Lots O' Stuff.

It's been a while since i've wrote. I been movin round pretty good. i'm presently sitting in a cafe in Astoria, Oregon, right across the river from washington. i'll be crossing over as soon as i finish this little update and get something to eat. i've got a craving for chinese food.

so.... real quick. i went to pasadena after vegas. i stayed with these lovely people.dave and rebekka stutzman let me crash at their place and even took me to IKEA for the first time(where this picture was taken). don't ask how i survived 3 years in germany without going, but i did.

we hung out, went out and tried out there fondue set. matt krabill was an accomplice as well.Dave and Matthew are out there studying at Fuller Theological Seminary. I didn't really wanna get near "LA", but the pasadena old town was really nice.

I then headed up into the mountains to see the Giant Sequoia Trees. They were big and camping cost me $20 for the night. not happy about that.
I drove out of the mountains and stopped in tucson for lunch along the way to at least "be there." i figured tacos were a good choice.then back into them to get to yosemite national park. My brother gave me the contact info for dustin smucker. he's a first generation happy camper that's living right outside of yosemite. he hooked me up with a great burrito dinner and my own trailer to sleep in.I headed into Yosemite, though i only really spent a day there. it would be great in the middle of summer when the water fall would be raging, rather than empty.
After yosemite, i headed out of the mountains, drove through sacramento and slept at a rest stop for the night. the next day i had a long drive to get up to crater lake. i picked up karla and we camped there for a couple days, enjoying the cold nights and campfires.i must add....... this was the first time during my trip that i could make a campfire and thus, use brad's hatchet.this is one BLUE lake.just good relaxing time around the camp site, plus a little bit of hiking and cooking on the rim overlooking the lake.

let me tell you bout the bugs. there are some seriously huge bugs in oregon, or at least around crater lake. i cleaned my windshield and a couple hours later it was caked with the streaks of kamakazi insects. seriously. wicked.we then we headed north to portland, where she lives and where we hung out for a couple days. Portland's a beautiful city. lots of culture. i don't really have pictures to put up right now.

i left portland this morning and drove to the coast, stopping at Seaside, Oregon to dip my toes in the waves and search in vain for a cafe with an internet connection. i'm driving up the coast on rt. 101 and plan to get to Olympic National Park tonight, then we'll see what happens.

the VW is still moving along, though making some funny noises..... keep praying.