Where I've Been

Well. At least this time I have an excuse to explain my absence. Dave and I went to Vermont for a week to visit with his family (Let's not consider that we came home last Saturday.) and I couldn't really blog from there. The other problem is that I have so much to blog about and it's been so long that now it's become overwhelming. I can't even blame the scientific paper I'm writing because I spent last week doing actual science instead of writing, and there are always breaks in the science (and in the writing, to be fair, but blogging is also writing). So, let's have a quick recap of the Vermont trip, and then I'll do separate posts about my recent tea swap package and my finished Estes Vest.
Dave and I spent a week in Burlington and environs, relaxing and doing some touristy things like leaf-peeping. I'd been there before but it was nice to go back. It's really a lovely area and we timed things perfectly for maximal foliage viewing.
One of the things we did was hike up Mt. Mansfield, which is the highest peak in Vermont. You can also drive up there on a really sketchy toll road, which we did on Friday when my parents joined us for the day (from western PA - we are a family that travels). There are some nice views from the top, and I have a lot more on my Flickr page (here), but here is a good one looking east across the rest of the Green Mountains:
It was significantly colder when we drove up on Friday than when we hiked up on Tuesday - there was frost on the trees! My dad took this photo of Dave, my mother, and I, which I love because we don't look like we should be in the same place. I'm all bundled up and my mother is wearing sandals - in her defense she didn't know we'd be walking around up there, or that it would be 34F! And we're all wearing orange, which was honestly a coincidence...
Dave and I also went to Shelburne Farms, where we saw lovely trees, sheep, and Cow Twister, which was one of the highlights of the trip:
We also spent a day in Montreal visiting Anne-Marie. We saw many old buildings, the Modern Art Museum, and possibly the best sign ever:Apparently the buildings attack! We also spoke grammatically awful French to each other (but not to the locals) and ate spectacular croissants. It was good to see Anne-Marie - I've been in withdrawl since she left Seattle in September...

We also walked around Burlington, went canoeing, went sailing, and ate a lot of yummy food. And drank a lot of delicious apple cider. And probably other things that I'm not thinking of right now. All in all we had a lovely time, and it was tough to come back and head to work, although at least the Seattle weather has been lovely so we've been easing back in!

A whirlwind trip

So, without mentioning it here, or really even to that many people in Seattle, I ventured off to Chicago for a couple of days last week to meet up with my parents (my dad had a work conference on Thursday). I literally mean a couple of days - I arrived there Wednesday night at 11:00 and was back in Seattle by 7:00 Saturday night. That, my friends, is a short trip. But, it was long enough to do all sorts of things. Thursday, while my dad was at his work event, my mom and I met up with Heidi for some great shopping in the "wholesale" district, which is a mecca of bargain purses and jewelry. A lot of the stores require a wholesale license for purchasing, but some anyone can visit. I can only thank my lucky stars that I didn't know about this place when I lived in Chicago, because the damage would have been tremendous. Thursday night my parents and I saw Wicked, which was really spectacular. I always love a good musical spectacle, and this one didn't disappoint. If you get a chance to see it you really shouldn't miss it!
Friday we walked around Millennium Park and visited the "bean" (Cloud Gate) and then went to the Art Institute. I must say, I love the Art Institute, and I've been there countless times, but I was really upset this time. They're building a massive new wing and a lot of the museum is closed or in storage, including almost all of the Impressionist works, which is what the museum is really known for. I was surprised that they didn't move those paintings into an open area, since they're what people want to see. The museum is always good, although I don't think now is the best time to go. We saw these performance artists outside the museum - they were really fun, bending over and extending. That's my mom there - note her great purse, which came from the bargain purse mecca on Thursday. Friday night we went to Second City, where we saw No Country for Old White Men, which was great. I've never been to a bad show at Second City - again, you should go there.
Saturday afternoon my parents flew back to PA and I flew back to Seattle - a whirlwind, like I said! I have knitting, I show you next time...

Viva Las Vegas

I spent last weekend in Las Vegas, and let me tell you, it is a surreal place. My trip was a mini family reunion of sorts, organized by my cousins in honor of their mother's 60th birthday, which was in January. My mother and I tagged along for moral support and gambling. I myself didn't do too much gambling, although I was getting into the spirit of it by the end of the second day. I find I'd rather have something for my money, even if it's just a mocha. But, I can see the appeal, especially if one is lucky like my mother. My aunt was very pleased with her shawl. Here she is wearing it before dinner on Friday, flanked by my cousins. The highlight of the trip was probably O at the Bellagio. O is the Cirque du Soleil show with the water, and if you ever get a chance to see it you really should, even though it's expensive. It's worth it.
I realized when I got home that I, as usual, have no photos of myself. I'm sure others do, but for now we'll have to be satisfied with general Vegas shots. I'm particularly proud of this photo of the fountains at the Bellagio, taken while we were eating dinner at Olives (very good). I'm amazed I was able to get a good shot of the fountains in motion. I have a few actually, but this is the best one. The fountains are really cool. I was also impressed with the class ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio, done by local (Tacoma/Seattle) artist Dale Chihuly.
On Saturday I found a machine I loved called Easel Money, and here you can see evidence that I made $20.06 from the $1 I put in (trust me). I of course lost that $20 later, but I was pretty excited at the time.
And look, they have an Eiffel Tower!
And, just in case you haven't had enough gambling, they have slot machines all over the airport. Here's a fun shot of my mom whiling away the time waiting for our flights:
I had a great time but I really think a weekend is long enough to be in Vegas. It's an interesting place but totally overwhelming to the senses! And no, I didn't do any knitting while I was there, and hardly any on the plane...

A belated post about my recent trip to Boston, and more importantly, to WEBS

Alright. I'm sorry. My recent blogging, or lack thereof, has been an utter disaster. This is only my second post in February and the month is almost gone. Granted I was really really really busy and I had repeated health plagues, but still. And then I went to Boston for almost a week. I uploaded these photos last Thursday and I'm just now getting around to writing about them, which is pretty pathetic. I'm not so busy now and hopefully I'll get my blogging mojo back. But I see how people fall out of blogging. There's an inertia that arises from not posting, where you think, "Oh, I'll just do it tomorrow," but then tomorrow you can't be bothered, nor the next day, and you don't have much knitting to show off anyway, so you don't post. But, I'll do my best to not let down my public!

Right, apologies over with - let's talk about Boston! I went to Boston for the annual AAAS conference (this is the American Association for the Advancement of Science - try saying it three times fast). This isn't really a bench science meeting, it's much more about science policy and scientific issues. This year the theme was Science and Technology from a Global Perspective, and there were many symposia on global warming, global health, ocean contamination, energy policy, emerging green energy technology, etc. I loved it. I love science and I think we should all know more about it. But, I find my current research very focused (this is the whole point of graduate school - learning a lot about a very narrow subject) and I have broad interests. So for me this meeting was great because I got to learn about all sorts of interesting science that I wouldn't otherwise have been exposed to, and to meet some of the people who make the policies that shape how our nation deals with science. I went with FOSEP, the Forum on Science Ethics and Policy. We're a group of graduate students at the University of Washington that are concerned with science policy. We bring national speakers to campus to discuss current issues and encourage dialogue across campus, and we do some community outreach here in Seattle. Several of us went, including Anne-Marie, and we got a bunch of ideas for future seminar speakers, so the meeting was a success.
But, enough about that, probably you'd rather hear about Boston (or WEBS), so let's talk about that! We spent most of our time at the conference, although we did do some shopping (Thursday night when we arrived we had to jet to H&M because Alaska Airlines didn't feel like putting my bag on the DIRECT flight to Boston, and thus I needed to quickly acquire a new shirt). Although the conference technically didn't end until Monday at noon, Monday morning found Anne-Marie and I at Enterprise renting a car for our jaunt to Webs. As soon as we knew we were going to Boston we decided we really should make a pilgrimage, even though Webs is in Northampton, over 100 miles away. But, if you've already come all the way from Seattle, 100 miles is nothing, right? So off we went, through the pouring rain, driving wind, fog, and a mishap with a toll booth, to the yarn mecca of the United States. And we were not disappointed. Here's a shot of Anne-Marie in the back room, where all the deals are:Note smile and empty basket. The smile widened and the bag filled as we proceeded around the stacks. The front of the store was also impressive. I didn't think their base prices were that great, but they have a discount program that makes them quite a bargain if you're buying more than a couple of skeins (which of course I did). And, no sales tax in MA! They have such a huge variety. I wanted to take pictures but I wasn't sure if that was allowed, and anyway I was just too overwhelmed. Here's what we bought (this includes another trip to H&M, so those bags aren't all full of yarn, and our little car.

We had a little trouble getting all that yarn back on the plane. Thankfully Anne-Marie brought an extra bag and we were able to jam it all in there. If you ever get a chance to go to Webs, you really must. It's great, and the people were really friendly. And they have good pizza in Northampton, if you need a further reason to be there. And no, I'm not going to show you what I bought, because I don't want to frighten my relations. Actually I didn't buy that much - it could have been worse. If you're on Ravelry you can see that I uploaded a bunch of new stash - that was all of it. There were two bags of Hempathy (summer tops, light sweaters), a bag of Classic Al (lovely red) and some other assorted skeins for scarves and fair-isle projects. Between us we definitely paid for the rental car and gas with the money we saved, so it was a success.

But it wasn't all science and yarn, we did see some of Boston proper. On Tuesday we walked a good chunk (to the Charles River) of the Freedom Trail, which winds through many of Boston's historic sights. It's very easy to follow as they've painted, or bricked, a red line on the sidewalk that you follow blindly, and which occasionally has markers like these, in case you are confused about what you're doing: The Massachusetts state capital building is quite impressive:

Boston has a lot of history, being one of the oldest cities in the country, so there was plenty of old stuff to be seen, like this cemetery in the North End and Paul Revere's house, from which he set off to warn everyone that the British were coming.

And we saw other things as well, like Harvard Square in Cambridge, and Boston Common, and the waterfront. Boston isn't really that big, you can walk around most of it without too much effort and see a lot fairly quickly. We also drove around a bit when we got back from Webs, and the Boston drivers were NOT as crazy as I expected. Then again, I am an aggressive driver so perhaps I just fit right in? And it was a holiday, so maybe everyone was subdued. We had a lot of good food, including great Italian. Seattle is not a city that has good simple Italian. It's all fancy and expensive and I just want some pasta and good homemade red sauce. I'm spoiled because in Erie where I grew up there is great Italian food, and in Chicago as well, but out here, nada. But I digress.

I loved Boston. I always thought it would be my kind of city, although I'd never been there, and it was great. The people are friendly but they're aware of their surroundings and they walk quickly (people in Seattle amble and take forever to make left turns driving, which makes me insane). They drive fast and get where they're going, which I appreciate (see previous paratheneses). And they have good food, good yarn (well, close-by, although we went to Windsor Button and it was pretty good), and, and I can't stress this enough, everyone we talked to was really friendly. It has been my observation in several East Coast cities that shall remain nameless, that unfriendliness, if not outright hostility, reigns supreme, but Boston was not like that. Plus, there are so many universities, museums, theaters, etc, there that it seems like a larger city (Boston is smaller than Seattle, which surprised me). I'm actively looking for where I want to do my post-doctoral research, and Boston is now high on the list. While I love Seattle I would really like to be closer to my family and I could always come back here. We'll see. I'm sure I'll keep you posted!

Okay, that was a saga of a post. I have other stuff to talk about but I'll save it for later! Hope you're all well, and I'll try not to disappear for as long again, at least for awhile...

Christmas Wrap-up

I had a lovely time at home with my family for just over a week. As usual it went by too quickly, but I did get to enjoy a bit of Dozer taking over the sofa:

Some adorable longhaired Welsh cattle:

A spectacular photo of my grandmother eyeing an unfelted clog:

And a lovely Christmas tree:

My parents sent me back with a gift for Oliver, which he loves:

The gifts I knit (knitted?) went over very well, and all of them fit their recipients except for the Anastasia Socks, which ended up being okay in the heel/leg but too long in the foot. I had only finished one of them as I was fearing heel issues, so at least there is only one to fix, and I think I can do it by ripping out the toe and knitting it again shorter instead of taking out the whole leg/heel/etc. And yes, despite the photo above my grandmother's clogs did felt down to the perfect size and hopefully my parents will gather some photographic evidence of that for me to post at a later date.

I finally went back to work today and it was a struggle. I tend to completely forget about the whole operation as soon as I leave for more than two days, and it's always tough to get back into the swing of things. Thankfully this year I planned ahead and had experiments ready for right after the holidays, which should minimize the amount of "what am I doing again?" that usually goes on right about now...

Oh, while I got many lovely gifts for Christmas, the only one that was knitting related was money to get my five pounds of alpaca cleaned and spun. Remember the alpaca? Here it is again, just in case. That's only four pounds of it. It's a lot of fleece, and fairly clean already so hopefully I won't lose too much. Anyone have recommendations for a good place to ship it off for processing?

Portland - Land of Rain

We had a lovely time in Portland this weekend, although the weather was, as usual for cyclocross in December, ugly in a truly epic fashion. It was pretty cold on Saturday, but not overly wet (but it snowed!), although the course was muddy because it had rained a fair bit during the week. If you're curious about what cyclocross is, here is a nice example shot of one of its unique characteristics: Here you see Dave (center, blue jersey) carrying his bike after having jumped over the white Toyota barriers. In cyclocross you ride the bike most of the time but have to get off to go over obstacles. Most courses also have a hill too steep/muddy/sandy to ride, which you must run up, hence the name run-up. The Portland courses didn't really have a run-up this year, which Dave appreciated. Dave finished 14th out of ~80(ish) people on Saturday despite doing this to his brand-new-as-in-put-together-on-Thursday tubular (and expensive) wheel: It's the one on the left, if you're unsure. Note that it's no longer round. Thankfully he has extra wheels, so that we could be part of the true misery that was Sunday...

It started to rain with a vengence on Saturday night, and when we arrived for Dave's race on Sunday morning the course looked like this: And this: This is the same spot as the photo with the barriers from Saturday. That is a lot of standing water. Dave had a good race again, coming in 15th, and looked a bit muddy afterwards:And he was happy about it! Although it was warmer on Sunday, it rained all day and was quite windy, so we left before the pro races. I think this is the first time we've abandoned a spectating effort, despite having been in some pretty bad conditions over the last few years. I've been to Portland for a big race in December every year I've lived in Seattle, and it's always epic weather. Which is great. If it sounds like I'm complaining I'm actually not - the conditions/weather are a huge part of cyclocross - the worse the better, and if you get cold you can warm up later and if you get muddy, well, it comes out the wash!

We also spent quite a bit of time at Powells this trip. I love Powells. I'm thinking about doing a post-doc in Portland just to be near it...

I'm back!

And you thought I was going to talk about knitting now that the Utah posts are finished! Haha - I've got you! Dave and I headed to Chicago last weekend for my friend Andrea's wedding. I was a tad apprehensive about the trip due to my concern that Dave and "big city" Chicago wouldn't mix, but he actually really liked the city, especially the Art Institute. I had no idea the boy was an art fan! We stayed at Heidi's house in the northern suburbs (Morton Grove, if you're from the area). We arrived early Thursday morning and had a relaxing day in Evanston. We also checked out the Baha'i Temple in Wilmette: If you're in the area and have never been, you should really check it out, it's quite an impressive building. On Friday we went to brunch at my favorite breakfast place (including those in Seattle), Bongo Room. This is another place you really should check out. I had spectacular banana pancakes with crushed Oreos on top, slathered in vanilla cream sauce with chocolate drizzle. And fresh banana slices. Divine. Then we cruised around Wicker Park a bit before heading downtown to the Art Institute. Another must see, and one of my favorite things about Chicago. Friday night we went to Second City, which was great. I've been there for several shows and I think this was the best one so far. The show we saw was "Between Barack and a Hard Place," and again, you should check it out if you get a chance.
Andrea's wedding was on Saturday, and I ended up wearing two dresses because I didn't want to wear my fancy dress all day (there was a 5 hour gap between the wedding and reception). The ceremony was really nice, and Andrea's dress was beautiful (I have no photos - the wedding photographer was kneeling in the aisle in front of me the entire time). In between the wedding and reception Dave and I walked around the University of Chicago campus (my alma mater, and where the wedding was held), and then went to the Museum of Science & Industry. Here's dress #1, in front of the giant model train exhibit:Here's dress #2, which I wore for the reception. I had this dress, and the shoes, plus a beautiful beaded shawl that I didn't end up needing in that black purse I'm wearing in the first photo. It was heavy...On Sunday we headed back into the city for the wedding brunch, which was really nice. I finally got to talk to Andrea for more than a few seconds, since she had (of course) been really busy the day before. And we got to talk to Dave, her husband, who is great. I'm looking forward to spending more time with them sometime soon, as it's been a long time since I've really seen Andrea. Sunday afternoon we went on the Wendella Chicago River Architecture Tour, which goes down the Chicago River. I've done this cruise before but it's always enjoyable. There are so many beautiful buildings in Chicago it's really astonishing. Going on the river cruise always reminds me of my days on the UChicago crew team since we rowed in the river every morning. Being on the water is such a different perspective than walking around on foot. Then we went to Grant Park and caught a bit of the Jazz Festival before walking to Buckingham Fountain (top photo). Then, home to Heidi's for delicious risotto (please email that recipe!). Monday we went shopping and to see Superbad, which was a nice relaxing way to end a whirlwind trip. Are you tired just from reading? We sure were!

Utah Day 6 - Zion

This will be the last of the Utah posts, so all of you who are wondering when I'm going to talk about knitting again can breathe a sigh of relief. I've enjoyed making these posts, and I hope you've enjoyed reading them, or at least that they didn't bore you to tears. I'll admit off the top that I'm disappointed in my Zion pictures, and they really don't do the park justice. I ran into a camera problem, wherein the dark rocks + bright sky didn't work together well and the sky turned white, as witnessed below: This is one of the views from Angel's Landing, which is quite a place. It's a hike that might give you vertigo, even if you aren't scared of heights. Me I'm good with heights but it was still a bit dodgy. More on that later.
Zion was the last day of our vacation, and Dave and I decided to go our own way so we could do some more vigorous hiking than we had done with our parents in tow. I really wanted to hike The Narrows, and although Dave had to be convinced of the wisdom of this plan, in the end he was really glad we did it. The Narrows, and other assorted narrow slot canyons, are what Zion is really famous for, and we were not disappointed. A few years back Zion instituted a park shuttle system to cut down on the traffic in the narrow canyon. Thus there are no passenger vehicles allowed, and everyone must ride the shuttle. I was down on this initially because I thought it would be slow and inconvenient, but in reality it was very efficient. The shuttles are comfy and run very frequently, plus on two of our trips we had great drivers who gave excellent background information on the park. The Narrows hike starts all the way at the end of the park, so we got to listen to our first driver the whole way there - we actually hoped to have him on the way back but had no such luck. To get to The Narrows, we hiked the Riverside Walk, where we saw this adorable fawn: I think he/she is used to posing for the camera, don't you? At the end of the Riverside Walk you get wet. When you hike The Narrows, you do it in the Virgin River itself, at varying depths ranging from ankles to midthigh. And deeper, when you lose your balance. The water was very cloudy (usually it's crystal clear, but run-off from recent forest fires made it quite silty and opaque) so it was really tough to find good footing. But we managed by holding on to each other, and we were so close to being back when I finally slipped and got my shorts wet. This is the view from our lunch spot, about 45 minutes up The Narrows. We didn't get to the narrowest part of the canyon, but what we saw was really quite impressive. The water was a perfect temperature for wading, and our soaked shoes and socks dried quickly in the desert heat. Here is my mom at the end of the Riverside Walk - I don't think she's actually standing in the water:We also hiked to Weeping Rock. This is a short hike that ends at an overhanging rock that is currently dripping water that is 1200 years old. Our shuttle guide told us that this water is from rain that fell on the rocks above some 1200 years ago and has taken that long to seep through the rocks, which is really quite amazing when you think about it. Later on the shuttle we saw even older water! Our strenous hike of the day was to Angel's Landing. It wasn't exceedingly long, but quite steep. There are warnings in all the guides and the park newsletter suggesting that if you have any fear of heights whatsoever this is not the hike for you. It was fine most of the way, until we got to the part near the top where they have installed vital helpful chains to aid in the ascent. The rock was slippery and a bit sandy, so I was definitely holding on to the chains for dear life. In the interest of full disclosure, and because I doubt you're the type to judge, we didn't go all the way to the top. We stopped at a flat bit just before final ascension, which looked almost vertical. We convinced ourselves that the scenery couldn't be that much better from up there, and ate almonds while contemplating this view:That, my friends, is what they call 'a long way down.' The skinny grey line is the road, almost 1500 ft down. The first photo in this post was taken from the same spot, looking the opposite direction. I was there. Please ignore the hat and the sweatiness - it was hot. On this hike we also saw a giant cactus:Dave is 5'9" - that is a big cactus. We hiked back via the Middle Emerald Pool, which was disappointing enough that we didn't take any photos of it, and I take pictures of everything. Drives Dave crazy but I figure since they're digital and I have a huge hard drive, what is the harm? Here's a parting shot from Zion - I'm pretty sure this has a name but I've lost it.Zion really is beautiful, and if you ever get a chance you should go there. As I said, my photos really don't do it justice. In fact, all of Southern Utah is quite nice. Too hot though, and if I go back I want to do it when the weather is significantly cooler. Dave and I are entertaining the idea of going to Bryce sometime in the winter or early spring, as the photos of snow on the hoodoos are spectacular. Overall I think the trip was a success - my parents and Dave's parents got along well, and we had no major mishaps. Come to think of it I don't believe we got lost even once, which is pretty impressive for the amount of driving we did. Then again, there aren't that many roads!

Utah Day 5 - Bryce Canyon

This entry is a day late in coming, but yesterday was really busy. There was a bit of a snafu with my training grant funding, so I spent much of yesterday putting together data to discuss with she-who-is-powerful-and-in-charge-of-doling-out-the-grant-money. We met this morning and it went well, my funding was renewed and all is right with the world. Plus Dave was out of town and he came back yesterday, so we went out for Indian (and he came to three yarn shops - the boy is a trooper!). He took the camera away with him, but now that he's back I can take photos of what I've been knitting as well as the yarn that was acquired yesterday. Some of it is for a secret project, but I'll post it in my Ravelry stash page because it's pretty. Might I say, before I get to talking about Bryce Canyon, that Ravelry is a plague upon my life. And I mean that in the best possible way. I love it. But, it's a curse for me, because I keep seeing more and more things I want to knit! And more and more yarns I want to try! And that was enough, really, but then I discovered the forums, and now I'm spending loads of time reading those! It's tragic really. And perfect, all at the same time!

Thursday found us at Bryce Canyon National Park, which is truly spectacular. Of all the parks we visited I think it is the most awe-inspiring, which is really saying something. I have so many nice Bryce photos, but I'll try to pick the best few to post so this doesn't get overly long. The rim of Bryce Canyon is at a relatively high elevation (8000-9100 ft), so it was a bit cooler there, which was such a relief after the constant heat we had been dealing with the previous few days. We only did one real hike, and it was the Queen's Garden/Navajo Loop. The Queen's Garden Trail leads to a hoodoo with a likeness to Queen Victoria: Do you see her there, standing up and facing to the left? It's clear in the photo, but there are a lot of other rock formations around so when you're there it's difficult to tell what you're supposed to be looking for.

I discovered that if you pose with orange rocks you turn orange yourself:

We had lunch at Rainbow Point, which is the end of the road, and then stopped at all the overlooks on the way back. Most of them were quite lovely. The thing about Bryce is that the canyon itself, and all the hoodoos, is really overwhelming, so it's difficult to get photos that really represent how pretty it is. And it was cloudy, which didn't help from a photography perspective (but was nice for us!). One of the nicest viewpoints is Bryce Point, where you can get a lovely canyon view (long-sleeve shirt!!!), complete with more hoodoos than you would ever want to count:And you can also see the grottos:Inspiration Point is also lovely, and where you get the best views of Bryce Amphitheatre: My parents were inspired to have a bit of a rest:

We left Bryce relatively early for our drive to Zion. Zion is completely different from anwhere else we had been, and not just because they have trees there (there are also trees at Bryce, but they have more sizable trees at Zion). The geology is different and there is no more red rock. Which was a relief really, since I think I had seen enough red rock for quite some time. Plus, at Zion you're in the bottom of the canyon, instead of being on top, as we had been at all the other parks. This was the view from our campsite: Lovely, eh?