Gato Amarillo

A couple of weeks ago I had said that I was going to try to do a better job of keeping up with this little blog. I just realized that a couple of weeks has gone by and I haven't done any sort of a better job. I also realized that I am heading out on a camping trip for about 10 days in the desert and I'll be pretty much off the grid while I'm out there, so if a better job is desired, I better get my butt in gear.

When we are actively traveling and seeing new and exciting things, this blog is pretty easy to write. Inspiration is readily available during those times. When we aren't on the move and we are doing the same thing today as we did yesterday, this blog is a bit more challenging for me. Sure, I'm still having fun as a professional ski bum, but it seems pointless to tell you that I went skiing again today and had a great time, because that's exactly what I did yesterday, and yesterday I had a great time too.

For some of you, being a ski bum may seem like a pretty great thing to do for a guy in his early 40's, but for others, I'm sure you are tired of hearing about it. I'm actually getting tired of hearing about it and it's my life. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love skiing and I feel pretty lucky to be have a winter devoted entirely to sliding down a slippery mountain with skis strapped to my feet. However, when we left Seattle 2 years ago, this was never in our plans.

I will tell you that we have become experts at going with the flow so I'm not entirely surprised that our plans haven't come remotely close to working out like we thought they would. 2 years into our trip should have put us somewhere in the South Pacific on our boat, drinking foo-foo coconut drinks, spear-fishing, surfing, and exploring remote tropical islands. Not sitting in Bend, Oregon checking the snow report every morning and begging for another winter storm to drop inches upon inches of powder in the mountains.

It may seem like I am complaining about being here since it wasn't in our plans. That's not the case. I truly feel lucky to be able to spend a winter in Bend. Bend is a great town and Mt. Bachelor is a great mountain. We have great friends here and it's just a nice place to be. I've been able to cross “ski bum for a winter” off of my bucket list, and how often does a guy get to cross something off his bucket list? Not very often.

I'm sure you know that Brenda and I have been apart for about 4 months now. Other than her short visit to Bend for a little break, she has been in Seattle helping her family member with a medical emergency. 4 months is a long time to be away from your partner, best friend, spouse, etc... This is another thing that was definitely not in our plans. But again, we both feel extremely lucky that we are in a position where we not only have the time, but the resources for Brenda to be able to spend the needed time and energy helping where help is needed. The best part of this story is that her family member seems to be getting stronger by the day, and in a few weeks he will be able to go home, which means Brenda will be able to come home.

Since Brenda has been gone for so long, I'm sure you are wondering how I occupy my time without the queen of keeping busy here with me. The short answer is one that I'm sure you are aware of. I go skiing most days. If your knees are as old and worn out as mine, I'm sure you are also aware of the fact that old knees can't ski every single day. Some days a guy just needs a break. And of course there are also days where weather just doesn't cooperate and the mountains are not a hospitable place to be.

Since we are planning on sailing down the coast toward Mexico in a few months, a lot of my evenings are spent practicing Spanish, researching places we need to see, ordering spare boat parts, and figuring out necessary paperwork that will be needed for us to get into the country (thanks Debbie for all the info you sent! It is a huge help!). The good news is that with all of my Spanish practicing, I can now fluently ask you if you have a yellow cat. I am hoping that phrase comes in handy when we are down in Mexico. I will be seriously keeping my eyes peeled for a yellow cat.

A lot of time is spent hanging out with friends, hiking, exploring more of the area, and of course there is the occasional Netflix marathon (I am now caught up on House of Cards. Thanks Netflix for occupying/wasting an entire Saturday).

One of my recent goals has been to figure out how to actually use our fancy-schmancy new camera. I haven't exactly figured it all out, but I can tell you that it does more cool stuff than I originally thought. I assumed most of the buttons were just there to make the camera look more awesome, but surprisingly, all of those awesome buttons actually perform specific tasks. One of those specific tasks is called “stop-motion”. You can take a series of pictures and the camera will automatically stitch those pictures together to form a video. I think that button is how clay-mation movies are made. I'm also pretty sure it's magic.

Since my goal is to figure this camera out, I chose a particularly wet, windy, cold, and nasty day, and decided to make a little video using the awesome “stop-motion” button. I made a quick trip to everyone's favorite store Walmart, picked up a bunch of construction paper, crayons, glue, and scissors, and locked myself in our home on wheels with Netflix playing Sherlock Holmes in the background (the British version) until my masterpiece was finished. The product of those 2 days is below. I have a pretty good feeling that I may get nominated for an Oscar for this film.



As you can see, there are days when I really have nothing better to do.


Tomorrow, I will be heading down to Nevada with a good friend to do some camping in the desert. We are going to explore some canyons, look for ancient ruins, soak up some warm sun, stop in Las Vegas for a quick visit with my Dad, and more than anything, just have a great little adventure.   

Here are some more photos from a few hikes in the last couple of weeks.







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