August

#213 The Queen and Dee

01 August 2013 // London, England

While waiting at the Picadilly Circus area, Dee and I went to escape the heat in one of the most touristy shops around. That turned out this gem of a picture.

#214 Return to Potters Bar

02 August 2013 // Potters Bar, England

After living almost a month out of a single backpack, I returned to my base camp- Tim’s place! We also had a lot of catching up to do after his own trip to Northern Sweden.

#215 Branston Pickle

03 August 2013 // Potters Bar, England

Took a diversion from a rainy day in to stock up on more English snacks… Pickle being among my favorite.

#216 Sneaky Bunnies

04 August 2013 // London, England

At Deanna’s farewell dinner in Southall, she, Tim, and I got to play Sneaky Bunnies with five-year-old Joy. It’s a tough game once you land on Grumpy Farmer.

#217 The Backpack Life

05 August 2013 // Potters Bar, England

I spent the majority of July pretty much living only off of the contents of this bag. Now it’s time for round two- three more weeks, but this time with Deanna along for the whole thing.

#218 Amsterdam Canal

06 August 2013 // Amsterdam, Netherlands

After touring the Anne Frank House and having dinner, Deanna, Catherine, and I spent the rest of our evening catching up on life at this sweet canal.

#219 Amsterdam Icebar

07 August 2013 // Amsterdam, Netherlands

Went with Dee and Catherine to the Icebar- drinks out of ice pint glasses and a very strange 3D movie to boot.

#220 Cheese Tasting in Holland

08 August 2013 // Amsterdam, Netherlands

Deanna and I could have very easily missed this amazing cheese shop hidden in a corner- but we didn’t and we were rewarded with some amazing old goat cheese.

#221 Prague

09 August 2013 // Prague, Czech Republic

Our first day in Prague was a bit rainy, but we still got some amazing views from across the Charles Bridge.

#222 The Astronomical Clock

10 August 2013 // Prague, Czech Republic

One of Prague’s main attractions. Gotta admit, this looks pretty cool. Maybe even a little steampunk.

#223 Hofbrahaus

11 August 2013 // Munich, Germany

My German friends would want me to clarify that 90% of all our beloved German stereotypes come from Bavaria. That said, so does the Hofbrahaus, and it is delicious.

#224 Hiking in the Black Forest

12 August 2013 // Schwarzwald, Germany

Got lost a few times, but even those were rewarded with some really amazing views. The Black Forest is huge!

#225 Deep in Deutschland

13 August 2013 // Schwarzwald, Germany

Along the way to Andrea’s parents house, we stopped by this gorgeous village. Unfortunately, I don’t really remember its name, but it’s somewhere along the Black Forest and it’s awesome.

#226 Mercedes Benz Tour

14 August 2013 // Stuttgart, Germany

Went to Stuttgart to reunite with Bianca and Ines! We also got a neat tour of the Mercedes Benz museum, which had this odd interactive feature.

#227 Into the Swiss Woods

15 August 2013 // Kölliken, Switzerland

Deanna and I went out for a nature walk/bike ride with the kids of her old au pair. These two were a blast to hike and play football with, even though I never understood a word of their Swiss German.

#228 Liechtenstein

16 August 2013 // Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein is probably the most obscure country I’ve been to, but it’s also one of the most gorgeous. Awesome day trip with Deanna and Juliette!

#229 Escaping Zurich

17 August 2013 // Zurich, Switzerland

Unfortunately, I’ll have to go with Zurich as my least favorite European city- namely for being extremely expensive and almost impossible to get out of by bus when we needed to.

#230 Backtracking: Munich

18 August 2013 // Munich, Germany

We were able to make it out of Zurich and that got us back to Munich. Again, however, it was on a Sunday when the city shut down. We did go on a nice walk in the park, though.

#231 Return to Prague

19 August 2013 // Prague, Czech Republic

Our big backtrack to get back towards London took us through another familiar city- Prague. Didn’t mind getting more Czech food at all.

#232 Mannekin Pis

20 August 2013 // Brussels, Belgium

While I was unimpressed by Brussels my first two times in the city, for some reason I had a really good time exploring now, and I admire its quirks so much more.

#233 Brussels From Above

21 August 2013 // Brussels, Belgium

Deanna and I climbed a parking garage to get a good view of the Atominium, and found a great view for the entire city as a whole.

#234 The Pub Hunt

22 August 2013 // London, England

Dee and I wanted to hunt down a proper pub experience for our last full day in London. Unfortunately, none of the pubs served food as well.

#235 Full English Breakfast

23 August 2013 // London, England

Beans, sausages, black pudding- whole deal. Dee and I got breakfast with Tim before we’d have to head back to the USA.

#236 Wall of Spice

24 August 2013 // Ventura, California

Went spice smelling with Matt and Sam in Ventura on our way driving up to Santa Barbara.

#237 The Naughty Pelican

25 August 2013 // Goleta, California

I went to Goleta Pier by myself for some quiet time and while I was there, this huge pelican kept trying to steal bait and practically picked fights with a few groups of kids.

#238 Bo on the Go

26 August 2013 // Fremont, California

This one was pretty excited for mine and Matt’s road trip up north. Nobody told him that he was only going as far as Fremont.

#239 Ethiopian Food with Ryan

27 August 2013 // Oakland, California

Paid Ryan a visit while passing through Oakland for an evening. We had the chance to go out one night for some Ethiopian food.

#240 Avenue of the Giants

28 August 2013 // Ukaiah, California

While driving up to Portland, Matt and I made sure to stop for all the pretty things on the way up, and that meant spending some quality time with the big old Sequoias up the 101

#241 Redwoods State Park

29 August 2013 // Redwoods National Park, California

Just before crossing the California-Oregon border, Matt and I took another pit stop at another State Park- this time, Redwoods, which boasted some amazing nature and some of the freshest air I’ve ever breathed.

#242 Next Adventure Bargain Basement

30 August 2013 // Portland, Oregon

Met up with Menekşe in a store I could’ve spent hours in. Next Adventure was my kind of outdoor supplies shop, and their bargain basement really was full of deals. Plus that backpack wall was pretty awesome.

#243 Sauvie Island

31 August 2013 // Portland, Oregon

Got to spend some time out in the sun on Sauvie Island- beaching with Sonny, Kathleen, and Matt.