Nooooooo!

Just read the article, and you'll see what I mean. Thanks to a friend, Kenneth, who brought this to my attention.

The link: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2009/08/did_education_dept_help_kill_r.html?hpid=artslot

Need My Placebo Fix!

I stumbled across an interesting article on an economics site (of all places!). It's about pharmeceuticals and the placebo effect in studies over the years. Freakonomics says that "we’ve become so convinced of the power of modern medicine, it works even when we’re off the pill." That made me smile.

Check the article out: http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17-09/ff_placebo_effect?currentPage=all

My Pale-Green Thumb

Last winter, I bought a couple of plants for our apartment and have been learning how to keep them alive ever since. I've won some battles, but unfortunately seem to have lost one against mealy bugs on the tillandsia I've so dearly tried to save.

The tillandsia flowered and produced a couple of pups, so as the mealy bugs seemed to be impervious to my water/soap water/alcohol attacks, I decided to focus my attention to the pups. I got them into a new bed, rubbed them down good, and will hopefully be able to see them reach maturity and flower, mealy bug free! If anybody has any green thumb secrets, I'd be very interested to hear them!

The newly transplanted pups actually had little roots of their own tangled up, so I'll grow them together unless anybody knows if this is a bad thing. You can see some of the damage the mealy bugs have accomplished below:

Here's a view from the porch of our new apartment! Pretty nice to walk straight out onto the park:

Moving Sucks!

Why is it that people love to hang on to all their junk? Why can't we survive with whatever we can carry on our backs (60lbs or less)? We are such hoarders! I used to be able to wheel all of my possessions around Madison in a couple of pickup truck loads! Now, it's a multi-day ordeal that requires help, a moving truck over 15ft in length, and steriods (I must admit that we were moving 3 people's things). We began our exodus of Sacramento on Tuesday, and seem to be comfortable 3 days later! Whew!

As I tried to figure out if there's something wrong with me, I learned of a possible disorder called compulsive hoarding. Are you diagnosable pack rat? Thankfully, I think I'm in the clear. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsive_hoarding

The good news is that the move is over! I now live in Walnut Creek, CA, with my two great roomies, Jessica and Becky. The location is a great improvement over the last spot, as great as it was. Now we're closer to downtown amenities, within range of the SF BART System, and are much closer to an international airport (something essential when most of your family is a plane ride away). I'm pumped! It's time to begin the exploration of my new stomping grounds as soon as I fix the flat on my bike...

PCH Rambling and Visitors

"It's so nice to be able to go from the beach to a ski resort in three hours!" You'll hear these words from a Californian sometime in your life, I guarantee it. Growing up on the Eastern Seaboard, seasons brought those climates to us, so I'm never impressed when I hear that sentence. What now West Coast? Although, who else gets to choose their climate year round? Let the debate ensue as I sidestep into another topic, the PCH.

While there are tons of new things I'm discovering out here on the other side, one of my favorite American pastimes is driving on the Pacific Coastal Highway. The drive reminds me of two things: trips to Ocean City, MD, and drives through Shenandoah National Park (replacing the foliage with palm trees). If you want the full effect, make the trip yourself or turn to a better writer. I will say, however, that the smell of the ocean, a steady breeze, and the crashing waves is enough to put me in a good mood regardless of my prior state. My first Cali sunburn was from a PCH drive with the sunroof open, I scorched my right temple (poor me, huh?).

Link 1: http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/drives/pacific-coast-highway
Link 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_1

My parents were out here last week and drove a good section of it. I got 4 thumbs up from them when they arrived at the end of their drive. They did Monterey, San Fran, Sausalito, and farther North to check out some good redwoods and wine country. While we couldn't partake in the drive, Jessica and I were able to make it to a SF Giants baseball game with them. The Giants unfortunately lost, but we all had a good time!

A note to those buying tickets ahead of time: REMEMBER YOUR TICKETS! For a few minutes, I thought this would be the best view we would get b/c I left our tickets at home... luckily Ticket Services reprinted them w/o a hassle.

A view overlooking the outfield and the Frisco Bay:

Yosemite Hike (Pt. 3)

Our third day took us from Glen Aulin back to the car before 1pm. It was a cool, breezy day and we even got a little bit of hail dumped on us (very small sized hail, but worth mentioning). The hike was flat and easy, so we had enough energy to take on an extra 2 hours worth of driving to check out the Yosemite Valley and see some of the more famous scenes.

All in all, it was a great trip! Many thanks go out to BB for planning the trip, inviting me, and above all: putting up with me! I had a blast and am planning on returning to Yosemite many many many more times! I highly recommend YOU go there sometime in your life no matter what you think of grizzlies, skunks, or smelly hikers!

Me at the beginning of the day:


Glen Aulin is nestled somewhere at the base of those hills:


The Tuolomne River:


Cool view, notice the ominous clouds:


A look at Half Dome from the North:


El Capitan (it's hard to see how big this rockface actually is from the picture... just think BIG!):


Yosemite Falls (a very wimpy waterfall at the moment, it is very late in the season for this monster):

Yosemite Hike (Pt. 2)

Our second day of hiking was a grueling 16.something miles, but I survived. We went from Ten Lakes to Glen Aulin, and I somehow survived with a mere blister that was only a small nuisance. We got close to 10,000 feet midway through the hike as we went around Tuolomne Peak, which is a new personal best for me. 14,000, here I come!

At the end of the day, however, I was a bit grumpy before eating dinner... so I must apologize to BB for my brief period of frowning. After returning to my nourished state of mind, we headed to a group campfire where there were about ten others enjoying smores and stories. It was then that we learned of an interesting forecast: snow.

It was supposed to snow in the afternoon/evening on our third day of hiking, so we decided to head out early in the day instead of exploring the waterfalls around Glen Aulin as our original Plan B had entailed. I couldn't help but acknowledge how odd it is to have snow and a forest fire in the same spot. Perhaps I'm just naive as to the ways of Yosemite.

We didn't see too many deer on the trip, but here's one we caught on camera:


Looking back at the lake we stayed at the night prior and the descent we made to get there:


Another great view looking to the North. You can still see a bit of smoke towards the left side of the pic:


A cool lake at around 9,000 feet:


Postcard image:

Yosemite Hike (Pt. 1)

Have you ever heard the phrase, "It's better to be lucky than to be good?" Well, that's how I felt about my first trip to Yosemite National Park. A friend, BB, planned out an awesome hike in the northern parts of the park and I was lucky enough to be able to tag along without any planning required. He even picked me up and drove there!

The original plan was to hike through the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River beginning at White Wolf Mountain and ending at the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center. Unfortunately, we couldn't hike that trail b/c of a forest fire in that section (fortunately, it was being controlled/watched by many o' firefighters, ensuring the safety of the rest of the park).

So our Plan B became a hike from the road near Yosemite Creek going to Ten Lakes, around Tuolumne Peak, to Glen Aulin, and on to Tuolomne Meadows Visitor Center (a little under 30 miles). In short, we went from West to East just south of the Canyon where we had originally planned to hike. While we were doubtful of the sudden change in plans, we were pleasantly surprised with the great views the trail afforded us!

Our first hill to climb shortly after embarking:


I think this is Half Moon Meadow:


Our view from the ridge above Ten Lakes was awesome! The shot is looking to the North/Northeast and you can see smoke just over that first ridge from the fire that changed our hike:


We camped on the near side of this lake:

Hiking for Food

Well, I don't think that I could carry a sign while hiking that reads, "Will Hike For Food," and possibly keep up with my caloric output. It just doesn't seem possible b/c a full day of hiking for me will burn somewhere in the ballpark of 5,000-6,000 calories (and people don't take spare change/food on hikes).

Right now, I'm planning out my diet for the approaching week! I'll be hiking in Yosemite National Park for 4 days, spanning 29 miles from White Wolf to Tuolumne Meadows. Thanks to a friend, Brad, the trip was all planned out and reserved except for my eats. Of course, I waited until the weekend before to figure out the specifics.

When I was hiking on the Appalachian Trail, I ate a big breakfast, snacked all day, and ate a big dinner. The routine worked well, and I never went hungry. Don't ask me how much planning I did before that trip!

So here's what I've been thinking for my 4-day trip:

• Breakfast: 2 servings of Oatmeal, Dried Fruit, 1 serving of Dried Milk & Carnation Instant Breakfast Mix
  


• Snacking/Lunch: Granola Bars, Cliff bars, Trail Mix, Crackers, Dried Fruit
  


• Dinner: 2 servings of Noodles (Ramen, Rice Noodles, or Instant Pasta Mixes), Cheddar Cheese, Dried Fruit, Hot Cocoa Mix

For the dried fruit, I use dried bananas, apricot, mango, and dates. Dried milk isn't very good by itself, but when you mix it with those Carnation packets, you really can't tell the difference and you get a super healthy start to your day! Surprisingly, blocks of cheddar cheese stay for a couple of weeks at outdoor temperatures and they're packed with fat and protein (hooray!), which is tough for a vegetarian like me to find!

Me eating a half gallon of Moose Tracks ice cream halfway along the Appalachian Trail (you can do that sort of stuff when your metabolism skyrockets on a prolonged hike):