Jason Conquers The Craters of the Moon

Well actually Jason AND Rebecca, but I only have visual proof of Jason doing the conquering.  This is maybe my favorite picture I have taken of Jason EVER! And to think he was not posing.  Actually I told him right after I took the picture about how cool it was and then he started trying to pose, which did not yield nearly as good results.  ANTM material he is not!  

The Craters of the Moon National Monument is in Idaho, and we stopped there on our way to Oregon this summer.  It was one of those spontaneous stops where we were looking at the map, saw that we were about to drive by it and thought, "hey, with a name like that we HAVE to stop and check it out!"  I've never noticed it on the map because usually we take I-80 through Idaho and this is off of Highway 26.  We took Highway 26 because we had decided to drive through Yellowstone, and thus ended up more North than the interstate.  A whim lead us there and I'm glad it did!  On the way to Craters of the Moon on Highway 26 you have to drive through a bunch of nothingness, but it was a little more interesting than other areas of nothingness because it is a Nuclear reactor testing site called the Idaho National Laboratory.  In the middle of all this is a little town called Atomic City, which through 1950's era neon lights proclaimed it to be the first city to be powered by nuclear power.  It all seemed very mysterious, with lots of dirt roads locked down with really big gates.  Intriguing! 

I would describe Craters of the Moon as a vast area of hardened lava flows with caves underneath.  This tour guide described it as "bla de bla bla bla.  Bla."  Etc.  He was probably the most boring tour guide ever in existence, and unfortunately we had a hard time escaping because we were the first ones to join the group and he took the time to learn our names and home towns.  Eventually, we were able to ditch the group and we explored the caves on our own.

 The caves themselves were very nice in particular because it was a very hot day and inside the caves it is very cool.

We imagined that it would be a good place for fugitives from the law to hide out.  Only a small area of the monument is accessible by paved trails and I bet there are tons of these little caves everywhere.  It would take forever for someone to notice you!  I'm taking a mental note of this.  

  We only went in the caves that didn't require crawling.  Jason was tempted, but I think the sharp lava and no protective gear deterred him.  Some were pitch black, and that was pretty neat! 

We also climbed up this massive hill of loose lava rocks.  That is a PERSON on the hill, that is how massive this hill is.  But silly us, when confronted with a challenge, we just can't resist!!  

The view from the top was... nice... Neither of us admitted it at the time, but I think it was kind of not worth it.  I was definitely huffing and puffing a little by the time we reached the top.  Did I mention it was a hot day?

  The view from this angle was slightly better.  But still not worth it.  

I hope Jacques the Peacock doesn't damage Roslyn for life

While on vacation last month, Jason and I attended a baby shower for my long time friend Karen and her husband Mike.

Here she is looking gorgeous as usual!  Karen has always had the most contagious and charming smile!  

Karen and Mike look pretty uncertain that these items were on their registry, but I assure you they were!  We gave them a Munchkin Magic Mozart Cube that plays music and a Lamaze Jacques the Peacock.  We went to Babies R Us while in Portland to get the gift, and I was intending to purchase something useful and hopefully cute, like some baby blankets.  I wanted everyone at the baby shower to ooh and ahh at the cuteness of my gift, so I was planning to avoid the first aide kit and the diaper pail.  Let me warn you, shopping for registry items at Babies R Us is the MOST frustrating endeavor ever!  None of the aisles are labeled, so we ended up wandering around looking aimlessly for specific items like a tigger burp rag or a monkey shaped feeding spoon which were nowhere to be found.  Finally, we just went to the toy aisle and we were able to find these two things and we called it good. 

We thought the Lamaze Jacques the Peacock looked a little demented, but if they put it on their registry they must want it we thought, and we really wanted to leave the store so we didn't care at this point.  We provided gift receipts just in case.  Maybe Karen's pregnant mind made her think this was cute?  It is okay to return it, my friend!  Hopefully your daughter will love it, but I'm not taking credit for any damage this thing may cause. 

   Roslyn Eileen was born August 5th to two very wonderful parents!  Congratulations you two! 

Naked Ladies and Under Cabinet Lighting

Jason installed the under cabinet lighting in our kitchen! 

Who knew this would require body contorting?  

I think it really adds a lot the the ambience in the kitchen.  Unfortunately, it also draws attention to the glaringly bare wall without a back splash.  This seems to be the natural order of things when it comes to home improvement!   Most likely, by the time we get around to updating every single thing in the house it will be time to start redoing everything. 

The Naked Ladies in our front yard are blooming!  They are called Naked Ladies because the green leaves completely wither away before the single flower stalk emerges much later in the summer.  I planted some other things in this flower bed behind them so it didn't look so, well, naked. 

What's best about Naked Ladies is that they attract hummingbird moths!  I've seen some incredibly crazy looking bugs here in Nebraska.  While I would count this as a reason why I love Nebraska, the fact that the crazy bugs are accompanied by a large quantity of mosquitoes and other undesirables probably cancels this out in my love/not love relationship with Nebraska.  Anyway, this variety is called the White-lined Sphinx, and it really does flap its wings like a hummingbird and drink nectar from flowers!  We saw these for the first time in our backyard with Gini and Eric, and we debated whether it was actually a moth or not.  Turns out that it is definitely a moth, and I am totally enthralled by this creature! 

Close Encounters of the Monument Kind

I've always been intrigued by this thing on the map called Devil's Tower National Monument and I've always wanted to stop there.  This time we did!  It is a truly odd thing to behold as you can see.  

One of the only things to do there is hike around it.  This was surprisingly more interesting than expected because it changes significantly from different angles.

   Do you see us down there?  What do you think, Christmas card photo?  

Apparently, a very popular thing to do there is climb around on it.  We were definitely not up for that, but I zoomed in on this crazy person with my telephoto.  We probably spotted 7 or 8 of these insane people while we were there.  

See what I mean by it changing from different angles?  Jason said he enjoyed this much more than he thought he would.  You can only properly appreciate and revel in it's majesty in person.  It's really fantastic that you don't have to travel far to see some really amazing things! 

We also made it to Yellowstone Park RIGHT when Old Faithful was doing its thing.  Supposedly, it isn't so faithful anymore, so we were pretty lucky to get there in time.  By the time I got my camera out, it was kind of done, but trust me it was very picturesque with the sun setting in the background!  Jason had never been to Yellowstone before so we decided to drive through, even though it costs $25, it was almost sunset, and we didn't have time to hang around there.  It reminded me how amazing this place is, and how we really need to go back and spend more time there.  Just by driving through we saw beautiful pools of unexpected colors, steam coming out of the ground everywhere, a bear, a moose, buffalo and lots of elk.  The best way to see wildlife is to watch for a bunch of cars parked along the road and tourists standing around and pointing.  I heard that someone got mauled by a bear at Yellowstone this summer.  Gee, I wonder how. 

Crazy Stuff at the National Music Museum

On our drive out to the west coast, we stopped in Vermillion, South Dakota to check out the National Music Museum on the University of South Dakota campus. 

This place is awesome!  Perhaps that is the music geek inside me speaking, but Jason had to drag me away after about 3 hours because I wanted to look at EVERY SINGLE crazy looking instrument, and they have more than 14,500 instruments!

This was in one of the very first display cases, and I was instantly hooked on this place as soon as I saw it!  It is a jewel encrusted Besson cornet from 1883!  

They have a complimentary headset for each person that Jason is sporting in this picture.  It has narration and sound clips of the actual instruments being played! 

Having the instrument recordings was most interesting when we got to this instrument.  It is called a Choralcelo, and it is played electromagnetically as well as like a traditional piano with hammered strings.  It has several "auxiliary attachments" through which the sound can pass to change the timbre.  

Here are the auxiliary attachments!  It looks like a Rube Goldberg machine.  The museum tour said that there were only about 100 of these made, and there aren't very many still in existence because they take up so much room!  This one was found in a barn.  I think it sounds like a merry-go-round under water. 

Another fascinating instrument was this upright piano from 1891 with a unique keyboard invented by Paul von Janko.  The keyboard arranges the keys in a much easier way for the human hand.  The museum guide said that several world class pianists gave it a try and recognized how much easier it would be, but since they had to basically relearn how to play, it didn't really catch on.  

This is called a Glass Armonica, the first mechanical glass harmonica (any instrument played by rubbing glass), designed by Benjamin Franklin.  His servant would turn a crank on the side that would rotate the bowls, and then he would use wet fingers to make sounds. 

Of course, I was most intrigued by the crazy brass instruments.  These are from the Civil War.  The bells point behind and over their shoulder so they could be played at the army while the player rides in front on horseback!  

These guys are amazing just by being able to play and ride a horse at the same time!  Looking through the pictures I took, I have tons of brass instrument pictures, instruments with two bells, extra sound resonators, and things interesting only to us trumpet geeks, so I won't bore you with those.  However, I'll leave you with one last picture that you just have to see:

!

Three Times a Charm

For the past three years, I have had the pleasure of watching my cousins get married at even annual intervals.  I was lucky enough to attend Tracy's wedding to Tom last night!  Today's blog posting is brought to you in honor of my lovely sister Sam who was sadly unable to attend and who is in need of immediate picture details.  Here you go! 

Tracy was a gorgeous bride as you can see!  Here she comes!  

 And the all too important shot of the dress from behind!  I think the groom is in the background there, though his outfit is not nearly as exciting. 

This is all I have of the bridesmaids, sorry!  My camera bag didn't match my dress, so again I only brought my little Sony.  I think it did pretty well for low light and no flash, but the professionals will be tons better.  When asking a girl about the color of the dresses, they were described as moss or sea green, but when asking a guy they were just green, so take your pick there. 

This was my favorite detail! 

She was by far the most excited bride I've ever seen, which really made the ceremony fun to watch.  During the vows it seemed like she was going to burst because every line was followed by a giddy wide eyed grin, and maybe she was because after she and Tom made it down the aisle to the back room, we heard a distinct rebel yell of excitement!

Uncle Buzz is becoming quite the expert of cutting a rug on the dance floor.  He even took a turn with me! 

Congrats you two and much love! 

Going Out for Dinner Coastal Style

I forgot my card reader at home!  And of course, my lovely Canon Digital Rebel uses Compact Flash cards, and my parents don't have a computer that can read those.   So, my wonderful trip photos from the drive out will have to wait, because I am definitely not buying a $25 card reader for my blogging convenience.  HOWEVER, I did take some pictures today with our little Sony Cyber-Shot that I think you will like!    

My Dad took us clamming this morning!  Actually, my Dad's neighbor took us all clamming in his fancy boat.  Apparently, my parents are making friends in their new neighborhood, and this guy was very gracious to take us out to the prime clamming spots, only reachable by boat.  We got to pass by all the suckers clamming right on the shore, which was nice, and he also showed us the proper techniques.  This is a picture of Jason's first catch, which he actually threw back because it is a cockle.  I didn't know this until today, but there lots of different types of clams that live on the Oregon coast, and cockles live just under the surface of the sand and are really easy to find.  So of course we didn't want to catch those; those are too easy!  No, my Dad wanted quahog clams, which are supposed to be more tender. 

Here is Jason and my dad enjoying the boat ride over to the clamming spot.  The guy in the back is Peter, the neighbor.  He has to steer from the aft because the rudder has some seaweed in it or something.

Here is the sweet boat!  Two other seasoned clammer friends of Pete's came with us. 

The first step to clamming is finding the spot to dig.  You look for breathing holes in the sand, and different kinds of clams have different shaped breathing holes.  This picture is of a quahog breathing hole, which is shaped like an eight.  Pretty obvious, right?  I put my foot in the picture for a size reference.  Yes, I was wearing flip flops.  Everyone else was wearing waders and boots and things, but those of you who know me know that that isn't found in my typical attire.  This flip flops and the corresponding capri pants were purchased specifically for the occasion at Target.  

The next step is digging, obviously!  You have to dig along side the breathing hole, because otherwise you will either chop off the clam's neck, or you will smash the clam with the shovel.  I think I did both at first, but I think I found one here!  

We were all successful, catching our maximum of 20 clams.  Dad looks pretty dashing in his waders or whatever he calls them. 

The other guys were more picky with their clam choices because they wanted to find big ones.  Ed caught this magnificent specimen, and dad got to hold it.  We were are all quite impressed by its massive neck as I'm sure you are also.  

Then, Jason and dad spent an hour cleaning them all.  

Yum!