victoria, bc

 if you haven't noticed, i've been taking myself on a lot of little day trips lately.  there's just so much out there to see and do and explore and experience!  i'll never understand couch potatoes.

this big ferry crosses from port angeles, wa to victoria, bc.  i watched two semi trucks drive on to it and then i trusted it not to sink. 

oh ya goin to canada eh

lovely victoria harbor

lovely victoria harbor performers

lovely victoria harbor death defier 

the city had a european air

but embraced its local heritage

this guy tried to woo me with a kiss

i turned him down, and went to watch sea planes landing

green running man made me feel like i was truly in a foreign country.  

oh, canada!

details in the fabric at olympic national park

last week, some adventuring friends and i went on a 7(ish) mile hike in olympic national park.  the trek brought us above the clouds and provided absolutely breathtaking mountian views.  but sometimes i think appreciating the details is what sets an experience apart. 

ps. that clump of fur i'm holding like a fool is the closest we got to seeing to our motive for the hike- mountain goats.

happy birthday dear friend

dear liz, 

today is your birthday!  it is 11:22pm on the east coast, so you have 38 minutes left to soak it up.  its thursday, so i can only hope you're at union pub, letting lance help you celebrate.  wish i could be back in dc to bake you a cake, or meet you in chicago this weekend to help cheer on the cubbies.  

on your birthday, just wanted you to know what a gift you've been to me!  i couldn't have asked for a better friend.  i wonder if we weren't somehow conjoined twins in heaven, or wherever souls are kept before they're put in human bodies.  but then God decided that there's no way that much joie de vivre should be put in one body so he mercifully separated us and let us grow on our own.  glad he brought us together again down here on earth!

love you bunches and bunches,

em

ps.  the rest of you can get to know my sweet friend here

a tale i lived to tell: part two, "riding the bull"

as if we hadn't already defied death once this day.  

photos by blue sky outfitters, which i would highly recommend for your next rafting adventure

heyyy you guuuyyys

Over the weekend, I drove down to Cannon Beach, OR for a misty afternoon exploring the haystack rock that litters the shore there.

a tale i lived to tell: part one

i could tell this tale, but since a picture speaks a thousand words, i will provide several pictures and leave it at that.  

preface: air temp 97 degrees F.  water temp 47 degrees F.  white salmon river.  august 16, 2012.