Go, go, gadget shuttle

Back in November, I had the opportunity to witness history.  Space Shuttle Discovery, third to last shuttle launch ever and final mission for the Discovery orbiter, was set to go.  I was in Orlando for the SWE conference and by some stroke of luck, Ryan was able to get tickets through the lottery to view the launch at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex.  I was excited to see my first ever shuttle launch!

However, scrub after scrub, delay after delay, the closest we got to launch was crossing the bridge to KSC before being notified of the fifth postponement due to a leak in the umbilical plate.  My heart was slightly broken, but then I remembered that the priority is astronaut safety, and not the concerns of the audience.

The second launch window was set for December, but I held my breath as the days hovered around final exams.  The window came and went without any resolution from NASA, and I had my hopes up for February.  Finally, we were set to go!

With our parties shuffling priorities and attendance, I was able to upgrade to the NASA Causeway--a mere 6 miles from Launchpad 39A, and the closest the general public can purchase tickets to view the launch.  I am a lucky girl!  I roped in two friends to come with me--Spencer from my time at Blue Origin, and fellow UW grad student pal, Eduardo.

I decided to refrain from taking photos of the launch.  Too many times I've missed an event because I was busy hiding behind a lens, and besides, with NASA close up, they were going to provide much better photos than I could ever dream of capturing.  There was so much to experience with a launch with all of my senses, that I wanted to make sure I was attentive to them all.

For kicks, I wore my Halloween costume (thanks, Nick Bradley for the idea), where I dressed as the external fuel tank.  I forgot the tube socks for the solid rocket boosters on my arms. :(  Here I am, pointing to launchpad 39A!

I love the progression of light, sound, and rumble.  The shuttle is already off the ground and in the sky when you hear the first low roar, and after yet another delay, the tremors propagate beneath your feet.  The sheer amount of financial, material, and mental resources to put together a single flight still boggles my mind (each of the SSMEs pumps enough fuel to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool every half a minute!), and yet, it is a somber feeling to know that we are indefinitely closing a chapter to human space exploration, and will never return to the political and public momentum of the Apollo era.

photo courtesy of Spencer

I'm really lucky to have witnessed this.  It's a tempting thought to return to KSC in order to bid adieu to Endeavor and Atlantis, but I am happy to know that my generation has a chance to revive space exploration.

Living out of a Suitcase

January: Chicago, IL
February: Columbia, MO
March: Canyonlands, UT
April: Stillwater, OK
May: Seattle, WA
June: Kihei, HI
July: Pittsburgh, PA
August: Fairbanks, AK
September: Pasadena, CA
October: Orlando, FL

planned....
November: Mt. Baker, WA
December: Boulder, CO

Can I squeeze in one more trip to Orlando to take another chance on seeing the shuttle?  Not sure at this point, but I can definitely tell you that I'm raking in the freq. flyer miles and getting my money's worth out of my travel gear...

The Famed Mt. Marathon

Seward is the home to the country's 2nd oldest foot race...and it happens to be a beast.  3022 ft elevation gain in ~1.5 miles, and that includes the flat pavement leading up to the mountain.  Shiway is crazy enough to have started the commitment of doing the race every year...you get in via lottery, and once you do, you are guaranteed entry the following year.  However, you have to do it 10 years in a row to gain entry "immunity"--if you skip a year, then you start over in the lottery pool.  So, Shiway had 2 years down, and 8 to go. :)

I'm going to pull stats from Shiway's blog to give a general idea...the trail averages a 38-degree pitch, is unmaintained and, at some places, unmarked (which results in multiple, ever-changing ways up), and the average pace of a racer 2 mph up the mountain, and 12 mph down.  Lots of people venture it with taped ankles and shoes, gardening gloves for scaling rock and tree root walls, and fly down the broken shale slopes with enormous leaps.

Shiway's detailed diagram:

You're probably gathering by now that Shiway convinced me to do the race route with her.  While I wasn't going for anything near the record time (~40 min, I took ~4 hours), it was still a challenge and quite an adventure.  Unlike any hike I've done before!

At the beginning of the "roots" trail.  Beate joined us, and led the way!

This would be part of the "climbing on rocks next to exposure" section.

Hanging on for dear life at the halfway marker!  They're not kidding about the steep pitch.

Me and Shiway, with Seward and Resurrection Bay in the background.

After getting through the jungle and roots of the first half, the rest of the way is composed of shale.

The fog settled in for the second half, but it made for really cool views at the top.  We were literally in clouds at the summit!

Victorious at the summit!  

We spent a really long time taking goofy pictures at the summit.  A really long time.  The German (?) family who followed us to the top started to give their distance quickly.

At the top, the ridge continued into the fog.  It gave an eerie and mystical feeling.

The way down was FUN!  Not that the way up wasn't...but...I'd rather be sliding down the shale than sweating up the jungle with the mosquitoes.  :)

Alaska Backlog - Sea Life Center

I'm not entirely sure how I went the entire month without finishing up my last thoughts on Alaska, but I suppose late is better than never.  Summer is almost over!

During our time in Seward, Shiway took me to the Alaska Sea Life Center...her old stomping grounds, and Dave's, too.  We had a behind-the-scenes tour, visiting her old colleagues and animal pals!  Her friend Pam showed me their remote monitoring site for stellar sea lions, and we also had a chance to check out the birdies.

The puffins act like dogs...they sure do love human company.

The highlight was probably checking out the mammals!  The seals were adorable.

Hike @ Tonsina

Shiway and I went to Seward and Anchorage for the weekend to do some exploring and the like.

First up was a day hike at Tonsina Creek in Seward with Beate and her dog, Daisy.  We took along Ann's dog, Nellie, too!

The way there is through some thick trees, and finally when getting to the water, everything opens up.

This is what it looks like from where we came...

...and the view we had ahead...

Some spawning chum salmon in the water:

Part of the way, the rainforest comes out in full bloom:

Shiway, Beate, and Daisy...and Nellie being a bit shy. :)

Sockeye Salmon Fishing

We made the 6-hour journey to Chitina, AK to fish for Sockeye Salmon at the confluence of the Copper and Chitina Rivers.

The drive out there was long, but very pretty.  With 20+ hours of light, you're able to enjoy the view for the entire way.

Fishing for reds is done by dipnetting.  The nets are huge, and extended into the water using 6-12' poles. Shi's friend Mandy accompanied us, and here she is with Dave and the dipnet for perspective.

Since I am not a resident of Alaska, it was not legal for me to handle the fish or assist in the fishing in any way.  I spent the day perched on my ledge, reading, watching, and enjoying the views.  It was funny to think about how in two months, I had gone from one shoreside lounge to another...but in very different climates and capacities.

Success!

Shiway with part of her loot:

I learned how to properly fillet a fish.  It's harder than I thought...but there's delicious payoff.

A batch is in the smoker, and the rest are making their way to the vacuum sealer and freezer.  Already dug into a fish for dinner, and can't wait for the smoker to be done tomorrow!

Blueberry Picking

Part of the fun of being in Alaska is harvesting your own food.  Shi and Dave are usually kind enough to share their bounty every year when they visit in December.  This includes salmon, halibut, berries, and the occasional large, four-legged animal.

Today, we went blueberry picking.  It was exhausting but fun and rewarding work!  The land was soggy and full of mud, puddles, and round-topped grass clumps called tussocks, which made it extremely difficult to navigate and balance.

Dave has a good eye for berries...and so does Emma.  In the higher grasses, you could see just her tail, bobbing up and down as she happily gobbled down berries.

Here she is, snarfing down a decent batch.   She pretty much plows through the fields with her mouth open, filtering out the berries, feeding like a whale.

Our final harvest for the day.  Emma is staring longingly, hoping that by some off chance, we are harvesting just for her.

We can all attribute the craze of tucking-in-your-pants-into-your-boots to Xtra Tuffs and Alaskan residents.  :)

Fairbanks, AK

I have arrived safely and soundly in Fairbanks, AK to visit Shiway and Dave.  My plan is to be here for two weeks, seeing the sights and enjoying the company.

Shi and Dave have moved since I last saw them for their wedding three years ago, from Seward to Fairbanks.  Their house is fun and cute, although they choose different four-lettered words to describe it.

As always, Emma is excited to have another person to pay attention to her.  

We have been walking around different trails here, enjoying the nice weather.  Boulder was reaching triple digits when I left, and Fairbanks is a nice change of pace, staying shy of 70 deg.

The World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO) is in town for the weekend, so we went to go check it out. We had hopes of viewing the seal-skinning contest, but they were short on supplies...so we saw the men's two-foot high kick, women's blanket toss, and the regalia contest. 

Berry picking is on the agenda for today!

Maui

For 7 days, I learned how to relax.  It's not easy for someone who packs her schedule from dawn til dusk every day of the year (sometimes intentionally, but mostly unintentionally), but I think it did me some good.  Perhaps I have regained a few years in my life that I may have lost to stress.

This story goes back to March.  Daan found out he snagged a summer job with AFRL (Air Force Research Lab) in Maui.  I jokingly told him that I'd have to visit, seeing that I've never been to HI...and he welcomed the idea.  I pestered the other ASTORM kids to see if anybody wanted to join me, and the idea was generally turned down...but it seemed to pique Matt's interest.  We looked up tickets, and the first week of June seemed to be off-season, because they were ridiculously cheap!  After some deliberation, tickets were purchased.  We were on our way to Hawaii.

The view from Daan's place:

We were staying in Kihei, which is the SW quadrant of the island.  About a 5 minute walk, and we'd hit Kamaole Park III:

The swimming and snorkeling were unbelievable.  My first day there, Daan and I went on a morning run-swim-run along the beach.  I couldn't believe how many tropical fish and different types of coral I saw during the swim portion...more often than not, I stopped swimming just so I could glimpse down into the ocean before starting to swim again.

Daan had to work on the weekdays, so Matt and I spent our days under the sun.  I flew my parafoil kites on the beach, went for swims, snorkel sessions, and sat by the pool and polished off a few books.  We also spent the mornings walking around Kihei, discovering food (FISH TACOS!) and finding gifts for Matt's family (I am a terrible person and brought nothing home for anybody).

My days generally went:

1. wake up
2. run/swim
3. explore Kihei
4. lunch
5. nap (I'm pretty sure I took more of these over the week than I have over my entire life)
6. spend time at the beach or the pool
7. dinner
8. funsies
9. sleep

On the weekend, we ventured out to Lahaina to check out Maui's only microbrewery.  They had connections to Colorado's own Oskar Blues, so we had a good chat with our bartender.

The most memorable taster was the Black Pearl, a porter aged in rum barrels.  It was dark and syrupy, and kicked like rum.  Overall, delicious.  After the tasters, we wandered around Lahaina before catching the sunset on the beach.

We also spent time at Haleakala National Park.  Given our short time there and the insanely treacherous drive from Kihei, we had to choose between the top of the volcano (10,000 ft elev.) and the oceanside coast.  Since we have tall peaks in Colorado, we decided to spring for the coast.

The drive took 2-3 hours one way, and a decent chunk of it was on narrow, unpaved, windy roads.  We passed probably every possible biome during the drive.

At times, it looked like we were going to drive into the ocean.

...or off a cliff.

Daan and the car were troopers.  We finally arrived at our destination: the Pipiwai Trail to Waimoku Falls.  While it was a short 4 mi out-and-back (8 mi total), there were tons of off-shoot exploration opportunities.  The hike dominated our afternoon.  There were mango trees everywhere, and we indulged in some hand-picked snacks.

Within the first few minutes of the trail, we were greeted by gorgeous views.

"boys will be boys":

Almost at the end of the trail, there is a non-native bamboo forest.  It's insane, and shades the entire trail up to the top.

The trail ends at Waimoku Falls.  Obligatory group shot, followed by obligatory panoramic shot.

On our way down, we took a peak at O'heo Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools).  We ate our lunch there, and then participated in some cliff-jumping.  This was my first cliff-jump, and I was pretty darn scared...but it was so much fun!

Many thanks to Daan for putting up with me and Matt for seven days.  We had a blast, and it was hard to leave.  I'll definitely be returning.