Chikuru

Today we visited the Belknap Hot Springs, about an hour east of Eugene, Oregon. This place features a pool heated by water from a 198-degree spring. We didn't swim in the pool, but we did walk around the gardens and pools which were quite something. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area, especially if you like large maple leaves.

Our primary destination was the Terwilliger Hot Springs, which we have enjoyed before. It consists of about five pools of varying temperatures situated on the side of a hill along a creek. It's a gorgeous place and also definitely worth a visit.

Last time we were there, the temperatures ranged from way too hot to just right to tepid. This time they ranged from almost hot enough to--well I don't know what they ranged to because we never left the hottest of the pools. Evidently the recent rains had caused more cool ground water to mix with the hot-springs water. The key seems to be to visit when it hasn't been raining recently.

Terwilliger Springs is near the Cougar Reservoir which features a $52M temperature-control intake tower that allows the reservoir manager to control the temperature of the water released from the dam by regulating which levels in the lake the water is taken from. The goal is to keep the water close to the temperature that it would be if the dam were not there. In Oregon they spare no expense when it comes to keeping their salmon happy.

Yesterday, sitting on the plane waiting to fly to Denver, I heard an announcement giving the last call for a passenger who hadn't boarded yet. I thought, "What an idiot!" The person never did board. I don't think the airline makes that announcement unless the person is already checked in. And if you're already checked in, how hard can it be to make it to the plane on time? Some people.

In Denver, I had more than an hour layover, so I settled in at gate C41 to wait for my flight. I filled the time playing Psychonauts, a computer adventure game that cartaufalous had given Lyn for her birthday. Since I have a new laptop with good graphics card, I decided to give it a spin. It's fun, though I don't know enough about modern computer games to rate it against any others. I can say that it's less violent than Duke Nukem 3D (remember that one?).

When they finally started calling us to line up to board (this was Southwest, who likes to line its passengers up like sheep), I thought I heard something about San Diego, but dismissed it as nonsense. Then I heard over the PA system, "Last call for Portland passenger David P-----." A quick check revealed that I had indeed been waiting for the San Diego flight and that my flight was leaving from gate C47. After a heart-pumping race up the terminal hall, interrupted by do-gooders yelling things like, "Sir, your bag is open!" and "Sir, you dropped something!" I made it to gate C47. There was no one at the gate. After a moment's hesitation to overcome my programming to never enter a jetway without first sliding something under a laser scanner, I ran down the jetway. The fellow at the door said, "There you are. Did you hear my announcement?" He seemed happy to see that his effort had paid off.

The plane wasn't full and I quickly found a seat and let my heart slow down as I pondered what was going through the heads of the other passengers.

Here's another picture from my Engineers Without Borders trip from a couple weeks ago. A surprisingly strong gust of wind blew over the solar panel array before it was installed on its mount. It hit a rock which shattered one of the three panels. At left is a picture of me trying to bypass the broken elements to restore some functionality to the panel. This was only partially successful. The open-circuit voltage test and short-circuit current test seemed to indicate that we could get half power out of the panel, but including it with the other two didn't add any power when we tested it with the pump.

Today, I talked to a couple of the student engineers who returned from the project on Wednesday. They reported that BP Solar donated two more panels (one of which broke during delivery by FedEx) in time for them to install one and get the entire project working. When they left, the people in the village were enjoying drinkable water from their faucets any time they wanted it between the hours of 10 AM and 7 PM.

I'm off to Jaboncillos Chicos first thing tomorrow morning. Over lunch at work today we discussed trips to Mexico.

Brandy said, "A cousin of my friend went to Mexico and was put in jail because they found some prescription medicine on her."

"How long was she in jail?"

"Until she died."

Evidently she really needed that medicine. And all of the attempts on the part of her friends and family to rescue her failed. Incredible.

I have been very careful not to pack any pills in my luggage.

Lyn had been planning for some time to go to Schlitterbahn as part of her one week of vacation between jobs. (Schlitterbahn has been voted World's Best Waterpark, 10 years in a row, according to their web site.) Since I was feeling busy at work and don't like waiting in lines, I opted out. She was planning to find someone else to go with anyway.

She didn't find anyone else to go with this morning but was going to go anyway. On my way into work, I started feeling like I was making a mistake by not going with her so I called to see if she would be much happier if I went along. She said I'd be welcome but it really wasn't necessary, so we left it at that. But I kept thinking about it and realizing: 1) I do really like Schlitterbahn--not only does it have great rides, but it's very beautiful. 2) Lyn is about to start a new job and won't have any vacation days for a while. 3) I actually don't have any pressing engagements today. If I were to take only one day off this summer, this would be a good day to do it.

So when I got to work, I checked my calendar to confirm that I didn't absolutely have to be there, talked to a few people to make sure they had enough to keep them busy, took care of a few administrative things, then turned around and went home. As I was driving home, I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if all my work days were only 30 minutes long."

Schlitterbahn was nice but busy. We waited 1.5 hours to ride the Master Blaster (evidently the world's favorite water ride). The ride is 60 seconds long and involves being pushed uphill in a few place. It really is a fine water coaster, but we didn't feel the need to ride it twice. We did a few rides; we relaxed with our books; we ate our lunch; we got rained on just a bit. All in all a good day.

On the way back, we stopped in at TJ's Burgers in New Braunfels for a very fine burger and even better milkshake (made with real ice cream).

Today Lyn and I started our twice-a-year tradition of celebrating each other's birthdays with a vacation day. We did San Antonio. Highlights:

• Karaoke last night at a cute, little, not-too-crowded, and not-too-loud bar with reasonably priced drinks.
• Breakfast this morning at Lulu's, home of the three-pound cinnamon roll.
• Meeting most of Lyn's coworkers.
• Doing the San Antonio River Walk.
• Doing the Tower of the Americas, including the 4-D Skies Over Texas theater ride.
• Visiting the River Center Mall on the River Walk.
• Relaxing with margarita and flan at a restaurant on the river walk.
  
• Visiting La Cantera, an upscale, outdoor, but pedestrian-friendly mall. It's similar to Austin's The Domain, but nicer.
  
• Watching Horton Hears a Who at the Rialto, a "theater bistro". Think of it as San Antonio's version of our Alamo Drafthouse. Nice movie, cool animation, good Mediterranean pizza.

I don't recommend the 4-D Skies Over Texas ride. Highlights of the "ride":

• A 3-D movie in which one image was so far out of registration with the other (in the vertical dimension) that it was best viewed by closing one eye.
• A vibrating seat that was more butt buzzer than vibrator.
• Rocking action in which each row of seats jerked forward, then back. Not unlike being on an airplane and having your seat kicked by the child behind you.
• A light spray of water. Be sure not to be carrying or wearing anything that could be damaged by water.
• Occasional blasts of air.
• There was supposed to be some sort of smellavision effect as well, but I don't think that was working.

Other than the 4-D experience, it was a wonderful mini vacation.

Folks not from Utah might not realize what a great ski destination Salt Lake City is. The airport is just a 20-minute drive from downtown and there are several very fine ski areas within about 45 minutes driving distance. Since SLC is a hub for Delta, you can fly here direct from many US cities including Austin. And during much of the season, if you fly in from out of state, you can ski free the day of your flight at some of the resorts. You just have to fill out a voucher in advance and show up with your boarding pass and out-of-state ID.

We flew from Austin to SLC on a Friday morning, skied in the afternoon at Park City for free, had dinner in Park City at The Hungry Moose Cafe, then drove back to the Anton Boxrud Bed & Breakfast in downtown Salt Lake City. We recommend all of the above. The hostess at the Anton Boxrud knows what travelers like and  gives it to them, including a hearty breakfast, wine & cheese in the afternoon, \an ever-present bottle of blackberry brandy, and wireless Internet access.

On Saturday, we skied Alta, a favorite among the locals. On Sunday, we skied Solitude, which lives up to its name. The lines were never long. It's one of the cheaper destinations, perhaps because most of the lifts are slow. It's more geared toward beginners than the other resorts I've visited, but it was just about the right speed for our third day of skiing and our sore muscles.

Unfortunately, Lyn was sick abed on Sunday and couldn't ski and Bill was out with a sore back Sunday afternoon. Fortunately for Lyn, the AB B&B makes a pleasant sanitarium.

Friday we did Cozumel. Lyn and I had signed up for a two-tank dive. I sat out on the first one because of my cold (yes, I'm embarrassed to admit I caught another one) and wanted to reduce the chance of a reverse block when ascending after the dive. I did a little reading online about diving with a cold and found a lot of people saying it wasn't advisable and as many people saying they did it anyway, provided they were able to "clear" (their ears that is, by doing the valsalva maneuver) before diving. I hedged my bets by taking a decongestant. I felt fine and had a good dive. No pain, hearing loss or bleeding eyes, ears, or nose on ascent, so all was well.

Highlights of the dive: a delicious-looking lobster, a sea turtle, a barracuda, and a bunch of coral, anemones, fish, and other sea creatures. On Lyn's first dive she saw a six-foot nurse shark.

Anti-highlight: a diver who had no business being down there, being unable to control his buoyancy or to keep from running into things. On both dives, the dive master put him on a leash. At one moment I'd see the divemaster pulling the guy up off the sand on the bottom. The next moment I'd see the guy floating ten feet above the divemaster like a toy balloon. At one point he had one hand on his leash, one leg pointing down, the other bent at the knee with the foot kicked up to the side, and, to complete the picture, one hand waving and a goofy grin on his face. He reminded me of Curious George.

I talked to the divemaster about the conditions of the reef. He admits that they have gotten a lot worse in the last few years. The number of divers, with on average at least one a day kicking the coral, are taking their toll. But one of the biggest problems recently was hurricane Wilma. Since reefs are so close to the surface, they can be seriously damaged by storm surges.

The highlight from Thursday's excursion: snorkeling with stingrays. These creatures act as if they are affectionate. This results from boatloads of tourist feeding them squid every day. The stingrays have poor vision but an acute sense of smell, with the result that they will swim all over you trying to find the squid. When they find it, they suck it up into their mouths, which are lined with tiny teeth. Lyn discovered that they are also happy to suck up and bite down on your fingers. The teeth didn't cut the skin, but did leave an impressive mark. Stingrays' undersides are very soft and smooth, making them almost cuddly.

No lives were lost to stingray attacks.

Another highlight from Wednesday: In the evening they had a limbo contest, as Caribbean resorts and cruises are wont to do. I won first place, but not without a good fight from a four-foot-tall, nine-year-old girl. (It was mostly adults in the competition, but most were weeded out in the first few rounds.) The prize: an award with a plastic cruise ship on it and 50 points for the red team. Right now, the red team is handily beating the blue and white teams and I can take credit for about 1 percent of their points.

I plan to leave the award behind so they can reuse it on the next cruise. I've been reading The World Without Us (which I recommend) and it's made me extra conscious about the excess of shaped plastic in our world.

We've just pulled out of Jamaica. The highlight of the day: finding the sushi bar open, getting two of each, and enjoying them while watching the ship use its side thrusters to push away from the dock.

Relaxing on the beach at Sandals Resort in Montego Bay was another highlight. Lyn and I took out a Hobie Cat and discovered we were unable to do an upwind turn without getting in irons and having to back up to point the  boat in the right direction before continuing on the new tack. After returning to shore, we watched the local fun facilitators taking out guests on the boats and saw them doing the same thing so then we didn't feel too bad.

The unlimited drinks were another benefit of this excursion, though I didn't do that benefit justice by any means. I had a couple mud slides and a banana boat. Whatever alcohol was in there wasn't enough to get a skinny man buzzed.

Tomorrow: snorkeling with the sting rays in Grand Cayman.

Last night was formal night. For dinner I couldn't decide between prime rib and lobster and so had both. The women were beautiful and the men looked like penguins except for Travis who wore a dress kilt and received many compliments from old and young alike. I might post some pictures later.

There was one other guy I noticed in a kilt. He was thin, which doesn't work as well in a kilt in my opinion. Later I saw him at karaoke doing an impressive rendition of Devo's Dare to be Stupid complete with frenetic, quirky gestures and dance moves, enhanced by the fact that he was wearing a skirt. Pleasantly surreal.

Lyn impressed everyone with her rendition of Paul Simon's 50 ways to leave your lover.

Today we have another day at sea which means it will be very laid back with no pressure to catch a bus to do an excursion and then get back to the ship before it sails.

I had this idea of catching up on email while watching the sun set, but couldn't find any public 110-V outlets. My adapter would be happy with 230 volts, but I didn't think to bring an adapter. The only compatible outlet I've found so far is in my my room where I am typing this.

I have a bit of a sore throat, which may mean I have another cold coming on. I'm hoping to defeat the virus with a blitzkrieg's of eating.

Highlights of the trip so far:

High tea. People didn't dress up for this so it didn't really feel like high tea but the music (violin, cello, and piano) was first class. And the cucumber sandwiches, scones with cream, chocolate cake, and various other niceties were very fine.

I was afraid the food would disappoint but it hasn't. Last night's meal was especially good. My batter-fried jumbo shrimp were both light and moist without any detectable greasiness. I am amazed they can maintain the quality while preparing meals for about 1500 people at a time. And I was impressed with the size of the salads and appetizers. At first I thought, "These are too small," but they were in fact just right, leaving room for the main course and dessert.

We started the day with a workout. I've always thought about doing this when on a cruise but have never before gone through with it. I credit indigorose99 with providing sufficient motivation.

Tonight is formal night and the ship is crawling with PIBs (people in black).

Tomorrow promises to be another relaxing day at sea.

I recommend the Hill Country Equestrian Lodge, which was recommended to me by horse fancier and owner Brian at work.

The friendliness of the Lodge's proprietors Diane and Peter is reflected in their cats. Their dog, Maggie, was standoffish and their horses were initially skeptical of new people who looked like they might try to climb on their backs, but those were the friendliest cats I've seen in a while. Saturday morning we parked ourselves in the wooden chairs on the wooden porch wishing the weather would change so we could say, "Storm's a comin'" and "Yep" when Blinken, seeing us, bounded up and into our laps to be attended to. Another feature of Blinken and his buddies is that they are, to a cat, fluffy. I'm normally partial to short hairs, but these cats were special.

And that's the story of our visit to the Hill Country Feline Lodge.

No it isn't.

Highlights

Hot tubbing under the stars with my new glasses that make the stars all pointy again. There was very little light pollution so the Milky Way was easy to see.

Sleeping in (till after 10 AM on Saturday).

Walking.

Trotting.

Cantering.

Doing it all again Sunday morning.

My horse, a dappled gray mare named Molly (or was it Mali?), was a Cadillac of a horse, requiring only the lightest touch. It was almost as if she knew what to do before I told her. I wonder if the fact that I always wanted her to do what the horse in front of her was doing had anything to do with that. Actually, I did occasionally try to get her to stop so we could trot to catch up. I succeeded but not for long at a time--she seemed uncomfortable getting separated from the others.

Sunday morning we did a fair amount of trotting and cantering. I don't think I've ever cantered a horse before and it was a blast. It was easy to imagine falling off the horse, especially when a blue heron flew up out of the grass next to us and spooked our horses. No lives were lost nor limbs broken, but it gave us an appreciation for Diane's stressing of the importance of balance. First you learn to be centered and balanced on the horse, then you worry about the details of accelerating, decelerating, and steering the horse and shifting gears (though I don't remember Diane using those terms). As far as I can tell after two rides, horses have four gears: walk, trot, canter, and gallop. We never made it up to fourth gear.

It's a shame it's such a long drive to Bandera. We may need to find some place in Austin where we can taking riding lessons.

Since I had a few hours to kill while Lyn had her hair done for the wedding, I decided to go for a bike ride in the morning. I was hoping to take in the Art of Being Tuareg exhibit at the Stanford Museum. I arrived at the museum before ten and found that the museum wouldn't open till eleven. So I enjoyed the Rodin sculptures outside the museum, then rode to the other side of the campus to check out their lake. Almost there, I downshifted a little too vigorously, evidently, and broke my brother's derailleur. (Sorry, bro.) This left me stranded and wishing that I'd updated my phone with my in-laws' new phone numbers or that Lyn hadn't left her phone at the hotel. I was saved from a long walk home by passing bikers, one of whom had a chain tool. He used the tool to take the chain apart to remove the derailleur and turn the bike into a one-speed. That was his intention, anyway. He actually turned the bike into a random-speed. As I limped the bike back home it randomly switched gears, seeming to prefer the axle to any of the sprockets. Every time the chain slipped off the sprocket, I had to stop and re-place it.

I did make it back with plenty of time to clean up before the wedding. And now I need to order a new derailleur. I plan to avoid the Suntour brand.

Here's a picture of the folks waiting for their iPhones. Around the corner there was a van with a satellite dish on the roof that, I believe, was providing Internet access to the people in line. I wonder if people camped out for iPhones is just a Palo Alto thing.

This is definitely a Palo Alto thing: Stanford University. Their tower looks less like an owl than does the UT tower. Looks more like a Dalek to me.

Lyn and I are visiting brother-in-law and sister-in-law, respectively, in Menlo Park, birthplace of Google, but not, it turns out, the Menlo Park where Mister Edison thought up the light bulb.

We had supper in Palo Alto where we saw a very long line of folks camped out waiting for Friday evening's release of the iPhone. They have salsa here, similar to what we have in Texas, but they double the price and call it gazpacho.

Before supper, we dropped by a Leonidas outlet to sample some of the world's best chocolate, imported from Belgium.

I had brunch with my friend Steph this morning.  He does contract work in England and has plans that might take him off to Thailand where he would either teach English or start a small software company.  I love hearing about people doing crazy stuff like this.  Steph is definitely one of my more well-traveled friends, as his travel page for the last couple years will attest.

In other news, a random person in the audience for Requiem accosted me and said, "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."  Made my day.  I realize, of course, that I'm not getting a representative sample of audience opinions.  The people for whom the show is only the second most beautiful thing they've ever seen and the people for whom the show is one of the uglier things they've seen, leave quietly, keeping their opinions to themselves.

The show did go well tonight.  It was as windy as last night, perhaps windier, but the dancers are getting used to it.