Kickin it in Nor Cal

So the past few days have gone by so quickly. After Portland we headed down to Crater Lake. The lake was crystal clear and beautiful. There was still much snow around the top of the mountain and there were mosquitoes everywhere. As soon as we stepped out of the car they enveloped us and tried to bite through our shirts. We hiked down to the water, and camped at Diamond Lake about 30 minutes away from Crater Lake. From there we headed south in California to the Redwoods. We ended up staying in Humboldt State Park which is where Ave. of the Giants is. We went hiking there and then headed down Hwy 1. We made it as far as Bodega Bay Dunes where we camped. We thought from the desciption in Lonely Planet that we'd be close to the ocean. We were disappointed to find out it was a grueling 40 minute walk over tedious sand dunes to get us to the water. We didn't go. That night was also terrible because our camp was infiltrated by countless skunks that scared the crap out of us all night. The last thing we wanted was to be sprayed and smell terrible for the next few weeks. After a sleepless night at Bodega Bay we escaped unscathed and headed in to Sonoma county for some wine tasting. Finally we headed from there down into San Francisco. San Fran is amazing. The weather is splendid and the town is really cool. We caught up with some Casa friends last night. And today I walked all over exploring the city.

Portland...land of eccentrity and brewpubs

Happy 4th! The past couple days have been spent here in Portland, OR. We camped for a night in Olympic National Park which was amazing. We got a backcountry permit and hiked in to camp on a beautiful sandbar right next to a rushing river. We saw no bears but did see a couple deer and bear tracks. Anyway, Portland is a weird place. We are staying in a cool hotel with a bar below us that has live music everynight. Since being here yesterday we've: seen breakdancers, crossdressers, driven through a parade route with loads of onlookers, hiked to waterfalls, visited Hood River, seen kite boarders doing some sick tricks, and we're soon headed off to the Blues Festival and a fireworks display after hitting up the Amnesia brewery. Things are going really well. We haven't heard too much about the fires in Cali, so if you have any suggestions on where to avoid, please let us know.

And now for some photos!

This photo is of our campsite in Olympic National Park. 5ft. to the right you'd find some nice whitewhater.Enormous Snail by the Columbia Rv.Me and Colin by in the Columbia River GorgeSunset at Deception Pass State Park, Puget Sound, Washington