Snailback Falls Trail Hike

On a five day weekend, my friend Dan Bowden and I go for a hike on Snailback Falls Trail. 30 minutes outside of Grant's Pass it was about a 20 minute hike down from the trailhead to the Illinois River. The water was invigorating and there were some great rocks to jump from.

We spent the majority of the time swimming in the river to these large rocks right on the water's edge. I decided not to bring my camera swimming and so you're not going to see pictures of us jumping off 2-3 story rocks, but it sure was fun.

Dan said he had a song running through his head but he couldn't place the tune. He hummed a few bars and sung a lyric or two and I instantly recognized it. Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World. We then preceded to sing what we knew, which wasn't much, but it was fitting.

It was 90 something degrees, a few puffy clouds in the sky. The water was cold, but comfortable.Sunning on the boulders and jumping from so high I could feel myself accelerating before plunging into the cold abyss. It IS a wonderful world.




The last time I was at the Illinois River it was also with Dan and we went to Kirby Flats. I'd show you pictures of that trip but my camera, which was also my phone, took a swim in a brook and didn't make it back alive.

The Bourdons go to Europe

Click on the image below to see the Picasa Web albums of our Eurotrip.

European Trip Slideshow

For the past month and a half I've been putting together a picture and video slideshow of our trip to Europe in May. Well, I'm finally done! Warning: this video is 35 minutes long... grab some popcorn.



The video is available in High Definition, so be sure to switch to that view for the best picture quality.

Also be sure to stick around after the credits as there's a surprise at the end.

Euro Trip Fly Through

I sat down last night and created this fly through using Google Earth. It takes you from Oregon into London, Paris, Milan, Lake Como, Florence, Riomaggiore and Rome and provides a short synopsis of the places we visited on our recent trip.

It also provides an understanding of where these sites are in relation to each other.

Intro

This blog is intended to be a record, albeit incomplete, of our journey through the world. The places, sites, sounds and people we meet. The idea of this blog all started when my wife and I were in Florence. We were just starting our second week in Europe, our "Grand Tour". With 6 days behind us and 7 more to go we had already seen enough sites to fill months worth of reverence. We had also acquired, between the two of us, half a dozen blisters from the many foot falls we had taken on our journey. It was there, in the streets of Florence we recognized that, save a trip to the pharmacy and a small nighttime session of nursing, we would not slow in our onward journey to see the rest of that wonderful city and beyond.

Those blisters on our feet embodied something that burned bright in us. The drive to explore, the drive for adventure, to enrich our lives and deepen our connection to this world and it's civilizations and culture. To push forward even in the face of pain, resistance and promise of comfort.

My wife and I are novice explorers. we are amateur adventurists. We have barely spotted the tip of the iceberg when it comes to seeing all there is to see. And we know we will never see it all; there isn't enough time. But,  with the time we have here, we're willing to push a little harder. Willing to go the extra mile. Willing to get... "Blisters for Culture".