This last weekend, I went on a camping and hiking trip with friends to Lassen Volcanic National Park, about 4 hours north of San Francisco.

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A few of us set out to actually climb the peak of Lassen itself. Once we got to the top, the views were incredible (easily able to see Mt. Shasta in the distance). It definitely ranks toward the upper end of the best hikes that I’ve ever done.

My sister alerted me to this awesome Google Gadget, featuring my favorite animal.

I’m about to leave for a camping trip this weekend up to Mt. Lassen.

While waiting for my ride, I figured I should post a few pictures and things highlighting my awesome trip to Ireland, Spain and Croatia last month.

First off, courtesy of Flickr, here is the COMPLETE slide show of the trip. It’s over 700 photos.

Below, here are a few choice photos from the beginning of the trip.

The Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Sagrada Familia – Barcelona, Spain

Sagrada Familia – Barcelona, Spain

Beach in Barcelona, Spain

Alley in Barcelona, Spain

Franjo Tudjman Bridge in Dubrovnik, Croatia

Adriatic Sea – Off the coast of Croatia

Sailing the Adriatic Sea

Sailing the Adriatic Sea

So much for the predictive text capabilities of the iPhone.

No iPhone, I *do not* in fact want to type in the letter “A.” Please stop suggesting it! Thanks!

Last night, I went to my first punk rock show in years to see one of my all time favorite bands: Hot Water Music. The broke up in 2006 but recently announced a reunion tour. As always, they brought the house down and it was nice to welcome them back to San Francisco.

You can view more photos of the show on my flickr account as well.

Here is an awesome word cloud of Obama’s acceptance speech. The size of each word is determined by the relative frequency it appeared in Obama’s speech.

It was nothing short of amazing.

[Via Wordle]

Our final day and night in Dubrovnik, here is the ridiclous view from our apartment.
It’s no wonder they call it the jewel of the Adriatic.

Our hostel was right around the corner from this. Nice!