7,700 years ago volcanic Mount Mazama blew its top and collapsed in on itself producing a caldera (a giant volcanic hole) five miles wide. This caldera filled over time with melted ice, snow and rain to create the deepest and cleanest lake in the United States at 1,943 feet. It’s located in southern Oregon in the Cascade mountain range.

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To love nature is to love your own soul. I’m never more at peace then when I’m alone in natural beauty. Is there any greater serenity than a walk in the woods? Can anything man made ever rival the beauty of pristine nature?

The Salmon River is fed by the snow melt from Mount Hood in northern Oregon. Every summer when I visit my parents at their home near Mount Hood I return to the Salmon River like a migrating salmon. Time walking this river is timeless.

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On rare occasions family and friends join me for a walk on the Salmon River.

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Has it come to this – gangs of armed nerds rampaging the suburbs? Yes it has. I was recently savaged by a gang of such armed nerds. Fortunately their foam covered weapons inflicted no mortal wounds and I was able to grab a discarded battle axe and fend them off.

After befriending this band of combative nerds, I watched as they battled each other. Their screams and yelps stirred my inner nerd and called me forward like a rallying cry. I charged on to the field of battle wielding a double bladed axe. I did glorious battle with the nerds for the rest of the afternoon and became a nerd warrior. They even let me play their king for several rounds.

I later learned that the nerd attack I experienced was related to a worldwide phenomenon called “live action role-playing” or LARPing. Apparently LARPing engages nerds in fantasy worlds in which they act out their characters, often engaging in combat. Well, at least it gets them off their computers and out into the open air.

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Get in touch with your inner nerd warrior and give LARPing a try in a neighborhood near you.

What Is LARPing? – Watch more Funny Videos

Imagine skiing on a mountain then making snow angels and diving into a warm pool as snow falls from the night sky. The Timberline Lodge, built in 1937 on Mount Hood in Oregon, is such a winter wonderland. With its roaring three story fireplace and rustic stone and timber walls that hold back a mountain of snow, it’s perhaps the coziest place in the Universe.

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Those who have seen the horror movie the “Shining” (1980) with Jack Nicholson may recognize the Timberline Lodge, which was used for some of the exterior scenes in this movie. To avoid going mad like Jack in the movie and typing – “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy . .   .” I decided to leave my computer behind.

Much better to leave the dulling effects of work behind and dive into the snow, water and life with my nephew Kit and my two nieces Brenna and Tressa.

Happy Holidays from the top of Mount Hood.

Pat, Kit, Brenna and Tressa

I took two months, from March to May, to ramble my way down along the Pacific coast from Portland to San Francisco and down to San Diego. To race past such magnificent and epic beauty would have been a sacrilege.

So I hugged every mile of the coastline, following along every soft curving beach, jagged eroded cliff and winding path through the woods and prairies. I stopped and stayed in small charming coastal towns and camped on the edge of the ocean.

Enjoy the photos and the ride. The photos start on the Oregon coast and progress down the coast from top to bottom.

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Of course, there is also “Mo’s Annex”, which has been serving clam chowder, oyster stew and seafood since 1946. Mo is described on the menu as a “crusty, chain smoking, big-hearted town mother”. She died in 1992 but her legacy lives on and her “Chowder Room” produces 500,000 pounds of clam chowder a year.

When the pioneers finally reached the end of the Oregon Trail and spilled out into the lush Willamette River Valley beyond the mountains they must have felt like they had found the Promised Land.

Today, Oregon remains largely wholesome and pure. Sure it has been desecrated with its share of strip malls. But its natural beauty, ranging from the lush green moss covered forests to its mountains and streams, are still mostly intact.

I love to ski on Mount Hood and then splash around in the outdoor heated pool at the old Timberline Lodge and walk along the forested streams and build campfires on the rugged coastline. Oregon can clean and refresh your soul if you dive in.

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Can you find the real Santa amongst all these drunken men and women in red?

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That’s right, the real Santa is the dry drunk with the red nose and the two children. Thank God these two little kids were in the basement of Macy’s rather than in the bar district of Portland, Oregon where hundreds of drunken Santas roamed the streets.