Hallo kwartfinale!

With the win against Slovakia this afternoon, the Netherlands’ Oranje Team are on to the Quarter Finals of the Football World Cup in South Africa!

I’ve become a football fan this season and the Dutchman just can’t believe it haha. He’s not really into football but he watches the important games like the European Championship and the World Cup for example. Other than that he doesn’t really care much and wouldn’t be caught dead wearing orange and flying the Dutch flag during a football match.

There will be more orange fever and orange madness coming soon in this country, and I know for sure the supermarkets will go crazy on their orange giveaways, as well as the advertisements on TV will just get worse.

I’m a fan of Dutch advertising and marketing, they really embrace the concept of guerilla marketing, with a touch of sarcasm. Can’t wait!
.

Cycling in a Coastal Downpour

On the second morning of our trip I awoke to the sound of vigorous drums, which I soon realised was pelting rain. Outside, the line between sky and ocean was blurred and the patch of rocky beach we occupied was flooded. Inside, everything was damp from humidity - our clothing, the bedding, our faces. We had known that the forecast promised intermittent rain, so this was not a surprise and we didn't despair. We were not planning to cycle every day; we had loads of other things to do. We would see.



But as we drank coffee, the rain appeared to let up. Things were looking good - picturesquely stormy, but calm. It looked as if the downpour had exhausted itself in the course of the night and we decided to set off on our bikes after all, going along the coast for a manageable distance.



The ride started out fine. We made our way up a winding hill, past ominously abandoned beaches. Moody skies hung low over a dark gray ocean. The empty roads were promising. There was only a mild drizzle and we agreed that if things stayed like this, it would be even better than sunny weather - cooler, and less crowded. After cycling for a bit it grew humid and I removed my rain jacket, stashing it inside the handlebar bag. Two minutes later, the skies opened up. There was no build-up; it was as if someone opened a floodgate.



Instead of turning back we persisted, hoping the rain would eventually ease up again. But it only intensified. The amount of water was unbelievable, even compared to the many other times I've cycled in the rain. Visibility became non-existent, with everything turning gray and liquidy. The roads became flooded and soon I was cycling with my wheels partly submerged in water. Roads are terrible in this area, and even on a dry day it is a task to navigate around potholes. Now that they were invisible underwater, I could neither anticipate nor avoid them. My bike bounced violently over ditches at high speeds. This felt distinctly unsafe, especially on curvy descents. On a bike with narrow tires, the ride would have been simply impossible for me.



The coastal road was narrow and winding. As I tried to maintain a consistent line of travel, motorists sped past us, well over the posted speed limit, sending sprays of yet more water in our direction. I had my lights on and could only hope I was visible to them. My jersey - which had started out a bright crimson - was now a dark, dull brown. There are a few tricky spots on this route, where several roads merge on a twisty downhill - so that one must resist picking up speed and be prepared to brake instead. At these instances it became frighteningly apparent that my brakes did not work well under such conditions. I suspended disbelief and did my best, feathering the brakes and trying not to have a panic attack. Climbing up a flooded road while bouncing over potholes was horrifying as well.



Despite my best efforts I found this type of cycling too stressful to enjoy. I couldn't see where I was going, let alone anything resembling scenery, and frankly I had nothing to prove. This was meant to be a pleasant trip and not an endurance contest. I signaled to the Co-Habitant that I wanted to turn around, and we did - making our way back through the unrelenting downpour the same way we came. Before returning home, we took a detour and stopped at a hardware store to pick up oil for the bikes - later spending a great deal of time wiping sand and debris off of them and treating the components to prevent rust - which can form alarmingly quickly in a coastal environment. My wool cycling clothing took a day to air-dry, and my shoes are still soaking wet.



Though I know others enjoy the challenge of riding in this kind of weather, this is not an experience I care to repeat unless absolutely necessary. It is one thing to cycle in the rain, but a trip along the coast in a continuous and forceful downpour - with the roads flooded, visibility poor, and the wind assaulting my face, body and bike with sandy salt water - is not something I can justify, both in terms of safety and in terms of its detrimental effect on equipment. Hopefully there will be better weather ahead... though the forecast remains ominous!

Wild green apples and cultured red apples

While at Marienwaerdt I wanted to show MadamE the place. I was planning on taking a walk to the klooster (monastery) and the river banks however we did not have enough time on our hands. So instead we went by car.

We actually drove outside of the property. We drove on a narrow winding dike that protects the property from the rising rivers. The dike road was lined up with wild green apples. Being city girls, we were so amazed at the rows and rows of green apple bearing trees.

Further ahead as we reached the nearby village we saw fences of cultured red apples clinging to a stake. Apples seems to be a popular fruit in Geldermalsen area.

Next time when we or I have time I will go to a fruit farm and help pluck the fruits.

Visit Period: September

Mendenhall Glacier

Thursday, August 26th - - Mendenhall Glacier, a short drive from downtown Juneau, was first named Auke Glacier in 1879 by John Muir. In 1892 it was renamed to honor Thomas Corwin Mendenhall (1841-1924) who served as Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1889 to 1894.

The Mendenhall glacier flows for 12 miles down the Mendenhall Valley to its terminus near the visitor center. The ice flows forward at an average rate of 2 feet per day, but at the very same time, it wastes away at a slightly faster rate. Waste occurs through melting or when large pieces of ice break off the face of the glacier. When the rate of melting exceeds the rate of flow, a glacier recedes. The Mendenhall glacier has been receding since the late 1700's and currently retreats at a rate of 25-30 feet per year.

Mendenhall Glacier as seen from the rear of my campsite at Mendenhall Lake campground in the Tongass National Forest. The full face of the glacier cannot be seen from this vantage point because it is blocked by the bit of land jutting out from the left.

The view from the Visitors Center. We are seeing only a very small portion of the glacier as it extends 12 miles back down the valley.

A little bit closer.
An awesome waterfall flows down from above. Another waterfall can be seen in the far distance to the right of the glacier.

A ride on the lake gets you a little closer to the face of the glacier.
Some of the larger icebergs floating in Mendenhall Lake. Icebergs are created when the glacier calves (chunks of ice fall off the face of the glacier).

I couldn't resist picking up a chunk of glacial ice that was floating close to the shore. It was crystal clear and many, many years old. And it was cold...

I can see clearly now - a trip to Rapid City

Well, we finally decided to have the windshield on the Tracker replaced today. That chewed up the morning and part of the afternoon and there was a chance of showers and temps in the 80's so we decided to head to Rapid City to get some shopping done and a little sight seeing.

As we pass thru Hill City there are 2 horses running down the middle of the roadThey were running in and out of traffic so I called 911. Eventually some people were able to herd them out of the highway and down a dirt road

Since it is 90's in Rapid we start out at the Journey Museum and museumcovering the history of the Black Hills from the day of theDinosaurs to the present day






They have a large Indian artifact section

The TeePee has a Hologram old Indian woman to tellsstories of the Lakota Tribe



Main Street Rapid City in the Historic District has a statue of each of the Presidents of the United StatesGary in a deep conversation with Van Buren

Me with Woodrow Wilson - I've been told that we're related - can you see the resemblance?

We also visit the school of geology and their free geology museum

and Dinosaur Park

We end the day with Dinner at Sanfords - Home of the $1.00 beer. The place is really cool and the food was great. I had an open face grilled chicken sandwich smothered with green chili, nacho cheese and Frito's - Yum!

Oh No! Look who drove in! That dastardly Jack!



Till Later,

Meanwhile we keep on Trek'n

Melissa & Gary

Left Edge Route on the Ben

Helen, Harry and I headed back up Observatory Gully to find something nice to climb, with no particular plan. We kept going higher and higher in the hope of finding something mixed in good condition, until we found ourselves standing underneath Gardyloo Buttress. Funnily enough, there was a roof up that way I wanted to look at, but it had no ice on until the lip. So we opted for something more slabby and had a chilled ascent of Left Edge Route (VI,5). The ice was a bit unreliable, and protection pretty bad, so it was a good idea to keep the weight on the feet. Thankfully, once over the steepness there was solid ice and a cruise to the top. On the way down there was talk of rock climbing..

Full Swing

The first couple of weeks in June of higher pressure and mild temperatures enabled many climbers to reach the summit. The climbing season has reached its full swing and it looks to be a great one.

Climbing rangers have been out again this last week on patrol. Look for new route reports on both Sunset Ridge and Little Tahoma as well as updates on the more standard routes.

June is coming to a close with weather more reminiscent of last year's June. Wind-accumulated snow drifts have been shin deep in spots. The new snow has skiers and snowboarders out again trying to get in a couple more turns.

Historically July holds some of the best weather and conditions for climbing. Hopefully this July will follow suit. See you up on the mountain...

Valentine's Day

You can get your valentine a common box of heart shaped dounuts or you can get a bit more fancy and put some heart shaped candy and candy kisses in what ever kind of container you might have sitting un-used around the house. I used an antique swan that was my grandma's and a small silver jelly bowl that was my mom's. I had some wine glasses and put some in one but don't show the stem of the glass in the photo. Of course the addition of a cat is nice. You can see just the black foot with white toes of one cat foot in the photo of the silver jelly bowl.


















Have a Happy Valentine's Day

Brookgreen Gardens~The Sculptures

There are so many fabulous parts to this place that it is impossible to say which part is the best. I can say that the sculptures were the most surprising part to us.



We knew there would be some sculptures from the website, but we didn't truly envision how many there were and how grand some of them were.





It is hard to put into words how emotionally touching they were.








There were so many and they were all so beautiful that it was hard to absorb it all. I couldn't even begin to share them all here. I am going to share a few today and share some more later.

Rio Grande Nature Center State Park

The Sandhill cranes are big birds about 3 feet tall, gray with the bright red spot on top of their head. Cranes, as well as the geese, migrate down from their nesting areas in Alaska and Canada in the fall to winter along the Rio Grande River, mostly at the Bosque del Apache Refuge which is about 2 hour drive south of us. There are a lot of these birds that go to Texas to winter, too. They usually start arriving here in November. In late winter, about now, they start their migration back north to the nesting grounds. There used to be so many of these unique birds that it was unbeleivable. My grandmother told me of watching them in the fields especially of doing the stange dance they do when mating. I have seen this at other times but none were doing it on this day. The sandhills almost were gone at one time but they came under the protection of many bird groups and now there are lots of them again. If you are lucky and I mean very lucky you might see one of the extreamly rare hooping cranes in with the sandhills. The hoopers are almost white and taller. I did get to see one at a distance in the Bosque del Apache Refuge a long time ago. We had planned to go there but decided it was to far on this day. Link to the Bosque del Apache http://http://www.friendsofthebosque.org/Friendsindex.html#whatsnew


And a link to the Rio Grande Nature Center http://http://www.rgnc.org/index.htm

















This state park of New Mexico is set on the edge of the Rio Grande River in an older section of the city of Albuquerque about 20 miles from my home. The nature center is home to many native plants and animals and lots of birds. There are many people who enjoy birding that come here to see the birds that live here and the ones that are just passing through as were the geese and cranes that we saw yesterday when we went there. It has been about 10 years since I have been here but not much had changed except then it cost $1 to get in and now it is $3 per car. We didn't see any of the sandhill cranes in the park but did in a field as we were leaving. One of the most interesting birds we saw was way off at a distance and I didn't get a close shot of him. It was a Kingfisher bird which I had never seen before.









He is the tiny bird in the top of the tree in the photo.