The Reunion...In Pictures

The Case Girls

The reunion went off great. A big thanks to Auntie Net and her crew for putting this all together. It was wonderful to see everyone! I wasn't the primary photographer for this engagement, so I got to talk to everyone. We had a distant cousin from the Wilcox family, Micheal Hopkins, do those honors. However, these are the shots I got. Feel free to leave a comment (especially if I screwed up a name)!

Welcome Emily Claire Kendall!

Kimberly, Richard, and the very new Emily

Here is the message from the new grandparents:
Congratulations are in order. Just to let you know that our grand daughter, Emily Claire Kendall, was born this morning in Seattle at 11:50 AM weighing seven pounds four ounces. Kimberly, Richard baby and grand mother Mari are all doing well.

Love to all.

Lynn & Mari
The New Grandparents

Kimberly is my second-cousin (I think. She is the daughter of my dad's cousin. How does that work out?) who I've known from the Seattle trips before I can remember. A full congratulations goes out to the Kendall, Klassert, and Gilmore clans!

Reunion

This weekend is a big family reunion up in Seattle. I believe it is the Case family reunion, which would be my father's mother's family. They settled into the Des Moines (Washington, not Iowa) area early in the last century and made some deep roots. I'm not sure what the turn-out is going to be, and I am scared to ask my Aunt (who is doing a fabulous job coordinating everything), but it will be a big crew. Lots of games are planned, but rest assured, I will be sneaking in a couple 175-gram Discraft Ultra-Stars to make sure the family is working on the forehands and hammers. It will be cool to see everyone.

Be sure to check back after the weekend for a full dose of family pictures!

Run Hit Wonder

I felt the need to have a 'carrot' to force me to train, so I signed up for the Run Hit Wonder. I did get a few training runs in, but not as much as I probably should have. The bands were not as good as last year (They had Devo and Ton Loc last year!), but it was still a good time. The start was packed. It took me three minutes to get to the start line. My watch gave the final time to be 47:55. Not too bad. Here's the breakdown on mileage (this is here so I can look back in the future):

• Mile 1: 8:12
  
• Mile 2: 8:02
  
• Mile 3: 7:40
  
• Mile 4: 7:31
  
• Mile 5: 7:46
  
• Mile 6: 7:29

The first two miles were very crowded, that's why the slow times (the first mile was even all downhill). If I was in shape, I should be able to do 6:45's.

After the race, another Ultimate player saw me and invited me to play with their team, Dirty XXX, in the upcoming Kleinman Eruption tournament. I said sure (as I am never going to Turkey...) and that meant practice later in the afternoon. I can feel my legs today!

UPDATE! (7/27) The official results are in. They clocked me at 47:54 and that worked out to be 605th out of 4874 people. Check here for the full results.

A good reason to clean...

Mom and Dad walking the gardens of the Edgefield.

Mom and Dad stopped by on their return to Montana from their big trip first to see Scott's wedding, and then headed down to Stockton to see my sister's new domicile. It was great to see them for the day. We went and had a wonderful time at the Edgefield. Then came home and watched Globe Trekker DVDs on Turkey and Istanbul (I have to keep them motivated to come over!). I know their new passports are on the way. The next morning, we had a nice breakfast at the diner up the street, and then they headed back to good 'ol Missoula.

Congratulations Scott and Coleen!

Coleen and Scott, just after tying the knot. Caitlyn in her official role as train management engineer

My cousin Scott Gies was married to the lovely Coleen Hoadley on July 2 in their hometown of Ashland. My best wishes for a long and wonderful marriage! Also, apologies for not being able to attend.

I know some of my friends met Scott (and even a few Coleen) as he was staying with me while attending school up here in Portland. I guess that brings congratulations for both Coleen and Scott on their graduation.

Welcome to the 'real world'. It can be a lot of fun. Enjoy it!

London

My thoughts and prayers go out to all in London and to all effected. More information on the bombings can be found here.

I was in London less than a month ago. My cousin is there right now. She and a friend were heading to the tube that morning when they heard that 'electrical problems' had shut it down. They took a bus instead, but the bus system got shut down as well. They had to walk it back to the hotel. Only then did they learn what was going on. Luckily, both are safe...

When I tell people I am going to Turkey, they always get this concerned look on their face and they say "isn't it dangerous?" No one had that look when I said I was going to London. The world is a dangerous place wherever you go. Even your own town. While I'm not going to look for trouble (promise, Mother), I'm not going to hide away.

Visa. It's everywhere you want to be.

My passport is being whisked to the Turkish consulate in L.A. as I write this. I think the turn-around will be about a week, but I don't trust what anyone tells me on these time schedules anymore. After I get the Visa back, I can order up the shipping container and that will take about two weeks. So, I think I have between three and four weeks left...

Back!

I had isle seats the entire way. I arrived in Portland a few minutes early. My luggage was right there to greet me. While it was epic--I was up for 48 hours besides a couple hours sleep on the plane--it all went 100% according to plan.

While flying into Portland, I could see thousands of fireworks all over Portland and Vancouver. While I was in the parking lot at PDX, I could see the Fort Vancouver fireworks going off over the Columbia. While driving home on I-5, the waterfront finale hit right as I was on the Marquam bridge as the explosions were going on around me. Not a bad way to see the celebrations.

It feels good to be wearing shorts again.

The 4th...

Beer, BB-Q's, Fireworks. That's what The Fourth is all about. Mine is going to be about peanuts, in-flight movies and layovers. I sit in Frankfurt now after taking the 3:55am flight out of Izmir. I should be back in Portland at 9:44pm tonight. I really hope there are no delays!



Last night I took a nice walk along the waterfront near my apartment. The weekend was very hot and the people waited until dusk to come out. They did in droves. The long water front was sprawling with people. Families kicking soccer balls. Couples of all ages walking hand-in-hand. Very pleasant to be out there. I roamed about for several hours, long after the sun had set. I took a few
more shots in addition to the one above. Feel free to look.