My first stop in OR was to Crater Lake National Park. This lake is the deepest lake in the US. How deep is it? Nearly 2,000 feet. Essentially, this lake is what is left of what was the largest mountain in OR (over 7000 years ago) when it erupted and then collapsed on itself. I had heard of the color, "crater lake blue" and couldn't wait to see it.

See this? Looks like a tree against an intense blue sky. It isn't. It is a tree against the lake. It is really that blue. I have made NO changes to this picture or any others - I still haven't replaced my photo editing software.



Please forgive me for posting so many photos. It was a great day. And a long day... what i've posted here are what i think are the cream of the crop from nearly 8 hours of shooting.

This week I drove to the Oregon Cascades for a few days to see what that area was all about. If you are an outdoorsy person, you MUST come here. Not only is it gorgeous, but there is so much to do there amongst all that gorgeousness, it will knock your socks off. So here commences 4 posts of unabashed "plugging" for central OR.

I didn't realize until I was nearly on top of Mt. Hood (figuratively speaking, not literally) that my route to Bend, OR would take me so close to the "main" mountain of OR. There is skiing here (not now) and a great lodge that is a must stop. The view of and from the mountain is really spectacular.

I live in an area of Seattle called, "Queen Anne." This part of the city got this name because of its victorian architecture. This weekend, I got to visit one of these homes. This house was jaw dropping. Both inside and out. The fact that this home is situated in the middle of a major urban area just amazes me.

Over the weekend I attended my first ever Seattle wedding. Here was the cake... A giant (nearly three feet long) salmon wrapped in newspaper. Too funny, since it is salmon season at the moment. In case you were wondering, the flavors of the cake were peanut butter and chocolate... NOT salmon.

Last week a girlfriend and I felt the need to have a pretty silly evening. When we figured out that it was "ladies night" at a local casino... and a seventies cover band called "The Afrodisiacs" were playing... we found our activity. I don't have any pictures because well, video is really the best way to describe this evening. Very rarely does anything ever live up to what you expect it to... exactly. We wanted wonderfully cheesy and that is exactly what we got. And I won 20 bucks in the slots. Nice.

Again, apologies for the second video being sideways... but oddly, given what i was videoing.. i think it kind of works...

Have you ever been to a "Protestival?" I can now say I have. I attended Hempfest over the weekend, for which the mission was to essentially protest the illegality of marijuana. From what I could tell, you couldn't _purchase_ any weed at the festival... but you could smoke as much of it as you liked.. out in the open... with cops watching. Here are a few snapshots from this experience. You may recognize the "scarf" guy who turns up at every festival.. as well as a mannequin that reminded me of those very scary mannequins I saw in South East Asia last year...

I recently have become a big fan of the TV show, "Deadliest Catch." For those of you who are not familiar (mom, dad), this is a reality show that follows several crab boats as they fish in the Barring Sea. I really can't explain why I started to enjoy this show totally out of the blue.. it could be some of the Alaskan scenery they show occasionally... it could be that the theme song is by Bonjovi and I miss hearing Bonjovi out here on the West Coast.

At any rate, I somehow became hooked. And then, I found out that one of the boats featured in the show is docked 5 minutes from my apartment!! Nice. Not only are there crab fisherman from the show giving you tours, but you too can try your hand at crawling into a crab pot, throwing a fishhook.. wearing a survival suit.. you know, the usual crab fisherman stuff. And to put it simply, I had a total blast.





A highlight for sure, was the private tour I got from a "real" fisherman. If you can guess his age correctly, I'll be impressed. I have video of him showing me how to throw a fishhook correctly. Needless to say, I didn't throw my hook the same way. Do I have video of that? No. Do I wish I did? Definitely. A blond throwing a fishhook is entertaining and let us just leave it at that.

It is high blackberry season in Seattle right now. You can literally pick blackberry bushes as you walk down the streets of the city. Here is one near my gym. Note how close they are growing near a construction site.



Know how in many states it is illegal to text/phone while driving? Well, in Seattle, we have another hazard... Blackberry picking. This guy pulled out of the line of cars waiting for the light to pick some berries. He even had a tupperware he was filling.

My brother was here last week for his birthday. To celebrate, thanks to a very generous gift from my parents, we went to dinner at the Herbfarm. This is a foodie's heaven, where all ingredients are local, most of them grown right on the farm. This restaurant's claim to fame is their 9 course menu that changes every 2 weeks depending on what is in season. Yes, I said 9 courses. But first there is the tour of the garden:






And the recycling bin:



The dining set up is something incredible too. It also allows a fun view of the very busy but very organized kitchen.








I was going to post every single course, but that might be really boring for most of you. So I'm only going post a few. The theme of the dinner was basil. So everything had basil in it somewhere:

There is a very special concert venue 2.5 hours from Seattle that I've been wanting to experience since I moved here. When I heard that Phish was going to play there, I decided it was time to pull the trigger and go. This way I'd be crossing off two things on my list at once - going to the Gorge Amphitheater and seeing a Phish show. Saweet.

You may ask what is so special about seeing Phish? Well, for those of you who do not know, my brother Mark has been obsessed with this band for as long as I can remember. I've always wondered what all the fuss was about. As for what is so special about the Gorge Amphitheater, well, you'll see.

So when you go to the "Gorge," you don't just go for a concert, generally. Camping at least the night after the concert is considered compulsory. This is also the norm when going to Phish shows. Essentially, a tent city of thousands and thousands of people is constructed for 3 days.



It is car camping at its worst. No showers, no privacy, no official "sites" for each vehicle, just plenty of porto pottys. But having said that, people have figured out a way to make it work and be comfortable - even with families. I have to be honest, I had no idea that going to Phish was a family affair.



The campground is a short walk to the concert venue. I knew the amphitheater was gorgeous (no pun intended), but i really wasn't expecting it to be this great.






As the sun goes down, the music starts:






As it gets darker, the scene just becomes that much more awesome:



Also, apparently, Phish fans like to throw things during the concert. Not having been to one before, I was wondering if this was a "Phish" thing, and it is, but I don't know yet if they always throw glow sticks. This was the first time I've ever seen fans throw stuff in approval. Throwing glow sticks at night was actually very cool - it kinda looked like hundreds of shooting stars. I wish i had video, but my batteries died.