Sailor RN

A walk on the moon

2012-01-03T09:25:00.000-08:00

Almost like walking on the moon

Except the moon is in the sky

Cold

Holidays in Nome, AK

2011-12-31T22:29:00.000-08:00

Getting the dogs ready

Bianca and Jannelle

Rolland

Deb, Jannelle, Rolland, Sierra, Bianca and Trace.

This year for the holidays I once again find myself in Nome, AK. Being from Michigan I know cold, every once in awhile getting down to maybe 0 degrees. But man I am taken by surprise each time I come here how -30 degrees F is ridiculously cold. I might have wrote this exact type of blog entry the last time I was here in the winter about the process just to go out side. There is a sequence of questions that come before getting the appropriate number of layers on. What mode of transportation are we taking, how long will we be out and how cold actually is it? If its just a car ride, probably 3 layers, boots but no need for toe warmers. If we are taking snowmobile to the destination that will be indoors, then add a ski mask, another hat and scarf so that no micro spots of skin is showing. If we are going snowmobiling to the dogs to actually go mushing or do more snowmobiling, add another coat and bring one along just in case, add another two pairs of socks, slip in another pair of long underwear, an additional scarf to cover up that one spot near the neck that always somehow gets missed with the first one, and by this time I hope that you didn't forget to tape the toe warmers on. Then once you get one glove on, you might have to ask someone to get the other one on so that there are no open spots. And hopefully you have everything else already in a bag that you want extra or else you will over heat getting that together. Oh ya, don't forget to go to the bathroom before all this.

I learned the hard way about adding layers later after I got cold - just put every layer you own, or the most layers you can handle and still move. Even with bunny boots, all these layers, seal skin gloves and hats...I still get cold. I might be a bit of a wimp to begin with regarding the cold, (I complain when the temp is below 55F in LA) but I am happy if I can be out there for 1 hr and get back with only cold feet.

My first time Mushing

I am excited to share that for the first time I took part in "mushing the dogs." Mushing refers to journeying cross country with a sled and sled dogs. Often I hear from the Trowbridge family when I call, we have to feed the dogs, or we are mushing tonight, Misha this or Shack didn't run with us this time. I finally know what this entails and what dog is what. These dogs are pretty amazing and love pulling this sled. The landscape so white and the sun so beautiful. Just you and the dogs.

White

Joshua Tree National Park

2011-12-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

Split Rock

Found her...hmmmm

Skull Rock

Sun Rise

Snowing

Jennifer under "The Arch"

Wind Farm outside the park
(Photo taken by Jennifer)

This past week my college friend Jennifer came for a visit. We made the drive to Joshua Tree National Park. This place is so beautiful. I may end up coming again sometime. We ran into some snow...been a little while for me and snow, it was strange having to drive careful because the road was icy.
I am repeatedly reminded how lucky we are to have National Parks to visit where things are left uninhabited. It was good to have Jennifer, my fellow explorer and adventurer, here to enjoy this place with.

Out with a Bang

A stop at Golden Gate

2011-11-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

We had just enough time on the way back to the airport to stop at the Golden Gate Bridge and drive through the city a bit.

Heading back home from the Redwoods.

2011-10-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

Confusion hill Gravity House

Drive through Tree

Creative shot taken by Cynthia

Me and Cynthia

So we stopped at Confusion Hill (confusing by the way) and also at the Chandelier drive Through tree on our long drive back to San Fran. It was nice to stretch our legs to break up the driving. Pretty Cool.

Day 2-Hiking through the redwoods.

2011-10-27T21:59:00.000-07:00

Cynthia enjoying the view at Patrick's Point.

Redwood trees

Lots of mossy looking stuff

Lots of Clovers

Me at "The Big Tree" in Prairie Creek

So amazing 1500yrs old

Cynthia and me

A branch off the big tree which is like the size of another whole tree.

So the second day was a day of hiking. We first stopped of a Patrick's point for a nice view. We then headed up a little farther and hiked about 10 or 11 miles through the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. This park supposedly is uncut and the real deal. We hiked to Fern Canyon which was pretty neat with a bunch of ferns growing along a canyon wall. The last part of our day was visiting "The Big Tree Wayside." Pretty amazing to see a tree so large. You have to have pictures with people to understand the size of these things. I loved this place and highly recommend going sometime in your life.

A trip to the Redwood forest-day 1

2011-10-26T23:10:00.000-07:00

Golden Gate Bridge on the way up.

The first viewing a Redwood. Sort of a drive by while the driving in the car shot.

Of course I had to stop for a geocache in the Cemetery.

Stopped at glass beach on the way up.

Glass beach Sunset.

Last weekend a friend from work and I went to take a super short trip to see the redwood trees. The first day was basically travel. We flew into San Fran, and drove up the rest of the way from there with a few stops along the way. The redwoods were on the bucket list and was glad to cross off the Golden Gate too.

The Grand Canyon

2011-09-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

The second day of our trip was to the west rim of the Grand Canyon. This was for sure what I came for and was not disappointed.

A couple of us decided to pay the big bucks for a helicopter and boat ride. We were picked up at the top, we rode down to the bottom, rode up the Colorado River for a while then got back in the helicopter to ride back. It was pretty cool! It is really hard to put into perspective how big this place is with nothing around for scale.

From the Helicopter

Boat Ride

Eagle Rock

Sky Walk- has a glass bottom to see below you.

Hoover Dam

118 degrees F. Hot day.

Bus Tour Las Vegas-Grand Canyon

2011-09-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

The Bellagio Hotel

Glass Flowers on the ceiling.

Bellagio Fountain show

Fountain show

Volcano at the "Mirage"

Largest screen in the world 1500ft long, Freemont Street.

Spider-man and the Transformers hanging out, batman was busy with some kids.

View from the Stratosphere

Last week I took a Chinese/English bus tour to Las Vegas/ Grand Canyon with a group of people from work. We left early Sunday morning and arrived in the afternoon at the Stratosphere Hotel. Every thing is super cheap just to get you there so that you will spend your money at the casinos. In fact, if you cancel you have to pay a fine multiple times more than what you actually paid for your ticket to get there since they were planning on you spending a lot of money.

The first day was mostly driving to get there with multiple pits stops. I went on another bus tour in the evening of some of the hot spots on "The Strip." And then to the top of our hotel where there were a few rides. Busy Day.

A few Pictures from the Garmin GPS

2011-07-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

Cat Harbor

Compass

Leaving Cat Harbor

Little Harbor

One camper at this beach

The hike out of Little Harbor

Hiking on Catalina Island

2011-07-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

I am the red one.

View of Catalina Harbor on the left opening to the ocean on the right

View from Silver Peak

When I decided to go to Catalina Island I wanted to go on the "quieter side." So to Cat Harbor I went. Catalina Harbor is on the west side of island but it is practically a lake and very protected. The moorings for the most part were plenty and I didn't need a reservation. But of coarse they didn't have correct mooring size available for my boat so I had to be by the next size up moorings which made me look really small.

I arrived later in the afternoon so I made hamburgers and got ready for the next day of biking around. I rented a mountain bike and head north on the east side of the island. This place was very hilly which I knew there would be a lot of walking up hills with the bike which also meant and nice ride with down hills too. I passed by many really cool little coves that fit 2-5 boats in it and few other smaller mooring fields. It was just so pretty and so many places to explore and see.

The day after that were spent hiking on trails that were definitely not biker friendly. I walked the 4mile plus up (steep) hill hike to reach Silver Peak to get a good 360 view of the Island (plus there was a geocache there). It was so worth it, not a soul in site just me and the view. It was a clear day so I could see the main land of San Pedro. I ate my packed lunch and enjoyed the solitude, feeling good about getting here.

Sea Life on the way to Catalina Island

2011-07-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

Some kind of whale

Sea Lion (or Seal) Wave

Dolphins

Fishing Boat

They get so close.

So I had the time this weekend to get away from work and spend my off days with the boat on Catalina Island. The way there was a little boring and grey with little wind and a few barges to avoid. But getting closer to the island I was happy to see my first whale ever! Of coarse I didn't get a good picture but there it was.

I also kept seeing these fins sticking out of the water like a dead animal floating on the surface. I realize now that these are either seals or sea lions basking in the sun. Just when you get up to them the rush off. I think they are sleeping when this happens.

And last but not least the dolphins. Hundreds of these guys around here. You see them coming at you off in the distance, a bunch of stirring water and fins. They literally come at you in full speed, then they check you out for a while swim with you, actually look at you, weave in and out right in front of the boat. Some jump out and do tricks for you. I could watch them for hours. They are like happy puppies eager for attention. I always enjoy their company and am sad to see them go.

Can you spell Cliffhanger?

2011-07-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

The adventures of the Nome 12mile Run

2011-07-06T18:02:00.000-07:00

Fire works on July 4th are not a typical tradition in Nome due to the never ending light at this time of year. The tradition here is an 8:00am 12mile run and 10:00am parade. Now Nome is a very small town, so the number of runners for the race ended up being 26 including Rolland and I.

Now for me I have run back in my college days a few 1/2 marathons and 25ks and sprint triathlons but that was more than just a couple years ago. My current physical state is working out at the local cross-fit gym 3 times a week. The most I have run in one period of time since those college days is 3 miles. So, when Rolland asked if I wanted to do the run I was reluctant because of my current running condition, but also up for a challenge to run in the great outdoors on a very rustic 12mile run.

So we arrived to sign up 15mins before the race. We were informed of the race route, where to leave our stuff, the 4 check points ect. So all 26 of us line up on a street with no line, we have no numbers, and no time chips. We start to "on your mark, get set, go." No crowd, just us. I start my watch and Rolland uses his GPS to get an accurate mileage recording. The first 3 miles or so were steady sloops up and down. We arrived at the first check point with instructions to call out our names so they can check us off. At this point I am at my max mileage and my calves are feeling like they usually do after a 3 mile run...tight and in need of a good stretch. The next 3 miles of the run was a wide gravel path up the side of a mountain. In about 3 minutes and my legs are barley moving so it seems faster to just walk. I tried to do a run 3 minutes/walk 30 seconds to keep me going. But soon I am down to just the reverse 30 seconds run/3 minutes walk to just...walk. By this time Rolland as moved ahead and I decide to take in the scenery up the rest of this monster of a hill. But soon I am having to alternate between a walk forward 3 minutes/walk backwards 30seconds just to give my very weary legs and very tight calves a different movement. I was even trying to imagine I was being chased by a musk oxen or moose or something to give me some incentive, well...I would have been fatally injured for sure.

I finally reach the top of Anvil Mountain, the second check point, and I feel good since now I am half way and I get to go down the beast. Also Rolland waited for me here, which I was glad for since I needed some incentive to keep up the pace.

At the top on Anvil Mountains I understand why on the map we were shown at the beginning of the race didn't indicate a path or a road to follow...because there was no path to follow. In typical Nome style, the instructions from the check point man was just get back to city hall any route you want. The next 1-2 miles down were literally walking/hoping/zigzagging and dodging rocks and shoal down the side of a steep mountain as fast as you could without twisting your ankle or doing a face plant. We reached check point 3 grabbed some water and continued on regular gravel road for awhile.

Now at this point I am really glad Rolland waited at the top of the mountain for me (this feeling is short lived) because I did not know how to get back and there was not one person in sight. The guy I was following somehow ran full speed the entire way down this hill and was now gone. I was getting to that point where all the mental stuff starts to come into play and just wanted to walk. My body just wanting to stop but not really having one particular thing that is bothering me but multiple. Not really getting winded sort of stuff but more like, "my shoes suck - I can feel every little stone through them", or "I feel a little tiny pain in my knee ," or I think I am having chest pain," Or "how much farther is this race, why can't they put mile markers or directions on where to go, and where the #$%$ is every one?" In short, my body was pretty pissed at me at this point.

So what I assume to be mile 9 or somewhere in there the mental games I play with myself are turning into irritation. Since I am following Rolland he of course is taking on the shortest route possible of which also has to be "as the crow flies." Meaning, through multiple terrains: a wet boggy field that you have to lift your feet really high in order not to trip, a four wheeler path that has those little hills for doing jumps and stuff taking extra energy to go up and down, puddles to run around. The most irritating to me now at this point the gravel paths that the gravel is so big I can feel it through my shoes not to mention a wet foot. So now the mental games bring me to the point I want to really share some choice words with Rolland about the route and how if I was bigger than him I would beat him silly, but I instead conserve my energy to just finish this wreched race, knowing that it would be even farther if we took roads instead.

When we finally make it back to town and the parade is at full tilt and there is no regard for us slow runners who didn't finish within two hours. We have to stop to cross the street for the parade, we have to zig zag along standing people, strollers, and running children. The worst part is when we finish it is unclear about who to tell that we are finished. By this time I am irrationally irritable and ready to blow. I feel ignored for a race that took a lot of physical and mental stamina from my being. Rolland seemed to have found someone who knew who to check in with and Rolland points him out to me - he is the man announcing the parade as the floats go by. I tap him on the shoulder, he looks at me and I ask, "is this the end of the race?" He of course can't hear me in my raspy dry mouth voice over the music playing. I think to myself, "I will say this only one more time because I am tired, I hurt, I am ignored, irritated, have a wet foot and I am the ONLY thing that should matter right now. In the bitchiest, meanest, loudest "give me your #$% attention or you will suffer" voice I can muster up, I repeat my question: "IS THIS THE END OF THE RACE!" Not only did he for sure hear me but also the whole town of Nome - I was talking right into his microphone. He passed off the microphone to someone else and gave me all the attention I needed. Of coarse his clock had us 5 minutes longer than my clock...just another thing. (Rolland at this point is glad that I am mad at someone besides him.)

I didn't know if I should laugh or cry or be happy that this race was over. Deb comes over to ask how we feel, I say, "don't talk to me," Deb understands me most times, but her pastor does not. She, being the caring pastor tried to ask me again how I was feeling, I barely answered a spiteful , "fine" stated that I "needed to be away from people" and left. I went home to take a nice hot shower. I got in the shower - there was no hot water. BAAAAA!!!!

In the end, I suck at running, love the outdoors, am a poor sport at times, like to see what I can physically handle with little training, demand attention when I am low and took this race a little too seriously. We placed 20th and it took us 2hrs and 14minutes on my watch and 2hrs and 20minutes on race clock (once we found the guy). According to Rolland's GPS we managed to cut off an entire mile on the short cuts we took. Its hard to say weather our 11min miles were because of the 3 mile walk up the hill and the tedious descent down the hill or if I am really just that slow and out of running condition. My calves two days later still are tight and I am not walking normal. I went into it with a goal of finishing in less the 2.5hrs and I did, I should have been a little bit more happy about that. Oh well, in few days I will be bragging about how I ran a multiple terrain, 12 mile run in Alaska.

The Alaskan Great Outdoors

2011-07-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon was a ride to find a geocache that had not been found for a while. According to the description there was a waterfall there. So we piled in the truck and headed out to find it in the great Alaskan outdoors. It was a sunny day with a few clouds and everything was green. The road/path was a little bumpy and a few spots had very large puddles and at one point we even drove through a stream. We managed to park really close (drove up the stream). We were all very happy to discover this place; so pretty, so isolated, lots of snow and two waterfalls.

Max, Bianca, Deb, Jannelle, Rolland

It was evident that this water fall had been flowing here for a very long time, the edges around it were completely smooth.

Me in the snow

The never setting sun of Nome.

Cotton Grass

Jannelle and Trix

Add caption

...continued

2011-07-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

Bianca and Jannelle

Took a walk along the beach with Jannelle and Bianca on the way to the old Gold dredger that is on display now. Was a beautiful but still chilly day.

Inactive Gold Dredge

Max

Deb and Rolland are taking care of Max. Max is a native (Eskimo). He is two and pretty good kid and laughs a lot.

There's no place like Nome

2011-07-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

Trix

For the July 4 weekend I am Nome another time visiting the Trowbridge family. Even though its summer it is still cool for me in the 40-50's. The sun is up all 24hrs of the day. The night hours 0200-0300, there is sort of a dusk.

Yesterday we did some four wheeling up in the mountains to get to those long lost geocaches that haven't been found for long time. One hadn't been found for 2 years. Still there though, it was a rough ride on the tundra to get there. I see why no one has ventured up there for a while.

Bianca on the 4 wheeler

Rolland's dirt bike

Meekis...a bit shy.

It was my 30th birthday last week, so we had small b-day celebration. Jannelle baked a cake and we ate it a la mode.

The Trowbridges a few months ago bought a sled dog team. Now that its summer they get their exercise by using the 4 wheeler as their sled. Very interesting.

Buela

Scuba diving and Wrigley's Memorial

2011-06-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

Me in my wet suit.

So I went scuba diving for the first time. I did it for two reasons, first because I have always wanted to it. Second because there was a geocache in the water 40 ft down. I went in the Jacques Yves Cousteau Dive Park with the instructor Shannon first thing in the morning at 0800. A bit chilly but apparently time with good visibility. I was having some trouble with equalizing my ears. But with hand signals, lots of swallowing, yawn like movements, and plugging nose and blowing I finally got down there. We saw so much stuff. Visibility was 20ft. I of course don't know the names of half of the fish we saw but I saw a small octopus that we held and inked all over us, sea cucumber, a shark egg case, shells with living creatures in them, lots of golden trouts defending their eggs, and of course the cache that I was looking for (which was the plaque placed in honor of Jacques by the California diving community in 1997, I had to report what was written on it). We went for a 42 minutes. It was starting to get cold even with the super duper wet-suit I had on, I can see how people dye of hypothermia so fast when stranded at sea. Any way, when we got out I couldn't hear very well, in fact the whole rest of the day my own voice sounded like I had my hands over my ears. It was really irritating.

Wrigley Memorial

Next was getting a bike again and taking a ride to Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Gardens. The memorial itself had some interesting structures and the gardens a bunch of interesting cacti. But I was most happy about the trail that lead away from the people to some awesome views of the bay.

Avalon Bay

An interesting/comical thing about Avalon is that everyone had golf carts. They ranged from regular white carts to pimped out carts to delivery carts. I managed to catch a few of the interesting ones.

Papa John's delivery

Black

Tow Cart (there is a tow hook on the back)

Mini Trucks

Mini Cars

Pimped out cart

Convertible

There were also mini van carts with car seats and such, FedEx delivery carts, lawn care carts, plain regular white carts, limo carts, station wagon carts, and many more. One even had a portable garden on the back of it.

Cape Canyon Tour

2011-06-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

Ready to charge

A cloud

Bison

The tour truck

Lots of secluded beaches

Whale vertebrae

Twin rocks

Two Harbor

The second day in Catalina I went on the Cape Canyon tour. Basically an army truck used for touring the back roads of Catalina Island. It was very adventurous and I learned a ton about the Island. Saw a bald eagle, a fox, a bunch of quail and tons of baby ones. Even saw a few bison there. Turns out they were brought there for a movie and were never left. Fun fact about bison...they are so top heavy that they have to rock back and forth to get momentum to stand up.

We made stop at the Airport too. Super small with just little planes for rich people and their private planes. Turns out the airport was made by blasting the top of the mountain off to make the runway. Anyway had a buffalo burger, it was good. Lots of good scenery but also a bit overcast at times.

The afternoon was a tour trip to Two Harbors on the northern end of the island. If I come back to the Island I would take the boat and moor/anchor here. This is the more rustic end of the island where campers go. There is one restaurant, only a few places to stay, a general store and a equipment rental place. There wasn't a ton to see here. But next trip will be riding bike on the inland trails.

The trip back to Avalon was a flying fish tour. It was interesting but I have experienced flying fish before with a few landing on deck on a past sailing trip. A few days later there was a foul dead fish smell that I could not detect the source. A few weeks later it was found and disposed of very quickly. So these fish use flying as a self defense mechanism. In the water they look like regular fish but when the jump out of the water they spread their wings and glide where ever the wind takes them in effort to confuse the predator. No pictures of the fling fish...they are too fast.

A trip to Catalina Island: Avalon

2011-06-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

Over look of Avalon

Lovers Cove, popular place to snorkel

This past week I took a 3 day trip to Catalina Island. No, I didn't take the boat...it would take too long for the time I had available. I instead took the ferry/hotel route. I had a very good time. The first day I rented a bike and did some geocaching...glad I did. It brought me to high places with good views and really good cardiac/legs workout from the bike ride. The weather most of the time was sort of overcast mornings with the sun not coming out until afternoon. So a lot of my pictures aren't really so impressive of the scenery landscapes.

More to come...

Boat Plants.

2011-05-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

Bell pepper

Kale

Lettuce

Tomato

Ben

No, I didn't get a cat. Although I have considered at one point getting one but I have found this is really working out just fine. This one is the neighbors cat who wanders around boats on my dock. Perfect pet really. Comes to hang out when I am around the boat, I kick it back outside when I get sick of him or when he sheds to much. He's not the type who likes to be pet so much...perfect pet.

So nothing has really been going on too much these days. Just been working a lot. I picked up another job one day a week. This adds up to 4 days a week...doesn't seem like a big difference but man its exhausting! But its a nice supplementary check. I plan to stay here in LA area for sure another year maybe plus. I just want to be plenty ahead for the next trip. Days off consists of laundry, grocery shopping (lately at the farmers market), getting in a good work out at the gym and making lunches for the next few days a work. Usually a movie in there somewhere too. Also trips to the beach with my Kindle. (Read the book by Rob Bell "Love Wins" which I very much enjoyed, opening my eyes to a few things that I just accepted as I was taught but not really knowing why or really getting it.) And even found a church/bible study that seems to work with my not so regular schedule.

Took the boat out a few days ago with a co-worker interested in one day purchasing a boat herself. Perfect sailing day with sunshine, wind and a few sea creatures sun bathing in the middle of nowhere, which we determined were sea lions or seals.

I recently got a new grill and have been using it way more than I thought I would. Also purchased a few plants that I hope survive. They are all strategically placed so that Ben that cat wont eat them (and later barf it up on my boat) and also when watered it drains into the water. The most interesting one is that upside down tomato plant. It already has blossoms on it. It gets a lot of attention from by passers.

Wild flower field

2011-05-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have been driving by this field and my eyes can't get enough of it. So bright and full of wild flowers in the middle of the city. I took a nice walk through it and enjoyed every minute of it.

Bike Ride

2011-02-19T19:43:00.000-08:00

Bike Path

Today I took a bike ride and found a few new geocaches in the area. I took that camera along just in case something looked photo worthy and took a few shots. I then ate at a restaurant looking out over that harbor to see all the boats coming in to avoid the rain that was coming in. Just a nice uneventful day.

Vote for this Picture

2011-01-27T12:10:00.000-08:00

A while back I submitted a few photos in a contest for the magazine Boat US. I was happy to see that the photo below made honorable mention and that the one above taken of Precipice by Rolland actually made the first cut! Now its up to voters. Click here to see a bunch of good boating pictures and cast your vote for Precipice!

Honorable Mention

Hawai'i Vacation- Day 6- multiple stops

2011-01-21T16:38:00.000-08:00

My last day in Hawai'i was really full. I wasn't sure if I was going to get everything in that I wanted to do. So I decided to go to the place that open first. That was the Macadamia Nut Farm. All very interesting. The first pictures shows what a macadamia tree looks like. The second is was the nut look likes on the tree and the third when it falls in the ground. The nut is not ready to be harvested until it falls to the ground. There is a soft outer shell that easily comes off. Then they are collected from the ground and they go through a device to break the shell. It takes 300lbs per square inch of pressure to break it. Learned a bunch here and bought even more nuts.

Next stop was the Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo. Saw a few animals I have never seen.

Some type of pheasant and its counter part (below)

Ant Eaters

Next was the Akaka Falls.

Next was a drive to my next location. I stopped for lunch and took a few pictures.

Found a cool antique shop with tons of bottles in the windows. "Glass from the past."

"Glass from the past"

Glass from the Past

Next was to the World Botanical Gardens and Waterfalls.
On the way to some of the falls were a lot of cows. This one seemed...angry.

Tree with spikes growing out of it, aloe leaf in place for effect.

Rainbow Tree. So cool, really these colors.

The reason for going to these gardens was for the zip lines. There were 9 of them. I spent a couple hours zipping through the gardens over streams and valleys getting also a nice narrated tour of plants from the guides. This last one was the longest of the lines and also two side by side. So you could race. The guide took a few pictures of me so I could show of my awesome zip lining skills. It was fun.

After zip lining I had some time to kill and stopped a few parks along the way.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Cemetery in Papaikou, Hawai'i.

Lots of these types of arrangements seen throughout Hawai'i.

Just had an awesome day and good time over all in Hawai'i. I was happy to end on a good note. It was great to go somewhere and enjoy every part of it. There was just so much to do and see, so many natural wonders here. There wasn't any hanging out baking on some hot sandy beach every day on a resort. It was full of adventure, sweat, hiking, blistered feet, nature, exploration and learning; learning about Hawai'i and also a few things about myself. And each day I came back to my bed exhausted and spent. It was good.

Hawai'i Vacation- Day 5- Waipi'o Valley and an afternoon drive

2011-01-20T23:25:00.000-08:00

So on this day I tried out riding a horse. There were many horses with strange Hawaiian names...thank goodness mine was just "Sally." Any way Waipi'o Valley was very beautiful. Way back when people first started living here the only was in was by canoe. Now there is a super steep drive that you need 4wheel drive to get in and out of it. Only a handful of people live down there. When there are Tsunami warnings the whole valley evacuates. A few times the valley has been totally destroyed and flooded.

Overview of the Valley

My horse "Sally"

Me and Sally

The rest of the afternoon I took a drive through the middle of the Island and found a few geocaches. It was probably one of the best times of the whole trip. Going from beach to valley to rain forest to hills to mountains in the clouds all in one afternoon and then back again all ending with a magnificent sunset.

Very satisfied

Hawai'i Vacation- Day 4 Volcanoes National Park

2011-01-19T18:53:00.000-08:00

The forth day I rented a car and headed over to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. There was so much to do there. I thought this might be a morning ordeal, I was blown away. Here is a map 1 (map 2) of the park to give you and idea about how big this park is and how large the craters are. I spend the day driving from one end of the park to next taking in all there was to see.

The first place I stopped was at the steam vents ( a description you will see a few picture down.)

steam vents

This is Halema'uma'u Crater. It is always giving off lots of steam. There is even a webcam. Can't see it good from this picture but this crater has another crater inside of it. It used to be a big lava lake until 1942 it erupted and emptied out. It is crazy big.

The picture below is a lava tube. Pretty strange that at one time there was hot lava traveling through here.

This is a smaller crater Kīlauea Iki (below). You can't see it but there are people down there walking along a trail.

This used to be a tree that is now covered in lava.

Found this on a hike.

The darker areas are the most recent lava flows

Went into the road

My rental car

Holei Sea Arch

Self Portrait

Took a little hike to some petroglyphs.

Halema'uma'u Crater at night, you can see it glowing.

In the end, this day was just so cool. I would have loved to go a few more hike had time allowed.

Hawai'i Vacation- Day 3- part 2 Mauna Kea

2011-01-18T21:18:00.000-08:00

After the lesson from the Tsunami Museum I went on another guided tour this time to Mauna Kea. Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the Hawaiian chains, also the tallest volcano in the world, 13,796ft. It is considered a dormant shield volcano for about 4-5,000 years now.

View from 9,000ft. Stopped at this point to let our bodies adjust to the altitude for about 30 minutes.

The road up, officially above some clouds.

Close to the summit

Because of Mauna Kea's altitude it is a great place for star gazing and star watching. Among many telescopes and astronomical observatories, the worlds largest mirror is here, Keck Telescope.

The terrain is much like that of the moon. In fact, they tested some of the equipment here that was later used on the moon.

Pathway to the summit. It doesn't look like it but the wind is whipping by and it really hits you hard after making that turn to the right up that slope. On the way up to the summit the wind was so strong (40m/hr) I was having trouble walking.

View from the summit. It was cold and windy with poor visibility this day. There was no star gazing that night.

Within minutes of getting there, it turned into a full blown blizzard...the rangers were asking all visitors to head back due to the weather.

Pretty crazy that only a few miles away is the Ocean and the weather is 70's F. I had to laugh because I saw a pick up truck with the back full of snow on its way down. Apparently a common past time is to have snowball fights on the beach.

Another historical fact provided by the tour guide. Back in the day this mountain was considered so sacred that if you were not a native of the island you were not allowed to even go on the mountain.

Hawai'i Vacation- Day 3-Tsunami Museum

2011-01-17T20:49:00.000-08:00

Taken near the Tsunami Museum

The third day I had some time to kill before my tour to Mauna Kea...I figured I would go somewhere the bus could take me since it was free. So to the Tsunami Museum is was.

So here is a little about Tsunamis:
What is a Tsunami? There are a few different types but in Hawai'i they are caused by earthquakes from other parts of the world. As you can see in the graph, Hawai'i is very prone to Tsumanis. If there is an Earthquake (not sure the exact magnitude) in any of coast lines around Hawai'i it is only a matter of hours before Hawai'i is hit with a couple of deadly waves. They can travel up to 500m/hr.
On April 1, 1946 in Alaska there was an earthquake, the Hawaiians were notified but many thought it was an April fools joke...killing 159 people and destroying much of the town. Not only do people just drown, they get hit by the debris in the water including cars and buses.
It had been quite some time since the last Tsunami that no one really even knew what one was or what to expect even if they had taken it seriously. Lack of knowledge played a big part in the deaths of these people. For surfers...they went out to catch that big wave. For most others it just mere curiosity that brought them in the danger zone. At points between the waves the water is actually sucked back out to sea leaving the fish flopping around on the ocean bottom, which I imagine is quite a scene to see. People went out to collect those fish only to be hit by the next big wave. Since then they have relocated all of the residents who lived in the Tsunami Zone and most of those areas are now large parks and beaches and the businesses are farther inland. Also, now there is an official warning system in place, including sirens stationed all over the island, giving the residents of Hawai'i warning to get out of the Tsunami zone in time.
The lady at the museum said in Feb, 2010 there was earthquake in Chili and they did evacuate the Tsunami Zone in Hilo, fortunately the waves only ended up being 4ft by the time it got there only causing minimal damage on the coastal parks and beaches with no casualties. I also learned that even if the Tsunami hits on one side of the island the opposite side is still effected, it somehow wraps around. And strangely if you are on your boat like 10 miles out you can't even tell a Tsunami is going by.

Hawai'i Vacation- Day 2- Beaches, Waterfalls and Parks.

2011-01-16T16:30:00.000-08:00

My second day was Sunday and the local bus doesn't run this day. So again got on the bike and did some exploring on my own. First I headed down toward the beaches. There were so many to stop at and they were all so different than the beached I am used to. Very rocky for a little distance from shore breaking the waves leaving nice little pools to wade in.

As I was looking out at the scenery and taking it all in from a tall lava rock I saw something in the water. At first glance it just looked like a rock but there were 3 of them that were moving. They were sea turtles swimming in one of the large pools of water. I went in to get a closer look. So cool!

My next stop was going to be a bit of a ride, an up hill excursion to Rainbow Falls. After finally getting there and totally exhausted this was it. Just a little trickle off the mountain. So I went on to explore on top of the falls...I was not disappointed.

I found up there some teenagers jumping off high cliffs but I wasn't so sure it was the safest thing to do. Then I saw a woman who told me that those were her kids and she was watching over them . Apparently they come here often and do this as a family thing. That was enough for me, I was hot from that bike ride...I went for a swim.

The girl in the blue swimsuit just jumped from where those kids are standing on very far upper right. I only dared jumping from where that person is standing on the middle left of the photo...well I climbed down as far as I could and jumped about like 8 feet (about half the distance that water fall is falling).

This picture below is the area of water that flows down into the waterfall shown 2 pictures above. I so wish I had a way to take pictures of the beauty that I witnessed going even farther past where you see me. Falls every where going into little pools with sun pouring down warming me (the water was freezing).

I am standing by the falls

Me swimming

After that I wanted to check out the Boiling Pots water falls up the hill another mile or so. At first from the viewing point it was just..meh. Then I saw some other people way down there so I jumped the fence too.

I found a more impressive and higher water fall than the others. I ventured over there and went for a swim there too. I thought Rainbow Falls was cold...this was suck the breath out of you cold. That swim didn't last long.

The picture above is a close up of the picture above that. These pictures just don't do the these two fall justice. There were so high.

After the waterfalls I biked back to town...well, I never peddled once and rode the brakes for portions of the way. It was so fun gliding down the hill that I had to tell someone about it. So the poor girl I ordered ice cream from at the bottom of the hill was polite and humored my excitement. Any way, once back to town I stopped at a nice park with a geocache in it. There were tons of these types of trees around.

It was a great exploring day on the bike.

Hawai'i Vacation- Day 1- Lava Hike

2011-01-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

This past week I had the option of taking a week off from work. My contract ended over at Cedar Sinai Hospital. That place really wore me down and I really needed to take a nice break. I last minute decided to take a trip to Hawai'i via plane. I googled popular hostels and went to the first one that came up which was on the Big Island in Hilo. I spent 5 days there and stayed busy the entire time doing anything from toured adventures to swimming in beautiful waterfalls. So over the next few days I will be posting what I did.

For starters since Hawaii has a National Park about Volcanoes and just about everything there has to do with them let me introduce you to how Hawaii was formed and about volcanoes in this basic National Geographics video. You will be seeing that a huge portion of my photos have volcanoes or lava in them.

The first day I rented a bike and rode to town to see what was all there and to find maps and places to go the rest of the time. I was supposed to go on a waterfall excursion but there were not enough people signed up to go. So I went on a guided lava walk tour. It was AWESOME! I actually saw active lava and poked sticks in it.

When you stick you stick in it fire exploded out releasing all the gases that are inside. It was sooooo hot you could just barely stand there and had to get out of there. This was the slow flowing kind of lava. The kind that if its heading toward your house you can pack your stuff and get out of there safely.

You can see the smoking areas in the back ground and dried lava as far as the eye can see. Pretty crazy.

This is one of the cool designs it makes when its hardened.

HOT!

I learned that over time the lava that reaches the ocean sort of extends the land. The island gains acres of land at a time. Also over time the lave decomposes to black sand making all of those black sand beaches you read about. The lava is full of minerals and stuff actually starts growing again pretty quickly within a few months.

Trees that have been planted already

Some people refuse to move despite the risks of living here such as breathing toxic air and risk for their home being destroyed over and over again.

The lava just eats up what ever comes in its way.

Here you can see how the lava just went though the middle of these trees and completely wiped it out.

So in pictures that will be posted later you will be seeing how this entire side of the island is just all sort of barren because of the constant flow from the volcanoes. Roads have been destroyed and there are no plans to make new ones in this area because the lava still flows.

Misc info:

Another popular thing to do it view at night when you can see all the hot lava in the dark from a helicopter ride or by boat when its flowing into the ocean or by foot. I did try this from the volcano park but the weather turned foggy and rainy and you couldn't see anything.

A really good video to watch.

Kilauea Volcano Active Lava Flow, Hawaii is a link showing whats going on there from 2008.

This map shows most current flow.

I visited the Kalapana side on this day.

A Lava tube is a : long, tubular opening under the crust of solidified lava.

A lot of the lava that we saw comes from breakouts from underground from these lava tubes.

Current news about the flow.

There are people who are so into this stuff and religiously follow the route and paths of lava like this guy. Nice blog with pictures and updates.

I Learned so much about all this stuff while I was there. I learned about hot spots. Hot spots are the reason Hawaii exists. Over millions of years as the tectonic plate moves the hot spot stays in the same place resulting in a chain of islands. Apparently there is a new island forming now but hasn't emerged over the water yet.

Hawai'i has tons of legends about gods/goddesses and how things came to be. Pele is the goddess of fire. (click the link to read the story)

Notice her hair is like lava.

Christmas in Nome

2010-12-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

"Snow Machining" (aka snowmobiling) in Nome. We are dressed for 0 degrees F.
I got cold just waiting outside for the snow machines to be started
and ready to go. Deb and Rolland bought seal skin hats.
We all wore two hats, many scarves, and feet and hand warmers (of course after we
got too cold).

Bianca running away from the camera (a common event)

Jannelle getting the the van for our snow machining afternoon.

Rolland in his seal skin hat.

Rolland, Deb, Bianca and Jannelle.

Bianca

Rolland gave us all really sharp knives for Christmas. I unfortunately experienced just how sharp while removing it from its case. No one believed me that I sliced my thumb, I just got scolded for swearing. The blood that came next was a little more persuasive. Rolland was more than excited to use his first aide kit (contains everything to run a small clinic-including intubation kit but just short a defibrillator). I had my wound irrigated and a pressure dressed before I knew it.

Jannelle

Ninja

The Trowbridge family with all of their loot.

Me in front of the frozen ocean.

Christmas with the Trowbridge family was very good. We did some snowmobiling (only for a few hours...soooo cold) the first day on Christmas Eve and later to church and then a nice little Christmas dinner and gift exchange. Saturday was vegging out and doing nothing and later some sledding (man that wind can be wicked). We did pretty good with two sleds. We dressed a little bit better for the sledding by putting the hand/feet warmers in before waiting for our appendages to get too cold. (It makes me wonder why we never used those things when I was growing up. Those endless hours of outdoor work in the cold would have been much better.) It seemed to be such a process before going anywhere...had to dress before going, even if driving there (the van doesn't warm up especially fast.) And then upon arrival removing everything before you start sweating too much. Sunday was radio station for Rolland (I went with him) and then church and a lot of time of just hanging out reading/movies/eating/music etc. The last day was actually a productive day. Since it was Monday Rolland was back to work so Deb and I did some work on the upstairs apartment that they will be moving into this week. Deb cleaned the walls and I taped for a coat of paint. Rolland surprised us and got the afternoon off and we finished up by getting 2 layers of paint in the living room and kitchen. We covered up the previous color we think was called "dirty water" and now looks 100% better and brighter. All ready for the Landlord to put in the new kitchen cabinets. We all had one last evening together sharing a taco dinner, a movie and even desert. I left that evening, took a night flight home and now here in 60 degree F weather in LA and back to the busy city where people steal from you the cab that you are already getting into. Pretty crazy how different things are in all aspects. It was good to be in Nome for a nice slower pace.

Marina Del Rey Boat Parade

2010-12-22T21:43:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Sunset just before the parade

There was a dingy in the competition.

Pirate snowman

This on was my favorite.

Dingy and all.

I was having a little trouble figuring out taking pictures in the dark with lights that are moving. Thank goodness the boats rounded 3 times plus some so there was plenty of opportunity to catch a few good shots.

This Christmas I will be going to visit Deb, Rolland and the girls in Nome, Alaska. I went to the storage unit to dig up all of the cold weather clothing that I have. Can you believe I don't even have boots any more? I haven't been in snow for two years now. I tend to get rid of stuff that I don't use and winter boots got the boot. I think we will be doing some sledding and some outdoor Nome type stuff. Either way it will be good to be with loved ones.

Freak Show/Venice

2010-12-13T12:46:00.000-08:00

Two headed turtle

two headed snake

This guy swallowed the whole balloon

Venice Canal

Venice houses

Strange man on strange roller skates selling strange things

Windmill

Pasadena "Dinner in the Park"

2010-11-25T15:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving every one!!!

The serving hands.

I was greeted in my car like I had just finished a triathlon by a huge

group of people when I dropped off a few donations. It was great.

Goody bags for after the Dinner

There was a table for each type of food such as desserts, warm food,

beverages, plates and stuff, breads, and meats. Very well organized and plenty of help,

the volunteer registration was "full."

The guests trickling in.

Face painting for the kids.

Waiting for it all to begin.

Family Volunteers were abundant.

The guests waiting in line.

Finally...dinner is served.

Some with family,

some alone,

and some with their pets.

They have done this for the last 30 years. They plan for 5,000 homeless to come.

There was a lot of food. Wonder if this was comparable to feeding the 5,000

back in the day.

Happy Thanksgiving.

New Sails here at last.

2010-11-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

New Main

So a few posts ago I mentioned new sails were being made. For the non sailor readers there is going to be a bunch of boat jargon. The main point is a bunch of work was done, a few problems solved and a few more that need to be addressed.

Rolland working on rigging.

Well a month ago Rolland came into town with the sails and we went to work doing a bunch of stuff on the boat. Rolland worked on standing rigging (the part that holds the mast up) and I redid the running rigging (the part that holds the sails up), even got new life lines. That stuff took most of our time. Also had the yard redo the bottom, we put a new zinc on too. The sails were not quite all the way finished so did most of the finishing touches....enough to get it on and see what else needed adjusting. Turns out this main sail is a tiny bit longer than the other one, so later I cut some of the top off but not enough to make it fit. Turns out that over the last few years running rigging inside the mast has been a bit tangled but have managed just having a little friction when raising the main. But now it can't go ignored any longer. Just too much slack. Its one of the deals that could take one try to fix or days of putting the halyards in and out until it works right with potential to hire some one with tricks to get it right.

Chanty with new bottom paint.
(Had the water line removed since it always had growth on it.
It was easier to fill it in that to move the water line up...cheaper too.)

I cut the top head sail off and put a larger one one under it .
(this was to shorten it a little)

Other boat stuff I have been doing is working on the motor. I found that when you don't run the motor often, it gets plugged and overheats. So, with a lot of phone calls to Rolland, I managed to find the blockage by taking one hose off at a time. Also discovered how to do other things like change the zinc on the motor and the temperature sensor and a review on how to change the impeller.

New impeller

Old motor zinc

This was where the blockage was (hoses are off)

Aside from that have just been finishing the sails, splicing and whipping few lines. Also did a sand down and re-varnish job on the rudder and still working on the companionway. Still have to do finishing touches on the storm sails. The next big project is a sail pack, (a device that collects the main sail without the sail going all over the place, nice for in rough weather when you have to get it down quick.)

My first splice

You can sort of see the blue tape on the areas being varnished.

Topanga State Park

2010-10-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

Early morning drive to Topanga Park doing some geocaching

Hardly on the trail and there was a deer.

Fire Ants

Eagle Rock (there was a geocache here)

View from Eagle Rock Ocean in the back

Eagle Rock

Eagle Rock Sign

These pictures are from a few months ago. I took the day and did some hiking and geocaching. It was one of those hikes that you say I will just go on this trail and come back, but I just kept going and going and going, finding more and more caches. I had no water left, was really thirsty and dehydrated and was getting really sunburn. I came to an end of a trail to look for a geocache. I passed by a house and there was a kid there about 9yr olds asked if I had a GPS in my hand I said yes and went on to my cache. I found it came back toward the trail and the kid was still there with his younger siblings as if he was waiting for me. He asked if I found what I was looking for. I said I did. Then he asked if I was a geocacher. From there I ended up meeting his mom, getting a map of the trails around there, getting a nice long drink from the garden hose and then ventured with the kid to another nearby cache that I couldn't find...he had found it before. He was so happy that he could help and was chattering away about all the caches that they had found in the park. I was happy for this encounter. It was a good day.

Don't Even Try It

2010-10-12T03:27:00.000-07:00

I had to laugh when I saw these signs. First because I am in shorts and my legs are unprotected from the rattle snakes. Second because the next two signs add on an older sibling threat. "Don't Even think about it."

dun dun dun...or else~

Wayfarer's Chapel

2010-10-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

Happened to see this Chapel along my route to the sunken city. I had read about this chapel before and was happily surprised to actually see this place. Lots of weddings here. http://www.wayfarerschapel.org/

The Sunken City, San Pedro, CA.

2010-10-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.uer.ca/locations/show.asp?locid=24548

Came here very early a few months ago to find a geocache (I found it) Lots of very colorful graffiti but maybe not so appropriate for this blog. Very cool place and lots of places to see in the area too.

Chanty's New Sails

2010-08-19T22:29:00.000-07:00

Rolland working on the asymmetrical spinnaker

Storm trysail (this takes the place of the mainsail and doesn't use the boom)

Rolland and Bianca

Bianca modeling for scale with the new main sail

Jannelle modeling for scale on the spinnaker

Back in July of 2009 on the way down to New York City from Newfoundland, Chanty's main ripped. (see old post). It ripped at a seam so I was able to do a really rough job of hand stitching it back together until I could get someone to beef it up a little. When I got to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (see old post) the jib ripped. Luckily there was a sail maker in town to assess my sail situation. It was concluded that there was too much sun damage on the jib and was beyond repair. Lucky I had a Genoa that hadn't seen much use yet. The main was then reinforced and usable. I was given strict instructions to not take another big trip until these sails were thrown in the trash and new ones made. Well here we are, a trip from NY to Florida later and in August of 2010. A little late but at least happening. I will now have a new main, a storm jib and storm trysail (main) and the most exciting of all and new to Chanty is the asymmetrical spinnaker complete with the spinnaker sock. Chanty has never done good in light winds so this will be a great addition. Rolland with the help of Jannelle and Bianca decided to take on the sail making challenge and put his industrial sewing machine to the test. I don't think I will be disappointed.

Butterfly Garden

2010-08-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles-The Vault

2010-08-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

This is the Kazanjian Red Diamond

The vault in the museum

Magic Crystal ball

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

2010-08-12T23:48:00.000-07:00

Megamouth Shark

These megagmouths are still around but rare. I would hate to come across one of these.

Whale skeleton

A few shots of the beach

2010-07-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

Marina Del Rey

2010-07-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

Water Reflection

Fisherman's Cove

Some new computer features I have been playing with

Fisherman's Cove

Living Vicariously

2010-07-08T22:51:00.001-07:00

These are a few pictures that Rolland sent me via email. Their last trip on the NW passage they lost their really good dingy in really bad weather. So Rolland is making a new one this week for their 200 mile trip to Russia this Saturday. After getting Precipice ready after a cold winter and a long wait from the Russian government for the papers the Trowbridges are ready and off they go. They have worked hard to get ready now they get to go have fun. I haven't had any sailing adventures for a long time so this is the closest thing to for me right now. This will be the third Continent that they visit.

The first guess cut. I extended the stern and increased the freeboard. Tricky.

Cutting the frames. These will become the seats and give the hull stiffness.

Attaching the sides to the frame. I tried screwing it together and ended up using stainless wire to "stitch" it together.

Setting the bottom pieces on. At this point I didn't know if I could bend the wood this hard. I had increased the freeboard, which meant a greater curve in the front. I had also used thicker plywood than the plans called for.
It bent hard.

Here are the boards bent. The wire ties are barely holding. The whole thing is under great tension.

Here it is from the front. I didn't get the front or the rear transom pieces right on the first try. Second time worked.

Here is the completed boat, ready for epoxy.

Here it is upright.

This is the dingy after the first coat of epoxy, and the corners fiberglassed. Tomorrow I will paint it and then fiberglass the inside.

Have A Good Trip!

Random California Pictures

2010-07-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica Beach

La Brea Tar Pits

A few more of Alaska

2010-07-06T02:50:00.000-07:00

Alaska...working on Precipice

2010-06-23T11:08:00.004-07:00

Precipice

A very large chunk of my time spent in Nome Alaska was working on Precipice with Rolland, Jannelle and Bianca. Since they had gone through the North West Passage through Northern Canada there was a lot of damage done to the hull from ice. Precipice didn't get much attention this winter since it was too cold to do certain repairs. So on the days the weather allowed we painted and focused on getting the hull done so Precipice could go in the water.

Rolland and Jannelle.

Bianca

Both Bianca and Jannelle have grown since the last time I have seen them. In fact, Jannelle is now taller than me and is very strong. Rolland no longer asks me or Deb to lift heavy things with him on the boat...Jannelle inherited that job. Jannelle has also started checking the oil and refilling the gas on the generator. Sanding the boom and gaff has become Bianca's project. Sanding and varnishing, over and over again can get boring but Bianca has tackled the job and is getting good at it.

Layer number one

Before I got there Rolland had already started to fill in and sand down the spots that needed attention. We finished that up then and realized that the water line area was sort of "sanded off." So we used what little areas were left un-sanded and Rolland sort of guessed/eyeballed some measurements and taped it in. We then started painting layer 1 of 2. I rolled it on with the roller with Rolland following close behind to brushed out the bubbles which gave the hull a nice reflective glossy look. (This is called "roll and tip")

Layer 1

Layer 2 of top and layer 1 on bottom

There were already 5 layers of bottom paint. So we touched up the damaged areas and hit the important spots near the waterline. It all ends up the same color after reacting with water.

Rolland then carefully painted the water line with no tape. My job was to stand nearby with a rag and paint thinner for any drips or red escaping on to green from a non-compliant paintbrush bristle.

If I had a picture of what Precipice looked like before we started paint and compared it to this one (below), you would be amazed at how a few fresh layers of paint can really kick it up to something classy. Everything in Nome is a little shabby and grey. All of the boats in Nome are aluminum fishing boats that don't have a lot color. It was good to see our hard work turn into something beautiful.

The Final Product.

Alaska- geocaching

2010-06-14T01:21:00.000-07:00

Bianca, Rolland, Deb. Jannelle with Nome in background

Steaming Volcano

(just kidding...just a vertical contrail from a plane that happens to be behind a few rocks)

Nome at 0100. 24 hours of light. It was a little strange...I never wanted to go to bed. We were still out geocaching after 10pm with sun shinning brightly.

Rolland at the radio station KICY in Nome doing his Sunday routine.

Rolland, Jannelle, Bianca

Musk Ox that was in the way of our cache that we were trying to get to. I have to laugh when I see these animals...it looks like two hunched humans with really skinny legs with a big hide thrown over them.

Me geocaching. Nome has the best geocaches I have ever found. The hikes to get there are phenomenal, the views breathtaking and the cache containers are so huge,

Trowbridge Family and their ride

Alaska-Velvet Eyes

2010-06-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

This past week I had the privilege of visiting Rolland, Deb, Jannelle and Bianca in Nome, Alaska. I have lots of pictures to post but here are a few to start out. This Reindeer is Velvet Eyes a pet to one of the locals there. Its like a dog wanting to be pet but I was a little scared. It took me a little bit to warm up.

Hollywood Sign

2010-05-17T12:16:00.001-07:00

Spent the day yesterday trying to get to this sign. There is no way to drive to it. The closest place to drive to it is celebrity/rich area who don't like people parking by their houses. I was told I was too suspicious and that I can't park there. I promptly left that spot and moved on. I went to a little park area that had trails leading from it to the sign. I finally made it. It had to be a couple of miles before getting there. Long enough that there were not a lot of people willing to do the hike...there weren't too many people around. I also had the chance to get a few geocaches too.

So this is the first assignment that getting to work will be by car Bus...way to long to get there, bike way to long to get there, car...enough of a time saver to choose this route. But traffic here is enough to pull your hair out. To get anywhere here you have to plan double time what you would normally plan anywhere else. I am doing my best to just understand that traffic just comes with the territory and have just started to accept it will take 1 hour of time to go 8-10 miles on mostly highway or any way.

I was spoiled over in Sarasota, this place is going to be a challenge for sure. This job I will be an ICU float with occasional Tele floating. Meaning: I go to what ever unit they are short and fill in. I get to look like the clueless traveler that every one wonders if I really know what I am doing. They have 900 beds total and a lot of different ICU's. I understand that most of the units are all set up the same so that shouldn't be so bad. I had one night of orientation on one of the the units so far. We were told in orientation that everything but meds was paper charting. I get there...computer charting. How can this sort of thing be missed in orientation? They tend to also double chart and chart unnecessary things, including the ever dreaded very detailed nursing care plans....thought I was done with that after nursing school.

Things are definitely faster paced here and pts are in general sicker than Sarasota. The doctors didn't want to be called in Sarasota...a non teaching hospital. Sarasota doctors would have standing orders for labs and fluid and electrolyte replacement and vital sign parameters set up to get you through the night. Here there are residents always present and its "as you go". I will be glad for the busier nights here but, as always, getting the flow of things will take time and getting everything done that I need to will be a learning curve. The first few weeks are always a bit of a drag but I think it will be a good place to work.

Settling in.

2010-05-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

Chanty is now in the water. I have been working on the bright work a bit, already have 5 layers on the hand holds on top. This past week has mostly been organizing the boat again, getting stuff in storage and getting settled in my new marina. I discovered a really nice bike path close by that goes right to the beach while I was geocaching the other day. TONS of geocaches here in LA. I can see those will bring me a lot of new places. Took a ride to work in the car...it took 45 minutes to go 8 miles. Rode my bike to work, just to try it out...took me an hour, I really thought it would take less time since half of the way is no stops on that bike trail. Don't think I will be making it a habit. Besides the ride back is murder...against the wind from the ocean. And holy smokes...don't get in the way of those professional bikers...they mean business. I was so exhausted by the time I got home, can't imagine doing that after a 12 hour night shift. Tomorrow is my official first day of work. This week will be just a bunch of orientation stuff. After that, I will be starting back into a routine.

California

2010-05-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

New Mexico

2010-05-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Stopped a lot at "Love's" truck stops.

Texas

2010-05-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

Uneventful trip:FL to TX

2010-05-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

I didn't make any stops on this part of the trip. I worked all night, got in the car and drove eight hours straight to Tallahassee.. I only took a couple of pictures through the window, and Florida isn't exactly spectacular from the road. Not my best pictures ever. I enjoyed the trip as best as I could. My simple trusty Volvo doesn't have air or even a radio. I have her loaded down to the maximum any car could carry. Sometimes climbing those hills in out West meant having to down shift to 2nd gear barely crawling at 25m/hr. I traveled at night as to not be pressured by the speeding traffic around me and to not stress the car resulting in a breakdown. I stopped in Tallahassee, Dallas, Albuquerque and now in LA.

Getting Chanty on the truck

2010-04-29T00:12:00.000-07:00

You can see where I did my best to scrub a few weeks ago.

Now cleaned

On the sling on the way to the truck

Getting settled in the truck

The day went pretty good. I left Marina Jack around 8am, arrived at the haul out marina around 10am during high tide, stripped and secured all last things on Chanty. The crew hauled out the boat and power sprayed the hull. I chipped away at a few unwanted growth that the sprayer couldn't get. The trucker arrived soon after and after a few clarifications of some major miscommunication between trucker and marina manager about equipment, everything went relatively well. I even made it to work just in time.

I am now in Tallahassee on my way to "The Golden State." The boat will be put in LA on Monday. There will be just enough time for me to get there at a safe speed to meet the trucker in LA to inspect the boat before launch.

On to the next adventure!!!!

Leaving Sarasota, FL

2010-04-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

The Volvo is ready and packed. Tomorrow I take the boat to get hauled out and packed up on a trailer. I work a few more days and take off right after I am done. It will take me about 3 days to get to my new assignment in Los Angeles, CA. It will be a pretty focused trip with not a lot of stopping. Wish me luck.

New GPS!!!

2010-04-25T19:39:00.001-07:00

I got a really early birthday present from Rolland this year. A new GPS. It a Garmin Oregon 550. I of coarse can use it 1.) on the water 2.) for the road for my cross country trip this week (probably most important) and last but not least 3.) I can download geocaches in it (most exciting!). So no more printing up the paper version of the description or plugging in coordinates...so cool! So these are a few pictures on my walk today.

Sarasota Sunset

2010-04-24T22:29:00.000-07:00

Mixon Fruit Farms

2010-04-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

Ringling Museum of Art

2010-03-10T23:55:00.000-08:00

GWIZ Science Museum

2010-03-07T17:34:00.000-08:00

Do you see a vase or faces talking to each other?

Gabriela's Uniques: 20th & 21 Century ARTGLASS

2010-03-02T05:20:00.000-08:00

Lawn Bowling

2010-02-28T22:56:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard of Lawn Bowling? Have driven past this place a few times. A bunch of retired people all dressed in white rolling balls on a nice green lawn. These people are really into it. If you were wondering, here are the Rules to Lawn Bowling.

Local Sculptures

2010-02-26T17:39:00.000-08:00

Jungle Gardens, Sarasota

2010-02-22T23:09:00.002-08:00

Mote Aquarium: Sea life

2010-02-19T14:46:00.001-08:00

Selby Gardens

2010-02-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

Venice Beach, FL

2010-02-02T18:37:00.000-08:00

"Nautical Houses"

2010-02-02T13:09:00.000-08:00

Found these while Geocaching...cool!

Visitors in the last week

2010-02-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

I had the privilege of having Ren and Mike come out for a visit to Sarasota. They were nearby in Orlando taking their girls for their 5th birthday to Disney World. Ren was a patient of mine a few years ago back in Michigan. Ren and Mike are also the ones who got me hooked on Geocaching. We had a good visit, we did some geocaching of course, we had a good dinner out at Olive Garden and did some reminiscing of Ren's stay at Saint Mary's and catching up on each others lives. Thanks Ren and Mike for the visit!

Hardly a day after Ren and Mike came, Uncle Pete and Aunt Tina sent an email saying they were nearby and would I like to garb something to eat with them. We met at Applebee's and had some wonderful food. I mostly hear how Uncle Pete and Aunt Tina are doing through mom, so it was nice to visit with them first hand and see how they are doing. It is nice to learn that they are busy traveling around the US seeing new places with their small camper during their retirement years and that they are having fun and enjoying their children and grand children. Sounds like they are enjoying themselves as well. Uncle Pete says, "As long as we are together, we are doing good." That's what I like to hear. Thanks for coming!

A few Pictures

2010-01-24T22:52:00.000-08:00