blog.tedski.net

09 Aug 2007

The Last Stretch

Well, I think we may have worried a few people when we never finished off the blog for the last two days of our trip. Just to set the record straight, we arrived safely and on schedule. Nothing eventful or remotely life-threatened prevented us from finishing the blog – just plain ol’ laziness (we have had just a few things to attend to since we arrived). Frankly, we were both so anxious to simply ARRIVE and begin the process of moving in, getting settled, getting oriented…that the blog fell off the map for us. Almost two weeks later, we’ve finally begun to settle into some kind of a routine, so allow me to fill you in on the final two days of our trip.

We arrived in Chi-town sometime after 9:00 and located our hotel with parking garage conveniently (or so we thought) attached. As you can imagine, being on the road for so many days, with any of our possessions we were uncomfortable entrusting with the movers, as well as camping gear, clothes, food, towels, and anything else we anticipated needing up until the movers could be scheduled to deliver our belongings – our car was very full and in somewhat of a disarray. We discover on pulling into the parking garage that this is not the type of place in which you are free to go to your car whenever you please. The garage had huge elevators which would transport your car away until you were ready to leave - you were granted on “in and out” each day. We spent what felt like half an hour, but which was probably only 10 minutes, sorting through our belongings trying to figure out from the jumble what we’d need for the next 36 hours, meanwhile the parking attendant was waiting impatiently for us to be done.

Exhausted after being on the road since 6:00am that morning, we did not attempt to do anything other than examine the insides of our eyelids for holes that evening. Our hotel – the Travelodge – was somewhat run-down. Our small room was directly across from the elevator bank and level with the L-train outside. In other words, not the most quiet of locations – not that we weren’t prepared to sleep through anything at that point. The one great thing about our hotel, however, was its location. Directly around the corner and across the street was Grant Park and just over the hill was Lake Michigan. In addition, it was possible to see Sears Tower from our window.

We took the next morning slowly – to make up for our hurried sunrise wake-ups and departures of the previous days. As we were preparing to head out the door, Ted realized he’d left his sunglasses behind in the car and I realized I had left a few things behind as well. We entered the parking garage from the hotel lobby to inquire about getting to our car to retrieve these last few items. The parking attendants reluctantly acquiesced, but the one who took the lead at a breakneck pace literally shut the wire elevator door in my face after letting Ted on to take him to the car (apparently I was five steps too slow). He refused to let me in (had already started the elevator) and as the elevator disappeared from view I could only shout up at Ted the one thing I could remember to ask him to get for me in the shock of being so rudely dismissed. Meanwhile, the guy who had accompanied Ted to the car was constantly telling him to “hurry up”, thus foreclosing any efforts to see what else we might want for the day). It was a rather sour start to the day.

After getting a bite to eat at a local students’ café and shaking off the parking garage encounter, we set out to explore Grant Park, working our way toward the famous Shedd Aquarium, where we intended to spend the sweltering hours of the afternoon. As we made our way along the waterfront, we came across a really interesting exhibit – a series of about 6’ diameter “globes” each rendered to convey a different message about environmental consciousness and sustainable development. Each globe was sponsored by a different organization and done by different artists. Some barely resembled globes at all. Below each globe was a placard explaining the message being conveyed and imparting some relevant facts or statistics. One that I recall in particular discussed the City of Chicago’s green rooftops program. Whereas traditional “black” rooftops are a primary cause of a city being much hotter (and thus requiring much more energy to cool) than the areas surrounding it, Chicago has implemented a city-wide program to encourage “green rooftops” – literally rooftops that have been turned into gardens of a sort. The plants not only help to keep the overall temperature down, thus reducing the amount of energy the city consumed for air conditioning purposes, but they also help to clean the air, absorb rainfall, and provided an array of other benefits that are escaping memory at the moment. Check out Chicago’s City Hall pilot green roof project at http://www.asla.org/meetings/awards/awds02/chicagocityhall.html. See also http://www.cityfarmer.org/greenroofs.html. The globes were positioned maybe twenty apart on a walkway along the waterfront – we must have stopped at at least thirty and there were many others that we didn’t see. Anyone planning a visit to Chicago should make it a point to check it out. The exhibit definitely made us think about how we live – the things we already do to be “green” and the ways in which we could stand to improve.

The Shedd Aquarium, other than being literally cool inside, was somewhat of a disappointment. We’d been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium recently, and although the Shedd Aquarium is noted as being one of the largest (as well as more diverse in its exhibits), we both agreed that the Monterey Bay Aquarium was much better. Perhaps there’s just a touch of local bias in that opinion. Aside from being overcrowded (particularly with small children who unfortunately liked to bang on the glass of the exhibits and were not prevented from doing so by the Aquarium personnel), many of the exhibits were poorly lit – in the Rainforest exhibit in particular, the available lighting created such a glare we had difficulty seeing what was on display. Some of the highlights of the Aquarium included an Anaconda (yes, the snake – as part of their rainforest exhibit) which was ridiculously huge, and the beluga whales. A mother beluga had given birth to a calf (”Bella”) about a year prior, and it was definitely heartwarming to see the two swimming together – the baby pretty much attached to its mother’s side.

After the Shedd Aquarium we split a Chicago-style dog as a snack (thumbs up!) and returned to our hotel to freshen up for dinner: some world famous Giordano’s Stuffed Pizza. The pizza was everything we’d heard it to be – and, happily, not a far cry better than the half-baked pizzas Ted and his uncle have had over-nighted from the restaurant to California on a whim in the past (for anyone seeking a taste of Chicago on the West Coast). Be advised that you’re better off seeking a regular crust pizza elsewhere, so don’t bother throwing one into your order for variety - stick with the reason for this place’s fame - the stuffed crust. Our eyes being much bigger than our stomachs (small stuffed crust pizza, small regular crust pizza, zucchini sticks and a salad to split), we both left the restaurant with leftovers, WAY too full to contemplate any other sight-seeing activities for the evening. So, we returned to the hotel to unwind, regroup and attempt to get some sleep for another early start the next day as we embarked on the final leg of our journey.

The next day we got on the road shortly after 6:00 am – bidding farewell to the musty hotel and the rude parking attendants, but an otherwise intriguing City in which we’d undoubtedly spent all too little time. It was a grey, wet departure and remained so for several hours before the sun broke through. Though Ted and I had sworn off fast food for the trip – determined that we could do better – we gave in simply for the sake of efficiency. On our longest day of driving and in our haste to finally arrive, we didn’t feel like wasting any more time than absolutely necessary on eating. There isn’t much else to say about the last leg of the trip. We hit a wild thunderstorm in Pennsylvania just before we reached the New Jersey border in which our visibility was reduced to about 15 feet in front of us for a solid half hour or more. This made the last leg of the journey extra tiring and stressful, even if the lightening displays were spectacular.

We reached 19 Becker Drive at about a quarter to 9:00, tired and relieved to have arrived. In total, we drove roughly 4,000 miles between San Francisco and Sayreville, NJ. Certainly not the shortest most direct route, but given that our 1000 mile detour was the highlight of the trip, I’d say it was well worth it. As we made our way across country, we found ourselves already contemplating our return trip home - this time the southern route - and wondering how we could work in a stop back in Yellowstone, while still making it down to the Grand Canyon. What’s an additional 1000 mile detour? We’ll be sure to keep you in the loop when that time rolls around.

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28 Jul 2007

Plans for Photos

I’ve been brainstorming the best way to handle our plethora of photos. I really want to drop them on a map so I can relate them to the general area where they were taken. I also want to continue with my convention of ‘everyday photos’ go on my Flickr stream and the more ‘artsy and pro’ photos wind up on photo.tedski.net. Right now, what I’m thinking of doing is one big mashup of all the photos onto one Google Map. That way we can include text with them and have them each load in a clickable window on the map. Rather than go back and add them to all of the preexisting maps, I’ll just create one microsite or separate page to contain the big map. Let me know what you think of the idea.

GeekSpeak: I was thinking of doing it via a KML file as one big overlay using Google Maps infoboxes with HTML nested.

28 Jul 2007

Day 6 & Day 7

From Jackson, we headed towards Chicago. It would take us two days to get there with a stop in some small interstate town called Ogallala, NE. I-80 is boring and doesn’t provide us much of a story to tell.

27 Jul 2007

Lessons Learned

We depart Yellowstone with some regret. Two days was simply too short a time to take in the many beauties of the park – although we knew that going into it. The weather’s turn towards thunderheads and rain showers, however, persuaded us that camping yet one more night would not be as nice as the previous two and we certainly couldn’t afford (and likely wouldn’t find vacancy in) the park’s various lodge accommodations. So we continued on the road through the Grand Tetons National Park and on to Jackson, Wyoming where we believed we would be helping to balance our budget by staying in a friend’s father’s “rustic cabin” in town, thus avoiding the town’s overpriced accommodations. Boy, were we wrong.
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27 Jul 2007

Riddle Lake

After we awoke in Yellowstone and broke camp, we were off to Riddle Lake Trail for a hike. I’ll quote a Yellowstone Website’s description:

A classic Yellowstone hike. This trail wanders among lodgepole pines along the Continental Divide. It is unusual terrain—hummocky, yet relatively level. In this indecisive terrain, water stands in sedge-filled bogs before parting either to the Pacific or Atlantic drainages. Riddle Lake is a small lake, partially covered with pond lilies and rushes and, as a result, provides habitat for moose, elk, bears, loons, sandhill cranes, swans, great blue herons, and a variety of ducks. From the lake are beautiful vistas of the Red Mountains and Mount Sheridan.

Riddle Lake once was stocked with fish from the Yellowstone Lake fish hatchery, and the lake was a popular fishing destination. Surprisingly, fish wintered in this small, relatively shallow (27 feet deep) lake and survived long after fish-planting efforts were abandoned. Because it no longer is stocked and because of heavy fishing pressure, however, the lake no longer supports a large fish population. Since the early 1990s, the lake has been closed to fishing.

The first known description of Riddle Lake was written by Frank Bradley of the 1872 Hayden Survey. This “mythical lake among the mountains” was believed by early explorers and hunters to flow to both oceans. It was a riddle to them as to which direction this lake actually flowed. Did it flow to the south into the Snake River or north into the Yellowstone River? The actual outlet is not clearly defined because water percolates and seeps through a marshy area along the northeast shore. The drainage eventually collects and flows to Yellow-stone Lake. This creek was discovered in 1885 by the geological Hague parties. It solved the riddle to Riddle Lake and thus was named Solution Creek.

There wasn’t much wildlife to be seen on the trail the day we hiked. We had hoped to see moose, maybe some more elk, or even a bear from a distance. The hike out to the lake was uneventful. Once at the lake, we spotted two swans out on the lake and some other migratory water fowl. We hung out and skipped rocks on the lake for a few and started to head back. As we dropped into one of the creek basins, we spotted two sandhill cranes nearly as fast as they spotted us. They stand nearly 4 feet tall and have a wingspan of about 6 feet. As soon as they spotted us, they took flight, swooping and calling out as they flew down the meadow. It was quite a sight. We continued on and saw nothing more than a few chipmunks.

The 1988 fire didn’t travel through the area on the ground. It skipped across the tree tops with the winds. You can see evidence of this by the patches of devastation. You’ll be walking through lush forest full of old growth lodgepole pines and then all of a sudden be in a barrren area with 3- and 4-foot tall lodgepoles. Where there is old growth and the forest floor has opened up, spruce are popping up in the shade created by the pine canopy. It is quite amazing to walk through such contrasting areas.

After the hike, we went north to Lake Yellowstone for a quite unexciting lunch. After lunch, we drove straight south to Jackson Hole, where we would encounter a very interesting experience. I’ll let Ellen tell that story.

25 Jul 2007

Catchin’ up

We sure have some catching up to do. Here it is, Wednesday and we haven’t posted from Sunday. We’re actually on the road to Chicago right now, planning to arrive in the next two hours. I’ll catch us up on Yellowstone National Park and Ellen will follow up with a post about Jackson Hole.So, we last left off at the KOA Kampground in West Yellowstone, MT. We woke up that morning nice and early and broke camp. The camp is six miles west of the park entrance, so it was quite easy to get to the park. Just entering the Nation’s first National Park kind of takes your breath away. The scenery doesn’t change much from outside the park, but you can just tell you’re in a different setting. As we entered the park on a sweeping road next to the Madison River, we spotted some elk grazing the grasses near the river. After continuing on, we came across some bald eagles nesting in the trees right next to the road. Eventually we came upon a bull elk sitting in the shade in a lodgepole pine grove. The wildlife was just amazing.As we came over a hill on a twisty wooded road, we came across our first exposure to a thermal area. These are areas of the park that are barren of plant life, but rich with fumaroles, geysers, hot springs, and mud pots along with plenty of bacteria mats. (More info on Hydrothermal Features) We stopped at a few thermal areas and did the small boardwalks around them to check them out. We learned a ton about how the stuff works and the organisms that live in the waters and such. It is amazing to see this landscape contrasting against the cliffs and hills full with pine trees. Then to find out that its actually one big volcanic crater we’re in. Crazy talk!

We finally make our way to Old Faithful and pack up the day pack and strap on our hiking boots. We do an easy two mile hike up and around Old Faithful and over to another geyser called Solitary Geyser and through the pine forests. Old Faithful was quite amazing. It went off about 6 minutes before its predicted time and shot up to nearly 100 feet. After getting doused in some sulfur smelling condensate, we were off on our hike. The hike starts off with a set of switchbacks that gain 800 feet in a half mile. Combine the altitude with the heat and we were quite winded. Once at the top of our elevation, it was a nice calm hike through the pine forest following the mountainside until we reached Solitary Geyser. Solitary Geyser wasn’t always a geyser. It was originally a hot spring until sometime in the 50’s when it was tapped to fill up a swimming pool in the Old Faithful Lodge. When the balance was disturbed, Mother Earth was pissed off and decided that Solitary Springs was now Solitary Geyser. It erupts about every 5 minutes and shoots a mere 7 feet in the air. Still cool to see what happens when you mess with nature’s balance. From Solitary Geyser, the trail looped back downhill and back around to Old Faithful.

We continued southward through the park, admiring the landscape, but not seeing any more significant wildlife. Next stop was Grant’s Village, where we were stopping in hopes of them having an open tent site for us. Turns out, they had 3 sites left and we took the better of the three. After pitching the tent and setting up camp, it was off to the coin operated showers for a nice hot long shower. We grabbed some dinner at a restaurant with a view out onto Yellowstone Lake. Ellen had the prime rib and I had the Bison meatloaf. Good dinner with some awesome service. We finished it off with a nightcap at the restaurant’s bar. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of drinking Laphroaig. After building a nice fire and relaxing over a few Big Sky Summer Honey’s, it was time to turn in. The next day, we’d hike out to Riddle Lake, just south of Grant’s Village.

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