For my recent birthday, my mom sent me this piece of literary brillance that my grandmother found. Though the subject matter hints at my goth teen years, I believe this dates to the late-70's given the referenced canines. It certainly was after kindergarten at Marymount, because I recall something about nuns yelling at me for reading during nap time - can't imagine what they would have done if I produced the schnauzer memoirs. The dog (the "new dog") was a weimeraner - come on folks, the first one died before I learned how to spell it! Give the kid a break and buy a mutt?!?
Sunday, June 29, 2008
In preparation for the upcoming vacation, I was trying to remember the last time that I rode a horse. If my memory is correct, I went to horse camp when I was in elementary school. I remember Camp Lakota, a week-long sleep away Girl Scout camp in Frazier Park, CA. The other was a day camp somewhere in the San Fernando Valley. I remember wearing a helmet and using a pick to clean stuff out of their hooves. Later I wised-up and switched to watersports Camp White's Landing on Catalina Island :)
I found my Girl Scout sash - proof of my equestrian skills. Also note the "medium format camera" and "00111 10011" :)
I wish there were a database where I could up some of the more obscure ones.
2nd row, left - two leprechauns?
3rd row, left - coffee making?
4th row, center - water ballet?
4th row, right - there's a cat, but what's with the scissors?
5th row, center - magic carpet riding?
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Sunset
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sunrise
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
In one week we'll be on our way to Glacier and despite the fact that the weather is in the 80's, the Going to the Sun Road is still not open, and the snow plows are creeping along at a snails pace. I e-mailed the chalet and asked what seemed like a silly question, "how to we get there if the road to the trailhead is closed." The responded within an hour saying that the crew hiked up on Monday and they expect the trailhead to be accessible on the 4th. I guess I'm not used to that kind of optimism in my daily life :)
Still, we decided to simplify the itinerary a bit to avoid an unnecessary trek out to Many Glacier on arrival.
July 3 - fly to Kalispell Montana arrive 3:10pm. 3-ish hour drive to the Many Glacier Hotel. Drive an hour to Lake McDonald and overnight at the Village Inn.
July 4 - Drive 30 minutes on the Going to the Sun road to the trailhead to reach Granite Park Chalet. Ideally we want to take the Highline Trail but because of the late season snow in Montana, it looks like the Loop Trail will be the only one open. The Loop trail is 4.2 miles long, climbs 2300 feet, and takes about 3-4 hours to hike. We splurged and ordered bed linens (rather than bringing a sleeping bag) and also pre-ordered some freeze dried food.
July 5 - Hike down from the Granite Park Chalet. Ideally we want to hike out the Swiftcurrent Pass Trail but the website says it won't be open until mid July (!) so we might have to go back the Loop Trail. Take some ibuprofen and overnight at the Lake McDonald Lodge.
July 6 - Four hour horseback ride to the Sperry Chalet. Arrive by noon in time for afternoon hike on Sperry Glacier Trail. Ibuprofen might be needed here too - 6 miles round trip but supposedly great views. Overnight at Sperry Chalet (but they have a dining room so no astronaut food required).
July 7 - Hike down from Sperry Chalet (the trail is 6.7 miles, descends 3300 vertical feet and takes about 4 hours) and retrieve car from Lake McDonald Lodge. Drive 3ish hours to Waterton Lakes (Canada) and overnight at the Prince of Wales hotel. I'm convinced that we will sleep well here because we will be EXHAUSTED. I am also convinced that our room will be on the 6th floor with no elevator :)
July 8 - Day of leisure (phew!). Eventually have to make our way back to Kalispell (4ish 6ish hour drive) where we overnight at the Hilton Garden Inn.
July 9 - 6am flight to Chicago
And because I know a number of you completely dig my obsessive compulsive luggage architecture diagrams, here's where I am so far. A green check indicates that it needs to come to the chalet. Still need to thin the herd a bit.
(Click for larger version) Sunday, June 22, 2008
Wacky weather this weekend - sunny one minute, raining the next.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
OK, the vacation countdown isn't entirely accurate. For the 4th of July we're headed to Glacier National Park for a long weekend.
July 3 - fly to Kalispell Montana. 3-ish hour drive to the Many Glacier Hotel.
July 4 - Drive the Going to the Sun road to the trailhead to reach Granite Park Chalet. Ideally we want to take the Highline Trail but because of the late season snow in Montana, it looks like the Loop Trail will be the only one open. The Loop trail is 4.2 miles long, climbs 2300 feet, and takes about 3-4 hours to hike. We splurged and ordered bed linens (rather than bringing a sleeping bag) and also pre-ordered some freeze dried food.
July 5 - Hike down from the Granite Park Chalet. Ideally we want to hike out the Swiftcurrent Pass Trail but the website says it won't be open until mid July (!) so we might have to go back the Loop Trail. Take some ibuprofen and overnight at the Lake McDonald Lodge.
July 6 - Four hour horseback ride to the Sperry Chalet. Arrive by noon in time for afternoon hike on Sperry Glacier Trail. Ibuprofen might be needed here too - 6 miles round trip but supposedly great views. Overnight at Sperry Chalet (but they have a dining room so no astronaut food required).
July 7 - Hike down from Sperry Chalet (the trail is 6.7 miles, descends 3300 vertical feet and takes about 4 hours) and retrieve car from Lake McDonald Lodge. Drive 3ish hours to Waterton Lakes (Canada) and overnight at the Prince of Wales hotel. I'm convinced that we will sleep well here because we will be EXHAUSTED. I am also convinced that our room will be on the 6th floor with no elevator :)
July 8 - Day of leisure (phew!). Eventually have to make our way back to Kalispell (4ish hour drive) where we overnight at the Hilton Garden Inn.
July 9 - 6am flight to Chicago.
Friday, June 13, 2008
We've had the Wii Fit for a few weeks now and, surprisingly, I'm quite a fan. Lately I've been logging in everyday and doing at least enough to unlock something new. I'm not sure that it will be able to maintain my interest once everything is revealed though.
Earlier in the week, when I logged in Andy's avatar was kind of slumped over and sleeping in the plaza. He hadn't logged in for a few days apparently.
The next day I noticed his avatar was non-stop yawning.
He spent some time on it last night, and today our avatars both looked content in their tree poses.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Last weekend I was on the Photo Crew for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. On Saturday I photographed walkers, crew, and volunteers on the route and arriving at the Wellness Village and on Sunday I started in Lincoln Park and worked my way down to the finish line at Soldier Field. I wound up with over 650 images! On vacation I usually average about 5-8% "keeepers" but when going through these there were just so many that were special. I've posted a few here and the others are on Flickr.
A picture every few days or so...
Well, there's also this, but more details on that to follow.
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