SE Asia Day 0: getting there

I had a biggish post all set to publish while hanging at our layover city, but I am having major trouble posting pictures. So here is the short version.

We left SLC with only a 20 pound backpack each.

Not much for a month-long tour though SE Asia.

We hopped on a SWA flight to Seattle, where we had 8 hours to kill until our international flight to Taipei.
Instead of lounging in the airport like slobs, we got a fab deal on a from at the Hilton within walking distance of Seatac, where we started the vacation off right.

I dip int he hot tub and then we were whisked away by recently relocated Seattleite friend Stephanie

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A nap and a shower before heading back to the airport for a 1:00 a.m. Departure.

I had been up so late the previous nights that I had virtually no trouble sleeping most of the duration of the flight. For the last hour and a half I was watching the inflight movie "Lincoln", and just as the vote to pass the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was being counted, we started our descent into Taipei. There are a lot of announcements during decent and landing, and I nearly missed the vote, the surrender of the confederacy, and the tragic end to the movie. The credits were rolling as we taxied to the gate. Whew. 

We arrived Taipei at 5:30 a.m. And now we have 5 hours to kill.

The airport is not bad. They have a "relaxing green room"

And of course, being Asia, no shortage of cute cartoon figures. Hello Kitty is BIG.

The cafe takes USD and the lattes are half decent and only 3.50 each.

 Once we get to Bangkok, We have a hotel reservation there for one night, and then we are unsure of our next move. The general plan is to get transportation to Cambodia and spend a few days touring the temples of Angkor Wat. We need to arrange a Vietnamese visa and then head to Ho Chi Min City and the Mekong Delta.  Then we thought we'd make our way north through Vietnam. I guess I should get off the iPad and start reading my guidebook to figure out our next move!

Posted with Blogsy

Test

Testing our Internet connection in Taipei.

Posted with Blogsy

There has been a bit of snow

Around Christmastime we got dumped on.  So much snow!

the sidewalk in front of our street

Deep snow makes snowshoeing fun!

The snow really was thigh deep.

We didn't get very far after the point on the trail where we had to break trail.

My truck was slip sliding around, but Mi Tia was rock solid.

That was a rare January Saturday together.  The next day, some girlfriends had a going away snowshoe for friend Stephanie.

Mary shows that there is a lot of snow.

The uber deep powder was too fluffy to resist doing a backwards swan dive into.

Me, mid-dive!!

Me, immediately post dive.  My head was buried in the snow bank.

Just popping up for air.  I don't ever want to be in an avalanche!  It was so fluffy and deep and I was head down and on my back with snow shoes on, I couldn't really move. Erika had to help me out of the snow bank.

The next snow activity was termed "runking" by Sally. This is where you get to the top of a steep fresh slope and run down it with snowshoes on.

Here is a very short video of Sally "runking"

Erika runking.

We topped off the day with lunch at Porcupine Pub.  Good day - but sad to see Stephanie go.

The snow is fun to play in, but we are ready for a warm adventure.  Stay tuned.

Post #300: this is a MILESTONE. Cedar Valley work report published.

A couple of weeks ago I saw that the number of posts on our blog was approaching 300.  What would #300 be? It should be something that marks a significant milestone in my life, right?

Today, here it is. 

This. Is. Huge.

 What is the significance of that boring looking CD?  It is a big publication for me at work.  Big.  It is the compilation of 8.5 year of this

My office, where I spend a lot of time when I would rather be in the field.

and this

Tumbleweeds bury a fence on a bleak day in my field study area in Cedar Valley, Utah County.

but also fun stuff like this

A gorgeous clear day of fieldwork.

and this.

Me logging cuttings during a monitor well drilling project in Cedar Valley.

All that and much more went into this UGS Special Study, on which I am the primary author, entitled "Hydrogeology and Simulation of Groundwater Flow in Cedar Valley, Utah County, Utah".  It is 224 pages of riveting scientific fact finding and grand conclusions with huge environmental impacts.  Just kidding.  It is a sometimes dry, long-winded, and thorough report on the work I was hired at the Utah Geological Survey to do way back starting in 2004.  The fieldwork was done in 2007, but the computer simulation was not done by my colleague for another couple of years, and then other projects derailed my attempt to get this monster published. The main conclusions have implications for how the Utah Division of Water Rights can divide up the right to use groundwater in this area of rapidly growing population.  There are also some fun water age-dating and aquifer-test data.

The final copy I gave to our editorial staff was 2.5 inches thick. 

But today, this work was finally published.   You can purchase your very own copy at the Utah Geological Survey Map and Bookstore for only $24.95.  Hurry and get yours before they sell out ;-).

Fabric grows faster than vines; a screen for the hot tub

It has been over a year since we installed the hot tub on the back deck after the giant home addition.  We designed the deck with a trellis wall to the east with the idea that we would plant vines there that would grow quickly and provide dabbled shade and natural screening from the neighbors to the east.

Design phase Dec 2011. Great view of the neighbors' house to the east from our deck.

Trellis wall on the left still bare as of this past fall.

We really like our eastern neighbors, but their two little boys are not so little anymore, and I was starting to feel a bit "exposed" while sitting in the hot tub in full view of their kitchen window and back door. We can't plant the vines yet because there is still some drainage work to be done on that side of the house. It was time for some fabric screens.

I found some fun outdoor fabric on sale last summer.  A couple of weeks ago, I finally got inspired to sew it up into panels.

The first panel goes up.

Need more panels to block that view!

 While I sew at my sewing table that I drag out into the living room, I watch episode after episode of HGTV.  It just so happened that this one particular show was about refinishing flea market finds into new treasures.  If you ask me, my fabric looks a heck of a lot better as funky sun panels than on a beautiful traditional antique chair!

Phone photo of the TV screen. They used my fabric on an old chair. Who puts modern print outdoor fabric on an antique chair!  It didn't sell very well.

The project took longer than I expected (why don't I expect that this will always happen by now?), and I found myself zip-tying the panels to the trellis at 8 PM in the freezing dark smoggy night, rushing to get everything done before Drew came home.  It was so cold, I had to hold the zip ties in my mouth right up until installation to keep them from breaking.  Talk about needing a soak in the hot tub after that!

But I think they look quite happy and provide excellent screening from the neighbors' house.

The view from Drew's seat in the tub.

Now if we could just eliminate the sniper tower.

Marley loves to sit on the warm hot tub cover.

Yay for crafty projects!

New Years Rockin' Eve

Drew's family all lives on the East Coast, so with a few days off around New Year's, we made the trek. 


Pennsylvania has nice woods to walk in:

Drew's father made Drew's niece and nephew the most beautiful furniture.  The ice chest for the boy was not only a work of art, it was as heavy as a refrigerator.

It took three grown men to get it into the van.

Part of the impetus to get together at this time was to celebrate five birthdays within a month. 

There was no way 187 candles would fit on one cake.

Cake and ice cream makes Drew a happy birthday boy!

Family picture time. (Photos by Emily.)

The immediate family.

And the whole clan.

On New Year's Eve day, we were all starting to get a bit of cabin fever.  Time for the family fun center!

Bowling!

I was too busy having fun playing laser tag, bumper cars, mini golf, and carny games to take more pictures.


Then back to the house for New Year's Eve, family style.  Drew's mother prepared a delicious dinner, which we followed with glasses of champagne for midnight.

The big 2013 ball to drop at the stroke of midnight, sans disco lights.

Noisemakers double as headdress.

We know how to party.

We had a great time playing games with Drew's brother and sister-in-law and their teenaged kids.  It was good to reconnect with Drew's side of the family.  In all, a very nice visit.  

We were unable to make it all the way back to Utah non-revving, so we ended up staying one night in Denver with my sister and brother-in-law.  We always enjoy our time with them! 

So we were able to start the New Year with visits to both sides of the family.  That's a great start to 2013.

Christmas 2012

I like Christmas as much as the next person.  Especially the special products that come out just for the season.

And who doesn't like dressing up their pets in ridiculous costumes?

Christmas trees are good too. Our friend Rhonda was feeling so sorry for us because we were not planning on having a tree (because we thought Drew would not be home for Christmas Eve), that she gave us this uber cute little tree all decorated with mini ornaments, ornaments for "D" and "L", and a star!

Which is all the tree we ever really needed, but when we were driving past a house in our neighborhood that happened to be removing a large spruce tree, I screeched to a stop and asked the nice gentlemen if I could snag a few boughs to make our house smell good.  They said "sure" and even chucked some big branches in the back of the truck for me.  Once we got them home, we realized we had the tippy top of the tree, so Drew went to work and trimmed it into a Christmas tree for us. 

Sure, it isn't the typical conical shape, but it made a nice Sponge Bob Square Tree.

On Christmas Eve day we bundled up and went snowshoeing in Millcreek Canyon.
 

We were very happy to be spending the day together! 

Drew had to leave for work around 10 a.m. on Christmas Day, so I took advantage of the fresh snow and skied all of the groomed track White Pine Nordic Center has to offer - about 12 miles. 

I was feeling lonely without my buddy, so I picked up some Doritos and a some watery convenience store beer and finished off the holiday. As Drew says, "days on, days off".  Between the birthday trip to Moab and a great Christmas Eve, we had had a fun few days off.