California Dreamin'

We've come a LONG way since the last post! We left Bend and headed west. At the central Oregon coast, we headed south towards CA. We had incredibly beautiful views of the ocean and cool rock formations and sea stacks, and we explored some sweet tide pools. We saw Redwood Nat'l Park and the surrounding State Parks; that was really nice... lush forests with massive trees and dense ferns.

From Redwoods we headed southeast toward Lake Tahoe. On the way we got 'teaser' glimpses of Mt. Shasta and Lassen (another volcano). We stopped in Reno briefly just to see the sights.

Tahoe is beautiful. We skied 2 days at Heavenly. The weather was warm and sunny, and we found some real fun skiing. As we ate lunch the first day at Heavenly, supermodel Marisa Miller sat right by us, so that was another little highlight.

We left sunny Tahoe, bound for Modesto, CA. There, we stayed with Uncle Dave & Aunt Martha Hovestol for 2 days. While there we spent a day in Yosemite Nat'l Park... unbelivable! Big monolithic mountains, tall cliffs, huge waterfalls... It was awesome! We left the Hovey's early in the morning to beat San Francisco traffic.

In San Fran, we jumped on Highway 1 and drove the coast all the way to LA! 13 hours of driving that day! Amazing views of the Pacific as Highway 1 winds down the coast, sometimes climbing almost 1000' above the water, with sheer cliff all the way down to crashing waves and big rocks. It was too much to soak in! On that drive we explored a really sweet waterfall and swam there a bit. We arrived in N. Hollywood and hung out with some friends from Cornerstone and they let us spend the night. That was totally sweet to see them (thanks to Travis, Jerry, and Jon).

Today, we met up with Dave Morrison in San Clemente, and he took us surfing. Wow. I've always wanted to surf, but especially lately. We had an absolute riot! I loved it. After surfing we drove the coast highway back up towards Long Beach, and checked out the sweet beaches and towns along the way(Newport, Huntington, Laguna,... ). What a beautiful place! We're spending the night at Dave & Kristen's tonite and surfing one more time tomorrow mornin' (can't wait).

After surfing tomorrow, we head to San Diego, Tijuana (maybe), and then we are bound for Salt Lake City, UT. California has been so sweet! It'll be hard to leave the ocean, but we'll be itchin' to ski some powder, so that will make it easier I guess... Anyway, thanks for reading this.

Each day is better than the next,

Ben

James Bond: The Spy who Loved Me

Trivia Question: The year this movie was made? Someone better call or text Ben or myself if they know it and they will win a special gift!!!!!!

After leaving the Nordlies house up in Seattle we headed down into Oregon. We skied at Mt. Hood yesterday and then Mt. Bachelor today. Conditions we're moderate at best up at Mt. Hood, because you couldn't see a thing. Today was awesome! We finally had some fresh snow and although the visibility was poor, skiing in the trees was great! The top was not open due to adverse weather but we had a blast with what we did. We have been staying with some friends of my parents in Bend, Oregon. Thanks Doug and Vicki! :) Tomorrow we are heading west to the coast of Oregon and we will continue south to California. We look forward to seeing the coast and surfing in Cali! Well I'm sure some people were wondering when our adventure will end. We have decided that when we get to Utah, we are going to turn around and start heading back the way we came. Needless to say that will add on quite a bit of time....Of course that's a joke. Our estimated date to returning to Denver is March 11th. That of course is subject to change. But it probablt won't. But it could. Maybe it will. Anyways, time for bed lots of driving ahead. I'm such a good rhymer I should be a rapper or something.....

So long farewell, auf weidersehen goodnight...

Brendon Bruce Johnson, III

Alpental

I skied Alpental with Andy on Wed. It was totally sweet! We've been at the Nordlies' for a week. Today we head to Mt. Hood. Its been great to hang out at and relax/recover so we are fresh for skiing Hood and Bachelor.

Ben

The Northwest!

We are in WA now, at the Nordlies' house. So good to be here again! Its been a little while since the last post, so I need to back up a few days...

We skied at Revelstoke on Wed., and it was totally unbelievable! There was no crowds. The terrain they have there is some of the sweetest I've seen, with really long steep chutes. They have the biggest vertical drop in N.A. at over 5600' (more if you hike). We skied the backcountry and the snow was great! We also ended up skiing an out-of-bounds tree run which dumped us off at a river that we had to cross. We then hitched a ride back to the resort. After skiing, we made the 6 1/2 hour drive to Whistler, BC.

Whistler was sweet as always. We did a few runs on Whistler and then rode the Peak to Peak gondola over to Blackcomb for lunch and did a few runs on Blackcomb. The ride on the gondola was totally awesome! It spans across the valley between Whistler and Blackcomb. At the highest point, you're dangling 1500' over the valley floor. It was so cool! Again we were able to find good snow and had a great day. Down in the village, they were celebrating the Olympics being a year away, and we watched a big-air exhibition. That was pretty sweet; skiers and snowboarders were hitting a 35' gap jump through a ring of fire. After the festivities, we drove down to Vancouver.

On Friday the 13th, we headed back across the border into WA! We spent the day exploring Whidbey Island... tide pools and old growth rainforest. From Whidbey we drove to Mt. Baker ski area and spent the night.

Skiing Mt. Baker was totally awesome! We hiked and skied the backcountry and the conditions were really good. We met a guy named Ross and he showed us around a little (thanks again man!). The views there are spectacular of Mt. Shuksan, Mt. Baker, and the N. Cascades. After skiing we drove to the Nordlies' and went to Saturday nite church.

From here we plan to see the rainforest on the Olympic penninsula, ski Crystal, Alpental, and Stevens Pass... then head south. Thanks for checkin' in!

Lets capture the dream,

Ben Hanson

Sickest Drive of My Life

We have arrived in Revelstoke, British Columbia after the sweetest drive on the planet. It was truly unbelievable. I can't begin to describe what we saw. Turn after turn we were more awestruck!

After skiing Whitefish we headed up towards Glacier National Park. We checked it out and since it was mostly closed we weren't able to do much. We made our way towards the Canadian border. Believe it or not when two guys are trying to get across the border and they have sketchy beards and are both unemployed a red flag is raised... At our first try we were denied access into Canada. We were forced to bring back proof that we had money in our bank accounts. Very lame! We turned around and headed back into Montana to go about 25 miles to the nearest town, hoping there was an ATM to print off our balances. Well, there was an ATM so we printed off our balances and headed back to the border. When we got there it was a new guy we were talking to and were basically zipped right through. Rather frustrating at times...oh well we're in Canada!

From there we headed towards Banff and hung out in the town and had dinner. After dinner we headed towards Lake Louise and stopped by the Banff Springs Hotel. It is unbelievable! It is basically a castle. Google it right now! Do it. You'll see.....

We found a spot on the road to pull over and sleep. It was a trail head right next to a railroad track. Yup it was a real railroad track. I think there were four trains that went by. Quite and experience....rather difficult to sleep when a train goes by.

This morning we headed towards Lake Louise and it was awesome as well. Looking across the lake you can see a glacier on the other side. Real sweet! After that we headed up towards Jasper National Park and the Columbia Icefield which is a hgue glacier that is on the top of the divide and feeds water down every direction.

The drive to and from the icefield was unbelievable. After the icefield we headed back to Lake Louise and on our way into British Columbia. As we made our way into BC we realized there were more and more sick views everywhere we looked. Truly unbelievable.

Now we're in Revelstoke, BC. Hoping for some snow but its not looking good for snow.

Pray for snow!

Thanks for stopping by...I'm Rev. Brendon Johnson

but mainly stay classy.

Pics and Videos

Powder at Big Mountain!!!

GREAT day today! We had to say goodbye to Levi... for now. Watching the sun come up over Flathead Lake was really sweet! We were pleasantly suprised to find great snow and sunny skies at Big Mountain. We did a bunch of hikes in and around the resort, and found tons of powder stashes and really cool terrain. The view from Big Mountain into Glacier Nat'l Park was totally stunning! This has instantly become a favorite resort.

The plan was to drive up into Canada tonite and go into Banff tomorrow, but this area is so cool and Glacier is so close, so we're gunna go into Glacier tomorrow, then make our way up to Banff, AB. The next ski destination is the mighty Revelstoke, BC. Can't wait to see/ski this place! Hopefully they'll get a bunch of new snow... Then its Whistler. I am really looking forward to seeing the mountains in Canada... some of the most rugged mountains in the world.

So, thats the plan, but we are keeping each day semi-flexible. Thanks for checking in!

Your friend and mine,
Dr. Ben Hanson