June 2009

  • Lake Billy Chinook

    By dubayns on 6/30/09 11:01pm
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    Lake Billy Chinook, located just a few miles outside of Culver, Oregon, is an excellent place to enjoy a few days of boating, wakeboarding, ATV riding, or just plain camping.  It’s not far from the skiing and biking mecca of Bend, Oregon, and the water’s warm enough to play without a wet suit.


    The lake itself is the product of the damming of three rivers.  Each of the rivers I glacial fed, but since the water is sitting in a reservoir, its temperature is between 60 and 70 degrees year round.  Couple that with the fact that the lake rests in the Oregon high desert, and you’ve got yourself an excellent place to get away from the daily grind of metropolitan Portland, just 3 hours to the northwest.

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  • Mount Tamalpais to Stinson Beach

    By legerdemain on 6/25/09 2:31pm
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    In Northern California, we suffer from a phenomenon known as the May Grey, and more depressingly, the June Gloom. Seriously, in what world do we still get fog and days upon days of the marine layer covering the sun?  It’s probably unfair to moan; our summer lasts until October, and it doesn’t really get any colder than 50 degrees, even in the winter.I mention this because of a trip we took last weekend. Driving North out of the city, the Golden Gate Bridge was swathed in damp grayness. As we wound our way into the hills of Marin, depressingly, the all encompassing cloud showed no signs of abating. How ever were we going to go walking in this? Our destination was Mount Tamalpais and its surrounding state park. Pleasingly, however, the peak of Mount Tam is at 2460 ft, which sits above the marine layer. Thus, about ten minutes from our destination, we broke out of the clouds, and into the sunshine. Our hearts lifted, we began our trek.

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  • World’s Largest Underground Lake is a Missouri Must-See

    By sarajean on 6/25/09 1:34am
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    OK, as a Missouri resident, I know I am biased, but Bonne Terre Mine is absolutely one of my favorite places to visit. Formerly known as St. Joe Lead Mine, Bonne Terre Mine is a popular tour site in Bonne Terre, Missouri. With seventeen miles of shoreline, a diving platform, and twenty-four dive trails, it's also a hit with divers. The water is amazingly blue, and the mines are literally and figuratively cool year-round, making it one of my top places to visit in the summer.

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  • New Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios

    By NanoGirl on 6/19/09 7:23pm
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    Kowabunga ManKowabunga Man

    The new Simpson’s ride at Universal Studios, Hollywood is an awesome virtual roller coaster fun ride with your favorite Simpson family included. The new Simpson’s ride is in place of the old Back to the Future ride with the same idea as Back to the Future, but with the Simpson’s instead.  

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  • Korea- My Trip to Hell

    By becksta on 6/8/09 4:54pm
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    South KoreaSouth KoreaIt seemed like a trip to Hell.

    I am not referring to Hell, Norway. Nor am I referring to Boring, Oregon, although I do love the name, I am talking instead about my first trip to South Korea to teach Korean kids and adults in Busan.

    We landed in Seoul and I got off the plane with my boyfriend. The airport (which has since been replaced with a great airport) was full of Koreans (go figure) and was needing of repair. We entered the Immigration line, a little bit tired, a little bit excited, and a lot nervous.

    The man behind the counter sent us to another room where ten Korean middle-aged were smoking cigarettes at their desks. They looked at us, but did not smile.

    I thrust my passport and papers to one man behind the counter.

    "You," he said, "You go out." 


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  • The Classic Staycation

    By msarko on 6/6/09 1:12am
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