Jan n’ Feb, Aught Ten
It’s been almost two months since my last blog post and life has been non-stop work and play. Here are some pictures from the happenings in winter 2010 thus far.
Glacier National Park | January 2010
Watching the Ducks play the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2010 Rose Bowl from a spotty satellite internet connection in the cozy Speyer Family cabin.
Snowshoeing with Kat and Justin in Glacier National Park for New Year’s. This picture was taken on the west side of Lake McDonald.
Hoodoo Winter Carnival |February 2010
Part of my job is to plan activities for the group of international students that I teach. On February 6th, 150 or so students made the trip to Hoodoo Mountain Resort for their Winter Carnival. This group pictured above is riding the “shuttle” up to the snow tubing area.
A lot of them had never seen snow before, much less tried any snow sports. That didn’t stop them from trying something new and having fun, as you can see in the photo above!
Central Oregon Coast |February 2010
Lastly, this weekend we drove to the Oregon Coast to spend time with Brad for his birthday. We spent time at Wakonda Beach, Cape Perpetua, Spouting Horn, and Heceta Head State Park. The photo above is from Cape Perpetua on an unusually beautiful February day.
From a collection of about 450 pictures from Spouting Horn, this one is my absolute favorite. Spouting Horn is about 4 miles south of Cape Perpetua and years of pounding waves have created a blow hole effect that rivals Old Faithful. I love this picture… it looks like a foam monstaaar! High tide and this rocky outcrop made for amazing photo opportunities right next to the turbulent waves. I wanted to stay here all day and watch the waves crash and rumble into the rocks all day whilst sitting 10 feet away. I haven’t felt this inspired by nature since we were in Maui last September. Unbelievable.
Brad and Sara’s dog, Meg, and Lucky loved running around on the beach all weekend. I wish I could say that it was fun with the dogs the whole time, but Lucky can sometimes conveniently “forget” the rules when his situation changes (new dog friend, new house, new human friends, etc.) He was a giant pain in the ass indoors, but he was great outdoors.
The photo above makes Lucky look really violent, but he and Meg were equally mouthy all weekend. Romantic interests or just similar aged pups with energy? Does this look like a love bite to you?
Their puppy love was tested when they both got swept out into the surf by the fresh water current of the Umpqua River. Thankfully they are both strong swimmers and neither needed their owners to make a snap decision about the question of how far one is willing to risk their own life for the life of their pet. 
And dang, there’s so much celebrating to be done; it’s Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year, Oregon’s 151st birthday, and the Winter Olympics are happening, woo! The last time the Winter Olympics were happening, Micah and I were skiing in Park City, Utah, thanks to an all-expenses paid vacation that Micah won at Supercomputing. We’ve already purchased tickets to go skiing at Willamette Pass next weekend and while it’s no Park City, at least we’ll be outside, enjoying this winter weather, and turning our attention to the fun and enjoyable parts of life. I can’t wait!
Also, I think this photo of Lucky and Meg should be a motivational poster, but I’m not sure what the appropriate caption should be…
Themocracy
What a lovely couple of months! I love the spouting horn pic!
I believe that the outflow there by Heceta Head is called “Cape Creek” (I had to look it up). The more you know! Either way I saw this in the Register Guard today:
Feb 14, 5:33 PM EST
Man dies on OR coast trying to rescue dog
LINCOLN CITY, Ore. (AP) — Oregon State Police say a 72-year old man died Sunday morning after he was swept out into the Pacific while trying to rescue his dog near Lincoln City.
Troopers say the man was playing fetch on the beach with his dog at the D River Wayside when the dog apparently got caught in a wave and was pulled away from shore. Witnesses say the man went into the water to help, only to be swept away by another wave.
Police say onlookers tried unsuccessfully to save the man, who was brought to shore by a North Lincoln Fire & Rescue swimmer. The man’s dog was able to make it back to shore and survived.
The victim’s name has not been released.