Tanking on the Desert Highway

On our way to Madaba, instead of looping the route to the King's Highway, we took a faster short cut detour via the Desert Highway. We have already seen the southern part of the King's Highway for the most part. This is from Petra all the way down to the south where we are coming from, and based from what I have read, the beautiful views of the King's Highway is after Petra going north. This means heading to the north as quickly as possible.

Now we were running out of fuel and we were really looking forward to tank in one of the modern gasoline stations with a nice mini-supermarket along the Desert Highway, unfortunately, this is what we could nearly come close to:

In comparison to other Middle Eastern countries, gasoline in Jordan is expensive. Jordan does not have oil and the country relies from neighbouring Saudi Arabia for its supply. A full tank is about 20-22 euros (in NL its about 60 to 70 euros or more depending on size of tank).

After tanking, we did a quick snack shopping as well at this super market along the highway:

We will be on the road for hours so a little nibble supply will be very handy.

I am always curious about everything, and in this shop I particularly want to know what local snacks they have available for sale. This is what I found:


I was able to catch some Desert Highway scenes as well. Wow, Iraq is just around the corner!


Next: The long and winding King's Highway...

Climbing Program Manager

I'm pleased to announce that Stefan Lofgren has officially been selected for the permanent position as Climbing Program Manager. Of course, he's been serving in this role in an acting capacity for over a year now, but his skills, drive, and vision for the program have proven him to be the best person to further the professionalization of the Mount Rainier Climbing program. Stefan has worked for over 20 years in the parks in the Pacific Northwest-most have been here at Mount Rainier, but he has also worked at Olympic. He knows the mountain, the weather, the people, and the environment. While serving in the acting Program Mgr. role, Stefan has guided a major transformation toward professionalizing the overall operation, establishing increased permanent supervisory oversight for staff, provided his staff with increased training opportunities and additional time to prepare for the season, created clear guidelines and SOPs which have helped reduce risk for his employees, spearheaded the first major climbing permit fee increase in over 10 years, and has set a vision for the program which will provide for an even more effective operation that works safely and efficiently doing the amazing things that the climbing rangers do. In addition, he worked with park staff to envision and implement a webcam for Camp Muir and established network connectivity for the Camp. These items will increase the safety for visitors going up to Camp Muir, and enables supervisory staff to spend more time on the mountain than at their computers in Longmire. Congratulations, Stefan! - Chuck Young, Chief Ranger, Mount Rainier National Park

Orange Pepper

This 'California Wonder' bell pepper is almost ready to be picked. Anyone have some good recipes using bell peppers?

Damrak and shopping in Bijenkorf

Friday at work is our casual dress day but if I have a client call I am usually in formal business attire. As a person, my style tends to lean towards classic, so even if I dress casual, I still look a bit formal. I can never do t-shirts and rubber shoes. When I wear jeans I always pair it up with high heels otherwise I would feel naked.



It is officially autumn in the Netherlands but today we had summer. Actually, for the whole week we had summer temperatures which is of course a delight to us as we don’t often have clear skies and sunny weather. I had a client visit today but I was not in the mood to dress up business formal because of the warm weather. Yesterday I wore my usual business outfit and I was sweating like a pig. Pffft!



Anyway, after work today I went to Bijenkorf in Amsterdam to buy the item I have been eyeing for since last weekend.



Shopping in Bijenkorf today.



I saw this particular item last week in Bijenkorf Utrecht and when I came back yesterday to buy it, it was gone. I was told by the sales girl that there are only 2 left in the whole of Bijenkorf in the Netherlands and they are in Amsterdam. I was already thinking of buying the thing online direct from the designer’s website but I hate to think of the duties and taxes plus the hassles of picking up the item since I am never at home during the day.



Got to Bijenkorf Amsterdam and saw the thing and it is the last one! Whew, I bought it. It was Dwaze Dagen in Bijenkorf and the sales ladies and gentlemen were all dressed in funny characters in yellow. Unfortunately the item I bought was not part of the Dwaze Dagen discount.



Parked the car in Q-Park/Bijenkorf which is as usual unbelievably expensive. I paid 12 EUR for just 2.5 hours park.



I also took a few fotos of Damrak. This area of Amsterdam is always teeming with people and cyclists. The Damrak is the street where the trams pass from the Dam Square leading to Amsterdam Centraal (Train) Station.



Last Tuesday I was here in Amsterdam in the same area and in fact we parked at Q-Park/Bijenkorf as well. I had dinner with colleagues from Geneve and the Netherlands in Brasserie Harkema which is located in Nes street, just a few minutes’ walk from Damrak. I was too busy talking during dinner I forgot to take fotos. Well, when I am dining with colleagues and business partners I rarely take fotos anyway.



My rating for the food at Harkema: Cesar Salad—4 stars, Grilled Tuna—4.5 stars, Tiramisu—4.5 stars. The place is quite big, modern and trendy however it doesn’t offer a cosy ambiance. It’s more like a business restaurant. Well, we ate there for business anyway.



Here are a few fotos in Damrak:



Visit Period: September

Mesa Verde :: Balcony House

After having first visited the Cliff Palace, the tour of Balcony House was as much about the ladders, passageways and tunnel that had to be traversed in getting there and back as it was in seeing the 40 rooms of the complex. The tour to Balcony House is touted as being the most adventurous of those offered at Mesa Verde and is definitely not for the faint of heart!

Getting down to the level of the Balcony House involved a series of metal stairways firmly attached to the sides of the cliff.

Then you had to go back up. To that level, up there.

The 32-foot entrance ladder. I got to go up first with the Ranger. I'll admit to being a little nervous. I kept repeating what she had told us: “Don't look down! Keep your eyes focused on the rock in front of you.”

This picture was taken from the second story of the Balcony House, looking down at the ladder and those who have yet to come up.



Upon leaving the dwelling we had to crawl through a 10-foot long tunnel, just barely wide enough for a large person (me) to get through. The Ancestral Puebloans were smaller people than we are today!

Once through the tunnel, it was awkward to get out and stand up again. There wasn't a lot of room to maneuver.

Oh, and then there were two more ladders to climb up. See that chain fencing? It's there for a reason.

Looking down from the base of the second (and final) ladder.

The Ancestral Puebloans wouldn't have had fancy ladders and chain fences to help them get up the cliff walls. How did they do it? The Ranger said they carved hand and foot holds out of the rock. I guess you get used to using what you have available, but I'm very glad we had the ladders and chains to help us along the way!

The Joslin Sisters Photograph

The photo below is of four of the daughters of Lysander and Lydia Robison Joslin. It has been retouched to remove some writing that partially identified three of the four women. From that, and comparison of other photographs that have been identified, the ladies are:

• at left, Roxie Arminta Joslin Parkison (1853-1941)
• top, Anna Eliza Joslin Klingaman (1844-1885)
• right, my 2nd Great Grandmother, Malissa Mariah Joslin Brubaker Bower (1849-1937)
• bottom, Mandella "Della" Joslin Quillen (1866-1943)

The only daughter not pictured, that would have been living at the time, was Ida Blanch Joslin Dressler Lewis (1863-1937). There is a picture of Ida and her husband at the bottom of this post. A picture of Lysander and Lydia can be found in this post.

I received the scanned image from a fourth cousin, Jane (descendant of Roxie), in April .. about six months after we made contact via the internet. She received the image file from another descendant of Roxie.

We don't know where or when the picture was taken but Anna Eliza died in July 1885. Della was married at the age of 17 in July 1884, perhaps they got together then. Malissa was living in Whitley County, Indiana at that time while Anna Eliza lived in Jefferson County, Iowa. Roxie was probably still in Barton County, Kansas as was Della.

Mt. Si

Mt. Si is the big hill, with the rocky top, right behind North Bend. For the most part, it is a hike on a dirt trail in the shade of tall evergreens. There is an inviting feature at the top called the Haystack. It consists of a few hundred feet of easy rock scrambling. It is fun to weave your own route to the top. For some reason it seems steeper on the way down.

The clouds rolled in as we reached the top. Pictured are: Dennis, Sabrina, Dave, Cody, Doug, Bethany, Danielle and Jim.