Day 13:
Today was a relatively simple day. A simple two hundred mile roound trip that we had just made the day before to take in a ballgame at the Metrodome between the Twins and the Blue Jays.
Watching a ballgame in the climate controlled Metrodome is very different from watching one back home. We didn't have to truck in the tradional hats and sunscreen or the blankets for after the sun went down. The goldilocks not-too-hot, not-too-sunny environment might not be traditional in a game replete with tradition but it was just fine with me. For balance, the food was a little more traditional that the Bay Area parks; there were no garlic fries or churros. There was just normal ballpark food: hot dogs, brats, barbeque and popcorn.
We came in during the top of the first, delaying our lunch in favor of getting the kids settled in the seats. We walked up the stairs to the second deck in this unfamiliar stadium only to be greeted by a kindly gentleman who asked us to wait in the tunnel until between batters. This courtesy is traditional at hockey games and I really appreciated it. As it turns out, we were released just in tiem to get to our seats (228, row 5) to see Frank Thomas hit his 500th career homerun! It took me several batters go get used to the scoreboard setup. When you've been going to the same ballparks all your life, you often take for granted the positioning of all the informational scoreboards. It's very disconcerting when you can't find things as simple as balls and strike count. Luckily, the ladies who sat in front of us were as friendly as most people I've met in Minnesota and helped out a lot. It turns out that one even had a grown son in my hometown!
We had more of my mother-in-law's friends over to visit in the evening. One of the things I've appreciated the most during this trip were the glimpses I got into the younger lives of persons who came to visit. I heard from these wonderful people, all approaching seventy, stories of de-tassling corn to make money and throwing apples at the grumpy old man whose name had long been forgotten and replaced by a nickname. They spoke of leaving on a train at the age of twenty for a place they'd never seen before with only eighty dollars and a trunk full of clothes; two friends crying on the train all the way to Montana. One told me of a car rolled over into a ditch days before she got her license and the subsequent cover-up by her boyfriend-now-husband of fifty-five years. Our parents often tell us stories like this but we do not hear them. OUR parents couldn't possibly be that interesting; the eventual retellings dulling any possible impact until all they elicit are knowing glances between the trapped listeners.
Highlights:
1. Getting out of the city center after the game was a breeze. I'd say it was easier than San Jose Arena, which I count as one of the best I've ever seen. To be fair, it was a day game that let out at 3:30.
2. No lines at the concession stands!
3. We dropped by Latte Da Espresso again. The "bikers" out front that I was trying not to look at turned out to be two of the people I met the previous visit. I got to introduce them to all the kids.
Quirks:
1. Twingo, or Twins Bingo. People bought (I presume) bingo cards with baseball scoring events in the squares. Anything you could put on a score sheet might appear on a Twingo card.
2. A lot more emphasis on saving money here. There seem to be Dollar Stores everywhere, and many of the independents are named something with "Sav", "Less", or "Valu" in their name.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Nothing Ever Goes as Planned
Day 12:
This was the first time in some time that we had any time pressure. We had set times to both leave the lodge for the Mall of America (MOA) and to leave the mall for an evening engagement. I honestly don't miss the lack of scheduling.
The kids were very excited to get to the mall, so there were no issues with the usual suspects. The biggest wild card was T's sprained ankle and whether or not we'd have to wheel her around MOA in a shopping cart. She managed to limp quickly enough though, that she wasn't culled from the herd.
Looking back on the day, it's still not clear in my mind if the men or the women were more grounded about the whole MOA experience. I didn't think much of the girls' desire to shop at all the same shops that we had back home. But then again, the guys dropped a good chunk of change on a flight simulator and NASCAR simulator experience that were essentially big video games.
Going into the ACES flight simulator, I was really concerned about how my eight-year-old son K would do. He plays a game on the XBox called Heroes of the Pacific, and we would be flying the same selection of WWII planes. The trouble was that ACES had full stick/throttle/rudder controls and I wasn't sure how he would do without the familiar video game controller. He was certainly willing to give it a try.
The other three in the flight were my brother-in-laws, D & M, and myself. To make a long story short, K went from asking the tower for help with how to execute a turn to teaming up with M (a military historian AND a pilot in training) to put a 9-2 whuppin' on D and myself. As near as we can figure, he had four kills and M had five. No, we didn't go easy on him. And I'm actually very good at video games.
With the NASCAR sim, we brought in a few more of the group. G and her son K as well as D's sons E (the 14-year-old athlete) and J. Fresh off the ACES experience I wasn't expecting K to have a hard time, but he got pretty overwhelmed with scanning his ticket, starting his car, putting it in gear and finding the accelerator. It was pretty easy to forget that he was only eight when he was regularly showing up on my six and pouring lead through my cockpit. But this time, the new experience was too much and he ended up as my passenger for the second race. I'm happy to report that I regained some of my dignity here and got back into my video game stride. I'll leave the rest of the group to tell their own tales of woe and sorrow.
If you've ever done some kind of group activity like the two above, or if you're simply a guy, you'll agree that the debriefing over is as much fun as the actual event. We spent a lot of time poring over stat sheets, reviewing parts of the mission and quirks in the software, trying to get differing views of the same event, and talking about the most spectacular things you did after your plane lost it's wings and before you hit the ground.
After NASCAR, we had about an hour left to drop into Camp Snoopy, the amusement park at the center of the MOA. The rides were between carnival rides and Real Amusement Park (tm) rides, but hey, you're AT THE MALL and you get to ride a roller coaster. Whee!
To close the MOA section, I feel I need to comment on it's size. This thing is BIG. It's a big square built around Camp Snoopy (more on that later) with each side as long as a decent sized mall. Except that decent-sized malls are two stories tall and these are four. There are two Starbuck's and four Caribou Coffees in this place. In addition to the amusement park, it also has an aquarium. The Camp Snoopy area, a large terrarium is kept cool by huge vents stuck on the 24 tall structural supports for the ceiling.
Finally, a section on Karen, our GPS. I think she took revenge on us today for all those times we ignored her. Leaving the mall she gave us a series of five rapid-fire "in .3 miles, turn" directives that had us cutting people off to follow. .3 miles goes by very quickly when you're in rush hour traffic. A tip of my (virtual) hat to her, though. Her directions got us home twenty minutes (on top of two hours) faster than the route chosen by someone who grew up in the area.
Highlights:
1. Having it made clear who in my family gets to do a dogfight if a million bucks is riding on it
2. I had a coffee (that's espresso to you) after lunch. The local chain is Caribou Coffee, where you cannot get a single espresso but where the double costs $1.60.
3. Having dinner at a friend of my mother-in-law's. It was a beautiful place on a lake. There's that lake thing again - pretty common theme around here.
Quirks:
1. I've noticed a lot of VFW chapters here. I don't think I've even seen one in the Bay Area. Same, btw, goes for those self-service car washes.
2. The local police love their radar guns and they love laying in wait
3. They keep their cars longer around here. There's no lack of cars older than 10 years on the road.
New Things I've Learned:
1. Minnesota hasn't yet gotten to the point where they only do road work at night.
2. Don't upset your navigator. Even if she's the kind you leave in your glove box.
This was the first time in some time that we had any time pressure. We had set times to both leave the lodge for the Mall of America (MOA) and to leave the mall for an evening engagement. I honestly don't miss the lack of scheduling.
The kids were very excited to get to the mall, so there were no issues with the usual suspects. The biggest wild card was T's sprained ankle and whether or not we'd have to wheel her around MOA in a shopping cart. She managed to limp quickly enough though, that she wasn't culled from the herd.
Looking back on the day, it's still not clear in my mind if the men or the women were more grounded about the whole MOA experience. I didn't think much of the girls' desire to shop at all the same shops that we had back home. But then again, the guys dropped a good chunk of change on a flight simulator and NASCAR simulator experience that were essentially big video games.
Going into the ACES flight simulator, I was really concerned about how my eight-year-old son K would do. He plays a game on the XBox called Heroes of the Pacific, and we would be flying the same selection of WWII planes. The trouble was that ACES had full stick/throttle/rudder controls and I wasn't sure how he would do without the familiar video game controller. He was certainly willing to give it a try.
The other three in the flight were my brother-in-laws, D & M, and myself. To make a long story short, K went from asking the tower for help with how to execute a turn to teaming up with M (a military historian AND a pilot in training) to put a 9-2 whuppin' on D and myself. As near as we can figure, he had four kills and M had five. No, we didn't go easy on him. And I'm actually very good at video games.
With the NASCAR sim, we brought in a few more of the group. G and her son K as well as D's sons E (the 14-year-old athlete) and J. Fresh off the ACES experience I wasn't expecting K to have a hard time, but he got pretty overwhelmed with scanning his ticket, starting his car, putting it in gear and finding the accelerator. It was pretty easy to forget that he was only eight when he was regularly showing up on my six and pouring lead through my cockpit. But this time, the new experience was too much and he ended up as my passenger for the second race. I'm happy to report that I regained some of my dignity here and got back into my video game stride. I'll leave the rest of the group to tell their own tales of woe and sorrow.
If you've ever done some kind of group activity like the two above, or if you're simply a guy, you'll agree that the debriefing over
After NASCAR, we had about an hour left to drop into Camp Snoopy, the amusement park at the center of the MOA. The rides were between carnival rides and Real Amusement Park (tm) rides, but hey, you're AT THE MALL and you get to ride a roller coaster. Whee!
To close the MOA section, I feel I need to comment on it's size. This thing is BIG. It's a big square built around Camp Snoopy (more on that later) with each side as long as a decent sized mall. Except that decent-sized malls are two stories tall and these are four. There are two Starbuck's and four Caribou Coffees in this place. In addition to the amusement park, it also has an aquarium. The Camp Snoopy area, a large terrarium is kept cool by huge vents stuck on the 24 tall structural supports for the ceiling.
Finally, a section on Karen, our GPS. I think she took revenge on us today for all those times we ignored her. Leaving the mall she gave us a series of five rapid-fire "in .3 miles, turn
Highlights:
1. Having it made clear who in my family gets to do a dogfight if a million bucks is riding on it
2. I had a coffee (that's espresso to you) after lunch. The local chain is Caribou Coffee, where you cannot get a single espresso but where the double costs $1.60.
3. Having dinner at a friend of my mother-in-law's. It was a beautiful place on a lake. There's that lake thing again - pretty common theme around here.
Quirks:
1. I've noticed a lot of VFW chapters here. I don't think I've even seen one in the Bay Area. Same, btw, goes for those self-service car washes.
2. The local police love their radar guns and they love laying in wait
3. They keep their cars longer around here. There's no lack of cars older than 10 years on the road.
New Things I've Learned:
1. Minnesota hasn't yet gotten to the point where they only do road work at night.
2. Don't upset your navigator. Even if she's the kind you leave in your glove box.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
My Little Town
Day 11:
Karen pointed out a local coffee joint called Latte da Espresso so I decided to join my mother- and sister-in-law for the the four mile drive into town. New London is a small town about three streets wide and two streets deep with one of every shop you would need in a town: Auto Parts (I needed new wiper blades), Grocery Store (ATM, Coke Zero, Power Ball Lottery Ticket), car wash (the front of the van is pretty disgusting) and bank. We drove in to pick up pastries for breakfast but we managed to find excuses to hit all the aforementioned shops.
My big surprise was at Latte Da Espresso. First, you have to understand coffee in Minnesota. They drink it all day long and serve it much weaker than I'm used to. It's definitely stronger than tea, but not by a lot. The first thing I do when I walk in is scan the counter for an espresso machine. The fact that "espresso" was in the name of the establishment really made this unnecessary, but I'd wrongly assumed that any place with Coffee in the name served espresso. Who knew what else I would be wrong about? I spied the machine just as I got to the counter. Whew. The first thing the checker does when I ordered my coffee (that's how the Italians who taught refer to what we call espresso) was look up the price! My heart sank. After paying my .48 (forty eight cents!), collecting my coffee and searching for additives, one of the eight people sitting at the group of pushed-together tables invited me to sit and chat. I was there for some time while the others got the pastries. Everyone was so friendly and I had a WONDERFUL time! Add on top of that the fact that the espresso was REALLY GOOD! I may make this a habit while I'm here.
Lunch was more local flavor. I have a feeling that much of the stay in Minnesota will be this way. We went to another small town in the area called Sunburg to hit the local creamery for a Scandinavian dish called klub. It's a boiled potato dumpling filled with ham and served with a good helping of melted butter. If that's not enough, they also toss a few strips of bacon onto the your plate and serve it all with a desert called rommegrot, a custard with cinnamon sprinkled on top. I was skeptical going in, but I really enjoyed them both.
In the afternoon we went swimming at the lake in Sibley State Park which was right around the corner.
Highlights
1. More cool local eateries. I need some marks in the "plus" column after the Cottonwood Restaurant.
2. Another thing checked off my list: I bought a Power Ball Lottery ticket.
Quirks:
1. A bumper sticker at the Creamery: "Lutefisk is Legal in Sunburg, Minnesota"
2. An actual spinning barber pole in Sunburg next to the Norwegian Kultur Hus.
3. I can't seem to take a good picture in Minnesota. I just don't know how to shoot green-on-green.
New Things I've Learned:
1. People around here have winter and summer homes. Not just vacation homes - actual summer homes on the lake from which they commute to work.
2. The difference between feed corn (no rows between), sweet corn (the kind we eat), and seed corn.
3. Teenagers still make money picking strawberries. My mother-in-law used to make money de-tassling corn and thinks that kids still do.
4. There are these little zig-zag strips on the edge of roof lines. These are for melting ice/snow in the winter so you "don't create an ice dam"
Karen pointed out a local coffee joint called Latte da Espresso so I decided to join my mother- and sister-in-law for the the four mile drive into town. New London is a small town about three streets wide and two streets deep with one of every shop you would need in a town: Auto Parts (I needed new wiper blades), Grocery Store (ATM, Coke Zero, Power Ball Lottery Ticket), car wash (the front of the van is pretty disgusting) and bank. We drove in to pick up pastries for breakfast but we managed to find excuses to hit all the aforementioned shops.
My big surprise was at Latte Da Espresso. First, you have to understand coffee in Minnesota. They drink it all day long and serve it much weaker than I'm used to. It's definitely stronger than tea, but not by a lot. The first thing I do when I walk in is scan the counter for an espresso machine. The fact that "espresso" was in the name of the establishment really made this unnecessary, but I'd wrongly assumed that any place with Coffee in the name served espresso. Who knew what else I would be wrong about? I spied the machine just as I got to the counter. Whew. The first thing the checker does when I ordered my coffee (that's how the Italians who taught refer to what we call espresso) was look up the price! My heart sank. After paying my .48 (forty eight cents!), collecting my coffee and searching for additives, one of the eight people sitting at the group of pushed-together tables invited me to sit and chat. I was there for some time while the others got the pastries. Everyone was so friendly and I had a WONDERFUL time! Add on top of that the fact that the espresso was REALLY GOOD! I may make this a habit while I'm here.
Lunch was more local flavor. I have a feeling that much of the stay in Minnesota will be this way. We went to another small town in the area called Sunburg to hit the local creamery for a Scandinavian dish called klub. It's a boiled potato dumpling filled with ham and served with a good helping of melted butter. If that's not enough, they also toss a few strips of bacon onto the your plate and serve it all with a desert called rommegrot, a custard with cinnamon sprinkled on top. I was skeptical going in, but I really enjoyed them both.
In the afternoon we went swimming at the lake in Sibley State Park which was right around the corner.
Highlights
1. More cool local eateries. I need some marks in the "plus" column after the Cottonwood Restaurant.
2. Another thing checked off my list: I bought a Power Ball Lottery ticket.
Quirks:
1. A bumper sticker at the Creamery: "Lutefisk is Legal in Sunburg, Minnesota"
2. An actual spinning barber pole in Sunburg next to the Norwegian Kultur Hus.
3. I can't seem to take a good picture in Minnesota. I just don't know how to shoot green-on-green.
New Things I've Learned:
1. People around here have winter and summer homes. Not just vacation homes - actual summer homes on the lake from which they commute to work.
2. The difference between feed corn (no rows between), sweet corn (the kind we eat), and seed corn.
3. Teenagers still make money picking strawberries. My mother-in-law used to make money de-tassling corn and thinks that kids still do.
4. There are these little zig-zag strips on the edge of roof lines. These are for melting ice/snow in the winter so you "don't create an ice dam"
Long Long Way From Home
Day 10:
Day Ten finds us at Gooseberry Falls State Park on Lake Superior. This will be as far as we get away from home. It was a long day's drive so we didn't do much more than set up camp, take a short hike to the falls and then break camp. As we were setting up camp, the twenty-somethings in the next site came over to see if their music was too loud. The proper response would have been to tell them that it was okay as long as they switched to Pink Floyd at the 10pm quiet time, but all I could get out was "no, you're fine."
In the morning, we decided we'd hit the road early to try to find a local diner for breakfast. We broke camp about 9am and headed toward Duluth to start looking. After being disappointed that we flew by Betty's Pies (I had eyed this as a possible place to eat on the way in) we settled on a place called Judy's Cafe in a one-street town called Two Harbors.
Judy's wasn't that small, but we took up about half of the place after seating two adult tables and a kids table. The fare was solid diner breakfast food: eggs, toast, sausages. It was what I expected from a small town diner. At 9:30, the farmers had long gone and the remaining patrons were retirees and a table of table of seven widows near the front window and who were debriefing about the weekend. The waitress who served us had that very charming Minnesota accent.
The breakfast was a good eggs/sausage/hotcakes one, only I substituted the cakes for some local delicacy: caramel rolls topped with pecans. The sausage patties got my vote for top item and the kids all finished their meals - a good sign of good eats.
The one thing we wanted to do on the way to Duluth was to take a picture of the kids with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Big Blue Ox. We knew that it was near the lake, but took some pretty bad guesses as to where this might be located. Who'd have thought it would be a place called the Paul Bunyan Amusement Park? "Amusement Park" was a very generous given what this phrase implies in most of the country. In addition to the required pictures, we also took a short walk up the lakefront to a park where they were holding a Swedish festival. The Norwegian part of the contingent (most of it) was very big on visiting and it had everything you'd think it would from traditional dress to walleye.
The final stop was at the Maritime Center on Lake Superior. I know it has a real name, but I'm too lazy to look it up now. It was really hot, really humid and we were just killing time until lunch. From there, we had a nice view of the lift bridge and a short walk to the old lighthouse.
The kids have been traveling in the big RV with their cousins. Although I miss having them in the car to show them things as they go by, I will happily have the spend all this time with their cousins. This is the kind of thing that I did with my cousins and I think of them to this day as extra brothers and sisters. Thanks for asking, Emory. Everyone's having a wonderful time, even with the bugs and the dirt and all the making and breaking of camp.
Highlights:
1. Fireflies! I've never seen one in my life.
2. Checked something off my list: I ate at Taco John's, the Midwest equivalent of Taco Bell. The Bell has better Tacos but TJ's serves a squished tater tot contrivance that was pretty good.
3. My first caramel/pecan roll. I highly recommend these.
4. The lodge where we'll be spending the next four nights is awesome! (http://www.grandcottages.com/lodge.htm)
Quirks:
1. They're serious about their recycling here. I only had garbage to throw away but when I got there I was confronted with different bins for aluminum, metal, plastic, green glass, clear glass and brown glass.
2. There was a woman in her sixties working at Taco John's. I don't think we see this very much in the Bay Area.
3. Saw my first carts/corner stands selling walleye and cheese curds. It was 10am, unfortunately, and I wasn't in the mood to eat.
Day Ten finds us at Gooseberry Falls State Park on Lake Superior. This will be as far as we get away from home. It was a long day's drive so we didn't do much more than set up camp, take a short hike to the falls and then break camp. As we were setting up camp, the twenty-somethings in the next site came over to see if their music was too loud. The proper response would have been to tell them that it was okay as long as they switched to Pink Floyd at the 10pm quiet time, but all I could get out was "no, you're fine."
In the morning, we decided we'd hit the road early to try to find a local diner for breakfast. We broke camp about 9am and headed toward Duluth to start looking. After being disappointed that we flew by Betty's Pies (I had eyed this as a possible place to eat on the way in) we settled on a place called Judy's Cafe in a one-street town called Two Harbors.
Judy's wasn't that small, but we took up about half of the place after seating two adult tables and a kids table. The fare was solid diner breakfast food: eggs, toast, sausages. It was what I expected from a small town diner. At 9:30, the farmers had long gone and the remaining patrons were retirees and a table of table of seven widows near the front window and who were debriefing about the weekend. The waitress who served us had that very charming Minnesota accent.
The breakfast was a good eggs/sausage/hotcakes one, only I substituted the cakes for some local delicacy: caramel rolls topped with pecans. The sausage patties got my vote for top item and the kids all finished their meals - a good sign of good eats.
The one thing we wanted to do on the way to Duluth was to take a picture of the kids with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Big Blue Ox. We knew that it was near the lake, but took some pretty bad guesses as to where this might be located. Who'd have thought it would be a place called the Paul Bunyan Amusement Park? "Amusement Park" was a very generous given what this phrase implies in most of the country. In addition to the required pictures, we also took a short walk up the lakefront to a park where they were holding a Swedish festival. The Norwegian part of the contingent (most of it) was very big on visiting and it had everything you'd think it would from traditional dress to walleye.
The final stop was at the Maritime Center on Lake Superior. I know it has a real name, but I'm too lazy to look it up now. It was really hot, really humid and we were just killing time until lunch. From there, we had a nice view of the lift bridge and a short walk to the old lighthouse.
The kids have been traveling in the big RV with their cousins. Although I miss having them in the car to show them things as they go by, I will happily have the spend all this time with their cousins. This is the kind of thing that I did with my cousins and I think of them to this day as extra brothers and sisters. Thanks for asking, Emory. Everyone's having a wonderful time, even with the bugs and the dirt and all the making and breaking of camp.
Highlights:
1. Fireflies! I've never seen one in my life.
2. Checked something off my list: I ate at Taco John's, the Midwest equivalent of Taco Bell. The Bell has better Tacos but TJ's serves a squished tater tot contrivance that was pretty good.
3. My first caramel/pecan roll. I highly recommend these.
4. The lodge where we'll be spending the next four nights is awesome! (http://www.grandcottages.com/lodge.htm)
Quirks:
1. They're serious about their recycling here. I only had garbage to throw away but when I got there I was confronted with different bins for aluminum, metal, plastic, green glass, clear glass and brown glass.
2. There was a woman in her sixties working at Taco John's. I don't think we see this very much in the Bay Area.
3. Saw my first carts/corner stands selling walleye and cheese curds. It was 10am, unfortunately, and I wasn't in the mood to eat.
Monday, June 25, 2007
She's in Love with the Sound of the Summer Storm
Day 9:
Here's a general comparison of the last three states we've visited:
Montana: more open plains, public land. More cattle.
North Dakota: More green low crops (soybeans?), vast expanses of rich green carpet. Picket lines of trees in the distance and perpendicular to the freeway.
Minnesota: Lots more trees and right up to the freeway.
Our campground at Devil's Lake was a windy place. The nearest beach was on the leeward side of the lake and we were treated to wind-whipped (25 mph?) waves and water warm enough for swimming in at 9pm. As I was teaching the kids the finer points of catching waves (For you who haven't done it, btw, the key is to catch the wave near the forward trough as it's starting to break) it struck me as odd to be doing so this far away from the Pacific. Still, with my son not swimming well enough to try this in the ocean, I happily took what I could get.
The evening was a grand adventure! There must be something about Saturdays that make them memorable. Amidst the clear blue sky and the humidity the weather radio squawked a tornado warning. After a little frantic map searching, we found that we were in one of the affected counties. The two trailers raised their aerials to pick up the local TV news. We were at the south west edge of the watch, but it was enough to make a few worried and everyone prepared. Even though nobody over twelve really thought that we'd see a tornado, I made sure that all the bags were in the car and we would be ready to go at a moment's notice. At around 11:30 we were treated to lightning on the horizon all around us. My previous experience with lightning storms had been to view them from a distance. When I stepped out of the tent to view the festivities from the grassy hill next to the tent, I was catching flashes in a 180 degree arc. They were all around us!
When we had enough of the bugs, we headed back into the tent. I had a hard time going to sleep because I couldn't get out of the habit of counting until the thunder to measure the distance every time I saw a flash.
Later in the night, I woke to the sound of rain hitting the tent. This was our first real rain storm. Because I had the clothes in the van already, I was willing to just ride this one out and I'm happy to report that the tent did just fine.
Highlights:
1. A spectacular lightning storm
2. Swimming in a lake at 9:30pm.
3. A warm wind making for a very pleasant evening. I wish I could find such a place without mosquitoes.
4. Bemidji, Minnesota seemed a lot more like home. Even though it was wooded and sparse, there were strip malls, minivans, fast food and billboards about healthcare plans. It was the first time since Portland that I've felt this way.
5. I've lost track of the number of mosquito bites on my arms and legs. No, this isn't really a high;light but I don't know where else to put it.
6. The van will hit 100,000 miles today, somewhere near Duluth, Minnesota.
Quirks:
1. I haven't seen drive-up coffee places in ND and MN as I did earlier in the trip.
2. Nothing is open on Sunday? A comment over the walkie talkie was that the entire town had died of plague.
3. Karen tried to lead us into a lake today. Both of the other GPS units in the caravan agreed. I take back my earlier comment about the machines becoming self aware; I think I've upset them.
Here's a general comparison of the last three states we've visited:
Montana: more open plains, public land. More cattle.
North Dakota: More green low crops (soybeans?), vast expanses of rich green carpet. Picket lines of trees in the distance and perpendicular to the freeway.
Minnesota: Lots more trees and right up to the freeway.
Our campground at Devil's Lake was a windy place. The nearest beach was on the leeward side of the lake and we were treated to wind-whipped (25 mph?) waves and water warm enough for swimming in at 9pm. As I was teaching the kids the finer points of catching waves (For you who haven't done it, btw, the key is to catch the wave near the forward trough as it's starting to break) it struck me as odd to be doing so this far away from the Pacific. Still, with my son not swimming well enough to try this in the ocean, I happily took what I could get.
The evening was a grand adventure! There must be something about Saturdays that make them memorable. Amidst the clear blue sky and the humidity the weather radio squawked a tornado warning. After a little frantic map searching, we found that we were in one of the affected counties. The two trailers raised their aerials to pick up the local TV news. We were at the south west edge of the watch, but it was enough to make a few worried and everyone prepared. Even though nobody over twelve really thought that we'd see a tornado, I made sure that all the bags were in the car and we would be ready to go at a moment's notice. At around 11:30 we were treated to lightning on the horizon all around us. My previous experience with lightning storms had been to view them from a distance. When I stepped out of the tent to view the festivities from the grassy hill next to the tent, I was catching flashes in a 180 degree arc. They were all around us!
When we had enough of the bugs, we headed back into the tent. I had a hard time going to sleep because I couldn't get out of the habit of counting until the thunder to measure the distance every time I saw a flash.
Later in the night, I woke to the sound of rain hitting the tent. This was our first real rain storm. Because I had the clothes in the van already, I was willing to just ride this one out and I'm happy to report that the tent did just fine.
Highlights:
1. A spectacular lightning storm
2. Swimming in a lake at 9:30pm.
3. A warm wind making for a very pleasant evening. I wish I could find such a place without mosquitoes.
4. Bemidji, Minnesota seemed a lot more like home. Even though it was wooded and sparse, there were strip malls, minivans, fast food and billboards about healthcare plans. It was the first time since Portland that I've felt this way.
5. I've lost track of the number of mosquito bites on my arms and legs. No, this isn't really a high;light but I don't know where else to put it.
6. The van will hit 100,000 miles today, somewhere near Duluth, Minnesota.
Quirks:
1. I haven't seen drive-up coffee places in ND and MN as I did earlier in the trip.
2. Nothing is open on Sunday? A comment over the walkie talkie was that the entire town had died of plague.
3. Karen tried to lead us into a lake today. Both of the other GPS units in the caravan agreed. I take back my earlier comment about the machines becoming self aware; I think I've upset them.
Roll me away, won't you roll me away tonight
Day 8:
Luckily for my family, this was the first night that we would spend in an air conditioned building. It was 93 degrees and 55 percent humidity in Glasgow, Montana but we were spared the experience. The camping area wouldn't have helped: it was the motel's gravel parking lot. The other two families in our party ended up parked next to a big rig with a refrigeration unit that rumbled all night making it very difficult to sleep.
The highlight of the evening and what kept the kids going for most of the day's long drive was the hotel pool. It's a nice way to end a long hot day on the road. After a quick swim, we went to the hotel restaurant. The chicken fried steak I ordered was nothing to write home about - and I had low expectations going into it. At least I had a side of tasty onion rings to go with it.
The drive today was much the same as it was yesterday. There were long, long stretches of Montana that could have been a repetitive Hollywood background screen. Like yesterday, most of the roads were undivided, two-lane roads that were only broken up by road work. One big difference, being Saturday, was that we saw several groups of motorcycles. If this were the bay area, I'd chalk it up to the local professionals taking their toys out for a weekend ride. Out here on the northern plains, I wasn't sure what to think.
I didn't realize that we were only 30 miles from the Canadian border. We went through a small town whose biggest attraction was the large green freeway sign pointing to the left advertising a 24 hour border crossing and the route to Regina (pronounced Reg- EYE - na, not Reg-EE-na), Saskatchewan.
I caught news of the NHL draft. Pretty nifty that the Sharks went from no draft choices in the first round to TWO.
Highlights:
1. Getting to the end of our first long day on the road, a place called Devil's Lake.
2. Seeing an elk by the side of the road
3. Seeing bison!
Quirks:
1. A chain of gas station convenience stores called Kum and Go. Uh, yeah.
2. Casinos are big in Montana. It seems like every small shop advertises itself as a casino. I counted three in an attached set of six shops.
3. You see a lot more women working road construction than in California. I'd say fully half the big equipment operators are women.
4. Stores you would not see in California:
a. The Fireworks Superstore
b. The Williston Saddlery
c. Stallion Oil Field Services. There were several oil wells along the route.
d. Burger Queen. No kidding.
5. We stopped at the self-proclaimed Geographical (sic) Center of North America. The engineer in me was reeling with possibilities on how you calculate that. Weighted average by elevation? How do you account for the ice on the northern shore? What kind of accuracy do you have?
6. Our back window overlooked what I refer to as "Combine and Tractor World." We would go on to pass many such places on Route 2.
Luckily for my family, this was the first night that we would spend in an air conditioned building. It was 93 degrees and 55 percent humidity in Glasgow, Montana but we were spared the experience. The camping area wouldn't have helped: it was the motel's gravel parking lot. The other two families in our party ended up parked next to a big rig with a refrigeration unit that rumbled all night making it very difficult to sleep.
The highlight of the evening and what kept the kids going for most of the day's long drive was the hotel pool. It's a nice way to end a long hot day on the road. After a quick swim, we went to the hotel restaurant. The chicken fried steak I ordered was nothing to write home about - and I had low expectations going into it. At least I had a side of tasty onion rings to go with it.
The drive today was much the same as it was yesterday. There were long, long stretches of Montana that could have been a repetitive Hollywood background screen. Like yesterday, most of the roads were undivided, two-lane roads that were only broken up by road work. One big difference, being Saturday, was that we saw several groups of motorcycles. If this were the bay area, I'd chalk it up to the local professionals taking their toys out for a weekend ride. Out here on the northern plains, I wasn't sure what to think.
I didn't realize that we were only 30 miles from the Canadian border. We went through a small town whose biggest attraction was the large green freeway sign pointing to the left advertising a 24 hour border crossing and the route to Regina (pronounced Reg- EYE - na, not Reg-EE-na), Saskatchewan.
I caught news of the NHL draft. Pretty nifty that the Sharks went from no draft choices in the first round to TWO.
Highlights:
1. Getting to the end of our first long day on the road, a place called Devil's Lake.
2. Seeing an elk by the side of the road
3. Seeing bison!
Quirks:
1. A chain of gas station convenience stores called Kum and Go. Uh, yeah.
2. Casinos are big in Montana. It seems like every small shop advertises itself as a casino. I counted three in an attached set of six shops.
3. You see a lot more women working road construction than in California. I'd say fully half the big equipment operators are women.
4. Stores you would not see in California:
a. The Fireworks Superstore
b. The Williston Saddlery
c. Stallion Oil Field Services. There were several oil wells along the route.
d. Burger Queen. No kidding.
5. We stopped at the self-proclaimed Geographical (sic) Center of North America. The engineer in me was reeling with possibilities on how you calculate that. Weighted average by elevation? How do you account for the ice on the northern shore? What kind of accuracy do you have?
6. Our back window overlooked what I refer to as "Combine and Tractor World." We would go on to pass many such places on Route 2.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Sleep Comes Like a Drug In God's Country
Day 7: I'm happy to report that I've completely lost track of the days.
I got up earlier than the rest of camp again this morning. I figured I could head out to do some sight seeing and get back before everyone was awake. It was going to be our longest driving day yet (7.5 hours) so it was unlikely that we were going to do any sightseeing. By the time I made up my mind, my daughter was up and agreed to come with me. Cameras in hand, we hopped in the van and drove around Lake McDonald looking for good shots. It became clear very quickly that we weren't going to get to some of the higher elevations before our self-imposed half-hour deadline expired. We were able to get around lake McDonald and part way up McDonald creek before my phone started playing "Black Coffee in Bed" telling us to turn around. Although we didn't get to any elevation, we managed to find stops that allowed us spectacular views of the mountains mirrored in the glassy lake. We passed the small trailer on the way in, a sign that camp was breaking quickly this morning. Indeed, by the time we got back, the contents of the tent were already on the picnic table and I was told that we were supposed to have left 20 minutes ago. When you see the pictures, you'll agree that it was worth it.
We're currently traveling highway 2, what the locals call "The Hi Line." It's so named because the major east west routes running through the state (I-90/I-94) pass far to the south. It's the Montana version of I-5 between the Altamont and the Grapevine. It has nothing but sameness for hundreds of miles. I should have saved the Doris Lessing reference for this part of the journey. There's going to be a whole lot of nothing until we get to Minnesota. At least it's a new kind of nothing for me.
We pulled off to have lunch in the small town of Shelby. Karen the GPS led us to a small park on the edge of town where we broke out the picnic supplies and had sandwiches. Two things struck me as I was sitting in the shade working on my steak sandwich: how far across the plains this wind that was buffeting me might have come and how I could now understand why people might want to leave the place where they grew up for new experiences. As I looked across the park at the beat up Mercury Cougar sitting in front of the single-wide trailer next to the large equipment shed, I wondered what percentage of the local children simply grew up, went into a business supporting this isolated town and simply never left. My simplistic peace of a family taking care itself is apparently very limted in scope.
I got up earlier than the rest of camp again this morning. I figured I could head out to do some sight seeing and get back before everyone was awake. It was going to be our longest driving day yet (7.5 hours) so it was unlikely that we were going to do any sightseeing. By the time I made up my mind, my daughter was up and agreed to come with me. Cameras in hand, we hopped in the van and drove around Lake McDonald looking for good shots. It became clear very quickly that we weren't going to get to some of the higher elevations before our self-imposed half-hour deadline expired. We were able to get around lake McDonald and part way up McDonald creek before my phone started playing "Black Coffee in Bed" telling us to turn around. Although we didn't get to any elevation, we managed to find stops that allowed us spectacular views of the mountains mirrored in the glassy lake. We passed the small trailer on the way in, a sign that camp was breaking quickly this morning. Indeed, by the time we got back, the contents of the tent were already on the picnic table and I was told that we were supposed to have left 20 minutes ago. When you see the pictures, you'll agree that it was worth it.
We're currently traveling highway 2, what the locals call "The Hi Line." It's so named because the major east west routes running through the state (I-90/I-94) pass far to the south. It's the Montana version of I-5 between the Altamont and the Grapevine. It has nothing but sameness for hundreds of miles. I should have saved the Doris Lessing reference for this part of the journey. There's going to be a whole lot of nothing until we get to Minnesota. At least it's a new kind of nothing for me.
We pulled off to have lunch in the small town of Shelby. Karen the GPS led us to a small park on the edge of town where we broke out the picnic supplies and had sandwiches. Two things struck me as I was sitting in the shade working on my steak sandwich: how far across the plains this wind that was buffeting me might have come and how I could now understand why people might want to leave the place where they grew up for new experiences. As I looked across the park at the beat up Mercury Cougar sitting in front of the single-wide trailer next to the large equipment shed, I wondered what percentage of the local children simply grew up, went into a business supporting this isolated town and simply never left. My simplistic peace of a family taking care itself is apparently very limted in scope.
Rocky Mountain Way
Day 6: (Again?)
We had a nice steak dinner at the aptly named Wolf Lodge. It was a lone red building on a frontage road between I-90 and our freeway-side campground. Dinner was good and plentiful. The smallest cut, called the Little Cowboy was a 16oz top sirloin. They also had "steak fries" that were whole potatoes quartered the long way. Add to that the fact that my son's "child steak" was mistakenly replaced with a full 16oz cut and we had enough steak to keep us happy for several meals to come. One side that I'd never seen before was kreble, a light bread somewhere between an oven roll and a croisant. I took as many of those as I could.
Morning two of the stay at Coeur D'Alene dawned with the patten of rain on our tent. In that half-logic haze that comes with having just woken up, I managed to get myself dressed and my sleeping bag rolled up in record time only to realize that I wasn't going to get any further than that. My family was still blissfully sleeping through it. Luckily it was just a passing shower and we only got a few drops through the nylon.
Coeur D'Alene to Glacier National Park
There wasn't much to report about the journey beyond a 10 mile jaunt backwards for breakfast at the last Starbucks for 100 miles. It was the first time we travelled seperately and the first opportunity (missed in this case) we had to have a caravan of three.
This part of the trip was much more to my liking. Fast, no-nonsense, get-me-there-faster-than-possible driving with occasional stops for points of interest and bathrooms. Our big stop was at Flathead Lake in Montana. We pulled into the state park for a quick picnic lunch by the lake. No fast food, no drive-throughs, just the family hauling out the cooler with our soft drinks and left over steak from last night. Lay the table cloth on the picnic bench while the kids skipped rocks, break out some napkins for plates, lay some sandwich bread on it and we're in business. There's someting about this simple self-sufficiency that makes me feel at peace.
After lunch, we got down to the serious business of stone skipping. There was no lack of flat krugrand-sized stones on this shore line and I launched was must have been a 15-hopper (with pitter-pats at the end). I should have left well enough alone and been satisfied wiht that through because it got no better.
The drive up to and beyond Flathead lake, we marked by intermittent bursts of cell reception where we tried desperately to figure out everyone's location. It was a comical game of cell tag where we were never both in cell ranage at the same time. By the time we would pick up messages, it was too late to act on the info. Most of the calls were to voicemail - both to pick up or leave one.
Rocky Mountain Way
You know the old joke? There are three seasons in the Northwest: Summer, Winter and Road Construction. Guess which we hit? We were introduced to lose gravel and long waits for "Pilot Cars" that would lead us at an excrutiatingly slow pace through the recently applied white gravel. This seemed haunt us on and off for most of the way through Idaho and Montana.
Once beyond the lake we went through the gorgeous Flathead River Valley, a wide expanse sprinkled with lone farmsteads that evoked images of lone settler families and long wind-swept winters. I would look at these and wonder how their routine compared to mine: how far away was baseball practice? School? Where do take the family out for a nice evening after a long week at work?
We hooked up with the big trailer (30 foot 5th wheel) in the town of Kalispell, a surprisingly large town of around 30K. Kalispell is a half hour drive from the Glacier West entrance and our designaged place for supplies. It was also the new home of an old friend of the group who came up to visit our campsite.
After setting up camp in Glacier, it became clear that we wouldn't be repeating the Crater Lake version of the Donner Party. It was around 80 degrees at 6:30pm. The lows were only going to be in the 50s.
None of us rememebered that it was the first day of sumer and the longest day of the year. Where I come from, a long day means that it's not completely dark at 9pm. Here, on the western edge of the Mountain Time Zone, it was twilight until 10:30! Looking back, I wish I had taken this time to do some driving around Glacier. The light for photography is always best at dawn and dusk.
We had a nice steak dinner at the aptly named Wolf Lodge. It was a lone red building on a frontage road between I-90 and our freeway-side campground. Dinner was good and plentiful. The smallest cut, called the Little Cowboy was a 16oz top sirloin. They also had "steak fries" that were whole potatoes quartered the long way. Add to that the fact that my son's "child steak" was mistakenly replaced with a full 16oz cut and we had enough steak to keep us happy for several meals to come. One side that I'd never seen before was kreble, a light bread somewhere between an oven roll and a croisant. I took as many of those as I could.
Morning two of the stay at Coeur D'Alene dawned with the patten of rain on our tent. In that half-logic haze that comes with having just woken up, I managed to get myself dressed and my sleeping bag rolled up in record time only to realize that I wasn't going to get any further than that. My family was still blissfully sleeping through it. Luckily it was just a passing shower and we only got a few drops through the nylon.
Coeur D'Alene to Glacier National Park
There wasn't much to report about the journey beyond a 10 mile jaunt backwards for breakfast at the last Starbucks for 100 miles. It was the first time we travelled seperately and the first opportunity (missed in this case) we had to have a caravan of three.
This part of the trip was much more to my liking. Fast, no-nonsense, get-me-there-faster-than-possible driving with occasional stops for points of interest and bathrooms. Our big stop was at Flathead Lake in Montana. We pulled into the state park for a quick picnic lunch by the lake. No fast food, no drive-throughs, just the family hauling out the cooler with our soft drinks and left over steak from last night. Lay the table cloth on the picnic bench while the kids skipped rocks, break out some napkins for plates, lay some sandwich bread on it and we're in business. There's someting about this simple self-sufficiency that makes me feel at peace.
After lunch, we got down to the serious business of stone skipping. There was no lack of flat krugrand-sized stones on this shore line and I launched was must have been a 15-hopper (with pitter-pats at the end). I should have left well enough alone and been satisfied wiht that through because it got no better.
The drive up to and beyond Flathead lake, we marked by intermittent bursts of cell reception where we tried desperately to figure out everyone's location. It was a comical game of cell tag where we were never both in cell ranage at the same time. By the time we would pick up messages, it was too late to act on the info. Most of the calls were to voicemail - both to pick up or leave one.
Rocky Mountain Way
You know the old joke? There are three seasons in the Northwest: Summer, Winter and Road Construction. Guess which we hit? We were introduced to lose gravel and long waits for "Pilot Cars" that would lead us at an excrutiatingly slow pace through the recently applied white gravel. This seemed haunt us on and off for most of the way through Idaho and Montana.
Once beyond the lake we went through the gorgeous Flathead River Valley, a wide expanse sprinkled with lone farmsteads that evoked images of lone settler families and long wind-swept winters. I would look at these and wonder how their routine compared to mine: how far away was baseball practice? School? Where do take the family out for a nice evening after a long week at work?
We hooked up with the big trailer (30 foot 5th wheel) in the town of Kalispell, a surprisingly large town of around 30K. Kalispell is a half hour drive from the Glacier West entrance and our designaged place for supplies. It was also the new home of an old friend of the group who came up to visit our campsite.
After setting up camp in Glacier, it became clear that we wouldn't be repeating the Crater Lake version of the Donner Party. It was around 80 degrees at 6:30pm. The lows were only going to be in the 50s.
None of us rememebered that it was the first day of sumer and the longest day of the year. Where I come from, a long day means that it's not completely dark at 9pm. Here, on the western edge of the Mountain Time Zone, it was twilight until 10:30! Looking back, I wish I had taken this time to do some driving around Glacier. The light for photography is always best at dawn and dusk.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Hit the Ball and Touch Them All
Day 6:
We spent the entire morning at the campground relaxing. My fourteen-year-old nephew and I spent a long time sixty feet apart discussing the finer points of seams, knuckleballs, sliders, palm balls, and screwballs. "E" is a good kid. He's always been polite and helpful. I'm really happy to see him coming into his own as a young athlete. He made the baseball All-Star team and had just finished football camp. I think he's got great things in front of him. Me? I'm looking forward to a regular catch partner for the rest of vacation.
We went to the "beach" to go "swimming" today. The beach was at Coeur D'Alene City Park and the water was a tad warmer than the Pacific Ocean at Santa Cruz. Which is to say that nobody in their right mind stays in long without a wet suit. Of course the advantage to the cold water of the Pacific is that you get to surf it. Lake Coeur D'Alene? Not so much. The entire way to the beach was replete with trendy shops, resorts and basketball courts, and reminded me of Any Beach Town, California.
Living in a campground for a few days in the middle of the week gives you a unique perspective on humanity. Sprinkled among the retirees with their huge RVs towing Mercedes you get an odd mix.
1. We had a very young couple not much out of high school traveling in an old beat up sedan. My guess is that they were either cheerleaders or ice skaters.
2. At the far end of camp on our first night we had a group of four men ranging from 14-60. They'd obviously been on the road a long time and were pulling a box trailer behind a station wagon. They had a look to them that said "high school losers who never figured it out." Either that or "rock band."
3. We had a young man traveling with two children who called him "Dad." He certainly didn't look old enough to be Dad. He knew how to swing an axe, rented the camp four-wheelers for his kids and yelled at them a lot. Typical behavior for a young man who had his kids before he was ready.
Highlights:
1. Being near the water. There's nothing that satisfies the soul (my apologies to Annie Savoy) better than a large body of water.
2. Being able to pass down some pitching knowledge. I have my doubts about being able to do this to my children.
Little Quirks:
1. There's a very big awareness campaign around wearing life vests along the Columbia river. Some of the adds were pretty graphic.
2. My son now has a stuffed bass named Speedo
We spent the entire morning at the campground relaxing. My fourteen-year-old nephew and I spent a long time sixty feet apart discussing the finer points of seams, knuckleballs, sliders, palm balls, and screwballs. "E" is a good kid. He's always been polite and helpful. I'm really happy to see him coming into his own as a young athlete. He made the baseball All-Star team and had just finished football camp. I think he's got great things in front of him. Me? I'm looking forward to a regular catch partner for the rest of vacation.
We went to the "beach" to go "swimming" today. The beach was at Coeur D'Alene City Park and the water was a tad warmer than the Pacific Ocean at Santa Cruz. Which is to say that nobody in their right mind stays in long without a wet suit. Of course the advantage to the cold water of the Pacific is that you get to surf it. Lake Coeur D'Alene? Not so much. The entire way to the beach was replete with trendy shops, resorts and basketball courts, and reminded me of Any Beach Town, California.
Living in a campground for a few days in the middle of the week gives you a unique perspective on humanity. Sprinkled among the retirees with their huge RVs towing Mercedes you get an odd mix.
1. We had a very young couple not much out of high school traveling in an old beat up sedan. My guess is that they were either cheerleaders or ice skaters.
2. At the far end of camp on our first night we had a group of four men ranging from 14-60. They'd obviously been on the road a long time and were pulling a box trailer behind a station wagon. They had a look to them that said "high school losers who never figured it out." Either that or "rock band."
3. We had a young man traveling with two children who called him "Dad." He certainly didn't look old enough to be Dad. He knew how to swing an axe, rented the camp four-wheelers for his kids and yelled at them a lot. Typical behavior for a young man who had his kids before he was ready.
Highlights:
1. Being near the water. There's nothing that satisfies the soul (my apologies to Annie Savoy) better than a large body of water.
2. Being able to pass down some pitching knowledge. I have my doubts about being able to do this to my children.
Little Quirks:
1. There's a very big awareness campaign around wearing life vests along the Columbia river. Some of the adds were pretty graphic.
2. My son now has a stuffed bass named Speedo
Day 5: Boring to Coeur D'Alene
We got out later than our planned 9am start time. It was mostly due to the length of time required to take showers and break camp. On the way to I-84, we had a small rebellion and pulled into a drive-through Starbucks. The new person we got on the speaker was so confused I was afraid I was going to end up with a quadruple espresso.
Ou first stop was at the Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatcheries. I remember going through Hoover and Grand Coulee with my Dad and thinking that it was kinda neat but a little odd to stop to see a dam. Thirty-odd years later, I still think the same thing but now understand a little more where he was coming from.
We're currently driving through a place called The Dalles. The fellow at the full serve gas station pronounced this "Dayles" though I keep wanting to call it the Dulls. Aside from the Columbia River on our right, we could easily be in Nevada. Very sparse low scrub, lots of rocky clifsides and none of those wonderful trees that I was so tired of. I think this is where Oregonians send their Republicans.
Idaho has no atmosphere. Temperatures change quickly when the sun rises or sets. If you're standing next to a fire, the side of you facing the fire will toasty warm and the other half will be cold as the driven snow.
Our stop in Coeur D'Alene (prounounced Coor Da Lain for you who don't know) finds us in a fairly nice campground. Nestled against a wooded hillside, Wolfe Campground has nice rows of picnic tables and fire pits, green grass and and the sound of the ocean, er, freeway, in the background. RV parks, so I'm told, are always located next to freeways.
1. Internet Access, even if I have to pay for it
2. Meeting up with the rest of the caravan (three more cousins, their parents, and mom-in-law). We are now 13 strong and ready to conquer southern Canada.
Little Quirks:
1. Nothing to report, SIR!
Where the Streets Have No Name
Day 4:
OMSI was fantastic! It was a hands-on kids museum very much like the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Two of our party went to see the Body Works exhibit, a strange (yet surprisingly popular) show comprised of displays of human bodies stripped of their layers. Didn't know you had layers? This is Gray's Anatomy (the book, not the TV show) for real body geeks. They showed, or so they tell me, bodies in action poses and allowed you to see muscules nerves and other inner body workings. A horor movie villain will be born of this - mark my words. As one who prides himself on being able to handle anything with relative detatchment, I simply declared myself chicken and declined.
My family took in two planetarium shows. The first was a laser show. I was old enough to remember when Lazerium first started in San Francisco and how everyone thought it was such a cool thing. The show left me feeling like I was playing the 80's vector game "Battlezone" when everyone else was playing Halo 3.
The second was a Nova episode on Black Holes. Black Holes and other space phenomena have a special place in my heart, and therefore in the hearts of my two children. Think of Tom Selleck reading Sports Illustrated in Three Men and a Baby. Just replace talk of boxing with that of gravity wells and Einstein's theory of General Relativity.
The hands-on part of OMSI was a scientists and engineer's playground. There was a chemistry lab, complete with eye protection and stations that took you through experiments that changed colors. There was a physics lab with a huge van de Graff generator.
The main hall was filled with just an assortment of things that were just plain fun. The bigger children (read: over 30) gravitated towards the pressurized two-liter bottles simulating rocket launches. There was an encolsed area full of high-speed air vents, tubing and small foam balls where you were supposed to invent things to launch the balls into baskets hanging from the ceiling. I spent most of the time shooting the balls at children. All in hopes of bouncing them into the baskets, of course.
Highlights:
1. My first espresso in days. I have at least two a day and my own machine at home.
2. Night time temperatures in the 50s. As one member of our version of the Donner party put it "last night was not as death defying as the first."
3. Our first day without heavy driving, rest stops or fast food.
4. Seeing my daughter really get into the exhibits. She's not declared herself "too cool" to do things, but has been definitely shading her perferences away from science though it's one of her best subjects. Taking her out of her element seemed to allow her just be herself again.
Little Quirks:
1. Apparently the Adult Entertainment Industry is big around Portland. The stores were plentiful and some were quite large and tastefully done.
OMSI was fantastic! It was a hands-on kids museum very much like the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Two of our party went to see the Body Works exhibit, a strange (yet surprisingly popular) show comprised of displays of human bodies stripped of their layers. Didn't know you had layers? This is Gray's Anatomy (the book, not the TV show) for real body geeks. They showed, or so they tell me, bodies in action poses and allowed you to see muscules nerves and other inner body workings. A horor movie villain will be born of this - mark my words. As one who prides himself on being able to handle anything with relative detatchment, I simply declared myself chicken and declined.
My family took in two planetarium shows. The first was a laser show. I was old enough to remember when Lazerium first started in San Francisco and how everyone thought it was such a cool thing. The show left me feeling like I was playing the 80's vector game "Battlezone" when everyone else was playing Halo 3.
The second was a Nova episode on Black Holes. Black Holes and other space phenomena have a special place in my heart, and therefore in the hearts of my two children. Think of Tom Selleck reading Sports Illustrated in Three Men and a Baby. Just replace talk of boxing with that of gravity wells and Einstein's theory of General Relativity.
The hands-on part of OMSI was a scientists and engineer's playground. There was a chemistry lab, complete with eye protection and stations that took you through experiments that changed colors. There was a physics lab with a huge van de Graff generator.
The main hall was filled with just an assortment of things that were just plain fun. The bigger children (read: over 30) gravitated towards the pressurized two-liter bottles simulating rocket launches. There was an encolsed area full of high-speed air vents, tubing and small foam balls where you were supposed to invent things to launch the balls into baskets hanging from the ceiling. I spent most of the time shooting the balls at children. All in hopes of bouncing them into the baskets, of course.
Highlights:
1. My first espresso in days. I have at least two a day and my own machine at home.
2. Night time temperatures in the 50s. As one member of our version of the Donner party put it "last night was not as death defying as the first."
3. Our first day without heavy driving, rest stops or fast food.
4. Seeing my daughter really get into the exhibits. She's not declared herself "too cool" to do things, but has been definitely shading her perferences away from science though it's one of her best subjects. Taking her out of her element seemed to allow her just be herself again.
Little Quirks:
1. Apparently the Adult Entertainment Industry is big around Portland. The stores were plentiful and some were quite large and tastefully done.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The Pros and Cons of Hitchiking
Day 3: Monday 6/18
One of the many odd things about camping is that your clock tends to be way off. It's 6:15am and I've already been up for forty five minutes. That's just wrong on so many levels. The funny thing was that my body, aided by the distance of the nearest bathroom and smoker's hack call of crow told me that IT WAS TIME TO GET UP. So I sit here now in my favorite camping chair, nestled in a part of the seemingly endless forest that is Oregon, preparing this blog for the next time that I get hooked up to the internet. In fairness to you wistfully picturing me ensconced in a pine forest (correct), serenaded by birds (correct), sitting alone while the others sleep (correct) you should also add to your mental picture the fact that I'm sitting next to the utility box commonly found in sites with "RV Hookups" charging both my mobile phone and laptop batteries. You can take the boy out of Silicon Valley...
Our destination today is the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry or OMSI. The two boys (9 and 10) are looking forward to it with the fading innocent excitemnt of their age. It's still okay to like it but they already KNOW a lot of that stuff. The twelve-year-old girls has a lot of questions. Where are we going again? What does that stand for? What does Science and Industry mean? Translation: when can we go to the gift shop and be done with this?
One of the many odd things about camping is that your clock tends to be way off. It's 6:15am and I've already been up for forty five minutes. That's just wrong on so many levels. The funny thing was that my body, aided by the distance of the nearest bathroom and smoker's hack call of crow told me that IT WAS TIME TO GET UP. So I sit here now in my favorite camping chair, nestled in a part of the seemingly endless forest that is Oregon, preparing this blog for the next time that I get hooked up to the internet. In fairness to you wistfully picturing me ensconced in a pine forest (correct), serenaded by birds (correct), sitting alone while the others sleep (correct) you should also add to your mental picture the fact that I'm sitting next to the utility box commonly found in sites with "RV Hookups" charging both my mobile phone and laptop batteries. You can take the boy out of Silicon Valley...
Our destination today is the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry or OMSI. The two boys (9 and 10) are looking forward to it with the fading innocent excitemnt of their age. It's still okay to like it but they already KNOW a lot of that stuff. The twelve-year-old girls has a lot of questions. Where are we going again? What does that stand for? What does Science and Industry mean? Translation: when can we go to the gift shop and be done with this?
Hard Day's Night
Sunday 6/17
It was cold last night. It was one degree above freezing and we were in a tent. I'm not much of an outdoorsman. My version of "roughing it" is when I'm driving in the van and we only have two 120 volt AC outlets coming off the inverter to run the family electronics (sounds like Paul Atriedes in Dune speak of the family atomics). One of the highlights of the night (well, aside from waking up frequently to make sure I heard three other people breathing) was having to get out of my barely warm sleeping bag to trek halfway across the campsite to find one of the few bathrooms they had managed to get working when they opened the park the night before. At 2:30am, more than half asleep trying to find the short cut across the campground, I had a hard time deciding whether it was okay to shine the flashlight in directions that might go into people's tents. After awhile, I finally turned off the flashlight in hopes of some divine inspiration. When I looked up to find the moon, I was treated to the most amazing sky I've ever seen in my life. Undiluted by city lights, I could see stars everywhere! I could clearly see the band of the milky way and so many other stars between the stars I was used to seeing. It was really moving. "Moving" is not a word you use lightly at 2:30 in the morning.
After an early hike along the rim trail of Annie Creek, we had a light breakfast and broke camp at 10:30. Everyone hopped in the cars and we headed for the main event: a trip to the rim of Crater Lake. This is probably the first of many times on this trip that I will cop out and simply say "words cannot adequately describe what we saw." When I get online, I'll figure out where to post my pictures and let you decide for yourself.
The highlight of that particular segment of the trip was my daughter taking pictures. I've been teaching her what I learn as I go through the journey myself, and I'm really happy to see the things that she's trying with her little camera. She asked me more than a few technical questions around framing and light that were quite impressive.
The road from Crater Lake to Boring, Oregon (jokes will be left as an exercise for the reader) was not as majestic as the drive on Day 1. We drove a highway (I'll have to consult Nicole for the details) that was classic Northern Exposure: undivided, tall trees, lots of morons. What made the drive tough (aside from the lack of a decent front-mounted photon torpedo) was the relatively slow pace of our fellow motorists. We made the most of every possible passing lane and this required really being on your toes (as well as the next car's rear) so you could hit them with speed.
The sad part about all this was that we passed many a small town with inviting local eateries run by people named Mel and Sally who served grandma Mabel's meatloaf. Of course that would mean having to pass the unwashed masses again. Maybe Mel could have mounted the photons for me.
Highlights:
1. The deep blue water of Crater Lake. It actually looked bluer without my sun glasses on.
2. A full serve gas station! Serving gas at lower prices than I'm used to paying for self-serve, no less. I'm sure they thought they were charging an arm and a leg.
3. None of my fellow motorists were accidentally bumped to the bottom of a deep gorge.
Little Quirks:
1. There's a lot more smoking going on. Maybe it's just the places where we were traveling.
2. The first Oregon rest stop we saw advertised Free Wi Fi.
3. Ole's Medium Rare Fine Food. Need I say more?
4. We blew a bike tire. Apparently, tires don't like hot exhaust directly from tail pipes. The blowout was pretty spectacular. We thought it might have been a gun shot.
It was cold last night. It was one degree above freezing and we were in a tent. I'm not much of an outdoorsman. My version of "roughing it" is when I'm driving in the van and we only have two 120 volt AC outlets coming off the inverter to run the family electronics (sounds like Paul Atriedes in Dune speak of the family atomics). One of the highlights of the night (well, aside from waking up frequently to make sure I heard three other people breathing) was having to get out of my barely warm sleeping bag to trek halfway across the campsite to find one of the few bathrooms they had managed to get working when they opened the park the night before. At 2:30am, more than half asleep trying to find the short cut across the campground, I had a hard time deciding whether it was okay to shine the flashlight in directions that might go into people's tents. After awhile, I finally turned off the flashlight in hopes of some divine inspiration. When I looked up to find the moon, I was treated to the most amazing sky I've ever seen in my life. Undiluted by city lights, I could see stars everywhere! I could clearly see the band of the milky way and so many other stars between the stars I was used to seeing. It was really moving. "Moving" is not a word you use lightly at 2:30 in the morning.
After an early hike along the rim trail of Annie Creek, we had a light breakfast and broke camp at 10:30. Everyone hopped in the cars and we headed for the main event: a trip to the rim of Crater Lake. This is probably the first of many times on this trip that I will cop out and simply say "words cannot adequately describe what we saw." When I get online, I'll figure out where to post my pictures and let you decide for yourself.
The highlight of that particular segment of the trip was my daughter taking pictures. I've been teaching her what I learn as I go through the journey myself, and I'm really happy to see the things that she's trying with her little camera. She asked me more than a few technical questions around framing and light that were quite impressive.
The road from Crater Lake to Boring, Oregon (jokes will be left as an exercise for the reader) was not as majestic as the drive on Day 1. We drove a highway (I'll have to consult Nicole for the details) that was classic Northern Exposure: undivided, tall trees, lots of morons. What made the drive tough (aside from the lack of a decent front-mounted photon torpedo) was the relatively slow pace of our fellow motorists. We made the most of every possible passing lane and this required really being on your toes (as well as the next car's rear) so you could hit them with speed.
The sad part about all this was that we passed many a small town with inviting local eateries run by people named Mel and Sally who served grandma Mabel's meatloaf. Of course that would mean having to pass the unwashed masses again. Maybe Mel could have mounted the photons for me.
Highlights:
1. The deep blue water of Crater Lake. It actually looked bluer without my sun glasses on.
2. A full serve gas station! Serving gas at lower prices than I'm used to paying for self-serve, no less. I'm sure they thought they were charging an arm and a leg.
3. None of my fellow motorists were accidentally bumped to the bottom of a deep gorge.
Little Quirks:
1. There's a lot more smoking going on. Maybe it's just the places where we were traveling.
2. The first Oregon rest stop we saw advertised Free Wi Fi.
3. Ole's Medium Rare Fine Food. Need I say more?
4. We blew a bike tire. Apparently, tires don't like hot exhaust directly from tail pipes. The blowout was pretty spectacular. We thought it might have been a gun shot.
The Long and Winding Road
Destination: Crater Lake
We only left a few minutes late this morning. A few minutes late means that you can still travel under 100 on the freeway and make up the time before you arrive at your destination . The McDonalds at Suisun in this case.
Have you tried a McGriddle yet? You know that odd maple-syrup-intrudes-on-the-rest-of-your-breakfast taste? Let's just say that I'm the person that they were thinking of when they invented maple sausages and bacon. The fine folks at Mickey D's found a way to make this into an edible-on-the-go breakfast sandwich. Who says that the country who put a man on the moon is starting to lose it's edge?
As we were driving up the very familiar stretch of 680 I started to look at things with the eyes of a visitor. I was going to be in this mode for most of the trip and I might as well have started in my own back yard. What did I find? The fog billowing over the east bay hills into the early morning sunshine of the Tri Valley.
We bought a GPS for this trip. I never quite understood the need for these things for every day driving but I've had a change of heart. I like seeing the names of the side roads as they go by. On the road, you can make much better decisions about gas stops and meal choice.
Because I can never leave well enough alone when it comes to electronics, I made some slight customizations to the GPS unit. These, unlike others I have done, require no reverse engineering or chain loading of operating systems. Our vehicle marker, instead of the standard arrow is now a tank. Yes, a tank. The kind that rolls over and crushes mere civilian vehicles that manage to survive the pounding of it's main guns. Customization number two was to choose the voice of a an Australian lady whose voice makes her sound like a cross between Nicole Kidman and a librarian.
The GPS is not without it's quirks, however. When we hit the I-505 junction, I was pleasantly told by Karen (our GPS) to merge right onto "Oy Foive Hundred Foive." As we hit approached West Rim Drive, she gleefully told me (for a librarian) to turn right on to "West Rim Doctor." So you can feel free to cross "Date when machines become self aware" off your list of worries. If that date were coming any time soon we'd be safe because they'd die of embarrassment.
Highlights of the drip from Day 1:
1. A little place in the town of Mount Shasta called the Black Bear Diner. Good portions, good food, friendly local staff, and a stunning view of Mount Shasta.
2. Hearing the kids reaction to the scenery. Kids in the My Space generation are unfazed by alien abductions of their iPods. They regularly watch cartoons where sea creatures light campfires beneath the waves. They're a tough crowd. I'm happy to report that there were lots of oohs and ahhs as we drove by Lake Shasta, Mount Shasta and Pinnacles National Monument. The kids didn't let me down here.
3. Snow! As we were driving up to Crater Lake National Park, there was snow on the mountains, snow on the ground, snow in our campsite and snow on the dogs we saw walking. Okay, I made that last one up.
Little Quirks:
1. A crop duster out in a field next to the freeway flying under the power lines.
2. I love the auto program feature of the car radio. Hit a button and it finds the strongest ten stations and sets your radio. North of Redding, it only found five. At least they were predominantly rock and roll.
We only left a few minutes late this morning. A few minutes late means that you can still travel under 100 on the freeway and make up the time before you arrive at your destination . The McDonalds at Suisun in this case.
Have you tried a McGriddle yet? You know that odd maple-syrup-intrudes-on-the-rest-of-your-breakfast taste? Let's just say that I'm the person that they were thinking of when they invented maple sausages and bacon. The fine folks at Mickey D's found a way to make this into an edible-on-the-go breakfast sandwich. Who says that the country who put a man on the moon is starting to lose it's edge?
As we were driving up the very familiar stretch of 680 I started to look at things with the eyes of a visitor. I was going to be in this mode for most of the trip and I might as well have started in my own back yard. What did I find? The fog billowing over the east bay hills into the early morning sunshine of the Tri Valley.
We bought a GPS for this trip. I never quite understood the need for these things for every day driving but I've had a change of heart. I like seeing the names of the side roads as they go by. On the road, you can make much better decisions about gas stops and meal choice.
Because I can never leave well enough alone when it comes to electronics, I made some slight customizations to the GPS unit. These, unlike others I have done, require no reverse engineering or chain loading of operating systems. Our vehicle marker, instead of the standard arrow is now a tank. Yes, a tank. The kind that rolls over and crushes mere civilian vehicles that manage to survive the pounding of it's main guns. Customization number two was to choose the voice of a an Australian lady whose voice makes her sound like a cross between Nicole Kidman and a librarian.
The GPS is not without it's quirks, however. When we hit the I-505 junction, I was pleasantly told by Karen (our GPS) to merge right onto "Oy Foive Hundred Foive." As we hit approached West Rim Drive, she gleefully told me (for a librarian) to turn right on to "West Rim Doctor." So you can feel free to cross "Date when machines become self aware" off your list of worries. If that date were coming any time soon we'd be safe because they'd die of embarrassment.
Highlights of the drip from Day 1:
1. A little place in the town of Mount Shasta called the Black Bear Diner. Good portions, good food, friendly local staff, and a stunning view of Mount Shasta.
2. Hearing the kids reaction to the scenery. Kids in the My Space generation are unfazed by alien abductions of their iPods. They regularly watch cartoons where sea creatures light campfires beneath the waves. They're a tough crowd. I'm happy to report that there were lots of oohs and ahhs as we drove by Lake Shasta, Mount Shasta and Pinnacles National Monument. The kids didn't let me down here.
3. Snow! As we were driving up to Crater Lake National Park, there was snow on the mountains, snow on the ground, snow in our campsite and snow on the dogs we saw walking. Okay, I made that last one up.
Little Quirks:
1. A crop duster out in a field next to the freeway flying under the power lines.
2. I love the auto program feature of the car radio. Hit a button and it finds the strongest ten stations and sets your radio. North of Redding, it only found five. At least they were predominantly rock and roll.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Briefing for a Descent Into Oregon
Day Zero: I'm free! (At least temporarily)
The van's all packed and we have room to spare. It's truly amazing how much some of that camping equipment weighs. Who needs string theory? I think the deceleration of the universe is probably tied directly to the creation of rubber/plastic air mattresses.
I've taken a vow not to check work email until at least Wednesday. Hopefully by then, I'll have kicked the habit and I won't want to any more. The laptop comes with me, though. We've come to rely on the internet way too much to "do it the old way" and actually find a phone book.
Tomorrow morning, we head for Crater Lake, Oregon.
The van's all packed and we have room to spare. It's truly amazing how much some of that camping equipment weighs. Who needs string theory? I think the deceleration of the universe is probably tied directly to the creation of rubber/plastic air mattresses.
I've taken a vow not to check work email until at least Wednesday. Hopefully by then, I'll have kicked the habit and I won't want to any more. The laptop comes with me, though. We've come to rely on the internet way too much to "do it the old way" and actually find a phone book.
Tomorrow morning, we head for Crater Lake, Oregon.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
In the Time Before Time
Arrggh!
What's the last thing you want when you're about to leave for a cross country bloggin' road trip? Aside from horrible boils and a bad case of the selenium poisoning, I would offer the following: a computer crash.
Normally, such a thing would be a trivial matter for I am blessed with a special kind of magic: electronic heal (that's 2d20 for you D&D geeks out there). Forget laying of hands and ritual exorcism, hardware has been known to heal itself just as I walk up to see what is wrong.
But alas, not this time. For my past transgressions, I have been relagated to that small corner of hell inhabited by screen resolutions half of what I am used to and main memory one fourth of what normally runs my machine. Yep, I have the Dreaded Loaner. I guess that'll keep me from working too much this trip.
What's the last thing you want when you're about to leave for a cross country bloggin' road trip? Aside from horrible boils and a bad case of the selenium poisoning, I would offer the following: a computer crash.
Normally, such a thing would be a trivial matter for I am blessed with a special kind of magic: electronic heal (that's 2d20 for you D&D geeks out there). Forget laying of hands and ritual exorcism, hardware has been known to heal itself just as I walk up to see what is wrong.
But alas, not this time. For my past transgressions, I have been relagated to that small corner of hell inhabited by screen resolutions half of what I am used to and main memory one fourth of what normally runs my machine. Yep, I have the Dreaded Loaner. I guess that'll keep me from working too much this trip.
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