awesome

Some impressions from the first week in Chengdu.

We are spending a few days at the Oregon coast before going back to Portland. It’s much cooler compared to the valley and stunningly beautiful. The coast is so diverse with long sandy beaches, high cliffs, light houses and tide pools.

The heath has driven us to the coast. It’s 20 degrees colder, but still warm enough. We have arrived in Florence, and the huge white dunes.

I have forgotten that Oregon can be really hot in summer. It is sunny and between 35 and 40°C everyday. We have traveled from Mt. Hood to Bend, Crater Lake and are spending 2 days in Ashland.

Bend reminds me of Voss, because it is an outdoor city. You can do all sorts of outdoor activity; hiking, biking, kayaking and skiing in winter. We went for a short hike in the heat and cooled down with iced coffee.

Today, we visited Crater Lake. When we were here in 2013, the park was closed due to the government shutdown. But this time we made it to the blue lake.

In the afternoon, we drove south to Ashland. On our last trip to Oregon we discovered Ashland by chance and liked this charming little town in the middle of the desert so much that we had to come back. Tonight, we are spending the night in a tent.

I am back in Oregon for the ESA Conference in Portland. This is the third time I am visiting Oregon, but there is still a lot to discover. The nature is very diverse with coast, mountains, plains, and deserts. And I just love it.

Before the conference starts, Mr. K and me are travelling for a couple of days in Oregon and maybe Washington. We have started our trip at Mt. Hood. It’s very warm and dry but people were still skiing on Mt. Hood. We found the lovely Alpine Ski Haus to stay the night. And I even found some Norwegian bindings…

We have arrived in Praia on Cape Verde. The weather is great and we are filling up with vitamin D. In the morning we walked through the city. In the afternoon we went to the old town (Cidade Vehla), where the Portuguese first arrived on the island.