Wellwell. I have, since I last posted, gone on holiday, started work, stayed up til four in the morning at a sleepover, and taken [am taking] a week-long film class. Epic times all round :)
First a quick catch-up on those things, then to the Serious Topic of today's post, heh heh. Camping was awesome....mountains in Eastern Oregon. Swimming in the lake, a day-trip south to Crack in the Ground, talking about dealing with bears, relaxing around the campfire, smoking oneself over the campfire in attempts to keep the mosquitoes off, smoking one's tortillas in the campfire in attempts to melt the cheese, smoking the cheese drippings in the fire in attempts to Baffle the Bears, and other merriments passed the time. On the last day, we were waffling to and fro about whether the incoming thunderstorm actually posed a threat of raining on us. The first big drops convinced us...they also convinced me that I needed to swim in the lake one more time. After packing up the tent, a massive and enthused undertaking. I could not be bothered to change into my swimming stuff, but just sorta RAN for the water.....and LEPPED....I came out just as the lightning started...fun times :)
Two days later we headed off to the Oregon Coast for more adventures. My dad and I were not keen on the trip from the get-go. This was enhanced by the cold foggy weather with which the Oregon Coast loves to welcome visitors in summer. We headed up to southern Washington as well, narrowly avoiding driving up to Redmond to check out DigiPen's open house. The second night we spent in a vastly over-crowded, over-priced, under-resourced campground which was also infested with rabbits [near the quaint town of Cannon Beach, for all y'all Oregonians out there]. My parents said that it had been infested with said rabbits for years....we later discovered one in the town as well, they were INCROACHING.....well. That night, instead of being merely damp, we were rained upon. We were awakened at 3 by what I immediately took to be 'the creek rising', a harkening-back to the innate human [specifically pioneer] fear of things that go swish in the night. [We were, it is helpful to note, encamped on a gravelly patch in the middle of a swamp.] The noise proved not to be the creek rising to sweep us all into oblivion [one might almost wish it had] but instead the noise of rain hitting the tree leaves above us. Then, of rain hitting the tent.
This would have been all very well had the rain-fly been working properly. As it was, the rain fly had 'popped off down the street for a sandwich half-way through its term of duty' [Muskeg Novel, B.Carlson, 2009]. My feet, bunched against the bottom of the tent, could feel the impact of some of the rain drops on the lower part of the tent....they'd hit the tent and the impact would go through my sleeping bag to my non-sleeping toes...
THEN we heard the ghost. My dad suggested that it might in fact have been a ghost, because it certainly wasn't a person and sounded too big for an animal [at 4 in the morning, at least]. It sounded for all the world as if someone was crunching gravel.....although we had put the tent on the only gravelly spot, in hopes of finding a flat spot. I am convinced it was, in fact, the rain making noise on the tent. Dad joked that it must have been the ghost of Sacagawea [tales of Lewis and Clark infest this part of the North-west...a marker on every stump and overlook. 'Dismal Nitch' was the most memorable name we saw on this trip.]
Come morning, we decided to abandon the tent, which, with its rain-fly sagging because the poles had broken, was sodden and also sandy. In the early hours, rain still misting determinedly, my dad and I rolled up the tent and bundled it down to the trash dumpster. We did not actually put it inside, just sort of left it in a discreet bundle behind said dumpster, should anyone down-on-their-luck find it before the rabbits did.
Once thankfully ensconced in our own house again, I proceeded to the County Fair [where I snarled a lot, and came home remarkably at peace with my world, people and choices].
Other merriments included starting work [a week and a half now, 5 hours every day, delivering surveys via the telephone. Good pay and the best part is, I can READ whilst waiting.].
This week, in addition to working 4-9 PM, I have a filmmaking camp for teens, 9-2. Advanced camera stuff and editing and so on. Very good times [I am the only girl, four geeky guys, but I prefer to think of it more as 'a geek among geeks'. Amusingly, they are all homeschooled and were involved or know of Road to Freedom in some way. Good times.] Yesterday at lunch break we pottered round the dumpster back of the school, had some merriment involving a large branch, then wandered off to Fred Meyer's in search of comestibles. We musta looked like gangstas :) I adore hanging out with geeky homeschoolers, I haven't actually done that for MONTHS.
Okays on to the forementioned Serious Topic. First let me link to this post on Darcy's excellent blog. Actually I am just going to link to it and leave ye to draw your own conclusions. A lot of what she mentions, I also went through, to a much lesser extent.
Showing posts with label travel tales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel tales. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
back in town
Our vacation to Southern California was very awesome.....got sunburnt, listened to Nightwish, failed epically to do any writing, smelled an insane amount of jasmine flowers, ate avocados, swam way too far out in the ocean, met a very dear fellow blogger :) and was on the road for 17 hours straight on the way home.
Yes, I kept a detailed account for the first couple of days....reprinted below.
Anyways, the rest of the trip was very satisfactory. There was some discomfort in the way of sleeping, including a terrifying moment in SoCal when I, at 4 AM, heard a distressing loud crash sort of noise outside....I immediately thought it was a bomb, and thereupon resolved never to live in a city.....then there was the small earthquake that happened a few minutes after we got ensconced in my grandparents' house.....but yes, all in all it was fabulous :) And awesome to finally meet a fellow blogger that I've gotten really close to in the last few months especially.
You-all folks on the East Coast, we must have a REUNION at some point! :)
Yes, I kept a detailed account for the first couple of days....reprinted below.
"We left for California, to visit grandparents near LA, Sunday morning at the unheard-of hour of 8:45 AM. Usually we are lucky if we are out of the house by 10....
Started getting ready for the trip Friday, to some extent. Friday was also my last day of class at CHS, owing to the fact that I would be far away this week :D
Well Thursday night, in addition to preparing for the second trig final exam, I typed up The Quotes. In addition to taking notes in math class each day, I jotted down the frequent amusing quotes by the class, or teacher. I fully intend to post these soon. Anyways there was a page, front and back, of 8-point font quotes.
Friday morning I was up early. Printed up The Quotes [all 15 copies thereof]. I also was struck with a sudden enthusiasm to wear Appropriate Attire on my last day of school. This proved to be medieval Scottish garb...pictures hopefully to come. Lots of green plaid, to say the least, hehe. No sooner had I got well in to the school library, and the end-of-class bell rung, than I hears THA PIPES going at it. Bagpipes. There is this one lad at CHS that plays the bagpipes, and is let run around loose :P Today, I suppose graduating the next day, he was kitted out in full Highland garb and had a small entourage of drummers. They paced round the halls above the library. It was all quite exciting. [The rest of that day, we had 10 minute breaks between classes, and as soon as the bell rang UP would start the pipes.]
My quotes page, a Parting Gift for the class, was met with mass hysteria by the class :)
The test went pretty well. QUITE well in fact. Right at the end I got hung up on the EXACT SAME SORT of problem that had fouled us up the day before. Nevertheless, I GOT the problem just as the class ended.....another sprint to victory ;)
Then it was out to me dad's school, to help him tidy his classroom before the summer break. We did this rather faster than usual, but still did not get home until late, due to little excursions to shop for food and other things.
We had by this point laid out a plan of action, to prepare for The Trip. In fact, we'd already established the fact that we would NOT be planting seedlings the morning we left. Plants were going to be safely in the ground LONG in advance. [That has occurred rather infamously before big trips...it goes along with the paradigm that encourages waiting until JUST before dark to begin mowing the lawn.]
Is it even necessary to mention the fact that dad was out at dawn Sunday, putting tomatoes in the garden?
We made a heroic effort, all right. I believe I may have even done a little work on that front Friday after school. I certainly did not PACK UP on Friday. I saved that til Saturday :P We ran around rather frantically, to farmers' market, and more stocking-up in town, and back home to rendezvous with the folks taking care of our critters, and so on. Spent the afternoon washing produce to take with us, and packing, and yelling out the window, and so on. And planting tomatoes......in the morning I had the revolutionary idea of using the carrot-bed for tomatoes. This revolutionary idea was cemented by first attempting to dig holes in the cement-like garden clay, and by noticing that the lovely raised-bed full of Sandy Loam was full of carrots that had monumentally failed to sprout. Dad hailed this idea with a look of awe [I think] and we went at it. First of course we had to go at the WEEDS and encountered rather a lot of slugs. But anyways we got a lot of them planted...not ALL though.
Sunday I got up at 6:15....was awakened at 4:45 by birds making a racket in the yard. They do that....tweeting, chirping, and so on. The swallows are particularly bad. Well dad went out and started feverishly planting the rest of the seedlings. By a heroic effort [aided by me working backstage on food-packing], he got them all in the ground....there must have been 50 or so tomatoes and assorted seedlings.
Then we dealt in hoses and chicken-waterers and signs for the gal taking care of Tha Critters.
We were going to try to leave at 8 AM. At 8 AM, therefore, we were racing from one end of the house to the other, and back out to the car, all with the Tascam audio recorder sitting on the kitchen table, recording every NUANCE. Such as this gem:
Dad [seriously]: This could set us back. Where are the chia seeds? I am going to eat only chia seeds on this trip: I am going to be like the Aztecs.
We eventually got on the road, minus the chia seeds. It is highly ironic that Oregon simply POURS rain for TWO MONTHS SOLID, when the rain is supposed to stop around April [or at least let up], and then, two days before we leave for California, clears up to beautiful sunshine.
It is a good two-day drive to get from our place to my grandparents', south of Los Angeles. The first day was rather brutal....about half an hour down the road Dad commented that he was getting sore....it also turned out, half-hour down the road, that we [or rather I....] had neglected to pack enough towels. especially the big fluffy ones that are nice to sit on. We went through the Willamette Valley [lots of trees], Southern Oregon [different kind of trees], and Northern California [no trees]. Well that is an overstatement, there ARE trees. In spots. Palm trees, too! And oleander, lots and lots of oleander. Ordinarily we make camp about Williams [Sacramento-area] but we got such an early start that we made it all the way through to Monterey.
I like California farm country, if there's little farm houses mixed in with the acres of crops. A California farm-house follows a certain and invariable patter. Smallish, usually white wood house [or mobile home], with willows around it for shade. A small plot of vegetables. Variations include farm animals, wild sunflowers, oleander hedges, wash hanging on the line, and rosebushes. All in all a very pastoral, Steinbeck-ish image, and one that I would far rather see than unbroken miles of crops.
Near Sacramento I waxed nostalgic: 'Ahh, dear old Davis!'...Davis, where, I may say, I have only been once in my life. Several years ago we traveled with the robotics team to the Sacramento regional, which was held at a stadium in Davis. That was what we might term the beginning of the robotics saga, so I naturally have fond memories, hehe.
The Northern Cali rice fields always make interesting window-watching. At this season the rice is just poking above water....acres of water with green fuzz on top.
It was nice and warm all through the middle part of Cali, much nicer than cold Oregon...even though it was about 95-100 the whole way. When we started through the mountains to the coast, the fog came up as promised. By night it was chilly and damp.
We checked into our favorite hotel in Monterey, the Padre Oaks, after a 12-hour day of driving. I was all ready for bed when the parents decided to go out for a walk. I had just finished getting into my very disreputable nightshirt and declined to get back into more suitable togs. A solution presented itself in the form of my wrinkled and sketchy trenchcoat, which I proceeded to throw on. "
Anyways, the rest of the trip was very satisfactory. There was some discomfort in the way of sleeping, including a terrifying moment in SoCal when I, at 4 AM, heard a distressing loud crash sort of noise outside....I immediately thought it was a bomb, and thereupon resolved never to live in a city.....then there was the small earthquake that happened a few minutes after we got ensconced in my grandparents' house.....but yes, all in all it was fabulous :) And awesome to finally meet a fellow blogger that I've gotten really close to in the last few months especially.
You-all folks on the East Coast, we must have a REUNION at some point! :)
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
6:43 AM Portland time, got in the air after a thankfully event-free airport experience. There were some fun times relating to the 2 AM departure-from-home time, but check-in and security went better than I'd feared, what with the camera and other techie stuff.
Yesterday I had what might be termed an epic win. Went to math class, expecting to have class, go to Co-op Sale, come home, study for an hour, and go BACK into school to take the College Algebra exam [moved up one day, the rest of the class is taking it today]. However, I got to class, turns out it was just a review free-for-all, and the teacher said I could take the test right then, which I happily did.
Took that test DOWN, it was a lot easier than the chapter tests our teacher usually gives. I think I did pretty well on it :D There was an extra-credit question that took me a Long time to figure out....imagine me excitement when I got it, hehehe.....
After that little interlude, it was off to co-op sale day where I stocked up on edibles for the trip.
Then home, where I proceeded to finish packing, and fool around chatting with friends :D Then, because I was bored and it was SUCH a great photo op, I took everything out of my bag, lined it up neatly and took a photo, which should be posted on here eventually.
Then we moved on to preparing foodstuffs. I'd gotten about a dozen energy bars at the Co-op and I actually managed to stash them ALL away in my bags. There were some apples too....and bread and cheese....and hazelnuts. I felt exactly like a chipmunk, finding hidey-holes for all the food “Oh I think I can fit one more in......”
Worked out a waking-up plan with the family, whereby my mom would wake me if I wasn't up by 1:30, and I would do the same for her, and we both set alarm clocks too. [as a sidebar, the other morning I heard me dad's travel alarm go off [annoying thing] but THIS time it made a Cuckoo noise as well as the usual: '7:32. AM. Sixty-seven. Degrees. Fahrenheit'...after it said all of the above, what do we hear but 'CUCKOO! CUCKOO!' My dad was nonplussed, said HE hadn't set it to do that....it had never done it before.....]
Went to bed at 9:30, and prolly got 4 hours of sleep or thereabouts. Alarm went at 1:30, when I came downstairs there was already a light on, me heroic mom had just stayed up so as to avoid missing her alarm, and drove me to school. Boarded big van (shades of National Novel Writing Month novel 'bout roadtrip) and headed to P-town. We-all mostly listened to iPods and such on the way up, but there were a few amusing moments... “Where is my banana?” AND the happy moment when I followed in the footsteps of a long line of Carlson adventures in the yogurt-spilling line and spilt me breakfast-yogurt on my jeans >.< Remedied later with damp paper towellage. Yay for paper towellage.
It was shocking how smoothly everything went, so long as we all knew we had to take our shoes off and coats off and laptops out, fun times.
Choked by Bag of Holding over one shoulder, and tripod case on the other side, I nevertheless felt much more ready-to-roll than my compatriots with rolly-type suitcases. [edit: totally did not notice that really bad play on words, par'n me.]
Nice sunrise, I haven't flown in a few years and it's kinda exciting for a change.
The classic agonies of trying to fit all the baggage in, chucking stuff in the overhead bins and stowing bags under the seat (surreptitiously trying to fit the Bag of Holding under the seat, while attempting to appease/circumvent/snooker the stewardesses who say 'Can that go a little further under the seat?'. It finally DID fit once I took Eddie out. [Eddie is my MacBook Pro, for the uninitiated......lol]
Next stop: Denver! Wooooooot I get a window seat on the next leg of the trip....
[switching over to Atlanta time]
1:45 pm, turns out this leg of the trip is only about 2.5 hours YAY so now we're about 3/4 done. Our flight into Denver was delayed somehow, we were worried bout missing the ATL flight because there wasn't much layover time. It was EPIC [yes Einar :P ]. We got off our plane, into the terminal, were greeted by part of the team who'd gotten off first: 'Seats 17 and higher are boarding NOW!' Turned out the departing flight was about 30 feet away from the one we'd just come in on, hehehe.....we were afraid we'd be running halfway across the concourse.
I seem to be eating constantly, heh....started off on the trip up to P-town. I'd packed 3 little cartons of yogurt for brekkers, along with an apple (unrelated to the hordes in my bag) and some bread and cheese. Well those same three little cartons of yogurt had to be eaten before security, owing to rules about liquids/gels/squishables. Every 20 minutes it would be, eatanotheryogurt. Cleaned out the last one just as we were turning in to the airport.
Then I've been moving through the remainder of the sandwiches at a fair pace, at first I was scared of using up Eddie's battery, I didn't bring a book and there is nothing else to do except eat.....
Have to pay for bottled water and the airline doesn't accept cash -.- Sandwiches are $6 apiece, snacks (ergh) are correspondingly pricey.
Once we arrive in ATL it'll be a nightmare, I have no doubt......trying to navigate a huge city with 20+ people....I don't know what the transportation to the hotel is, I assume it's the MARTA [subway].
Well, BACK to the saved chat logs.......
7:30 PM: GOOD TIMES!
OH it's been epic times.....I am sitting by the pool at the Hyatt, Atlanta. The weather is balmy, the air smells like flowers.
Atlanta airport actually proved very interesting, we spent a traditional lot of time trying to decide what to do....it all felt VERY familiar, hehe. Big airport (tuh), we all camped out in one of the food courts after collecting baggage. Fun to see LOTS of Kamen totes [robotics kits, lol] on the carousels =D
Anyways, sun coming in through the big glass skylight, our myriad bags parked in the middle, a chap playing piano VERY well at the local posh restaurant and bar.
Got some video, fun times :)
After getting out of the airport, we traversed the subway.....I was COMPLETELY ENTHUSED over the plants!! Everything is different, the trees, THERE"S A DOGWOOD! Wysteria growing everywhere, balmy weather SO nice after freezing hometown! Also exciting to see the real Southern houses :)
More on getting to the hotel later tonight
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
get your blog posts in bulk!
I was trying to think of a post title....[such pressure--stage fright--writers' block--augh *throat seizes up, and she falls over*]
and I remembered a random thing that happened to an email I sent, the computer turned the title into something like "BULK re:off we go" and the bulk bit struck me as funny because I do write emails in bulk. That is, they're simply packed with info, anecdotes and so forth.
So yeah! I was reading a really interesting post over at Carpe Diem and it reminded me of something similar. I started off on a long-winded anecdote from my own troubled past [ insert your tongue in your cheek ] but I realized I might as well make a post of it. It was regarding favorite childhood spots being preserved.
Here goes.
At the church where my homeschool group met for about 6 years things have not been so happy. The church was expanding so much that they finally decided to renovate, and put in new parking lots and such.
Well imagine the sorrow when our lovely grassy field [it was about an acre] was graveled, and then paved, over. That field had been the site of many happy memories, playing soccer and tag and running races and such. :( Our grass shrunk to a measly patch and finally disappeared altogether. Fortunately we were growing up by that time so it wasn't so unhappy.
When I was about 11 or 12 my 4-H group [which included most of the homeschool group] planted some baby trees for a service project. They were ornamental cherries. This spring [5 years later] I became aware of how tall they were, about 15 feet and blossoming beautifully.
Then there was the curly willow. It was huge, had probably been there longer than the buildings. More fond memories.
This June, with church-expansion on the horizon, all the trees were lopped down. Need I say more??
Even that was as nothing, compared to the misery caused by a saw last spring, at the school where my dad teaches [yes I know, homeschooled daughter + teaching father = ?? It's a long story.] There was this nice wild cherry tree. We enjoyed its fruit [this was while I was taking French class there]. But last spring, about April, just when school-induced depression is at its height, the tree was cut down. Sure it produces tasty fruit. Sure it's not in the way. Sure you can cut it down.
Last week I observed that the greengage [a greengage is a yummy plum] hedge in our neighborhood was being trimmed viciously. Yes, it was somewhat intruding on the roadway, but couldn't the trimming have waited til after the plums were ripe?? sniffle
[have you noticed that I don't like it when trees are cut down? Do you want to share your thoughts? :)]
Play practice went pretty well. O dear, Dallan and Adam [the two main characters] are too funny! Afterwards the Three Musketeers [Dallan, Eva and myself] puttered about discussing various vital bits of theatre business. And chucked walnuts at each other [there are a bunch of walnut trees at the Grange].
Then Eva drove home, and Dallan and I started walking on the road home to intercept my dad-the-chauffeur. Hehe, we were successful hitch-hikers! :) Managed to Baa at the field of sheep, too.
You have to wear studs for 6 MONTHS after getting your ears pierced???!!! Oh, *conniption*! We went into Claire's [men, never ever go into a Claire's. Your retinas will become permanently scarred with images of sequins, pink, glitter, scarves, and little dangly things. Ghastly. You will die a horrible death-by-bling. As soon as we asked about the piercings I said "Okay, we are done here" and scooted.] Anyway, went in there to ask about ear-piercings. I don't like studs.
Oh yeah, we are talking about studded earrings here. Just wanted to clear that up. ;)
As a side note, I do not like the mall. Sort of creepy. The best part is Old Navy which can be accessed from outdoors. At Ross' I got absolutely caught in the cross-fire of two people sneezing/coughing. I scooted.
I scoot a lot.
This is the time when, if I were in a gloomy mood, I would diverge into a discussion of swine flu. I am not in a particularly gloomy mood, however, so you shall have to await that edifying topic on another day.
Say a prayer for California, folks! I can't imagine how awful it must be to be there with the fires and all. *shudder*
Hah, my mom just discovered a whole basket full of spare programs for the play "Mystery in the Highlands" that the homeschool group put on a few years ago. Dear dear, we rather overdid the program-printing! The house was less than packed. It was a fun performance but we forgot the lines a lot. Not unsurprising, as we were still practicing with scripts two rehearsals before performance.
That was the show where we had a pathetically small cast [about 7 all told]. There was one bit where a scrap of tartan fabric was essential to the plot and in its second scene it was MIA, somewhere backstage. Prompt freak-out on my part. ["Bethany! Calm down!"] But I managed to merely reference it in passing [hooray for ad-libbing lines], and that was okay.
Oh my, this is the 60-post mark! Buy me some roses, someone!
Oh yeah! I want to hear everyone's stories about the worst trip [camping or otherwise] that you've been on! Random I know!
Leave a comment! *steps back and rubs her hands whilst anticipating merry tales of mosquitoes, hotel rooms without AC, sick family members, lost cameras, and missed flights, tehe*
and I remembered a random thing that happened to an email I sent, the computer turned the title into something like "BULK re:off we go" and the bulk bit struck me as funny because I do write emails in bulk. That is, they're simply packed with info, anecdotes and so forth.
So yeah! I was reading a really interesting post over at Carpe Diem and it reminded me of something similar. I started off on a long-winded anecdote from my own troubled past [ insert your tongue in your cheek ] but I realized I might as well make a post of it. It was regarding favorite childhood spots being preserved.
Here goes.
At the church where my homeschool group met for about 6 years things have not been so happy. The church was expanding so much that they finally decided to renovate, and put in new parking lots and such.
Well imagine the sorrow when our lovely grassy field [it was about an acre] was graveled, and then paved, over. That field had been the site of many happy memories, playing soccer and tag and running races and such. :( Our grass shrunk to a measly patch and finally disappeared altogether. Fortunately we were growing up by that time so it wasn't so unhappy.
When I was about 11 or 12 my 4-H group [which included most of the homeschool group] planted some baby trees for a service project. They were ornamental cherries. This spring [5 years later] I became aware of how tall they were, about 15 feet and blossoming beautifully.
Then there was the curly willow. It was huge, had probably been there longer than the buildings. More fond memories.
This June, with church-expansion on the horizon, all the trees were lopped down. Need I say more??
Even that was as nothing, compared to the misery caused by a saw last spring, at the school where my dad teaches [yes I know, homeschooled daughter + teaching father = ?? It's a long story.] There was this nice wild cherry tree. We enjoyed its fruit [this was while I was taking French class there]. But last spring, about April, just when school-induced depression is at its height, the tree was cut down. Sure it produces tasty fruit. Sure it's not in the way. Sure you can cut it down.
Last week I observed that the greengage [a greengage is a yummy plum] hedge in our neighborhood was being trimmed viciously. Yes, it was somewhat intruding on the roadway, but couldn't the trimming have waited til after the plums were ripe?? sniffle
[have you noticed that I don't like it when trees are cut down? Do you want to share your thoughts? :)]
Play practice went pretty well. O dear, Dallan and Adam [the two main characters] are too funny! Afterwards the Three Musketeers [Dallan, Eva and myself] puttered about discussing various vital bits of theatre business. And chucked walnuts at each other [there are a bunch of walnut trees at the Grange].
Then Eva drove home, and Dallan and I started walking on the road home to intercept my dad-the-chauffeur. Hehe, we were successful hitch-hikers! :) Managed to Baa at the field of sheep, too.
You have to wear studs for 6 MONTHS after getting your ears pierced???!!! Oh, *conniption*! We went into Claire's [men, never ever go into a Claire's. Your retinas will become permanently scarred with images of sequins, pink, glitter, scarves, and little dangly things. Ghastly. You will die a horrible death-by-bling. As soon as we asked about the piercings I said "Okay, we are done here" and scooted.] Anyway, went in there to ask about ear-piercings. I don't like studs.
Oh yeah, we are talking about studded earrings here. Just wanted to clear that up. ;)
As a side note, I do not like the mall. Sort of creepy. The best part is Old Navy which can be accessed from outdoors. At Ross' I got absolutely caught in the cross-fire of two people sneezing/coughing. I scooted.
I scoot a lot.
This is the time when, if I were in a gloomy mood, I would diverge into a discussion of swine flu. I am not in a particularly gloomy mood, however, so you shall have to await that edifying topic on another day.
Say a prayer for California, folks! I can't imagine how awful it must be to be there with the fires and all. *shudder*
Hah, my mom just discovered a whole basket full of spare programs for the play "Mystery in the Highlands" that the homeschool group put on a few years ago. Dear dear, we rather overdid the program-printing! The house was less than packed. It was a fun performance but we forgot the lines a lot. Not unsurprising, as we were still practicing with scripts two rehearsals before performance.
That was the show where we had a pathetically small cast [about 7 all told]. There was one bit where a scrap of tartan fabric was essential to the plot and in its second scene it was MIA, somewhere backstage. Prompt freak-out on my part. ["Bethany! Calm down!"] But I managed to merely reference it in passing [hooray for ad-libbing lines], and that was okay.
Oh my, this is the 60-post mark! Buy me some roses, someone!
Oh yeah! I want to hear everyone's stories about the worst trip [camping or otherwise] that you've been on! Random I know!
Leave a comment! *steps back and rubs her hands whilst anticipating merry tales of mosquitoes, hotel rooms without AC, sick family members, lost cameras, and missed flights, tehe*
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
I'm back!
Just got back from staying at a beach-house on the coast. Wow is my dashboard FULL of blog updates!! I'm following around 40 blogs, give or take.
And I've gained two new followers!! Thanks Ophelia and Cassidy Street! You make me happy! :)
Yes--the holiday was fun. Beach-house, near the sea, in the tiny town of Neskowin. Nothing terribly out of the ordinary happened--although I did have to tape one of my t-shirts over an annoying light in my bedroom. I can't bear to have lights where I sleep.
I've been noticing a few of my followers have commented on other bloggie friends' blogs--so I'm a connector! Yay! That makes me happy!
I've been tagged by Gwyn--a fun one--30 things about me. Which is easy [hopefully] as I love to talk about me [want to talk about me/want to talk about I/want to talk about number one, hahaha I hate that song.].
1. my fingernails are happy and long right now.
2. right now I'm nervous my mom is going to come and find some other chore for me to do instead of be on the computer
3. She did. Had to connect a TV cable that had got unplugged before the trip. After a long fruitless period of trying to screw in a tiny pin, I discovered I was trying to put it into the wrong hole!!
4. My fashion style: is somewhat nonexistent. As mentioned in the last post, I do enjoy being slightly "Brit punk"-ish---but true punk is rather awful, I think. I mostly wear jeans and western-style plaid cotton shirts [as I am in my profile pic], but I do wear t-shirts. Nice ones. [tho there is that extremely ratty polo-type shirt that is really spotted, and faded, and the collar ripped halfway off and that bugged me so I ripped it all the way off---which pretty much put paid to the shoulder seams---then it was getting pretty risque, even for painting, so I put a safety-pin at each shoulder].
I abhor turquoise, and most of the bright artificial colours now in style---there does seem to be a trend towards plaid this year though, which is cool. Also these cute little vest things, over a white long shirt.....very snazzy, but I can't seem to find any at Goodwill--which is where I get alot of my clothing.
5. the last entry was getting rather long, but here's more clothing stuff: I have the most awesome cloak ever!! Green wool. I got it last winter from a historical outfitters' company, for the movie. I wore it all over town. *heart!* Can't wait to break it out again when the weather gets cold!!
6. One of my absolute favorite dances at folk dance class: Little Man in a Fix--waltzing, and there is one epic bit where two couples dance together in a circle, the girls holding onto the boys' shoulders and flying....sounds impossible but it's awesome.
7. I'm a goatherd! Nigerian Dwarves. Nigerian Dwarves are the rockin'est goats in the world!!
8. I eat WAY too much pasta. With tomatoes, and olive oil, and cheese, and basil, and YUM.......
9. I didn't take biology last year [too busy making a movie, amongst other things] and I have to do it this year. Meh.
10. Meh is a good word. So's epic, and awesome, and "ooh! That's not awesome!"
11. We've got two [political] bumper-stickers on our car.
12. I still don't know how to ride a bike. Awful isn't it. Ergh.
13. I haven't eaten fast-food for several years. And proud of it. Mwa-hahahaha.
14. Oh! I had a good one! What was it!! Huh. Oh well: I like goats' milk far, far better than cows'. But I like cows. Jersey cows.
15. The best role I ever played onstage was Anne of Green Gables. Boy was that fun. I was Anne. [hehe, aint I modest and retiring. But really, that's what people said.] I suppose because when I was growing up I was Anne. To the life. [Except for the red hair.] Even my middle name is Anne.
16. I am so hopeless at any and all sports involving contact with a ball. Chess, now, that's more my style. Or robotics.
17. I'm almost seventeen! !!!!
18. Favorite weird foods: [because this wouldn't be any fun if I just listed normal foods]
-kombucha [fermented, vinegar-like tea]
-kefir [like sour yogurt]
-bee pollen [just what it sounds like]
-dried fruit--any dried fruit
-goat Brie [omygoodness. yummy.]
-most esoteric seeds and nuts
-hawthorn berries [a wee bit mealy, but come on! They're weird!!]
-red or black currants [the red ones taste almost like blood. Sounds disgusting, I know :) And don't ask me how I know. ]
19. Which brings me naturally to the hot topic on everyone's mind: Twilight. Love it or hate it? I haven't read it, so I shan't pass judgement. I do hate the posters for the movie. Edward just looks creepy.
20. I am very sensitive to smells. Not clinically so, but the least bit of perfume is unpleasantly noticeable. I can't stand to have bath towels smell funny. Or any towels, come to that. Tide is a no-no in our house---cack. I can smell the tiniest bit of blood--my dad makes "shark" references--and if it hits water, whew! Sometimes I will come home from being "out" and complain that "I don't smell like myself--I smell like other people". Weird, I know.
21. Pogo Possum is my favorite comic-strip. My dad introduced me to it. It dates from the 50's.
22. I can't stand flappers!! or 20's style. 40's fashion [the New Look especially] is fun though.
23. I am supposed to be receiving a call pretty soon, about...... theatre business. Ahem. Very important stuff.
24. Grishko pointe shoes are cool! I commented on somebody's blog to that effect; now whose site was it????? Do you know? I can't remember, darn it!
25. I do not have Facebook. Alas. Am still working on that one.
26. I have black running shoes [Champion brand] which are really nice, and get this: two other girls in my folk dance class [before it more or less disbanded] have the exact same ones.
27. I have a positive phobia of shampoo, soap, detergent, makeup, etc that has toxic chemicals in it.
28. If I could take a vacation anywhere in the world right now, I'd be in England. Mmm.
29. My favorite store in my home-town is the natural foods grocery.
30. I have not watched my favorite movie [Lord of the Rings] in over a year. Frightful!
I tag [oh boy, this is going to be fun]:
ummm
*nips over to view her followers*
Ophelia
Jacob
Bekah
Kendra
that is, if you don't hate tags and haven't done it recently! heh.
now tis off to visit those people and let them know!
And I've gained two new followers!! Thanks Ophelia and Cassidy Street! You make me happy! :)
Yes--the holiday was fun. Beach-house, near the sea, in the tiny town of Neskowin. Nothing terribly out of the ordinary happened--although I did have to tape one of my t-shirts over an annoying light in my bedroom. I can't bear to have lights where I sleep.
I've been noticing a few of my followers have commented on other bloggie friends' blogs--so I'm a connector! Yay! That makes me happy!
I've been tagged by Gwyn--a fun one--30 things about me. Which is easy [hopefully] as I love to talk about me [want to talk about me/want to talk about I/want to talk about number one, hahaha I hate that song.].
1. my fingernails are happy and long right now.
2. right now I'm nervous my mom is going to come and find some other chore for me to do instead of be on the computer
3. She did. Had to connect a TV cable that had got unplugged before the trip. After a long fruitless period of trying to screw in a tiny pin, I discovered I was trying to put it into the wrong hole!!
4. My fashion style: is somewhat nonexistent. As mentioned in the last post, I do enjoy being slightly "Brit punk"-ish---but true punk is rather awful, I think. I mostly wear jeans and western-style plaid cotton shirts [as I am in my profile pic], but I do wear t-shirts. Nice ones. [tho there is that extremely ratty polo-type shirt that is really spotted, and faded, and the collar ripped halfway off and that bugged me so I ripped it all the way off---which pretty much put paid to the shoulder seams---then it was getting pretty risque, even for painting, so I put a safety-pin at each shoulder].
I abhor turquoise, and most of the bright artificial colours now in style---there does seem to be a trend towards plaid this year though, which is cool. Also these cute little vest things, over a white long shirt.....very snazzy, but I can't seem to find any at Goodwill--which is where I get alot of my clothing.
5. the last entry was getting rather long, but here's more clothing stuff: I have the most awesome cloak ever!! Green wool. I got it last winter from a historical outfitters' company, for the movie. I wore it all over town. *heart!* Can't wait to break it out again when the weather gets cold!!
6. One of my absolute favorite dances at folk dance class: Little Man in a Fix--waltzing, and there is one epic bit where two couples dance together in a circle, the girls holding onto the boys' shoulders and flying....sounds impossible but it's awesome.
7. I'm a goatherd! Nigerian Dwarves. Nigerian Dwarves are the rockin'est goats in the world!!
8. I eat WAY too much pasta. With tomatoes, and olive oil, and cheese, and basil, and YUM.......
9. I didn't take biology last year [too busy making a movie, amongst other things] and I have to do it this year. Meh.
10. Meh is a good word. So's epic, and awesome, and "ooh! That's not awesome!"
11. We've got two [political] bumper-stickers on our car.
12. I still don't know how to ride a bike. Awful isn't it. Ergh.
13. I haven't eaten fast-food for several years. And proud of it. Mwa-hahahaha.
14. Oh! I had a good one! What was it!! Huh. Oh well: I like goats' milk far, far better than cows'. But I like cows. Jersey cows.
15. The best role I ever played onstage was Anne of Green Gables. Boy was that fun. I was Anne. [hehe, aint I modest and retiring. But really, that's what people said.] I suppose because when I was growing up I was Anne. To the life. [Except for the red hair.] Even my middle name is Anne.
16. I am so hopeless at any and all sports involving contact with a ball. Chess, now, that's more my style. Or robotics.
17. I'm almost seventeen! !!!!
18. Favorite weird foods: [because this wouldn't be any fun if I just listed normal foods]
-kombucha [fermented, vinegar-like tea]
-kefir [like sour yogurt]
-bee pollen [just what it sounds like]
-dried fruit--any dried fruit
-goat Brie [omygoodness. yummy.]
-most esoteric seeds and nuts
-hawthorn berries [a wee bit mealy, but come on! They're weird!!]
-red or black currants [the red ones taste almost like blood. Sounds disgusting, I know :) And don't ask me how I know. ]
19. Which brings me naturally to the hot topic on everyone's mind: Twilight. Love it or hate it? I haven't read it, so I shan't pass judgement. I do hate the posters for the movie. Edward just looks creepy.
20. I am very sensitive to smells. Not clinically so, but the least bit of perfume is unpleasantly noticeable. I can't stand to have bath towels smell funny. Or any towels, come to that. Tide is a no-no in our house---cack. I can smell the tiniest bit of blood--my dad makes "shark" references--and if it hits water, whew! Sometimes I will come home from being "out" and complain that "I don't smell like myself--I smell like other people". Weird, I know.
21. Pogo Possum is my favorite comic-strip. My dad introduced me to it. It dates from the 50's.
22. I can't stand flappers!! or 20's style. 40's fashion [the New Look especially] is fun though.
23. I am supposed to be receiving a call pretty soon, about...... theatre business. Ahem. Very important stuff.
24. Grishko pointe shoes are cool! I commented on somebody's blog to that effect; now whose site was it????? Do you know? I can't remember, darn it!
25. I do not have Facebook. Alas. Am still working on that one.
26. I have black running shoes [Champion brand] which are really nice, and get this: two other girls in my folk dance class [before it more or less disbanded] have the exact same ones.
27. I have a positive phobia of shampoo, soap, detergent, makeup, etc that has toxic chemicals in it.
28. If I could take a vacation anywhere in the world right now, I'd be in England. Mmm.
29. My favorite store in my home-town is the natural foods grocery.
30. I have not watched my favorite movie [Lord of the Rings] in over a year. Frightful!
I tag [oh boy, this is going to be fun]:
ummm
*nips over to view her followers*
Ophelia
Jacob
Bekah
Kendra
that is, if you don't hate tags and haven't done it recently! heh.
now tis off to visit those people and let them know!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
turning up the heat!
We just got back from a day-trip to the coast. We decided it was well worth-while to escape the valley heat on the hottest day of the year!
The trip started out with my dad holding not one, not two, but three stalks of celery [with leaves attached] in his mouth whilst attempting to speak. [He told me to include that bit of trivia.]
The trip started out with my dad holding not one, not two, but three stalks of celery [with leaves attached] in his mouth whilst attempting to speak. [He told me to include that bit of trivia.]
Also in the picture were two of his thick sweaters. Yes, it was about 80 when we left but we always anticipate the coast to be cold. Oh yes, and a wool hat. We were nothing if not prepared.
I had specially picked two new songs from iTunes for the occasion.
That was when I got up at 5:45 this morning. I had gone to bed early, so as to be able to rise before the sun and garner a few hours in which to function without dripping with sweat
Took some nice photos in the wheat field across the street, of the sun rising swelteringly from a dusty haze. Practically as soon as the sun rose I could feel it warming up.
Here's a nice self-portrait! hehe
Pottered about Newport, Lincoln City, and other coastal areas. Nothing greatly out of the ordinary happened, save for a few humorous encounters with sundry enthusiastic dogs.
Here's me on the beach.
Here's me on the beach.
I am not doing anything, well, just sitting in front of the computer moving my fingers, and occasionally shifting, to avoid sticking fast to the chair...anyway, scarcely moving and there is a slow mist of perspiration forming on my brow! Ugh.
Fare-thee-well!
Monday, July 13, 2009
I'm in a much better mood now! :)
The title says it all!
Here's a few random things of interest:
-Non-traditional finger-snapping.
Phillip started it, you can blame him. It was the constant (k) at all rehearsals for the movie. He's there, snapping his fingers. Sophie picked it up. Then Dallan. Then I decided it would be a good project for the summer. It takes dedication.
Here's what you do: make the "OK" sign with your thumb and middle finger...flip your hand away from you, and as quickly, pull it back. Your index finger should snap against the two fingers pinched together. When done correctly, it will be at least as loud as a boring, traditional finger-snap.
This is the peak of geek-dom.
-I have semi-soft chickens. There are about a dozen half-grown birds running around, that were hatched a bit ago. Their father is the same but they mostly have different mothers...all the ones which are half-Silkie, however, have feathers which are tending towards the Silkie fluff. Hence semi-soft.
-"Dogs, like yin and yang..." One morning at the farmers' market my dad and I saw two dogs on a single tether, looped around a tent-pole. The tent was in imminent danger of going down, as they were pulling mightily. Thinking swiftly, he lifted up the pole--no owner was in sight. They went off swiftly through the crowd, still linked, and scarcely got twenty feet before nearly tripping someone. The owner never did show.
The dogs were the same breed, I think, big and fluffy, but one black and the other, white--hence the comment from my dad, "like yin and yang".
-Don't play Rock Paper Scissors anymore--it's a bit passe. Bear Salmon Mosquito is the cutting edge.
[okay, I got one from "The Geek's Guide to World Domination''.]
Other stuff: I took the goats out for a run, on their leashes. Then I let them off the leashes. Whilst I was practicing showmanship with Starlight, Fiona went off to the flowerbeds. THERE went one of my mom's cosmosi [I have a passion for correct plurals--'calenduli' is particularly fun.]
Tomorrow is the Owner Appreciation Day Sale at the local natural foods co-op. The Co-op is epic!! They just finished expanding the North Store. I've been shopping at the South [original] branch for as long as I can remember. The Co-op is an institution in my town...
anyway, there's a sale tomorrow, so it's time to stock up on essentials...pasta, cheese, yogurt, etc.
I was listening to some music today, and I wondered how many people have had "At the End of the End" [Beatles] played for their funerals.
Chopped a lot of thistles this morning. And slugs--from yesterday's rain.
And I just remembered that I didn't finish my "travel tales"!
Glacier Nat'l park...up the infamous "Going to the Sun" road--infamous, that is, for scary precipices. At one point there was a lot of road construction, and we had to stop right under a nice cliff, with overhanging rocks, and my dad said, "Don't worry, the cliff looks really stable right here."
And "You notice when you look over the cliff in this spot, the next thing you see is distance..."
Saw bear-grass and snow.
At one of our stops my mom said that the trash-cans must have been designed to baffle the omnipresent bears, but that they'd baffled her too.
Then there were the muskegs. Muskegs are common in Canada and other parts of the far north. The word really means peat-y area that tends to be damp, as I just learned from Wiki, but I've always thought of them as smallish ponds in cold territory. Mosquitoes and moose are a given.
I think I first heard about muskegs in one of L. M. Montgomery's books, and tend to classify any little pond in woodsy country as a muskeg.
All through the trip it would be, "Oh look! A muskeg!"--there were lots in Yellowstone. And Glacier was filled with them--it was "muskeg!" every ten minutes. At one point my dad put me into stitches by saying, "I don't get it about a muskeg! A muskeg does not have any moving parts, and it's not going to do anything"
Then there were the mountain goats. We wanted to see a mountain goat. There was one time when we passed a lay-by with a lot of cars, and people staring upwards with binoculars, and I thought I saw two white things on the mountainside. By the time we turned the car around, the other tourists had left and we got a clear sight at the "white things". You would not believe how much a WHITE ROCK looks like a mountain goat!
My dad claimed to be jaundiced about mountain goats, but he sure dove for the camera at the first sight of white woolly critters--yes, we finally did sight some.
At our campground on Flathead Lake [also in Montana] I did a spot of early-morning swimming. We also got rained upon. There were jokes by me about a "water bed" when the rain got under the tent...
and that's that, folks!
later update:
Oh yes, I'm going to see Music Man at the local theatre next week--I'm excited, I haven't seen a play in a loong time...
Here's a few random things of interest:
-Non-traditional finger-snapping.
Phillip started it, you can blame him. It was the constant (k) at all rehearsals for the movie. He's there, snapping his fingers. Sophie picked it up. Then Dallan. Then I decided it would be a good project for the summer. It takes dedication.
Here's what you do: make the "OK" sign with your thumb and middle finger...flip your hand away from you, and as quickly, pull it back. Your index finger should snap against the two fingers pinched together. When done correctly, it will be at least as loud as a boring, traditional finger-snap.
This is the peak of geek-dom.
-I have semi-soft chickens. There are about a dozen half-grown birds running around, that were hatched a bit ago. Their father is the same but they mostly have different mothers...all the ones which are half-Silkie, however, have feathers which are tending towards the Silkie fluff. Hence semi-soft.
-"Dogs, like yin and yang..." One morning at the farmers' market my dad and I saw two dogs on a single tether, looped around a tent-pole. The tent was in imminent danger of going down, as they were pulling mightily. Thinking swiftly, he lifted up the pole--no owner was in sight. They went off swiftly through the crowd, still linked, and scarcely got twenty feet before nearly tripping someone. The owner never did show.
The dogs were the same breed, I think, big and fluffy, but one black and the other, white--hence the comment from my dad, "like yin and yang".
-Don't play Rock Paper Scissors anymore--it's a bit passe. Bear Salmon Mosquito is the cutting edge.
[okay, I got one from "The Geek's Guide to World Domination''.]
Other stuff: I took the goats out for a run, on their leashes. Then I let them off the leashes. Whilst I was practicing showmanship with Starlight, Fiona went off to the flowerbeds. THERE went one of my mom's cosmosi [I have a passion for correct plurals--'calenduli' is particularly fun.]
Tomorrow is the Owner Appreciation Day Sale at the local natural foods co-op. The Co-op is epic!! They just finished expanding the North Store. I've been shopping at the South [original] branch for as long as I can remember. The Co-op is an institution in my town...
anyway, there's a sale tomorrow, so it's time to stock up on essentials...pasta, cheese, yogurt, etc.
I was listening to some music today, and I wondered how many people have had "At the End of the End" [Beatles] played for their funerals.
Chopped a lot of thistles this morning. And slugs--from yesterday's rain.
And I just remembered that I didn't finish my "travel tales"!
Glacier Nat'l park...up the infamous "Going to the Sun" road--infamous, that is, for scary precipices. At one point there was a lot of road construction, and we had to stop right under a nice cliff, with overhanging rocks, and my dad said, "Don't worry, the cliff looks really stable right here."
And "You notice when you look over the cliff in this spot, the next thing you see is distance..."
Saw bear-grass and snow.
At one of our stops my mom said that the trash-cans must have been designed to baffle the omnipresent bears, but that they'd baffled her too.
Then there were the muskegs. Muskegs are common in Canada and other parts of the far north. The word really means peat-y area that tends to be damp, as I just learned from Wiki, but I've always thought of them as smallish ponds in cold territory. Mosquitoes and moose are a given.
I think I first heard about muskegs in one of L. M. Montgomery's books, and tend to classify any little pond in woodsy country as a muskeg.
All through the trip it would be, "Oh look! A muskeg!"--there were lots in Yellowstone. And Glacier was filled with them--it was "muskeg!" every ten minutes. At one point my dad put me into stitches by saying, "I don't get it about a muskeg! A muskeg does not have any moving parts, and it's not going to do anything"
Then there were the mountain goats. We wanted to see a mountain goat. There was one time when we passed a lay-by with a lot of cars, and people staring upwards with binoculars, and I thought I saw two white things on the mountainside. By the time we turned the car around, the other tourists had left and we got a clear sight at the "white things". You would not believe how much a WHITE ROCK looks like a mountain goat!
My dad claimed to be jaundiced about mountain goats, but he sure dove for the camera at the first sight of white woolly critters--yes, we finally did sight some.
At our campground on Flathead Lake [also in Montana] I did a spot of early-morning swimming. We also got rained upon. There were jokes by me about a "water bed" when the rain got under the tent...
and that's that, folks!
later update:
Oh yes, I'm going to see Music Man at the local theatre next week--I'm excited, I haven't seen a play in a loong time...
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
heading out
last post before heading out into the wilds of the far north--aka Glacier Nat'l Park.
beautiful sunny day here, but it is forecasted to rain in the afternoon. we are in the mountains y'know!
and y'all will be happy to know that the iPod is successfully charging even as i speak...we'll really need it in eastern Washington, which is our journey home. I expect to be home by the weekend...can't wait t get back to goats & garden! then I've got a theatrical fencing class the 15th thru the 17th, then various movie-type projects that need to be thought of...and oh yes, i'll post some pics from the trip!
beautiful sunny day here, but it is forecasted to rain in the afternoon. we are in the mountains y'know!
and y'all will be happy to know that the iPod is successfully charging even as i speak...we'll really need it in eastern Washington, which is our journey home. I expect to be home by the weekend...can't wait t get back to goats & garden! then I've got a theatrical fencing class the 15th thru the 17th, then various movie-type projects that need to be thought of...and oh yes, i'll post some pics from the trip!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
ah yes, Act II of the Soap Opera...that came on the evening of the second day. I returned to camp to find great disgruntlement. the guilty bottle of the previous night's soap incident had leaked again. the situation was complicated by the presence of hordes of mosquitoes and the necessity of excluding them from the tent and car.
the first night's rest was fragmentary for several reasons, chief among them being Bethany's decision to "rough it" and forgo the usual pad under the sleeping bag.
Night 2 [near Jackson Hole, WY] I was awakened by simultaneously feeling rain on my face, and hearing my dad scrabbling about to deal with it. we had neglected to put the rain fly on the tent. that occupied about half an hour or so and sounded very difficult. I scarcely felt guilty at all about remaining snugly in my sleeping bag. when he climbed back into the tent i heard birds beginning to chirp [this was at about 4 am] and he said "tweet-tweet", and then, after a pause to allow me to digest this, "chirp-chirp".
it was a scant few hours after this diverting escapade that we were roused from a woozy slumber by my mom. the rain had stopped and we packed up swiftly. we only left camp after a swift game of "count-the-dead-beetles-in-the-tent".
the campground was plastered with warning signs--"Be Bear Aware" and 37 Qwik Tips on how not to leave food out in the campsite. I made it very clear from the outset that " I do not want to be Bear Aware!", but I was nevertheless the model of prudence in this regard!
that was the day we first sighted a bison. my dad, who was eating cashews at the time, addressed the worthy critter from a safe distance--"Here boy! Ever had a cashew?"
in Yellowstone, we encountered a frightful lot of road work and dreadful delays.
scenery was very good.
Me: "Lewis River Canyon! we're pretty high up here!"
Daddy [driving]: anything visible?
Mommy [riding shotgun, right next to the precipice]: YES stay on the road please!
later that evening my dad returned to the campsite from firewood-gathering. he came up with a load of wood in his arms, and trailing a piece of string. I watched, and waited for the end to appear; it did not. by that time he had discovered the trailing string, and there was a very substantial length behind him; about 50 feet ,to be exact. Instant hilarity.
must sign off now. alas, i fear i shall not be able to write again unless we are fortunate enough to get another good hotel...
B
the first night's rest was fragmentary for several reasons, chief among them being Bethany's decision to "rough it" and forgo the usual pad under the sleeping bag.
Night 2 [near Jackson Hole, WY] I was awakened by simultaneously feeling rain on my face, and hearing my dad scrabbling about to deal with it. we had neglected to put the rain fly on the tent. that occupied about half an hour or so and sounded very difficult. I scarcely felt guilty at all about remaining snugly in my sleeping bag. when he climbed back into the tent i heard birds beginning to chirp [this was at about 4 am] and he said "tweet-tweet", and then, after a pause to allow me to digest this, "chirp-chirp".
it was a scant few hours after this diverting escapade that we were roused from a woozy slumber by my mom. the rain had stopped and we packed up swiftly. we only left camp after a swift game of "count-the-dead-beetles-in-the-tent".
the campground was plastered with warning signs--"Be Bear Aware" and 37 Qwik Tips on how not to leave food out in the campsite. I made it very clear from the outset that " I do not want to be Bear Aware!", but I was nevertheless the model of prudence in this regard!
that was the day we first sighted a bison. my dad, who was eating cashews at the time, addressed the worthy critter from a safe distance--"Here boy! Ever had a cashew?"
in Yellowstone, we encountered a frightful lot of road work and dreadful delays.
scenery was very good.
Me: "Lewis River Canyon! we're pretty high up here!"
Daddy [driving]: anything visible?
Mommy [riding shotgun, right next to the precipice]: YES stay on the road please!
later that evening my dad returned to the campsite from firewood-gathering. he came up with a load of wood in his arms, and trailing a piece of string. I watched, and waited for the end to appear; it did not. by that time he had discovered the trailing string, and there was a very substantial length behind him; about 50 feet ,to be exact. Instant hilarity.
must sign off now. alas, i fear i shall not be able to write again unless we are fortunate enough to get another good hotel...
B
okay, here are some more travel tales as promised.
our first night, in Vale Oregon, was characterized chiefly by the first manifestation of a distressing tendency on the part of our bottle of liquid soap [Dr. Bronner's brand, great stuff] to spill. It was packed up with our general soap-type supplies in a traveling case of sorts. when i reluctantly looked in, to investigate a very strong smell of lavender, the satchel was awash. the clean-up process involved all 3 of us, the picnic table, an undisclosed number of paper towels, and, finally, the realisation that the hydrogen peroxide had entered into the spirit of the thing, and spread itself at large.
must run, it seems we're going out to dinner...will try to write more later, the soap tale only gets better...and no "Soap Opera' jokes, that's my perogative!
lol
our first night, in Vale Oregon, was characterized chiefly by the first manifestation of a distressing tendency on the part of our bottle of liquid soap [Dr. Bronner's brand, great stuff] to spill. It was packed up with our general soap-type supplies in a traveling case of sorts. when i reluctantly looked in, to investigate a very strong smell of lavender, the satchel was awash. the clean-up process involved all 3 of us, the picnic table, an undisclosed number of paper towels, and, finally, the realisation that the hydrogen peroxide had entered into the spirit of the thing, and spread itself at large.
must run, it seems we're going out to dinner...will try to write more later, the soap tale only gets better...and no "Soap Opera' jokes, that's my perogative!
lol
Jul. 7
spending the night in Polson MT----we deemed the weather too stormy to continue to Glacier Nat'l Park today.
today was a really LONG drive. really wished the iPod was up and running! it is charging as I speak, in the hotel comp---hopefully there will be no hiccups this time...
we got delayed for a good while when we left the highway to investigate the park at the "Headwaters if the Missouri River!" ran into roadwork and had to sit about for a long while, waiting for a "pilot car" to appear to escort us thru. there was this other car next to us, and the driver got out and asked us, "so i guess we have to wait here for the pilot car" and Daddy [already fed up with the extremely long wait, joked "here's what we'll do. I'll walk ahead of the cars, and act as guide.". There was a general laugh and the other fellow replied, "I've got a red vest you can wear!".
last night in the parking lot and Barnes and Noble [you remember that incident?] there was an absolute downpour. there was a substantial lake forming and we joked about having to hire Lewis and Clark to get us to the other side.
I am keeping a detailed travel journal [in my notorious tiny handwriting] and it is chock-full of episodes. to read it, one would think that our traveling life consists mainly of hilarious or uncomfortable [or both] incidents, with only an occasional mention of Yellowstone or the mountains.
the trek through Eastern Oregon was desolate. in the stretch between Bend and Burns i swas, "LOOK! A tree!" then "Look! A cow!" and then my dad came in with "last cow for 97 miles" but there were some truly thrilling moments, like the Tick Incident. My dad and I were out of the car, trying to get down to the alluring river 6 feet down the bank, when he exclaimed there was a tick on him--must have crawled out of the sagebrush. that was exciting! we beat a hasty retreat to the car, dusting ourselves down frantically.
while in Yellowstone we made inumerable bear-jokes, but did not actually see any. then there were the bison. the first time we saw one we were thrilled: "Oh LOOK!! A BUFFALO!!" by the time we saw the herd, it was "oh there's a herd." by the end of the day it was more along the lines of: "There's a bison on the highway!" other person replies--"no I do NOT want to see another bison!". but that is exaggerating a bit, the time when we were driving along and saw a bison walking down the opposite lane towards us, leading the line of cars, we were very enthused. [yes that really happened, we have the pictures to prove it.]
we decamped earlier than planned from Yellowstone, we'd pretty much had our fill of mud-pots, geysers, bison, and mosquitoes. as my mom said, upon going 1 mile along a trail proclaiming itself "1/4 mile to paint-pots!!", only to find that the deceptive trail wound off another stretch up the hill, anyway, she said, "seen one mud-pot, see 'em all."
and the campground was not pleasant, what with generator motors running, and the crowds, and the lights, and the ever-present mosquitoes, drat 'em.
the night we spent in Billings was more than usually incident-prone. [I had found, while we were staying in a cabin in WY, that not so many funny things happened when we were not camping; I hoped that would change, once were back in the ole tent. It did.]
anyway, the campsite had a streetlight right next to it, shining into the tent. my dad has a special fondness for dark nights. he tried to convince the groundskeeper to just turn off that one light--no go. he discarded ideas of taking matters into his own hands only reluctantly.
the night began innocently enough, after the interesting pursuit of a skeeter round the tent. it must have been about midnight when i was roused by my parents' voices, discussing the noise that i was vaguely aware of...a repetitive, annoying sort of screech or squeal. from what i gathered later, my dad went off in search of it along the riverside. he was pretty sure at first that it was an animal--then, that it was a human snore--though what sort of snore! Finally traced it to a FROG.
i'm going to post this, and run down to our room and get my travel journal, i can't remember all the things that happened--stay tuned, folks!
today was a really LONG drive. really wished the iPod was up and running! it is charging as I speak, in the hotel comp---hopefully there will be no hiccups this time...
we got delayed for a good while when we left the highway to investigate the park at the "Headwaters if the Missouri River!" ran into roadwork and had to sit about for a long while, waiting for a "pilot car" to appear to escort us thru. there was this other car next to us, and the driver got out and asked us, "so i guess we have to wait here for the pilot car" and Daddy [already fed up with the extremely long wait, joked "here's what we'll do. I'll walk ahead of the cars, and act as guide.". There was a general laugh and the other fellow replied, "I've got a red vest you can wear!".
last night in the parking lot and Barnes and Noble [you remember that incident?] there was an absolute downpour. there was a substantial lake forming and we joked about having to hire Lewis and Clark to get us to the other side.
I am keeping a detailed travel journal [in my notorious tiny handwriting] and it is chock-full of episodes. to read it, one would think that our traveling life consists mainly of hilarious or uncomfortable [or both] incidents, with only an occasional mention of Yellowstone or the mountains.
the trek through Eastern Oregon was desolate. in the stretch between Bend and Burns i swas, "LOOK! A tree!" then "Look! A cow!" and then my dad came in with "last cow for 97 miles" but there were some truly thrilling moments, like the Tick Incident. My dad and I were out of the car, trying to get down to the alluring river 6 feet down the bank, when he exclaimed there was a tick on him--must have crawled out of the sagebrush. that was exciting! we beat a hasty retreat to the car, dusting ourselves down frantically.
while in Yellowstone we made inumerable bear-jokes, but did not actually see any. then there were the bison. the first time we saw one we were thrilled: "Oh LOOK!! A BUFFALO!!" by the time we saw the herd, it was "oh there's a herd." by the end of the day it was more along the lines of: "There's a bison on the highway!" other person replies--"no I do NOT want to see another bison!". but that is exaggerating a bit, the time when we were driving along and saw a bison walking down the opposite lane towards us, leading the line of cars, we were very enthused. [yes that really happened, we have the pictures to prove it.]
we decamped earlier than planned from Yellowstone, we'd pretty much had our fill of mud-pots, geysers, bison, and mosquitoes. as my mom said, upon going 1 mile along a trail proclaiming itself "1/4 mile to paint-pots!!", only to find that the deceptive trail wound off another stretch up the hill, anyway, she said, "seen one mud-pot, see 'em all."
and the campground was not pleasant, what with generator motors running, and the crowds, and the lights, and the ever-present mosquitoes, drat 'em.
the night we spent in Billings was more than usually incident-prone. [I had found, while we were staying in a cabin in WY, that not so many funny things happened when we were not camping; I hoped that would change, once were back in the ole tent. It did.]
anyway, the campsite had a streetlight right next to it, shining into the tent. my dad has a special fondness for dark nights. he tried to convince the groundskeeper to just turn off that one light--no go. he discarded ideas of taking matters into his own hands only reluctantly.
the night began innocently enough, after the interesting pursuit of a skeeter round the tent. it must have been about midnight when i was roused by my parents' voices, discussing the noise that i was vaguely aware of...a repetitive, annoying sort of screech or squeal. from what i gathered later, my dad went off in search of it along the riverside. he was pretty sure at first that it was an animal--then, that it was a human snore--though what sort of snore! Finally traced it to a FROG.
i'm going to post this, and run down to our room and get my travel journal, i can't remember all the things that happened--stay tuned, folks!
Monday, July 6, 2009
trip!
Here i am in Bozeman Montana--yes folks, in case you were wondering, i did not fall off the edge of the globe last Tuesday. We've been in Yelowstone, the Grand Tetons, all over Wyoming, and now MT.
We're driving of course. that can be very interesting, as it involves daily shuffling of stuff to and fro. then we either camp or spend the night in hotel, depending on weather.
this is the first time i've managed to get near a computer for more than a few minutes at a time!
last night was spent just outside of Billings MT. tolerable campsite, near a river, but the town was dreadful, very run-down looking, an oil-refinery, lots of homeless people, so many empty buildings.
and there was a certain amount of precipitation in the atmosphere too.
tonight we were waiting out the thunderstorm in Barnes and Noble bookstore [love that place] and as i was standing there reading, this old guy comes up to me and starts talking. about 60 probably, white hair, portly, seemed slightly vague in his speech. commented on my golden hair [ha--haaa! to my mom who says it's gone red after the latest henna treatment]. said he was a songwriter, going down to Tennessee with his song, the traditional Western-type about a girl with golden hair, and summer days gone by. quoted a few lines.
i was meanwhile smiling politely but getting nervous, and slowly bringing my elbow up into defensive range [I took that self defense class a while back, you know]. but he went off harmlessly after a bit.
randomnity! lol
We spent Independence Day in Cody WY. splendid parade in the morning, very hometown-ish. and highly patriotic. good firework show too, better than my town.
i could really get used to the western mind-set out here. i come from Oregon, a highly liberal sort of place. while that has its perks [ROCKIN' HEALTHFOOD STORES! for one], this is super...in some ways.... big trucks [which i detest in the ole hometown because you KNOW the owners are "putting on", but are cool here because you know they really DO ranch, and have to haul haybales and cattle and such; lots of Western wear [which is fab] and as for hats, wel, everyone wears a Stetson!; not ashamed to smoke and drink [which I'm not so keen on!]; wide open space; yee-haw!
it was pretty hard to find good food in WY. Jackson Hole was okay, but in Cody, well, people just gave you a blank stare if you asked for organic.
Montana is beter so far...imagine our excitement at finding a HUGE natural-foods store here in Bozeman, and it's not a Whole Foods either...a co-op.
sadly my lovely new iPod's battery is dead. we've tried to charge it at a few public computers, but no-go---USB outlets aren't hi-speed, it seems. not happy!!
my dad came very close to buying a western hat in Cody...i did buy a really splendid knife--Kershaw flick-opener. sweet.
must run...excuse sp. errors lol
We're driving of course. that can be very interesting, as it involves daily shuffling of stuff to and fro. then we either camp or spend the night in hotel, depending on weather.
this is the first time i've managed to get near a computer for more than a few minutes at a time!
last night was spent just outside of Billings MT. tolerable campsite, near a river, but the town was dreadful, very run-down looking, an oil-refinery, lots of homeless people, so many empty buildings.
and there was a certain amount of precipitation in the atmosphere too.
tonight we were waiting out the thunderstorm in Barnes and Noble bookstore [love that place] and as i was standing there reading, this old guy comes up to me and starts talking. about 60 probably, white hair, portly, seemed slightly vague in his speech. commented on my golden hair [ha--haaa! to my mom who says it's gone red after the latest henna treatment]. said he was a songwriter, going down to Tennessee with his song, the traditional Western-type about a girl with golden hair, and summer days gone by. quoted a few lines.
i was meanwhile smiling politely but getting nervous, and slowly bringing my elbow up into defensive range [I took that self defense class a while back, you know]. but he went off harmlessly after a bit.
randomnity! lol
We spent Independence Day in Cody WY. splendid parade in the morning, very hometown-ish. and highly patriotic. good firework show too, better than my town.
i could really get used to the western mind-set out here. i come from Oregon, a highly liberal sort of place. while that has its perks [ROCKIN' HEALTHFOOD STORES! for one], this is super...in some ways.... big trucks [which i detest in the ole hometown because you KNOW the owners are "putting on", but are cool here because you know they really DO ranch, and have to haul haybales and cattle and such; lots of Western wear [which is fab] and as for hats, wel, everyone wears a Stetson!; not ashamed to smoke and drink [which I'm not so keen on!]; wide open space; yee-haw!
it was pretty hard to find good food in WY. Jackson Hole was okay, but in Cody, well, people just gave you a blank stare if you asked for organic.
Montana is beter so far...imagine our excitement at finding a HUGE natural-foods store here in Bozeman, and it's not a Whole Foods either...a co-op.
sadly my lovely new iPod's battery is dead. we've tried to charge it at a few public computers, but no-go---USB outlets aren't hi-speed, it seems. not happy!!
my dad came very close to buying a western hat in Cody...i did buy a really splendid knife--Kershaw flick-opener. sweet.
must run...excuse sp. errors lol
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