USA

One could probably say that my northeastern U.S. trip started sub-optimally. After sleeping only one hour, I was blasted out of bed by my 100-decibel alarm clock at 3:30am and due to my grogginess, driving down towards the Denver International Airport was quite a chore. (Should’ve taken the Shamrock shuttle instead.) Then, on my Southwest flight to Manchester, NH, I was completely enveloped by the Texan Congregation of Fatsos which made sitting (much less sleeping) quite uncomfortable.

The woes of the morning were suddenly erased when I arrived at the Manchester airport, with just one sentence from the girl at the rental car agency (Budget) that I had a reservation with. Continue reading »

I really don’t care much for baseball, but when the World Series came around a few months ago, I favored the Boston Red Sox over the Colorado Rockies. Even though I was a big L.A. Lakers fan in the 80s and 90s, I am happy that the Boston Celtics are dominating the NBA right now. Likewise, I’ve been rooting for the New England Patriots all season.

Ah, yes — it must be a Boston year for me, as I start my preparations for running in this April’s 112th edition of the Boston Marathon. Continue reading »

For a few days in mid-January, I had come up to Bend, Oregon, with one of my best California friends as a little road trip and vacation and to join a Fort Collins friend who was also visiting there. As I had never been here in the winter, it was particularly interesting to see how Bend — which I had nearly moved to 2.5 years ago — looked like at this time of year.

Below are some notes. Verdict: I still love Bend, but am glad I ultimately chose Fort Collins as my place to live. It’s a better fit for me at this stage of my life. That said, I certainly could have been very happy in Bend just as well, just like I’m sure I could have been perfectly happy living in any of my “best places to live” nominees. Continue reading »

When my friend Kimi told me the home she’d be at was “in Bend right across from Smith Rock,” Tori and I didn’t think too much of it. We figured she meant it was “somewhere near Smith Rock,” as Smith Rock actually isn’t even in Bend, and actually isn’t even in Redmond 10 miles north of Bend. It actually is in Terrebonne, north of Redmond. Terrebonne, Redmond, Bend — ok, maybe that’s “close enough.” Continue reading »

My friend Tori had told me about her desire to check out Bend, Oregon, sometime in early 2008, and by happy coincidence, a friend from Fort Collins mentioned that she’d be housesitting for her mom in Bend for a whole month and we were welcome to come up and visit. Road trip! Continue reading »