Visitors Center

There was a visitors center at the end of the road to the top of the mountain. It has tons of information about Hurricane Ridge. We spent time in the gift shop buying souvenirs, and gifts for others, as well as myself. They were having a sale and it was a big hit with the customers. We had lunch at the snack bar. Then spent a goodly amount of time just enjoying the view from all angles. The parking lot was packed and there were a lot of people there, especially sense it was a Sunday, but it didn't seem that crowded as so many parks can get on weekends. And everyone there was enjoying themselves as much as we were. You would find yourself uuing and awing, and exclaiming over the view, the flowers, the grass, the mountains, the glaciers, the sky, or a passing deer with a total stranger standing next to you. I found myself watching a small child about 2 years old and his parents as they enjoyed the park. I, also, found myself sitting quietly by an elderly lady and neither of us had to say a word about how we felt at what we were seeing. I heard several languages besides my native American - Spanish, German, English, Canadian, Japanese, and others I couldn't put a country to.

Caladium Plant

I haven't had a caladium plant in many years and this spring when I saw some bulbs, (actually corms, I think) I got a mixed bunch but all have come out this color. Has huge leaves, as much as 12 inches across and longer in length. I did go back yesterday and got another bag of bulbs that are to be the greenand white leaves. Will bea while before I can get a photo of them. They are grown a lot outside in warm climates like Florida but are houseplants here and in cold areas.

The Way Home

Unlike in Boston, where I work from home/cafes with only occasional meetings, in Vienna I have a proper office and therefore a real "commute". My office is not in a particularly scenic location, but thankfully I also have frequent meetings in attractive parts of town. Here are some pictures from my ride home last night from a meeting in the city center.

Just a regular ride home. Don't mind the beautiful architecture.

On Sunday I made the decision to stop buying public transport passes and see whether I would feel comfortable getting around solely by bike.

Three days of commuting (I work on Sundays too when I am here), and so far so good.

Bike lights at an intersection.

And another intersection. Cyclists are asked to wait for green.

Huge intersection along the Donaukanal. If you look closely, you can see the ferris wheel of the Prater park way in the background, over the bridge.

Pedestrians getting ready to cross, and probably wondering what in God's name I am photographing. And yes, I always have at least two cameras on my person, in case you've noticed the one around my neck.

Last major intersection, and home is just a few blocks away. So there you have it. With commutes like this, I almost want to sing Nice Work if You Can Get It (if only I didn't have to do it for 60 hours a week)!

I will post more on my experiences riding all over Vienna later; so many things to say. For now I am off on a short work trip. Hopefully I will see some noteworthy bicycles there to show you.

Laurel Falls in Great Smoky Mountains NP

Today we headed to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We hiked the Laurel Falls Trail.

Laurel Falls is one of the most popular destinations in the park.

Laurel Branch and the 80-foot high Laurel Falls are named for mountain laurel, an evergreen shrub which blooms along the trail and near the falls in May

It appeared to me that the falls were not as abundant as they are sometimes, so I'm guessing the water levels must be low.

They were really beautiful! This is the upper falls.

Here you can see the upper falls and lower falls. The upper falls are in the far left corner.

The lower falls from below:

I didn't go down to the lower falls. Nathan and Aric did. They ended up having lots of excitement down there. I'll let Aric share it with you, which you can read on his blog here: Aric's Blog



If you go back and look at the first picture, it will give you a hint of what they got pretty close to down there.



Living the life in Tennessee.

Over the Rockies

The Rock Cut Nature Trail is a short paved trail that goes up (and up) from the parking area.



Still snow-covered in areas, the slipperiness and elevation made for difficult walking at times.



Looking toward the west from the top of the Rock Cut Nature Trail.



And, looking toward the east.



Traveling on down the highway and over the summit, the scenery changes drastically. The snow is gone and the hazy skies return, as did warmer temperatures!



No offense to those living in eastern Colorado and southern Nebraska but after crossing the Rockies, the scenery was somewhat less interesting.



I made it “safe and sound” back to Indiana where I'll be until after the 4th of July weekend. And then? Well, time will tell...

Recycle that old Computer - America Recycles Day

In my post Sticker Shock, I mentioned that I had an old laptop that no longer works and I didn't know what to do with it. Well, in a comment on that post, Janice Brown, at Cow Hampshire, linked to an article about Staples and their computer recycle program.

Since I was going to Staples to purchase my new digital camera, I took the old laptop along. I asked the sales clerk who was helping me if they accepted computers for recycling and he responded in the affirmative. When it came time to check out I made a quick trip to the car and got the laptop. The young man was very nice and courteous but didn't know how to handle the recycling charge. Neither did the other cashier. They called the manager. He said there was a code they had to use. It wasn't at any of the registers so he had to go into the back office to get it. In the meantime, I filled out the paperwork identifying what was being turned in and signing my name stating that I understood that they were promising that the equipment would not be resold or used in any other way, that it was really going to be recycled.

What should have been a less than five minute process ended up taking about 20 minutes. Of course, the sales clerk apologized saying it was the first time anyone had actually recycled anything at their store. I wasn't in a hurry or anything so it was no big deal. But if you plan on recycling any electronic stuff, I'd suggest calling ahead to the store to let them know.

This morning, while on the Staples website checking the status of my camera shipment, I did a search for "recycle computers" but nothing came up. In their page on Media Information they have a News Release titled Fewer Than One in Four Americans Recycle Their Technology Waste that provides additional information on the program and what they will accept.

Did you know that Thursday, November 15th, is America Recycles Day? The Material Recovery Center at Columbia City (in Whitley County, Indiana) has a Saturday in November set aside for turning in hazardous materials, batteries, tires, appliances, etc. that they don't normally accept. Fort Wayne also does this. There is a fee involved with these things, but it is minimal. I'm not sure if they accept electronic equipment such as computers, printers, and scanners though. It might be worth checking your local recycling center, especially if you have multiple items (CPU, Monitor, Printer, etc.) as there is a $10 fee at Staples for each item. There is no charge for cell phones, pagers, digital cameras, mice, or keyboards.

It cost $10 to rid myself of a piece of junk, but I feel good about having done so. It got it out of my closet and hopefully some of the precious metals can be retrieved for other uses. As Janice suggested, I opened the laptop, found the hard drive and gave it more than a few good whacks. After putting the cover back on, the insides rattled a bit, but that shouldn't take away any of it's recycling value ;-)

As a side note, I purchased my new digital camera. A Sony Cyber-shot H7. 8.1 megapixal and 15x zoom. The only one they had in-store was the display model. I'm prejudiced against display models so opted for having it shipped to me. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow (Tuesday 11/13). I just want to be able to check it out for a few days before my trip to Missouri. I'm really looking forward to that 15x zoom. Awesome! Flag image from the America Recycles Day website.

Cailtin Bradley - American Girl

I returned to Yangshuo in mid-Winter, with only a brief Facebook message from West Australian climber/adventurer Logan Barber, who I'd never met, as the only lead on people who I might join up with. I met Logan, we crossed over for my first two days, he was awesome, I'm still getting to him.













































But the last person I had the privilege of knowing was the extraordinary Caitlin Bradley.

Early twenties, living, working, studying, adventuring and climbing in China.





















What's her story?









It seems a young American girl from North Carolina can make a living in China teaching climbing.

See her on theBlack RockClimbing team page.










Ninjas take climbing lessons from Caitlin.






After graduating fromUNCChapel Hill she headed toYangshuofor a climbing holiday. And never left. She does, however, have intentions of returning to do a masters on anthropogenic activities affecting fish populations in fresh water ecosystems.













I recently caught up with Caitlin by email, after a long pause. She says.

"Sorry for the late response, right now I am traveling in Yunnan mainly climbing and hiking, and myinternetaccess has been limited. I used a friends computer that had aVPN".




It's still a big world out there.

Being between degrees she's studying Calligraphy, Chinese painting and Chinese cooking. Skills!

















Who likesbiscuits and gravyfor breakfast? Must be a North Carolina thing. I had to google it.

Caitlin misses family breakfasts of biscuits and gravy in their forest home, listening to birds and watching the deer. Horse riding through the forest. Helping her Dad in the garden and fishing, and quilting and cooking with her Mom. I try to picture all that, I make it up from American movies.

For now she's working on American home style cooking, as long as it can be done on one burner, in a wok.













Hearing her melodic mastery of Mandarin, coloured with Southern Drawl is completely dreamy.

I've no idea what she's talking about, but could listen happily all day.









It's Christmas day we are crammed in the back of a mini-van, balancing big filthy packs of climbing gear on our knees. The bumpy road and worn seats are hurting my arse as we return from the crag in the dark. It's cold. Every one's got that glazed-eyed silence. Satisfaction, exhaustion. Caitlin is on the phone to her Mom in Nth Carolina, they are obviously close. You can hear the longing. Mothers with young daughters overseas, they are the same everywhere, concerned, needing skillful reassurance, but ultimately full of pride. She should be.










Find Catlin on Facebook at Caitlin Bradley - UNC but don't expect a response from behind the Great Fire Wall of China.

Thanks Caitlin, for your friendship, yours is an amazing story.






jj



PS All the photos disappeared from this post. I have reconstructed it as best I can. I blame Google.