No modern mode of transportation quite yields the gravitas for the beginning of a long journey as does the iron horse. The antiquated fussing with door stools at the Portland Amtrak station makes us feel like we are doing something important. A short embrace with sweet Tess and our familiar world contracts to two small backpacks and each other.

Also known as Snake Canyon to these travelers who had never done the chicken dance for so many serpents in one afternoon.

Descending on your $12 elevator ticket into the cave reveals a scene right out of a Dutch Renaissance painting. Bustling, pushing, shoving, complex overtones of Mongolian throat singing, wafts of rotten fish, fierce seas washing away the muck.

Behind the scenes:

Sea Lion Cave from Cranky German on Vimeo.

Broken Top is a volcano near Bend, Oregon. In Summer it looks like a pile of rubble. Add a little snow and its 9175 feet look quite dramatic. Looking to ski to Broken Top from the Nordic Center at Mt. Bachelor? Take your compass and head straight North ... the return is downhill and much faster.

James and Daniel near Antelope, Oregon circa 1995.