The Adventures of Dave, Lindsay, Cora and Edie

After years of talking about it, we finally made a trip to Alaska. It's definitely all it's cracked up to be. Seriously huge, full of wildlife, with monstrous mountains, glaciers, and rivers. It's certainly the smallest we've ever felt. Not only is the landscape immeasurable, but when you're standing on your two feet out in the open, you're the smallest mammal around. Alaska's great like that. We spent about 5 days bussing and hiking around Denali National Park and Preserve... and the weather was great. Perfect for hiking and sleeping in a tent. No bugs and no crowds. (The tent part was interesting though... somehow Dave grabbed tent poles belonging to a different tent. But we figured it out and made it work.) Mt. McKinley peeked out a few times for us and we were amazed every time. A truly spectacular mountain. (I've marked a photo so you can get an idea of the scale.) The video shows us trudging through a little Alaskan bush on our unsuccessful ascen...

Now that it has been several months since we came back from our trip, we've reluctantly decided to get back to work... which we quickly realized was totally lame. However, if you absolutely have to work for a living, we both ended up in pretty good positions. Lindsay is starting her 3rd week as the Donor Relations Officer for Boys and Girls Aid - www.boysandgirlsaid.org - a great non-profit that does foster care, adoption, temporary shelters for youth and a mentoring program called Mentor Portland. She's enjoying being back in the non-profit world but still adjusting to a full-time work schedule after working only part-time or not at all for the last year (yikes!). She's missing the world of conservation and environmental issues but hopes to fulfill that passion through some volunteer work in the near future. Dave has had an intense summer keeping up with school and two part time jobs. One job was working with Lindsay's Dad selling automotive parts around Oregon and ...

Every year, we meet up with some good ol' friends from Seattle and head out camping. This year brought us to a State Park in the shadows of Mt. Saint Helens. We have a great time sitting around the fire, taking turns making the meals and wandering through the nearby hills. Of course, over the years the camping has changed somewhat. Kids! No, we don't have children. But some of our friends do, and this keeps us all on the lookout for wandering toddlers and fallen pacifiers. Things have changed, but we're having as much fun as ever before. Our schedule works around nap times and early bed times... but maybe that part hasn't changed at all! Another change might be our furry friend Peeka. She likes to keep us on our toes... eating scraps that aren't scraps and barking at anything moving in the woods. Fun fun! We also got to take our new wheels into the woods for the first time. As you can see from the photos, we packed 'em in and tried it out. It was great. The bed ...

Dave's life, and therefore our life, lately has been his Chemistry 100 class online. Labs, discussion boards, assignments, weekly quizzes, and more. Thought you might enjoy a look at "A day in the life of Dave Nelson."

Over the weekend, we made an addition to the Biedel-Nelson family....a beautiful Griz burgandy Volkswagon Vanagon Camper. Yahoo! We've randomly been talking about getting one for the last few years (though we never actually thought we would) and when a friend mentioned they were selling theirs, we jumped at the chance. And yes, it sleeps 4 people, has a fridge, stove and even running water. Camping trips will never be the same. Our first test run will be this weekend at Mount Saint Helens with some Seattle friends. They'll be so jealous when we snuggle in for the night! And for those future visitors to our home in Oregon City, you can now choose between our guest bedroom downstairs or your very own camper out front. Unfortunately, only one of those choices includes restroom facilities. Ain't she pretty?!?!

This year's 4th of July holiday was a bit of a contrast to last year's holiday, when we were on a roadtrip and camping trip through Canada's Rocky Mountains. Yesterday afternoon, we ventured to Monroe, WA with our dear friends, the Klinglers, for a demolition derby at the county fair grounds. We didn't know what to expect and were pleasantly suprised with the level of entertainment provided. The place was packed with a variety of local residents and we spent 5 hours watching the different derby events - flipping cars, junk car races, buses jumping over limos and trailers, yellow school bus races and the grand finale....the demolition derby (I'll be honest, the people watching was a true highlight). Our favorite event ended up being the demolition derby with the cars pulling boats behind them. This added a whole new challenge for the drivers. The night ended with a short but colorful firework display. Honestly, the best $16.50 we've spent in awhile. Hope you...

Oregon City, that is. We recently rented a nice little 3-bedroom house in the historic part of downtown Oregon City. It's a mellow, blue-collar town about 20 minutes southeast of Portland and we're psyched to have found a place after running all over the city for weeks looking at houses. The house is within walking distance to all the basic necessities - places to walk Peeka, a cafe, restaurants, a funky little downtown, the willamette river and more. We also just discovered that the park just a few blocks away has live music every week in the summer - BONUS! Our official move in date is July 1st when we will open up the storage unit and see our belongings for the first time in 8 months. A bit overwhelming but I'm sure it will be like Christmas when we see all the clothes and sporting equipment that we forgot we had. I think what I'm most excited for is to finally sleep in our own bed and have our own kitchen again. The simple things. This is Dave's first week of cl...