NickTrip.com

Ok, so I just got back from a 2 week trip to Spain, France, and Italy. Something that

I never thought I would do in my life. What a great experience. I would say that of the three,  I liked the sights and sounds of Spain the most, but the food in Italy was the big winner for me.

Summertime heat in Portland. Some records coming down the past few days, in the low 90’s. Sounds nice for those in the midwest, but if you’re not used to this heat, it will get the best of you. Perhaps some gelato will hit the spot.

The mediterranean was nice, real tranquil, but nothing can beat the soft sand beaches of Cancun. At least to me.

Well, its been since December. The time is flying by.

The Blazers are in playoff mode. The NCAA tourney came through Portland. The AAA baseball team, the Portland Beavers, are starting their season.

 The Omaha Royals come to town this year, along with the 2009 AAA All-Star game. I’m hoping to make it to Seattle to watch the Royals play also.

I will be home in Aug. for about 3 weeks. We’ll see.

So it was Christmas Eve, and my flight was leaving on Christmas afternoon. There was about 3 feet of snow surrounding my car in all directions. I wasn’t sure how the city would go about continuing to plow snow, if they would continue to pile it around my car as they had been doing for over a week.

I also was unsure as to how quickly the snow would melt. The last thing that wanted was to leave the snow as it was, and come back and have  shovel after a nice relaxing vacation. So I set out after talking my cousin through the annual BINGO game back in Kansas City, which I was uanble to call for the first time in many years. I think it was more chaos than ever due to my absence, which I’m surely overrating my presence. 

So, as it was, I headed out in my snow gear, about 35 degrees outside at night, and I had my materials ready to dig my way out. Ski gloves, and a dinner plate. I spent the next hour and a half killing my back, digging and clawing, tossing snow onto the sidewalks, making my own little mountain of snow next to my car. I did help push a car out of some trouble, which was about the only good thing to come out of this ordeal.

When I came back from Phoenix, rumor has it that my car had been clear of the snow within 4 days, as it all had melted, and my efforts were for not.

Here we are in January. A nice past few days, considering the alternative. We surely will be getting rain soon, but for now, just clouds and some near 50 degree days.

My holiday went well. I battled the snow for about 10 days, and headed out towards the Phoenix area to stay with family until Jan 1, when I headed back to Portland. Phoenix was great, although a bit cool (50’s) for the first few days, but then we hit the 70’s the last 3 days.

It was a great trip, mananged to get two hikes in. I ate like it was going out of style. Food was great all break long. I did eat two 4×4’s from In and Out Burger. Some feat, even by my standards. I was nervous about taking one of them down, but once I got the momentum going, the feeling was there. The last two bites of the second burger were a bit of a challenge, but I feel that I earned my t-shirt for sure.

 We went to Tempe to catch the Jayhawks beat Minnesota in the bowl game. We took the light rail, which had just unveiled in the Phoenix area that weekend. What a great game. Two bowl games in a row for me. I hope I can catch them again next year.

I went to the Blazers game last night, my second of the season. Portland took down Golden State pretty easy.

So, I hope that you all are doing well. I feel somewhat refreshed. I can’t beleive the Arizona Cardinals are playing in the championship game. When I was there a few weeks ago, the general consensus was they were lucky to get into the playoffs, and that they would lose their first round game. I just might head back down to watch that game!

I feel like I’m back in Kansas. I thought about complaining that it’s been 20 degrees for a few days now, and the wind is awfully chilly. I went to my rooftop yesterday morning. It was colder and more windy up there, but the view was great. I stayed for about 10 minutes, took in Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and the city. And then I thought, this is nice. There is a time and place for this weather. And I thought of home for a bit. How I used to warm up my hoopty back in high school for about 20 minutes, and it would still be cold inside my car, and that I was almost out of gas, so I had to fill up the tank, freezing, and about how many times I used to run out of gas.

And then I thought about my little hyundai, how it couldn’t handle the snow very well. I think that car was worse, because by the time I was halfway to school during my 40 min. commute, it would finally start to get warm. Perhaps that had to do more with my inability to wake up early enough to warm it up.

K-State lost to Oregon last week. That was some questionable hoops going on. I lost a blizzard at DQ on that one. It was fun though. I always like watching games live in college arenas. Hoping to see Gonzaga, or St. Mary’s this year when they come to play Portland. Shaq is coming to town on Thur. versus the Blazers.

Two snow days, the city is shutting down. They have no ice trucks, or plows. I’m enjoying the cold and snow because a week from now, two weeks from now, 2 months from now, it will be cold and rainy.

If I don’t get a chance before the 25th, I figure I’ll say Merry Christmas now. Have a great holiday season. Enjoy the KU football game on the 31st. Spend some time with friends and family.