Chaffee choo-choo
We're back from our trip. Highlights:
* 5 days of visiting with Grandma Thelma
* a fun road trip with my most awesome husband
* a yummy Turkey Day feast with Bill and Mary, plus hours of conversation that just flew by
* pumpkin pie for three days in a row
* hikes in a few beautiful parks:
Effigy Mounds,
Sam A. Baker* two trail runs in a beautiful park:
Lake Tywappity. One of which inspired a couple older locals (in a red sports car, I might add) to ask me, "Girl, what in the hell are you doing?"
* visits to two historic mills/springs: Greer and
Bollinger* Thelma's amazing collection of antique
chatelaines * a lovely long country drive (or two) down winding country roads
* pizza with Ruth, Don, and Thelma in Cape Girardeau
* an extra order of biscuits & apple butter at Cracker Barrel
*
Photos from the trip are here.
Labels: running, travel
Plenty of wahooing
As much as I'm really ready to be wearing sandals, I still appreciate the wondrous and white view on the photo above. WOW!
So, in the past month I've spent a week in Whitefish, Montana, as well as a very long weekend in Joshua Tree, California. What I brought back, in sum:
- A sore shoulder. Not bad, considering how colossal and noisy the fall was.
- I've improved my snowboarding skills, but still have a few things to work on. How exactly does one learn to "spread butter" in the flats?
- Sambuca is yummy. And a little more sophisticated than Jaegermeister.
- Having skiing skills to fall back on, once I'd gotten tired of falling, is a beautiful thing.
- I got a few more trad leads under my belt. Including a hard one that I had to back off of, then finish on second.
- Crack climbing is still the most fun.
- A note to self, to NOT plan two back-to-back active vacays.
- It's really hard to enjoy climbing in an indoor gym, after enjoying granite for several days.
- Bikram yoga is a pretty bizarre experience, but not for the reasons I'd predicted.
- It's superfun to travel with Annette and John, as well as with Joe, Andrea, and Kathleen.
- It's superfun to travel & climb again with Josh & Mike
- My macaroons are still the best.
- I won't again try a new way to rack gear, when preparing to lead a challenging route.
- I'm getting closer to buying the rest of my trad rack. Maybe with the tax return? Oy, cams are not cheap.
- I still hate Domino's pizza.
Labels: rock climbing, travel
good things
We're on the brink of a new year. Life is good:
- Snow. Two feet of it.
- Climbing 5.11s.
- Running outside in the winter.
- Mom's spare ribs recipe.
- Buckeye candies.
- Some new clothes that fit me.
- New fonts on my computer: Neutra and Warnock.
- I can make a text scrolly button now, in Actionscript.
- Plans for a road trip.
- Plans for a finished basement.
- The love of a good man.
- A roof over my head.
- Food on the table.
- A most excellent and healthy family.
- Fabulous friends.
- A job.
- A good book. Or four.
- New music to listen to.
I am thankful.
Labels: design, outside, rock climbing, running, travel, winter
Italy pics up NOW.
The
photos from our Italy trip are up. We're giving the Smugmug photo sharing service a try. So far, I'm digging it. It makes a bit more sense than Flickr.
In addition to over 100 photos, we also brought the following back from Italy:
- 2 types of Tome cheese
- 1 jar of fig mustard
- 1 bottle of Marolo grappa
- 1 chic sweater
- 1 bag of Gianduiotto (chocolates with hazelnuts)
- ...and some darned effective cold medicine
Labels: travel
Abbiamo avuti un viaggio meraviglioso in Italia.
Panna cotta with fig jam.
Barbarescu. Swordfish Monterosso-style.
Cantucci dipped in
Schiacchetrà. Barbera.
Strawberry-tree fruit. 382 steps to Corniglia. Boat ride back from Portovenere. Fried zucchini blossoms.
Fiocchi/sacchettini (“beggar’s purse” pasta) filled with cheese and pear. Several hours spent with good friends who live far away. A guided driving tour through the misty
Langhe wine country.
White truffles on pasta with a cheese sauce. Black truffles on same. Learning about the
Slow Food movement from a passionate devotee, and enjoying mushrooms in Piedmont and sea bass in Liguria in the fall. Amazing Mediterranean vistas. Mussels. Bread soaked in the broth from the mussels.
Bunet. Warm fall sunshine. Fresh
focaccia with olives & tomatoes. Earning the dinner -and dessert- with 4+ hours of
hilly hiking. Learning that
grappa is called a coffee-killer for a reason. Extra-bitter chocolate, pear, and roasted chestnut-flavored gelato from Torino's
Grom shop. Fresh sausage. The Infinity Trail.
Vermentino.
Nebbiolo. Hazelnut cake with muscat cream.
Grissini. Coffee, Italian-style. Testaroli with pesto. Farinata.So, we had a great trip, hiking, eating and visiting in Italy's Liguria and Piemonte regions. Photos coming soon.
Labels: travel
Trains!
Back from New York/Jersey. Ate/visited/imbibed here:
Azucar Cuban Cuisine: a most excellent batch of Yuca Frita Cubana & a yummy mojito as well.
The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum: The National Design Triennial was exhaustive but excellent. Loved the
Josh Davis work. I'm looking forward to his session at
Flashbelt. The
Ladd Brothers' "elaborate handcrafted works" were beautiful and inventive; it reminded me of works by Holly Anderson Jorde and Erika Olson, in
a recent exhibit here in St. Paul.
Resto: A great Dutch baby and some excellent Belgian brews (check out the decor- and the great gams on that table- in the photo at left).
Blind Tiger Ale House: Mmm, the Brooklyn Wheat, with Murray's cheeses.
Robongi in Hoboken- yet another great sushi meal. With
Ben!
The Overnight: Very powerful. We miss Jenny. Many people there were missing loved ones, as well: there were a lot of great t-shirts with photos, quotes, and loving words.
South Street Seaport: Very busy. Bustling, even. Loud but fun. I love wharfs (usually).
Dodo offered a most excellent organic pinot noir from Mendocino.
Josh & Ive's: Got a smashed bagel there, and a "sober" one as well, to share with hubbie. It's funny that, for backpacking food, I choose bagels because they
can't get smashed, and yet here we pay extra to get them smashed. Odd gimmick, but still made for a much better post-run breakfast than our hotel's restaurant could offer.
That run, by the way, was most excellent. I wish I could pull off something similar at home: mark out a run that puts me at a bagel shop that is x desired miles away from where I start. Run the route, buy bagels and coffee, then drink coffee while waiting for commuter train to take me back to start, where I then enjoy the bagels with husband.
Rosa Mexicano had the tastiest salsa I've ever had.
A funny moment, near end of trip: at 10:05pm, walking to PATH train inHoboken, a voice yells from some apartment: "Tony Soprano LIVES!" (The HBO series finale had just ended.)
Labels: food, running, travel
a vacation from vacation
It's been over a week now and I've just about recovered from our trip to visit family and sunshine in Phoenix. In just 4 days, we did all this:
Attended 2
Coyotes games
Attended 1
Mariners game
Saw the
Bodyworlds Exhibit at the Phoenix Science Center
Went for a hike in the
White Tanks ParkShopped, dined, and visited with friends, on a half-day in Scottsdale
Ate
oatmeal in an oatmeal-cookie-bowl, for breakfast once morning at Paradise Bakery
Drove up (2+ hours) to Sedona to check out galleries (liked
Keith Schall's paintings!) and sightsee, then continued North into
Flagsstaff for a
tasty beer.
Despite the busy-ness, it was great to visit with family and enjoy the 75+ degree weather for a few days!
Labels: travel
