Newfoundland part 2: When in Bonavista...

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Saturday morning we woke up early, packed the car, and headed out to the small ski area where my friend works as a cross country ski instructor. Since I've never skied before and my friend didn't have time to teach me before work, I contented myself with hiking the ski trails in the morning while he taught his class.

It was the windiest day! Gusting at 30mph the air felt about 5 degrees with blowing snow blurring my vision and making my ears and chin ache. The trees provided some buffer, but whenever I came to a crossroads in the trail, I had to quickly trudge-scamper through the snow to get to the next sheltered spot. I spent the last 40 minutes or so waiting in the chalet by the warm stove, content that I had seen as much of the trails as I could that day.

Once my friend got back, we hopped back in the car and took off up the TransCanada highway, heading to the rural village of Bonavista, about 3.5 hours north...

Newfoundland part 1: From Northwest to Northeast

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

One of my favorite things about Alaska are the serendipitous opportunities that come up that you never would have expected -- some even coming up years later. And that's exactly how I found myself on the island of Newfoundland this past weekend. 

Working in Nome, AK for two summers I made so many great friends, one of whom happened to be a student going to college in St. John's, NL. We stayed in touch over the last couple years; he always invited me to come to Canada, I always said I would someday. Finally sucked in by my wanderlust again, I decided to make that "someday" last Thursday. I booked the cheapest ticket I could find, loaded my backpack, and took off for a whirlwind weekend with my friend I hadn't seen in two years on the opposite side of the continent from where we first met. Whoever would've guessed!

Hiking in Oregon

This year I've spent the holidays in central Oregon, and it is WAY too gorgeous here to keep it all to myself so I wanted to share a few pictures. Yesterday I went on a hike with Peter and his sister up to Black Butte, a mountain that peaks at 6,400'. I've never seen such vivid colors in my whole life! Here are a few of the highlights:

Summer 2014 Film Montage

I've had terrible writer's block lately. I mean seriously, I've started and stopped about half a dozen posts since my last one, and just can't seem to find the words to say what I want to say. So instead, I ventured into my other creative outlet, and finished editing together my film montage of footage from this summer. I hope you like it.

Huge shout-out to Charlie Jones for letting me use her music in the background!