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Today is the first day at my new job. Pretty excited to discuss weather, work on some cool HPC and AI tech, and not needing to update my LinkedIn with "Sandwich Artist".

We were worried about smoke for our trip to the Wallowas, so we decided to pivot and head 6 hrs down south instead of east. Stayed in Yreka and explored the area around Mt Shasta and was not disappointed, it was beautiful. No smoke and perfect conditions, blue skies.

Positive thoughts for my dog Teddy. He jumped off the deck last night which he has done a million times, but he completely lost use of his legs on landing howling in pain. It’s been a long night. Currently in Edmonds for a MRI. Sounds like a blown disk, or bruised cord. Hopefully he walks again.

Ted did his first pee and poop himself today (we had to hold him up with his harness). Big progress. He has about 85% regained movement in his right leg and he gave me a tail wag yesterday. Left leg is still MIA.

More of Hell's Canyon from today, including the Buffalo Eddy Petroglyphs, and Hole in the Rock on Shumaker Road. This part of Washington is super remote, maybe the most "out there" place I've ever been. Public roads that feel like private dirt paths. Designated Forest Service stops with bathrooms and parking, but entirely vacant. Little odd vistas and roadside stops you sometimes can't even find on Google Maps. Eerie, beatiful, silent, natural. The Washington section of the Grand Ronde river is the most "Oregon-like" part of the state I've ever been to. The Columbia basalts really make for a beast of a landscape. It's just nuts to me how there's no one out here! It's like the whole area warrants its own national park. Maybe the locals want to keep it that way, as friendly as they are (well, most of them)

The skies cleared out today and we took advantage of the opportunity. We drove four hours from our campsite up to Hat Point in Oregon. The trek up to the peak begins in this tiny little hamlet called Imnaha; the road itself is well paved dirt, climbing nearly a mile all the way up to 7000' within 24 miles, with a hefty drop off the side. Pretty gnarly. Thankfully for us, we were the only human beings on the entire mountain, so we got to enjoy the mildly smoky vistas off the basalt peninsula all to ourselves, without careening into Hell's canyon trying to avoid a speedy pickup truck. The peak itself was really cool. A well made interperative site with benches and campgrounds and informational plackards, sweeping views of the Snake River and Devil's Range accross the Idaho border, and a paved footpath all the way up to the base of the fire tower at the top. The fact that there was no one else (not even a ranger) for the entire hour we were up there made it really eerie. Back at the bottom in Imnaha we drank iced cream soda from the town tavern. There was a lot more that I didn't include here or even take photos of, including the fairytale-like Little Sheep Creek which followed the highway down to Imnaha from Joseph, or the homemade salsa we bought out of a little shopkeep on Tucker Down Rd. Safe to say we really made the most of it today... And there's so so much more I want to explore down here that we didn't get to seeing today due to the smoke. Next year in late spring I'm coming back down during peak bloom, well before the smoke season (and during peak season as well). I want to see more of the Wallowa range and the Zumwalt Prairie, and I want to try camping up on Hat Point. Incredible area. I've fallen in love

Well that was a fun afternoon. Dropped my kid off at his class at 3 then drove up to watch the storm on the west side of Bend. It was quite the show and nice to have a bit of downpour with it. The temperature went from 93 at 3pm to 68 at 4pm. C2522D12-A34D-4501-8AFA-1FE807D9A9E3.mov

Mountainview High in Beaverton 6:39 am Will process the rest of the footage later but this needed to get out. It's not great since I didn't have a good angle most of the time.

I wasn’t expecting this and I’m learning that anything is possible down here at my new place. This thunderstorm popped right over the White Tank Mountain range that’s right behind my house!!! It was absolutely beautiful as it formed right before my eyes. The rain curtain dropped out of the skies and draped all over the mountains, which was so cool. IMG_6861.mov

Set my open heart surgery date. Mid Oct so got a bit of time. Hoping for a front loaded fall so I got something to track in bed!

Today's picnic spot is Jackpine Gulch at Wade Lake

Coos and Curry County are so underrated. Just got back from a 5 day excursion.

Very active past few days. Last night I had this show up in my neighborhood right at sunset. Ominous to look at but once it overtakes you it’s just windy and messy. Chasing in Az fun thus far. You just randomly take roads that eventually turn into primitive dusty roads. Pretty fun feeling in its own. Happy Birthday @T-Town and @DeepFriedEgg IMG_6771.mov

Oregon coast is summer weather perfection.

beautiful night from my suite balcony in Astoria…no smoke

Finally a smoke free day. Thank you marine layer.

Yeah I was expecting action over here…But this is what I have! It’s absolutely lovely though.

We got the MRI result. It is a spinal bruise or IVDD. No surgery needed. He has a 90% shot to walk again but will take 4-6 weeks. It’s going to be a long process.

Preview of the chase from last night. Still processing my 87 min of footage.

Clinton B.C. is being evacuated. The fire to the west of town is going crazy. Huge Pyrocumulus cloud with lightning being thrown out ahead of the fire.

It's one thing to seek out strange and wild weather events that tickle your own fancy. It's another thing to migrate 1500 miles to hone in on ground zero while you livestream yourself on twitch speeding 10 over in a Rav4 splattered with five decals of your youtube logo, being a clout chasing hypebeast licking your chops at the opportunity to snap your own shot of someone's 110 year old family ranch being consumed by nature, later to be photoshopped for le epic thumbnail with a HDR enhancement filter, plastered with your fakest shocked face and twelve red arrows and circles, bullying locals out of the way and clogging evacuation routes

I'd rather hit 100 than experience a week of smoke

Mornings like these are what I track the weather for. What a damn treat

Also took some photos as I flew in to PDX from London yesterday. Different angle than I’m used to

Just visited Joseph & Wallowa Lake a couple weeks ago for the first time. Easily one of the coolest spots I've been to in the PNW.

Football disappoints you, but night sky never disappoints you. Just after the saddening result of Egypt - Argentina, I went to watch the sky. A better and more interesting activity. Enjoy these two photos. The silhouette in the photo is my friend.

Thanks, they are great dogs! Both were originally owner surrenders because well…They were being themselves…Herding dogs that require their minds to be worked as well as physical exercise. If they don’t get that, they seek it out for themselves which isn’t ideal. My Aussie (the one at the end of the dock) kept escaping the yard (was left outside alone during the day) to cruise town he was in and say hi to people and other dogs. He was bored and seeking attention/interaction. After the 7th time of animal control picking him up the owner got tired of paying the impound fee and surrendered. After I adopted him and really started working his mind after he settled in, along with taking him lots of places to explore and train at. He has never tried to escape our place because he’s happy. My smooth coated Border Collie was surrendered due to herding the kids and other dogs in the house. She is pretty “high drive” so she was a bit more challenging but I know the breed well and most of them are weird for lack of a better term lol! But I was able to turn her into a great working and family dog as well.

The U.S. needs to seriously consider tariffs on Washington and Oregon until they start taking fire maintenance seriously.

CFS says that the sheer volume of smoke in the atmosphere should block out enough sun to have us entering a new ice age by January

Meanwhile in Spokane

Something tells me that it was a rough night for you. Now all of your blinds are closed, you've maxed out your Tylenol dosage, and your struggling to stay awake. Don't take it out on some guy from the Middle East and go grab your sunglasses and venture out to a Dennys for a Grand Slam, that'll apparently do better for you than 500mg of Ibuprofen washed down with a rum and coke.

Surprisingly the storms were fairly wet around here yesterday. The Akawa fire actually received enough to slow it down and give fire crews a much better chance at keeping it from burning into parts of Sisters.

This is some pretty insane lightning near Salem

Loving the new workspace view.

Just got a little rumble from this cell popping up to the south.

New PNW Weather 101 episode on Severe Thunderstorm Climatology:

First trip to Vancouver.

I'm seeing lightning once every 10-15 seconds now with constant thunder. This is an insane storm!

Getting puffier by the minute. 101.3 currently.

75/56 here. Perfect summer day. Hoping for no heatwaves as the weather the last 2-3 weeks has been as good as can be.

Quite the cirrus display today

Visited Lewiston today. A bit dead, probably due to the smoke. Ate a belayed B'day dinner at Brava's and nabbed a couple shirts from Storm Cellar (had to go in for the name, stayed for the cool thrift store.) Hell's Gate rec area is quite pretty. The heat felt good

Decided to go up to Crown Point. I missed the thunderstorms that came through but it's a beautiful view

Pretty impressive amount of lightning here. Easily up to 70-80 flashes with at least 10 of those being big CG strikes within a few miles. Had a quick burst of rain here with 0.10" so far.

New SPC outlook for tomorrow/today

Bring it on

Thursday looks fun