Day 2 in a Long Weekend

This is what we woke up to. Well kinda. We actually had woken up an hour earlier, but it was grey out, so we skipped sunrise and slept in for another hour. By the time we rolled out of our sleeping bags, the sun was blasting through the clouds.

Day 2's Itinerary:
The Plan:
1) Take pictures of Chaco Canyon all day
2) Try to shoot Star Trails again
3) Camp overnight and capture sunrise

The Reality:
For the most part, we did stick with the plan of shooting all day. That morning, we started at the largest ruin in the area, Pueblo Bonito. Once we had scoured the site inside and out, we continued to the Penasco Blaco hike and scoped out the petroglyphs that were etched hundreeds of years ago, As historic as both were though, I couldn't seem to get in the rhythm of shooting. Reviewing my photos now, they reflect my mood then: bored and uninspired. I couldn't seem to get excited about where we were, or the subjects that were before me. Perhaps it's because I've visted ruins before, all of which seemed more interesting to me than Chaco. Or maybe it was the lighting -- bright and stark, with no sense of softness. Whatever it was though, it came across in my photography. In hindsight, it was a good lesson to take away for myself.

As the day progressed, the sunshine began to dwindle as the afternoon storm clouds began to form again. But after a quick downpour, the sun peeked through enough for Norman and I to take a final hike of the day. This hike started at the bottom of a rock fall, and required us to scramble up over fallen boulders, through a fissure between cliff walls, and finally popping out on top, overlooking the canyon below. The view was grand;  The canyon valley unveiled in its full glory, and bird's eye views of multiple sites.

At this point, the sun was starting to drop and the sky began to fill with color. The wind on the plateau picked up -- probably from the clouds moving in, but those same clouds made for beautiful skyscapes.

By this time, we had already decided to change our plans, and head north toward Mesa Verde that night instead of camping. So as the sun began to dip behind the canyon walls, we made our way back down into the valley and back to the car. Personally, I'm glad that we took that final hike. I left Chaco with a better impression of the place, and a better outlook on the weekend.

It was really too bad that outlook didn't stick around for long.

Although it hadn't rained nearly as much as Thursday, the roads out of Chaco were just as slick as going in... Although we managed to stay out of the ditch this time (and what had been a raging current was nothing more than a quick stream), Chaco still managed to get its last laugh. We had discovered that morning that the car was very shaky. Vibrations were rampant when we crossed the 40 mph threshold. We thought and hoped that it was unbalanced wheels due to the caked mud on the wheels, but feared the worst. Once we drove through 20 miles back to the highway, we stopped to and tried to chisel off what we could with our fingers and sticks, but to no avail. So we drove north to Farmington in pouring rain, the car vibrating like a Sharper Image back massager.


The mud on the tires from the trip in...

There's a town just east of Farmington called Bloomfield. We arrived in Bloomfield around 8:30pm.  The car was still shaking, so Norman had the great idea of finding a car wash to see if we could rinse the mud off. And wouldn't you know it? There was a truck wash with self-serve pressure washing. We were in luck! We pulled in and popped $1.50 in quarters and started going to town on the wheels. Unfortunately, time ran out before we could finish, and with no more quarters, we used my debit card to finish the job. You would not believe how much mud was on that car... Anyway, about $3.50 later, our job was finished. Triumphantly, we cheered our good fortune of a self-service truck wash, and went to the card reader to stop the transaction (it charged by the second). THUMP! (Know what that is? It's the other shoe dropping.) Guess what? The stop button didn't work. Press as we may, with fingers, coins, keys, it was to no avail. The timer and charges kept ticking away. Tick, tick, tick... there's 5 cents... tick, tick, tick, another 10... there was no stopping it. What was a $3.50 transaction grew to $5, $10, $15... And since it was after hours, there was nobody to terminate it. And since I used my local credit union's debit card, it was also after hours, so I couldn't terminate the fee from my side either. Defeated, we realized that there was nothing we could do that night, and headed to our hotel in Farmington. (By the way, the pressure washing did the trick. The SUV was much better after its expensive shower.)

The next morning, Norman and I decided to head back to the truck wash and try to solve the problem with the cashier. I braced myself for battle. I envisioned arguing with some stubborn teenager who wouldn't see that a $350 charge for a SUV was unreasonable. I actually got a little nervous for my debate. But I was ready to kick some butt, and reclaim the money owed to me.

We pulled up to the truck wash and walked into the office. Instead of some punk kid manning the register like I envisioned, we were greeted by a curley, white haired grandma. I was caught off guard, but I gathered my wits, and explained our situation, ready to do battle. But as you would expect a curley, white haired grandma to respond, she sweetly said that the machine automatically cuts off at $25 (we had left after we crossed the $20 mark). $25! That was nothing! So I politely declined,  thanked her, and we left, feeling a bit relieved and a little sheepish (well, me anyway).

Things I learned or were reminded of through this fiasco.
1) If your credit card continues to charge, there's usually a termination amount. Or you can slide your card again to end the transaction.
2) Unless you're crossing a real river, most likely you'll be fine.
3) Go with the flow (no pun intended). After all, you're on vacation.
4) Mud in Chaco Canyon is like concrete when it dries.No wonder the Chacoans used it as mortar.
5) Curley, white haired grandma types are awesome.

So there you have it, the second day of our long weekend.

Day 1 of a Long Weekend

My cousin is a Material Sciences graduate student. Usually, he's hard at work (or research) in one of the basement labs (seriously) at the University of Michigan. But every once in a while, they let him out to go to a conference. It is for this reason that he and I spent four days last week in New Mexico and Colorado.

Norman's five day conference is this week in Santa Fe, NM. Because he's smart, he got the great idea of extending his time in the Southwest a few days, and invited me to come along for a long photography weekend . Since I've had the travel itch for the past few months, I gave him the thumbs up and we quickly planned out our short and busy itinerary. Little did we know what was in store for us.

DAY ONE

The Plan:

1. Fly into Albuquerque (which I still have problems spelling) on Thursday, early afternoon.

2. Drive up to Chaco Canyon, NM in time for the golden hour before the sunset.

3. Camp and try out some night shoot (star trails, light painting, etc).

What actually happened:

Due to a delay in my flight and at the car rental place, plus a quick (and delicious) early dinner at a New Mexican restaurant, we didn't get on the road until 4pm or so. By then the storm clouds has darkened, and the rains came. By the time we turned off the highway onto the 16 miles of unpaved Country Road 7900, it was dark. And muddy. We actually had planned for this, and rented a SUV thinking it would help with the terrain. Yeah, not so much.

After driving 13 miles of our 16 mile road, we came across was the gushing flow of flood water over the road.... Preceding the torrent was not one, but two signs stating "Do Not Cross Road When Any Water Is Present". As you can probably guess, we weren't exactly prepared to ford a river in a rental Chevy. (Get it? Ford, Chevy... Sorry bad joke.) So there we are, stopped in the dark, blocked by a river of flood water. Since both of us are city slickers, we decided to wait for the water to recede a bit (it had stopped raining for some time by then). To pass the time, out came the cameras.

We messed around for a while, most of which was spent experimenting with nightime photography and throwing rocks into the middle of the overflow, trying to guage the water's depth. After multiple bad exposures, a few kerplunks!, and an hour going by, I decided it was time to brave the obstacle since the water looked to have receded quite bit. And what an anti-climatic crossing it was. We drove straight through, with no problems whatsoever.  (Now that I think of it, the SUV was a Chevy Traverse. Fitting.) Although that was the ideal outcome, I've experienced more drama from driving over SR520 in sunshine.

That wasn't it though. The peak of adventure came shortly thereafter. As I mentioned earlier, the road was muddy. Muddy and rutted in many places, and MUD-DEE in others. It is the latter where we began to experience the "SUV slip and slide". At this point, I'm driving about 5 miles an hour, sliding every direction. The car's tires had caked on 3 inches of mud, negating any tread that was on the tire. So here we are, controlled sliding down the road. It was progress though, until the fateful moment when the Chevy's backend slid a bit too close to the ditch... the next thing we knew was the car was resting at a 45 degree angle in the ditch. The right tires in the bottom, the left tires on the trough wall. At this point, I'm thanking God that there's no damage to the car and also wondering why we didn't get the optional insurance at the rental counter in case things got worse.

Since we weren't planning on staying in that position all night,  I decide to try to drive out. No good. Every time the front tires moved up the ditch wall, they'd come sliding back down. The only option that remained for us was to drive down the channel like the Duke boys of Hazzard county and hope we'd be able to get out. (I really wish we had gotten a few pictures of this, but at the time we both were preoccupied.) Finally, after what seemed like a mile, but was probably a couple hundred feet, I was able to gun the car enough to squirt out of the situation.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. As you can tell, nothing really went according to plan that day... we arrived at the campsite too late to capture sunset, which wouldn't have mattered since the storm clouds were out anyway. We weren't able to shoot star trails (once again due to the clouds), and the weather was fickle enough for us to decide to lay down the seats in the SUV, and forgo the tent. All in all, long and exciting first day to our long weekend.

The Lesser Known Pike Place Market

I'm certainly glad this blog isn't a child. Otherwise, I would be locked up for neglect. Almost three months have gone by without a single sentence, link, recipe or photo from me. It's not like I've been intentionally lazy. But for whatever reason, the site's been pushed aside. And you know what? It's still not going get much time from me right now. I'm simply posting a few pics I took with my camera phone this past weekend at Pike Place Market. But instead of pics of the farmer stands, flower blooms, or flying fish, here's a glimpse of what commonly may get overlooked.

America's Birthday. Yee Haw!

Here is a recipe for you. Take equal parts Rocky Mountains, horseback riding, mountain biking, golf, and blend with extra doses of friends, food, and sunshine. What you get is a fantastic way to spend the Fourth of July. B & I were fortunate to stay with friends in Steamboat Springs, CO for the past five days. We arrived in Steamboat on July 2nd... It's a hub of activities, whether in the winter or the summer, and the nine of us took advantage of all the opportunities to play as much as we soaked in the vitamin D into our pale West Coast skin. The beauty of our surroundings, the afternoon thunderclouds and windstorms, and the joking and laughter of good friends are terrific ways to rejuvenate. But this isn't unique to Steamboat, and not the topic I'll writing about today. What I will be sharing is how this small ski town provided the perfect example of the topic of what the quintessential Independence Day experience could be.

Steamboat isn't very large, but like many other Smalltown, USA's, they host a parade on the Fourth to celebrate. Everybody shows up to mainstreet to watch. We were no different-- there we were, sitting on the sidewalk, watching the cowboys show off their horses, waving at the folks sitting on top a truck bed, or lauging at the people crossing the street, oblivious to the horse manure they were stepping in. The firemen came by, asking us to fill their boots for charity. The local sheriff and his competitor were out, campaigning to stay/become the next chief law enforcer. Being a small parade, there were no big floats, and no big egos. It was perfect.

After getting our fill of the parade, a few of us decided to got the Alpine slide, and sled down the mountain in a cheap, plastic sled... I know this isn't your typical 4th of July activity, but I have a video I wanted to share regardless (I'll post it here soon). Plus, from our vantage point on the crest of the hill, we had a great angle to see the Air Force jets do their flyover. That's patriotic, right?

Fast forward a few hours... we've returned back to the house for lunch. By this time the storm clouds are starting to form, but we will not be deterred. We have a rodeo to go to. So we grab our rain jackets and cross our fingers, hoping that the weather is all bark and no bite. We head back to town, and settle into the uncoverd grandstands, and the next thing you know, we're cheering for the gentlemen crazy/ballsy/cowboy enough to ride a bucking stallion bareback for 8 seconds. Or wrestle a calf to the ground. Or for the poor calf who was stampeded by a gaggle of children (ages 6-12 only mind you), trying to grab the ribbon around its tail. And we would have stayed for the remaining events had Mama Nature not decided to throw a hissy fit. Sure, we are from Seattle and could sit in the rain. But then the wind came. And the rain became cold, soaked jeans. So, we made an executive decision to "cowboy down", and head home to the inviting warmth of a fireplace and traditional 7/4 fare over a barbeque grill- hot dots, burgers, and ice cream.

Lastly, what would Independence Day be without explosions? Let me tell you, Steamboat Springs throws a mean fireworks show (Thanks to you, Gordon family, whoever you are, for sponsoring.) From atop a neighboring hill, we parked our cars and tuned our radio to the local country station to listen to the music montage accompaning the visual display of colored phosphorous and gun powder.

Yes, indeed this was Fourth of July to remember. A parade, rodeo, grilled food, and fireworks. Every part of this day felt like a Norman Rockwell painting. And it was all authentic. No pretenses, no gimmicks, just a small town, local folk and tourists alike, celebrating the 234th year anniversary of a bunch of old, rich, white guys signing a handwritten document elegantly telling the Brits to "Suck it Trebek". It was a grand ol' day to wave our grand ol' flag, and I for one was proud (and appreciative) to be an American.

(A personal shout out to the Burns, the Boyles, Clarks, and Lt. Corey. Of all the great things this weekend, you guys were the best of all. Thanks! -- S&B)

Five Faves

May 31st. Already. Wow. Where does the time go? In a blink of an eye, I've got from New Years and unemployed to a day off from work on Memorial Day. I feel a touch of Rip Van Winkle-ness  in my life, especially when it comes to this site. But hey, I'm here now, right?

For me, life has settled into a routine revolving around Tucker, work, and my DVR. It's a bit sad to say that out loud. And even sadder is that I'm pulling B down with me. But it's so hard not too, especially when I'm working with a client, or when my dog is scratching at the door (and walls), or when the Seattle skies are constantly grey and Top Chef is on. So goes my life.

The one thing that B & I have continued on a constant basis is to explore the local restaurants in Seattle, in search for our next favorite dining joint. So for today's post, I thought I would do a top 5 of my favorite food related places in the area.


#5. BLUE SAUCER - This lil' coffee shop on Roosevelt resides in the lil' neighborhood of Maple Leaf. The ML  is often overshadowed by it's bigger and more boisterous brothers - Green Lake and Northgate. But there is a great community here, and the Blue Saucer is in the thick of it. The Blue Saucer not only serves up a great cup of Stumptown, but they bring in local pastries for great bakeries around the area (Macrina, Essential to name a couple). But what puts it over the top is how they try to keep things fresh, whether by bringing in an ice cream truck (Parfait), having coffee tastings, or have a community garage sale. So grab a latte, plop down on the bench seat, and groove to the Beatles. (I'm actually sitting at the Saucer right now, typing this entry.)

#4. MOLLY MOON'S- Speaking of ice cream, B & I are addicted to Molly Moon's. Located in Wallingford and Capital Hill, this place makes fantastic ice cream, of both traditional (chocolate, strawberry, vanilla) and contemporary flavors (meyer lemon, coconut curry, maple bacon). Rain or shine, it doesn't matter- you mention MM's, we'll be game. Even if we just had a nine course dinner. Besides, with the line commonly out the door and down the block, we'll have plenty of time to digest.

#3. BALLARD FARMERS MARKET- We don't frequent this market on a weekly basis, but maybe a monthly basis? I haven't been to a ton of farmer markets in Seattle, but enough to know that it's the largest and most food related one around. Great people, the freshest of food, and pretty easy to navigate. Oh, and of course, lots of samples to try. As an added bonus, a bunch of great restaurants and stores border the edges of the market, so it makes for a window (and stall) shopping mecca.

#2. TILTH- Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. No matter what you order, this is what will come out of your mouth after every bite. Don't let the portion size fool you. You will leave Maria Hine's haven of scrumptious entrees with a smile on your face and warmth in your belly. Tilth is what I envision heaven's food to be like. The freshest ingredients, prepared in ways that can only make you crave it even more. Yum.
 
#1. DELANCEY- My favorite pizza. Period. Like Tilth, this place has gotten a lot of press over the past few years. And it's well deserved. I have to admit, I have a little food crush on Molly. I originally learned of her through her food blog, Orangette. But since then, I've gotten a little food crush on her husband Brandon too. Not only did he build his restaurant by hand, he has developed one of the best pizza crusts ever. It sets the stage, the foundation, for the delectable ingredients they choose to top the dish. If I could, and if B would let me, I would eat here every week. I like it that much.

So there you have it. Five of my favorite food places in Seattle. Believe me, there are a lot more places. But I'll just have to save those for a future post. And I promise that the next post won't be two months from now. :-)

Len

Logging into this site, I realized that it's been six weeks since I last posted something here. For me, blogging usually is a very fickle thing. There are times that I have much to write about (especially when I travel), and other times when life is ordinary and I have nothing to share (nor the motivation). In this case however, the reason for my absence has been because life has taken a sad turn over the past few months, only concluded early last week.

On Monday, we had a memorial service for Leonard "Len" Olsen, my girlfriend's father. After being diagnosed with brain cancer in October, he battled it until his death a month ago today (Feb. 8th). During this time, through the surgeries, chemo, and radiation, I never once heard him complain. Obviously, there were times of sadness, but we all grieved together. And for us, the friends and family, we still had time to say our goodbyes to our good friend/husband/father/grandfather before he passed.

It was about four years ago when I met this man who was quiet in nature and big of heart. From the first time that we met, he welcomed me with a firm handshake and and twinkle in his eye. Although soft-spoken, Len had a gift of befriending people, as was evident by his high number of friends at church, the mall, or Lions Club. He loved to joke with people, often with a tease and a smile. Even until the end, when he was bed-ridden and weak, we were able to laugh with him, seeing the corners of his mouth pull into a faint grin and the familiar twinkle would reappear.

One of the things I had been most impressed with over the past few months has been how blessed Len and Pat (his wife) are with relationships in their lives. Never before have I seen so many caring friends and family stop by to say hello, drop off a meal, or to chat. While staying at the hospital, I swear there were days that I believe Len to be more exhausted from playing "host" than from the illness. If there is one thing that this entire experience has taught me, it is that you can never have too many friends.

Another example of his ability to make friends is a story that I recently heard. Len was a proud mall walker, having daily walked at Everett Mall with his good friends Dick and John for almost 13 years. In that time, the group grew from the three men to nearly 20 people of various ages. So when Len started staying at the hospital, we'd hear from Dick that not only were the other fellow mall walkers asking about him, but so were the security guards, infomation desk gals, and the delivery guys.

I guess the last thing I have to say is that I've been proud to stand with the Olsen family during this entire ordeal. It was an honor for me to be able to laugh, grieve, help, and pray with this family. For that, I certainly am thankful.

Of Omelette Pans and Savory Goodness

I'll be honest... With all the travel, holidays, Tucker, and remodeling at my house right now, I haven't been in the mood to cook. But since I haven't posted  food related entry for a while, I thought I would try to conjure up something to write about.

For those of you who may have been visiting this site for a while, you know I love to cook. Along with that, I love the gear that goes with cooking. And in my mind, one of the essential things to own is a great, nonstick omelette pan. I've have mine for over six years now, and the nonstick finish is, well, finished. No longer does it release my eggs with a graceful flick of the wrists. Now, it needs to be scraped off with that of a spatula and chisel.

But do not fret, for I have a solution! It is -- a new omelette pan! I know, I know, a bit anti-climatic. But the reason I bring this up is because I have actually had it's replacement sitting in my attic, waiting for this very moment. And the reason it was sitting in the attic was because when I purchased my original pans, Calphalon was phasing out my line of pots and pans. This allowed me to purchase a couple replacement pans at super cheap prices, knowing full well that the nonstick finish wouldn't last forever. And so it hasn't. And so, I have a new pan that's been waiting to take its place. (So here's my tip- if you like nonstick cookware, keep your eye out for bargain sales. You may not need the replacement at that time, but you can literally save hundreds of dollars if you buy it on sale/clearance.)

So to initiate my new replacement pan, I decided to make one of my favorite comfort foods. Mind you, this is a VERY basic dish.But I don't think that's a bad thing. I believe everybody has their super-easy, make in 10 seconds, comfort dish. It's along the lines of cinnamon/sugar toast, bowls of cereal, or crackers and cheese. For me, it's sunny-side up eggs on white rice with soy sauce.

Now, before you judge me, hear me out. The combination of the three ingredients in this dish come together to make what I consider an Asian simplified version of Italian carbonara. See, first you place the egg on the rice, and drizzle a bit of soy on top. They you break the yolks and mix it into the hot rice. As the yolk coats the rice, the heat from the rice cooks it into a savory goodness. As you eat it, it warms your body and fills your belly.

So now that you know one of my go-to quick fixes, tell me what you like to whip up and eat when you're having that certain craving.

A Big List

This will probably be my last post (I think) about Antarctica... and it's more for the gear heads out there.

Since I went to Buenos Aires first, I thought I would have to pack for summer and winter. In hindsight, I could have simply packed for winter and brought one pair of shorts and been fine. But regardless, here's what I brought. Also, remember that I tend to overpack, so I will try to highlight the neccessities.

Things I used:

CLOTHES:
Regular Attire
• Tshirts
• underwear, socks
• 2 pairs of jeans (only needed one)
• 3 pairs of shorts (only needed one)
• board shorts
• zip off legs pants
• Merrells Ventilator Shoes

Snow Attire
• 2 sets of Patagonia Capilene polypro top and bottoms
• Mountain Hardwear Windstopper Fleece (thick)
• North Face Windstopper Pullover (thin)
• Arc'teryx Gore-tex hard shell
• North Face Gore-tex ski pants
• North Face windblock pants
• Swix Wool Hat
• 4 pairs ski socks, 2 pair sock liners (I wore the 1 pair sock liners and 2 pairs of ski socks for excursions.)
• OR Vert gloves (awesome for photography)
• OR Gore-tex Ascent gloves (only used once, but if it had rained more I would have used them more)
• Mountain Hardwear puffy jacket (compacts into a very small stuff sack, great for being on the outside upper decks of the ship)
• Seirus Neofleece Comfort Masque (great for the cold wind)

TECH and CAMERA
• Lenovo Thinkpad T400s laptop
• 2 Western Digital 500GB external hard drives
• Microsoft Wireless USB Mouse (nice for photo editing)
• LowePro camera bag (placed inside backpack for water protection)
• Nikon D300s DSLR (primary)
• Nikon D50 DSLR (backup- didn't use it, but would still bring it next time)
• Canon SD900 point and shoot camera
• Nikkor 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED
• Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR
• Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G DX
• Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D DX
• Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6
• Nikon Speedlight SB-600 flash
• Induro Adventure Series AB0 tripod
• Kata camera rain cover
• Circular polarizers
• lens brush
• camera/laptop battery chargers

MISCELLANIOUS
• PASSPORT
• Rupert the Gnome
• toiletries
• Polarized Smith Diablo sunglasses
• contacts
• glasses
• Bible
• chapstick
• eye mask (for sleeping)
• Dry Bag (for inside backpack- not sure if needed, but a cheap insurance policy to protect my camera gear)
• large ziploc bags
• backpack (would bring smaller one next time)
• seasickness patch (prescription)
• power plug adapter (not a convertor)
• footbeds/insoles (recommended! from an old pair of running shoes for rubber boots)

DIDN'T USE/NEED
• water bottle (bottled water was available everywhere in BA, and the ship had it readily available)
• 2 books (too much other stuff to do)
• fleece neck gaiter
• black leather shoes (Buenos Aires is pretty casual)
• dress shirts
• tshirts (brought too many)
• sunscreen (bought some there, didn't use)
• flip flops
• laundry detergent
• hand/foot warmers (I didn't need these, but I know people who used them)
• mini-power strip
• earplugs
• binoculars
• DVD movies/shows
• camera grey card
• neutral density filters (torn on this... didn't use it, but not very heavy, would consider bringing again)