Back in Texas...

For a minute anyways. I realize I've become a terrible blogger, but I promise updates are coming.

I came into town for the weekend because my stepsister Allison was getting married and Brooke and Freeland were moving to PA today.

I'll probably be around here for a few days and then head back to Colorado.

Amy had a dream last week that I showed up in town unannounced, and I couldn't tell her at the time but she busted me the day before I left! Crazy.

I also signed a lease in Colorado. I'm staying in Denver for the summer. When I get back there, I'll post some pictures of the place and Gracie's newest friends.

Updated Chisum Trail

Here's where I be. As you can tell, there hasn't been much movement. More to come on that. I've stayed in a lot more places than are marked, but I got lazy again.

The little comforts in life

As I mentioned in the previous post, I had a rough beginning of the week. HipHopapotomus came through for me, but another thing I figured out was to try to get back to some of the things that felt like home. Here are a few of the things that helped.

I've been eating at Chili's since it was the coolest place to eat in high school.
Their chips and queso can cheer anybody up

I'll affectionately refer to this as CRACK. Once you have some, you're hooked. And it had been a while

If they would let me rent a back room at Best Buy, I'd do it.

Best Buy also allowed me to play this for the first time. Is it weird to play video games at Best Buy for an hour?

It's been a while....

Sorry to leave you all hanging for so long. I got to Steamboat Springs last week, and have spent the remainder of the week lurking all over Colorado. I've been to Steamboat, Beaver Creek, Avon, Frisco, Breckenridge, Boulder and now I'm in lovely Denver.

8 inches of snow overnight last week, fun stuff

Gracie playing in/eating the snow

After hanging out in the mountains for a while, I headed into the Denver metro. First place I had to go, Boulder. One of my favorite places to hang out. Along the way, I ran into Big Horn. As Goulet would say, "Nature! That's why I come up here."

Here's video. All of a sudden, one of them was picking on the other. It was pretty cool to see from 30 feet away.

Here are some pictures from Boulder.

Boulder from up above

Gracie still enjoying eating snow

Also, I wanted to say thanks to Hip-Hop (most of you know her as my sister, Brooke) for helping me out when I was at a breaking point the other day. Most of this trip has been really easy and a ton of fun, but the other day was a really tough one for me and she came through in a big way. Thanks Hip Hop.

Updated Chisum Trail

I've made my way back into Colorado. This doesn't really surprise me. I may be here for a while.

Happy Monday Morning

I'm willing to bet most of you reading this are just getting to work. Way to be productive guys. Anyhow, today is Cinco De Mayo and this is important for two reasons. One, I've been saving up to celebrate. Two, it has now been a month since I've worked. That should help you settle into Monday a little better.

Let me catch you up on the last few days. I stayed in Portland on Thursday. I spent most of the day driving around the city getting lost. I went the wrong way on a one-way street and really annoyed a local. Good stuff. When I woke up on Friday, I took Schuchard's and Lyndi's advice and went to visit the Columbia River Gorge. The river serves as the border between Oregon and Washington.


Gracie and I are becoming quite the hikers. Although, on this particular day I sprained my ankle on one of the trails. Reversing half a mile on a bum ankle is not fun. After spending the day being moody, I ended up in Seattle. True to its reputation, it was a rainy Friday night. Saturday I went to the fish market.

These guys jammed. Video to come

Today I woke up and visited Mount Rainier. It was another day that allowed me to see all four seasons in one day.

Look what Gracie found

There is one theme that has shown its face a few different times during my travels so far. Well, a few actually, but one I am going to tell you about right now. Some of the best things you'll see are down roads you didn't plan on taking. Here's what I found.

Coos Bay

A few days ago I spent some time on the Oregon coast, which was pretty sweet. I stayed in Coos Bay, which is definitely a shore town. There were tons of seafood options, but those who know me well will know that left me with few options. Luckily, most seafood places still know how to make good chicken. The morning was really rainy and visibility was nil, but about noon the sun started coming out and I got to spend some time at the beach. And by beach, I mean mostly cliffs. Check it...

That bird in the first picture and I hung out for quite a while actually. He's seen a lot of these parts and had some interesting stories. The one about Bill Walton and Jerry Garcia visiting the coast in '77 was classic. Anyhow, there's a lighthouse too. I wish I had a better camera so I could have zoomed in on that guy a little better, but we make do with what we have.

See the sea lions sunbathing? Gracie was barking back at them, it was awesome.

We ended up staying a while, and Gracie passed out. Easy to do up there.

She loves watching birds. And when they land, she loves making them fly again.

I spent the last couple of days hanging out with my new friends in Eugene. It's a pretty cool town with down to earth people, and some absolute weirdos. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Today, I took the long way getting to Portland. I was too tired to do anything today, so I'll get out and see the city tomorrow.

Chisum Trail

Here's the latest map for those curious. I'm in Eugene, OR right now and plan on leaving early tomorrow. I'll end up in Portland but not the easy way.

Medford to Coos Bay

I spent the night in Medford on Sunday. I was pretty cranky after having some issues with my hotel so I was really looking forward to seeing something mind blowing today. And that I did. Check out my drive up to Crater Lake

And then, I saw Crater Lake. I don't know how to describe the blue of the lake, it was powerful.

Only one area of the entire lake was open since there's still about 12ft of snow on the ground, so it was tough to spend much time there. With my day opened up, I decided to head back to the coast, only this time Oregon style. I did manage to see some cool stuff on the way, including a random falls with a mile hike to the top. Gracie made me stop there too.

With all the snow melting, there are hundreds of these waterfalls along the highways

Here are some pictures as I started getting closer to the coast. There are easily 1000 different shades of green in this state. Some of it didn't even look real to me.


That's the sun setting long before I got to Coos Bay. From what I read and hear, it's pretty amazing. I guess I'll have to find out tomorrow. Although, if it's raining like it was tonight when I got here, I don't know if I'll be able to see much.

I believe we're completely caught up now. I've got some video to update, but tonight's not the night. Check back again. Throwing the deuces