One Sweet World

North Twin Cone Peak

2011-11-30T14:14:00.000-08:00

12,323-ft peak in the Platte River Mountain Range near Kenosha Pass. Thanksgiving Day. Had the whole place to ourselves (which was especially thrilling, first, when we got the car wedged into the snow without chains or a shovel, and second, when we were driving down the icy switchbacks in late afternoon...still lacking chains...and not a soul around!) Necessity breeds innovation, right? We whipped out the floor mats, blankets, and towels (you know, the towels we've been using to clean the antifreeze vapors off the windshield in the Heater Core Debacle of Twenty Eleven) and with our handy snowshoe-shovel devices, broke free of nature's grip. A little backwards driving, a little dirt on the ice rink switchbacks and we were in business. Made it down the mountain AND (bonus round) all the way to a gas station on the fumes we had left in the tank (it was mostly downhill. no problem.)

We should really think about leading a Girl Scout troop...

Up and (Ma)gone to Oregon

2011-11-10T23:16:00.000-08:00

Back in August we journeyed out West for some quality Bauer/Caldera time and spent close to a week in good company and far away from the mesmerizing glow of the internet. It was a good thing. We flew out to Seattle and spent a night in Gig Harbor before hitting the road for a 9-, no, 10-, no, 13-hour drive to Eastern Oregon, where we set up camp at Magone Lake. But before we get ahead of ourselves...some shots from the oasis that is the Bauer homestead.

Aaannndd, we're off! Tacoma Narrows Bridge ahead.

The massive Fred G. Redmon Memorial Bridge in Yakima, WA.

wildlife

Our destination

We made it! That wasn't so bad...now for some nighttime glow stick charades.

Good morning Magone.

We spent out first few days playing in the lake and exploring the area. One of the outstanding features of this area was the massive infestation of butterflies, which seemed denser at higher elevations. A statement by the Dept of Forestry says they are Pine Butterflies, and "can cause severe defoliation over large areas leading to growth loss and tree mortality." (Side note: one name for a group of butterflies is a "kaleidoscope of butterflies" or, in this case, we might say a "kaleidoscope of mortality.")

Atop the mount with Rabbi Steinkowitz-Cohen-Levinstein

When Uncle Paul arrived later in the week we all went South for a night in the Strawberry Mountain wilderness. Camden huffed it an impressive distance on his own up to Strawberry Falls and then spent the night back in the camper with Gramma and Grampa. The rest of us found a creekside camp spot and summited the 9038-ft mountain the next morning.

Strawberry Lake

Strawberry Falls

Near the top. Swarms of butterflies at this point. Glimpses of them in this and the next photo.

Top! (Photo courtesy of Em and Keith) (Also, I cannot properly align this. Apologies.)

Now back to the lake (after some car troubles and quick mechanic man thinking by Keith) for one last swim.

The next day we had a leisurely morning at the campsite and then hitched a ride with Paul to Boise, where we spent the night and caught a plane back home the following day. Great trip.

Brief weather update

2011-10-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

Front yard on Tuesday:

Front yard on Wednesday:

Kablammo!

It was 70 degrees today and the snow is almost all gone, but there's a winter storm watch for tomorrow night. Another schizo Colorado Winter is officially on! P.S. You can now click on a photo and scroll through the whole set at full-size if you wish.

Valley of the Sun

2011-10-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

A brief photo diary of a trip to Phoenix this weekend to visit Her Highness, The Penultimate: College Edition. An altogether enjoyable time of city exploration, college reminiscing, dorm room lounging, treasure hunting and more than one episode of uncontrolled laughter. As it should be.

Rainy Saturday

2011-10-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

Silence in the loudest places

2011-10-07T00:38:00.000-07:00

Work has been a wild bull ride inside a pinball machine this week. I've been pulled in all directions physically and emotionally and have probably let a few too many unsuspecting friends and husbands hear about it.

Amidst the madness of late, however, I have tried very hard to find moments of quiet calm to settle my nerves and be present. In that tenth hour of being on my feet with no food and no bathroom break, with phones ringing, alarms alarming, and my pea brain racing to keep too many tasks prioritized...I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and assure my doubtful self that I will get through the day alive.

This, I believe, has kept me sane this week. It has kept me from breaking down in tears (as two coworkers in two days have) from feeling utterly overwhelmed.

On my day off I made the (possibly random or possibly subconscious) decision to immerse myself in silence in a place - contrarily - known for noise.

Red Rocks Amphitheater

Red Rocks is one of the most famous concert venues in the country, but a midday, midweek visit is serene.

view from stage left

Denver in the distance

concert posters

2002 Film on the Rocks

red rocks

along the surrounding trail

autumn

changing

sloping sandstone

Earth love

delicate prickly poppy

canyon, Morrison

Thank the sanity gods for days off...

RMNP

2011-09-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 24th in Rocky Mountain National Park.

I did a gorgeous hike yesterday and thought I'd share some pictures. I love this place.

Route: Sprague Lake > Boulder Brook Trail > North Longs Peak Trail toward Granite Pass
Elevation: 8710 ft - 10,400 ft, approximately

Tale of the Superamazing Epicfantastic Sister Visit

2011-09-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

I'm getting flack from a certain set of 3 for not blogging about a certain visit to a certain Colorado.

Sooooo WITHOUTFURTHERADO, I present:

plus Francis!!!!!!!!!!!!

They descended on us at the end of July, and we indulged in all the quintessential CO fare: downtown Denver, Pearl St. mall, tubing the creek, and a night backpacking in the mountains. Never a dull moment with these guys. Unfortunately, in all the bustle of trying to be a decent host I neglected my camera. So I have included a few pictures from other cameras (thanks Chris and Francis) and will refer you to Christina's blog for the rest.

Now for the main event.

Day 1: Downtown Denver and creek time! (See Christina's blog)

Days 2, 3: Backpacking!

We did a lovely hike up to Heart Lake along the South Boulder Creek Trail, starting from the East Portal trailhead at Moffat Tunnel. (I had just hiked this trail one month prior to their visit and hit deep snow about 1/2 way up, so I was happy to see a dry trail.)

Snowy trail in June

Soggy trail in July

Meadow about 1 mile in

One of my favorite parts about this hike: the wildflowers.

Shooting Star

Bluemist Penstemon

Fairy Slipper, aka Calypso Orchid

Western Wallflower

Colorado Columbine

Elephant Flower

mmm...not sure...

Purple Fringe

and Fungi!

The lake is a little over 4 miles from the trailhead and took us a couple of hours. We gave the wee little sister, Phoebe, the lightest pack but she later proved her brawn by carrying Carl's "manpack" (including snowboard) for longer than seemed reasonable. We're a competitive lot.

We hit our destination at 11,310 feet with plenty of light left and took some time to catch our breath, set up camp, and explore the area. 2 brave souls went swimming.

Tada! (from C&F)

Carl, clouds

Heart Lake, Alpine Primrose

water filter time (from C&F)

sun, snow field

more clouds and flowers

Mountain House

Happy Campers

Exposing ourselves (C&F)

G'night (C&F)

The next morning before hiking out we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and camp break-down as we all watched Carl hike up to a nearby peak and snowboard down.

Snowboarding in late July

We let him eat a snack before hustling him down the mountain.

down down

down we go

We took it easy the rest of that day and indulged in Snarf's sandwiches for a second time in 3 days. In our remaining time together we explored Boulder and went tubing in the creek (thankfully, there were no casualties - despite raging waters and a bitty thunderstorm).

Before I knew it we were back in the car, on our way to the airport.

All in all it was memorable trip, and for more than just the adventures. Some of my favorite times with these goobers are the un-blog-able times - lying around the house doing nothing at all. As always, can't wait for the next one!

Superamazing Epicfantastics

Farewell Summer.

2011-09-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

It's not quite gone yet, but close enough. Flipping the calendar* to September always evokes thoughts of autumn leaves and crisp mornings; and as usual, retailers are bent on convincing me that Halloween is much, much closer than 2 full months from now...with Thanksgiving soon to follow of course!!

(*a purely symbolic statement, as I own not a calendar to flip.)

Here are the moments of summer we'll remember fondly come February...

Late afternoon sun, Coot Lake

Saturday Farmer's Market

Dushanbe Tea House

Propaganda

Getting out

Crowded creek

Long float

Still going...

Local art

Patio dining

Soccer with a view

Local trail

Bridge, Flatirons

Flooded creek

Words of wisdom

Games, microbrews

Quiet street

Eldorado Springs, South Boulder Creek

6am cloud cover

Clouds

Sky

Squash tendril

Strawbs

Lettuce haul

Bitter lettuce

Rays

Bow

Sunset

After the storm

Farewell.

Coyote Gulch

2011-06-07T22:09:00.000-07:00

Road trip!!

Details:

Boulder, CO to Escalante, UT (approximately) to backpack Coyote Gulch

Roundtrip car mileage: >1,100 miles

Roundtrip foot mileage: 10 miles

Nights in the canyon: 2

Stats:

Hitchhikers picked up - 1

Hubcaps lost - 1

# of times pulled over - 1

# of times asked if we had pot in the car whilst pulled over - 7

Lbs of salami consumed - many

On the road in CO

Glenwood Canyon and the raging Colorado River

Fearless parking lot bunny

Utah scenery

View from the pass on UT-12 through Capitol Reef Nat'l Park (elev. 9,600 ft)

Wanted by the law in Boulder, Ut.

Aaaand, we're there! Almost...

We arrived at Hole-in-the-Rock Road a little after 9 pm, but with 35+ miles left to travel down the washboard dirt road. We got to the Fortymile Ridge trailhead well past dark, jostled, and one hubcap short. There was a group of campers scattered throughout the parking lot, already asleep, so we made quick work of setting up a bed in the back of the Subie.

The next morning we ventured out.

Sand-burrowing beetle/grasshopper.

Grassy field tucked into the rocky landscape

Almost to the canyon

SummitPost suggests that you come here and "plunge yourself into the heart of geologic time as you contemplate the eons that have preceded your insignificant life span." So. we. did.

"Crack in the Wall" entry point near the confluence of Coyote Gulch and the Escalante River

Too-big backpacks cirsumvrenting the too-skinny crack

View of the confluence and sandy slope where we entered the canyon.

Stevens Arch in the background

Made it to the canyon floor. So very glad to have my boots off and my feet in the water

Mmmm spring water

The glorious waterfall sit.

This is where we bedded down the first night (the tent is visible on the sand in the bottom left of the pic)

Carl scrambled up the hill above the site to check out these pictographs on the canyon wall.

Glad to be done for the day.

The next day we slept in and took our time enjoying breakfast and coffee (via my new french press! thanks C!) and breaking up camp before heading out. It was a cool morning and stepping back into the water was an invigorating start to the day.

Before long we reached Coyote Natural Bridge

Then this fun little waterway

Eventually we reached Jacob Hamblin Arch, on the other side of which we claimed a campsite and ditched our packs so we could explore further up the canyon with a lighter load.

There were lizards aplenty in this canyon, but they were very elusive (I only caught one). The frogs, on the other hand were very accommodating of my need to commune with them...and this brought me endless joy.

Bow chicka wow wow. Nature.

Scale

Cloud of tadpoles

Big'un captured by Carl, at which point he stated, "I caught a tadpole. You can quote me on that."

Overcoming my exhaustion with some flexing and growling.

Scouting our route out of the canyon the night before. A group of day hikers had a 150-ft climbing rope at their disposal here - something we wouldn't have the next day. The climb seemed a little hairy, even without our loaded packs, but it was preferable to trudging all the way out of the canyon.

Goofin' back at the campsite.

This was a long night, as there were all manner of species engaging in obstreperous mating rituals until well after dark. Nature.

The next morning we made an effort to get up early, but still ended up sharing the escape route with a group of college students in a backpacking class. We all clambered up the first portion of the rock face together, but Carl navigated a route that took us away from the tangle of people. Here he is, almost to the top, with our starting point visible below.

Out of the canyon and marching back to the car.

We made it back to the trailhead by about 9am and hit the road for the long drive home. Our eyes were peeled for our rogue hubcap and we stopped at 2 or 3 decoy hubcaps before...low and behold....!

We saw this cursed creature of evil at a local gas station on our way out of town. Its wings were about 4 inches long, making it freakishly larger than the house moths we get during the summer (which put me in a tizzy fit when I hear them fluttering against the window when I'm trying to fall asleep at night. ugh.)

The end! Great trip. We recommend it highly.

Railroad Revival Tour

2011-04-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying that I know this whole thing is maybe a little overindulgent, theatrical, and beardy, but, I LOVE IT. For anyone who missed my squeals of excitement for the weeks leading up to the show, here's what went down: my friend Lauren and I caught a plane to Austin, Texas mid-morning on a Tuesday, caught a bus to downtown, caught a show, and caught a plane back to Colorado at 6 am Wednesday morning. That's the bare bones run-down. The point: to see 3 fun, folksy, wonderful bands at one stop along their whimsical railroad tour across the Southern US - Old Crow Medicine Show, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Mumford and Sons. If you've never heard of any of these bands, and don't care to look them up, here are some adjectives that should help paint the picture: old-timey, sepia-toned, banjo-y, Depression-era Americana folk dust-bowlers.

Again, I understand that this tour comes off as "schtick" to some (see example below), but the whole experience makes me feel good for some reason, and I love the music, so I buy into it one hundred percent. So there.

An article from Austin's A.V Club website, entitled, "Mumford and Sons fulfill destiny, book tour on vintage locomotive" said this:

"Last fall, The A.V. Club's own Steven Hyden memorably described English folkees Mumford and Sons as "hokey cornpone-ographers," a descriptor the band will take to its logical conclusion by embarking on a six-stop tour of the American Southwest on a fucking train. Said train will be composed of vintage railcars from the mid-20th century and also carry the members of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show, because of course it will."

Haters gonna hate...but I appreciate the wit.

Without further ado, here are pics from Austin and the show.

Angelina Belle Eberly, lighting a canon

skirt

poster art, from here

the venue @ 4th and Waller

Old Crow Medicine Show

Me & L-dawg

Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros

Mumford and Sons

Austin High marching band

communal gypsy hippy love fest

post-show skee ball

high score

Everybody on stage for one final song...

Crater Lakes

2011-04-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday was glorious. We awoke to snow falling (on my newly planted veggies) and a day free of commitments. So, C loaded the car with various snow accessories, I gathered some snacks and poured a thermos of hot coffee for the road, and off we went. We ventured...up.

Plan A (to climb South Arapaho Peak) was foiled by a snowy, slippery road. So we executed Plan B - hiking to the Crater Lakes in the James Peak Wilderness.

Topo of the route

(from protrails)

East Portal Rd.

The serene, lonely trail.

Taking C's new ice axe for a test run.

At the lowest lake (elev. 10,630 ft).

Snack break!

Coal emerging from Moffat Tunnel back at the trailhead.

Beautiful day. (Carl was so excited about the powdery conditions that he went back this morning for a snowboard run)

In other news: Happy Easter!

New York City

2011-04-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

Last week we were swept away to yet another physics conference, this time in New York City. (Well, one of us was 'swept', the other worked diligently to prepare a poster presentation...) See?? Grad school isn't so bad.

I took way too many pictures (as usual) and we did a lot, so I'll keep the narratives to a minimum. This will mostly be a photographic recap of the trip with a smattering of explanatory captions.

Day 1.

My Priceline acquisition: the Radisson Lexington Hotel

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Rockefeller Center

Bryant Park

New York Public Library

Show at the Comedy Cellar (This was a great night, and something we'd probably do a couple times a week if we lived here. We saw Jim Norton, Aziz Ansari, Tom Papa, Chris Rock (unexpectedly) and a few others. I was hoping we'd get extra lucky and get a visit from Louis CK, but, alas..)

Day 2.
Shake Shack

Times Square

Street art

(Front row at) The Late Show with David Letterman (guests: Regis Philbin, Snoop Dogg, comedian Andy Kindler)

The floor of the Ed Sullivan Theatre. No pictures!

Bed bugs, rats!

Day 3.
I wandered in the morning and we met up for lunch. Amazingly, I had all of Paley Park (smack in the middle of Midtown) all to myself for coffee and breakfast.

Gray's Papaya (a dangerously delicious hot dog joint that came highly recommended by a former NYer friend as well as a few foodie guides.) $1.50 each.

Tom's Restaurant (aka Monk's)

Columbia University grandeur

Yeah I did.

Day 4.

Conference duties engaged C most of this day, so I hit a few neighborhoods (and stores) that I was dying to see - Madison Ave., SoHo, Union Square area, etc.

Late night dinner and show at The Jazz Standard (Notable players in the SF Jazz Collective octet - Mark Turner - tenor sax, Stefan Harris - vibes, Robin Eubanks - trombone (bro of Kevin Eubanks of The Tonight Show))

Day 5.

United Nations

Grand Central Terminal

Chinatown/Little Italy

Brooklyn Bridge

Street art in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Day 6.
American Museum of Natural History

Zabar's for lunch

Central Park

Metropolitan Museum of Art (for a bathroom break..)

A Guggenheim walk-by

Dean and Deluca (where we ran into a spandex-clad Tom Brokaw)

Day 7.

Ground zero

Financial District (ran into a commercial taping)

Stock Exchange

Charging Bull (I didn't want to fight the crowds for a decent picture. This guy gets a lot of action...on both ends...)

Chelsea Market

Highline Park (This was COOL - an old elevated freight railroad track transformed into a public park)
http://www.thehighline.org/

Intrepid aircraft carrier

Until next time ~~Gray's Papaya~~ New York...

Into the cold

2011-01-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

Greetings from the land of bitter cold, and snow. beautiful snow...

It's a California Christmas

2011-01-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

First things first. Certain someones have expressed certain disapprovals of certain blog designs, so I have decided to change my background template and colors, hopefully making it easier to view. Feedback is welcomed.

Onward!

Christmas happened in California! C and I spent the holidays apart, which is never ideal, but seemed to be the best compromise for us this year. I spent the week off with the fam in SoCal and C did the same in Wash state.

We packed the week full, starting with a giant Christmas Eve dinner and our traditional walk around the Naples canal.

photo source here

The day itself was decadent in every way. Mimosas in hand, we opened presents and ate brunch all morning, tried out the new Wii game, and saw a movie (True Grit. see it.) that evening.

photo by Francis/Christina

The next day was dedicated to watching my sister and soon-to-be bro-in-law get crazy at 13,000 feet. We headed out to Perris Valley on a beautiful morning...

...did some observing...

...then watched these beautiful people...

...do some jumping.

Later in the week Francis, Allie and I hit the slopes at Mountain High.

And we rounded out the week by watching Phoebe playing some solid (VARSITY) defense in the Excalibur tournament.

photo by Francis/Christina

Of course, there were far more adventures than I was able to capture - dog walks, park excursions, beach time, hot tubbing, shopping, cocktails, dancing, and top-notch cuisine - to mention a few. It was a grand old time and the perfect end to the year.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-19T20:53:00.000-08:00

Halloween

2010-10-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

A brief glimpse into some of our Halloween weekend activities:

Serious pumpkin carving.
Results:
Rock band action. Yeeeaaahhhhh!!!!
Downtown Boulder
Garth face.
Happy 'Ween!

Autumn

2010-10-18T22:36:00.001-07:00

...but the autumn days, so sober and calm,
steeped in a dreamy haze,
when the uplands all with harvests shine,
and we drink the wind like a fine cool wine--
ah, those are the best of days!
Richard Henry Stoddard

Longs Peak, again.

2010-08-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

We climbed Longs Peak this weekend. The details of the mountain/route can be found in the 2007 entry of our first summit of Longs. This time we started earlier (3am), which allowed us to keep a more human pace. We reached the top at about 9:00am and the total trip length (including ample time at the top) was 11 hours.

Since we've covered this peak already, I'm posting pictures without much narrative. Longs story short: it remains a brutal hike...but so worth it.
The Keyhole:
The crew at the top (L to R): John, Kaushik, Buddy, Scott, Tory, Carl
Until next time...

Westward Ho

2010-08-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

C and I headed West this July for some quality family time. We spent a week in CA with the Conrads and a week in OR with the Bauer/Caldera clan. It went a little something like this:

Hours after arriving in LA we dunked in the pool,
and headed to swanky Laguna Beach for Festival of the Arts and Pageant of the Masters.
The next day we drove North, toward the American River, where we would spend 2 days camping, swimming, and rafting some gnarly white water.

We warmed up with Class I-III the first day,
and braced ourselves for the real stuff...

Phoebe and Carl, still dry and blissfully unaware of their impending peril
Entering the first Class IV rapid of day 2, "Tunnel Shoot"

Dad, trying to explain the most complicated drinking game in the history of the world.
Campfire lounging
Our next stop was Sequoia National Park. The first day we covered Moro Rock, Crescent Meadow (one of my personal favorites), and the General Sherman/Congress Trail.
Brown bear momma with cubs nearby
Carl "loving" the wilderness...
Controlled burned near Lodgepole
Our second day in Sequoia was spent trekking up to the Watchtower, a granite spire that overlooks the Topokah Valley.
Campfire lounging
Evening bear hunt
On our last day, as we left the park, we stopped at a swimming hole and rope swing (found by Carl). It took some of us longer than others to brave the icy water.
We drove back home, enjoyed some more pool time, chowed on Volcano Burger, and caught a flight to Portland early the next morning.

Neena and Henry picked us up from the airport and chauffeured us down to Eugene, where we got our first look at the massive house and property recently acquired by Em and Keith.

We stuck close to the house for the first couple of days, but the boys needed to liven things up by going primal. Ignoring the lovely organic, store-bought chicken in the freezer, they decided to hunt for their dinner - and chose one of the Caldera's domesticated roosters as their prey.

Unfortunately, this video implicates me in the proceedings.

Live rooster
Dead rooster (before a barefoot Carl)
For comparison
Then we headed Southwest to spend a couple of days on the beautiful Illinois River.

Behold, the pristine waters of the Illinois
The heat was intense, but the water temps were just about perfect. We did a ton of swimming and took tubes down the sections near our campsite.
Plenty of jumping rocks
Campfire lounging
Best picture.
After 2 days on the water we headed back to the house for more good food and fun times. The boys built an awesome zip line in the backyard and we got some more quality time with the little one.
I left a little early to come back to Boulder for work, but the party continued with an epic pig roast. Here's a bit of the prep work and the results. I've included a detailed breakdown of the process for all you DIYers out there.

Step one: Dig a pig-sized hole.
**Caution: Men at work**
Step 2: Build a fire, heat up some rocks.
Step 3: Acquire a pig and get it to look like this.
Step 4: Do this awful thing.
Step 5: Put piggy on a bed of leafy greens on a bed of firey hot rock death coals.
Step 6: Cover with layers of whatever sorts of things you can find.
Looking around for things...
Examples of things
When at a loss for what else to add, go with more rocks.
Looks good.

Step 7: Get pumped.
Aaannndddd.....VOILA!
Always use the buddy system when mutilating any pig...
...and remember to invite probably everyone you know because you have, after all, a whole pigs-worth of meat on your hands.
Fun trip. And a special thank you to everybody else for taking pictures because our camera was tied up with this (that is, taking pictures of the hummingbird/nest/egg action happening on our deck):

Japan

2010-06-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

Carl recently got the chance to attend the first annual International Particle Accelerator Conference in Kyoto, Japan, on a student grant that paid for airfare and a full week of living expenses. I recently got the chance to go with him. We stayed for 2 1/2 weeks and visited a total of 6 cities in the Kansai region. The itinerary was: Kyoto - 6 days, Nara - 1 day, Shirahama - 3 days, Osaka - 1 day, Kawaguchiko (Mt. Fuji) - 4 days, Tokyo - 4 days. During our stay, we fed monkeys, temple-hopped, pet some deer, ran from Japanese hornets, cruised outdoor markets, 'onsen'ed with the locals, and saw/ate/photographed all manner of cooked/raw sea creature.

There were many cultural/societal differences that jumped out at us during our trip (ie. they speak Japanese there!), but the most obvious was probably the kindness of the people. They would literally drop everything to help a stupid tourist, and if they couldn't, they would drag you to someone who could. Our favorite example is when we asked a cashier at a sizable grocery store where we could rent bicycles. After a lively discussion between the cashier and the 4 patient Japanese customers in line behind us, the cashier left her post and picked up a phone (presumably ringing another person that would have a better idea). She chattered a little and handed the phone to us. We quickly threw up shaking hands with widened eyes and refused. She smiled, hung up the phone, then proceeded to walk us 2 blocks down the street, all the while pointing and smiling and chattering. When we got out to the main street and she pointed us in the right direction, a patron from the store pulled up beside us and offered us a ride in her car.

Other things that seemed downright bass-ackwards to us Americans were: the large number of 4-6 year-olds riding subways and walking dark alleys completely unaccompanied, the cacophonous slurping of Japanese restaurant patrons, the ubiquity of vending machines (that sold soda, coffee, beer, restaurant orders, entrance tickets, etc.), the toilet technology (more on that later), the low-flying doorways and ceilings (resulting in headaches for Carl), adventuresome English translations, etc, etc...

~~~ Kyoto ~~~

Our trip began in the cultural capital of Japan: Kyoto, where it is impossible to walk 2 blocks without running into a temple or shrine. Carl keeps telling people, "You know you've been in Kyoto too long when there is a temple across from your hostel, and you haven't been to it." This was the conference city, so we had an entire week here. I thought that was plenty of time. Go to Kyoto to see the monkey park, the temples, outdoor food/craft markets, and the gorgeous surrounding scenery.

Okay, to the pictures already. These are roughly chronological...

In front of Higashi Honganji Temple. (The rains were relentless the first 3 days in Kyoto. Each day of sightseeing ended with pants soaked up to the knees. A small price to pay.)

Founder's Hall of Higashi (Fun fact: when the hall was rebuilt in 1895, female followers used their hair to braid ropes which were then used to carry the timber and hang the beams.) Here, Carl was chased off the front steps by a frantic janitor yelling and pointing at his shoes, which were currently defacing the sanctity of the building. Tsk tsk.Sugar daddy hard at work at the conference, raking in the big yen.
Nishiki Food Market, with lots of "exotic" smells and a nice covered walkway to escape the rain.
Bloodsucking "loach"
Fish on a stick. It was salty.
View from Awata Shrine. (Red torii gate of Heian Jingu Shrine in the distance)
Portion of a hillside graveyard.
Giant Reizan Kannon nestled in the hillside.
Maiko (geisha apprentices) walking in Gion. A giddy moment for me.
Japanese-style toilet.
Western-style toilet, Japanese-style. Yes those buttons control ass-spray features.
Arashiyama Monkey Park. Here you walk through a park where monkeys roam freely. (Among the many cautionary instructions given were, "don't stare at the monkeys in the eye" and "don't put a load on outside." I just kept hoping I wasn't inadvertently doing the second one.)

Will do.
In this next photo the monkey is looking into the human cage.

View from our walk along the Hozu River.
Yet another obnoxious tourist bell ringer
Resting in the Daihikaku Senkoji Temple.
Bamboo forest path. A break in the crowds.
A Nio figure guarding a Buddhist temple.
I'm a huge sucker for botanical gardens. Sorry to my gentleman companion.
On multiple occasions, we were stopped by a group of field-tripping schoolkids that had to practice their English. Common questions were, "How are you?" and "Where are you from?" and "Is Japan funny?" This is in front of the Golden Pavilion, which housed a retired Shogun back in the day and is actually coated with gold leaf.
This is the best bowl of ramen in the world--totally worth a flight across the Pacific. It's somewhere between Kawaramachi and Kiyomizu Gojo; I'm sure that if you just wander the area saying "oishii ramen doko deska" you will be pointed in the right direction.

We also took a sidetrip to a small town just north of Kyoto, where we heard they had a good onsen (hot spring bathhouse). Indeed, they did. The town was nestled in a lush, deep skinny valley and the views of the surrounding cliffs from the soaking pool of the bathhouse were just fine. Of course, we don't have any pictures inside the onsen (because everybody is nakey). Here's one from the entrance.
This was our first onsen, so we weren't quite sure of the procedure, just that it was very important to get fully undressed and very important to clean thoroughly before entering the communal bath. Luckily, we both (in our respective sex-separated pools) were able to shadow a veteran of the routine once inside. Many a sideways glance got us through the whole pre-washing procedure at the sit-down showers before entering the soak pool.

We went for a hike before the soak. Here are some pics of that. It was on this hike that we encountered our first Japanese hornet, which sounds more like a hummingbird than a bumblebee. We were too busy running to take a picture of one. The trail goes over the hills in this pic.

Sign on the hike. This is when you play the Japanese character matching game.
~~~ Nara ~~~

After the conference we took a train to Nara, which houses the biggest Buddha sculpture in Japan and deer that roam the streets, chasing screaming tourists that don't have the wherewithal to just drop the cracker. From Wikipedia: "According to the legendary history of Kasuga Shrine, a mythological god Takemikazuchi arrived in Nara on a white deer to guard the newly built capital of Heijo-Kyo. Since then the deer have been regarded as heavenly animals, protecting the city and the country."

The only touching they seemed to dislike was antler-grabbing.
Big Buddha needs a big house. For some reference, the ear of Buddha (right) is 8.33 feet tall.

~~~ Shirahama ~~~

A quick trip to the idyllic coastal town, Shirahama, made our journey feel more like a vacation. This town is absolutely littered with onsen (hot springs). The streets are filled with the smell of sulfur as the city's drainage system directs excess spring water to the ocean. One stretch of sidewalk had a pipe running alongside that could give you a nice burn.

This is the courtyard of our Minshuku (Japanese style hotel). We also had our own private onsen, of course.
The beach at Shirahama was also fantastic, and the water extremely swimmable (although several Japanese laughed at us when we told them this). The glorious white sand you see here is courtesy of Australia. Boated right in.
There are also some nice cliffs a few miles down the coast from the beach. The first thing their informational sign said about these cliffs went something like, "These cliffs stand 40 m tall. Notice how they resemble a traditional Japanese curtain. ..." we didn't see the resemblance.
Our Minshuku's private onsen in the family shower room. You must clean yourself before entering.
The shower situation. The buckets are for sitting.
Sound it out Shirahama.

~~~Osaka~~~

Going to Osaka was more or less a day-of decision, so we arrived there without a plan and without a place to stay. Luckily we found beds at this hostel downtown.
We hit the streets for our one night here and found great food, good beer and raucous Tuesday night festivities.
Sights on the main drag, Dotonbori
Next morning, an eagerly awaited ride on the bullet train (Shinkansen), which would take us to Fuji at 270km/hr. Behold, the beast:

~~~Kawaguchiko~~~

We decided mid-trip that we should make an attempt to see Mt. Fuji and our stop in Kawaguchiko (in the 5 lakes region at the base of Fuji) was nothing short of idyllic.
Lovely hostel.
I may have violated this Pokemon.
We didn't trek Fuji-san, but did another local hike (Mitsutoge mountain ~1800m) that gave us some stellar views. (Yet another show of Japanese hospitality on this day when a local drove us a few miles up the road to get us closer to the trailhead.)
We rode a gondola back into town after our hike and witnessed some upsetting cartoon statues.
We also visited 3 of the town's most famous caves: 1. the bat cave, 2. the ice cave, 3. the wind cave. Each fell short of our expectations. Oh well.
Not sure what evolutionary magic was going on here, but they seemed to be breeding some sort of bat-roach hybrid.
Rare, cubical ice formations in the ice cave...Carl, wanting to give them the benefit of the doubt, thinks they have brought in additional ice to keep the natural pillars intact. I think they were trying to pull one over on the tourists.

~~~Tokyo~~~

Tokyo is the biggest, most crowded place I have ever been. It is a massive metropolis and the prefecture is home to a population greater than that of all of California.

Our hostel here was in Asakusa, a quieter district on the bank of the Sumidagawa River.

Looking across the river at the Asahi Breweries complex. The Lonely Planet book referred to this gold sculpture as "the golden turd" and we couldn't decide what else it could possibly be. Our Japanese map failed to enlighten us, as it said, "the landmark is a building pretending to be a beer glass with an adjacent big golden object." Ah, now I see it...
We ran into these dudes on our first walk through town. Not sure what was happening, but a group of 20-30 robed people would carry these gold figures down the street.
Flea market
Imperial Palace
Trying out 3-D television at the Sony Building

Tokyo fashion was unlike anything I have ever seen. The young people there are dressing with imagination and much of what they wear borders on costume. Harajuku is an especially experimental area of the young Tokyo fashion scene.
One of the must-see sights here is the Tsukiji Fish Market, a huge wholesale seafood market. C and I got up early one day (4:45am) hoping to get to the market in time to see the tuna auction at 5:30am. Unfortunately we didn't get in, but did get to peek in at the massive fish lined up on the floor of the warehouse and enjoy the rest of the expansive market.

After the market we visited the National Sumo Center to try and catch a glimpse of the big fellas. Sumo matches are held in odd months (we were there in June), but the athletes can be seen training in and around the center year-round.
That evening Carl met a college student who was interested in practicing his English for a couple of hours. We all ate dinner together and discussed the shortcomings of our respective cultures/political systems/soccer teams.
We also got a chance to see one of the most famous pedestrian crosswalks in action. We were there in the early afternoon on a weekend. Can't imagine the chaos on a busy weekday morning.

No Japan blog would be complete without a mention of the plastic food phenomenon in the country. Every city we traveled to engaged in the practice of putting elaborate plastic representations of their dishes in the storefront window, which helped eliminate the guessing game when choosing a restaurant.
After being thoroughly overstimulated on the shiny, crowded streets of the city for 3 days, we spent the end of our trip in the small street markets by our hostel.

Carl, towering...
Bartender at the hostel bar our last night. Cheapest drinks in town!
Japan FTW!

Moab

2010-03-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

I spent part of Spring break in Moab with a friend of mine from nursing school. The trip was cathartic after a busy block of classes. We car camped and broke in the mountain bikes for the first time this season. Utah landscape never fails to impress and humble.

View from Sovereign Trail
Joy, holding down the lunch spot on Sovereign
Views on Amasa Back Trail
Slickrock Trail
Long shadows back at the campsite
Enjoying our last night of freedom
Gah. Back to the grind!

Visitors

2010-03-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

Christina and Francis came to see us!

My sister and her fiance cruised out here for a weekend birthday getaway and we were glad to finally have them out. Colorado weather failed to cooperate, and we got a wild Spring snow storm the day they flew in, but we made the best of it...

Friday night we went out on the town and saw Carl and Thom play an intimate show at The Blending Cellar

Saturday we got out and enjoyed the snow and the sunshine
Spring was trying to come on time...
After a walk we set to building an igloo with the packable snow in the front yard.
The finished product was sturdy and spacious...
...but needed something "else"...
Perfection!

Sunday was quiet - a walk downtown and lunch out before heading back to the airport. See more pics at Christina's blog if you fancy! The visit was way too short and we can't wait to have them back...hopefully this summer...

No Two Alike

2010-02-09T12:21:00.000-08:00

We got a few inches of snow yesterday, but it was the quality of the snow that made the day special. (Click on any image to see it larger.)

Family Time

2010-01-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

We were lucky this holiday season, as we got to see both our families in the following order: Thanksgiving in San Diego with the Conrads>>early December trip to Steamboat Springs with the Bauers>>Christmas all over California with the Conrads. This post will be a quick overview (mostly pictures) of the adventures.

Trip 1: Coronado Island for Thanksgiving

The group in front of the rental house
San Diego sunshine and blossom
Lovely buffet brunch on Thanksgiving (mimosas needing refill here)Stylish sisters at brunch
Group ride along the coast
Paraglider gazing
Hiking down cliffs to the beach

Trip 2: Steamboat Springs

Rabbit Ears Pass hiking/boarding/skiing/sledding
Buffalo Pass hiking/skiing/boarding
Cute. Just. Freaking. Cute.
(side note: we cut this trip one day short because of an impending snow storm and apocalyptic traffic reports, so photos will continue back in Boulder)

Hiking Gregory Canyon with Em and Keith
Canyon view
The mighty hikers. This was one cold, windy day.
Bbbrrrrrrrrr!
Cold.

Trip 3: Christmas and after in Los Alamitos, Vallejo, San Jose, Walnut Creek, San Francisco

Sisters at Grandma and Grandpa's house
Group walk in San Jose
Recess?
Day trip to San Fran
Camera goofin'
de Young Museum
Gorgeous sister Christina and fiancee (!) Francis near the buffalo paddock in Golden Gate Park
Gooberfest on the Segways! Ordinarily I would be heckling us, but actually, they were pretty dang cool to ride (so long as you mind the sudden stops and avoid crashing into the goober in front of you...a lesson learned best by doing, I find).
Rejoicing on a grand stage in the music concourse at Golden Gate Park
Okay, I miss everybody already...

Bison Peak

2010-01-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

Bison Peak is the highest point (12,431ft) in the Tarryall Mountain Range of the Lost Creek Wilderness. Unusual rock formations are the hallmark of this area and Bison Peak has the largest collection of them, but since it's not a sacred, glorious, transcendent fourteener the trails stay pretty quiet. In fact, we hiked it on a Saturday in mid-November and saw no one. Yes.

For most of the trail it's hard to tell exactly what makes the area special.
But once we surfaced above the dense trees and crossed this field...
...we got our first good look at why we came:
A world of gnarled granite, precarious spires, and bizarre, impossible formations:
Fantastic. We enjoyed a windy lunch at the top and did some scramble exploring, but forwent the peak because we'd had enough of the tempest:

A good day.

Mt Elbert

2009-12-11T20:21:00.000-08:00

We hiked this beast in September, as Autumn was just beginning to reveal itself. There was a sprinkling of snow at the peak and some rain on the way down, but a spectacular day overall.

Factoid: Second highest mountain in the contiguous US = Mt. Elbert at 14,443ft

Eyes on the prize...
Up. and up some more.
aaannndd....we're there! That was easy! Misty view at the top.
Carl looking for the next cairn.The Soob pulled some wicked maneuvers to get us to a secluded camping spot close to the trailhead.
More gorgeous country on the drive home. Near Leadville.
Bagged another one :)

Summer Sojourn (II)

2009-11-11T22:42:00.000-08:00

At the end of August I "quit" my job (where I am still working to this day) and spent close to a month with the fam! It was probably way too long for them, but I enjoyed myself.

Our first major event, in celebration of 2 August birthdays (me and dad), was a fancy dinner in Laguna Beach followed by an evening at Pageant of the Masters. The show, for interested parties out there, is a series of live recreations of famous works of art on stage. The creators use special makeup, costume and lighting techniques to make the recreation look 2-dimensional and they are spectacular at it. Each year they feature a new theme and "The Muse" this year featured works by Gauguin, Dali, Monet and others.

No cameras allowed inside, but here are some hellions before the show... Next we headed out desert-way and made a pit stop at this insane racetrack where we were made to drive way too fast in unforgiving heat with little in the way of protective comforts for our bones and skin and other vital bits. They did supply us with jackets. and helmets. But none of this helped me feel less like I would crash and die if I didn't slow to a crawl around every turn. Wimp alert! Dad and Allie must have gotten extra-padded jackets because they didn't seem to take issue with the 60 mile-per-hour-ness of the whole experience. Phoebe had the handicap excuse of having no driving experience, and I tried the "slow car" defense, but in the end had no choice but to wallow in my chicken soup.

See for yourself. Lucky to be alive I tell ya.

Our destination for the day was this oasis in the middle of Palm Desert. There were parrots and other conversational birds in the lobby. Talking with them was fun at first, but this guy entranced me in a stare-down that was just plain creepy. By the end he had convinced me that he had a soul and was tired of our tourist games. It was weird.
We spent time lounging by the pools and enjoying Palm Desert, and made a day trip to conquer Mt. San Jacinto. The day went like this: depart resort (elev. 220ft), drive to the tramway station (elev. 2,643ft), ride the aerial tram to the trail head (elev. 8,516ft), hike, summit the peak (elev. 10,834ft), then reverse. Booya!

Our final stop on the journey was the grandparent's timeshare condo in Sedona, AZ. This has become an annual trip for whomever can make it.
I love going. Sedona is beautiful.

This year Dad rented a Jeep and ohmygosh.itwasfun. I am generally anti-motorized vehicles (dirt bikes, trucks, ski mobiles, etc) on any wilderness trail because the sound of revving motors just doesn't jive with my nature/solitude/get-away-from-people time. And I have been specifically anti-Jeep after Carl and I spent an entire week of Spring break one year competing with Jeepers Creepers on the mountain biking trails of Moab. I found, however, as I sat behind the wheel of the armored behemoth, hikers really are the bigger nuisance...so small and slow...

Out of the way hippies! This is my trail.great trip.

What the...

2009-11-03T19:51:00.000-08:00

We got hit with "the worst October storm in 12 years" last week. This week's forecast? 70s on Thursday.

Mother Nature...the games you play....

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T12:42:00.000-08:00

mmmuuuaaahahahaha!!

Summer Sojourn (I)

2009-10-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

Somehow all the Bauers and Bauers-by-association came together in the same place at the same time this summer! The place: Gig Harbor and vicinity. The time: August. The haps: games, lake, kayak flipping, computer building, wood pile relocation, bocce ball, food.

Now I see that we were too busy doing stuff to take pictures. But, we work with what we have, so here ya go:

Lakeside bonding.A glimpse of Neena's garden. Lovely, even at the tail-end of summer...Somebody give this guy a hand! Oh wait, he didn't need help. In fact, Henry even conquered a section of swift moving water, paddling alone. What a pro.
And..we saw the ACTONS! Our dear friends Orb and Ali trekked out from Seattle for dinner and fun one night. It was the first time I (Tory) had seen their cute kiddo, Aurelia. So fun!See? Not many pictures. The trip was longer than a day, I swear. And it was great. But you'll just have to take our word for it.

More Spring/Summer Snowtales

2009-09-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

This June ski trip was with my good friend and fellow physics grad student, Adam Light. The destination was North Star Couloir which streaks off of South Arapaho Peak. I really enjoyed this trip as it was my first experience using crampons and an ice axe. I've been on several steep, very icy slopes with snowshoes or just snowboard boots and was usually scared out of my mind. It's hard to enjoy the climb when you're scouring the snow surface at every step looking for any sort of pit to grip with the tip of your boot. This time, we were scaling icy snow at a 45-degree slope without batting an eye. I gotta get me some of these.

Anyway, on to pictures...

We were considering Skywalker Couloir (the one behind me here), but on account of the 60 degree slope near the top, the deep glissade path down the center, and the disgruntled skiers sitting beside the trail calling it "quite sporty," we decided to head to North Star.
up and over is the way to North Star...
Workin' the new gear...
Over the pass there were some great views to the West. Here's Adam, making good use of the crampons...
The base of North Star Couloir...
Digging in! Getting steeper...
A quick stop for lunch halfway up the route and then we were off...
A nice view up the couloir...
Adam had a really heavy pack and skinny ski boots...
Views on the way down...
Another fine spring ski trip. We should really do this more often.

Wyoming

2009-09-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

Where has the summer gone? Not to blogging, clearly...but to creating blog-able memories like this one!

Wyoming. We live so close, but still hadn't made the trek until this summer, when -somehow- we each found a span of 4 days to unhitch ourselves from life and drive with only a hint of a plan.

Thankfully, we were welcomed. and mesmerized by turbines.
Our trek started at Curt Gowdy State Park where we camped one night and spent a day mountain biking on their network of trails. That evening we cruised west through Vedauwoo, an area of rocky outcroppings amidst flat vistas and gently rolling hills. It's a well known rock climbing destination, but we just hiked and scrambled.
And met THIS guy.
After spending a chilly night at 9,000 feet and hanging with THIS guy...
...we headed up through Medicine Bow National Forest, hoping to hike. We got some great views from Snowy Range Pass (10,800 ft.), but were met with 6-foot snow banks in all the trail head parking lots. Alas, we weren't outfitted for snow hiking, so we moved on to lower ground. We stopped for a bike ride on our way down the other side of the pass. The trail was sloppy but the views unbeatable.
On a special side trip to Saratoga we sought out this public, free, paved hot spring, aka. "The Hobo Pool". Unfortunately, the water was too hot to enjoy. Too hot, as in 120 degrees. No wonder it's free.
Embracing our inner hobos...We spent that night off some side road south of Saratoga, where we ran into THESE guys.
Our final outing was a lovely hike up Sheep Mountain in the southern portion of Medicine Bow. Much of the trail was on exposed rolling hills, which made for more killer views Gorgeous. Thanks Wyoming! You can come visit US anytime!