S/V Adventurer

We've made it to Yosemite. We took a couple of detours on the way down here but we've made it. I would in general say that I'm glad we are here because it has been on both of our bucket lists for quite a while, but after day one in the Park, I'm not sure that I can handle day 2. More on that in a minute.  First, the detours. I'm not sure if I have told you how good we are at planning things out, so I am going to fill you in on how we roll. Our usual routine before we go to bed is to look at the map, check the weather, see what is close by (or far enough to avoid weather), and go there. That's it. Nothing is planned out beyond the next 24 hours. It leaves us an endless amount of possibilities and it's worked pretty well for us so far. Part of the problem we have with scheduling beyond 24 hours is that we are just plain lazy, but mainly, it's because we like the flexibility of being able to stay in any particular spot for the perfect amount ...

We've finally done it...we've left Bend. After 3 months, the place started to feel like home. It felt so much like home that we probably could have stayed for another 3 months and felt pretty good about it. Since my only real goal of being in Bend was to ski a bunch, it seems that we got quite a bit of other stuff accomplished while we were there. We spent time with old friends, we've made some great new friends, we hiked, we climbed, we explored the region, and yes, we did ski a bunch. According to Mt. Bachelor, we spent 38 days with skis strapped on our feet and skied a total of 415,886 vertical feet...not too shabby. It was the best winter that either of us can ever remember having and we are seriously thinking that we will be back next winter for more of the same. But alas, it's time to move on. There is too much out there to see and do for us to stay put any longer. Speaking of things to see and do, in just a few hours south of Bend, we came across wh...

I've had a few phone calls and emails in the last couple of days from friends asking what we are up to and what our plan is...where are we going next? As far as what we've been up to, well, that's pretty easy to answer. We've been skiing, we've been exploring the area and seeing cool stuff, and we've been having fun. As far as what we are doing next, well, that's a pretty complicated question. The short answer is that we are going to see more stuff and we are going to have more fun. The long answer is where the complication comes in. We have 2 more weeks booked at the RV park in Bend. We are having a hard time coming up with a firm plan for the next 2 weeks so you can only imagine the difficulty we are having in firming up a plan that lasts longer than the next 2 weeks. We are currently having so much fun here in Bend that it is really going to be difficult to leave...especially if the snow keeps falling. I'm not sure if I have mentioned t...

It seems that most of the really exciting things that have happened to us on this little adventure like to happen right around 2 am. Just at the time when we should be nice and cozy in our beds, with visions of gumdrops and candy canes is when chaos strikes. While we were on the boat this past summer cruising the Inside Passage, the worst storms always hit at night. In Death Valley a couple of months ago, a violent sand storm crashed into us while we were sleeping. In Moab, the most intense rain, lightning storms, and flash floods decided that waking us up was better than waiting for the morning. In Yellowstone, we had lightning striking so close to our camper that we could smell the electricity in the air, it sounded like a freight train was in our bed, and it was so bright that it looked like someone turned on a stadium's worth of lights right in our face...all while we were sound asleep. For some reason, darkness brings out the worst in mother nature...at least it sometim...

If you aren't a skier or a snowboarder, what I am about to tell you may not seem like that big of a deal. To this official ski bum and his lovely wife, I assure you that it is a big deal. Get ready for the news...wait for it...wait for it...and here it is...winter has finally returned! Wooooooo Hooooooo!!! The snow has been falling and the temperature has plummeted which means that the mountains around here are the best place on earth for us to be. I'm not sure how long this string of snowy and cold weather is going to last, but for now, we are taking advantage of what we have. I'm sure that most of you reading this are fully aware of the lack of winter that has taken place in the Western half of the United States. Mt. Bachelor in Bend has had the same string of poor winter weather as the rest of the ski resorts out west, however, since Mt. Bachelor is quite a bit higher in elevation than most of the other ski hills, some of the rain that has plagued the o...

Last weekend, we were lucky enough to have about 2 feet of snow fall at Mt. Bachelor. For our friends who like to ski in the Seattle area, that may seem like the Good Lord had blessed us with some white gold. I'm not going to lie, it was heavenly. It officially put Mt. Bachelor on the top of the snow pack list for all of the western United States. I guess we picked the right place to ski this winter. We got out and enjoyed the fresh powder while it lasted and had a couple of the best ski days that may have been available in West this entire winter season. Unfortunately, 2 days after the big snow storm, the weather turned unseasonably warm and the skiing started to go downhill fast. I'm all for some sunny days skiing on the mountain, but when it's so warm that it starts to seem more like water skiing than snow skiing, it's time for us to find other activities. Since Bend is an outdoor recreation mecca, there is no shortage of stuff to see and do. And since ...

I am going to tell you about one of my earliest memories right now. It really isn't all that important of a memory but it sets the stage for what has just happened nearly 40 years later. This memory takes place somewhere around the time when I was between 3 and 4 years old I would guess...and it's a little bit embarrassing. At 3 or 4, I can't really say that my actions were influenced in any way by what people would think of me at 40, but they were totally affected by my imagination running wild and the thrill of the moment. For the sake of argument, I am going to say that I was 3 because the younger I was in this story, the more acceptable my actions become. Anyway, at the time when I was 3 years old, my mom was into arts and crafts and had big bags of cotton lying around for her little projects. If you have ever done any sewing projects, you may know of the bags that I am talking about. There is just about enough cotton in one of those bags to make a normal ...