For a break from all the text, go to my flickr collection to see photos from the first day of San Jose 2007.

Labels: church, photo, San Jose 2007

Well, as I said earlier, I'm done with my bicycling journey. Yesterday morning I took the train from San Francisco to San Jose, and I've already been to my first delegate meeting. But more about that later. I've got ten days of biking to report on! Let's take it day by day:

Thursday, 21 June

Dave and I were supposed to leave the Willamette Valley bright and early this morning, after meeting in Portland, OR and spending the night at the home of Josh Miller, a mutual friend from EMU days. Then, getting into Portland on the 20th, I got a call from Dave - he'd had a flight delay break up his travel from Washington, DC to Portland, and he'd be a whole day late. Fortunately, Josh was good enough not only to put up with me for an extra night, but to show me around Portland all day, including its fantastic Japanese Garden. Dave didn't arrive till 0300 the next morning!

Friday, 22 June

We slept in late (or I did; Dave had jetlag to work out) and Josh drove us down to the coast, cutting off the day's travel we no longer had time for. Leaving a bit after noon from Lincoln City, OR, we biked the first 71.7km (44.5mi) to Beachside State Park, where we spent the night. Good news: many Oregon (and California) state parks have campsites reserved for cyclists and hikers, available at a much lower rate.

Saturday, 23 June

Our first full day: 123.0km (76.4mi) south on U.S. 101 to the Bluebill campground in Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. The scenery was spectacular - we saw sea lions and Brandt's Cormorants at a series of caves along the coast. I was soon tired of being passed by the endless line of RV's that filled the highway, though. We met up with two girls who were also on a long ride, theirs from Seattle to San Francisco, and ended up splitting the more pricey U.S. Forest Service campsite with them.

Sunday, 24 June

Kind of a rough start to the day; we woke up to the tail end of a light rain shower, and then, not three miles into the ride, my rear tire went flat. We made 122.5km (76.1mi) to Humbug Mountain State Park, where a dinner of fresh shrimp and scallops we found in the nearby town of Port Orford went a long way to making things better.

Monday, 25 June

We made poorer progress today; while coasting down a hill a little north of Brookings, OR, I paid for abusing my brakes with a major blowout in my front tire. Till Dave hitchhiked to the nearest bike shop for a replacement tire and we got back on the road, we'd lost almost half a day. The sunset at Harris State Park, where we finished the 82.8km (51.4mi) ride, was pretty spectacular.

Tuesday, 26 June

The day started cold and misty, and mostly stayed that way. We crossed the border into California early in the morning, and by early afternoon were off the 101 on a scenic alternative route through Redwood State/National Park. It's been more than a year since I'd last seen Sequoia sepervirens, and it was powerfully refreshing to coast through cool avenues of giant trees. We finished at Patrick's Point State Park, 134.4km (83.5mi) from our start.

Wednesday, 27 June

From the start of the trip I'd said to Dave that I wanted to try and bike 100 miles, a century, at least one day of the trip. This day we woke up early and Dave made me put my bike where my mouth was. We split from the 101 again and followed the road inland through dairy country, then up into the mountains and onto Avenue of the Giants, which runs through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, and emerged, almost at sunset, at a park in Benbow, CA. Although I was definitely at my limit, we'd ridden 188.6 kilometers - 117.2 miles!

Thursday, 28 June

After the long day, we took a shorter one, which was fortunate, since the route took us away from the 101 for good, and onto California Route 1, which wound up over the highest climb of the trip and back down to the coast. It was slow going, but it felt great to end the day in the little beach-access town of Cleone, where MacKerricher State Park is. Total distance: 99.5km (62.0mi).

Friday, 29 June

A longer day through easy-riding country (rolling hills, farmland, and little coastal towns) took us to Salt Point State Park, an area of dwarfed conifer forest right on the coast. Four days after my blowout, my new tires still hadn't had a flat. Distance: 131.1km (81.5mi).

Saturday, 30 June

And now we had only a short day's ride down the last stretch of coast before San Francisco. A quick 110.0km (68.4mi) took us through Bodega Bay and past Point Reyes National Seashore to Samuel P. Taylor State Park, in the distant suburbs of San Francisco.

Sunday, 1 July

Journey's end, just about. A short morning ride of 54.8km (34.0mi) took us through the northern suburbs of San Francisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge. We made it to First Mennonite Church of San Francisco only by the end of the Sunday service, but in plenty of time to sing Old Number 606 as a benediction and join the welcoming congregation for a potluck fellowship meal. We spent the day seeing the city, and slept at the San Francisco MVS house.

The next morning, I took the train to San Jose (Dave got up earlier to bike it), registered at the convention center, and attended my first delegate meeting in sweaty track pants and my only clean shirt, the San Jose 2007 t-shirt I got when I registered. My luggage arrived after the delegate session.

Which brings us to today, the first full day of the convention. It's just starting, and I need breakfast. More later!

Labels: biking, photo, San Jose 2007, summer, travel

Just like last year, the first serious snow of the year blanketed Moscow at the end of Thanksgiving break. It's cold. Plowing is apparently not much of a priority in Idaho, but if things continue like last year, this'll be mostly done with by Christmas time.

Labels: nature, photo

My big weekend activity has been staining the pine coffee table roommate Noah and I built about a year ago. At the last apartment, there wasn't really space outdoors where I could let the table sit and dry between coats - in the new place, there's room on the driveway to put down a tarp without blocking traffic. The stain is "cherry," and it's turned out a bit redder than I'd expected, but it does seem to improve with each coat. There're three so far, and I might go for another if I have the time today.

Labels: photo

Classes start up again tomorrow, but there's a last respite this weekend - the National Lentil Festival across the state line in Pullman. The centerpiece of the whole affair is a giant bowl of lentil chili. By the time I got over to the Festival Friday night, though, the giant bowl was already empty.

Labels: photo

I've just spent a week in Glacier National Park, and I have the photos to prove it. My roommate Noah put the whole thing together, planning a week of day-length and longer trips for the two of us and three of his friends from Boston, who flew out just for the trip. The images speak for themselves, I think - we saw some spectacular sights. I missed out on two awesome day hikes due to crappy footwear (never spend less than $100 on shoes you plan to use for carrying a 30-pound pack more than 10 miles), and photos from those days, plus additional images of the places I was able to get to, will be on Noah's Webshots page pretty soon, I think.

Labels: nature, photo, travel

I've just finished the first full day of Evolution 2006, and I'd say it's been a great trip so far. I took the train from Lancaster to Manhattan Thursday to spend the day in Central Park and at the American Museum of Natural History, where I saw a fantastic fossil collection (photos when I've got more bandwidth available on flickr) and an excellent presentation by Sean Carroll. I spent most of the next day wandering Manhattan, too; the conference officially started today. Chris Smith, Will Godsoe, and I presented our work on Joshua tree this morning, and it was pretty well recieved if I do say so myself. Now I can relax for the rest of the conference.

Labels: photo, travel

As Douglas Adams once wrote, "It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the phrase, 'as pretty as an airport.' " I'm getting a tour of airport ugliness this week while flying east to Evolution 2006 on Long Island. Right now I'm detouring to visit the folks in Lancaster, and also to buy clothing and toilettries to replace the contents of the duffel bag I left on an Amtrak train on my way from the airport in Baltimore to Lancaster. So I'm not feeling very sanguine about the national transportation grid at the moment. My photo-essay on the ugliness of terminals is here. Expect it to expand as the week goes on.

Labels: photo, travel

Just posted some new photos from a mini field trip I went on yesterday morning with Olle, my advisor. My new camera's "super-macro" function works pretty well, it turns out.

Labels: nature, photo, science

I had some bandwidth left over for this month, so I've uploaded a couple more photos from my semester in the Middle East.

Labels: photo