Voy a ser pasado otro año.

I made it to my third country in less than a year. I've been all over the west coast of the U.S and Canada. Now I can scratch Mexico off of my list! I headed down to Puerto Vallarta and spent some time with a few friends. Our room was great and had a perfect view of the ocean. I'm just glad it wasn't breezy or this could have been my last picture!


I planned on doing nothing but laying on the beach but it was so hot I started to smell wood burning. I did stop and get my picture taken with a few sand sculptures though. I had to pause for a moment and try to figure out what was going on in this first one.


I couldn't go to Mexico without checking out some local tequila. This store had so much it made my head spin. I did a lot of label reading and talking with the store keeper. After taking a few sample shots I bought a bottle and headed back to the room.


Once I had a good buzz I headed back out and got a few more pictures taken. I even met another local when I went to use the bathroom. I paid the 5 peso cover charge and headed in. I had never paid to use a bathroom before so I thought there might be dancing or women inside. No luck. Just urinal cakes and drunk tourists.





I had a fun trip and a great year overall. I contacted my owner and he said it would be ok if I spent a little more time doing the tourist thing. I figured there were a lot more places I could go if I said gone a little longer. I look forward to hitching rides and finding out where my travels will take me. I hope we all have a good 2009!

The holidays are here again so I thought I'd remind everyone to give blood.  Not only do you help out a total stranger but you also feel light headed afterward!

Cascade Regional Blood Services

Are Big and Bright

I'm back from the lone star state and figure I've recovered enough to get an update up. Talk about a trip. I made it to Texas Stadium, Texas Motor Speedway, NASA and a lot of other places I never thought I'd get to see. There are so many pictures I made a slide show of the trip, but I wanted to make sure I posted some pictures of people we ran into that were willing to pose with a nutcracker on vacation.

We ended up with a flat tire and I wasn't very much help. My traveling companions complained a little bit when they found out I didn't know how to change a tire. I might not do that well with lug nuts but I'm great with walnuts. Luckily we found a couple of guys at Kwik Kar to help us out. They look like they've never seen a stranded nutcracker before!


With our patched up tire we hit the road and headed for Texas Motor Speedway. We thought we'd take some pictures out front and keep on driving but the friendly people at the track spent some time showing us around. If it weren't for them I'd never had a chance to stand in victory lane.


We all built up an appetite walking around the track so we climbed back in the truck and headed for Sonic Drive-In. A burger and cherry limeade later we were good to go. Thanks to Brittany for posing for a picture!


A trip to Texas wouldn't be complete without stopping at The Big Texan Steak Ranch. I was going to try and conquer the 72 ounce steak but figured that wouldn't be a good idea. That thing weighed more than I do! While I might not have wanted to eat one I didn't pass up the opportunity to pose for a picture with one. My little wooden brain couldn't remember her name...but I wanted to thank her for the picture anyway!


Now it's time for my video showing all the other places we went. Thanks again to the friends who let me tag along. Keep checking for updates....I might be headed somewhere else really soon!