You boys like MEXICO???

So, its about 9:25 am and im sitting at the Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix, AZ waiting for my connecting flight to Los Cabos, Mexico and since i only blog when i go on vacations here is the beggining. As Jon would say "I've been up for like 36 hours," well not really more like running on 2 hours of sleep, but i did get a boost of energy on the flight from Vegas since I ordered a tastyh Baileys and coffee. Nothing exciting has happened yet, but i do think that this shit is about to get real!!!

Final Weekend

The final weekend and week were super awesome and the culmination of a great experience that was my sabatical. All great things come to an end, but I hope the experiences and great memories keep me going until I get a chance to do it again.

Well, the last weekend I spent on the road was out of this world because I was not only in a great city, but in great company since 2 of my cousins flew out from Denver to hang out. Seattle turned out to be a great city and the people, food, atmosphere and weather were just great. I arrived in Seattle on friday afternoon and once I had checked into my hotel room decided to go for a walk and find something good to eat. Walking down the street I came across an italian restaurant that made the entire block smell so good I had to go in and have dinner there. I had ravioli stuffed with dungenous crab in a light garlic cream sauce, all I can say is that it was delicious. After dinner I went for a walk and then back to the hotel to take a nap because my cousins were flying in at almost midnight.

On saturday we visited the spaceneedle, which is way smaller than our stratosphere tower but the view is a thousand times better, went on ride the ducks tour and walked around downtown Seattle. After going all day we had to take some time to relax so we stopped by Fado and I got to enjoy a delicious Guinness and an Irish coffee. We went to Pikes Market and it was awesome and I also got to enjoy a good cup of coffee at the first Starbucks ever which was established in 1971. The weekend was great, but I checked the weather for my next destination and it called for lots of snow in Lake Tahoe, so my next blog will have pictures of lots and lots of snow....

Week 6

After a long day of sightseeing I wanted to relax and enjoy some good food, so I headed to the town of Port Townsend, WA and just hung out most of the day. I went into a shop to try to buy postcards and ended up talking with the clerk for quite a while. Well, in our conversation it came up that I like to snowboard and he said "have you ever snowboarded on a volcano?" My head didn't know what to do, but I knew it was a sign that snow was in the near future. He also told me about a sushi place in town that was supposed to be the best, but when I arrived there at 3pm it didn't open until 5pm. So I walked around some more and found a homemade ice cream shop, which had a chocolate orange ice cream that was to die for. During this time I checked times for the ferries because I had to go across to get to the volcano and it turned out the last one was at 5:15 pm. I rushed back to the sushi place and placed my order and asked them if they could rush it a little because I wanted to catch the last ferry. To my surprise they got my order out in time and as you can tell on the picture above I was the last one to get on the ferry. By the way the sushi was amazing and if you ever find yourself in Port Townsend visit Ichikawa and order the seventh heaven roll, it truly is heaven.

The next day I found my self driving to a volcano called Mount Baker to snowboard. As you can tell from the pictures above it was cold and it was snowing like crazy. The snow was heavy and wet, which I'm not used to so I had a hard time out in the snow and it also didn't help that my board needs a wax job. I do have to say that for a small resort that only charges $35 a day it was incredible. I really enjoyed riding Mount Baker and might have to comeback someday and try to conquer more areas in this volcano.

Today I woke up in Silverdale, WA which is located directly across from Seattle and it's a great day because my 2 cousins from Denver are coming out here for the weekend. Karina and Jackie are flying in tonight and I haven't really spent any time in Seattle so I can experience it with them. Well, I will try to post more pictures of the weekend on the next post and on monday I'm gonna be going to Oregon and then South Lake Tahoe.

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P.S. Chris and Brian, remind me to tell you the story about Bellingham when I get back.

Washington

Port Angeles was my first real stop in Washington because I actually hungout around town, went for a walk and spent the night at a hostel with a very nice family. I had dinner at a local restaurant called the Cornerhouse and the food was so good I went back today for breakfast. Once I had fuel in my gas tank and had taken care of some business back in Vegas I hit the road heading west to see what I could find.

Crescent Lake is located about 20 miles west of Port Angeles and the drive and views are just breathtaking. Of course I drove aroound most of it and also took some more pictures with my other camera of some other great views. The road consists of 2 lanes that hug the landscape and take you on an amazing ride worth experiencing sometime in life. Surrounded by silence and wildlife everything seems to move slower and even time disappears. Right after I took these pictures it started to rain because it is the northwest and that's just how it goes around here. So far I have been here for 2 days and I have maybe seen the sun for an hour all together.

Now I'm in Port Townsend, WA about to have some fresh sushi and then take a ferry across to the mainland so I can go to Mount Baker and knock some dust off the snowboards. Also, update on going to Alaska..... Not gonna happen because it takes 3 days to get there and boats only go once a week, plus the cost would be close to $1000 for about a week. It sucks, but maybe another time.... :*(

Week 5 ( Graphic Content )

Denver has been my temporary home for the past week and I had a great time while recovering from my injuries, which turned out to be a little more serious than I thought. In this picture the swelling has gone down quite a bit, but the bruising was really kicking in. Sorry, I couldn't take a picture without showing a little butt crack. The bruise actually got bigger, bu the pain did go away and a week later I hit the road once again to continue with the trip. Below I have also added a picture of the stump that caused all this damage covered in snow due to heavy snowfall in the area. I wish I would have taken a picture when it happened and if it weren't for the fact that I was in excruciating pain I would have.

During the whole week I just kinda hung out and got some stuff like laundry, car wash, blogging and rest taken care of while I had some down time. I mostly visited family and enjoyed remembering the good all days as kids in Los Angeles, CA. I also took a trip down memory lane when my aunt took out the photo album to show me some pictures of my sister and myself at ages between 7-9. The nice thing is that I also got a chance to get to know then a little better and it turns out that I have really smart and interesting cousins. They all have very different personalities, but I enjoyed our late night conversations and drinking tea before going to bed.

Karina is slightly younger than myself and loves to travel and have a great time. She was my tour guide and choffer since I really didn't know my way around town. Sara is a couple of years older than me and is married to Julis (short for Jose Luis), a very nice and well rounded person with an interesting view of religion. Together they make a great couple and were kind enough to share their home with me for about a week. It was nice having that feeling of a warm home and a happy family to come home to everyday and I can honestly say that I already miss them. Together all three made my stay in Denver a very memorable one and also made a strong impression on the way I see religion, life and the future.

Saturday was drive time beginning in Denver, CO and almost 12 hours later stopping at a rest area 50 miles into Idaho where I spent the night in the back of my truck in a sleeping bag. The temperature outside when I went to bed was about 22 degrees and not much warmer when I woke up in the morning. After a short drive I stopped for breakfast in Wendell, ID at a place called Farmhouse Cafe. The server was extremely good looking for a place located in the middle of nowhere next to a cow farm and the food was incredible. It was either the fact that I was really hungry or the food was that good. After a short stop for breakfast I continued to drive to Walla Walla, WA ( See Walla Walla Blog) and ended the day at another rest area due to heavy snowfall and fog between the towns of Thorp, WA and Cle Elum, WA.

Today I enjoyed an amazing drive thru some beautiful areas and took a short detour to enjoy a drive around Lake Sammamish, which seemed to be a mirror for the sky and everything surrounding it. Seattle was my next stop where my truck got an oil change and a tire rotation while I visited the local 24 Hour Fitness for a quick shower and shave. Then I headed to the little town of Port Angeles, WA not knowing the GPS was gonna take me on a ferry ride. Needless to say my truck went on a boat for about a 25 minute ride across the bay. The drives here are just incredible and I think everyone at least once in their life has to come to the Seattle area and just drive around taking in nature at it's best and forgetting about our everyday lives even if it's only for a few days.

This is a picture of my truck on the ferry from Edmonds, WA to Kingston, WA. I was totally a tourist taking pictures while everyone sat in their cars reading the newspaper or taking a short nap. Tonight I will be in Port Angeles, WA which is only a few minutes from Canada and tomorrow I will find out wether I can go to Alaska.....

Walla Walla Special

This is a special blog because I'm gonna make it short and to the point while broadcasting live from the small town of Walla Walla, WA ( A town so nice they named it twice). Well today's drive was not so bad, but yesterday was a gruelling 11 1/2 hours of highway compared to only 7 hours so far today. The views where kinda plain and boring until you get into Oregon where it turns into a great drive in the mountains and comes down to a valley. Don't know what that valley looks like because there was a huge cloud covering it and I couldn't see a thing coming down.

Right now I'm sitting at the local brewery enjoying their finest brew and so far so good. I did notice just about everything is closed and their bars close at 9pm today.... No wonder all the younger people leave town before they destroy it.... The people seem friendly, but beware of the cougars and the young cougars in training when you walk down the street. So, if you ever find yourself in these neck of the woods check out the Mill Creek Brewery. Next time you hear from me will post pictures of my back and the log that caused the damage. Seattle here I come....

Week 4.5

Thursday was a rough day mostly because I was hung over and really didn't want to do anything, but Shannon only gets a couple of days off every now and then so she tries to pack as much fun and adventure into everyday she gets off. That day after a shower we all got ready and went to Red Cliff, CO to a bar called Mango's famous for their $3 fish tacos. The drive was a little long, but the views were priceless and breathtaking. Once I demolished 3 of these bad boys, which were some of the biggest tacos I have ever had, I have to agree with the crowd and say that they were amazing. So, if you ever find yourself in the rockies and wanna go for a great drive head towars Red Cliff and enjoy some delicious tacos at Mango's, just make sure you do it on a thursday because that's the only day they're $3.

On friday I felt much better, but unfortunately Mike was feeling under the weather so he decided to stay home. Someone on ce told me "There are no friends on a powder day," so with that in mind I went to Beaver Creek to enjoy the 9 inches of fresh powder on the ground. From this picture you can see where Im about to enter an amazing tree run. It snow almost all day friday so once saturday came around I was again on my way to the mountain to enjoy even more fresh snow because it was my last day in the rockies before I headed down to Denver for a second visit with the family. But the day turned out to be more than I expected.

This picture is from the flat area at the end of the tree run and at one point you actually go over a small creek, which is even more amazing. The day was great, I filled out some postcards and was having a great time until the weather turned making it extremely cold and windy so I decided it was time to go leave so I can start my drive to Denver. Well, all was going as planned when I noticed a run I hadn't been down yet and decided to see if I could make it there. I started accross an area where nobody had been yet when all of a sudden I hit something with my board causing me to lose control and as I fell backwards thru the snow I felt something break my fall at the same time I felt something stab me in my lower back an butt. Somehow I had managed to land on a log under the snow and had the stubs from the branches that were cut try to puncture thru my skin. Luckily no blood was lost, but the pain was excrutiating and I could not put any pressure on my roght leg. I managed to make it down the mountain and made my way to the ski school to see if a ski patrol person could check it out. After a few minutes some guy showed up and so I asked him if he could take a look and tell me how bad it was. He said "this is not what I expected to see on valentines day, some guys hairy ass." I felt really bad, but i responded "hey at least you know now your day can't get any worse." I was gonna post a picture of my black and blue ass, but I didn't know if anyone would be interested in seeing it. I spent that night in a hotel room contemplating the thought of going to the hospital because the pain would not go away and there was a lump the size of a grapefruit in my lower back. the Next morning i felt much better and the swelling had gone down so I decided to take it day by day and if I didn't see any improvement I would go to the hospital. Well, today is wednesday and I can sit for long periods of time, but I still can't sleep on my back. Everything seems to be ok and Im slowly recouperating. Im having Mike take a picture of the log so once I get it I'll be sure to post it. Well, all of you are now cought up with my trip and tomorrow I leave for Seattle, WA and maybe if I can find a cheap way to get there Juneau, AK has been added to the trip......

Week 4.0

So right now Im still in Denver enjoying some well deserved rest from driving and also some time to recover from minor injuries. The more time I spend in this town the more I can picture it as a place I can call home sometime in the near future. It's nice when everything around you moves at a slower pace and not everyone is in a rush to get nowhere fast.

Well, week 4 began with a 7 hour drive from Salt Lake City, UT to Avon, CO on a 2 lane road thru the mountains. The weather seemed to be good for driving when I departed from the hotel, but once I made my way thru the mountains it first satrted to rain. Then the rain turned into snow and just a few minutes later I found myself stuck behind a snow plow for some 20 miles traveling at no more than 30 mph. Once I got around it it was smooth sailing and soon the road was no longer covered in snow. When my cellphone fially was able to find a signal I noticed that I had gotten a text message from Mike in Avon telling me that I had to work that night. Upon arrival in Avon I went dirrectly to Agave (The mexican restaurant where Shannon and Mike work at) to talk to Shannon about that night. Shannon is the person who was nice enough to open the doors to her home to me while Im on this trip. She turned out to be really cool with a great taste in music and amazing stories from her trip around the world. Needless to say that after a small meal and a short conversation I headed to her house to get ready because for the first time in almost a month this kid was going to work.

They call it Argentinian Night because all the 21-25 year old Argentinians that are here with work visas working at the ski resorts and all over the area come out for dollar beers and crazy, sweaty, too close for comfort dancing. Mike and myself took care of the door making sure nobbody underage got in to the place. One thing I was amazed by was that the guys show up looking like they just woke up and some of the girls are pretty, but some like the guys are not dressed to go to a bar. It was good times to be had by all and nothing major happened that night, which was great in my opinion. I didn't get paid to work that day, but it felt great to do something different and to be honest I really didn't care whether I was gonna get paid or not.

On wednesday we went to Beaver Creek with Shannon and Mike to enjoy some good times at the slopes, but it turned out to be a very cool and relaxing day at the mountain. Later that night we got ready and headed to Vail, Co for an outdoor concert with a band from New Orleans that was pretty awesome. After some good music we continued to bar hop in Vail Village and ended up having lots of fun and getting really drunk, to the point when we got off the bus at our stop (because we took the bus to Vail knowing we were all gonna be drinking) I started to puke my guts out. Sorry I didn't have my camera or I would have pictures of that.... :)

Week 3

So, after being in Avon, CO for 2 weeks I headed down the mountain to enjoy some quality time with family members from my dad's side. The drive was nice and short only taking me about 2 hours to get from the rockies to Denver. While in Denver I decided to take a small tour of the city with me being the tour guide.

It started at the Breckenridge Brewing Company with a delicious plate of fish and chips with an ice cold Agave Wheat beer to wash it all down. I tell you if we had one of these in vegas I would definately have my own mug at the bar. While there I chatted a little with the bartender and on the way out I also talked to the host, which by the way was smoking hott, needless to say I bought some souveniers and continued with the tour (you're welcome Brian and Darrick). After enjoying a delicious meal I continued driving and somehow ended up next the the parking lot of Mile High Stadium. I know THE MIAMI DOLPHINS GREATEST TEAM EVER is my team I told myself I needed to check this place out. I started at the gift shop and it was kinda lame because all they hasd was bronco stuff. After about 20 minutes I decided it was time to leave and as Im walking out I see this sign that read "Take a tour of the stadium today." It peak my interest and so I went in and paid my $9, which the broncos get none of because it goes to a non-profit organization, and went on a tour of the place. I got to go the luxury suites, the visiting teams locker room, the retired players lounge and down to the field. below is the proof for all you non believers. I do have to say that it was an incredible experience and if you ever find yourself in a city that has a football team you should check one out.

After visiting with the family I drove for 9 1/2 hours thru Wyoming to get to Salt Lake City, UT to meet up with Jonny Rocket and some other friends from California to do some snowboarding at The Bird. Nothing exciting happened in Utah because it's mormonville and everything sucks balls, but I did get a chance to ride with good friends and got a couple of kick ass pictures which are somewhere in my email. After being in Utah for 7 days I made an executive decision and headed back to Colorado to do some more riddin' and hopefully encounter tons of snow.

Stay tuned to this same channel to enjoy the description of week 4, where Jose goes big and and almost goes to the hospital.........

Week 1-2

So, my travels have taken me back to Denver, CO to visit family I haven't seen in over 16 years and surprinsingly they are almost as cool as I am. Oh, I have also purchased a laptop with wireless capabilities so I will be posting alot more often now. On a side note it's very painful sitting here, which will be explained later on in this blog.

Well, lte's see last time i wrote on here I was in the rockies enjoying some good snow with Mike, which was one of the room mates, and his buddy John. We went ridding just about everyday we could while I was there and he took me on a tour of just about the whole mountain to the point that now I really don't need a trail map of Beaver Creek (Ski and snowboard resort). I also went to the XGames hich weren't that great because it was cold and it seemed like i was surrounded by a million 12 year olds, but seeing all the people compete was awesome and it just boggles me how any of these tricks can be done. On the final week in the rockies, which would be week 2 of the trip, we went to vail by bus and had just an incredible day of snow that was about knee deep. Mike took me to some pretty extreme areas which I thought was way out of my ridding capabilities, but I made it out alive. The highlight of this day was going off a small cliff and riding down this really steep side of the mountain ending up going to the woods and eventually back to the regular runs. I do have to say that once I made it down the first steep area I looked back and was amazed that I actually came down this.

On the last day of the rockies we traveled aboout an hour to Arapahoe Basin Ski Resort. The temperature when we got there was 4 degrees at the base of the mountain and -19 degrees at the top, needless to say it was extremely cold and no matter what I did I could not stay warm.

This is a picture of me decked out in my winter survival gear while the low temperature was kicking my butt. I think this is only like the 3rd time I have actually worn a face mask because most of the times its not that cold. This day was great because I got to ride a different mountain , bu the cold didn't let me enjoy it as much as I would have liked to. Stay tuned for upcoming weeks, which will now be done more on a day to day thing since I have a kick ass laptop. Oh and the reason why my butt hurts will be on the week 4 post.....

Days 1-4

So, right now I'm sitting at a puiblic library trying to fill you guys in on what's going on. As all of you knew my trip was going to start in Brian Head, UT snowboarding with Brian, Darrick and trish. Well, to evryones surprise Jonny Rocket showed up and it turned out to be a great time to be had by all. To make a long story short I spent the nihgt in Cedar City, UT and drove to colorado in the morning.
For those of you that have never taken this drive I highly recomend it and should be on the to do in life list. The views are amazing and something new comes up after every turn the freeway makes. I stopped at a scenic view turnoff and encountered some real indians selling hand made pots and bracelets. Ohh they also had tomahawks, but they were quite pricy. After talking to this very nice man for a few minutes I decided it was time to hit the road again so I couold get to my destination before sunset. That was pretty much my sunday with nothing really exciting other than the drive.
Monday was a day for snowborading so I woke up extra early so I could shower and get my gear ready to hit the mountains. I left the condo where Im staying at which is only a few minutes from Beaver Creek, which is the resort closest to me, and drove to the mountain. When I got there i was trying to be the cool out of state kid, but as soon as I started walking I hit some ice and down I went like a sack of potatoes. My day did get better when I got a call from one of the roomates (Mike) telling me that he wanted to meet up so we could ride together. He is a really good skier and it was tough keeping up with this guy, but it pushed me to do better and I got a tour of just about the whole mountain. During one of the runs I got a little distracted lost an edge and landed on my head pretty hard, my neck still hurts today from that fall. After the fall we kept ridding for a while and what takes care of pain better than anything... Beer!! A weird , but fancy bar called the Dusty Boot has PBR's from 3-5pm for $1. With prices like that Mike, his friend John and myself enjoyed about 5 each. Later on we headed back to the condo where Mike and John made dinner, which was delicious!
Tuesday we stayed in and watched the Inaguration of President Obama, but as soon as that was done we headed out for the mountain once again. Another day of ridding and enjoying the mountain until the lifts closed. Once again we headed to the Dusty Boot for some refreshment before going to taco tuesdays at Agave, which is the mexican restaurant where the other 2 roomates (Shannon and RJ) work at. Shannon is this really cool friend of Vanessa's who is letting me sleep on the couch while Im in town. After tacos there was not really much to do so we went to the rec center and enjoyed some time in the jacuzzi.
Well, I hope this gives you a small glimpse into what's going on with me and i will try to post more often and maybe make the stories alittle more exciting. I hope everyone is doing good and I can't wait to see you guys again.

Almost Gone

So, after a long night at work of doing lots of engineering stuff and a whole lot of nothing the time came for me to finally leave work and I do have to say it was not what I expected. All the grumpy old men at my work, which usually nay say everything that anyone does and are not open to any new ideas, actually were excited about me going on this trip and thought it was one of the greatest things anyone can do. Some were actually jealous of my little adventure because they have never been able to do anything like this due to having to start a family at a young age.

I didnt realize how frustrating packing would be when you're trying to take what you think you're gonna need during a 2 month trip in snow country. I'm trying to fit alot of stuff into my small truck and it's just not working. This is a picture of the inside and back a little over half packed:

Can you believe all this crap actually has a place and purpose in this trip? When I first saw all this stuff finally together I knew it was gonna be trouble, I just hope it all fits.

Well, I know that no matter what everything will be OK in the end and I will be able to continue my trip as planned. For those I won't get to see before I go this is probably the last post until I get to my next destination so I wanna say I'm gonna miss you guys and don't worry I have a journal to keep track of everything. Know that you all hold a small part of me that keeps me going everyday and I cant wait until I come back to share all the great adventures I have experienced with everyone. I love you guys and don't forget I'm just a phone call away.... If you guys would like to receive post cards with a personalized message text me your address and I will try to make it happen...... Ohhh and Chris this is the beginning of the book :)

B-Day Speech

Another year has come and gone, but will always be remembered by all the memories and changes experienced by all. 2008 was a year of unexpected changes and activities which none of us ever in our wildest dreams thought we would do. With the good always comes the bad as some of us lost loved ones to the never ending cycle of life.

First I want to thank all my friends for your continuous investing in our friendship, which has paid off better than any bank can right about now, and hopefully our friendships will continue until we get old and try to beat each other with our canes… wait Bob only has a few years left so for the next birthday party we should all dress up as old people (canes might be provided). Well, enough of this rambling and let’s get our drink on and Darrick please try not to pass out. Thank you all…..

p.s. I remember this speech being way better....