Mountains and more...

Well, I hear from some friends that I now have to continue to update this thing... I thought I would write a little about my last three week adventure. It had three parts...the first was the hiking in Colorado Springs. If you like to hike, Colorado Springs is a must!! My friend Trisha and I hiked up Barr Trail toward Pike's Peak for my 30th birthday. We had a great hike, though it decided to rain on us for alot of the trip. It is hard to believe that I am 30. I remember when 30 seemed...SOOOO Old! Now that I am here, I feel like I did when I finally arrived at...10, or 12 or 16....they all really felt the same!

Besides hiking, Trisha and I had GREAT fun hanging with some old friends from Teen Mania ( http://www.teenmania.org) .... A big THANKS to Scott and Erinn Barnes for letting us stay with them ( my favorite way to stay over night..free!). We went to a little restaurant in Manitou Springs called the Wines of Colorado. If you like wine...you must go! We also went to the Garden of the Gods and when I can figure out how to post pictures, I will .

The second leg of the journey began at about 3am one morning as Trisha and I headed to Denver airport to fly out to Portland. We parked my car there and headed on our way. Trisha's folks graciously picked us up and we headed for her home...Castle Rock, WA. A quiant LITTLE town right down the road from Mt. St. Helens. I spent the week with the Griffiths family and really enjoyed my time (which included visiting family, canoeing, eating clams, the beach of the Columbia River, and DEEP talks with Miss Trisha!). I then rented a car and drove up to Seattle....just in time to meet my folks who flew in from Florida. When tooled around the area and went over to the Pennisula to my aunt's 90th birthday party. Yep...90th...wow! I had a great time there, meet some cousins that I have never met and also met a new friend who works with Hill Songs in Australia (hey Brett).

All in all it was a good trip that ended with an adventure to get home (fly back to Denver...and drive to TX...don't forget the blow out on I-40 and the unscheduled stop in Amarillo...thank you Nathan and Greta for putting me up for a night).

So, if you are reading this and haven't hosted me in your house yet....look out because it appears that I may call you one day and ask if I can sleep on your floor for a night or two :) .