The Adventure Begins...

just like Remo Williams!

Well we're on our way! After four days of packing, we headed out of Portland early on Wednesday morning. We shot this short video to mark the occasion...

We're spending the week in Fremont seeing friends and family and will fly out of San Francisco next Wednesday, November 5. Yes, the day after election day, giving us one more piece of rationale to spend a few months abroad.

For those of you who are short on memory, check out: Remo Williams on IMBD.

Thank You

Just wanted to say thanks to all our friends and colleagues at both Centerstance and Micropump/IDEX for having a drink (in some cases a couple drinks) with us last week to send us off on our big NZ adventure.

We are really fortunate to work with great people and have lots of amazing friends. Without you all, it would be hard to call Portland home (yes....sorry a little sap, but it's true).

Click here to see some pictures from Bridgeport Brewery.

other blogs we follow...

I've added a new section to the Post and Bugle blog's sidebar called "My Blog List". Recently I have added links to 2 blogs that some friends of mine keep updated.

Trek Life is authored by Seth Haber who has a company called Trek Light Gear. For those of you who have taken a siesta in our hammock, you know how wonderful it is. The hammock was purchased from Trek Light Gear, which also sells reusable bags and apparel. BTW, we are planning to take our double hammock to NZ....find a great spot along the beach to chill and relax.

Subcompact Culture is authored by our good friend AndyLilienthal who is a self-proclaimed "subcompact car enthusiast". Even though his blog may focus around smaller cars, he is an all-around car geek (sorry Andy). If Corey or I have any questions about cars...he's the guy we turn too. He has been helping Corey think through what kind of car we want to buy when we get to Christchurch, NZ.

Don't forget to check out the sidebar.....

Who do you think will be president?

Our neighbors are apparently voting for Obama.

Key West Snapshots - October 9-14

I wanted to get a few snapshots posted of our recent cross-country jaunt in support of Dustin & Stacie's wedding:

This is our plane we flew from Fort Myers to Key West. That's 8 seats including the pilot! Yes, that nose cone is painted like a shark and the door opens in front of Ernest Hemingway's floating head.

No kidding, this was the view from Corey's seat as we came into Key West. Our "carry on" luggage was securely stored in the wings for this flight.


The Cemetery was very interesting, due to lack of space they've come to resemble the crypts and catacombs in New Orleans. This is a memorial set up to the veterans of the 1868 Cuban revolution. (Key West is closer to Havana than it is to Miami.)

A good, healthy breakfast at the Southernmost Bar before the beach wedding ceremony. (From L) Corey, Ryan, Kenny, and groom Dustin.

While we were tooling around the island on a borrowed moped on Monday night (after we missed our return flight [that's another story!]) Janwyn and I found this Conch Shell outside of the Key West High School. And yes, it's listed as the World's Largest: http://www.wlra.us/. Another one to cross off my list!

Congratulations Dustin and Stacie

Married in Key West on October 11, 2008.

Friends of Friends (of Friends) Camping Trip

Hey again everyone, I just wanted to share some candid pictures from our last weekend, our second annual "Friends of Friends" camping trip at Milo McIver state park. In total, we had 11 adults, 4 dogs (Pinot, Loki, Sadie & Bo) and of course Chae and Collin for the picnic on Saturday. 8 of us went so far as to brave the near-freezing nights to camp.













Of those, who camped, we were lucky enough to hear 4 1/2 year-old Chae's passionate speech on our activities the next day ... (We're going to build a robot, and it's going to be hard work, but if we work as a team, we can do it!)













I hope everyone had as good a time as Janwyn and I did. Next year we'll have to try and get a group campsite.



















And for those of you who are confused by the poles in the first three pics, I can only assume you've never been camping with Janwyn before. Those are doughie sticks. I'd explain further, but I dont' have enough space on this blog!