I Love My Ducks

The University of Oregon Ducks football team are playing in one of the biggest bowl games in the history of the program on New Year’s Day. They go against the Buckeyes of Ohio State. A month or two back, when people started see that Oregon had a shot at the Rose Bowl, a group of college students from the university created a video to show the appreciation and support for the Ducks.

It has become a big hit and is the unofficial hit song of the season for the football team. Chip Kelly, the Oregon head coach even showed to it to his players because he liked it so much. Whether or not it gave the team an inspiration boost is still unknown, but the video ended up proving to come true. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth a look. It’s an added bonus that the song’s got a catchy beat.

Oregon student group “Supwithugirl”.

A Touch of Fire

One of the classes that I am taking this year at Astoria High School is a class called Chemistry and Cellular Biology. The class is taught by Mr. R., and he does a great job of making it interesting.

He recently did some demonstrations to show reactions that can happen with chemical compounds. The mixture of methane gas with water creates methane bubbles. Mr. R. would than show us his pyrotechnic skills and throw the bubbles into the air, followed by lighting them with a lighter. The end effect can be seen in the picture below.

The class is the second I have taken from this particular teacher. Highlights of the class for me have been making root beer, ice cream, and holiday suckers. I’ve also enjoyed experiments that have involved fire.

Chill Hits Astoria

The chill that hit the Western states back in the first week of December hit us as well. Although we weren’t able to acquire precipitation like some of the places, it still got really cold for here. Because we didn’t get any snow, we decided to spray a few things to make it look like a winter wonderland. Hopefully the snow will come soon. Another white Christmas would be a great surprise.

Happy Holidays to everyone! Enjoy the snow if you have it!

Lincoln and Kennedy: Crazy Facts

This year is U.S. History for me and we recently got done talking about President Lincoln’s assassination. My teacher gave me this fact sheet that I found really interesting describing the correlation of the assassinations of Lincoln and Pres. Kennedy.

   

• Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
• Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960.
• The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters. Bother were particularly concerned with civil rights.
• Both Presidents’ wives lost a child while living in the White House. Both Presidents were shot seated next to their wife. Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Both were shot in the head.
• Lincoln’s personal secretary, whose name was John (Nicolay), advised him not to go to the theater. Kennedy’s secretary, whose name was (Evelyn) Lincoln, advised him not to go to Dallas.
• Both were assassinated by Southerners. Both were succeeded by Southerners. Both successors were named Johnson.
• Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
• John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy was born in 1939.
• Both assassins were known by their three names. Both names are comprised of fifteen letters.
• Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse. Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater. Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.
• Lincoln was shot in the Ford Theatre and Kennedy was shot while in a Ford Lincoln.

As you can see, there are a surprising amount of similarities between the two presidents and their deaths. It just goes to show that you will never know what you find in history.

Jelly Belly Factory

Our last stop while in California was heading over to the famous Jelly Belly factory, home of the world-famous gourmet jelly beans. I was looking forward to the candy just as much as the tour, to tell you the truth. While I was expecting a great tour, what I got still surprised me.

This tour told the story of how the Jelly Belly candy company came to be and how the legendary jelly beans were made. Along the way we got to see the beans being made, which was a very interesting process. Their history includes how President Reagan’s liking of Jelly Belly beans led to them becoming America’s unofficial candy.

Due to trying to protect company secrets, or maybe to make the experience more worthwhile, we weren’t allowed to take pictures on the tour. Therefore, I don’t have any pictures of the tour.

After the tour we were handed a good size bag of jelly beans, to satisfy any cravings we may have felt on the tour. My family also went to the adjacent store and picked up some “Belly Flops”, which are reject jelly beans that were packaged because of their size. They taste the same. We also got some bags of different flavors and some souvenirs to complete our experience. Visiting the factory is worth the effort if you ever get the chance.

San Francisco and Fishermen’s Wharf

The next stop of interest on our California trip was to San Francisco and more specifically Fishermen’s Wharf. Our travel to get there included going over several bridges, including the Golden Gate. Some of the others were just as fascinating in their structure and design.

Arriving in San Francisco, I didn’t realize how many skyscrapers it had. I knew it was a big city, but not in this sense. Downtown was as busy as any of the other cities you might go to.

We spent a fair deal of time trying to find parking at Fishermen’s Wharf, because of the fact that it is a crowded place in terms of both buildings and people. We were finally able to find a place to park and the first place that we headed was Ghirardelli Square, where the world famous chocolates originated. I was able to get a delicious mint chocolate shake from their ice cream shop. In  addition they had a place where you could watch a basic process of how the chocolate is made and what makes Ghirardelli chocolate better than the rest.

  After viewing the chocolate square, we started making  our way up the street to see some of the other unique things that are featured along the wharf. There were plenty of boats in the marinas, mostly available for tourists who wanted to go on tours or charter fishing. 

The amount of street vendors we saw was also amazing. They were everywhere. If you’ve ever wanted a SF T-shirt, there were multiple places to buy them for very little money. The area is a shopper’s dream with major stores and restaurants.

Our next stop was the Boudin Sourdough Bread factory. San Francisco is also known for its sourdough bread establishments. The most well known is Boudin. They have a big building down by the waterfront that features a cafe for eating various meals that make use of sourdough bread. There is also a tour that we went on. You get to see the history of the company, as well as the bakers working on making bread.  

Our last stop for the day as the town across the bay called Sausalito. There we purchased the some San Francisco souvenirs. We also drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to get there.

  

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Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

After driving through the Redwoods my family and I continued on our trek and headed down to the San Francisco area. We had several places that we planned on going to. Some were in San Francisco, and some were in surrounding cities.

For the duration of the stay we roomed in the city of Fairfield, at a hotel called Homewood Suites, one of the Hilton brand hotels. They offer both breakfast and dinner there, so it can be a bargain if you have a larger family.

Our first destination was a visit to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. The park itself has been in the area for a while but hasn’t always been a Six Flags park. My parents have always known it as Marine World, which has been the name of the park until just a few years back. The theme for the park is Land, Water, and Air, as it features marine and land wildlife, as well as a variety of rides which are supposed to represent Air.

The marine portion of the park was sort of like a miniature version of SeaWorld in that they had water shows that you could watch. We were able to see dolphins, sea lions, tigers, and orcas. I don’t think that the shows are nearly as good as you would be able to see at SeaWorld, but they were still fun to watch.    

 

We were able to spend a whole entire day just at Discovery Kingdom. The rides were pretty fun too. There is one that is called something along the lines of Whitewater Rafting. It is similar to the Disney’s California Adventure’s Grizzly River Run. I got very soaked on that ride and it took me a few days to get my wallet completely dry. I also enjoyed riding a completely wooden roller coaster called Roar. It was pretty rickety, but you go extremely fast. It’s worth the stop if you are ever in the area.

A Roller Coast Named ROAR!

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A Walk Through the Redwoods

The last vacation of the summer got under way for my family recently. My parents served their church missions in Northern California, so they decided to take the time and take us back where they served, as well as a little bit south of the area.

So with that we took a drive along the U.S. Highway 101 from the southern Oregon border down through the northern part of California.

We were able to stop at the at several locations such as the Trees of Mystery and the Founder’s Grove. It is amazing sight to see the size of the California Redwoods, especially through the Avenue of the Giants. The Trees of Mystery is just off of the highway located in Klamath, California. It features several scenic trails (although there are many to try in the area), has a large gift shop, and looks like it can be the gathering place for some large events. They also feature a sky car that takes you through the treetops for an even larger breathtaking view. We didn’t actually ride it because of time and its cost, but we did go through the Indian museum that was there. It featured artifacts from different tribes and areas of North America.

Finally there were two large statues of Paul Bunyan and his trusty ox Abe. Paul is interactive too, meaning that he will answer in questions you might have, or just talk to you if your in the mood.  

After driving for almost a whole day we stopped for the night in Arcata/Eureka, two towns that my parents served in for awhile. Eureka is a town that is somewhat similar to Astoria in that the logging industry is prevalent and the weather is often times overcast. It is also a town right next ocean. One restaurant that is renowned the area is called the Samoa Cookhouse. Despite its name, they do not serve Samoan food there. The Cookhouse is claims to be the last logger style restaurant.

The food there is home style cooking, with enough for the appetite of the logger. There is no menu but rather a three-course meal, with the dishes served changing each day. We had fresh bread, salad, and beef soup to begin with. That was delicious as it was, but then we got the main meal which consisted of roast beef, pork steak, baked potatoes, and peas. The pork was slightly dry, but everything was delicious. Although the price is slightly high, it is worth it. I also forgot to mention that it is all you can eat.

On our way through we drove the Avenue of the Giants, an alternate highway that takes drivers into the heart of the Redwoods. Looking up into the canopy really shows the height and size of the trees.

  The last stop we had was through the legendary, world-famous Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree. There are several other drive-thru trees, but none are as good as the original. My family was able to get several pictures of the tree with us, including a few with our van in it. It was a tighter squeeze than we expected. I think it is also important to note that the tree is alive and well, and looks just as big and green as the rest of trees in the forest, if not bigger.

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Rainier Stake Youth Conference 2009

The photos have come back from my youth conference that took place in June. Our theme for the conference was S.T.A.N.D. (Stay True and Never Doubt) , based on the mutual theme for the 2009 year (Be Thou An Example). It was an enjoyable two days, especially since our stake hasn’t done a youth conference in a while.

The first day we spent the afternoon doing a service project. That was followed by a dinner, brief fireside from our stake president, and a dance. The following day included various games and activities, along with classes from various adults in the stake, as well as some guest speakers. That night we dressed up for a formal dinner, and had a presentation where we viewed short films that each ward had made to illustrate different topics found in the For Strength of Youth pamphlet. I think that our ward had the best one by far. The conference ended with a great testimony meeting, and had all the youth already looking forward to next year’s.

A Day at the Beach

Since it is summer and the sun is shining, we decided to spend a day at the beach, one of the advantages of living on the Oregon Coast. I took a few pictures while I was there, and also saw a few things that I had never seen before.

We occasionally  have sea life wash up on the beach. I’d never seen anything that large until this visit. We saw a washed up sea lion. It looked like it had been there at least a day, do to the fact that it’s head was already a skull. Once in a while we will have a whale wash up too although I’ve never seen one.

  Like I said earlier, it has been great weather for awhile. There has still been a breeze at the beach, but with a jacket it is perfectly comfortable.

I took this shot because this I thought it looked kind of cool. I don’t know much about professional photography. 

We have some bald eagles that live near our house and there is a good sized population in the area. Two decided to use the sea lion carcass as a snack, so they got fairly close to where we were. They are fairly large birds and are an experience to see.

One in a million (Or thousand or even hundred.)

You always hear about those stories where people find a fifty or hundred dollar bill just laying around. You never think that it will happen to you, but you never know.

I had something somewhat similar happen to me. My bank, TLC Federal Credit Union, has a program for teens that use the bank called Free 2BU. What it basically entails is that every time you deposit money into your savings account you get entered into a drawing. The prize of the drawing used to be an iPod, but recently they switched it to a $100 VISA gift card, good to use anywhere that VISA is accepted. Since the bank covers three different counties, (Tillamook, Lincoln, and Clatsop), the chances of winning aren’t too great, unless you make quite a few deposits.

Imagine my surprise when I got a call from the bank saying that I had won the card. I didn’t even know then that the prize was a card, but I was excited to hear about it.

I picked up the card when I made another deposit. It looks just like a normal card, and while I haven’t rushed out to spend the money already, it will be nice to have some more spending money for whatever I decide to spend it on.

 

Summer Job

I was able to get a summer job recently, as a way to have a little extra spending cash and some money to save for future things like college and a mission.

I was able to get hired at one of the local Subways in my area about a week ago. I am working part-time, about three to four days a week, which allows for me to still have time for other summer activities. While my shifts including closing the restaurant and leaving around midnight, it still isn’t too bad of a job. It pays decently, especially since Oregon has the second highest minimum wage in the country. I also get a free six inch sub each sub, so I don’t go hungry.

It looks like it will be a pretty decent job, and while I probably don’t want to become a professional sandwich maker as my career, it will be nice to be receiving pay checks.

4A Baseball State Champions

My high school has been at it again with the athletics, only this time it has been with the baseball team. It seems that our school has had all the success in the world lately. We have several athletes that are going to compete in the Pac-10 next year, and it has shown in our achievements.

This year going into the baseball season we were ranked number one in state at the 4A level, and one of the best in state at all levels. Only one loss occurred during the whole entire season, and it was at the last second to a 6A team.

We reached the championship game without to much difficulty. The baseball team as made it to the finals three out of the four past years after only have one playoff win in school history all previous years. This big leap has been in part from the arrival of coach Dave Gasser, who won the state championship the first year he was here. He is the most career wins as a baseball coach in the state of Oregon.

The Astoria Fishermen showed why they have been so dominate this season, and had control of the game for the most part. A late rally made it close for a little while, until we sent in our ace pitcher to close out the game. Below is links to stories, videos, and pictures from the game.

Astoria's Jordan Poyer closes career by closing out Baker in 4A title game

Fishermen reel in a title

Oregon Track and Field Championships

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the OSAA (Oregon) State Track and Field Championships at the historic Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene. The reason for me going was that my 4x400 relay team qualified at the district meet, and since I was an alternate for that team, I went along as well. However, I wasn’t supposed to run, unless any of the starting runners got injured. It was a pretty exciting event to look forward to.

We left on Thursday in the afternoon, because the drive to Eugene is about four hours from Astoria. It was a tight squeeze into the school district Suburban that the six of us guys and two coaches rode in. There was leg space, and we were able to get down there without any problem.

Once we arrived at Eugene, the first thing we did was pay a visit to Hayward Field. Our head coach needed to pick up information for the meet the next day, and it was also a good chance for the team to take a tour of the track and get a feel for what we were going to be racing on. That night we were treated with visiting the Home Town Buffet, where we filled up on food for the next day. After that it was to the hotel for a nights sleep. We stayed at the La Quinta Inn, along with several other schools including La Grande, Sisters, and Hidden Valley. It really did feel like I was on vacation.

  

The next morning we woke up, ate a continental breakfast, and drove to the meet. It was the preliminaries day, so the races were to get into finals, and not to win medals. The girls on our team did fairly well, even if there was only two races they were in. Our relay team didn’t do to well though, as we didn’t make finals. The weather was great and was around 70 degrees. It was still fun to watch all the athletes compete, and we went to a Chinese buffet for dinner that evening.

 

Saturday was finals day. It was a great day with good weather and I was looking forward to watching some of the best athletes in the nation competing. Most of them are headed to the University of Oregon next year too, so they should be competing on that track for a long time.

We got there that day, and I purchased a sweatshirt as a souvenir. I then went over to the discus ring and watched Laura Bobek, a senior from my school set a state meet record at all levels in the discus. She is headed to Oregon next year and is ranked second nationally in her throwing events.

The rest of the day was spent watching the athletes compete for state titles. I watched the Crouser cousins win all of the throwing events. Sam Crouser threw the javelin the second farthest in the nation this year. I also watched Elijah Greer of Lake Oswego run. He won the 1500 M and the 800 M. Although he didn’t run his best times, he still blew away the competition and showed why he is the best middle distance runner in the nation.

The girls team from my school were able to acquire enough points to win third place at the 4A level. It may be the last time that they place that high for awhile. I also watched some fast sprinters, which was fun to see the amount of speed the possess, especially Matt Anthony of La Grande.

After the meet the girls team accepted their trophy, and then the team went to dinner at Olive Garden to celebrate the meet accomplishments and the end of the season. The 2009 track season has officially come to a close. I can’t wait for next years season already. It should be another exciting season when it comes around.

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