La Tomatina

I know I haven't done a update in a few weeks. Sorry my life has been boring pretty much just www.porterstahoe.com tent sales. But Yesterday evening we attended a huge food fight

Yesterday was La Tomatina in Reno...you say it was what, where? The club Cal Neva in Reno along with the American Cancer Society had a great idea to have a huge tomato fight in downtown Reno to raise money for cancer research. A local grocery store donated 50,000 lbs of tomatoes and at 6 pm they tried to hold the crowd back but it became tomato warfare! Tomatoes were flying everywhere, no one was safe! I think I personally was pelted in the head like 10 times from across the tomatoey field. Soon the remaining tomatoes became soup and you were wading through it, scooping it up and flinging it at everyone. I had a blast.

Jason's Birthday Weekend

This weekend I turned 29. I'm going to live my last year in my twenties to the fullest, and do a lot more traveling around the world.

I had a busy weekend. Early Saturday morning Danielle, Aunt Ginger and I drove down to Sunnyvale for the McDowell Family Reunion, it was a lot of driving there and back in a day, but it was nice to see some family. We swung by Danielle's parents on the way home, then a quick stop for dinner and we were home at 10.

Sunday we were beat and slept in. We went to the Squeeze Inn, for my free birthday breakfast and had a great omelet. After filling up we went downtown and took a walk down the river. We were going to the Aces game at five but had 3 hours to kill. I decided to go to the Nevada Museum on Art, it had been a few years since our last visit. There was a nice exhibition on California Landscapes and Lordy Rodriguez: Surface Depth exhibition based of topographic maps. After a few hours at the museum we were off to the Aces game. The Reno Aces game was at 5:05 and it was hot. It was a great game and they beat the Round Rock 5-2. Danielle wished me happy birthday on the Jumbo Tron, it was cool and caught me totally by surprise. She's the best I love her.

Thanks to all for the Birthday wishes.

Highland Lake Camping Trip 09

I just got back from our annual camping trip at at Highlands Lake. We had a mix of beautiful August weather from cold winter rain and hail. I went up to the camp on Wednesday to secure us the camp with Aunt Ginger met by Ronnie, Tony and his dad Steve. Our normal camp site was already taken, so we were forced to find a new site. At first I was bummed, but in the end I liked the new camp a lot. Wednesday the weather was a nice average summer day. We got camp set up and relaxed for the rest of the day. Thursday we were planning on going on a hike, but when we awoke the weather was below freezing with rain and hail. The five us were freezing our butts off! We played poker for a few hours, then decided to take a drive to warm up with the car heater. We had a good drive to Highland Lake, Mosquito Lake, and a small series of waterfalls. It ended up being a great day, even though the weather wasn't the best.

Friday is the day when the rest of the group arrives. In the morning Tony, Ronnie and I decided to hike to the top of Tryon Peak 9,970ft I did it solo last summer and was excited to do it again. It is a tough climb, the whole hike is steep and the top half is all big boulders that can start a rock slide if you take the wrong step. We all made it top the top with some fancy foot work, we enjoyed the summit for 20 minutes then took the steep descent down. When we returned to camp Danielle and Janet had arrived, I was excited to see them, but was bummed to hear that my Dad, John, Steph and Cece were all sick and were not going to make it up. Hope they all are felling better. Next to arrive was my cousin Cassie and her 3 year old son Markie, I haven't seen here much over the last few years and it was great to have them there. Markie is a great kid and really seemed to enjoy himself on his first camping trip. Next to arrive was Danielle's parents Dave and Diane followed by friends of Danielle, Mike and Siobain. Friday night after getting everyone settled in we had a lasagna dinner and enjoyed the night by the camp fire. My sis Ginger and boyfriend Alex were late arrivals and didn't show up until about 10pm since they had to work during the day. They were beat from the long drive and we helped them get their tent setup, so they could get some sleep.

Saturday we awoke to great weather and were all looking forward to hiking to the meadow were we spread my Grandpa Chucks ashes in 1999. All but sis Ginger, Alex, Cassie and Markie made the hike to the meadow. It's always an amazing site and there is no question why my grandpa wanted to be there. As we left the meadow Tony and I split from the group and decided to hike to the summit of Folger Peak 9720ft it looked like an easy climb from the meadow but we definitely took the tough route to the summit. In the end we got to the top and were worked after two days of climbing peaks. After we arrived back to camp all were watching some fierce Horseshoe games. Newbie Siobain was kicking butt with partner Aunt Ginger, I think she was hustling us. Tony and I teamed up and beat Dave and Diane it was a hard fought game which ended at 21-18 it was a great game. Saturday night ended with a Mexican feast and relaxing around the fire.

Sunday is always a busy day. Everyone wanted to head home early, and we were the last ones out of camp at about 11am following Aunt Ginger and Janet down the hill. Tony, his dad, Dave, and Diane headed to Hope Valley to do some fishing. I had a great time and looking forward to next year. We had a great group of people and hope my Dad, Brother and Steph and Cece can make it next year.

Everest Base Camp and Kala Pattar

As I said I have a ton of video I've shot over the years that I want to start sharing. Here are two clips from our trip to Nepal in June 08. The first clip is from Everest Base Camp which is a amazing thing to think you are standing on a huge shifting glacier, the sites and sounds were amazing. The second clip is from our Sunrise climb to the top of Kala Pattar, there was amazing 360 views of Everest, Nuptse and all the surrounding peaks. I will never forget the view, who knows maybe I'll be back there again some day. If anyone is interested we trekked through www.itreknepal.com and had an amazing time with our guide Santa and Porter Binod, I would highly recommend Santa he was an amazing guide and very knowledgeable of the are and culture.

$20 Oil Change = $2200 Repair

Monday morning we took the Subaru in for it's regular service of an oil change, tire rotation/balance, and alignment. Danielle got a call around 2pm with a message to call the shop back. She called and the guy said, "You car is done, but...there's been an accident." Well, that can't be good! He reassured us that it was just a small dent and that they would take care of everything. The claims department had already been called. Today, Danielle took the day off to drive around and get a few estimates. It doesn't look like much, but the damage you see in these pics is going to cost an estimated $2200 to fix. Insane!

Macy's B-Day at Don Pedro

This weekend we drove down to Lake Don Pedro to spend the weekend celebrating our friend Macy's birthday. We arrived Friday afternoon and headed out to the lake. It was really hot, so floating in the lake was the perfect cure. On Saturday, the party grew to about 30 people. There was plenty of fun to be had with food, drinks, boats, and water loungers. We headed home on Sunday to 100 degree weather in Reno - yuck! It was a great weekend hanging out with friends.

Surfing on Boca

Today we did an AM surf session on Boca before work. Thanks to Chappy for bringing us out on the boat. We met Chappy, Alex and Kathy at 8am at Boca and after a short delay of not having a board on the boat we were slashing the wake. The lake was perfect and Danielle and I were excited to get our first surfing of the year in. Danielle has only surfed twice ever and never actually dropped the rope, today was the day, with a little of Alex's coaching she off and surfing without the rope. Hopefully this summer she'll get out there a few more times to get the hang of it.

Lunch with friends and Driving thru Jaipur India!

The last few days we Played Softball for Porters in Tahoe City and beat the Long balls which were last years champs. Today Dustin and Jenn Waibel were in town so we meet them for lunch, it's always to catch up with friends. We also got a little time to just chill at the house which we haven't done much in the last month.

I have tons of short videos that I've shot over the years and never really used them. I'm going to start loading a clip a week. This is a clip I shot while on a rickshaw in Jaipur India, I love the sounds of the horns and am always amazed by the driving in India.

A Day on the Sac River

Sunday morning we started to make our way home and made a pit stop in Sacramento to jump aboard our friend Macy and Brett's new boat. It was the first time they had put it in the water, so fingers crossed all would go well. After about 10 minutes on the water, the steering started to go haywire. Luckily, Brett figured out that it just needed some WD-40. After grabbing some lube from a friends boat, we were on our way again. We motored over to Crawdad's, a restaurant on the river. Everyone cooled down inside, ate some lunch, and had a few drinks. Next, we headed toward the mouth of the American River where we were greeted by a Spring Break type scene - boats all tied together with a ton of drinking, music, and dancing. Brett and Macy dropped us back off at the dock and we headed home for Reno.

Paige and Rich's Wedding

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to head down to Danielle's cousin's wedding. The wedding was held in Felton at Danielle's Uncles' house. The property is large - 5 1/2 acres, but there is limited parking, so we had to be shuttled in via limo at the bottom of the hill. It was a beautiful wedding with the Santa Cruz hills as a backdrop. We had a great dinner, followed by dancing, and of course entertainment from those who were intoxicated.

Snoop Dogg Gin & Juice Extravaganza

Snoop Dogg kicked off a new summer tour with Slightly Stoopid, Stephen Marley, and Mickey Avalon. Although Reno isn't an official tour stop, Snoop and Stephen Marley stopped by the Grand Sierra to put on one hell of a performance in true Snoop fashion. The night started off surprisingly on time with Stephen Marley taking the stage around 8:15. Being the son of Bob Marley you know he knows how to bring the Rasta love. He sang a handful of his dad's hits including "Buffalo Soldier", "Jammin", and "Three Little Birds". He also sang songs from his 2007 album, "Mind Control". Stephen Marley finished up around 9:30 after coming back for an encore.

The lights came on for what seemed like might be a quick intermission since the stage crew was already swapping out equipment, but having seen Snoop before, I knew we would be in for a long wait. The bars were promoting quite of few drink specials such as Sky Vodka for $2.50, Patron for $4, and Miller for $1.50. With the screaming deals at the bar, the intoxication level of the crowd kicked into high gear. We noticed a guy stand up from his table and grab significantly smaller person around the collar and throw him on the floor. The little guy stood up, stumbled down the stairs, and found himself at a table of what looked like me to be successful crowd of pimps - large muscle bound pimps. Not a good place to be when you are acting like an idiot. Before the guy decked him, he ended up one table over, talking randomly, and managed to spill a 36oz mega-rita. He went down the row, spilling a few more drinks, before security grabbed him to cheers of the crowd and threw him out.

Around the hour mark, a guy came out on stage and told the crowd that Snoop was still driving in from Eureka, CA and would hopefully be hear soon. Soon was about another hour later when the lights dimmed and Snoop came busting out on stage with his diamond and gold plated brass knuckle style microphone. The first thing he did was apologize for being late and told a guy from his posse to pour the crowd one of his favorite drinks. The crowd was sprayed with bottles of champagne right before Snoop busted into his opening song - "Gin & Juice". He played for about an hour and 15 minutes without slowing down for one second. Snoop is a true performer, getting the crowd not just on their feet, but waving their hands in the air and at one point flipping a double bird to "187", and throwing peace signs for Tupac when he sang both "Hail Mary" and "Amerikaz Most Wanted" (AKA "Gangsta Party"). He also put his own spin on the House of Pain song, "Jump Around".

A daring long haired out of place punk kid jumped on stage and before security could get to him, jumped into the crowd, but had a rud awakening with his face and the floor when the crowd quickly parted letting him flop right on the ground. When "Sexual Seducation" came on, Snoop pulled about twenty girls out of the crowd to dance for him. One girl was getting down, when she fell over, to which Snoop said, "She done slipped and fell."

The after party continued at "210 North" with a free cover with your wristband. Local DJ Chris English was spinning hip hop hits with Snoop's DJ LT. Kenny G., Danielle and I partied until about 3am, then ate some grub. Snoop never disappoints and we were happy to have him in Reno.

Danielle's Birthday Dinner

Wednesday was Danielle's birthday and for about the past four years or so, we have celebrated it at Ichiban's. They give you a free birthday dinner with a local ID as long as it is your actual birthday. The food is always good and the company even better. Aunt Ginger, Janet, and our friends Mike and Siobain were there to celebrate with us.

Sorry for the lack of posts!

The last few weeks since our return from Costa Rica have been busy. We really had a great trip, and enjoyed Costa Rica.

In the last two weeks we've been in the Bay Area twice once to drive back from SFO and last weekend in Felton at Danielle's cousins wedding. We had a tent sale at our Tahoe city store, thats always a lot of work. My dad came up for the 4th of July. Two Reno Aces ball games, Two Porters softball games. Danielle's B- Day, following the next day by Danielle's Gin and Juice extravagance Snoop Dogg show at GSR. Boating on the Sac river with Brett and Macy. And I'm sure I'm missing a few things, but you get it we haven't had much free time.

I'm going to get my ass in gear and start doing regular posts again, I've heard all the complaints from friends and family.

Goodbye Tamarindo hello Playa Azucar

It was time to say goodbye to Tamarindo and in order to do that correctly, Danielle had to give our house dogs a treat. Dino and Gris were our "guard dogs" for the house though most of the time they were either at the school or hitting up the discos in town. After breakfast we hit the road and headed north. We really weren't sure of our destination though we had a few places in mind. Playa Flamingo was sold out of everything but suites (wow, that's convienent), so we kept going to a beach that we knew would be pretty secluded. Playa Pan de Azucar (Sugar Bread Beach) is about 3 km from a tiny town called Potero, which is surrounded by dirt roads. After leaving Potero, the road gets really bumpy and steep. The fact that you need a 4wd and that buses turn around in Potero keep most people away from this beach. There is only one hotel on this beach and it is has little villas nestled along the hillside that slopes down to the beach. The hotel has done a great job figuring out how to make the least impact on it's surroundings, unlike most of the hotels in Tamarindo. We will be here until Monday morning when we have to head back to Alajuela to return the car and catch an early Tuesday morning flight. Until then, we will be enjoying our own private beach. Today we were on the beach for at least three hours and saw only the hotel staff!