Crystal's Bachelorette: Vegas Style- May 18-20, 2012

Crystal and Ben are getting married this fall and she wanted celebrate her bachelorette in Vegas.  So Sara, Lisa, Christine and I met up with Crystal in Vegas and partied it up for the weekend.  It was a weekend of 6 foot drinks, champagne buffets, dancing in clubs, and lounging poolside in the hot crisp sun.  Exhausted now. :)

A Day in Portland- May 12, 2012

It's been such a beautiful month here in Portland and Lisa and I have definitely been taking advantage.  We spent the day shopping, running errands, and ended the day at Cafe Naranja where they filmed part of Portlandia.  It has a fun back area complete with swings and swinging tables.  I almost knocked over the whole thing on my swing, so alas, I might be a little clumsy for it all.

Eagle Creek to High Bridge- May 6, 2012

When it's nice out in Portland, everyone flocks to the outdoors and Lisa and I are no exception.  We took a lovely 7 mile hike from Eagle Creek to High Bridge and basked in the warm sun and beautiful falls throughout the hike.

Game Night 2- April 28, 2012

Since our first game night was such a success, Lisa and I decided to do it again.  It was more last minute, but we had just as much fun, ending the night in a impromptu jam session.

Portland Gorge Hiking- Multinomah Falls- Apr 29, 2012

After a week of muscle deterioration after returning from Kim and I's epic hiking and camping trip, I finally got out again and Lisa and I did a 7 mile loop in the Gorge, hiking up Multinomah Falls to Devil's Rest and down to Wahkeena Falls.  It was beautiful and so, so green.  We passed by multiple falls, large and small and it was good to be out and about back in Portland.

The Grand Canyon- Apr 20-22, 2012

 All of our other 70+ miles of hiking the past week was needed preparation for our crazy Bright Angel top to bottom and back hike from the rim of the Grand Canyon to the Colorado River.  I was a little nervous because there were a plethora of signs warning against doing so...of the "you will die" persuasion.  It was awesome though it meeting the challenge.  We headed out around 7:45 and got back around 3:30 exhausted and sore.   Of course, we did some other hikes too and were lucky enough to see sunset and sunrise at the canyon.  Overall, an amazing trip and so glad to spend it with one of my best friends.

Monument Valley Tribal Park- Apr 19, 2012

Monument Valley Tribal Park is ran by the Navajo tribe on the Arizona/Utah border.  While it's not a national park, it was a good halfway point between Canyonlands and the Grand Canyon.  The hotel has an amazing view of the isolated monoliths that jut out of the barren land.  Only bad thing about the trip was leaving my wallet and fleece in the hotel room only to be nipped by housekeeping.  Oops.

Canyonlands- Apr 19, 2012

Canyonlands was another national park that hadn't drawn my attention before.  Actually 3 somewhat distinct parks, we only had time to visit 2 as they are not accessible from each other directly.  We started with the grand sweeping views from Island in the Sky District hiking along the rim which overlooks the many layered depressions of the canyons.  Then we headed to the Needles District where the giant monoliths created the needle-like appearance of the canyons.  We didn't have much time, so we hoofed it, hiking the 7.5 mile loop from Squaw Canyon to Big Spring.  It was one of my favorite hikes of the trip.  We wove through the valleys of the canyons climbing over the top of one into another and rounded off the hike with sunset glowing serenely over the red rock.