Anna's Birthday Party

Tonight Emily and I walked over to Anderson’s house where Nate and John also live for a birthday party for our friend Anna Li!  It was a cheese and wine party and of course when we showed up Nate was dressed, well, like Nate and Anna was wearing a birthday crown made for her.  Porter and Rebecca were there and Tom also showed up.  It was nice to catch up with Erin and later in the night Brian S. showed up with Thomas as well.  It was a fun little party but I definitely regretted mixing stouts and hard cider 22’s later that evening!  Leo had a great time too as everyone love’s Leo at parties!

Chenoweth Cliffs

This weekend Emily and I took a break from the Portland rain and drove out to hike the Chenoweth Cliffs behind The Dalles, OR.  I brought the Mavic Pro along to capture the cliff face for 3D model testing.  Emily and Leo were very patient with me while I flew.  Eventually, the winds picked up and became too much for my little drone to handle so we packed it up and headed down the short quarter mile trail to the car.  On the way out we were treated to a few eagles and hawks soaring by us.

Spring Skiing at Meadows

This year Emily, Holm, Eric, Lauren, and I all bought the $150 spring pass to Meadows on Mount Hood.  With snow predicted to last well into May it was an easy choice and will be easy to make up.  Sunny spring skiing and parking lot bbq’s are definitely the way do to it in Oregon.  Chris Holm would agree.

Super bowl Comeback

This weekend Emily and I were supposed to be skiing powder at Anthony Lakes Resort with Chris and Paris but mother nature had other plans.  We ended up driving nearly 9 straight hours to Pendleton, OR and back on roads of sheer ice only to be turned around because I-84 was closed over a mountain pass.  Ice was caking on the windshield so fast we had to sweat it out with the truck heater on high to melt it.  Kissed the steering wheel when we got home!  Love my truck.

The upside to that horrid night was that we got to watch the Super Bowl at our place on Sunday night with friends and it turned out to be one of the greatest comebacks in Super Bowl history for our New England Patriots who came back from a 28-3 hole in the fourth quarter to tie the game and then clinch it in the first ever overtime breaking 24 Super Bowl records in the process.   Although I think Brady is a complete idiot as a person he is certainly the greatest quarter back of all time at this point.  Go Pats!

Maiden Peak

With Eric back from New Zealand after his grand adventure we decided to join up with Ian, Chris, Kalin and Rob for another Maiden Peak Hut adventure.  We also invited along Eric’s friend Lauren whom he had done the John Muir Trail with back in 2012.  She was awesome and we all had a wonderful time with perfect snow conditions.  Read on.

Ecola State Park & Neahkahnie Mountain

This Saturday Emily and I headed to the coast with Leo for a hike and to do some filming and flying practice with the Mavic Pro.  The rain held off and I got some great footage over Canon Beach from Ecola State Park as well as some wonderful orbiting shots from the top of Neahkahnie Mountain.  Read on.

Daddy Daughter Dance 2017

This weekend I flew to Fort Wayne, IN to surprise my daughter Ellie for her School Daddy-Daughter Dance.  Weeks ago she had told me over text she had something to ask me but then she never worked up the courage to actually do it, probably thinking I wouldn’t be able to come.  Unbeknownst her, Nicolette and I had been planning my visit for a few weeks and she had no idea.  Read on…

Oak Island with Leo

Having felt incredibly guilty for not bringing Leo up to Mt. Hood on Saturday we made it a priority to get him out into the snow on Sunday, heading out to the Oak Island Trails on nearby Sauvie Island.  I grabbed my tele lens and Mavic to get some shots of the wildlife as well as the island covered in snow to practice flying.  Read on.

Glade and Alpine Trail Ski on Mount Hood

Emily and I had a great day up on Mt. Hood skinning up the Glade Trail and down the Alpine Trail between Government Camp and Timberline Lodge.  We left Leo home because we thought it would be too much for him but it was a mistake as the weather was great and he would have made it just fine.  Emily and I didn’t buy season passes this year which was unfortunate as it was an epic winter on Mt. Hood and ‘Govy’ was buried!  It was a beautiful, sunny day and we were able to skin up in t-shirts.  I got some great aerial shots of the mountain and skiers on the slopes of Timberline as well as some shots tracking Emily as she skied down before I was out of batteries.  Great day!

Snowpacalypse 2017

This past September marked 10 years I have been living in Oregon and never have I seen so much snow fall in the valley before.  I stuck a ruler on our table outback and it measured just under a foot of snow overnight!  What a great time to have a hot tub!  Read on…

Holm Wedding

This weekend Emily and I headed down to Corvallis for the much anticipated wedding of Chris Holm (Best Man in my wedding) and Paris Edwards.  The plan was to stay with Jason and Jenn on Friday night after their dinner for out of town gets as well as after their wedding Saturday night.  I brought all my camera gear down but left my drone at home as the weather looked too sketchy to fly… man was that an understatement.  Read on…

Holidays 2016 with the Riggotts

This year Emily and I headed home for Christmas to spend time with her family and my mom.  We were on top of Kilimanjaro on Christmas last year so it was only fair to spend this year with family again, especially since I hadn’t met my new nephew Landon Riggott yet, and after Keith’s rough surgery recovery it was more appropriate than ever this year to be with family rather than a world apart.  Despite some hectic last minute travel alterations and me getting a cold near the end of the trip we had a really great, relaxing time just hanging out with family for over a week and playing with our nieces and nephews.  Read on:

Ski Bowl Powder Day

Emily and I had our first day out for the resort ski season.  I had done some backcountry skiing with Ian earlier in the week but this was our first resort day.  We nearly didn’t get up to go but after some decision making we opted to drag ourselves out of our warm bed, leave Leo at home and make the drive up to Hood in the truck to check it out.  We were certainly glad we did as it turned out to be the best powder day for us in probably 3 years of crappy winters.  

Snowpacalypse

I’m not sure what is going on this year but Oregon is getting dumped on with snow.  Since mid November we’ve had an amazing year so far and this week the snow actually lowered down to the valley and Portland.  We got about 2 inches of snow on the ground and of course all the news outlets began calling it snowpacalypse!  Ha!  If only everyone had grown up on the East Coast driving threw blizzards they’d realize how sill it was.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad drivers out here and when combined with the fact that Oregon doesn’t salt the roads it ended up creating a 4 hour drive home for Emily who only works 20 minutes away now!  She left work at 5pm and didn’t get home till after 9pm!

The day after it snowed beautifully over the city the snow turned to freezing rain.  Emily somehow still drove to work but by the time Leo and I got up the whole neighborhood had turned into a skating rink!  I took him out for a walk and was able to run and slide down the entire icy sidewalk.  Our driveway was a sheet of ice except for where the Prius had been and our new backyard was completely covered in icicles!  Leo even had a hard time walking down the sidewalk on his morning walk.  Thankfully, a few days later everything was melted and back to normal but for those few days the whole city came to a stand still!

Tom Dick and Harry Peak Windy Ski

On Wednesday of this week Ian Roth and I headed up to Mirror Lake to do some backcountry skiing.  It had been snowing a ton in the mountains and he had a new split board he wanted to get some turns on.  The only reason I agreed during the middle of the week was that the weather looked clear and I thought I could get some wintery drone footage for my website.  Unfortunately, it was far to windy to fly but we had a great day in the woods regardless and got a few deep powder turns in.

Forest Park with Leo & Escape the Room

Today Emily and I headed to Forest Park in Portland for a hike with Leo.  It was super short at just a couple miles but was enough to put a big smile on Mr. Lee.  In the evening we met up with Chris Harmon, Ian and Colleen and Sesha at Gastro Mania for a truly amazing Greek dinner before heading over to Escapism Portland to try to “escape a room” in 60 minutes.  Our room was a difficult one called the Wizard’s Lair and despite our best efforts we only made it about 50% through all the puzzles before we ran out of time.  One of the actors who played a hunchback apprentice showed us all the puzzles we hadn’t gotten to yet and said we actually did fairly well for the first time.  

It was an absolute blast and Emily and I look forward to trying to escape a different room with friends in the future.  Apparently, it is becoming really popular.  I also can’t wait to head back to Gastro Mania for another Chef’s special!  After the room we all came back to our place for a few more drinks and hot tub before calling it a night.  Ian and Colleen ended up staying over with us for the night.

Thanksgiving 2016

This year Emily and I decided to host Thanksgiving.  We had a new backyard and hot tub and nobody had made any secure plans yet so we invited the usual crew up to Portland to spend the  day with us.  Everyone arrived on Wednesday evening, bottles of booze in hand to start the festivities.  We didn’t have dinner plans so we just ordered some Thai food and snacked on what was around.  We had a full house of dogs for sure!  Jason and Jen brought Alder, Scott and Danielle brought Fawn (they got Fawn after Arrow passed away this fall), Pos and Oliver, and we had Leo.  

Holm Bachelor Party

With Chris and Paris getting engaged over the summer and their wedding on January 7th we weren’t left with an ideal time of year for a bachelor party.  It was the shoulder season when there might not be enough snow for skiing and possibly just too much for mountain biking.  Many national parks and attractions we may have gone to were also beginning to close in early November and his brother didn’t have a passport to get into Canada.  This left very few options for us.  We were stuck between heading out to Anthony Lakes to ski in December or mountain bike in Bend in November.  Upon getting hold of all his friends and brother the consensus looked like November was the best time for everyone so Bend was the best option.  Read on…

Astoria and Canon Beach with Leo

Today we took a drive with Leo out to the coast.  Although I had been to the coast a month ago with the Spaul Family and Leo it had been a while for Emily and she had the itch for the Pacific.  Instead of heading straight west we chose to pass through Longview and her old work mill at Wauna.  She had received a big promotion to the head of the Camas Mill the week I got laid off which cut her drive time from 1.5hr each way to 20min each way!  

Munra Point - Columbia Gorge

Today Emily and I decided we needed to get out of the house and go explore with Leo.  I looked through my hiking guides for the area for a place we haven’t been close to Portland (getting fewer and fewer) and found Munra Point, a quick 2,100ft, 5mi scramble in the Gorge that we hadn’t been to yet.  The pointed summit would also prove to be a perfect place to practice flying my Mavic as well.  Read on.

Sauvie Island with Leo to Fly Mavic

Today I headed out to sauvie Island with Leo and the camera to practice some shots and fly the Mavic Pro around a bit for practice.  It was a beautiful fall day and it had been a while since I really got Leo out of the house.  I’d been unemployed for nearly a month as well.  To my horror it cost $10 for the parking pass for the Island for the day.  This certainly seemed like twice what I had paid last time.  A year pass was $30 but only good for the calendar year so why would anyone ever buy one in November.  I love coming here for the bird life but will make sure to buy a year pass in January instead.  

Halloween 2016

Once again this year Danielle and Scott hosted a Halloween party in Corvallis and as usual the decorations, costumes, and food were fantastic!  We were super excited to visit Alder again whom we hadn’t seen in a very long time since he was a puppy over the summer.  We ended up staying with Jen and Jason this year instead of Danielle and Scott’s as we didn’t want to add any stress for them and they have a new pup named Fawn who is a bit skittish.  Read on.

Coast with Eric and Spaul Family

With McNeill leaving shortly for the East Coast and then New Zealand for a while and the convenience of being out of work we all decided to head to the coast for the day, despite the bad weather.  We loaded up in two cars because we had both dogs with us as well and headed out to Oswald West State Park. Read on..

Keith's Whipple Surgery

Emily and I were supposed to go on the Rogue River Trip this weekend but when we found out her dad was scheduled for a very intensive surgery the same weekend we dropped our plans and booked tickets home to be with him.  I won’t go into details here except to say that doctors luckily found a spot of cancer on her dad’s pancreas early and determined that surgery was an option.  The Whipple Surgery, named after the doctor who created it, is one of the roughest ones out there with a long recover time.  Thankfully, before we left we heard the good news that they had taken a large enough “margin” around the cancerous cells and felt they had removed them all.  Keith still has a long road ahead of him with Chemo and treatments but the outlook is good.  It was really good to be there for him and Patti who stayed by his bedside for days.  

Ellie's 10th Birthday Visit

Once again I kept my promise to Ellie and flew out to see her for her 10th birthday.  It of course was a little rougher this year as I had just lost my job and my relationship with her mother and family had deteriorated after Ellie's visit to Oregon over the summer.  We were in the middle of a heated debate over how much support I should be sending home and it was a well known fact that I am completely against her being brought up to judge all those who aren't Christian and share her ideals, not to mention her being taught that the Earth was created in just 7 days.  Grrrr.... despite all this I love her immensely and always want to be a positive influence on her life so I make the trip to see her when I can.