Beijing, China, May 2007

In mid-May, I accompanied Morten on a business trip to Beijing. We were able to do some sight-seeing as well as attend the Vestas global company party. I had a great time on my first trip to China. There are several links following where you can view my photos by event.

Ming Tombs, Beijing May 2007

Jade Factory, Beijing May 2007

The Great Wall at Badaling, Beijing May 2007

Tianenmen Square, Beijing May 2007

Forbidden City, Beijing May 2007

Random Pics, Beijing May 2007

Random Pictures from Feb to June 2007

As I sit here and blog, I'm enjoying 90 degrees and moderate yellow dust. The haze I see out the window brings visual confirmation to the dryness in my throat I thought I might be imagining. And rumor has it that rainy season is just around the corner--next week even?! Now if you'll excuse me--I have to go cut off all my pants to high-water length. Happy summer everyone!

Roadtrip pictures of the road, March-April 2007

As I drove nearly 3,000 miles through four states, I saw many scenes that inspired me to shakily point my camera out the window of my moving car. Here are a few of those shots.

Roadtrip/Long Beach, April 2007

The Long Beach area was the last stop of my roadtrip. Erin, a good college friend of mine, and her husband Jordan were kind enough to let me crash for a couple nights on the floor of their small Norwalk apartment. Over the next couple of days I took a tour of The Queen Mary, took a drive along the coast, went to the Long Beach waterfront, ate many great meals, and spent a day at Magic Mountain. That was a highlight for me and Erin--with excellent logistical planning, we were able to ride eleven roller coasters in six hours! I was sad to say goodbye, but after two weeks on the road, I needed to head back to Idaho.

Roadtrip/Napa Valley, April 2007

With alot to do still, I left Oregon and resumed zipping south, this time landing at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bob's place in Napa, CA. I had not previously visited them at this location, and considering that they've lived there for many years, this was a noteworthy visit. My cousin Loren also just happened to be home from Stanford on spring break, and it was great to see him.

Since the wind wasn't right for hang-gliding, we decided to tour the Napa Valley--not a bad second choice. First we went to a beautiful art gallery with a large collection of famous pieces, then we took a drive out through the vineyards and wineries, stopping to visit Clos Pegase and Artesa. We stopped for a snack in St. Helena and took a nice walk out on Henry Road (I hope I'm getting all these names right!). We finished the day with home-grilled steaks. I had a great time! I think I'll have to go back so I can get in on the hang-gliding.

Roadtrip/Oregon, March 2007

When I'd had enough of the rain in Seattle, I packed up my little rental car and headed south for Jacksonville, OR, where I arrived in time to catch an afternoon of classes at Aunt Deb and Uncle Tom's elementary school. It was really cool to see real teachers at work. Later that night, Aunt Deb took me on a girls' night out. We, along with a few other school related women, had a great time partaking in appetizers, main courses, and desserts, all at different restaurants. We took these pictures at the dessert restaurant, a cute little place in historic Jacksonville.

By the way, thanks to a photoshop tutorial by Emily, I have fixed some of the red-eye in the previous albums.

Roadtrip/Seattle, March 2007

After I got back from Wyoming, I rented a car and just took off with a rough plan. My first stop was Seattle to visit old friends and attend Lisa's condo warming party. I stayed with her in her cute new place for the several days I was there. I saw friends from my former church, friends from Mills Music, my childhood friend Nikole, and college friend Matthew with whom I attended a typically Seattle concert. To my disappointment, but not my surprise, it rained most of the time I was there.

Sorry for the red-eye (EM). At this point I'm just concentrating on getting the pictures up.

Wyoming visit, March 2007

After spending a week in Idaho, my mom and I hopped on a plane and headed for Sheridan, Wyoming to visit my grandparents and help my grandma celebrate her 80th birthday. We took some lovely walks in the surprisingly mild March weather, had some lovely meals together, and ate lots of amazing chocolate birthday cake engineered to perfection by grandpa himself. We had a great time, and I'm very glad I had the chance to make the trip.

Family pics from March visit to the States

So I'm back. Finally.

In an effort to catch up on the past few months that are missing from my blog, I am going to post photo albums from a third party site rather than bog down my blog with hundreds of pictures. They should be easy to access, but please let me know if you have any problems. Just a note on this particular album--due to my inexperience, the pictures are in reverse chronological order. As the title says, these are family pictures from my visit to the States in March. Enjoy, and look for more posts soon!

P.S. All you have to do is click on the picture.