Adventures at home, abroad, and online

Month: August 2011 Page 1 of 2

Equine Adventures

Weiner para-nationals
Weiners go!
Weiners set

Andy is here for the weekend, and we decided to make it a horse-based visit. Yesterday we went to Golden Gate Fields, where the races were interspersed with with the Weiner Nationals. Those little dogs ran their hearts out, including one who was on wheels. But for me, the betting ended up being the bigger attraction. I learned what I could from the program, and then put $20 and decided to have some fun. My first bet was a winner, which set a dangerous precedent. Two hours, a double Bloody Mary and a few Heinekins later, and my $20 had turned into $37. Of course the winnings didn’t cover the drink prices or the entry fee, but I’ll definitely be back on a Dollar Sunday, when the transaction costs are lower.

Hallelujah Harry makes his move


I'm on a horse
Riding through the golden fields
Post adventure meal

After a night out at downtown Oakland’s hippest bars, we woke bleary eyed and headed north to Point Reyes for further horsing. Ruth had bought a Yelpon for half-priced horseback riding, and so we played cowboy and cowgirl for a morning. My horse, Polly, was a little lazy, but we formed a bond and I didn’t nudge her too hard in the ribs to start a trot. After a two hour ride, we took our saddle sore selves to the shore for an oyster extravaganza. Turns out Andy doesn’t like oysters, so I had to double up on the 50 we bought. I was happy to oblige.

Northwest Roadtrip Roundup

It’s good to be home after

  • one Jewish lesbian wedding
  • visiting six states, and five of their capitols
  • driving 2,780 miles
  • hiking another 28
  • burning 87.44 gallons of gasoline, creating 1,696 pounds of carbon dioxide
  • purchasing 100 oysters, consuming 30, and donating 50 to an Oregon state park ranger
  • observing two grizzlies swimming in a lake by our campsite
  • snuggling one baby tiger

Craters of the Moon

Salmon River valley
Driving by Mt Borah

Leaving Montana, we drove back to Oakland in a mad dash across three enormous states. We took the incredibly scenic “Peaks to Craters byway” in Idaho, past the highest point in the state, and through the beautiful Salmon River valley. After sleeping in Arco, the first town powered by nuclear energy, we visited the volcanic landscape at Craters of the Moon National Monument.


Indian Tube
Blue Dragon lava flow

The same volcanic forces that created Crater Lake, Mount Ranier, Mount St Helens and Yellowstone also poured out onto the Snake River plain. I got a refresher book called Practical Geology, since I don’t remember much from my last formal training in eighth grade science. Turns out that the lava is blue due to the presence of titanian magnetite. We entered lava tube caves and I did a little spelunking, crawling into a cave that maintains an icy floor year round. Not quite as Indiana Jones-esque as in Belize, but a good adventure nonetheless.


Ruth unimpressed by the "Niagara of the West"
Snake River canyon
Scenic Wells, NV

Heading back across Idaho and Nevada, we stopped in almost every town to stretch our legs and refill the tank. Had an amazing breakfast at the Buffalo cafe in Twin Falls, and digested it while overlooking the town’s 212-ft high namesake. Looked across the canyon that Evel Knievel tried to jump, and marveled at the audacity of the man to try. I wanted to go to the Western Folklife Center in Elko to hear cowboy poetry, but it was closed, and might be shut forever if the Tea Party gets its way. Tried to take the downtown walking tour of Wells, but it appears to have burned down a few years ago.

On to Winnemucca, where we ate at an excellent Basque restaurant and some friendly local teachers at our table reminded us that it’s pronounced ne-vAD-a, not ne-vAH-da. Went to a bar called the Mineshaft, where a Yelp review warns that all the patrons would be meth-heads. I watch Breaking Bad, so this was sort of an attraction, but it’s actually a fine place with free pool tables and an endless slideshow of semi-nude parties. I’d go back when I’m in town again.

Glacier National Park

Mungy Moose in Coeur d'Alene
Rainbow Trout aquarium
Double Rainbow near Flathead Lake

Left the Cascades and drove across Washington and Idaho towards the Rockies. Stopped for lunch in Coeur d’Alene, where I had an excellent elk burger topped with brie and pear, and a blueberry-dressed salad. Very country-chic. We got off I-90 in Montana, and headed north through a dry thunderstorm. Saw an excellent double rainbow near Polson, and wondered what it all meant. At least the car got a natural shower. Arrived later than I had planned to Kendra and Dan’s, forgetting about the hour difference to mountain time, but they were good hosts and gave us beer for dinner anyways.


Flowers reclaiming the burned forest
Looking down on our campsite
Upper Kintla Lake

Woke early for our drive up to the park, with Kendra graciously accompanying us as a car shuttle between trailheads. It turned out that we couldn’t hike the route I had planned, because snow still blocked the pass, so we settled for an out and back to Upper Kintla Lake. It was still beautiful, and probably enough hiking for the moderate shape that we are in. I knew that California could make me soft, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon.


The friendly trail crew at our campsite saw a pair of bears splashing into the other side of the lake, but by the time I found my binoculars they had disappeared. Probably for the best, as I didn’t really want to have to use the bear spray Kendra insisted we take. We did hear barking twice on the trail, which was close enough for me. We did see lots of other friendly wildlife:

Zerene Fritillary
Big toad
Bunny
Quail
Fox


When we emerged from the woods dusty and sweaty, we returned to Kendra and Dan’s for showers and a bike excursion to their favorite bar in Kalispell. Moose’s Saloon had cheap pitchers of local beer, a sawdust floor, good “Montana-style” pizza. We got the jalapeno, sauerkraut and sausage special, which is as delicious as it sounds.

Washington Wedding

Conveniently viewable elk
Oregon's Art Deco Capitol
Mt Hood from Portland

Drove across Oregon, by some Roosevelt Elk that were conveniently sitting in an elk viewing area. Then north on I-5, stopping at a hellish mall in Woodburn for last minute hiking acquisitions at the Columbia outlet. Then through Portland, where we didn’t stop to put a bird on it. We did enjoy an excellent burger at the Willamette Burger Company in Salem, and got a good look at the art deco capital building.


Space Needle and Experience Music
Pike Place and the SBX Radar
Fish

Spent the evening in Seattle, where we enjoyed four kinds of meats and five kinds of scotch at Quinn’s. In the morning we toured the Experience Music Project, where I learned more about Nirvana than I ever expected to, and was actually out-dorked by the Battlestar Galactica exhibit. Bought some excellent salmon jerky at Pike Place, which we resolved to eat before entering the woods, as its smell would surely attract a bear. Also spied the Sea-Based X-Band Radar in dry dock across the sound, which lead me into a lengthy discussion of the suitability of various missile defense system designs. Felt like 17.477 with Ted Postol all over again…


Kassie and Monica’s wedding was lovely, ranking up there in my top three most picturesque Jewish lesbian ceremonies.

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