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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Summer Vacation: The Smoky Mountains
Rachael and I went on our annual joint vacation with Connie and Amar last month. This year, the destination was closer to home -- Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We chose this park partly because we felt guilty. Last year we spent all of our time out west. The east coast tourist destinations were starting to feel a little overlooked.
This year's trip was a short one -- three days total. We rented a cabin just outside of Bryson City, NC. The cabin was spectacular. It was situated high atop a mountain with fantastic views. Amenities included a hot tub, pool table, gourmet kitchen, grill, and HD TV. We were really roughing it.
Day 1:Jet Boat / Guided Hike Hiking
Our first day in NC was supposed to be spent on a jet boat / guided hike, but the tour company forgot to write down our reservation. So instead of waiting for them to scrounge up a guide, we agreed to come back another day. With nothing to do, we decided to head into the park and hike the Deep Creek loop trail. The hike was very easy but it took us past several nice waterfalls. We ended the day going into downtown Bryson City for dinner and picking up some groceries.
Day 2: White Water Rafting
The second day (my birthday), we got up and took a half day white water rafting tour down the Nantahala river. The run was pretty short and included a few class III rapids. Afterwards, we drove 30 minutes to the closest movie theater to see the new Indiana Jones movie.
Day 3: Jet Boat / Guided Hike
Finally, we were able to get our tour. We started with a guided hike on the "Road to Nowhere." Apparently, this road was half built by the US government as reparation for flooding valley in the 40's so they could build an aluminum plant. But funding dried up and they never finished. A trail picks up at the end of the road and heads down to the lake where we swam before the boat came to get us.
All-in-all, the trip was great. It was just too short. We spent a full day driving down and a full day driving back. And in the end, we barely even scratched the surface of the park. I'd go back, but it will definitely be for longer next time.
Next up, Rachael and I are flying out to San Francisco this weekend. My company is sending me for the O'Reilly Velocity conference and we decided to make it into another vacation. We'll spend three or four days over in Yosemite National Park. I'll post the details when I get back. In the meantime, you can check out the few photos I took of this trip.
This year's trip was a short one -- three days total. We rented a cabin just outside of Bryson City, NC. The cabin was spectacular. It was situated high atop a mountain with fantastic views. Amenities included a hot tub, pool table, gourmet kitchen, grill, and HD TV. We were really roughing it.
Day 1:
Our first day in NC was supposed to be spent on a jet boat / guided hike, but the tour company forgot to write down our reservation. So instead of waiting for them to scrounge up a guide, we agreed to come back another day. With nothing to do, we decided to head into the park and hike the Deep Creek loop trail. The hike was very easy but it took us past several nice waterfalls. We ended the day going into downtown Bryson City for dinner and picking up some groceries.
Day 2: White Water Rafting
The second day (my birthday), we got up and took a half day white water rafting tour down the Nantahala river. The run was pretty short and included a few class III rapids. Afterwards, we drove 30 minutes to the closest movie theater to see the new Indiana Jones movie.
Day 3: Jet Boat / Guided Hike
Finally, we were able to get our tour. We started with a guided hike on the "Road to Nowhere." Apparently, this road was half built by the US government as reparation for flooding valley in the 40's so they could build an aluminum plant. But funding dried up and they never finished. A trail picks up at the end of the road and heads down to the lake where we swam before the boat came to get us.
All-in-all, the trip was great. It was just too short. We spent a full day driving down and a full day driving back. And in the end, we barely even scratched the surface of the park. I'd go back, but it will definitely be for longer next time.
Next up, Rachael and I are flying out to San Francisco this weekend. My company is sending me for the O'Reilly Velocity conference and we decided to make it into another vacation. We'll spend three or four days over in Yosemite National Park. I'll post the details when I get back. In the meantime, you can check out the few photos I took of this trip.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Summer Vacation: Oregon
Since I took the time to describe our vacation in Montana and Canada, I think it's only just to take a moment and write a blurb about our trip out to Oregon. Oregon has always been on my list of places to go, mostly because it's set in the natural splendor of the pacific northwest -- a haven for outdoor activities. The opportunity to travel out west arose when my company decided I could go to OSCON 2007, Tim O'Reilly's annual conference on open source software. Since I was going to be out there for a few days anyway, Rachael and I decided to make a week long vacation out of it.
Rachael flew out on Friday morning to meet me just as the conference was ending. We decided before we went that we would try to see as much of the state as possible. Who knows when we'll make it back out there? I'll outline our itinerary below, but let me first say that the Moon Handbook for Oregon was a fantastic guide. In fact, I believe it may have been the best guide book I've ever gotten for one of these vacations. If you're going out to Oregon for vacation, pick up this book. You won't regret it.
Oregon is a fascinating state. The people are extremely environmentally conscious. Outdoor activities are just about all there is to do. It seems you can't drive more than a hundred yards without running into another state park. The forests are amazing -- especially the old growth forests. The coast is -- well, it's the coast. The landscapes are amazing, but the popular sites are very crowded as compared to the interior of the state. If you're thinking about heading out there, here is a sample one-week itinerary. It's aggressive, but as I said -- we wanted to see as much as possible in a week.
Day 1: Portland -- Rachael got in to Portland around 1:00pm. We rented a car and took her stuff over to our hotel downtown and then ate. We then took a driving tour of the city, winding up at the International Rose Test Garden. The garden is beautiful. There's an amphitheater where people were gathered watching a free performance of the Wizard of Oz. The area is in a park on a hill that overlooks the city with Mount Hood in the background -- the quintessential picture of Portland.
Day 2: Columbia River Gorge -- Day 2 was probably our most jam packed day of the trip. The day started off a little bit overcast but the skies cleared by noon. We checked out of our hotel early and drove down the Columbia River Highway stopping at all the waterfalls to take pictures along the way. A little after lunch time, we stopped at the Bonneville Lock and Dam at Bradford Island for a tour of a working hydroelectric plant. Very interesting. Afterwards we stopped to hike the Eagle Creek trail, often listed in the top five Oregon hikes. We were not disappointed. Afterwards, we tried to drive to Mount Hood, but we had to abort due to time constraints. We finished the day driving through endless wheat fields, mountains and wind mill farms to arrive at our hotel in Condon, OR around 12:00am. I highly recommend the Hotel Condon if you are in this part of the state. It was by far our favorite hotel in our vacation.
Day 3: John Day Fossil Beds -- Oregon has some of the richest fossil deposits in the world. There are three sites in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. We visited them all. This part of the state is a kind of desert. The landscapes were beautiful and we rarely saw people out there. After visiting the three sites (which are pretty spaced apart), we drove over to Bend where we stayed at the McMenamins old St. Francis School -- a converted Catholic school. It was...weird.
Day 4: Crater Lake National Park -- We got up early and drove down to Crater Lake National Park. The park is about 1.5 - 2 hours away from Bend, so we didn't get there as early as we'd have liked. We spent the day driving around the rim, checking out the overlooks and hiking some of the shorter trails. We couldn't find lodging in the park on such short notice, so we had to drive an hour away to the town of Shady Cove. It turned out to be a really nice town. Rachael loved it there.
Day 5: Crater Lake Again -- We tried to get back to Crater Lake as early as possible to get tickets for the boat tour. We got there by 8:30am, a half hour before the tickets went on sale, but we were too late. The line was so long that the morning boats sold out right before we got to the ticket booth. So we basically ended up just hanging around until the early afternoon when we took the boat tour. After the tour we drove over to Eugene, home of the University of Oregon Ducks.
Day 6: Oregon Coast -- We spent day 6 exploring the middle Oregon coast. Like I said, it was a coast.
Day 7: Upper Oregon Coast -- On this day we drove along the Pacific Coast Highway to Astoria. Many pictures were taken.
Day 8: Astoria and Portland -- We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in Astoria. Astoria was actually shockingly run down. The historic district is full of beautiful homes, but it's pretty obvious that the loss of all the canneries has decimated the local economy. We went to the Columbia River Maritime Museum in the morning and the drove over to Portland. In Portland we went downtown again to see the flagship Columbia store and to a huge bookstore called Powell's.
To see more pictures of this vacation, check out my photo set on Flickr.
Rachael flew out on Friday morning to meet me just as the conference was ending. We decided before we went that we would try to see as much of the state as possible. Who knows when we'll make it back out there? I'll outline our itinerary below, but let me first say that the Moon Handbook for Oregon was a fantastic guide. In fact, I believe it may have been the best guide book I've ever gotten for one of these vacations. If you're going out to Oregon for vacation, pick up this book. You won't regret it.
Oregon is a fascinating state. The people are extremely environmentally conscious. Outdoor activities are just about all there is to do. It seems you can't drive more than a hundred yards without running into another state park. The forests are amazing -- especially the old growth forests. The coast is -- well, it's the coast. The landscapes are amazing, but the popular sites are very crowded as compared to the interior of the state. If you're thinking about heading out there, here is a sample one-week itinerary. It's aggressive, but as I said -- we wanted to see as much as possible in a week.
Day 1: Portland -- Rachael got in to Portland around 1:00pm. We rented a car and took her stuff over to our hotel downtown and then ate. We then took a driving tour of the city, winding up at the International Rose Test Garden. The garden is beautiful. There's an amphitheater where people were gathered watching a free performance of the Wizard of Oz. The area is in a park on a hill that overlooks the city with Mount Hood in the background -- the quintessential picture of Portland.
Day 2: Columbia River Gorge -- Day 2 was probably our most jam packed day of the trip. The day started off a little bit overcast but the skies cleared by noon. We checked out of our hotel early and drove down the Columbia River Highway stopping at all the waterfalls to take pictures along the way. A little after lunch time, we stopped at the Bonneville Lock and Dam at Bradford Island for a tour of a working hydroelectric plant. Very interesting. Afterwards we stopped to hike the Eagle Creek trail, often listed in the top five Oregon hikes. We were not disappointed. Afterwards, we tried to drive to Mount Hood, but we had to abort due to time constraints. We finished the day driving through endless wheat fields, mountains and wind mill farms to arrive at our hotel in Condon, OR around 12:00am. I highly recommend the Hotel Condon if you are in this part of the state. It was by far our favorite hotel in our vacation.
Day 3: John Day Fossil Beds -- Oregon has some of the richest fossil deposits in the world. There are three sites in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. We visited them all. This part of the state is a kind of desert. The landscapes were beautiful and we rarely saw people out there. After visiting the three sites (which are pretty spaced apart), we drove over to Bend where we stayed at the McMenamins old St. Francis School -- a converted Catholic school. It was...weird.
Day 4: Crater Lake National Park -- We got up early and drove down to Crater Lake National Park. The park is about 1.5 - 2 hours away from Bend, so we didn't get there as early as we'd have liked. We spent the day driving around the rim, checking out the overlooks and hiking some of the shorter trails. We couldn't find lodging in the park on such short notice, so we had to drive an hour away to the town of Shady Cove. It turned out to be a really nice town. Rachael loved it there.
Day 5: Crater Lake Again -- We tried to get back to Crater Lake as early as possible to get tickets for the boat tour. We got there by 8:30am, a half hour before the tickets went on sale, but we were too late. The line was so long that the morning boats sold out right before we got to the ticket booth. So we basically ended up just hanging around until the early afternoon when we took the boat tour. After the tour we drove over to Eugene, home of the University of Oregon Ducks.
Day 6: Oregon Coast -- We spent day 6 exploring the middle Oregon coast. Like I said, it was a coast.
Day 7: Upper Oregon Coast -- On this day we drove along the Pacific Coast Highway to Astoria. Many pictures were taken.
Day 8: Astoria and Portland -- We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in Astoria. Astoria was actually shockingly run down. The historic district is full of beautiful homes, but it's pretty obvious that the loss of all the canneries has decimated the local economy. We went to the Columbia River Maritime Museum in the morning and the drove over to Portland. In Portland we went downtown again to see the flagship Columbia store and to a huge bookstore called Powell's.
To see more pictures of this vacation, check out my photo set on Flickr.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Glacier National Park
Rachael and I just got back from our annual vacation with Amar and Connie last week. This year, the four of us flew out to Montana to visit Glacier National Park and it's sister across the border, Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta.
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but we have Al Gore to thank for this year's choice for vacation. Rachael and I saw An Inconvenient Truth some time last year and upon seeing the before and after pictures of the glaciers at Glacier National Park, we promptly decided to go see them before they're gone. Of course, seeing them in person lead me to think a lot about global warming. The park is situated in the northern most stretch of the Rockies in the U.S. It's spectacular scenery was carved by tremendous glaciers that descended during the last mini ice age. Those massive slabs of ice are long since gone, but their remnants still cling to to the shady spots in the valleys. Global warming has accelerated their demise with some park rangers projecting their disappearance by 2025.
For this vacation, we had two goals. First, we wanted to relax this year instead of running all over the place as we did in the Southwest last year. Second, we wanted to see both sides of Glacier National Park and save some time to see Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada. The trip was fully of beautiful scenery and tons of wildlife. There's no better way to recharge your batteries than to get away from the everyday grind and get deep into nature. I'm going to post our itinerary here for the benefit of anyone planning a trip up there.
Day 1: Many Glacier -- We flew in to Great Falls Airport, rented a car and drove to Many Glacier Hotel. The hotel was spectacular from the outside and in the lobby. The views from the deck are some of the most beautiful in the park. The rooms are a little run down, but you don't really spend any time there.
Day 2: Red Bus Tour -- The Red Buses are 1930's era stretch cars with canvas tops that they roll back so you can take in the park's splendor. We took the full day "Crown of the Continent" tour tha takes you all the way from Many Glacier hotel to Lake McDonald on the other side of the park.
Day 3: Hiking to Grinnell Glacier -- We started the day by taking the boat from the hotel over Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine where we took a guided hike to Grinnell Lake (pictured). We then hiked another 9 miles round trip up to Grinnell Glacier. This was one of the most special hikes I've ever taken. We ended the day by driving to our hotel on the west side of the park via Going to the Sun Road.
Day 4: White Water Rafting -- Another can't miss adventure is white water rafting on the middle fork of the Flathead river. We took the full day trip with Great Northern Rafting company which included lunch. The rapids were pretty sorry this time of year, but we had a blast nonetheless.
Day 5: Hiking to Avalanche Lake -- This is one of the easier hikes in the park with only 500 feet in elevation change. The early parts of the hike follow Avalanche Creek as it passes through a gorge. After the hike, we drove up to Waterton Lakes Village in Canada.
Day 6: Exploring Waterton National Park -- We spent this day exploring. We went to see the Buffalo Paddock, Red Rock Canyon, Prince of Wales Hotel, and Cameron Lake.
Day 7: Hike to Wall Lake -- This hike was recommended to us by a shop keeper as the best short hike in the park. We got up early and got on the trail by 8:00am. The hike crosses the park boundary into British Columbia. The shop keeper was correct. It was a beautiful hike. After the hike, we headed back south to Great Falls to catch our flights the next morning.
If you want to check out some more photos of the trip, check out my photo set at Flickr entitle "Glacier National Park, 2007."
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but we have Al Gore to thank for this year's choice for vacation. Rachael and I saw An Inconvenient Truth some time last year and upon seeing the before and after pictures of the glaciers at Glacier National Park, we promptly decided to go see them before they're gone. Of course, seeing them in person lead me to think a lot about global warming. The park is situated in the northern most stretch of the Rockies in the U.S. It's spectacular scenery was carved by tremendous glaciers that descended during the last mini ice age. Those massive slabs of ice are long since gone, but their remnants still cling to to the shady spots in the valleys. Global warming has accelerated their demise with some park rangers projecting their disappearance by 2025.
For this vacation, we had two goals. First, we wanted to relax this year instead of running all over the place as we did in the Southwest last year. Second, we wanted to see both sides of Glacier National Park and save some time to see Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada. The trip was fully of beautiful scenery and tons of wildlife. There's no better way to recharge your batteries than to get away from the everyday grind and get deep into nature. I'm going to post our itinerary here for the benefit of anyone planning a trip up there.
Day 1: Many Glacier -- We flew in to Great Falls Airport, rented a car and drove to Many Glacier Hotel. The hotel was spectacular from the outside and in the lobby. The views from the deck are some of the most beautiful in the park. The rooms are a little run down, but you don't really spend any time there.
Day 2: Red Bus Tour -- The Red Buses are 1930's era stretch cars with canvas tops that they roll back so you can take in the park's splendor. We took the full day "Crown of the Continent" tour tha takes you all the way from Many Glacier hotel to Lake McDonald on the other side of the park.
Day 3: Hiking to Grinnell Glacier -- We started the day by taking the boat from the hotel over Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine where we took a guided hike to Grinnell Lake (pictured). We then hiked another 9 miles round trip up to Grinnell Glacier. This was one of the most special hikes I've ever taken. We ended the day by driving to our hotel on the west side of the park via Going to the Sun Road.
Day 4: White Water Rafting -- Another can't miss adventure is white water rafting on the middle fork of the Flathead river. We took the full day trip with Great Northern Rafting company which included lunch. The rapids were pretty sorry this time of year, but we had a blast nonetheless.
Day 5: Hiking to Avalanche Lake -- This is one of the easier hikes in the park with only 500 feet in elevation change. The early parts of the hike follow Avalanche Creek as it passes through a gorge. After the hike, we drove up to Waterton Lakes Village in Canada.
Day 6: Exploring Waterton National Park -- We spent this day exploring. We went to see the Buffalo Paddock, Red Rock Canyon, Prince of Wales Hotel, and Cameron Lake.
Day 7: Hike to Wall Lake -- This hike was recommended to us by a shop keeper as the best short hike in the park. We got up early and got on the trail by 8:00am. The hike crosses the park boundary into British Columbia. The shop keeper was correct. It was a beautiful hike. After the hike, we headed back south to Great Falls to catch our flights the next morning.
If you want to check out some more photos of the trip, check out my photo set at Flickr entitle "Glacier National Park, 2007."
Friday, July 27, 2007
OSCON, Done and Done
The conference is finishing up. What conference? OSCON, or course. Didn't I tell you that I'd be in Portland this week? Nevermind. It's almost over now. In fact, I've already mentally checked out -- ready for vacation. Rachael's flight is late. So instead of doing something constructive, I think I'll post a little something in my blog. I was considering writing a running diary -- something like what the Sports Guy would post on ESPN's Page 2. But ESPN has been irritating me royally lately. So I'm not going to do it the justice of trying to rip them off for the entertainment of my large readership.
Let's see...what were the highlights? The people. The conference attendees were definitely the highlight. There was the guy who shaved the Ubuntu logo into his head. Actually, it's kind of a reverse shaving. Or maybe he shaved the Ubuntu out of his head. In any case, he had no hair except for the logo. And he colored it correctly, too. Fantastic stuff. I tried to get a picture, but my camera died as I was trying to turn off the flash. Bummer.
There was another, genuinely friendly guy -- bald on the top of his head with hair down to his shoulders and a beard to match -- who every morning would hand out free home-made fundge out of a pyrex dish. I declined the first two mornings, but after seeing nobody keel over I accepted today. Not bad.
I attended many interesting sessions, a few that were boring. I found several new tools and technologies that will help me in my job over the next year. And all of the keynotes were fantastic. This morning a guy spoke about how he took a computer chip with the original pong on it and made a pong boot fetish game out of it. I know it sounds disgusting, but it was quite hilarious. He showed a video where the players each controlled their paddles by squeezing large leather boots. In between the two players was an electric motor with a riding crop attached. If the ball got past your paddle, the crop would spin over and hit you. Zany.
But I'm glad it's over.
Rachael gets here in about an hour. After that, it's let's explore Oregon time. I'll post pictures when I get them. In the meantime, here's one I took from the balcony of my hotel room last night.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Review: 1776 by David McCullough
I just finished 1776 by David McCullough last night. I'm a big fan of colonial era history, and this book did not disappoint. The book focuses on everything that happened in the year 1776 from the start of the War for Independence to the winter campaigns in New York and New Jersey at the end of the year. The principal argument, much like that of most of his contemporaries, is that the Continental Army was the heart of the revolution. George Washington's ability to keep his army in tact was the most important reason why the American colonies were able to finally secure their independence from the English crown at the end of the war seven years later.
The year 1776 is when a good deal of the exciting moments you remember from the Revolutionary War happened. The book includes detailed descriptions of the Siege of Boston, the Battle of Brooklyn, the fall of Fort Washington, the American retreat into New Jersey and the Continental army's victories at Trenton and Princeton at the close of the year.
Most people have heard about these events, but I have seldom read anything that went into the details the way 1776 does. One of the more interesting points is how McCullough relates the story of Henry Knox retrieving the cannons from Fort Ticonderoga and strategically placing them on the hills of Dorchester Heights -- a move that convinced the British to depart Boston to regroup. This is a story that is glossed over in many historical references, but is given full treatment by McCullough, much to the readers benefit.
1776 also does an admirable job of describing the harsh life the soldiers on both sides of the war had to endure. The unusually frigid winter along with a lack of funds drove the Continental army to the brink of disaster. Recruits were near impossible to drum up as enlistments expired. Yet Washington deftly held everything together, and despite repeated strategic mistakes in New York, his army survived the important campaigns of 1776 to fight again.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Cubs 3, Nationals 1
Game 8: Cubs 3, Nationals 1. I'm actually surprised that the Nationals were able to eek out even a single run against Carlos Zambrano last night. They scored the run without getting a hit in the inning. A walk, hit-by-pitch, and another walk loaded the bases, allowing Ronnie Belliard to hit a sacrafice fly to score the Nats' only run of the evening.
I received my season ticket renewal package (finally) this past week. I'm leaning toward not renewing. I know that I purchased these tickets solely for the right to purchase tickets in the new stadium next year, but there are a number of issues that are going to make me decide to not renew:
- The new stadium is on the green line, not the orange line. This is going to add at least another 10-15 minutes to my trip to the stadium. As it is, we still haven't seen the opening pitch for a weekday game in our package.
- The tickets are double the price we paid last year. Admittedly, I didn't expect to pay $5 per seat per game for the new stadium, but the $10 for tickets in less than ideal locations make me hesitate.
- We miss too many games. If I'm going to pay twice as much for tickets, I can't miss any games.
- Season tickets really dominate your summer. I find that I'm constantly adjusting other plans to suit my baseball schedule. I think I'll probably pass on tickets next year so that I can schedule the baseball games we attend around our other activities.
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