The Earth at Risk?

At the Great Meteor Crater, we asked this very question. Ben looked for details deep in space, while Alec and Casey took the more straight-forward approach. It turns out that if you take a moon-sized meteor traveling directly towards earth (no chance for atmospheric 'bounce') at 8 Gazillion miles per hour, then yes, the Earth is doomed.



We actually spent most of the day at the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. Arizona is hot in July. You can see and buy petrified wood in the park, or you can simply stop along highway 180 after you leave and pick it up off the side of the highway. It turns out that petrified wood is not rare; it occurs in all 50 states. While stopping to check out a geocache on 180, we noticed that the roadside was littered with agate, petrified wood, and other rocks you might pay for in a store. I guess geology is much easier when you go to a place that isn't slathered in asphalt and $400k townhouses.

My favorite spot in the park was called 'Newspaper Rock'. It's covered with petroglyphs - stone art from native Americans dating back almost 2000 years. It was fun talking to my 6 year-old - who spent most of last year learning to read and write - about languages that lack a formal alphabet and grammar. (You can, of course, find better pictures and information on the net...)

We're heading towards Flagstaff next for some hotel time, before heading up to the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, and Cedar City. 2 days in the desert was enough for us, although I did ask the kids what it would be like to wonder around one for 40 years.

Mike

We Found the Can

Some of our good friends from AFC hid something for me in Arizona a month or so ago. It was my first attempt at a geocache. I put rice inside to absorb moisture. I thought the can was waterproof. We found the can; the stink that came with it was indescribable! It was still fun, though. Thanks Ed, Stacey, and crew!

Our little mishap with the trailer harness cost us our day at the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings, but you can see the kids are still quite happy. (Hawk Nelson is one of their favorites...)



Mike

Off Road

Who the heck rented my husband a jeep??!!

Madi here, obviously. So. another beautiful day in Ouray, okay the first beautiful day. No rain and lots of sun. So we decide to go 4-wheeling. Beginner 4-wheeling, or at least that's what I was told. But I'm a little ahead of myself.

They call Ouray Switzerland of America. I can see why. It's beautiful. Incredibly beautiful Everywhere we look.

We woke up at 6 am (Mike is still waking up at 3:30 as that's 5:30 EST) and tried to wake up the kids. Anyone ever try to wake up rocks? Yea, now you understand. Even better was the fact that they giggled themselves to sleep last night and Ben started giggling as soon as he was conscious this morning. We actually got completely packed up and moving by 7:30 am by using the promise of a hot breakfast in town.

Casey, Alec and I found a restaurant and ordered breakfast for all of us while Mike and Ben rented the vehicle of terror, I mean the heap. Actually, it was a very nice Jeep, or so I thought. And they came back and breakfast arrived just after they returned. Mike had a really spicy breakfast burrito that puts Frisco's burritos to shame. I had a delicious omelet with jalopenos (don't ask don't tell) and the kids had pancakes and french toast and hot chocolate. YUM!!

We then packed the heap with our cooler and extra clothes and went off on our leetle adventure. The only thing I forgot was my depends, mental note to self.

It started out innocently enough. A few bumps, a few hills, some 4-wheelers, some mountains. Then the switchbacks and mining debris, slopes totally washed out-heap singletrack and Madi in adrenaline overload. OMGOSH!! I have not been that scared in a long time. Mike's been 4-wheeling. I haven't. All I could think was 'Who the heck rented Mike this thing? Does he know what he's doing? Will anyone find us when we go over the edge? Am I leaking onto the seat? (jk)' Fortunately I was smart enough not to open my mouth while we were on the ledges and switchbacks but Mike probably knew by how quiet I was. I do think I got all the adrenaline out because I was fine on the second set of washed out trails.

The views were amazing. You cannot get the same feel on the paved roads. The kids loved the 4-wheeling. They made up their own jeep jingle. And we got to hike to the top of the highest part around. hopefully those pics turned out and we'll include those. (The momma bear in me came out up there too, kids too close to the edge, eeeeeeek! Darn hormones.)

We also did a lot of geocaching. Ben is proving yet again to be our treasure hunter. He can find the geocaches anywhere. Alec and Casey are good too, but Ben is the expert. Quote of the day, "Is this the geocache?" Madi, "What is it?" Ben, "I don't know. It has signing stuff, a pen and paper and toys in it." Ben had found a box nailed to the trunk of a spruce tree that looked almost like a birdhouse with a ziploc bag in it and a margarine container. We found at least 3 geocaches already today and found our first multi-cache, a 2-part cache. The first part told us the coordinates of the real cache. Cool stuff.

Side note, Ben really wants to make pine needle tea. He learned about it on Man vs. Wild and we looked in up in our SAS Survival Book. You can use the green needles to do it or you can just eat the new needles. The ends are especially tasty in the spring and they are loaded with vitamin C.

Mike wants me to tell you guys we just finished going down a hill that was as steep as Ilchester and at least 10 times (I think 20 or more) as long. And we saw a cyclist almost at the top. He was AWESIOME!! We are south of Telluride on Rt. 145. Dave, if you get a chance, would you please look it up on Bikely? Crazyyyyyyy!!

Trivia question-how many miles have the West's traveled as of right now? The one closest to it will win a genuine arrowhead from the town of Ouray. Let the games begin!

Last note - we pulled into Mesa Verde tonight only to find that the trailer cable had frayed; no lights, no trailer brakes, no refrigerator, no power (for tonight). I guess the adventure has finally begun! - Mike

Ciao!

Madio

Telluride

I love Ouray and Telluride. The terrain is spectacular; peaks towering 1500' overhead, awesome cloud formations - we're already trying to plan a ski trip back this way. Mountain Village is connected to Telluride via gondola. The kids loved the ride. We took the van across Last Dollar Pass, but we'll hit some real off-road tomorrow.

We found two more geocaches today; left one of Sean's 'Dick Cheney Skis in Jeans.' stickers at one of them. Some subtle humor from our friends in CO!

Parting shot - Casey found a bike she liked in downtown Telluride...


















Off to Mesa Verde tomorrow - and then to AZ!

Mike

Popping Pringles

In addition to exploding ink pens, we've got popping Pringles cans!

I'm thinking about my bro-in-law; Ouray is 90% 4x4's. I've got a Jeep rented for all day tomorrow (Sunday) so we can hit some trails. Pretty much every one at our campground has a sweet Jeep of some kind. So far, this is my favorite piece of the Rockies.

(I'll get some pictures of the cool rock crawlers and Jeeps today...)

Mike

Vail and good friends

Madi here-reviewing comments on the blog and posting as we drive
through spectacular Glenwood Canyon. Though I hear we are going to
think it's just a teeny tiny hole in the ground once we get to the
Grand Canyon. Good thing we are driving through this first. I can't
believe I am connected to the internet down here. He he.

We just spent two days in Edwards, near Vail, with Sean, one of biking
buddies who used to live in Maryland. Oddly enough, his wife and son
are in Maryland right now. Hi Kelly, wish you were here!!

We got to drive up this awesome dirt road, yes, dirt road called Red
Sandstone Road (guess what color our gray van is now?-no prize will be
given for this answer) for 10 miles. We were rewarded at the top with
a ranch with horses, a hot lunch and a lake with canoes and kayaks.
Not to mention the obvious, spectacular views of the mountains around
Vail. Real back country though, no commercial nuthin'! Casey and
Alec did the 2-person kayak thing and loved it, they stayed out longer
than we did. Mike, Ben and I canoed all went around the whole lake.
Then while Alec and Casey were still on the lake, Ben played with an 8
week old Chihuahua (sp?) named Butters. He was in heaven.

Then we drove back down and went into Vail, got ice cream and coffee,
did a little window shopping, an attempt at geocaching down in town
which was unproductive and then, dramatic gasp, rode the gondola up
the mountain. I think it was the Eagle Bahn. From the top we could
see another gorgeous view including Holy Cross and a few other very
tall mountains. And we found our first nano-magnetic geocache. Mike
actually found it - underneath a rain gutter. It was very small. And
my pen exploded on it, mental note to self, many things explode at
altitudes of 12,000 feet-pens, lotions, shampoo, and Pringles! I bet
pancake batter would explode too if I made it and sealed. He he.

Back to the geocache. It had a very small strip of paper rolled up in
it which you take out and sign and date and then put back. Then we
rode the gondola back down and went back to Sean's for dinner. Oh,
after sitting in traffic for 45 minutes on 70. There was a car
accident. Traffic in Colorado, who'da thunk? But then we had
delicious grilled marinated flank steak, grilled corn on the cob,
fresh bread and beer. The kids also had broccoli and big chocolate
cookies (we're all kids aren't we?) and since we had dinner so late we
had dessert first. ;-)

Video is self explanatory. The pic of the kids in the gondola is
taken above the village of Lionshead in Vail. Pic of the mtns is just
general pic of the scenery out here. Contented sigh.

So, onto Ouray and Telluride.

Madi and the fam.

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Pancakes with Altitude

Madi here-Okay, so Adam wins the sour skittles, weeeeeeee!  Alec will be very happy to deliver those.

We drove Trail Ridge in Rocky Mtn State Park.  The highest elevation was about 12,200, maybe a little higher.  Not nice for Casey's ear but she took it like a trooper.  (That's how I knew she had an infection, she was complaining of pain, ow!)

Ben climbed to the highest point we climbed today-pic included- with Mike.  Ben's trivia question for you guys is, " How high is the Rockies?  Here's a hint, it starts with a 1..."  He will deliver those skittles.

Oh, and while we were at the ER there was a British woman who was thrown off her horse there as well who was surrounded by 3 real cowboys...  guess that really happens.

Now to Mike-
Madi can cook anywhere!  Steak, pasta, and salad while it's raining outside.  We saw tons of elk in RMNP, and we played in the snow too.  High 80's at our camp side (8k feet); 48F at the pass.  We saw cyclists on Trail Ridge (some one please look this up for me on bikely).  We were sooooo jealous!  You cannot mountain bike on the trails; it's all about hiking and running.  I'm feeling the altitude; running around at 12k makes me dizzy.

:)
Mike

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So these are mountains...

My respect for the tour riders - and all of the regular Joes - who ride real mountains has gone way up.  We dragged the trailer over a 12k+ pass yesterday and rolled into Winter Park on fumes.  The switchbacks were CRAZY!  Adam would love this stuff.  A quick thunder storm passed us as we took a quick break near to the top of the pass, and the thunder was super loud - like we were in the cloud with it.

We got a sweet campsite on Lake Gramby near Rocky Mountain National Park.  We're headed up for our first 13k+ hike, but we had to make a visit to the doctors for a sick kid first.

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We're almost not in Kansas anymore...

Madi here again-now, with 12 miles left in Kansas, we are in the Kansas we saw in RAAM. Kansas along 70 is a very different Kansas than I saw in June. It's very green and hilly and populated. Beautiful compared to what AFC cycled through earlier this summer. Though I think this would have much more difficult to bike through, not to mention the shoulder hasn't been paved for about 250 miles, he he.

Alec has a question for y'all. What state do the Kansas City Royals play in? He will give the first person who posts on the blog a pack of sour skittles, and unlike Merrill he will actually give the prizes out... ;-)

Side note-yesterday we saw PT cruiser with a matching painted PT trailer (think mini-PT cruiser) cruising down the highway. Who'da thunk?

We found another geocache this morning, the Grain Bin. We'll send a pic and details next time. It was my first. Very exciting. We walked straight to it. I'm very impressed with my sense of direction, ;-). Of course, I must say Timmy helped a little. (We named our handheld GPS Timmy in honor of one of our cousins who we wish was our on trip with us.)

Ooopss, we bring you this important announcement, "Dorothy, you aren't in Kansas any more!!" Woo hoo, we are in CO!!

Signing off for now.

Edited to add-the picture added is from the second geocache we found overlooking Ft. Riley. Alec looks smashing in his hat.

And Mike is grinning from ear to ear at the moment as we are drafting an 18 wheeler and getting about 23 mpg at 77mph. Oh the little things in life are just wonderful.

And at the moment, CO looks almost just like Kansas.

Madio

Geocaching

Casey and I woke early this morning because
a) we're soooo excited about the trip
b) there were no curtains in one of the bedroom windows. :)

We got cleaned up and decided to investigate a nearby cache placed by a fellow from Chicago.  Following the compass on the Garmin, we worked our way across a field adjoining our hotel.  With 100' to go, it was pretty clear that a lone tree was our target.  We got to the tree, and sure enough, the Garmin was happily beeping - cache found!  But we didn't know what to look for.  Casey got down on her hands and knees and noticed a small film canister; we opened it, and found a rolled up stack of papers covered with names and dates. 

We're hooked. 

Mike

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Plainsville, IN

Madi here.  We did about 610 miles yesterday and rolled into Indy and found a nice hotel, love the Staybridge Suites.  Alec and Ben will be in sleeping bags on the floor tonight though...  boy do they move around a lot at night.

Casey and Mike got up early and found their first geocache.  They'll have to give you the details on that.

After a great breakfast we got going about 9 and had to stop around 10:30 for a potty and gas break.  We found the slowest gas pump in all of the US.  It's somwhere in Ill on Rt 70 near Clarksville.  After 10 minutes or so, we had only pumped 6 gallons of gas.  At $4.50/gal.  Effingham!!!! is next.  (Hey, we went through there on RAAM in the RV).

Oh, and Ben is bored by the flat road.  Obviously he hasn't seen Kansas yet.  I'm excited to get back to Missouri and look for armadillos.  Quiz question-does anyone know what a pangolin is?  First one to post a comment with the answer wins a pack of Hubba Bubba with a yummy fruity center!

I need coffee,  but I need a nap more. 

Later!!

Madio

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On the road!

Camera->Latptop->BlueTooth->Internet.  I'm geeking out on the road.  600 miles to St Louis!

Mike

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Getting ready for the big trip! 3 days to go...

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My (only) Dodge

One of our first 'big' purchases as a new family (back in 1997) was a 1996 Dodge Stratus. One day after work (about 5 minutes after I had made it into the townhouse), I looked out our kitchen window and saw flames coming out of the front wheel wells. It was surreal. After the initial shock, I was glad I had paid $1800 for and 'extended' warranty. It still makes me ill to think about the whole thing, but here's how it turned out:
- Dodge dealership told me to learn about 'subrogation' and that they would not being talking to me
- Dodge corp told me that in cases involving an engine fire, my warranty covered neither repair, replacement, or even a loaner car
- The local TV stations told me about advertising revenue and that they had no interest in saying anything negative about a car company
- Dodge suggested that I had set fire to my own car.
- Dodge would not refund my warranty, because it wasn't really and extension, but a replacement. Therefor, since I had owned the car for almost a year, I was entitled only a small portion of the warranty price.

My wife and I spent a month sending letters to every government agency we could think of. We even discovered that Dodge had recalled about 50,000 Stratuses for a fuel rail leak - which could cause an engine fire. However, my car was built a month or two after the recall period. One lawyer chuckled when I asked about litigation; he said something along the lines of, "How much money do you have saved? Do you have the time or money to pursue a big car company?" I sent a letter to the CEO of Dodge - one last attempt at appealing to their sense of honor - but it was ignored.

I'm just getting around to converting my old videos, and thanks to the internet, I can finally share my story. For the American/Dodge car fans, I'm sorry if I sound negative. But honestly, could they have possibly screwed me over any more?

Eyes bigger than your stomach

I certainly hope not in this case. This video makes my kids laugh; I suspect it's from Discovery's Planet Earth serious, but I'm not sure.

Yield to Life

Kudos to Dave Zabriskie for founding Yield To Life. Last year, 5 of my friends were hit by cars while riding bikes. I've personally met one too many non-cyclists with an attitude along the line of, "Get off the road or you'll get hurt." A family member once told me, more or less, that if I loved my kids, I'd drive a bigger car.

The competing views on this topic are a bit too polarized in most cases. I hope Y2L gains some traction. I'm deciding what kind of support I'm going to give them.

Sophmoric Humor

Catching up to some one on a steep pitch - especially off-road - is a great feeling. Pulling it off while humming or singing this is even better. The hard part is to avoid laughing - which, as we all know, evaporates strength - while delivering the tune. Ideally your prey has some familiarity with the Greaseman (Doug Tracht), the disgraced radio personality.

Air Pressure Ignorance

I have a problem. After 20 years of cycling, I haven't figured out the air pressure thing. I've read, I've listened, I've tried. (I even kept a chart of various tire/shock pressures for a while.) On the road, I probably run too much air. Off road, either too much or not enough. My Fox RP rear shock has been 'stuck down' twice, which is essentially the worst air pressure situation you can have - unless you like your fancy FS bike to act like a hardtail with now ground clearance.

Today, I went to lower my pressure for some icy/snowy conditions. I figured 23-25psi would be good. But when I slapped the pump on, it said 14psi! I've ridden several weeks like that. Now I'm wondering if I can trust my digital Trek pump/gauge. Maybe the sidewalls are super stiff on the 2.3" Conties I've been running offroad, but it sure didn't seem like 13 psi. Or did it. Cornering has been an effort in futility lately.

As far as shocks go, I've slowly been inching my fork and rear shock upwards in pressure - trying to achieve a non-sucky FS experience. My talas is now at 110psi and the rear's set to 150psi. At 190lbs, that's high according to the Fox guide (i.e., based on sag). Riding in 20F conditions throws a wrench in the equation as well. Rebound gets sluggish, and I suspect Boyle's law might be having it's way with the preload.

Missing my hardtail still,
W

A picture, a bad memory, and a posting test

I found this picture, and I wanted to try posting via e-mail, so here goes. I suspect this photo elicits a range of reactions.  For me, it just looks like something bad is going to happen.  A good while ago, a depressed Egyptian pilot kamakazied his 767 in the Atlantic, killing a couple hundred people.   As a not-so-huge fan of flying myself, the thought of being a passenger i this situation really unnerved me.  Anyway, that's what I thought about when I saw this picture.

In reality, it's a short-duration 0-g flight related to production of aerojels.

PC's in the 3rd world - more thoughts on the OLPC

I've been passing my OLPC XO around to see what people think. Kids find it cool, of course, but I seriously doubt they would enjoy owning one. Too underpowered, can't play the games they want, and teachers that want 'PowerPoints' (yes, my daughter's teacher calls them that) would not be happy - in general, the XO's strong point don't seem very relevant in the States.

The two foreign charities our church has contacted say they don't have electricity, and that power (other than wood fires) and clean water are much higher on their list of priorities. To be honest, this is the issue that's concerned me from the get-go. Are computers a necessity, a convenience, or a toy? Perhaps they can improve an economy, but can they create one?

For my presentation* next month, I'm trying to include both technical and social aspects of the OLPC. It's interesting to work out up outline that discusses 802.11s mesh networking, a customer low-power display controller, and the needs of developing countries. Making things a bit more interesting is OLPC's recent announcement that they'll be selling their XO units to underprivileged students in the US. My guess is that they want to increase volume of sales to keep their production costs down; however, in an environment where the 'desktop metaphor' rules, I have trouble envisioning teachers buying into the XO's 'Sugar' interface. Maybe I'll have to add board-room greed to my outline.

*- my company supports and encourages monthly 'brown bag' lunches on a variety of topics. I find it a useful opportunity to meet coworkers and keep fresh on my presentation skills.