Monday, November 26, 2007 - The divorce mediation was Nov 16 in Dallas. I should probably say something about the divorce.. I take marriage very seriously, and when I married, I personally married for life. I believe marriage is a covenant between you, your spouse, and your creator. Only one of these 3 parties can break the marriage, and I believe this can happen via adultery or abuse. Do either of these necessitate a divorce? Not at all.. But let's just say I'd had enough of both. So, while I thought the mediation was horribly unjust in what was awarded - especially in light of the circumstances - I was basically willing to sacrifice monetary and material things just to get out of that environment.
Thanksgiving was fantastic; I got to see family from all over the country, and got to meet a new addition to the family - my cousin Lee and Jennifer's son Grey. I think this was one of the better thanksgivings I've had in a while. I also beat Jeff in ping pong. Well, doubles, but I'll take any Jeff-beating I can get. We all do.
I flew back to Portland last night. I know I keep saying this, but a lot has happened in the past few weeks that I wish I could share.. I'm just keeping a lot of my posts saved until December 22nd, when the divorce will be "final".
I believe I've decided to abandon my northern US route (Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas) due to the fact that the weather will likely be rough through that route at this time of year and I've only got 2-wheel drive. Instead, I believe I will be staying here until Friday, Saturday I'll drive to Half Moon Bay and camp out, then Sunday I'll drive to San Clemente and camp out there during the week. That weekend I'll drive from San Clemente to Houston.
More pictures and stories to come...
Monday, November 26, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Portland III
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - Been a while since my last entry, but I'm still in Portland. What I expected to be a 3 day visit with my cousins has turned into a 3-week turn of events. The divorce mediation is this Friday; I will post more after that.
My plan now is to fly back to Dallas for the mediation, stay with my friends Greg and Melissa over the weekend, drive to Houston for Thanksgiving, fly back here to Portland and spend a few more days hanging out, then get in my car and take my time driving back home. My route back home will take me through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas (where I plan on visiting my cousin Lee, his wife Jennifer, and their son Grey), Oklahoma City, and finally into Texas. More to come..
My plan now is to fly back to Dallas for the mediation, stay with my friends Greg and Melissa over the weekend, drive to Houston for Thanksgiving, fly back here to Portland and spend a few more days hanging out, then get in my car and take my time driving back home. My route back home will take me through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas (where I plan on visiting my cousin Lee, his wife Jennifer, and their son Grey), Oklahoma City, and finally into Texas. More to come..
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Portland II
Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - Friday another of our cousins, Bryan, flew in from El Paso. Friday night we met some of his friends that live here and went to a couple bars. Greg had Bryan and I in tears for most of the night - I haven't laughed that hard in a while.
Saturday Greg and Jeff had tickets for all of us to "Superdiamond" - a Neil Diamond cover band.. Yes, Neil Diamond. But it was more than a cover band, it was an act.. The lead singer comes out and he is Neil Diamond. He had the studded black vest on with rhinestones and tassles, he sounded like him, looked like him, everything. It was hilarious. The concert was at The Crystal Ballroom, which is on the 2nd floor of a building and has a floor intentionally built to bounce when people start dancing.
Afterwards we went to the bar where Ana and her friends were. There are so many of her friends here that they more or less take over the bar and the DJ. They played Brazilian music all night and just have a blast. This party feels unlike any other party I've been to in America.. The point is simply to have fun and celebrate life. It's not about getting drunk, it's not about hooking up, it's just about having fun. Ana taught me (or tried at least) some dances; I thoroughly sucked but still had a complete blast. We were there dancing until 3:00AM, which I believe is actually a somewhat early night for their parties. I was planning on leaving Sunday but Ana mentioned if I happened to stay in town we could maybe do something. Ana and I really clicked and I decided to stay in Portland a little longer.
Saturday Greg and Jeff had tickets for all of us to "Superdiamond" - a Neil Diamond cover band.. Yes, Neil Diamond. But it was more than a cover band, it was an act.. The lead singer comes out and he is Neil Diamond. He had the studded black vest on with rhinestones and tassles, he sounded like him, looked like him, everything. It was hilarious. The concert was at The Crystal Ballroom, which is on the 2nd floor of a building and has a floor intentionally built to bounce when people start dancing.
Afterwards we went to the bar where Ana and her friends were. There are so many of her friends here that they more or less take over the bar and the DJ. They played Brazilian music all night and just have a blast. This party feels unlike any other party I've been to in America.. The point is simply to have fun and celebrate life. It's not about getting drunk, it's not about hooking up, it's just about having fun. Ana taught me (or tried at least) some dances; I thoroughly sucked but still had a complete blast. We were there dancing until 3:00AM, which I believe is actually a somewhat early night for their parties. I was planning on leaving Sunday but Ana mentioned if I happened to stay in town we could maybe do something. Ana and I really clicked and I decided to stay in Portland a little longer.
 Greggy and me at Superdiamond |  Me, Jeff, and Bryan at Superdiamond |
 Ana and me at the party |
Monday, November 5, 2007
Portland I
Monday, November 5, 2007 - So much has happened here in Portland, I know I am going to miss entering a ton of stuff onto this blog, which is a shame, but better late than never.
I drove into Portland last Tuesday, and met my cousins Jeff and Greg for lunch. Jeff's directions sucked but with my immense intellect and intuition I found the lunch spot. These are some of the funniest and most entertaining folk I know, it's always such a blast to hang out with them. I also got to go back to their house (where I was staying) and meet their new family addition - Beck - who is about 6 months old. That night Ana, a girl from Brazil that works with Jeff and his wife Kira, joined us to see a bluegrass band in town. We all went out for Thai afterwards. Good times, all great people.
Wednesday I decided to check out the Oregon coast and drove to Canon beach. Right on the beach is a huge rock known as "Haystack Rock". Beautiful coast, but it was horribly cold that day. Nice people here.. I went to a brewery and talked with the bartender for a while.. After I paid my tab, I stuck around a little longer and he kept giving me free samples of their microbrews. That night Greg got free tickets from Ticketmaster to a concert - none of us had heard of the band playing there but it's free, so what the heck right? Ana, Greg, Greg's friend Jeff and I all went to the concert. The opener was easily the weirdest act I have ever seen. It was one guy up on stage with an acoustic guitar and some box that was piped into the speaker system. He'd press some button on the box and all sorts of bad Euro-Techno-Pop type stuff played over the speakers, then he'd either dance around and/or sing and/or play guitar. Then in the middle of the song he'd just stop. The majority of the songs were 1 minute in length; I know this because he told the crowd. The next (main) band just wasn't good. We then went to a bar and then headed home. I won't forget that concert, mainly because it was flipping hysterical..
Thursday, Ana came over to help watch Beck during the day while Jeff and Kira were out. Jeff met Ana years ago when he was travelling in Brazil. Years later she moved to Portland. Jeff was living in San Jose at the time, but he and his wife eventually moved to Portland. When that time came Ana was looking for a job, and Jeff and Kira happened to be starting their business and needed to hire someone. Ana has been there ever since, and is now considered part of their family. She is genuinely sweet, thankful for everything she has, and most importantly, happy. We talked for a while Thursday and clicked. She invited us to a Brazilian party Saturday her and her friends here have often.
I drove into Portland last Tuesday, and met my cousins Jeff and Greg for lunch. Jeff's directions sucked but with my immense intellect and intuition I found the lunch spot. These are some of the funniest and most entertaining folk I know, it's always such a blast to hang out with them. I also got to go back to their house (where I was staying) and meet their new family addition - Beck - who is about 6 months old. That night Ana, a girl from Brazil that works with Jeff and his wife Kira, joined us to see a bluegrass band in town. We all went out for Thai afterwards. Good times, all great people.
Wednesday I decided to check out the Oregon coast and drove to Canon beach. Right on the beach is a huge rock known as "Haystack Rock". Beautiful coast, but it was horribly cold that day. Nice people here.. I went to a brewery and talked with the bartender for a while.. After I paid my tab, I stuck around a little longer and he kept giving me free samples of their microbrews. That night Greg got free tickets from Ticketmaster to a concert - none of us had heard of the band playing there but it's free, so what the heck right? Ana, Greg, Greg's friend Jeff and I all went to the concert. The opener was easily the weirdest act I have ever seen. It was one guy up on stage with an acoustic guitar and some box that was piped into the speaker system. He'd press some button on the box and all sorts of bad Euro-Techno-Pop type stuff played over the speakers, then he'd either dance around and/or sing and/or play guitar. Then in the middle of the song he'd just stop. The majority of the songs were 1 minute in length; I know this because he told the crowd. The next (main) band just wasn't good. We then went to a bar and then headed home. I won't forget that concert, mainly because it was flipping hysterical..
Thursday, Ana came over to help watch Beck during the day while Jeff and Kira were out. Jeff met Ana years ago when he was travelling in Brazil. Years later she moved to Portland. Jeff was living in San Jose at the time, but he and his wife eventually moved to Portland. When that time came Ana was looking for a job, and Jeff and Kira happened to be starting their business and needed to hire someone. Ana has been there ever since, and is now considered part of their family. She is genuinely sweet, thankful for everything she has, and most importantly, happy. We talked for a while Thursday and clicked. She invited us to a Brazilian party Saturday her and her friends here have often.
 Beck |  Canon Beach |
 Greggy and Beck |  Greg and Bryan at Canon Beach |
 Freshwater stream at Canon Beach |  Cuzzies |
 Haystack Rock at Canon Beach |
Friday, November 2, 2007
Bend
Friday, November 2, 2007 - Drove into Bend on Saturday and spent all night talking with VV and Ceci, and watching college football games.. VV and Ceci are huge sports fans - even moreso than me.. They are also a complete blast to hang out with. Their only requirement when staying with them is that you have fun, and they make sure of that. Sunday they took me to a little dive in Bend for breakfast. In the back are gambling machines, which was very interesting to see coming from Texas. VV and I then drove toward Mt. Bachelor (Ceci had hurt her back a couple days prior) and hiked around the Deschutes river - this is beautiful country. VV and Ceci have hiked well over 200 miles this year, which places yet another couple folks in my family as in much better shape then I. Dangit.
Monday we all drove to Smith Rock and took a beautiful hike around "Crooked River" that involved mountains, water, foliage changing colors, and tons of rock climbers. Later we went back to the little dive in Bend and watched some Monday Night Football.
I left on Tuesday but was not allowed to before Ceci made me some food and insisted on sending me with the best homemade beef jerky I've ever had. So glad I got to spend some time with them, I really only get to see my uncle and Ceci on holidays - yet another experience I won't forget.
Monday we all drove to Smith Rock and took a beautiful hike around "Crooked River" that involved mountains, water, foliage changing colors, and tons of rock climbers. Later we went back to the little dive in Bend and watched some Monday Night Football.
I left on Tuesday but was not allowed to before Ceci made me some food and insisted on sending me with the best homemade beef jerky I've ever had. So glad I got to spend some time with them, I really only get to see my uncle and Ceci on holidays - yet another experience I won't forget.
 A river running through a gorge on the way to Bend |  My drive into Bend |
 |  Smith Rock hike |
 Smith Rock hike |  Thought the top of this rock looked like the Sphinx |
 Rock climbers at Smith Rock |  |
 |  A snake on the hike |
 A couple rock climbers ontop of "Monkey Face" at Smith Rock |  |
 |  |
 Elk Lake |  |
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