turning. Around 4am it was super light out so we opted to get up and get moving. We had made it to the border of Montana and Idaho. Our plan for today was a few hundred mile drive to Kalispell, MT as this is was the closest hotel we could get to Glacier National Park which is our next destination. The drive was beautiful, but again the terrain was very different as you drive. Hills of farmland and hills of thick trees, but it was all very beautiful.

We got to Kalispell around 9am but we can't check into our hotel until 3pm.. so we had six hours to kill. We were already tired but we continued to drive around the area, we stopped at Red Lion so I could hijack their wifi and we also had some lunch. Around Noon I thought I would call and see if we could get into the hotel room early. The lady on the other end of the phone said "let me check with house keeping, if your room is done then you'll be able to check in". A few minutes later she said we were all good. Both Harry and I were so excited.. as I said we were both drained from the horrible night sleep so we are just going to crash the rest of the day.. try and catch up on our blogs and such.

Tomorrow is going to be another long driving day.. but we should have some more beautiful sights.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 8

Sorry about the dark video.. was in Harry's truck and it was past midnight.

Today was our travel day. We were leaving Aberdeen Washington and our friends The Moyers. We had planned to visit Seattle, WA because we wanted to see the Space Needle. Many folks suggested that we visit the Sci fi Museum and I would have agreed with them but everyone keeps forgetting that we have our dog Daisy with us. That limits us on what we can do and where we can eat.

So we got stuck in traffic in Seattle but finally made it to the Space Needle. It was smaller looking in the skyline compared to the high rises but when you get up close to it, it's pretty tall. Loved the "pride" flag on top.

After Seattle, Amy Moyer mentioned a really cool town that she and Rick had visited called Leavenworth. It's a small town that is built like a Bavarian/German town. Buildings, the food, the beer and the dancers all were all in authentic German/Bavarian style. Since Harry is from Austria Amy thought Harry would enjoy that town.l. she was right. We stopped by for about an hour and walked up and down the streets.. also watched the German dancers (see video in blog). Again because of the dog we couldn't go in any of the stores or restaurants, but it just means we have to go back in the future.

After Leavenworth we didn't have a plan.. well we did have a plan. We were going to drive to Spokane, WA and stay in a hotel but there were several events going on this weekend and every single hotels for 50 miles around were sold out. So we decided that we were going to try and make it to Montana before parking and sleeping in the truck.

So we headed toward Montana, and let me say Eastern Washington couldn't be more different from Western Washington.. if it's much warmer but the big difference is the terrain. West side was nothing but beautiful trees..East side is farm land as far as the eye can see.. some green some dirt. Felt like forever driving through that.

Speaking of driving, Harry drove from 9am to 2pm I drive from 2pm to midnight. I don't think I have every driven 10 hours in one day.

Before we left Washington we stopped in Spokane to pick up some dinner at Panda Express. Then we drove into Idaho. At this time it was dark so we didn't see much and finally we made it to Montana. Just over the boarder of Idaho and Montana was a rest stop and this is were we finally stopped and crashed for the night.

All in all it was a long long driving day but we got to see so many beautiful sights. We also were in three states in one day :)

Day 8 - Leavenworth, Washington

Amy Moyer mentioned this town in Eastern Washington that is themed as Bavarian / German city with building, food, music, beer and dancers. Speaking of dancers there was this really cool troop who street preformed with German Dances... they did about six of them but this was my favorite.

Day 8 - Space Needle in Seattle

One thing I really wanted to do while in Washington I wanted to see the Seattle Space Needle. We got stuck in Seattle traffic for a little over an hour but finally got to the Needle.. I did a little video.

My First Smores

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 7

Today was a very relaxed day. We went over to Ricks place and had breakfast with him and his family. Rick made Belgian Waffles, which were good. After breakfast we hang out and did a recording for a podcast for my friend Meds for his Waffle On program. After that Rick, Harry, Catherine (Rick's daughter), Andrew (Rick's son) and I went to the movies to see Toy Story 3. LOVED IT... you can read more in my separate blog.

After the movies we went back to the Moyer's house where Amy had prepared a special snack... a Deer / Elk Sausage. I had never had deer or elk so I was in for a first.. and I have to say it wasn't bad.. I'd eat it again. While we were at the movies Daisy stayed with Amy and actually did fairly well.. so that was good.

I then tried to find hotels for the rest of the trip. We had booked hotels only up to Aberdeen. We didn't want to drive all the way trough to Montana and wanted to stop in Spokane (WA). Turns out there is some sort of event going on this weekend and it is literally impossible to find a reasonable priced hotel room. So we opted to book hotels for all other stop on this road trip, which almost caused me to have a nervous breakdown.

This of course means that we have no hotel book for tomorrow. Tomorrow we will drive east and visit Leavenworth (WA), a town that is a recreation of a German city. After that we will have to decide if try to find a hotel to stay, continue to drive east and hope to find a hotel along the way, or sleep in my truck in the parking lot of a Walmart.

After that we took Rick and his family out for dinner to the Mazatlan restaurant. All of us love Mexican food and it was absolutely worth it. After dinner we hung out at Moyer's house and made S'mores... and believe it or not that was my first time every having them. (you can watch the video in my blog) Then it was time for group pictures since that was our last day with them. Both, Harry and I, loved spending time with them... and it's sad that we had to say good bye. Maybe they can make it down to our place for my 40th birthday in September. That would be awesome.

It was a FANTASTIC 3 days hanging out with The Moyers

Toy Story 3

When we left for our vacation Toy Story 3 began. I knew I couldn't wait three weeks before seeing it so we were going to have to somehow see it while we were on our road trip, which of course made it difficult because of the dog. Well a few days before we were to come visit Rick and his family, Rick asked if we wanted to see it with him and his daughter one of the days we were here visiting. They said we could leave Daisy with Amy and not have to worry.. so that is what we did today.

I have loved every Pixar movie that has come out so there was no doubt that I was going to love this movie and I did. Toy Story 1 & 2 are some of my favorite Pixar movies, for that fact they are some of my all time favorite movies all together.. and part 3 has joined them. It's one of the best Trilogies around. Part three was well written, well acted and was a prefect end to a prefect story. I laughed, I cried, I was moved by the plight of these animated characters. It's amazing to me that Pixar can put so much life into these characters that you instantly fall in love them. Their facial expressions, their actions are so moving. I got teary eyed throughout the movie but the last third of the movie tears where rolling down until the very end.

I can't wait till we get home and I watch this again.. and then maybe again.

Another fantastic job Pixar.. you continue to amaze and entertain me... THANKS!!

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 6

Got to Rick's a little later then expected but once we were there we had breakfast and once again Rick's wife Amy made some build your own breakfast burritos, which were very delicious.

Since Tess and Daisy hadn't been getting along with each other, we put a muzzle on Daisy and introduced the two dogs slowly... they managed to tolerate each other. So there are chances that the two might mange to get along with each other after all.

The first thing we did was head to Westport to see Pacific Ocean in Washington. We climbed up the Jetty and took some amazing pix and lots of great video. Next we walked along the docks and Rick and I picked up some sinfully delicious fudge and salt water taffy. After that we stopped at a non-functioning light house.

After the light house adventure went to check out a beach. This was our first visit to a beach in Washington and Daisy's first visit to a beach ever, since there are only a few beaches in LA county that allow dogs. The beach was really great...a little different than SoCal beaches. On the SoCal beaches the sand is a little lighter. This beach had quite a nice amount of driftwood, something you don't see on the LA beaches. First Daisy wasn't to sure about the entire thing, but warmed up very quickly and absolutely enjoyed her time at the beach and wasn't too thrilled when we were leaving.

After the beach adventure, we drove back to Aberdeen to check out a Star Wars Store. I have heard about the Star Wars store for years from Rick so it was awesome to actually see the store in person. It was everything I had expected.. lots of things that I have had/seen over the years. Lots of used toys and some very cool promotional things that I had never seen before. I could have spent hours in the store and still not see everything. I did pick up a poster and put a request in for another cool poster. I'm thinking about getting some Star Wars plates.. have to decide by tomorrow.

After the Star Wars Store we went to Dairy Queen for a rather late lunch. Next we picked up some groceries at Walmart and headed back to Ricks house. After a first few tense moments, Daisy and Tess sniffed each other and started to get along with each other. Well they weren't exactly best buddies, but Daisy tolerated Tess for most part. Tess kept following her around and Daisy was kinda fine with it. Sometimes Daisy got a little annoyed with it but other than that she was fine. So there is definitely hope for our dog.

We hung out at Ricks house for about 1 1/2, then dinner was served. Rick's wife Amy prepared her famous Tater Tot Casserole... I had heard about this for years and I was really hoping to experience it while I was here and I was not disappointed... it was absolutely delicious. As desert Amy and Cathrine prepared an Apple Crisps and it was soooooo sweet.

After dinner we hung out with the Moyers and then took a walk at Friends Landing. It's a man made lake, it's a 1 mile hike around it. After we got back we hung out with the Moyers till about 10 pm. It was another AWESOME day with The Moyers

Our second day with the Moyers

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 5

Today was the day I was looking forward too this entire trip. I was going to get to meet Rick Moyer face to face. Rick and I have been chatting online for years and developed a very close friendship so I couldn't wait to meet him and his wonderful family.

So we got up by 9:45 and arrived at 10am at Rick's place. Meeting the Moyers was liking seeing old friends. It was though we hung out all the time. Amy (Rick's Wife) and Catherine (Rick's Daughter) made some very delicious Swedish pancakes with Strawberries for breakfast.

Only down side to our meeting was Daisy and Tess didn't get along with each other at all. Tess is way too excited and Daisy doesn't quite understand what to make of it. So the only solution was to keep the 2 dogs apart from each other. Maybe with time they will warm up to each other.

After breakfast we left for a trip to the Washington Rain Forest. It took us roughly a hour to get there. Again we were driving through lots and lots of forest. We got to hang out at the beautiful Lake Quinault. After that we walked over to the world's largest Spruce Tree and took lots of videos and photos. Next up was lunch at the Mercantile, a 'mom and pop' restaurant near the lake, and lunch was absolutely delicious. After lunch we hung out at the lake a second time. Next was a tour of a architectural very interesting lodge. After that we went to see Marriman Falls. It might not be the tallest waterfall, but it is certainly the most beautiful waterfall Harry and I have seen on this trip so far.

After that we headed back to Ricks house and a delicious pot roast for dinner. Then we hang out with Rick's family for a couple of hours. All in all it was a fun filled day and it was so much fun hanging out with The Moyers.

Our first day with the Moyers

Here is my friend Rick's little video from today's adventures.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 5 - Marriman Falls

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 4

Today Harry and I were going from Hood River (OR) to Aberdeen (WA). We got on the road around 9:30. It was only going to be a 200 mile drive so the night before I told Harry I wanted to see Astoria, OR. This is where they shot Goonies and I'm a huge Goonies fan so I thought it would be fun to see the place.

So we took I-84 west and on the outskirts of Portland we merged onto the 205 North. It's rather odd as the GPS made us go up north into Washington and than back south into Oregon. So we passed the outskirts of Vancouver (WA) and then took highway 197 west and were supposed to go via the Lewis and Clark Bridge over the Columbia River back into Oregon. But somehow our GPS got at little confused and told us to go right and that way we ended up in a lumber yard. So we turned the car around and took the Lewis and Clark Bridge into Oregon.

This is a big and architecturally very impressive bridge. From the Oregon side you have a absolutely stunning view of the bridge. We then followed the historic US Route 30 west. It's a 2-lane highway and you get some interesting views. What you see most of the time is lots and lots of forest. So made it to Astoria and stopped at the entrance to take a picture with the city sign and than drove into town.

While we were driving through town in search of a fast food place we found a much better 'Welcome to Downtown Astoria Sign' so we stopped and took a picture in front of that sign and then we hit the road again. We didn't find any fast food place that would have agreed with our stomach, so we opted to drive over the 4.3 mile long Astoria Bridge into Washington. This bridge is absolutely amazing... not only because of it's length, but also because of it's architecture. I was terrified driving over it.. but manage to get across with no issue. We stopped at the next turn out on the Washington side and took quite a number of pix and videos and we also took picture right in front of the Washington State Sign.

We merged onto the 101 and followed it north. Again we came across some quite interesting views, lots of forest but also lots of dead and fallen trees. We drove for about 1 1/2 hours and didn't come across any city. We finally reached the city of South Bend but didn't find any fast food place that would have agreed with us. So we continued on the 101 north and soon reached the city of Raymond where we had lunch at a Diary Queen.

After lunch we got back onto the 101 north. That's when a really odd thing happened with the GPS: We had about 30 miles to go and the GPS estimated that we would need another 2 hours. That struck us as rather odd. Turns out that the GPS was wrong, as about 40 minutes later we reached Aberdeen and checked into the Hotel. So far this hotel is the nicest on the entire trip but the internet is super slow and I'm not able to upload videos.

All in all another great day...

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 3

Today was the first time during this vacation that we weren't doing any major traveling, instead we planned to visit a couple of waterfalls about 20 miles west from where we were staying and to explore parts of the historic Columbia River Gorge Highway, which is part of the old US Route 30.

We headed out around 10.30 am and took the I-84 west. At Cascade Locks, we stopped at The Bridge of the Gods, which is this very cool steel bridge that spans the Columbia River Gorge. We continued on the old US Route 30 and entered Ainesworth State Park, we stopped at a rest stop for a little hike, then explored the Horsetail Waterfall... it was absolutely gorgeous. After that we went even further west to the Multnomah Waterfall, a 611-foot-tall roaring, awe-inspiring cascade of icy water. . This waterfall is absolutely stunning and definitely worth a visit. We did hike up to a bridge from where you have an awesome view of the waterfall and we managed to take lots of pix and absolutely stunning video of the waterfall. After that we hiked back to the base of the fall and decided that it was time for lunch. We checked a restaurant near the fall, but neither Harry nor I were willing to pay 12 bucks for a burger. So we got back onto the I-84, headed east and picked up lunch at Dairy Queen. Taking lunch back to the hotel was definitely the easier thing to do.

After lunch we relaxed for a couple of hours at the hotel and then we headed back out. This time we wanted to explore parts of the historic US Route 30 east of Hood River. So we got onto the I-84 and headed east. One of the first few exits lets you explore the historic Columbia River Gorge. We took that exit and followed US Route 30. This is a very scenic road, but also very windy. Highway 30 brought us higher and higher up where we found several great spots to stop and view the gorge from high above. One of the places was called Memaloose Overlook. From there you have a absolutely gorgeous view of the Columbia River Gorge. You have an almost 180 degree view from up there and it is definitely well worth the drive. We then continued on highway 30 and reached it's highest point at Rowena Crest. This is another place from where you can enjoy absolutely stunning views of the Gorge. We then took the narrow and windy US Route 30 down back to I-84 and followed it to a city called The Dalles. We drove across the Dalles Dam Bridge and into Washington.

We took US Route 197 north to Highway 14 and followed the 14 west. The scenery of the the Gorge on the Washington side is equally impressive. I just wish there would have been more turn outs, so that you can stop to take pix and videos. We stopped at one turn out and got quite a number of great pix and some good video as well. After that we took the Hood River Toll Bridge back to Oregon. While we were crossing the Gorge we got some awesome pix of
Mt. Hood and Toll Bridge. Turns out that this bridge isn't paved, and you have to drive over steel plates across the Gorge. On top of that this bridge is very narrow and a drawbridge... and it was very strange driving over it but you definitely get some stunning views.

All in all it was a really great 3rd day of our vacation and Harry and I enjoyed it a lot.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 3 - Bridge of the Gods

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 3 - Multnomah Falls

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 3 - Horsetail Fall

CONTEST CAR

CAR STYLE

GREEN STYLE CAR CONTEST

Car modification contest

SILVER CAR

AUDIO CAR INTERIOR

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 2

Here's my video blog for Day 2. Today we drove from Mount Shasta, CA to Hood River, OR.



On day 2 of our vacation we wanted to drive all the way up to the Columbia River Gorge. We had planned to leave Mt. Shasta at 9 am, but we were running about 1/2 hour behind again. I decided to drive the first leg of the trip since Harry started yesterday.

The scenery of Northern California is very beautiful and is very different from Central California. On the way to the California - Oregon border we passed through a number of very small towns.
Around 11 we made it to the CA - Oregon state line.

We stopped right at the Oregon State Sign and took a couple of pix. We continued north on the I-5 and stopped at Country Junction rest stop to let Daisy out. Of course she loved it... but all the new and different smells were driving her crazy. We got back on the Interstate and headed north. Driving through Oregon is absolutely beautiful. Trees as far as the eye can see and everything is soooo green. At Sutherlin we got off the freeway to have lunch at Burger King.

After lunch Harry took over as driver, since I had driven a little over 200 miles. We got back onto the I-5 and headed north. We passed through Eugene and Salem where the skies got more and more gray and then it started to rain. It rained on and off the rest of the way. But I guess that's just the way Oregon is.. I mean if it didn't rain as much it wouldn't be a green as it is.

About 25 miles south of Portland we stopped at the Baldock Rest Area, to give Daisy a chance to get out of the car... and of course she absolutely loved it. I have to say one thing about Rest Stops in Oregon they are very wooded and really beautiful. We also found out that it is against the law in Oregon to pump your own gas. We noticed this when we were at lunch and eating in the truck and watching a gas station.. I mentioned to Harry that must be a full service but found out later that it's a law.. crazy....

We headed into Portland. Not exactly sure exactly what it was but I was very unimpressed with Portland, maybe it was because of the pouring down rain.. but it looked dirty and very industrial.

We finally started to head East on I-84 with the last part of today's travels. It took about 1 hour but we reached our final destination in Hood River. We checked into the Sunset Motel, unpacked the truck and finally relaxed

Will be in Hood River for the next 2 days

Pacific Northwest Road Trip - Day 1

This is my test video for day 1 of Harry and my Pacific Northwest Vacation / Road Trip. I hope to do one of these every night after our days adventures




Got up today around 7pm.. started packing up the truck. Everything went smoothly, but we still were running about 1/2 hours behind. We left around 8.30, made a quick stop a Pepper Tree Gas to fill the truck up and then followed Sierra Highway and got onto the I-5 at Valencia.

We took the I-5 north, through the absolutely flat and boring CA Central Valley. Only saw a few olive tress farms and lots of grape vineyards. The only positive side is that the I-5 is the shortest way to get up north and since it's completely flat you use less gas and time.

Around 12.30 we stopped for lunch at Del Taco in Santa Nella. Once we were done with lunch we decided to fill the truck up again and then continued on the I-5 North. We went through Stockton and Sacramento, but didn't stop anywhere along the way, since we had done a CA-Vacation in 2005 and we wanted to get as far north as we possibly could.

After driving for over 400 miles Harry decided that it was time to let me do a little of the driving. So I took over and drove the remaining 250+ miles. Around 8.30 pm we reached our Hotel in Mt. Shasta in Northern California.

All in all it was a very good first day of our road trip. But we are both happy that we made it to the hotel and can relax. On this road trip we brought Daisy along. At times she wasn't quite too sure what to make of all the commotion, but for most part she was doing just fine. And Daisy absolutely loves to go on trips in the car.

Tomorrow we drive up to Hood River in Oregon...

Packing and Prepping

Today Harry and I spent the day packing and prepping for our road trip adventure. Packing for 19 days of travel. Think we are all good to go. Gotta get up early tomorrow and began our 10 hour drive up north to Mount Shasta.

I'm going to try and do a daily video blog of the days events. So keep an eye out for those. Also going to take a ton of pictures and Harry is taking video.. should have lots to share in the near future.

Night All!!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Opening day to the public.. been following this on twitter.. People are waiting in line for 8 to 9 hours just to get into the park. I LOVE Harry Potter but there is no way I would wait 9 hours in line just got in the park for a few hours.. I don't care if it's the first day or not.

This is why I am waiting until August/September when kids go back to school and it will only be somewhat crazy.. but I can't wait to go!!!

Amazing Race 16 - Spoilers

Today I spent about seven hour watching the final 8 episodes of The Amazing Race (if you don't know what it is.. it's a TV show were teams race around the world). I don't watch to many of the reality shows but this one is by far my favorite. It aired from February to May and it's been sitting in my DVR just waiting for us to watch it. Harry and I finally sat down last night and watched the first 4 episodes and today we finished the season off. This is it's sixteenth season and I have watched every season. This year was a lot of fun. They always have some good characters on this show and this year was no exception. There are people you love (The Cowboy Brothers (pix to the right)) and people you hate (The Dating Lesbians) and everything in between. The detours and roadblocks were awesome and they tried things this year that they haven't done before.

I was "okay" with the winners, the brothers. I didn't hate this team until the last episode where the cut in line in front of the Cowboys, I was rooting for The Cowboys, who were charming, funny and always gentlemen. They came in second, which is cool.. at least the finished the race and were all smiles.

Can't wait for next season!!!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Today was the "Grand Opening" of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando Florida. It officially opens to the public on Friday June 18th. But today was for celebrities, cast, crew and press. There are several big Harry Potter sites covering the opening with news and pictures.. but my favorite site in http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/ That is a great place to get all your Harry Potter News.

I can't wait to go, planning a trip later this year.

Will This Ever End!!!!

Today was the final day of working on our land and all the weeding. Everything was cut down but all over the place. I came up with the idea of getting "The Bagster" which is a large plastic bag type dumpster that you can put stuff into and then call Waste Management and they will come and pick it up (for a fee, of course) . I figured this would be so much easier then using a ton of trash bags (like we need more plastic in the land fills). So I did a search online and found that only a few places local to us had Bagsters. We wound up driving out to Sylmar to a True Value to get a bagster, which only cost about 30 bucks.


After that we headed over to Valencia to have lunch at Islands (I had heard there was one near us). We then took the back roads back to our house, since the I-5 was really congested. While driving the back roads we saw tons of stores we normally shop in, and neither Harry nor I had any clue that the were there... and we've been living out there now for almost 1 year. So taking the back roads was definitely worth it.


Once we were home Harry and I went outside and filled the Bagster up with weeds. Then we dumped the contents of the Bagster in the trash bin. That almost filled the dumpster up. So Harry came up with the idea to jump into the dumpster and use my body weight to compact the weeds. That way only the bottom 1/3 of the dumpster was filled. Then we put all the clippings of the east facing slope into the Bagster and dumped it again... and Harry once again used the same method to compact the weeds as before.


After that we took a little break. For the rest of the afternoon Harry and I raked and filled the Bagster up with weeds and yard clippings. At 7 pm we were finally done. The cutting down of all the weeds and removal is done, now the fire marshals have nothing to complain about. Now we have just to figure out how we're going to dispose of the weeds... as there's no way that we can dump them all into the trash bin (as we share this trash bin with three other houses). Either we leave them for now and dump them over several weeks into the trash bin or we have Waste Management come out and pick the Bagster up for a cost. Not going to worry about it until we get back from vacation.. so will see.

After this experience I'm not sure I every want to do it again. This is was of the most exhausting work I have done in years. I understand why people pay people to do it.. but on the other hand looking at it now and how beautiful is looks with all the weeds gone I have a sense of accomplishment.. which is great.

Should haven't have mess with the land for at least six months.. so for now I'll just enjoy my weed free property.

Errands & Yard Work... oh joy!!!

Today was pretty much a day of running errands in preparation for our upcoming vacation. Harry needed to get a second battery and a second memory card for his video camera. He had checked earlier and it turns out that Fry's had the cheapest batteries and memory cards. So we headed out to Fry's in Burbank. We got battery and memory card. I was hoping to get a second battery for my still camera but the only one they had in stock was returned.. so I opted now to get one.. if I need one I can always get one in our travels.


Next we decided to have lunch at Chevy's and after that we headed over to Ralphs in Burbank to pick up some groceries and a father's day card, as I'm going to be traveling on fathers day and I wanted to make sure I got a card to him as least. ( I mean I'll call him also)

After that we headed home but had to make a quick stop in Santa Clarita since we had to pick up a couple of things at Petsmart and Lowe's.


We stopped at Pepper Tree Gas Station to fill up the gasoline container for the weed whacker as I had ran out the previous night.


Once we were home I was back on yard work duty.. after what felt like months I was finally done with mowing down all the weeds. Up next, raking and disposing the weeds.. think I'll do that tomorrow.

Knights of the Guild Ep 17 pt1

Show Notes:

Here it is Episode 17 part 1 of Knights of the Guild… Enjoy!!!
Today’s show features:
• * First up a classic Vorkism
• * Thanks to @ben_b55 & @kentela for commissioning @unmodisch to create a FANTASTIC KOTG song that we use for our opening Theme
• * We are recording this weeks podcast live in our wonderful studio
• * We discuss the latest Guild News
• * We have the one and only Amy Okuda for our cast interview

• * We read listener feedback
• * We also announce winners of our end of month contest for May and talk about continuing contests
• * Then Business Time (contest submissions, Thanks to Megan Lynch, Jennifer Wong, Jerod Bennett, Harry Amner, Mark Donica, David Mello, Adriene Holland, and Tightrope)
• * Then our Good byes
Thank you again for all your support, we do this podcast because we are fans and more importantly for the fans.
Kenny & Jenni
• Knights of the Guild Feeds/Downloads http://knightsoftheguild.com
• Knights of the Guild Daily Blog http://knightsoftheguildpodcast.blogspot.com/

Yard Work

More yard work.. I continue to cut down weeds. Luckily I got our neighbors uber weed whacker. I can only do for four or five hours taking many breaks in between before I'm exhausted. Downside to doing so much yard work is I'm too exhausted to work on my Knights of the Guild podcast. I'm suppose to be organizing all my interviews that I had gotten during the filming of Season 4 and I need to start to edit a few of the new "CompanionCast" podcasts. First one is due the day after the premiere of the first episode.

I'll find time.. somewhere..

Editing KOTG Podcast

Tonight I finished editing Episode 17 parts 1 and 2 of Knights of the Guild podcast. Since we are going on vacation and I don't want to have to be editing on the road I manage to get both parts done before I left. Part 1 will be released on June 15th and part 2 will be released on June 29th. Both have really good interviews. Now I have to work on a few of the Companioncasts before I leave.

Doctor Who

Watched the latest Doctor Who, Episode 11 titled The Lodger. First let me say I have been loving the new Doctor and Companion, can't believe this season is almost over (with 2 episodes left). This latest episode was my favorites, it was funny and sweet. Loved, loved, loved the Doctor trying to be a "normal" bloke. Loved his relationship with his flat mate Craig. Not a lot happens with the story but it was a nice change from all the heavy episodes they have done this season. This was simply FUN!!!

Yard Work

One of the very few down sides of living on 2 1/2 acres of land is maintaining it. Though we have a very short spring here, with all this rain we have had, weeds are grow all over the place. By law (Fire code) we have to keep weeds 200 feet from any structure or face some hefty fines.

Harry and I have been battling this losing cause for the past few months. Yesterday one of our neighbors came to our rescue and brought over their heavy duty weed whacker. So today I started up on our hill and kill some weeds. Before this heavy duty weed whacker I was using a very tiny weed whacker that would lose it's power in about 10 minutes of cutting, because the weeds were so thick it drained it's juice cutting them down. Mind you it's in the low 90's and I'm sweating like a pig but I did manage to get the entire hillside cut. Now the fun part will be raking up the cut down weeds so we can dispose of them.. think I'll wait till tomorrow to do that. Also still have another even hillier side to cut down tomorrow. Oh the joys of home ownership...

Vacation Plans

Today Harry and I sat down and finalized our revised vacation plans. Since we can't take Lora's trailer, we'll be staying in hotels, it's not ideal but it's cheaper then renting an RV. We will be taking Daisy (our dog) with us so that limits us on what we can do. This is more of a road trip to see some of the country.



Our first day we will be driving all the way up to Mt. Shasta in NorCal. Day two we will be driving to Hood River in Oregon and stay there for a couple of days to enjoy the Columbia River Gorge. Then we will drive west to Aberdeen in Washington to spend a couple of days with my good friends Rick and Amy .From there we will be heading to Columbia Falls in Montana and spend a couple of days at Glacier National Park. Then we'll be head down south into Wyoming and spend a couple of days in Yellowstone. From there we will head to Arches National Park in Utah and spend a few of days there. Then on to Zion National Park also in Utah. From there we will be heading back home, purposely avoiding Arizona (which adds about 150 miles to our trip). All in all we'll be on the road for about 3700 miles and we think that it will take us somewhere between 16 - 18 days.

I'll be blogging, tweetering and facebooking from the road. I'm also going to try and do video blogs along the way.. should be lots of fun.

Browncoat Interview

Tonight I had a fantastic interview with the creator, director, writer and producer of the upcoming Firefly/Serenity "fan" made movie Browncoats: Redemption, Michael Dougherty. I interviewed him for a "fan" interview for my Knights of the Guild podcast, because not only is he a huge Browncoat but also a Guildie. Be sure to check out his movie website http://browncoatsmovie.com Also his interview will be on Knights of the Guild Episode 17 part 2, which will be released on June 29th http://knightsoftheguild.com

Harry Potter Final Shoot Day

Today is the final shoot day of principal photography on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is the last movie in that series. As you all know I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I LOVED the books and really enjoy the movies. The book series ended a few years ago and now the movie series is coming to an end as well with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 in July of 2011.

I don't think the movies series ending will be as traumatic as the book series ending. The books ending that was it, no more Harry Potter. I remember wanting to read the final book as quickly as possible as I wanted to know what happen next but then I wanted to go slow because I didn't want it to end.

The movies have been a good adaptation of the books. Some folks complain that they cut out a lot of stuff from the books and I agree.. but I also know they are "adaptations" of the books and are not word for word. Some things you just can't visual show on screen like it's written on the page.

On a bright side once the movies are over next year they will be around for years to come to enjoy.. just like when I re-listen to the audio books over and over and over and never get tired of them. To me Harry Potter is right up there with Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings and Firefly. It's some of the best Sci-fi / Fantasy stuff around.

New Look

Today Blogger finally added a bunch of new templates for my blog. Before they were very limited, but now there are so many it's making it hard to choose. I have been playing with the colors and set up and background for both of my blog accounts (My Life as a Geek and Knights of the Guild Podcast) for the past two hours. I just can't find the right combination that I like. I did finally settle on two very different looking blog styles. Now will see how long they last.. I'm constantly tweaking it.. Let me know what you think!!

The Guild Season 4 Wrap Party

Today was The Guild's Season 4 wrap party. It was being held at a restaurant/bar called Barbarella Bar in Sliverlake. It started at 7pm.

Harry was sick and not really into parties, so I invited my friend Christopher to go with me. I picked him up around 6:30 and got to the party at 7pm. The place was very cool, kind of trendy/industrial. Soon the place was packed. It was fun mingling with the cast and crew. I got tons of pictures which you can see on Facebook or on my Flickr Account . Everyone chatted for a few hour and about 9:15 they gathered everyone in the main room, were there was a large TV screen. There were 3 things listed on the screen, PSA, Guild S3 Recap and Episode 1 of Season 4. I knew they were going to preview episode 1 of season 4 and I was very excited for that. I was excited to see the Recap again but I didn't have a clue what the PSA was.

Felicia and Kim got up and gave a nice speech and thanked everyone for all their hard work. Then they started the DVD. First was the PSA, come to find out that it involves me and Wil Wheaton.. It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen and it totally made this great night unforgettable.

Afterward people kept asking me if I knew about it, and I could honestly say that I didn't have a clue. I mean Brian mentioned something to me when I arrived but I never expected this. People also asked how it made me feel to know they went through all this work for me. It's hard to put into word how I felt. I love my Guild family and have enjoyed working on the past three seasons with them all. I have dedicated/volunteered alot of my free time to The Guild. I started the official podcast just to get the word out about The Guild and to bridge the cast and crew with the fans, who are some of the best fans around. So I was honored that they appreciated me so much that they went through the trouble to produce this piece. BTW this will be on the season 4 DVD as an Easter Egg.

After that shock they played the Auto-Tuned Guild Recap of Season 3 which was lot of fun to watch on a big screen and with a group of friends.

Then they aired the first episode of Season 4, Of course I can't give any details but it was AWESOME. A great way to start the season.. can't wait to see the rest.

After the screening they had one more video to show.. it was a gag reel for the entire season and it was hilarious.

After the video it was dance time. Everyone danced until midnight, then when the final song came on "Don't Stop Believing" the remaining party goers got into a circle on the dance floor with arms around shoulders and sang along with the song. It was the perfect way to end a unforgettable night.

Highlights from the night for me were, of course, the PSA with Wil Wheaton. Dancing with Felicia Day, Sandeep grinding me, hanging out with Maurissa Tancharoen (Whedon) (I've only met her a few times but she remembers me and my personal life, she asked about my new house.. I love that woman). Watching my friend Christopher mingle and blend right in to the Guild family. Just hanging with my friends, that is one great thing about The Guild cast and crew, they are not co-workers.. they are friends. And some of them will be life long friends.

The Guild Season 3 Recap: Auto-Tuned

Check it out.. they just released The Guild Recap for Season 3. I knew about this and just got a sneak peek of it yesterday.. so glad the released it so everyone can enjoy it.



<br/><a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-guild-season-3-recap-auto-tuned/y0d7ilb3?fg=sharenoembed" target="_new"title="'The Guild' Season 3 Recap: Auto-Tuned">Video: 'The Guild' Season 3 Recap: Auto-Tuned</a>

Final Guild Shoot Season 4 - Day 15

After a few weeks off the Guild gang get's back together for one final shoot day. I was there with my trusty netbook and microphone getting some very cool interviews. Once again I can't say much about this shoot.. but it was a ton of fun and very interesting on how it was shot. Got to meet someone I didn't expect and it was great. I'll talk more about this day on the Knights of the Guild podcast.. so stay tuned.

The Goonies 25th Anniversary

25 years ago today I sat in a theater and watch in awe this wonderful movie about kids who were just like me. I was 15 at the time and identified with being a Goonie... I wanted to be part of their group so bad.. I saw this movie several times in the theater, bought books, CD and everything else I could find about The Goonies.

Five years ago the DVD release for the 20th anniversary had the entire cast do a cool video commentary so you got to see them all grown up which was great. They are now going to be releasing a special 25th anniversary blu-ray version, which I'm very excited for. It's going to have updated interviews and some more cool BTS stuff.

There have been rumors of a sequel going around for years and years. I would love to see these kids as adults with their own kids who are now the goonies but if we never see it I'll be content with watching one of my most favorite childhood movie.. The Goonies

Goonies Never Say Die!!!!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Official Trailer)

This looks AWESOME!!!! I am so excited for this movie or should I say movies as these are clips from both parts. November can't get here soon enough.

When You're Down

I'm sure you all have these things.. you know a song, TV show, or movie that you can watch/listen and it instantly lifts your spirits. Of course anything Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter can put a smile on my face but I want to share a few specific things that just make me happy.

First of all the Harry Potter novels on CD read by Jim Dale. I have all seven books on CD (I also have all seven British version ready by Stephen Fry) and I have listened to them so many times I have lost count. I recently just started over again with book 1 The Sorcerer's Stone. I don't know what it is about those books or Jim Dale reading them but man I listen for five minutes and it can turn any bad day good. It lifts my spirits and puts a smile on my face. I used these alot at work during the my final few weeks when things were really bad. I would take a lunch and my ipod and get lost in the world of Harry Potter. I would come back refreshed and ready for rest of the day.

There are so several movies that just make me happy. I watched two of them today.. They aren't part of my core groups of genre things I love but I love them just the same. I don't want to call them "Gay" movies as they are just movies that happen to have gay characters as the main characters. First one is Big Eden about Henry Hart, a successful gay artist from New York City who returns to his Montana hometown to care for his ailing grandfather. While at home, Henry is forced to confront his unresolved feelings for high school friend Dean Stewart, while simultaneously beginning to fall in love with Pike Dexter, the shy Native American owner of the town's general store. It's a sweet movie set in a very unrealistic world where everyone in this small town has no issue with homosexuals, they all encourage it and accept it. It's a fantasy world but man I would love to live in that world. That's one of the appeals of this movie for me. It's a sweet love story and always leaves me feeling happy.

The other movie I watched today was Guys and Balls, this is a German film that Harry and I watched in the theater and loved it. It's about Ecki a young man who works in a bakery in Dortmund and plays soccer on his local team. Already under pressure for playing badly, his homophobic team-members find out that he is gay and throw him off the team. With the help of his sister and a cranky former soccer star, he forms an all-gay soccer team to challenge his old team in a grudge match. Besides the main actor being adorable the story is fun and sweet and the supporting cast are funny and endearing. This is a little guy beating the big homophobic guys and it just makes me happy.

Life can be difficult at times I'm just happy I have stuff like this that can pull me up when I'm feeling low.. What makes you happy?

Kenobi's 1st Birthday Party

Today was my nephews very first birthday party. Harry and I got there around 12:30ish, got some BBQ and hung out with friends and family. Got to watch Kenobi walk by himself (which he has been doing for a week or so) but this is the first time I got to see it... he's growing up so fast. But I did get to spend some quality Uncle time with him.. which was very nice. We did cake and presents and slowly family started to leave until it was just Mike and Lora's friends and the "party" was beginning so Harry and I left around 4pm, picked up some of our favorite Chiense from Hong Kong and headed home for a relaxing night.

Celtic Heart Tattoo - The Symbol of Love and Romance

Celtic Heart Tattoo - The Symbol of Love and Romance
Tattoos have since been a form of art and self-expression even from the earliest centuries. It also represents a person's characteristic and how he perceives himself/herself to be. In the past, only the warriors of a tribe had tattoos. This was to show what they have been through.

The tattoos of today represent or are in a way, a representation of the tattoo designs of the past. There are tribal tattoo designs, Celtic tattoos, and Goth tattoos. But out of these three tattoo designs, type or class of tattoos; people look to the Celtic tattoo designs for symbolism from artwork. These Celtic designs are difficult to decipher on what they really mean.

The most basic and fundamental key elements of Celtic design tattoos include spirals, knots and crosses, and even hearts. Most commonly, a heart is made with spirals, knots and crosses. A Celtic heart tattoo is requested and even chosen by people who feel a strong emotion which is love. Thus, the heart tattoos symbolize love, charity, and compassion.

Beauty of Flower Tattoo Designs

Beauty of Flower Tattoo Designs
Flowers are perhaps the among the strongest object used to symbolized women and tattoos are not any different. For centuries, women have been coming up with more creative and illustrious flower tattoo ideas to add to those that are already in existence. One of the main reasons for this is flower tats will never be out of style in any day and age. What this means is, these tattoos and ideas will be around and tattooed by women all over the globe in years to come yet.

When it comes to flowers, there are really no limitations as to what can be tattooed. No matter what, flower tats will almost always look great on a woman especially when tattooed by an experienced tattoo artist/tattoo parlor using quality tattooing techniques. What this means is there are really no right or wrong when it comes to flower tat ideas. It is more a question of whether these designs suit the woman in question. We do have some flower tattoo ideas to help out women out there wanting to get one (or even in multiples).

Rose Tattoo Designs - The Meaning Behind the Beauty

Rose Tattoo Designs - The Meaning Behind the Beauty
The roses is not only famous for its romantic connotations but have been used in more aggressive situations. Two famous families in England have a rose as part of their families symbolism. The Lancaster's emblem is red rose and The York's use white roses in their coat of arms.

One of Britain's dominant parties is symbolized by red rose. (The Labor Party).

Rose tattoo designs have been used as a sign of masculinity. They are not just for women. Take the famous rock band Guns And Roses. Each of its members wears a rose incorporated with a gun.

Skull Tattoo Designs - Dare to Compare

Skull Tattoo Designs - Dare to Compare
What does the grim reaper convey to you? It is not associated with Satan as some believe, nor does it represent simple death. These hooded skull tattoo designs are a reminder from medieval times that life is infinite and it suggests that there is life after death.

Sun Tattoos - Unique and Original

Sun Tattoos - Unique and Original
There are never ending ways to customize sun tattoos. Mix and match other designs for a totally unique look. A Celtic mosaic could be combined on wood. Add other symbols to create your own story line. Use your imagination.

They can be light hearted or serious. The choice is yours. Here are some tips on finding the best designs that have not hit the circuit full force yet. You will get ideas on creating your own version.