Animal Kingdom

This was my camp at Lakes of Fire, along with another couple of honorary campmates. So. Much. Fun. It was so worth it to put together a theme camp this year. Next year I wanna go (a little) bigger!

Ooooh, Ahhhh

Some of the coolest fireworks shots I've ever gotten, from Lakes of Fire last weekend. More photos and spiel about the event itself to come.

Lake Michigan from Below

This was at Midway Airport, just above where you get out from security. It's a 3D model of Lake Michigan, as if you took the entire body of water, froze it, shrunk it down to scale, and hung it in the rafters. Pretty awesome. I found some stuff online about Great Lakes bathymetry, but no 3D explorable view, unfortunately.

Last Pac. NW Shots

First, a random sunset scene from Portand, where I was waiting for my friend Molly to pick me up after my first couple time-killing forays around town. And then below, another more epic shot of Lake Sammamish that lies just East of Bellevue. This is the one I posted from a run earlier in the week.

Biwa

Pork belly skewer at Biwa: $3. I stopped at this place right after getting off the road from Seattle. And they gave me a hot towel! Perfect. And then grilled meat skewers. Even better. Other assorted good times in Portland last night.

When in Rome

Or Bellevue. Sitting in the Starbucks drive thru in the rain.

Bellevue Morning

The view on a morning run in Bellevue, WA, where I'm staying for a sort of informal work conference.

Things are Fancy at Midway

I haven't flown out of Midway in years, and boy did things get nice here. These great bottle filling stations, and outlets everywhere! If only O'Hare wasn't so dang convenient from my house...

Banks o the Meramec

On a visit to Castlewood State Park. It boggles me how many of these giant straight hardwood trees were angled out from the sandy banks, seemingly stable.

Monk's Mound

Another picture of a big thing with little people for reference. As the sign says, it's the largest prehistoric earthwork in the Americas.

The Way

So many activities packed into one day in St. Louis last Saturday, one of which was a visit to Laumeier Sculpture Park. This is kind of their flagship piece, The Way. And who's that hiding behind one of the legs...

On the Road Again

And again and again. For this and the next two weekends. Not complaining, although it will be good to stay put for a bit after that.

PT

I'm starting marathon training, but still dealing with some leg pain. Seems like it's probably tendonitis in one or two of the tendons that come up around my inner ankle. Trying a bunch of different things in physical therapy, today they put me on this crazy electrode dealy. Feels like it maybe did some noticeable good!

Iron & Wine & 1,000s of Your Closest Friends

I couldn't even get in to the lawn area, but found a good spot on the bridge. Luckily other friends who got there too late to meet our party inside spotted me, and a good time was still had. A similar story happened about the same time last year, with She & Him. Gotta try to go to one of these free shows with a really obscure band instead.

Nothing is Wrong

Well, not much anyway. That's the title of the new Dawes album though. Saw them at The Vic on Friday and picked up the new CD there (when's the last time I bought a CD?). Been listening on repeat ever since. Which is good since I needed some good soundtrack for all the weekend's many projects. The apartment is like 349% less cluttered, and many things are built and prepped for Lakes of Fire in three weeks.

Relaxation Station

This was the day after my big party last weekend. After waiting out torrential rain to clean up the backyard, Mitchell and I headed out to Bridgman, MI. My main goal for the day was to catch the sunset from across the lake, and mission accomplished. Bonus, Chrissy had secured a "Relaxation Station" (AKA Intoxication Station). It was great for beach lounging (and horseplay), and even better for water lounging in the heat of the following day, despite the chilly water:

I Want My

First time I ever made ribs, they came out pretty great. The key flavor I think came from the dried guajillo peppers I put in the rub. It rained all afternoon while I was smoking them, but things dried up by mid-evening when most of the people were at the party.

Where Was I?

Well, here for one. Lots of catchup after a loooong weekend. More to come.