Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The Extra Mile . . . Again!
Let me talk about my hike today. In a previous post, I discussed my typical afternoon routine while at Kitt Peak, which consists of walking a little ways down the road (starting at Mile Marker 12 at the top) and then back. In said post I was excited because I went to the next mile marker down, marker 9. Well, today I had so much time to hike, I decided to go the extra mile again! I went all the way down to Mile Marker 8! That equates to 4 miles down, 4 miles back, 8 miles in total. Maybe I'm subconsciously trying to prepare myself for the Grand Canyon trip. Anyway, in celebration of my last hike for this run, AND going all the way to marker 8, I took pictures at every marker I passed. I took them only on my way back up, so they go in backwards order. Some of these pictures were hard to take since there was nothing to set the camera down on, which meant I had to extend my arm out as far as I could. (And mile marker signs are big, turns out, and hard to fit in at such a close distance.) Maybe I should get a mini travel tripod.
Obviously I'm beginning a collection called "Elizabeth with Mile Markers." (haha) Here are a few other random pictures from the walk today.
I found something to set the camera down on:
Tried taking a picture to be titled "Elizabeth and the Vastness of Southern Arizona," but ended up almost falling down the mountain. My left leg is not purposely put back like that, that's me slipping on the not-as-sturdy-as-it-looks ground:
A failed photo at marker 12 that I considered pretending was actually marker 1 in order to really impress everyone:
I don't know why I wanted to take a picture of this sign. It really isn't that funny. But I think the part about hunting and woodcutting is amusing.
The long road back up:
After dinner when I was heading back over to my dorm, one of the visitors there for the visitors program said to me, "Do you hike that everyday? We saw you on our way up, and my wife thought we should stop and give you a ride. But I told her you were probably walking it on purpose, for some sort of exercise, and if we stopped to give you a ride, you'd be offended." I told him I appreciated the thoughtfulness, and that while I would have turned down the ride, I certainly wouldn't have been offended. If I was stuck walking that hill back and didn't want to be, I'd surely appreciate the ride!
Obviously I'm beginning a collection called "Elizabeth with Mile Markers." (haha) Here are a few other random pictures from the walk today.
I found something to set the camera down on:
Tried taking a picture to be titled "Elizabeth and the Vastness of Southern Arizona," but ended up almost falling down the mountain. My left leg is not purposely put back like that, that's me slipping on the not-as-sturdy-as-it-looks ground:
A failed photo at marker 12 that I considered pretending was actually marker 1 in order to really impress everyone:
I don't know why I wanted to take a picture of this sign. It really isn't that funny. But I think the part about hunting and woodcutting is amusing.
The long road back up:
After dinner when I was heading back over to my dorm, one of the visitors there for the visitors program said to me, "Do you hike that everyday? We saw you on our way up, and my wife thought we should stop and give you a ride. But I told her you were probably walking it on purpose, for some sort of exercise, and if we stopped to give you a ride, you'd be offended." I told him I appreciated the thoughtfulness, and that while I would have turned down the ride, I certainly wouldn't have been offended. If I was stuck walking that hill back and didn't want to be, I'd surely appreciate the ride!
Oh Those Summer Nights
Tonight is my third and final night observing here at Kitt Peak. Overall, the run has been fine. I just have to take a moment and reflect on how much I like observing during the summer. There are a couple reasons for that. First of all, it's not freezing cold. Second, the nights are SHORT. In the winter, your working at least 12 hours a night (sometimes 13 or 14). In the summer, it amounts to around 8 hours per night.
The shortness of the nights means that there's time to do other things during the day. A winter schedule typically goes something like this: observe, sleep, wake up, eat dinner, hurry to the telescope to observe again. No time to do much else. But here's what my day was like today:
5:15am: Go to sleep after a full night of observing.
1:30pm: Wake up, check email, chat online with people.
2:15pm: Head out for a long hike around the mountain. Lots of time today!
5:15pm: Return from hike. Note, this is longer than I normally go. But I had time today, so why not!
5:20pm: Go straight to dinner. Run into 2 people I used to know at Texas. Eat and chat leisurely for awhile.
6:15pm: Go back to dorm. Check internet again. Stretch out (long hike and I don't want to be sore!)
7:00pm: Take a shower.
7:30pm: Head up to the telescope.
8:00pm: Point, focus telescope etc.
8:30pm: Actually start observing. According to sunrise times, we'll be closing up shop around 4:00am.
It's so nice to not be rushed!
The Triathlon...the new dilema
This afternoon I was looking at the website for the Austin Triathlon that I'm currently training for. At the top of the website, in big red letters was the following:
So...now I'm faced with a decision. Should I do the sprint distance or the Olympic distance? Remember in my post about the triathlon I originally wanted to do a sprint, but it wasn't offered, and I wasn't sure I could do the Olympic distance, but then decided to go for it anyway. Now the sprint is an option. Question is: what do I do?!
I'll be honest. I feel like my fitness level in each of the three sports is good enough that I could probably do the distance for each, back-to-back, tomorrow. That is, I probably wouldn't have to do much in the way of "training" for it. So doing the Olympic distance would be more of a challenge for myself, necessitating the actual "training" I want to do, and would feel like more of an accomplishment upon completion. (Not that I wouldn't feel a sense of accomplishment with the sprint. I definitely would, if for no other reason than having completed a triathlon!)
However, perhaps since it will be my first tri, I ought to take it a bit easier.
The good news is, I don't have to decide tonight. (Good thing because it's late, and if there's one thing I learned from Rebecca it's to never make major life decisions after 10:00. And this definitely qualifies. :) ) What does everyone think?
New Sprint Distance event just added!
So...now I'm faced with a decision. Should I do the sprint distance or the Olympic distance? Remember in my post about the triathlon I originally wanted to do a sprint, but it wasn't offered, and I wasn't sure I could do the Olympic distance, but then decided to go for it anyway. Now the sprint is an option. Question is: what do I do?!
I'll be honest. I feel like my fitness level in each of the three sports is good enough that I could probably do the distance for each, back-to-back, tomorrow. That is, I probably wouldn't have to do much in the way of "training" for it. So doing the Olympic distance would be more of a challenge for myself, necessitating the actual "training" I want to do, and would feel like more of an accomplishment upon completion. (Not that I wouldn't feel a sense of accomplishment with the sprint. I definitely would, if for no other reason than having completed a triathlon!)
However, perhaps since it will be my first tri, I ought to take it a bit easier.
The good news is, I don't have to decide tonight. (Good thing because it's late, and if there's one thing I learned from Rebecca it's to never make major life decisions after 10:00. And this definitely qualifies. :) ) What does everyone think?
Sunday, May 25, 2008
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Arizona
In the course of traveling, I tried to keep a mental tally of funny things that I heard people say. Here's a few of them:
- Airport PA system while sitting in the Austin airport: "If anyone is heading up to the Killeen area, and would be willing to give someone a ride, please come to the American Airlines customer service counter."
- Woman behind me on the plane as we made our final descent into PHX: "Whoops! My cell phone was on the whole time!"
- Girl in Target to her sister who couldn't find a hat she thought she looked cute in: "Do you want cancer or do you want to pick a hat?"
Austin to Phoenix to Tucson (via DFW)
Yesterday was travel day. I made it safely to Tucson, though I felt like there was a flurry of excitement to get me here. That's mostly how I seem to operate, as much as I try not to. Long story short, I slept in a bit in the morning, went running, had to run some errands before leaving, and then had about 15 minutes to pack. (Yeah, I guess I didn't actually pack the night before...) I felt kind of frazzled as I was running around, especially since I barely knew what I was putting in my suitcase. But I made it to the airport (Andrew and Margie are the best! Thanks!), and checked in at the kiosk with 2 minutes to spare before the drop-dead-30-minutes-before deadline. Whew. Of course, then my flight was delayed about 40 minutes, but that's beside the point. (Maybe I could have at least showered....)
I had a layover at DFW (though it was nonexistent since my flight was late), and then slept almost the entire flight to PHX. I arrived, got my bags, and rental car. Sometime on the shuttle to the rental car lot I realized that the folder of itineraries/maps/directions to everything that I had so meticulously printed off earlier in the week were not with me, and probably sitting on my bed still. I will ask Michelle to bring them when she comes out. (Hopefully this isn't the first she's hearing about that.) But the fortunate thing is, we live in the electronic age and you actually don't need any of that stuff to get get on a plane, rent a car, and check into a hotel. (As long as you have reservations, of course.) But I was still really, really annoyed with myself for forgetting them. Alas.
I was able to get my rental car, although the process seemed more hassle-filled than normal. Normally it's a breeze. But for some reason the Enterprise people in PHX wanted my credit card (even though it was direct billed; they never ask me for that in TUS), my email, TWO phone numbers, and on and on. Then they didn't even have a car ready for me. The guy was like, "Uh...well, you can wait a few minutes for a car to be ready or we can just put you in this mini SUV at no extra charge." I said I'd wait, given the price of gas and poor gas mileage of SUVs. He said the Jeep Liberty he had for me only got 2-3 mpg less than a car. Well, I decided to take it, mostly to just get on my way. But I'm keeping track so I can calculate my fuel economy when I fill it up next week.
Anyway, off to Tucson I went. The drive was about an hour and a half. I was still feeling a bit frenzied at this point, so I tried to use the drive to help me relax. It sort of worked. Eh. Well, I arrived at my hotel, checked in with no problems, ran to the Target nearby to buy a few things I'd forgotten. In the same shopping center as the Target I discovered an In-n-Out restaurant! This is exciting because In-n-Out is yummy, and I had no idea they had them in Tucson. Mental note to self.
I had to wait around a little longer to meet up with a post doc from University of Arizona to get my key to the Observatory. (Kurtis and I had arranged for her to pick it up for me since the office would be closed when I arrived.) Once I got that, I got ready to go dance. Yay!
Despite the best efforts of the construction mess that is downtown Tucson right now, I made it to the dance. (And I'm realizing I sort of know this city; I'm not an expert, but managed to create a detour for myself that worked.) The dance was at a senior center, and there were people of all ages there. And they had a live band and the music was good.
How was the dance? It was pretty good. There weren't a ton of people there, but enough that I felt like I danced a sufficient number of dances. There was one older guy that asked me to dance about 10 times. But I really didn't mind because he was really fun to dance with. (And not creepy or anything.) And usually after every dance he'd ask me if he was being too "rough" (as in flinging me around too much). I said no, and then he'd say something about how he "just really loved those big swing outs." It was really cute, actually. I know a couple people from the Tucson scene, but none of them were there, sadly enough. Next time, hopefully!
Following the dance (which ended at 11:00), I went to ... dun dun! ... In-n-Out for dinner. Yay! (I'd barely eaten anything all day!) This is me enjoying my dinner, post-dance, back in my hotel room.
This morning (Sunday) I made it to 9:00am church, which might sound surprising given I went to sleep at about 2:00am. But I didn't sleep very well post-5am, so getting up wasn't too much of a problem. The building was really close to my hotel which made it nice. The talks were all about the Proclamation on the Family, and I'll spare the details of the high councilman's talk in which he kept saying things that probably offended half the ward. Alas. But I did find this display on the bulletin board:
I refrain from commenting.
I got checked out of my hotel, and then drove 10 miles out of my way to get chicken friend chicken and biscuits and gravy from Cracker Barrel. I saw it on my way down and couldn't stop thinking about it. :) I probably would have gone last night if I didn't have to wait to get my key.
Then up the mountain. Here I am and here I will be for the next 3 nights.
I had a layover at DFW (though it was nonexistent since my flight was late), and then slept almost the entire flight to PHX. I arrived, got my bags, and rental car. Sometime on the shuttle to the rental car lot I realized that the folder of itineraries/maps/directions to everything that I had so meticulously printed off earlier in the week were not with me, and probably sitting on my bed still. I will ask Michelle to bring them when she comes out. (Hopefully this isn't the first she's hearing about that.) But the fortunate thing is, we live in the electronic age and you actually don't need any of that stuff to get get on a plane, rent a car, and check into a hotel. (As long as you have reservations, of course.) But I was still really, really annoyed with myself for forgetting them. Alas.
I was able to get my rental car, although the process seemed more hassle-filled than normal. Normally it's a breeze. But for some reason the Enterprise people in PHX wanted my credit card (even though it was direct billed; they never ask me for that in TUS), my email, TWO phone numbers, and on and on. Then they didn't even have a car ready for me. The guy was like, "Uh...well, you can wait a few minutes for a car to be ready or we can just put you in this mini SUV at no extra charge." I said I'd wait, given the price of gas and poor gas mileage of SUVs. He said the Jeep Liberty he had for me only got 2-3 mpg less than a car. Well, I decided to take it, mostly to just get on my way. But I'm keeping track so I can calculate my fuel economy when I fill it up next week.
Anyway, off to Tucson I went. The drive was about an hour and a half. I was still feeling a bit frenzied at this point, so I tried to use the drive to help me relax. It sort of worked. Eh. Well, I arrived at my hotel, checked in with no problems, ran to the Target nearby to buy a few things I'd forgotten. In the same shopping center as the Target I discovered an In-n-Out restaurant! This is exciting because In-n-Out is yummy, and I had no idea they had them in Tucson. Mental note to self.
I had to wait around a little longer to meet up with a post doc from University of Arizona to get my key to the Observatory. (Kurtis and I had arranged for her to pick it up for me since the office would be closed when I arrived.) Once I got that, I got ready to go dance. Yay!
Despite the best efforts of the construction mess that is downtown Tucson right now, I made it to the dance. (And I'm realizing I sort of know this city; I'm not an expert, but managed to create a detour for myself that worked.) The dance was at a senior center, and there were people of all ages there. And they had a live band and the music was good.
How was the dance? It was pretty good. There weren't a ton of people there, but enough that I felt like I danced a sufficient number of dances. There was one older guy that asked me to dance about 10 times. But I really didn't mind because he was really fun to dance with. (And not creepy or anything.) And usually after every dance he'd ask me if he was being too "rough" (as in flinging me around too much). I said no, and then he'd say something about how he "just really loved those big swing outs." It was really cute, actually. I know a couple people from the Tucson scene, but none of them were there, sadly enough. Next time, hopefully!
Following the dance (which ended at 11:00), I went to ... dun dun! ... In-n-Out for dinner. Yay! (I'd barely eaten anything all day!) This is me enjoying my dinner, post-dance, back in my hotel room.
This morning (Sunday) I made it to 9:00am church, which might sound surprising given I went to sleep at about 2:00am. But I didn't sleep very well post-5am, so getting up wasn't too much of a problem. The building was really close to my hotel which made it nice. The talks were all about the Proclamation on the Family, and I'll spare the details of the high councilman's talk in which he kept saying things that probably offended half the ward. Alas. But I did find this display on the bulletin board:
I refrain from commenting.
I got checked out of my hotel, and then drove 10 miles out of my way to get chicken friend chicken and biscuits and gravy from Cracker Barrel. I saw it on my way down and couldn't stop thinking about it. :) I probably would have gone last night if I didn't have to wait to get my key.
Then up the mountain. Here I am and here I will be for the next 3 nights.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Lots of posts coming ... probably
I'm up late packing (yes ... packing ...) and begin traveling again tomorrow. I'm off to Arizona, spending one night in Tucson, driving up to Kitt Peak, observing Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights. Then Wednesday will make the long drive north, picking up Michelle in Phoenix, then continuing up to the Grand Canyon! Check back often this week, I'll likely be posting about my many adventures on the road. I'm especially excited to report on the Grand Canyon. Wahoo!
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