Tipped Off

Tipped Off, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

A tidy tip among owl's clover at Shell Creek Road.

Symposium Day 3 and CARP Ride

My day started with a bike ride downtown to the Convention Center. A beautiful morning.
Like yesterday, there were rolls and coffee for Trail Talk. I sat in on "The Impact of Trail Events". The talk centered around trail fundraising events.
All attendees gathered for a general session to discuss the future of trails. Four well versed trail advocates presented to "living room" talk of the history of the National Trails. Then participants got their "mike time". Comments were recorded and plans are to have the comments on the American Trails web site.
Broke into smaller groups for Concurrent sessions. I attended one titled: Improving the Built Environment: How urban trail systems and Complete Streets Provide Connections Within Cities.
In the afternoon was Mobile Workshop time. For me, it was mountain biking at Camp Robinson - lead by CARP (Central Arkansas Recreational Pedalers. OH it was a great afternoon to be in the woods, on my bike!
The day ended with the American Trails 19th National Trails Banquet.
OH, by the way, my trail bike (Trek Fuel EX7), topped 1100 miles today.

Devil Track River Adventure

What a great day. Hiked up the Devil Track River for the first time (I know... one of those things... I've livedin CookCountymy whole life and never gone up there before!), got a LOT of cool new pictures, then headed into Grand Marais and had a late lunch, pizza at Sydney's Frozen Custard, WOW was that ever good! The strawberry banana smoothie made the meal unforgettable! THEN saw a CRAZY COOL storm front come over Grand Marais with some freaky clouds and a lot of lightning. AND last but not least, an awesome double rainbow over the lake as we drove back home to Grand Portage!


Devil Track Riverwas such an amazing, mind-blowingly beautiful hike that I myself can't believe I had never done it before. I had so much fun photographing the many bends and cliffs along the river. We spent almost 6 hours on the river and I could have easily spent 6 more that day. Each curve in the river revealed views even more interesting than the ones we had seen just moments before. Jessica commented that she felt like she was in a different state :-)I can't wait to go back and explore it some more!




During our hike we saw a lot of cool and interesting trees, but one stood out from the rest as being by far the most fascinating. On one bend in the river this large cedar tree was protruding out from the bank and upon closer inspection we realized that the trunk itself was no longer touching the ground at all! This large tree is holding on by nothing more than its roots... due to erosion the soil between the trunk and the bank had all washed away. It was a mesmerizing tree and even had small colonies of ferns growing on some of the larger roots.




After our hike we headed in to Grand Marais and when we arrived in town the weather was absolutely perfect for a late summer/early fall day. Virtually no wind, sunny sky and lots of "popcorn" clouds. A couple of hours later a storm front moved in from the west and before we knew it the sky was dominated by this huge wall cloud that was rolling in overhead. Lightning flashed every few seconds as the storm approached. There was an eerie calm that preceeded the storm, but once the "wall" was over us, the wind hit shortly after and then the rain came. It poured for about half an hour, the wind blew and the lightning flashed. As we drove back home we were following the storm and were treated to a nice display of lightning ahead of us while a rainbow floated out over the lake to our right. By the time the sun went down everything was calm again.

Fall Cooking

The only time I really, really enjoy cooking is in the fall. I love using cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
I FINALLY made gingerbread biscotti. It's been on my project list for about two years. I think I was a little afraid of it, but it was easy. They were a little too cakey, though. Next time I'll add the dark brown sugar the recipe called for (I used light brown) and a little more brown sugar.
The ginger cookies are a tried and true staple at our house. They're like ginger snaps only chewy. Amazing with a cold glass of milk when they're warm from the oven.
Tomorrow morning I'm making prune bread. I know that sounds terrible but it's wonderfully moist and taste very 'fallish'. I'll be taking a loaf with me when I go help out another new mom of twins, no not my daughter. A family friend had a girl and boy about four months ago. Her husband is out of town for a few weeks so I'm staying with the babes while she does a Wal-Mart run.
Sunday night I stayed with our twins so Laurel could go to church. They pretty much cried and ate the whole time. Holding two at the same time is quite a feat. Let's just say I was glad when their mama got home!

Kent Ford comes to Yorkville!

Kent Ford.

We just completed a three-day whitewater Instructor Development Workshop (IDW) with Kent Ford, one of the most respected instructor trainers in the country, who has competed and won titles in international whitewater slalom racing, coached the US Olympic kayak team, published books and produced videos about paddling technique and instruction, and continues to coach paddlers at every level.

Despite all his credentials, experiences and accolades, Kent is a remarkably laid-back, open-minded guy. (Once again, we're struck by the fact that most of the rock stars of the paddling world don't let their prominence go to their heads.)

The course was hosted by Geneva Kayak Center and taught at the new Yorkville whitewater park, where Geneva just opened its new paddle shop and instructional center. Kent, no stranger to whitewater teaching venues, was highly impressed by both the shop and the park. "It's pretty darn amazing," he told us. "It's the most teaching-friendly of the whitewater parks I've been to, but there's still plenty for a real strong intermediate or advanced paddler. It's like five miles of class two river features jammed into 200 yards of city park."

We had visited the park earlier with our kids, who did find plenty to do with their considerable whitewater skills.



This IDW was our opportunity to get some formal training on how to teach whitewater paddling, as well as some top-notch instruction and critique of our own skills.

We're still processing the experience, but some things are already clear to us:

• Coming from our sea kayak background, some aspects of whitewater technique are familiar and comfortable while others are foreign and awkward. Both the similarities and differences are valuable, and build our paddling skills.


• As we develop as coaches and paddlers, we realize that being knowledgeable and capable in various types of boats is essential to becoming graceful and skilled in any type of boat. Certainly, the coaches who impress us most with their technique tend to paddle more than one craft.


• Geneva Kayak Center is poised to transform paddling in the Chicago area by being located at this great venue and offering all sorts of training opportunities in canoe, whitewater kayak and sea kayak for students and instructors. They brought Kent Ford to Yorkville! We're grateful for the opportunities they've provided and look forward to the ones to come.

That explains it

We've never had much of a raccoon problem here. I suspected that the coyotes were taking care of that for us.
At first, this picture made me wonder if coyotes carried nesting material! But when I zoomed in and brightened it, and increased the contrast, I saw a little striped tail sticking out of the coyote's jaws. (Click on the picture to enlarge.)
Now, if only I could get them interested in armadillos...

Shiloh

We made a trip to Shiloh over the weekend. I have umpty-million photos to download, but so far this one is my favorite.

Spotted fawn in the Union cemetery. (Click to enlarge.)
His cute little fuzzy close-up:

Awww.
-----
It was a very birdy weekend. This wasn't really a birding trip, but we did have our binoculars, so we looked every time we happened to see the branches moving. The list of warblers we saw without even really trying:
Yellow-throated
Black-and-White
Magnolia
Canada
Chestnut-sided
Redstart
Pine
Palm
Brewster's (!)
Tennessee
The gorgeous male Canada warbler was a special treat since we hadn't seen one in so long. And the Brewster's, wow! They are a hybrid between the Blue-winged and Golden-winged warblers, and we'd only seen one once or twice before, at Dauphin Island.
If we'd had more time, we'd have turned it into a birding trip until the migration fallout ran dry, and finished exploring the battlefield later. The weather was beautiful - the first fall-like days of the year.

Just resting.
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis).

Bird Eye Blooms

The very cool flowers of Gilia tricolor, bird's eyes.

Fridge Repair Seems Cursed

Our attempts to get the gasket on our refrigerator door repaired have been going on for over two months. The first repairman replaced the thermistor which fixed the "n" code we had that caused our refrigerator to go off and stay off. Then we asked him if he could fix the broken gasket. We didn't hear back from him, and didn't hear back from him. I called and called. Finally he called back and said the whole door had to be replaced because the gasket is part of the door, not a separate component. I gave him our Good Sam Extended Service Warranty information so he could get the repair authorization number. Then we never heard back from him for over a month. At that point, we called another mobile repair service.

The new mobile repairman came out, got the model number of our refrigerator and ordered the door. He also got authorization to replace the inner seal on our toilet and, while he was out here, we got a quote for replacing the torn fabric in our front door screen.

Ronnie has been very responsive, keeps us informed of what's happening, shows up when he says he's going to, and runs a professional business. Today was the day to get our new refrigerator door/gasket. I moved all the food off the shelves in preparation. They arrived on time, brought in the new door and got it all set up to put it in. Uh-oh. The hinges didn't match up! He had his assistant call technical service at Norcold to find out what the story was because the door was the same size.

Come to find out Norcold makes two different doors for this model of refrigerator. The inside of one door has a waffle pattern and the other has a smooth pattern. There are different hinges on the different doors and they're not interchangeable. Not only that, but the shelf tracks are different on each model. Our shelves would not fit in the new refrigerator door. So, the refrigerator repair stretches on. The repair people got a Return Authorization Number from the place they ordered the replacement door and will return this door for the correct one. Who knew?

The screen repair went smoothly and we had a heavy duty metal screen guard installed so the cats can't claw it anymore.

Screen guard.

The replacement of the inner seal in the toilet went smoothly. The problem was mineral deposits around the seal which hardened and let water seep through. Nice to have that fixed.

While he was working on the toilet seal, he asked why we are using our
fresh water tank and water pump rather than city water directly from the
faucet. I explained that for no apparent reason our water pressure went
way down and we couldn't figure out what was causing it. We have full pressure using the water pump. He immediately
diagnosed the problem as the fresh water in-flow filter where our hose
hooks into the 5th wheel. Minerals get trapped in the filter reducing
the water flow. They will get an authorization number to replace that too.

Regarding our broken black tank valve handle: Thankfully, he can drop our black tank here in the park to work on the handle, but he doesn't want the tank to be full when he has to do that. Since it will likely be next week before he comes back, we will be considerate and use the park restrooms.

The front awning that won't retract automatically was diagnosed as having two broken springs which will need to be replaced. He manually rolled up the awning and wrote down the part numbers he needs to order.

Plus on the next visit, they will replace the refrigerator door with, hopefully, the right model.

On the car registration front, we have not registered any of our vehicles yet, but we now have new insurance for our Texas residency. Bob is waiting for a copy of the title on his truck. We should have all of this done by the end of October when our current Oregon registrations and license plates expire.

Tomorrow, the doctor will discuss with me results of my mammogram, bone density test, and repeat lab work. That should be the end of poking, prodding, x-rays, and lab work for another year.

Oh, on an entirely different note, I made a very yummy quinoa salad. It's spicy sweet. Here's the recipe:

Spicy Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

Spicy Sweet Potato and Quinoa Saladfrom About.com Vegetarian Food


Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, uncooked

2 cups vegetable broth or water

1 sweet potato, baked (or boiled whole), peeled and diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 Tbsp lemon juice

salt & pepper to taste

Preparation:

Bring the quinoa to a boil in the liquid. Reduce heat and simmer the quinoa in vegetable broth about 15 minutes, or until water is gone and quinoa is light and fluffy when stirred. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Toss together the quinoa, sweet potato and bell pepper in a large bowl.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil and cayenne pepper. Gently toss this dressing with the quinoa mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

[Note: Cook the sweet potato first as it takes the longest. Then cook the quinoa. While the quinoa cooks, you can dice the red pepper and sweet potato.]

The cayenne pepper gives the salad some spicy heat.

Th-th-that's all folks.

Travel Bug out.

Pots of gold

It is said that at the end of a rainbow is a pot of gold, so where is the gold in this shot? After having yet another memorable day at Springbrook today, perhaps the gold has simply assumed another form.

I delayed yesterday's plans to do the 17km Warrie Circuit walk at Springbrook (which would have been closer to 19 after detours) because my ankle was still giving me grief. A day later it was still doing the same thing -- albeit in a slightly less pronounced way. I decided to press ahead anyway, as I had options to back it off if I needed to. I felt strangely flat on the ride up the mountain this morning. My ankle doesn't cause any problems when riding, but there was some bushfire smoke around earlier (note: we still need a lot more rain), and perhaps that had an effect. As it was, the slow ride combined with the later than anticipated start meant that I was starting the walk 45 minutes later than I was hoping. Incidentally, the 'flat' performance continued on the descent much later.

This in itself wasn't the end of the world, but after starting the walk and treading some of the uneven ground, it soon became apparent that my ankle just wasn't up to 17km of this. Fortunately, there is a shorter, 4km option -- the Twin Falls walk. That was doable, and in truth, there were charms on that walk that I hadn't seen for a while anyway. This was the option I chose. Being a Saturday morning there were virtually no people around, and I really felt at piece in a place that I first fell in love with back in 1995.

I actually dreamed of moving here several years ago, I heard about a 10-acre property with a load of fruit trees that was for sale. I was never going to be able to afford it, but in my (then) 20-year-old mind, I had a grand dream of moving to the mountain and just living off fruit trees. That was before I had experienced the bite of the travel bug, and developed a desire to cycle tour in as many parts of the world as possible. One dream was ultimately sacrificed for another, but days like this always remind me of what I first saw in this place all those years ago. I may move on from this part of the world in the next few years, but wherever I go, Springbrook will always occupy a special place in my heart.

Golden Cane Palm

Two clusters of golden cane palms, Dypsis lutescens, in Scottsdale, Arizona.