9 1/2 years later

Aug 19th i returned to Colombia where i served my mission after being home 9 1/2 years. Right when i got off the plane i knew my spanish was all but gone. I could speak for the most part but not hearing it for so much time i didnt understand a lot and they had to speak slowly to me. So this trip was not at all about being a tourist. It was about getting in touch with the people i taught and knew during my time as a missionary. And thats exactly what i did. I was so stoked to have found so many people i had lost contact with. It was a great trip and by the end my spanish was a lot better but still frustrating that i could speak it so well and lost so much.

nature preserve

Bishop Barona who i lived underneath while on the mish

First family i taught and baptized

Gotta visit the Fire Station

Chief and everyone came out and wanted to give me their two cents

This should be in a museum but its a reserve

Idaho Moto Trip

My buddy Eric and i started taking motorcycle trips this year the first one being a trip to Oregon. This time we planned a few days going through Central Idaho going both on and off road. We got off to a very late start since i had to work the night before and had a busy night so i took a nap before heading to Boise. So the first day we road from Boise to Mcall and ate dinner and stayed in a friends cabin that was great, especially since it rained pretty hard that night. We had an awesome breakfast which took forever as well and made us behind schedule again but it was good.

We then headed off for Grangeville via dirt roads and it was the most challenging riding ive ever done. More than one time i thought id dump the bike but didnt luckily. It was great to see the back country on a moto. We arrived to Grangeville had dinner and as luck would have it Eric had a friend with a cabin there as well. It was locked but we were able to camp out in a garage behind the cabin where the mice and other critters crawling around all night kept me anxious and dreaming of mountain lions and stupid stuff. kind of funny now.

We set out towards Kooskia and the riding once again was amazing. Since we were so far behind we stayed on paved road to make up some mileage. We took HWY 12 over LOLO pass and at eh beginning the was a sign that said...S TURNS...nest 99 miles...you kidding me? It was great riding, just incredible with the Lochsa River on our right. We pushed all the way through to Stanley Idaho and camped near Stanley Lake. We ate at a restaurant on the Salmon River and it was great. 30 minutes after going to bed it began to rain. This time camping in tents the rain was very much unwelcome. We woke up to everything wet but clearing up. As we went to take off Erics bike battery was dead and we were unable to keep it running after jumping the battery.

So day 4 ended up being a day stranded in Stanley a Eric raced around on my bike looking for a new battery. We set off at 7am originally and after having had Erics wife bring a battery from Boise we got out of there around 430pm. I called work and took an extra day off of vacation cause of our delay and so glad i did. We got back to Boise pretty exhausted and stayed the night with Eric. Then the next morning cruised to Logan. Next time im trailering the bike to Boise no matter how much more expensive it is. That ride is awful.

Burgdorf Idaho, a ghost town and hot spring

in between Stanley and Boise somewhere.

The KTMs mishap. Dead battery.

camping near Stanley Lake

When we were kids we couldnt pronounce my sisters name(Lauree) so we called her LoLo. Kind of funny.

Sorry for slackin...quick review

Ok so sorry for going months without a post but here we go wit hopefully a bombardment of posts over the next few days. Since the last post a lot has happened. Ive had a great and busy summer with a few rafting trips, i did the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay, moved back to Logan, and am still trying to train for a The Bear Lake Half Ironman.

Im living in my sisters house in Logan which is also FOR SALE so im kind of on the bubble as for the future. They left for Buffalo NY for Corys internship and im all alone in a big house with two hermit crabs for roommates. They dont say much but at least they are clean. Its really kind of weird living in the shell of a house ive known so well and how quiet it is. usually Wren and Dylans pester the bajeezes out of me the whole time im here. have to say i miss it.

i started my part time job as a fire instructor in Logan at BATC and so far so good. It'll keep me busy till January and i hope i learn as much as im able to teach.

heres a few pics of things this summer

Ragnar first leg

The Surveillance Does at the finish

This little guy stopped me in my tracks as did many a brothers this summer

Visiting the monks in Huntsville Utah during a bike ride of the Ogden Valley

Packed and ready for the family vacation to the snake river

Cant see it real good but this guy made me made chocolate pudding one night in SLC as the car pulled up next to me at a semaphore.

18th ward river trip. Lunch counter was ridiculous.

Just got home from another motorcycle trip so more to come soon,

Moto Trip Part 3 and Final

Cafe Detroit Lake

Detroit Lake

Space and Aviation Museum

Space and Aviation Museum

So after another great day of riding we got back to Portland where Dusty took care of us once again. I was craving ice cream for some crazy reason so we took off to find a parlor. Nothing doing. After searching way too long we resorted to the grocery store and bought some Tillamook Ice cream. Still good though. I had no energy to go out and neither did Eric so Dusty went out and we just crashed. We had a long haul ahead of us...

We woke up early and headed to Mcminnville where there was an awesome Space and Aviation Museum. At first i didn't really want to make the slight detour but im glad we went. It was really cool. After that we just plugged away at the miles cruising past some scenic farmland and then into another amazing canyon with fun turns. We stopped in the town of Detroit Lake and stumbled onto a Fishing tournament Festival. The town was cool, like 300 full time inhabitants. There were cool little cafes and just a nice little resort town. We did see a bit of rain coming through the canyon too. Not much but enough to get wet then dry off with the wind. Of course Eric had rain gear but i just kept going so he never stopped...sorry man.

Beside missing a turn in Bend the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful...oh wait what am i saying?...there was a crazy transvestite. Ill give credit where credit is due and make a solo post for him...uh...her...uh whatever it was.

We got to Boise not too long after dark and Eric's wife Nichole had enchiladas waiting for us...WOW...thanks so much for feeding me Nichole.

Moto Trip Part 2

So we arrived to Portland late Friday night. We crossed a sweet bridge and arrived easy enough to Dusty's house. His place was cool and we were very pleased to rest our rumps for longer than a few minutes. No hesitation, we headed straight into town on foot with Dusty. We went to a bar called Kelly's Olympian which suited the theme of the trip very much since it was full of old motorcycles hanging on cables from the ceiling. Dusty got some food and we drank our sodas checking out the bikes and chattin. We headed back to his house and by then it was well after midnight and couldn't believe how many people were still out side. even a couple of old ladies walking their dogs. By the time we got back to Dusty's i was done. We went to bed pretty quick after.

Saturday May 15th

Wow what a day...where to start. So Dusty being the gracious host he is opted to show us around so we all three headed out on our bikes to see Portland in the daylight. First stop was to an awesome waterfall just outside of town called Multanoma Falls. It was so green and quite a sight. Next stop was to the Bonneville Dam which again was quite a place to see. we went in the visitor center and checked out the fish ladders were the fish can go around the dam to spawn. Also we visited a Fish hatchery and saw Sturgeon for the first time. They are huge and creepy looking, enough said. After all that we headed back to Dusty's and then walked into town for lunch. We went to Hot Lips Pizza where you buy by the slice. They make their own soda too, also the pesto garlic bread sticks are incredible.

After lunch we did some of the most intense and beautiful l riding Ive ever done. We went to Astoria and decided to take the alternate (twisty route). It was super technical at times with sharp hair pins with abrupt changes in elevation but great. SO we arrived in Astoria and what a cool town. We went up to the Column and saw all of the town out to the ocean. Ate fish and chips from The Bowpicker a fishing boat turned food stand. Also we crossed the Astoria bridge into Washington and saw an old ship wreck. The bridge was kind of intimidating to cross, it was more than a mile long and got relatively close to the water.

Next stop was Canon Beach and Ecola State Park where the Goonies was filmed. Too bad the restaurant was only a prop. It was really cool to see be on the coast watching the surfers and and the mossy trees were something else.

Sorry th epics are all out of order but i don't feel like trying to move them

End part 2

Moto Trip Part 1

The off from Boise

BBQ joint in Zigzag

Mt Hood

Brogun. Lunch with the puppies.

Thursday May13th my Motorcycle adventure began with the not so adventurous trip from SLC to Boise Idaho. Probably the most unexciting stretch of land in the continental US...but 350 miles later i was there and ready for the real trip to begin.

In Boise lives an old highschool buddy now Dentist, Eric Ballou. So arrived at his house glad to get off the saddle but eager to see some of Oregon.

The Route: from Boise follow Hwy 26 all the way into Portland and stay with Dusty Wickham. Then explore Portland Day 2 and the Oregon coast then return to Portland. Day 3 head south from Portland and catch Hwy 20 through Bend back to Boise.

Eric and I spent Thursday night arranging our gear and 2 way radios and just being very eager for the off. We woke up not too early Friday morning and ate breakfast that Nichole Erics wife made for us then took off a little before 11. The riding was great " WE'RE REALLY DOING IT HARRY"! We stopped for lunch in the metropolis of Brogun Oregon and had lunch. It was perfect. The only gas station was also the only store which was also the only cafe. We made made it a rule that we were not aloud to eat anywhere mainstream or that we could eat in Idaho or Utah. SO we had $2 chili dogs and chilled outside with these mangy little puppies while a rooster strutted his stuff off to our side.

We made plenty of stops on the way giving our arses a break as well as checking out the scenery. Passing through the forests was just incredible and arriving to Mt Hood was well worth the cold. Mt Hood is actually a very strange mountain. I wonder if it ever fully loses its snow. We ate dinner at a sweet little BBQ joint in Zigzag just down the canyon from Mt Hood and it was great as well. Live music, good food, and some of the best riding id ever done.

Shortly after dinner we arrived to Portland and stayed with Dusty...TBC in part II.

Quick Sunday Ride after my Sunday Nap

Isnt she pretty...Little Dell Res in background

Today with it being a nice 68 degrees i couldn't pass up the chance for a little ride so I went up Emigration Canyon(which I had never been up before) then came out on I 80 up Parleys canyon and back into SLC. A quick 30 minutes or so but it was nice. So i got my first glimpse of the Hogle Zoo, I think i say This is The Place Monument Park ( no idea where it was) and saw some great views while taken some sweet turns. So besides being a total geek about not knowing where things are (Ive never really lived in SLC to my defense) it was a nice ride.