Saturday, June 25, 2011

SPO~KAN~E


Find me another city with class V rapids smack dab in the downtown of the city. Our two week adventure began with a 4 day visit to Spokane to catch up with good friends and relive some good memories.


Our Spokane "parents" Bill and Coleen let us stay at their place (they would be mad if we stayed anywhere else! :) ) We enjoyed dinner at the Downriver Grill before taking a stroll downtown to see the water.



Friday morning we drove two hours to the Idaho/Montana border and took on the Route of the Hiawatha trail. I've blogged about it before about two years ago but this time Katie was able to go and it was early summer before the leaves change. There was even snow still on the mountains!
We joined up with our Califriends Jeff and Rae who were in town for Ironman. Jeff was competing. Yes, he is crazy and loves his wife enough to go on a 14 mile mountain bike ride before the ironman race.
The trail contains 10 tunnels and 7 trestle bridges in the 14 mile stretch. One tunnel is 1.6 miles long and requires headlamps.
Coming out of a tunnel.
The water was running heavy due to the increase in rain this year.
I have some video from the Hiawatha Railroad that I'll post later. This post comes from a coffee shop in Ohio. Those pictures will be posted early next week from Outer Banks North Carolina. Oh, and i've gotten plenty of requests for a Leila update. Seriously, people she's a dog! She agreed but will have to wait until we return. Those paws don't handle the keyboard well.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

California...It's a wrap!

After Portland and the Redwoods of Northern California the hills turned brown and the clouds gave way to bright blue sky. We arrived to the Bouma's household just in time for dinner.
We had some time to kill before the closing festivities began. We went to Disneyland one last time and had to get a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge outside California Adventure since it was too cloudy the week before in San Fransisco.


Thursday morning Dad and Cheryl arrived from Ohio and we had plenty planned. We hiked Ice House Canyon toward Mount Baldy.
The trail's river was running heavy thanks to the extra snow fall this winter. That sounds like a joke when I look at these pictures. There really was a lot of water I swear! There was also a few families of Sequoia standing tall and more than enough gnats to make you want to turn around.



From Left: Me, Katie, Curt, Jody and Luke, Cheryl and Dad.




Katie, Jody and Raelene before my graduation dinner. Thank you ladies for making a great meal!
One last meal with my classmates before the White Coat Ceremony and Graduation.
Thursday night was great! It was the physical therapy students alone being celebrated without the other professions. This is my class, 68 of us.
Hector, Angela, Mamiko, Stacy, Michelle and I before the White Coat Ceremony.
I somehow managed to win two awards. One for excellent clinical performance and another for general interest in the physical therapy profession and community activities (below).


Here is the one who made it all happen. My beautiful wife who supported me through long nights of studying. As well as studying through meals and sacrificing time with her for the hope to pass what seemed to be impossible exams. She made the most of it by learning new recipes and investing in the womens ministry at our church.
My parents with Katie and I following graduation. IT'S DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OVER!!!!! FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The journey is over. Another season come and gone. Mount Shasta wished us well and sent us off with a full view.
Occasionally, I stop what I am doing and am reminded that school is over. June 12, the day I hoped for during late night of studying with heavy eyelids is now a day in the past. It is mine- an education that can't be taken or failed. It is one of my proudest memories. But I came home from California with more than just an expensive piece of paper. I came home with a deeper love for my wife, a wife that is more beautiful than the day we married. I came home with memories of new friends where we shared new adventures together. I grew up. Oh yeah, and I came home with the coolest freakin' dog in the world!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The drive south

These pictures are backwards. Today is Thursday. Tonight is the white coat ceremony, tomorrow is hiking, Saturday is a graduation party, and Sunday is one of my top five life moments...graduation. It's 5:30am right now and I can't sleep. So I thought i'd finish this up before heading into Loma Linda for a crash course on the up coming festivities. Below is probably the worst photo of the Golden Gate Bridge i've ever seen. We didn't have time to cross it (plus there's a fee) and the fog was bad but now we can say we saw it.
We stopped by Redwoods National Park in Northern California for the morning. The trees are huge!



The strange nodule on the tree above is a seedling for a future tree.


This is where President Nixon dedicated the park. It's about a mile in on the hike we did.





The Northern California coast- beautiful but unswimable due to the dangerous tide.





Before California came Oregon and Portland was where we stayed our first night.
We met up with Paul and Kasey. Kasey was a roommate of Kate's while in Spokane. They let us crash at their place but before we enjoyed good conversation at Cascade Brew house where we tried different types of Sour Beers. I can see where they are going with the sour beer thing but not my favorite.
Portland is by far the weirdest city I have ever been to. Hippies, people running down the street trying to fly a miniature kite on a 4 inch string, theater plays in the middle of the street and so much more can be seen here.
Before we left Washington we had a thank you party for Lynden Family Physical Therapy.

Over 50 people came and almost half were kids.
I'm grateful for family. It was a part that was supposed to be hosted by me but my hours at work made it difficult to get done what needed to be done. Kate's mom and dad, uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins all pitched in throughout the week to make it happen.
Steve and Robin, the clinic owners are generous folks. These were the prizes for winning the balloon toss.