Monday, November 26, 2007

Leaving Tahoe



Here are some pretty shots as we drove from Tahoe to Truckee to get Matt's car Sunday night. I had never driven this route to Rte 80 and it was great timing on Sunday night. I think this view makes a pretty good argument for living in Lake Tahoe. If only they had a Whole Foods and a progressive charter school.

Olympic Fever

Squaw Valley! Home of the 1960 Olympics and just a short drive from Lake Tahoe. Since there's no snow, it was a great opportunity for us to go to up the tram at the ski resort.
The round trip is $20 but it's only another $6 to go ice skating at the top. I was amused by the sign inside that said "110 + 1" persons. I'm not sure how that's different than 111 but I guess it is.
This is the view looking down from the tram at the resort and the horse stable area. The snow you see is all machine-made but there were some avid people out doing tricks on their snowboards and sledding on the bunny hills. I'm getting excited from some winter (one on coast or the other).



At "High Camp," there is a pool, tennis courts, restaurants, the ice rink, and the Olympic Museum. The Museum was pretty good, but more of a display. They had some pages from the official bid document. They committee had written things like, "Do the athletes want the Games to be in California? Ask them." It was so 1950's. We had a fun skate with a view of the lake. I'm not as stable on blades as I am on the box pattern of roller skates, but I worked up a sweat nonetheless. Being at Squaw and seeing all the pictures of the Games made me doubly excited for Vancouver in 2010. Now I just have to figure out how I'll be able to take off work for two weeks in a random February.

Mono Lake

East of Yosemite is Lee Vining, CA, a cute litle town of about 400 people and one big salty lake. This is Lake Mono which is very salty and makes these things called tufas. They are limestone structures that form as the calcium in fresh water under the lake comes in contact with the salty lake water. They kind of grow underwater, but that's all I can really tell you. I wasn't too smart on Saturday, evidenced by the fact that I asked Matt, "have you ever swam in salt water?" After he looked at me funny for about 10 seconds, I realized how ridiculous a question that is. I guess I was thinking of really salty water.


We stayed to watch the moonrise over the lake and headed back to Tahoe. We drove through Carson City and saw gas for $3.12! The latest update from the west coast is that we are spending about $3.50 a gallon. But, Matt did set a Lightning gas mileage record with a tank at 33.7 mpg! So, all the driving we did was at least done with some efficiency.

We're Walking...We're Walking

We got to the trailhead to North Dome around 11am and after putting our food in the bear box, we commenced walking. I was a little worried that the first 0.7 miles was downhill (i.e. it would be uphill on the way back), but Matt reminded me that we would actually have to lose elevation to get to North Dome. One thing about the Sierras that makes it very different from East Coast hiking is that in places you don't really need a trail because you're hiking on granite or you can easily navigate to the peak because the trees are a lot less dense. We left the trail to get a nice view of the valley below and didn't actually make it all the way to North Dome but enjoyed our time in the sun for a few hours.


Here's the view we got of Half Dome. While I'll definitely make that hike some day, it was cool to see it and its enormity on this trip.




And here's how Matt ended the hike...climbing this rock by the bear boxes. I'd like to pretend I could have followed suit, but after seeing him work at it, my chances of falling seemed likely and my calves were kind of yelling at me for all that I've been making them do for me lately.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Taking Nothing For Granite

When I picked Matt up on Wednesday night, one of the first things he said was, "do you want to go to Yosemite?" Obviously, I want to go to Yosemite and he meant that we should go this weekend. His friends from Boston had blown into Tahoe and suggested that we meet up there after Thanksgiving. Well, his friends didn't actually get around to coming but we went anyway, despite the fact that they were supposed to bring Matt's duffel bag of tent, sleeping bag, and more warm clothes. I was nervous that the place would be crazy with tourists enjoying a long weekend, but we were able to get an unheated cabin in Curry Village, which is right in Yosemite Valley, underneath Half Dome and Glacier Point. The picture of the village is looking west at North Dome, which we hiked on Saturday.



We arrived at Yosemite, after about a four hour drive from the East Bay and I got my first glimpse of the place. The drive itself was pretty spectacular with lots of farms for the first three hours and then climbing up to 7000 feet for the last hour. We came in on 120, headed east, which leads you right into the Valley where you look up at Yosemite Falls (no running water right now), El Capitan, and Half Dome. It's just crazy to see these rocks looming around, the setting sun keeping Half Dome lit up, and the nearly full moon rising. There was just too much beauty, especially looking up outside our cabin to see Glacier Point lit up by the moon.

There were lots of signs about campgrounds being full and the penalties if you sleep in your car, so I was relieved when we were able to score a cabin. It came with sheets and wool blankets and towels, could sleep five in beds, and was only $53 a night. Not too bad. Below is a picture of Matt on Saturday morning, trying to get warm. We were pretty warm sleeping under lots of blankets and snuggled in my sleeping bag, but it was very chilly once you tried to do anything vertically in the cabin. Since it was dark at around 5:30 pm, we tried playing Rummy 500 before bed...I'm glad Matt decided we should play Rummy 225 and then beat me quickly because I was having trouble holding the cards my hands were so cold. We had aspirations to wake up early and hike the 8 miles up to Half Dome, but we just couldn't force ourselves to get up. We slept in, had a nice breakfast at the lodge, and drove to the other side of North Dome and hiked toward the Valley from the north.


Turkey Trot

The good news is that I've started running again. It's relatively painless, which is probably a result of low mileage and an every-other-day routine. It's been fun to run again, even though most of my miles are on the treadmill since daylight is so limited when I'm not in school. I do relish the days when I can run outside. Thanksgiving Day was one of those days. Patagonia Boy came down on Wednesday night and despite the fact that he keeps much later hours than me, I was able to get out of the house early for my own Turkey Trot (while Matt slept for another two hours). It was a fun run...even more fun because I didn't have to race anyone (but I also didn't get a free t-shirt...boo). I saw THREE corgis too! What a great way to start the day.

After some yummy omelets, we cooked the sweet potatoes and headed off to the West Coast Bagg's. We had a great dinner, heard things like, "is a frog's butt watertight" and had a nice passagiatta under a nearly full moon on a night that felt pretty much like Thankgiving should...just a bit nippy.

How To Save An Egg


Here are some shots of my students trying out their egg drop projects. I didn't get all the details about the requirements, but it's basically your typical Physics project: keep the egg from breaking. I saw about 16 drops and only two breaks. Both of these designs passed the test. The one with the plastic bag parachute was totally unexpected. The egg was in a water bottle wrapped in a washcloth. When it hit the ground it bounced up at least two feet and we thought for sure that the egg would not survive the impact. But, it did! Pretty cool.
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Ah To Be 17 Again...

If you knew me in high school, you also knew "Volksie," our 1976 Gold Bug that my parents bought to take the chauffeuring burden off my mother. As I drove back from my Sonoma weekend, I saw this on the side of the road in Menlo Park. It's a 1972 Superbeetle going for $4100. Trust me, I considered it. But, having two vehicles that have no buisness going to Tahoe if it snows might not be the best move. It's rare to see this color on a Beetle. I didn't get a look at the mileage but it was in pretty good shape...except for the new radio installed. There are some things that just shouldn't be modernized.
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Sonomaluma

I am seriously behind on the blog. I'll do my best to catch up here in the next few days. Two weeks ago, Matt and I headed to wine country. We spent a rainy Saturday at the Cline and Benziger Wineries. Sonoma is beautiful almost any time of year, but I really liked seeing it in the fall. The vines are all turning yellow and things are slowed down a bit in terms of wine production. The Cline winery had a free tasting room (bonus). The wines there were quite good, especially the Carignane (pronounced Karen-yawn but not in a way that sounds silly). We headed up to Benziger and watched the tour go by us, went back south to Gloria Ferrer for a tour (they were not running due to the rain), and then back up to Benziger. I was determined to do this tour because of their biodynamic practices. Biodynamic grape growing is kind of like organic. They don't use pesticides but they do a lot more than that. They have insectaries, which are gardens that attract the bugs and species that eat the bad bugs. They make and use their own compost from the unused parts of the grapes. They are thoughtful about what varieties should be planted where based on soil, sun, and micro-climate. They also grow other crops (on a very small scale) and have animals on the property to keep the land healthy. Matt and I were totally happy at this place, learning about how to take our ideals about how you should treat land and still be able to make a good product for a wide audience. I also like that this winery is educating a lot of people about eco-friendly practices...people who were probably just there for the wine. We tasted a bunch of wines and bought two whites.

We went to Petaluma for the night and found a great restaurant called Dempsey's. They have a farm a bit north where they grow a lot of veggies used in their dishes and I think raise animals for the restaurant (perhaps including Matt's pork chop). I highly recommend this restaurant and hope to return...one of those places whose menu changes with the seasons. We drove back to Tahoe on Sunday and I got to meet some of Matt's "real" friends from Boston who had just moved to Tahoe. I guess there's a bug going around back east that's making people itch for the west. We had a nice big dinner, which made me miss having roommates and friends around. It was a great weekend.
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Monday, November 19, 2007

10K!!!!

Today is my 10,000th day! Not teaching, not in California (as my students guessed)...on this planet. Today was my 10,000th morning, my 10,000th sunset, my 10,000th day that I've known my parents. It was a great day. I started out with a killer Spinning class that almost killed me, four hours of fun with students (watching kids work on proofs with intense persistence is awesome), lots of good talk about education with colleagues, and then a calming but tough Pilates class. It was one of those days filled with things that I love to do. It felt like the perfect 10,000th day...it was just classic me.

It's been a while since I posted. Obviously, life is busy. I've been a regular at the gym when it opens, getting my workout in before I race to work in time for class at 8:15. That means that I'm in bed at an ungodly hour (Aaron used to say..."you know it's still light out, right?") and getting as much done in between as possible.

I recently joined some of my students in reading "Under the Banner of Heaven," Krakauer's book about Mormons and Mormon Fundamentalism. Some of the early history was tedious at times, but the book focuses on a murder case about two brothers who killed their niece and sister-in-law under orders from God. I'm not sure if I would have survived this book if it not for the three young women in my discussion groups (some of my students) who had awesome questions about the book and about religion and what makes people leaders. I am so appreciative to have had the opportunity to interact with my students over something other than math and see how they think outside my classroom. Ahhhh!

I've had four months without homesickness but as Thanksgiving nears, I'm getting close. I'm grateful that I have friends out here to spend the day with, that I will get to have mom's bourbon sweet potatoes (even though it means I have to make them), and that Patagonia (looks more like Mountain Man) will be with me! I've been reading this cute blog called "Confessions of a Pioneer Woman" and she refers to her husband as Marlboro Man (he is totally a cowboy). I think it's cute to have blog names for people. Despite the fact that that the Boy currently lives 230 miles away and will soon be about 3000 and I would love to have him around more, having a long distance relationship has allowed me to maintain some balance with what's important to me: my work, writing letters, reading, getting the sleep I need, and getting my sweat on every morning. I too easily can get wrapped up in a relationship and lose track of myself for a while (also happens when I move). Ideally, we wouldn't have to do this long distance, but I think it's afforded us both the time to do what we came to California to do...to get to know ourselves a bit better and come to be the people we aim to be.

Those are my thoughts at 10,000. I kept thinking today about when I turned 5,000 days (even though I didn't know it at the time). It was shortly after my bat mitzvah. I was starting 8th grade. While there's a lot that's changed, it's funny to think about what hasn't...still have the skin of an adolescent, still pretty much a nerd, still can't see when I open my eyes in the morning, but I still aim to Carpe Diem.

I'll try to write more updates soon and take pictures of the week (I definitely have to share the pictures of my kids and their egg drop projects for Physics). Hope everything is grand wherever you are. I'm appreciating all of you this week. l, m