Out Of My Comfort Zone

Last weekend right as the thunderstorms hit CA, we took Tank Boy camping for the first time. I'm not a big "car camper", I admit, it seems silly to me to drive somewhere relatively close and pretend you don't have a house with a kitchen and a bathroom at your immediate disposal. (Backpacking is different, and so is camping as a cheap method of lodging...) Anywhoo, it was actually quite pleasant (after the quick rain, lightning and thunder passed) as we were camping in a Redwood grove with loads of other families that we knew. And Tank Boy loved it. One of the highlights for him was definitely this:

a lady bug swarm.

I did enjoy this:


and this:


Which was basically sitting on my rump with good friends and knitting. And speaking of knitting, I'm almost finished with this cute girlie sweater for my niece, shown here on a reluctant Tankster...


And backtracking to those thunderstorms, the Hoop family is lookin' into a move. I'm frankly a little freaked out by the fire danger here, the Hoop Ranch quite a ways from the nearest fire hydrant, surrounded by 6 acres of dry grass and brush, and at the top of a steep uncleared ridge. Eeep. We'll keep you posted, but send wet rainy thoughts our way in the mean time. Thanks!

Sniffle...

Bears, Bikes, Bums, and Bidding Adieu

A friend of mine sent me this little awareness test thingy. You gotta give it a try and then come on back...

All I gotta say is its a good thing I'm on the bike! And speaking of bicycles, I've got some catching up to do! Two weekends ago I got to go on a girlie's weekend trip, for some road biking in the SF Bay Area. No one was more surprised than I to find out that the plan was to bike 80 miles in two days. 80 frickin miles!

And, unlike some of the other gals, this was pretty much "off the couch" for me. Which makes for a rotten sore bum. AND a great jump start on the bicycling season! So now the bike is out, she's tuned, air filled and ready to go, therefore I've started in on the once a week challenge. (Which I read about somewhere online, but now cannot find for the life o' me.) Anywhoo, I have officially biked to and from work one day a week, for two whole weeks! Woot woot! Its very good motivation to get out the door early, as it has been hitting the 90's here by midmorning. Phew!

And speaking of getting out the door, and therefore leaving, we are facing a sad day tomorrow. Tank Boy's best friend, T Man, is moving across the country. Poor Tankster has no idea what "moving away" means yet.

We love you, T Man and send you off with best wishes but heavy hearts.

Since Y'all Know All My Answers Already...

Today's post is the result of a) way too much time farting around on the internet, b) being way too big of a geek, and c) the Blue Garter knit blog...

Using fd’s Flickr Toys,

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker).

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.



1. Suzie Q, 2. The strawberry incident..., 3. Isengard, 4. Orange Explosion, 5. ani difranco 13, 6. Tropical Lime Smoothie (1/2), 7. knitting grafitti, 8. Creme Brulee, 9. Green Roof Model, 10. Being outdoors, 11. She'll Try Anything Once, 12. 5hulahoop_kl3

Climbing: Off To A Rocky Start (heh heh)...

So the plan on Sunday was to go climbing. I woke up an hour before I had to leave, plenty of time to gather the few remaining things and add them to the pack, kiss the family and go. Then the suspicious intestinal rumbling started. An hour and a half, a few hasty trips to the loo, and three Immodium tablets later I finally had the car packed. Thank goodness for the wonder of modern medicine!

Then, at long last, I'm on my way tootling down the road (on a nearly empty tank, but heading toward a gas station) when I come upon the traffic light regulating cars through the one lane area around Ye Olde Landslide. To be sure to save every drop of gas I turn off the car. Then the light changes, I mash the Prius start button, and... nothing. A light or two comes on on the dash board, but no engine, electric or otherwise. Hmm. Repeated button mashing, key fob fondling, and arm out the window waving traffic by... Phooey! I'm really late now! (Fortunately the intestinal distress seems to be completely in check, thank heavens.) No cell phone service in the river canyon though.

A nice couple stops and tries their hand at mashing the start button, to no avail. They get out, I get in, and Voila! Starts up like a charm. Hmmm. Drive straight to climbing partner's house to find that indeed, he has not given up on me and left for parts unknown. Yay! We take his car.

And go do this:


Looking up the third pitch (rope length) to Climbing Partner Bill up there...


CPB working through the crux of the climb on pitch five... (He's 6 foot something, so we definitely did it differently!)


Requisite self portrait. Note the incredibly beautiful day behind me!


Job well done CPB!


I wanted to post a contrast photo of the young whippersnappers who came up behind us, with their shirtless, helmetless fancy freeness, but evidently I'm over my daily quota for blogger photos or something, so you'll have to use your imagination. I just have one word for them... Sunburn! No wait, two more... Skin Cancer! No wait, another two! Head Trauma! Okay, done now. Enjoy your day!