by sandra.

with the temperature getting hotter everyday, frank and i wanted to get out of our stuffy house to somewhere cooler. today we headed to the gorge where’s it’s quite shady. first we visited bridal veil falls using a secret shortcut that we discovered. we had visited here before with the pup but this time he was much braver. he enjoyed splashing in the water and even went down the stairs (in army crawl position!)

we planned on hitting up some of the other waterfalls in the gorge but they were too crowded. we decided to visit the bonneville fish hatchery and i’m so glad we did. It was such a treat — large grassy areas for the pup to play, fish to watch, and a nice breeze blowing. we plan on returning another day to have a picnic and hike a nearby trail.

for lunch we headed across the river to stevenson, washington, to visit walking man brewery. we hadn’t been there before so frank was excited. the restuarant had a nice shaded patio area which i appreciated.

all in all it was a great day. frank, the pup, and i all had a lot of fun. it was a great reminder of how lucky we are to live in the northwest.

Here’s the full playlist on YouTube of our 15 minute video, “Frank and Sandra’s Bulgarian Honeymoon.”

Frank and Sandra’s Bulgarian Honeymoon

Chapter 1: Introduction

Stay tuned for more chapters to be posted over the next several days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_State

By Frank

I drove 1000 miles this weekend. I didn’t really mean to, but I forgot how big Oregon and Northern California are. I planned on 640 miles round-trip to what I consider my hometown (Tulelake, California). My family moved there from Kansas in 1986 after my grandparents died. It’s 5 miles south of the Oregon, and the nearest “big” town is Klamath Falls, Oregon. Tulelake is in the south east end of the Klamath Basin. The actual Tule Lake used to be over 100,000 acres, but the feds drained/diverted it, and it’s now only 13,000 acres; the exposed lake bed was converted to farms that currently produce potatoes, onions, alfalfa, barley, and horseradish at 4,000 feet in elevation. With only about 10 inches of rain a year, the area is considered high desert. There are not many trees around the area. Mostly juniper trees and sagebrush in the hills. If you were on a Jeep trail in the nearby mountains, you’d think you were in a wild west movie, what with the tumble weeds and rocks and desert.

But near the Klamath Basin is Crater Lake, which gets about 533 inches of snow a year on average. When I started in June of 1999, there was still 10 feet on the ground. Not much snow this September, which is normal. Early October, the snow will return. Summer is short there. Sandra and I only drove through the park and stopped for lunch at the Rim Village. Total tourists. But it was worth it to be among the 500 year old Red Fir trees, which are unbelievably magnificent.

We also took a tour of Northern California from the Modoc Plateau to Mt. Shasta. The Modoc Plateau is in Modoc County , which is California’s northeast corner. It is more than twice the area of Rhode Island with only 10,000 people. EMPTY. Mostly desert, but some nice forests of ponderosa pines. We stopped at Burney Falls, which Teddy Roosevelt called the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. It’s a very special place.

We stopped at some other waterfalls south of Mt. Shasta. Then we drove past the 8,000 foot level of the 14,162 feet high volcano. The landscape is otherworldly up there.

Then it was a long 80 mile drive from Mt. Shasta’s south side back north to the Oregon border. We watched the sun set on the mountain and drove through sage, ponderosas, grass valleys, and marshes on the way back to Tulelake.

All in all, it was a good weekend. Great friends. Great place. It reminded me how big the State of Jefferson is and how much of it I still need to explore.

Check out our photos from the trip

by sandra.

frank and i recently returned from a camping trip with my family. we spent three days and two nights at the clear lake campground in the national forest surrounding mt. hood. although the campground was full of loud noises and your usual annoyances we had a good time. my favorite feature of the campground was that it was located right on the lake. we were lucky enough to see two beautiful sunsets reflecting on the lake and enjoy an afternoon floating in water tubes (thanks mom!)

our first day was spent rafting down the deschutes river near maupin, oregon. my family has rafted about half a dozen times now and has enjoyed our time every occasion. this is in part because of river drifters (our trusty guides) and also because my family is awesome. this was frank’s first time white water rafting so we were excited to share this experience with him. although he was feeling calm and confident by the time we left the river, the pictures of almost flipping the boat and ending up in the “rume of doom” may deter him from joining us again.

to see our pictures go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/sets/72157606864264993/

the second day frank and i headed up to timberline to explore the lodge and go for a hike. we were pleased to discover that the magic mile lift was running and we were able to take it to the top. we did just that and enjoyed a picnic with a view of the top of mt. hood and the nature beyond. then we hiked down across snow and past fields of wildflowers. if you’re ever looking for a good place to take out of town visitors, timberline is recommended!

By Frank

And we’re really jet lagged. Nothing like going through 10 time zones to really mess up your internal clock. But we’ve had two days to try to recover, and we’re slowly feeling better.

I’ve been like a zombie in a daze, so all I’ve managed to do is upload photos. Today I’ll shave for the first time in a week. Anyway, I’ve uploaded the best pics and videos of our trip to Flickr. Rather than making a bunch of new posts here, I’m going to post the link to our Bulgaria 2008 collection. Head on over and check it out. The great thing about Flickr is that you can get the photos in their original 8 mega-pixel resolution.

Without further adieu:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/collections/

Check back later for our London collection, which will hopefully be done by midweek.

by sandra.

we’re a little behind on our posts about the remainder of our trip, but are hoping to catch up shortly after we return to the states. frank also has plans to add additional pictures and video to this blog so continue checking in if you’d like to read more about our trip to bulgaria. of course we’ll continue posting after we get home too — but so far our only plans are sleeping in, cooking, and maybe going camping.

after exploring nessebar, frank and i were planning on spending some time in another coastal city, varna. however, when we arrived in varna we were very lost, hungry, hot, and overwhelmed, and thus decided to head on to veliko tarnovo instead. i’m really glad we changed our plans because we enjoyed the extra time relaxing in veliko tarnovo.

veliko tarnovo is the former capital of bulgaria and is known as its cultural center. the city is quite impressive, having been built on a steep hillside overlooking a small river. (if you look our the back window of many of the buildings you will just see rock). while there frank and i spent most of our time relaxing, walking around town, and eating. we were also lucky enough to reconnect and stay with kirsten, a friend of frank’s from his time in the peace corps. we really appreciated the chill environment she’s created at her hostel, and enjoyed our time drinking and eating CHINESE FOOD with her (can you tell that we were excited about the chinese food?)

veliko tarnovo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2657178231/

we did manage to complete a few touristy things while we were in town, though. the main attraction in veliko tarnovo is tsaravets, the ruins (and reconstruction) of a medieval fortress, castle, and church. after seeing the tower of london we weren’t too impressed but did enjoy the view, climbing the towers, and the light show.

the old palace and church on top of the hill: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2657178195/

tsaravets’ palace waving the bulgarian flag: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2655822359/

tsaravets with veliko tarnovo behind (if you look closely you can see the lights for the light show): http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2655822231/

another day frank and i took a walk to a HUGE statue and art museum located on an island just below the town. there are a TON of statues throughout bulgaria from communist times, but “the four horsemen” is one of our favorites.

the statue: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2657178221/

the statue with me next to it (see how big it is?): http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2657178209/

lastly, frank and i rented a car and drove to etara, a living history complex that shows what daily life was like during bulgarian national revival. i think that was the time between when they were conquered by the ottoman turks and communism (but i could be totally wrong). this was my favorite day in bulgaria and deserves a post of its own — coming soon!

for more photos, check out our flickr photostream:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/

By Frank

Americans suck. Really. Everywhere we go. If there is a loud, obnoxious group of people snorting, laughing, screaming, talking about inane matters, talking about partying until they throw up or pass out, well they are probably Americans. Ugly, loud, annoying Americans ruining our reputation abroad.

It happened on our first visit to London a month ago; we were at the Tower of London cafe and some middle aged southern women were making such a raucous that they had everyone’s attention, including ours, especially since they were at the table right next to us. Older Brittish ladies all the way across the massive hall were shaking their heads in disdain.

In a small museum village’s cafe in Bulgaria, we encountered an American woman, her kid, a Bulgarian woman and her kid who had lived in Florida. Loud. Obnoxious. Attracting attention.

And just now at a pub on the River Thames we had the misfortune of having young Texans, who had just graduated from college, sit down in the table next to us. Talking about getting wasted. Talking big and loud. Embarrassing. Annoying.

If you travel abroad, think about how others percieve you. If everyone is staring at you at a cafe or restaurant, it might be a clue that you are being obnoxious.

Cut it out.

by sandra.

the day before yesterday frank and i arrived in sofia again.  we had ridden a coach-type bus for a couple hours and had been forced to watch the heist and a french comedy from the 60’s.  next we walked in 98 degree weather to our hotel.  thus, all we wanted to do was eat some food and then relax and sleep at our hotel.  unfortunately it didn’t go as smoothly as we had hoped.

we started to worry a bit when we found out that the room we had reserved was no longer available.  apparently the people who had been staying there decided to stay another night and the hotel clerk just couldn’t say no.  very typical bulgaria.  we started to worry a little more as we followed the clerk up three flights of stairs with all of our luggage and discovered that our room didn’t have any air conditioning.  again, pretty typical.  things continued to worsen as the night progressed.  the clerk made us leave our room key with her when we left the building.  the dogs outside barked continuously.  the bed was like sleeping on the floor. and then there was the tree branch that loudly scratched at our window.

now this hotel room may not sound awful to you and granted it wasn’t the worst hotel room in the world.  however, after traveling for a month and with my allergies going CRAZY we weren’t up for a hot room and a sleepless night.

the next morning frank and i were supposed to get up early to go to rila monestary.  as you can imagine we were not up for the trip.  frank let me continue sleeping and he scoured the city for a new hotel.  he returned victorious and later led me to our new hotel.  hotel niky is a paradise for our travel-weary souls.  it has free internet, 2 air conditioners, a shower WITH A BATHTUB (i haven’t seen one since london), a soft comfy bed, a sitting room, a kitchenette, and free breakfast.  maybe you have to travel in a second world country for a few weeks to appreciate things like this.

if you couldn’t already tell i am so glad to be staying at our new hotel.  now frank and i will be able to enjoy our last few days in bulgaria instead of cursing them.

By Frank

Sandra and I spent two days in Nessebar on Bulgaria´s Black Sea coast. It´s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and incredibly beautiful. It´s a small peninsula that juts out into the ocean and has been habitated for many thousands of years. There are many ruins and ancient churches to explore. It is, however, perhaps the most touristy and expensive site in all of Bulgaria, perhaps with the exception of Bansko, a ski resort town where I lived during my Peace Corps tenure. People constantly approached us trying to get us to eat in their restaurants, which after awhile, became quite annoying.

We swam in the sea at nearby Sunny Beach on our last day in Nessebar, and it was pretty wonderful. We liked our hotel, The White House, and its friendly manager, and we relaxed in our air conditioned room.

View of a cove: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2649808874/

Church ruin: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2649777440/

The sea through a ruin´s window: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2648947315/

Another one, but closer view: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2649808868/

Small boats in a small harbor: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2648943501/

Ancient ruins: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2649767206/

More ruins: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdsinlove/2642636032/

We left Nessebar on Monday for Varna, but when we got to Varna, I couldn´t handle the chaotic city, and we decided to beat it to Veliko Tarnovo, where we´ve been for 4 nights so far.