Merry Christmas! (and travel plans)

Hey everyone, just wanted to say Merry christmas to everyone. Kristen and I will be down in Boothbay tonight (C. eve) to do the family xmas stuff. I even think we're going to church. Should be a good time and a crowded house. Fortunately there's no new people to meet this time.
Tomorrow (christmas day), we're flying out of Portland at around 5pm. We should get to Starkville in the middle of the night/early morning, then we'll have all day of the 26th to pack for San Salvador. Then we're leaving at 11:59pm (on the 26th) for Ft. Lauderdale florida. It's a mere 17 hour drive or so, but we're taking a University van, and there's lots of people that can drive it. Then we spend the night in Ft. Lauderdale, and leave early on the 28th. I think we're supposed to return on the 8th or 9th.
I'm looking forward to the Bahamas. Should be a good time...
Oh yeah, I plan on getting you all something neat from there. Sorry, but my christmas presents are going to be late this year.
Once we get back from San Sal, we have a week or so before school starts again.
Enough about me though. I really do hope everyone has a good christmas and New years. Hope everyone stays safe and has fun visiting people. Mom and Dad, i plan on calling you tonight or tomorrow before we leave. Hopefully I'll have time.
Take care and Merry Christmas!

Sugarloaf

Thursday, Kristen's dad took us up to Sugarloaf, along with Kristen's sister Erica and her dad's girlfriend Pam. They're all downhill skiers, and I'm not. I can barely call myself an XC skier. Anywho, they spent the day going up and down the mountain, and I did my XC skiing thing all by my lonesome. Some decent scenery, but as usual when skiing, I was too distracted simply trying to stay upright or moving forward to notice it too much. I climbed up a lift line to the base lodge where we ate some lunch and warmed up. Everyone was having a blast. After lunch, Kristen skiied back down the lift line (her on normal alpine skis of course) and she worked on teaching me how to slowdown and turn. She said I got the snowplow down pretty well, but turning is still hard for me. I could turn to the left ok, but not the right. That was a whole lot better than my former descending method though... go straight until I lose control and inevitably crash. By the way, it's a pain in the ass to get back up when XC skiing. First of all, my poles have straps that wrap around the hand and are velcroed shut. Great when skiing, but it kinda renders your hands useless when you're trying to get up. I usually crash with my feet/skis at all sorts of weird angles. Getting your feet back under you is tricky, because only the toe of the ski boot is attached, so when you try to move them around, the skis tend to swing all over the place, usually making things worse. But, I always manage to get up again... But yeah, I skiied a bunch more after lunch. Only crashed a few times, and managed to stay upright on a long sorta fast descent. I tried the snowplow and turning stuff some other times too, but it turns out it's a lot harder to do when you're fenced in by trees on either side and the trail is bumpy. Anywho, I wore myself out and feel like I made some progress in my technique. I think I give up on skating until I get some skate skis (not that I'm planning on that soon). Whenever I try to skate, it doesn't seem to work quite right. I blame it on my skis being too wide (the width is great for ungroomed stuff though). So yeah, I have no idea how far I skiied, but I was skiing for about 4 hours total, so if I was going walking pace, that's maybe 15 miles or so.
Kristen and everyone else had a really good time doing the DH stuff too. Kristen wants to teach me how to do it some day, and says we have to live somewhere within an hour of skiing next. Sounds good to me! If I were going again while we're here, I think I'd rent a snowboard and take my chances with that, since I sorta know how to do that. I like XC skiing and all, but I very much appreciate the assistance of gravity (or intelligent falling). I also couldn't help thinking how cool it would be to have a snowbike out on XC ski trails, since there something like 105km or XC trails up there to explore...
Managed to take a couple pictures too, so here's some scenery.
The 'loaf from the parking lot at lunch...

View from the Nordic Lodge...

View more to the west, those are the Crockers, the AT goes right over them, then up the west face of Sugarloaf...

Maine, part 2

Well, I said I'd let you all know what's been going on up here. Pretty much nothing. We've both been completely lazy. And it's been great. Nothing really but lounging around the house reading, watching movies, or playing around on the computer (downloaded a rally racing game).
There's not enough snow to ski, and we're kinda stranded without a car anyway. I'd go ski on the lake since that's walking distance, but it's not frozen enough yet. We were going to go sledding the other day, but it got too cold and we wussed out. It's supposed to snow today, so that should warm it up a tad and maybe give us enough snow for skiing. Then I'll have to relearn how to do that...
Anywho, getting a bit of cabin fever. Hope I'll be able to get out and do something this weekend since we should have a car to use. Maybe we'll go hiking somewhere. We're headed down to Boothbay on Monday to see Kristen's grandparents, and again on Christmas eve. But yeah, I'm so used to being busy all the time that I feel like I'm wasting way too much time doing nothing. In reality, I'm enjoying being lazy, but since we spent so much to come up here, I feel like we ought to do more than sit around, since we can do that anywhere. We'll see. Guess I'll have to get off my lazy bum and do it...

Ads

So, there's now a little ad under the title... I've heard you can make some money off these things, so what the heck. If it bothers anyone, I'll get rid of it... I'm not sure how the ads are picked and I have no control over what they are. We'll see how it goes...

Richat again...

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021028.html
There was a recent article about it in the journal Geology (or was it GSA Bulletin...) I came across. Didn't have time to read it though. It's hard to guess the geology based on a picture anyway, but aparently it's all sedimentary rock (so not really metamorphic). I'll read that article when i get a chance.

Lansat 7 image. The other ones were Lansat 5. Not sure what band combinations are being used (that is, why they appear different colors), but that's remote sensing mumbo jumbo.

Grades...

About to go to dinner at Kristen's dads... just wanted to mention our grades... drumroll....................
Me: all A's (4 of 'em)
Kristen: all A's (8 of 'em)
So I guess she's twice as smart. :)
More to come soon.

Maine...

Well, you all got the email that we're back in Maine. Safe trip, no problems, Zephyr made it just fine...
I promised mom I'd take a bunch of pictures. Haven't yet, but thought you might find these interesting. I missed having WorldWind, and I'm once again killing time on it...
The Caribbean. San Salvador (where we're going in a few weeks) is one of the little ones in the west without the light blue (carbonate bank) around it...

Close up of San Salvador. We'll mostly be on the northern end.
and...

The Richat Structure (overhead). In the western Sahara. Geologists don't know what the hell it is...

Another view of it... (from an angle)

MORE bikes...

So, Teal's got a sweet custom bike in the works. Can't wait to see that built up. It'll look awesome in black. How are you going to set it up? Obviously singlespeed, but what about other stuff? By the looks of it, this is no XC racer, but it doesn't seem to be a full-blown cliff dropper either. Jack of all trades? Let me know if you need any parts, I've got some nice stuff you might be interested in. I'd just like to recommend some brakes too. Don't know how much time you've spent with discs, but in my opinion Avid mechanicals can't be beat. I've had terrible luck with hydraulics though (rim and disc). I like how hydros feel, but hate the leaking... Get some 8 inch avids and you'll be golden (6" is plenty for what I do, but I hear 8" is even better). Also, love the bottle opener head badge. That's trick. The dimes are a cool touch too.
What about the geometry though? I'm curious...

Anywho, here's my SS road bike too. The only thing I'm going to change is the front wheel. Something with a black rim would make it look 10x better I think. The color is also weird in the picture. It's really a dark maroon with a very subtle metal flake glittery stuff. Specs are as follows:
1985 Trek 760 - 62cm, Reynolds 531, matching fork
Campy threaded headset
Worn out Sugino BB
Early 90's Dura-Ace crankset (172.5mm)
Cinelli Bar/stem (40mm bar, bit narrow for my liking)
generic seatpost, really long, campy one was too short
Rear wheel - Early 90's dura-ace, mavic Open4, DT swiss spokes
Front - who knows... crappy, ugly, heavy, but free
tires - Bontrager Select-K
tubes - whatever
Brakes - Shimano 105 dual pivot rear, really old DuraAce front
Shimano 105 brake levers (I have a set of old Dura-Ace ones that I'll swap them out for later)
Selle Bassano saddle (nearly identical to a Selle Italia Flite)
AtomLab TrailKing pedals (from the trials bike)
All for about $100...

Against the backdrop of the hideous love seat in my office...

More Rally Vids...

Check these out... it gives me get a big grin to watch these guys...
http://www.rallyalbum.hu/video.htm
(Right Click, Save Target As...)
Supposed to be a vid of the 2005 Rally Australia up here soon too...
Enjoy. :-D

Geez, that's a lot of typing... here's a picture. :)

This one's for you Ford...

How is that even possible? Yeah, he made it...

Christmas Presents.

Just wanted to mention again that we'll be in Maine from the 10th to the 25th, so if you're mailing presents, it's probably best to send them there:
32 Oxen Drive
Oakland, ME 04963
Or, if they're too big and/or untransportable by plane (wishful thinking), send them to our address here:
105 1/2 B Jarnigan St.
Starkville, MS 39759
However, if you're going to send them here (Starkville), either send them so they get here before we leave (on Dec. 10th), or hold off until mid January. I'd hate to have a huge pile of presents (wishful thinking again) sitting on the doorstep for a month while we're off in Maine and the Bahamas.
As for you guys, I'm in the process of getting things together. I'm afraid it's not going to be too much this year, but hopefully you'll like what I manage to scrap together. I've got some pretty good ideas already.
Take care!

Recently...

Something I forgot to mention from our trip to Florida. Got to weigh ourselves for the first time since Hurrican Katrina... both of us are weighing less than we ever have since we've been together. Well, Kristen may have been a tiny bit lighter when we first met because she was running all the time and swimming and lacrosse... The least in a year and a half anyway. As for me, I'm back down to what I weighed when I finished highschool, before the AT. I'm still not giving out any numbers, but that means I've lost about 50 pounds since I left Maine. Still have a bit of a belly I'm working on, but it's gotten much smaller. Clothes that haven't fit in a long time are fitting again. So that's pretty sweet. Just have to make sure not to put on another 30 pounds over the holidays... Hopefully it snows so we can XC ski or snowshoe. If not, we can just hike a lot or something.
Semester is getting nearer to being over. I can't believe it, but we might just make it. I've got one major paper to write, due Monday. By far the hardest I've had to write this semester, but doable. I've got two presentations to give on Thursday (they're done, just have to present), and two finals next week. The finals shouldn't be too bad. By the way, here's what I think of the classes I've taken here so far...
Physical Hydrogeology (groundwater and stuff) - interesting, not too demanding, but not what I want to do
Remote Sensing (determining land cover type and a million other things from satellite imagery) - interesting subject matter sometimes (could have been much more so), very time-consuming, very tedious, way too much computer work
GIS (geographic information systems) - very interesting, not too demanding, but sometimes very time-consuming, software glitches frustrating
Regional Geology of Eastern North America (top level survey of eastern north american stratigraphy, rocks layers; Archaean --> Tertiary) - Interesting sometimes, often confusing, lots and lots of names to remember, several ridiculously hard papers
So yeah, some of it was interesting, but the computer crap drove me crazy. After this semester, I've definitely decided I don't want to have computers as my main tool. Sure, there's no getting away from them, but I certainly don't want to base the rest of my career around them. I got into geology to get to run around outside, not behind a computer...
Anyway, Kristen is almost done as well. She has an english final today, and an anthropology final paper to write (which will be hard), and the rest of her finals next week (I think). Ironically, finals week will be one of her easiest weeks this semester!
We fly to Maine very early on Saturday the 10th. Everything appears to be set for taking Zephyr with us, unless it's too cold. There's some rules about that or something. We're both very much looking forward to having a break. I've never looked forward to a break more. Ever. Maine should be fun. Even if we just sit around and watch movies, I'll be perfectly happy, because I won't have to think about school for a while. Man that's gonna be great. I really hope we get to spend a lot of time outside, so as to burn off the excess calories we're sure to consume, but we'll be dependent on borrowing a car from one of Kristen's parents, so we'll see how it goes.
Next semester I'll be taking one fewer classes, so maybe I'll actually have time to do something besides school and work. Ride one of my bikes for example. Speaking of that, the road bike is all done and rocking. I love it, now if only I had time to ride it...
Right, next semester, I'll be taking 3 classes: Geoscience Seminar/Geographic Lit; which is some class all grad students have to take. We're supposed to be learning how to be good at presentations. Mylroie used to teach it, but now it's being taken over by the guy who teaches my eastern regional class. So it'll be tough... Engineering Geology; I guess it talks about how geology affects engineering projects and structures (e.g. don't build a railroad across a swamp). It sounds somewhat interesting, but I'm mostly taking it because a lot of the material covered is on the test for becoming a professional geologist (which I plan to take when I'm done here). The other class is Advanced GIS. I like the GIS stuff, but this is going to be taught by the same guy who does Remote Sensing. He's a really nice guy, but I dislike his teaching methods. At least this time I'll have some background going into it though. By the way, this guy; Bill Cook, was working on his masters (or PhD?) thesis the same time Keith Lannom (old soccer coach) was here. They were/are buddies.
Kristen is going to be taking the maximum number of classes possible, 24 credits. She took 23 this semester, she's such a slacker. She'll be taking Chem2, Calc3, and something like 5 boilogy classes. She's crazy. Most recently (and I think she's firm on it now), she's decided she'll be a biology major. She likes biology like I like geology. So that's good, she's found what she likes to do.
Well, I need to get working on that paper or some homework, or practice my presentations...
Hope all is well with everyone.

Thanksgiving

Well, we made it down to Florida and back alright.
Sure was a long drive to get there (Lakeland). We left close to 6am on Wednesday and didn't get there until about 9pm. Lots of very frustrating traffic once we were south of Atlanta. We'd be crusing along at 70, then everyone would come to a complete stop. For no apparent reason! I guess that sort of thing just happens and accentuates down the line of traffic, but it sure was aggrivating. There was one section where we covered maybe 2 miles in about an hour. A bit tiring on the ankles to be inching along (clutch/gas, brake, clutch/gas, brake, etc...) for a long time. Almost made me wish it was an automatic...
Anywho, Kristen's grandparents were really nice. I didn't have any trouble not talking or causing akward silences like I usually do. Kristen's grandmother is rather talkative, and her and Kristen did most of the talking. Her grand-dad was pretty quiet, but when he said something, it was usually funny. Nice folks. Had a great Thanksgiving dinner and met Kristen's uncle Bill. That's three Bills in her family (Bill Ostermann, and two Bill Credes).
Didn't do much at all during the day. There's a couple nice lakes in the area (hence the name I suppose) and we walked around those a couple times. It was in the 70's most of the time we were there! Significantly warmer than Mississippi. Kristen talked to her parents (in Maine) on Thanksgiving day and it was snowing sideways. Ha. A mere 50 degree or so temperature difference...
There's all sorts of really old, really big trees down there. There was an old Oak at the end of the road that was wider than it was tall (and it was tall!). Some palm trees and other exotic stuff as well. One cool thing I noticed were epiphytes (those little plant things Teal has that don't have roots) growing all over the trees. At least that's what I think they were. I found a couple attached to sticks on the ground and took them home. Hopefully they'll survive.
Zephyr had a good time too, but she kept getting into the cat food and it gave here TERRIBLE gas. Seriously, some of the worst smelling farts ever. Ugh. Note to self: never feed the dog "Meow Mix, Hairball Control".
The ride back was a bit better, less traffic. Still took forever though. Put over 1500 miles on the car. Well, I just finished another paper, and I'm headed home.
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

...and there he goes...

Took the Weimaraner to the shelter just now (between classes). Left my info there and told the guy about the situation. They'll keep in isolation for a week or so before they put him up for adoption, which will give the original owners more time to show up. Hopefully they will, but if not, I'm sure someone else will pick him up pretty quick. I told the assistant manager (Glenn) at the shelter that we worried about someone claiming him even if he wasn't theirs, and he said that's common for a dog like this and they were good at being able to tell the original owners. Since running the shelter is he and his wife's occupation, and they have like 16 dogs, I'm sure he's can. So that's that. He was stubborn and smelled bad anyway...

The new guy...

Well, here he is...

Hi there.

I am creepy zombie-eyes doggy!

But I'm friendly, really...

Even if I make Zephyr look tiny.

That's him. He's rather large isn't he? Spent all morning running around putting out flyers around campus, then to the animal hospital to report him and drop off a flyer, then to the vet school to drop off a flyer, then the humane society to tell them about him and drop off a flyer, and somewhere in there I went to the newspaper and put in an ad about him, and also went to the bank. So, I don't think there's much more I can do to get the word out. Hopefully his owners will turn up real fast. If we haven't found him by early next week, he's probably going to the shelter. I imagine he'll be adopted quick from there because he's not really a common breed, and he looks pretty good. Everyone who's seen him so far seems to want to take him off our hands though, so maybe we'll end up giving him away to someone we know. I don't know... Anyone looking for a healthy (though he has worms) Weimaraner?...
Back to doing school work...

Another dog?!?!

I don't believe it...
Went out on the usual walk this morning (only just me and Zephyr, Kristen wasn't feeling well). Got out almost to Southfarm where there's no lights. Zephyr goes off somewhere to do her business, and I see this very big dark dog sneak up on her. She didn't even see him coming... anywho, it was a big Weimaraner (one of those grey lab-looking dogs). I was hoping someone was out walking around with him or something, but no one turned up. He started to follow us home, so I put him on the leash and walked him home. He has a collar but no tags (again!) and he's not neutered (again!). He's a really good looking dog and seems pretty well trained (again!). He's darker than most Weimaraners I've seen, and his eyes are brown (I think they're usually grey). Anywho, I made a bunch of posters to put up around campus, because we've been through all this two dog stuff before. Even though he seems to be a great dog (and good looking, and probably worth something), the sooner we find his owners the better. Hopefully, someone is looking for him.
I'll probably have pictures tomorrow if someone hasn't claimed him yet... Here's one from the internet just so you have an idea if you don't know what a Weimaraner looks like...

Rally Cars

So, glad to hear you guys have liked those rally videos. No doubt it would be a blast to tear around in one of those things. I'm often tempted to do the same around South Farm or North Farm, and occasionally the temptation wins. Just working on the cornering really. I figure it's good to learn to control a car in abnormal driving conditions... Don't worry, I don't do anything that's stupid, dangerous, or hard on the car (so skip the scolding).
Anywho, how about we all chip in and buy this little family car?

Some other nifty stuff there as well... http://www.rallyclassified.com

Rain!

We've had a very dry fall down here. It rained a ton when Hurricane Katrina went by, then it didn't rain at all until Hurricane Rita went by a month later. And it hadn't rained since, until today. Yay! I sure missed it. I wouldn't like living in a desert. Yay for rain!
Speaking of weather though, the Transat Jacques Vabre (double-handed transatlantic) and VOR (crewed round the world) fleets are getting the crap beaten out of them. Many boats headed back for repairs or out all together. Can't imagine what that's like...
Otherwise, tons of work as usual...
How's everyone else out there? Our phone is working again, so feel free to call...

argh.

Well, the semester's coming to an end finally. That's both good and bad. Good of course because it's almost over, bad because I've got so much crap to do! Usually, the last two weeks of a semester are pretty busy for me, usually working most of the time. But, I do that already. I've got 3 papers to write, 2 presentations to prepare, 1 ridiculous remote sensing (time-consuming computer crap) project to do, several more labs and homework, and finals as well. This semester has been kicking my ass the whole time. I haven't really had a chance to relax. Well, I guess we took some time off in October, but we had to hustle to catch up on that stuff. I'm very tired of working all the time, and I'm very much looking forward to having a break. I can't even remember the last time I got to ride my bike somewhere besides to school and back, or to the shop...
Speaking of bikes, I've got a new one in the works, which I aim to do under $100. I figure if I don't have time to ride them, I can at least prepare them for when I do have time. I have been scavenging parts at work that Mike didn't want around anymore. I got the frame (+fork, campy headset, campy seatpost, BB, pedals, and cranks) for $30, an early 90's DuraAce rear wheel for $5, front wheel for free, and Cinelli bar/stem for $10. All I need now are brakes, tires, bar tape, and a saddle. Oh, and some cassette spacers and a chain...
Anywho, I've decided I don't think I want to continue and get a Ph.D. Certainly not now, probably never. I just really don't want to spend this much time at school all the time. This semester has certainly made me more efficient and conscious of time. I very much miss having free time. Christmas break should be wonderful...
I'm planning on taking less class next semester, and those should be less time-consuming. Maybe I'll actually have time to ride. Kristen on the other hand will be taking 24 credits next semester (she's taking 23 now). No matter how hard I try, I can't convince her to ease it back a little. She wants to get out at the same time as me, but she's going to be so sick of school by the time she does... She's crazy. And she reads this. You are crazy Kristen! Crazy, crazy, crazy!!!
Righty then, back to work... (Yay for the weekend, more time for work...)

Family Photos

Last Saturday morning the Humane Society had a fund raiser called Puppy Fun Day. They had all sorts of games for dogs, and it cost $2 per game. This took place out at McKee Park (still a nice place, but seems forgotten about). Kristen's friend Suzanne volunteers at the H.S. and was in charge of this fundraiser. She took these pics.
We entered Zephyr in "doggy baseball" and "bobbing for balls". In doggy baseball, you run around the bases on a baseball field, but you have to make your dog sit on each base before moving on. Zephyr and I won with a time of 29 seconds. Our closest competition was a little daschund/beagle mut or something with 41 seconds. The "bobbing for balls" thing is just like it sounds, the dogs are supposed to fish some tennis balls out of a tub in a certain amount of time. 2 Minutes I think. One dog got 5 out, and Zephyr was the only one who got another out. She kept pawing at them though, since she hates to get her face wet. It was pretty funny. I'm pretty sure Sam would have been good at the ball thing...
Anywho, here's the pics Suzanne took of the three of us...

The three of us.

Zephyr distracted by another dog...

Sam is back HOME!!!

Sam, waiting for his owners to show up.

That's right, Sam (the yellow lab) is back with his original owners!
Yesterday there was a message on the phone from someone saying they thought we had their dog. Kristen called them back, and sure enough, it was his owners! We met with them last night and returned him. It's so nice that he's back with his original owners! Also, turns out his name is "Tango". The people were very nice and very happy to have him back. So exciting!
Here's the story of Sam from our end...
We found him on the way back from one of our walks to Southfarm, less than a week after Hurricane Katrina came through. He was with a white German Shepard that we weren't able to catch. We figured they were refugee dogs. We took Sam by the shelter, and they said the same thing. As soon as we could, we took him to the vet and had him updated on all his shots and de-wormed. We put an ad in the paper about him and told the vet he was a stray, and also left our info at the Humane Society. It seemed like his owner was never going to turn up. So, we started looking for a home for him. He and Zephyr were always having a great time, so we were reluctant to give him away. Then, a seemingly ideal situation surfaced, and we sent him to live with parents of one of Kristen's friends (wrote about that earlier). That didn't work out so well, and he was back with us after 2 weeks or so. We picked him up this past Sunday. Early this week, we were back to trying to find him a home, maybe even up in Maine. Then we get the call on Wednesday, and now he's back home!
And now, the story from the owner's side...
Sam ("Tango") ran off after some dog in heat (the white German shepard he was with!). They live out Oktoc Road, south of Southfarm. He didn't have his tags on because the owner had just picked him up from his parent's house. They put up posters all over their part of the area, which was well south of where we always are. They said they also informed the Humane Society and the Vet. Oddly, the people at the Humane society must have just had a brain fart, because I brought Sam in for them to look at and told them the situation. They also know us pretty well, because one of Kristen's friends works there. Same at the Vet. Told them he was a stray... Anywho, Some day recently, someone at the Vet's office finally realized that the dog someone had reported just might be the one we'd found, and called those people. Later the same day, Sam was back home.
Another interesting thing... about a month after we got Sam, we were coming back from our morning walk, and came across that white German shepard again, this time she was with another dog. The other dog was also one of theirs! They found that one a lot quicker though.
So, Sam ("Tango") is back with his original owners, we don't have to find a home for him, we learned two dogs is too much for us, and everything is super. The owners also reimbursed us for the money we spent on him.
One more thing... we had had an appointment for Sam to get neutered, which we cancelled because he'd moved down to that other place (parents of Kristen's friend). They'd made an appointment for him to get neutered too, but also had to cancel, because he came back with us. Sam's family jewels have to be the luckiest in dog history! His owners didn't neuter him because it messes with his hunting instinct. He was used as a retriever, and very good at it, as we saw.
So that's that. Couldn't have worked out better. :)

So long Sam...

Boothbay Webcam

Boothbay Harbor Webcam,
From DMR Building on McKown Point.
Pretty bad picture quality, but still sorta neat...

Pictures from Ford/Amanda's Fall Break, part 2.

Taking a break from studying, here's a few more...

Ford with his namesake (Loudon Lake) in the background. "Maybe if I grit my teeth, I'll look tough."

Windy Peak? Pasayten Wilderness by the looks of it...

"When I was young, I built these mountains with my bare hands. I scaled their highest peaks butt-naked through fifteen feet of snow in a raging blizzard. Had to fight off a pack of rabid wolves with both hands tied behind my back! Then I carved some skis out of a thousand year old spruce tree, aided by my domesticated beaver pal 'Chip', and skied to safety, all in time for a light breakfast of yak liver and muktuk..."

Amanda in some pretty spot (Pasayten again?)

Fordo at Sunny Pass?

Sure looks nice out there. Can't wait to go out there again and do some serious hiking or riding or something besides reading and writing about rocks...

Pictures from Ford/Amanda's Fall Break, part 1.

Some Pictures from Ford and Amanda's Fall break trip to Washington... (forgive the captions)

I'm Ford, I look stoned and have a skinny head. I'm Amanda, I can't believe I married this goober.

Amanda and Ford having a whale of a time.

The Ol' Man, Ma, and Amanda in Blaine Washington where the boat lives.

There's a cool boat. And Ford.

Ford and Amanda somewhere really pretty. I miss mountains.
- More to come...

The Return of Sam.

Well, the big silly yellow lab Sam is back with us. We'd given him to a friend of Kristen's parents who lived on a big farm with a pond. Sounded like it'd be the ideal situation for him. Two people at home all the time, a person who'd play with him nonstop, another (older) dog to play with... But, these people are completely against putting dogs on a leash or fencing them in. Sam ran away once when they first got him, two weeks or so ago. On Saturday morning, we got a call from someone in Raymond, Mississippi (10+ miles from where he was in Clinton, MS) saying that she had our dog (since our info was on the registration tags). So, who knows how long he'd been gone for this time. Anyway, we got in touch with the people who were taking care of him. We had a discussion back and forth between Kristen's friend, and her parents that got a bit heated at times. Oh, and Sam had to cross a highway or two to get where he was... Aparently, they'd tried keeping Sam in the garage at night to keep him from running off, but he took a poop in there, so they just left the door open from then on. Sam's a curious dog, so it's not suprising he took off after something. But all you'd have to do is put him on a rope. He's not the type who's run back and forth choking himself at the end of his tether. He'd get to the end and think "well, guess that's as far as I can go" and promptly lay down. I like the idea that he was free to run around, but he needed to learn where he was supposed to stay... So, we met Kristen's friend's parents yesterday and picked him up. Now we've got two dogs again, at least until we find him a home.
Kristen's Aunt and Uncle in Maine have a perfect place with two young kids, lots of land, and a huge old house. They had to put down their two old dogs within the past year, so maybe they're looking for another... Ford, think Amanda's dad could use a good retriever?
PS - Kinda fits with the "potatoes" down there, since that's Sam from Lord of the Rings saying it...

What's new? Hmm...
Still busy with school. Still pretty chilly lately, though warming up a bit this weekend. Might even get some rain early in the week, we haven't had any for at least a month. Still no news on thesis stuff. Trials bike still not working... and I really want to ride for once...
The Transat is coming up soon, as is the Volvo Ocean Race. Those should both be pretty neat to follow. I still think the Vendee is the coolest race though.
I'm ready to do another adventure, but don't know when I'll have the time or money to do it. I sure am glad I did the A.T. when I did. Lately I've been dreaming of touring bikes and riding across the country. It wouldn't take as long as the A.T., but it'd probably cost more. But, when I'm out of here, I'll have those damn loans to pay off, so I can't really have too much fun. I'm not sure what I'll end up doing for work either, but I doubt it'll be something where I can just take off for months at a time. We'll see I guess...
Surly Long Haul Trucker ^^^

Trek 520 ^^^
Ah... the open road...

Potatoes.

Haha. :)

Bikes...

At long last, some pics of the BMX cruiser...

Profile shot

Another angle

The XC bike (with the wheel from my trials bike, since the steer tube on my trials fork is bent...). Still running the cross tires (26x1.3" at 75psi). Man, that seatpost looks high...

Brrr

Wow, it's actually kind of chilly this morning! The apartment was 58 degrees when we woke up, and outside (at 5am) it was much cooler. By the time I got to school about 8, the temp had risen to 37 degrees. That's pretty cold for Mississippi. And this time last week it was 90. Such a strange fall down here. I guess it's partly because of the hurricane. The rest of the week is supposed to be highs in the mid 60's...

Cool enough for shoes and pants!

View out my office window in Hilbun Hall. Looking SW, Cobb (Anthro.) at left, Lee Hall at right. Wishing I was outside instead of working on a hydrogeology midterm...

another picture

Playing ultimate in Pinedale, WY. (Field Camp, summer '05)
Guess which one is me...

another photo

(click for bigger image!)
Mt. St. Helens and Rainier. USGS Cascade Volcano Observatory

More new stuff

Blogger was messed up for a bit, so I had to change some things to make it work... There's some new links over there too. The videos on rallyvids.com are pretty great. Some other stuff too. Here's another picture...

Ocean Planet during the Monhegan Island Race in Maine. :)

Flyak?!

Saw this on the Wetass Chronicles...
A NELO sprint kayak + foils = Flyak
Check it out.
Pretty cool looking. I can't imagine going 14.7 knots in a kayak!
Fun!

Photo of the Day 2

SWRT (Rally Australia?)... from wrc-wallpaper.de

Some news.

It's been a while since I had much news. Some things to mention lately though. Sam, the second dog we found after the hurricane, has a new home. Kristen has a friend Matt, whose wife's parents were looking to get a new lab. But, they didn't want to go through the whole puppy-training business. They live somewhere near Jackson on 40+ acres of land with a pond. It sounds perfect for him and we hear he's loving it there. We were a bit worried Zephyr might miss him, but she's loving having all the attention again and being cute as ever. So that's all good.
I have officially graduated from UMaine now. It took a while to get the paperwork and credits all sorted out since I applied to graduate in August and I took the summer field course thingy. But aparently they sent a diploma to Kristen's mom's house back in Maine. So now, I'm Willapa James Waterstrat, B.S. (Earth Sciences). Go me.
Just had our fall break down here. I was hoping to go camping or hiking or riding somewhere, but we didn't really have time to plan out anything, so we just bummed around here. It was great. We got to sleep in and just sort of lounge around all day. Well, not all day. One day we cleaned all day, another I was at the shop, Monday was full of errands. But we got to relax a bit which was very nice. The weather has gotten very agreeable too. It's barely getting above 80 during the day now and down in the 60's at night. Quite nice.
We had midterms last week. I only had one big thing to worry about, which was a big paper for my hardest class (Regional Geology of Eastern North America). I wound up getting a 39/40 (97.5%) on that, which I was was suprised to get. Ususally, he's a pretty hard grader, but this time he praised us (all 6 that are in the class) about how well we did. It's nice to get compliments every now and then. Kristen (who's taking 23 credits) has all A's on her midterm grades. That might make you think that school down here is easier, but in fact she's way above the rest of her class. On a recent chemistry test, she got a 90-something when the class average was 68. It's not easy, she's just smart. She's also thinking she wants to get into biological engineering. She really likes biology, but is worried about a lack of jobs in that field. Any thoughts on that old man?
I've been riding trials a bit more lately and actually learning (re-learning really) some moves. But, somehow the other night I bent the steerer tube on my fork, so I can't ride until I get that replaced. I've been lusting after a new trials bike for a while now, but I sure can't afford it. I'd really like to replace the whole bike instead of just replacing the fork. But, since I'm l0w on money, I'm just going to have to wait a while before I do anything anyway. Bummer. I can't ride the BMX right now either, because all the spokes came loose (stupid machine built wheels). Now that's we're back in school, I don't have much time anyway.
Well, I ought to get ready for class. I took some pictures recently, but they didn't turn out too well, so I'll try to get some good ones up soon. Hope Ford's not causing too much trouble out there in Washington.

Photo of the Day

I like pictures, so I might start doing this regularly...

Description: Badlands, SD / Photo: Alice Doughty

End of an Era.

What a sad day. Just got an email from Jeff Duke, the longtime owner of the kayak shop where I spent my summers. Aparently, after owning it for 10 years, he finally sold it. He'd been trying to do it for a while. Turns out he sold it to Travis Journigan, a guide who's worked there for four years now I think. Travis is a good guy, layed back... maybe a little too layed back sometimes...
Anywho, not sure what Jeff going to do now, but I'm sure he's not going to settle down and do something boring.
I worked at Tidal Transit starting the second summer I lived in Maine. I met Jeff the very first summer. I worked there every summer excluding 2000 (when I was on the A.T.), and this past summer (when I moved down here to Mississippi). So, I think that was about 6 years. I was the official bike mechanic, and I was pretty much the old employee (unless Natty was around). It was a great time, most of the time. I could go on and on about stories of that place. Who knows, maybe I'll go back and work there again some day. I hope Jeff keeps living life the way he wants to.
So long old kayak shop.
The picture of me on this page is from the kayak shop. Here's some others from the shop or from kayak trips...

kayak gear on Spectacle Island, 2004

view south from Spectacle Island, 2004

Kayak tour off Isle of Springs, typical Maine summer day... sigh... 2004

Me in front of the shop, 2004

Me showing off a starfish while tourons look on, 2004