[current music: DJ/rupture- BTTB X-340, 19.04.2005, FSK]

after nika's graduation, i flew to IAD and then headed over to WV for a weeklong 'train the trainers' course at NCTC. during the weekend, i headed into virginia to visit with family. for the past couple of years, i only get to see the family in VA during the winter break when it's typically hectic due to the holidays. & so it was nice to see everyone during a more laidback time. still, there were lots of celebrations (& craziness) on the hiep side: judy's graduation; monann, zach & brianna's birthdays. good to see everyone though :)

i also got to hang out with joe on saturday afternoon (frisbee, the carousel in front of the smithsonian institute, the reflection pool in front of the capitol, botanic gardens). oh, did i mention that we got to throw the frisbee around???

pictures from VA/DC (thumbnails below):

lok yay & uncle khun

me & joe on a carousel

joe strikes a pose

[current music: incredible bongo band- apache]

originally, i was supposed to head back west on may 22 but then i was asked to stay on at NCTC to help teach a GIS course & so i did and it went well. since there were 3 instructors for this course, during the sections i didn't lead, i felt like i was able to float around & give individual attention to each student. i've always really enjoyed teaching and in particular, one-on-one instruction.

after the course ended last week, i spent wednesday night through thurday afternoon with family in VA, flew out in the evening, and got back to the OR coast late last thursday (like at around 2:30a PST, which is 5:30 EST). although friday was my flex day, i went into work about half a day, just to catch up on emails and to take care of travel paperwork before going home to nap & then meeting up with stacia for spicy black bean burgers (yum!).

on saturday, stacia & i did a black oystercatcher survey at cape perpetua & then took off for the cascades for some backpacking. the mckenzie ranger station was closed & so we weren't able to buy any maps but we found a trail loop on the wall map that we thought would be nice & went ahead....

separation creek in the three sisters wilderness area.

thunderstorms, impassable/non-existent trail, black bears, lost water filter, bruises, cuts. stacia got a laceration on her cornea. there was so much tree blow-down on the trail that for miles, the 'trail' was basically an obstacle course littered with debris that we had to climb over or crawl under. we made it through about 9-10(?) miles of trail before getting to a waterfall (indian hole falls, i think), which pretty as it was, made further hiking impossible & so we turned around. my water filter fell off of my pack sometime on sunday while we were traversing the forest mess & so we had to boil water sunday evening to have enough for monday. it was a fun trip though & by the time we got back on monday, we were so grateful for things like showers & dry clothes & thai food.

due to the rain, i didn't take many pictures on the trip. but here are a couple (the camera lens was foggy, creating the blur effect in the first picture):

stacia & i in the tent on saturday night

the trail is impassable?

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