NOLA: Bow Up On It!

The Crew!

A few other LHO-ers (LIGO Hanford Observatory-ers) & I, ventured down to Louisiana for a week of work at our Livingston site. Betsy, Jody, & Hugh worked on Advanced LIGO Suspension work, while Mike & I did some Seismic Isolation commissioning (or atleast we tried). At the end of our week, we ventured down to NOLA (that's New Orleans, LA).

Galatoire's Revisited: The Radkins Experience

While in New Orleans, we stayed right off the French Quarter, and hit Bourbon Street. We tromped around the music-filled, strip-club-clad, drunk-person-inducing blocks for a few hours. We stopped at the Crescent City Brew Pub for a nice meal. Our first choice was Galatorie's, but apparently we were a little too disheveled to be allowed to occupy their establishment. (It's ok. We snapped a few shots of Hugh standing in front of the place---he had been there when he was a kid and was reminiscing about it.)

A Nice Looking Bunch

All in all we had a nice time hanging out in NOLA. Everybody except for me had to get up at the crack of dawn to catch a plane....I, luckily, arranged to have an afternoon flight (but even that ended up being a little early for me! Oh well, planes are meant for sleep anyway!) :)

Is This A Corgi?

Galatoire's & Bourbon

Post Script:
If you're like me, you might not know what the slang in the title means: "Bow Up On It". It's a southern term which roughly means to "get 'er done". You can also flex your arms (body builder-style), and I guess that also looks like a bow. Anyway, it's new to me.

Wish I Were In DC

I would have liked to have made it to D.C. today, but alas, I was on travel and working in Louisiana (but I sported my well-worn Obama shirt). I was working in the Control Room, and it would have been nice to have been able to watch the Inauguration on TV, but we're in Louisiana, and some people are just sore losers & sad little people. So, I got to listen to the inauguration and watch it online, and that did just as well.

A Beautiful Family

Watching From Space (click on photo to get bigger view)

Superheroes

Snow Shoeing The Blues

Blue Trail Is Final Trek Down Mapped By GPS (click to see bigger image)

For a second weekend in a row, managed to make it up into the mountains and onto the snow. This weekend's activity: snow shoeing. Now I've had snow shoe's for a few years, but I've only managed to use them a measly two times before. So, they still needed a proper breaking in. Luckily, we now have a sort of "snow shoe crew". With that, we had been making plans to get out there for a workout in the snow and this past weekend we made it.

Leaving a cold, cloudy, and depressing Tri-Cities, we made our way eastward to the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington, by way of Dayton. This is a familiar and favorite drive of mine, although most of my experience of the drive is during the summer when I'm fly fishin' the Touchet.

The Fellowship (sorry to get all nerdy!)

So we made our way to a Sno Park area just before the Bluewood Ski Resort. Here we followed a groomed trail (Forest Service Road) into the woods. This is where our epic journey began...our Fellowship of the Snow Shoe.

The Infamous Orange Gloves

We were graced to have some really excellent weather. Once we got up into the mountains, the gloominess of the weather below gave way to some really nice and sunny weather. We clearly observed a temperature inversion on this trip. The weather seemed to get better the higher up we went.

We hiked a mile or so along the groomed trail. On this trail, there wasn't too much need for the snow shoes since the snow was compact and hard. To really feel the benefits of the snow shoes you have to go off-trail. We ultimately decided to go off trail and head up a ridge to see what we could see.

Photo Ops

Ready To Hit The Trail Again

We booked it up and at the top we were greeted by an excellent view down into some valleys (one of which is called Green Fly Canyon according to Google Earth). There was also another groomed trail up here. We had a quick break here, had snacks, and snapped some photos. We then continued on the trail/road west-southwest. We talked about how we were Lords-of-the-Rings-ish with our crew hiking through the wilds of WA. Had the hardest time trying to remember the Lord of the Rings theme song, too. We eventually caught back up to the original trail we were on.

The Misty Valley

We booked it up and at the top we were greeted by an excellent view down into some valleys (one of which is called Green Fly Canyon according to Google Earth). There was also another groomed trail up here. We had a quick break here, had snacks, and snapped some photos. We then continued on the trail/road west-southwest. We talked about how we were Lords-of-the-Rings-ish with our crew hiking through the wilds of WA. Had the hardest time trying to remember the Lord of the Rings theme song, too. We eventually caught back up to the original trail we were on.

Lunch

This is where we heard/saw our first fellow snow shoe-ers of the day. They were a ridge away from us and they were a big group (about 14 or so). They walked by and we waved at eachother. We then decided to start heading down (I used my iPhone's gps to mark this final descent). This was a cool part of the trip because we were making our own path (no groomed trails), and it was also downhill most of the way.

Here we decided to head back along the ridge-line trail and see where it went. Nic also ate a big chunk of snow. We approached a "Road Closed" sign and decided to break for a quick lunch.

Jammin' Downhill

Trying Not To Eat It

Cyrus Skiing Down

We didn't know exactly where we were at this point, but we had an idea. Most of the time, we could catch glimpses of the Bluewood ski lifts. After a while, we then saw and "heard" the paved road. So, we were lucky and happed the ridge which just happened to drop us off fairly close to our vehicles.

All in all we had a pretty good workout. This will hopefully be the beginning of many more adventures in the Blues.

Notes:

• Trip Distance: 4.16 miles
  
• Starting Elevation: 4265 feet
  
• Lunch Break Elevation: 5085 feet
  

Crosscountry At White Pass

This past Sunday (1/11/09), Justin G. and I were Cascade-bound. We drove from the Tri-Cities up toward the mountains so we could get some cross-country/nordic skiing in. We ended up stopping in Naches, WA at the Little Red Schoolhouse to pick up some rental equipment. For a whole set-up it was only $10 (+$1 for insurance). This is the place I went to about 8-years ago to pick up my first rental, and its still as cool as ever. They had some used gear, but no boots in my size. I looked at skis for a little while, but I was too excited to get up into the mountians. Once we were equipped we headed up to White Pass. Our destination--the groomed Crosscountry Trails at White Pass.

Nice Cozy Yurt

Since were skiing between Thurs-Sun, we had to buy a Nordic Pass to use the trails. It was only $11 (so total for skiing was $22---not too bad). We then hit the trails. Once again, within seconds I determined I didn't know how to ski downhill---due to falling a few times. Once on the flats or on uphills, I was able to fly. That's generally how I am with sports---I may not be elegant or techinially-proficient, but when it comes to physical stuff, I am fine.

Ready To Go

For groomed trails, there is generally two tracks, with an open/free-style area in the middle. I did a little be of everything, but tried to do the freestyle more. I wasn't able to "skate" with my skis, but I was able to move alright. Crosscountry skiing is a laborius sport, and I was sweating within minutes! All in all, Justin and I tackled just about all the trails, and we did it within 1.5-2hrs (this was about 6.5-miles). We only had one casualty (other than falling tons of times on the downhills), and that was the loss of Justin's waterbottle.

Justin Makin' Tracks

Justin Tucked In For The Downhill

Once we finished our loop of the entire course, I still felt like a workout, so I opted for one more go-around. Justin hung out in the cozy Nordic Center yurt. I started off amitious and fast, but within a mile or so, I became pooped! I kept going. I ended up doing most of the loop we did earlier in the morning (except for the Dark Meadows Loop on top). Overall, I think I clocked in about 11-12 miles!

Felt very tired and fulfilled after the workout. Justin and I treated ourselves to some tasty brews and burgers in stinky Sunnyside at Snipes Mountain Brewery. It was a good day (and hopefully the start of many more while the snow is here!).

Justin also blogged about our day and provided some GPS stats and more pictures. His entry is here.