TravelingMel

Do you like beer? Of course you do; it's delicious. I'm an IPA gal, myself. Hold on while I run to the fridge....

...dang, no beer.

Oh well, I'm sure some will show up later this week.

Last fall I wrote a story for MSU's Mountains & Minds magazine about beer. Actually, it was about barley and the journey it takes from research field to ale.

I don't post most of the stories I write, but this one was really fun. Grab yourself some suds and stumble on over here.

Click the arrow pointing left (on the right side of the tool bar) until you get to page 44. Use the magnifying glass to make it bigger. Drink up.

A few weeks ago my friend Shannon (and her friend, Leslie) came for a visit. They are on a five week roadtrip. Mostly they are climbing, but they also get in a little hiking and a whole lot of having fun.

Leslie and Shannon. Look how cute they are!

Shannon and I met years ago (1995) when my boyfriend at the time was working at an outdoor school in Georgia. I went out to visit him and met Shannon. I thought she was super great, but didn't see her again except for briefly at a wedding the following summer.

Flash forward to early 2002. I am walking around a store in Bozeman and hear my name. (You can see where this is going...) It was Shannon. We had both just moved to Boz Angeles and started hanging out. We became great friends. Then she moved away...

We met up in Jackson a few winters ago and skied, but it's been too long and I miss her. So, I was very excited that she and Leslie (who is also great!) spent a couple nights with us.

We hung out here, went for a hike and went out to dinner. That's more than I've done in a long time.

You can check out a bunch of pictures on their blog (scroll down a bit to see the Livingston visit).

Here I am living vicariously through them. A five week roadtrip??!!! Lucky girls.

I took a long weekend and flew out to Stockton, California to visit my friend Jen. Jen and I were roommates my first semester of college at Humboldt State. It was Jen's sophomore year (she's always been older and smaller) and she was in the National Student Exchange program from U of Montana in Missoula.

We hit it off right away, and even though I left the next semester to work at Outdoor School, we stayed close. We spent a summer in Sequoia National Park working as cave guides and then I did the exchange program and spent a year in Missoula.

We used to hike, ski, backpack and be hilarious together. Now we both have kids so we mostly sit around.

I thought it was time for Jen and I to spend a little quality time together so I flew out to Stockton to visit her. (If you are thinking that Stockton is the foreclosure capital of the country, do not be alarmed. Jen's lovely home is not in foreclosure.)

Jen is now married (almost 10 years!!!) to James and they have 2 super cute girls--Caitlyn (8) and Sophia (5.5).

After Jen picked Finn and I up at the airport we went straight to a Nature Conservancy area that I forgot the name of. Maybe she will be so kind as to write the name in the comment section. We walked around and I soaked in the warmth and all the greeness.

Lots and lots of burls. Each one of those round things was created when an insect laid its eggs and infected the tree. As a response, the tree grew around the insect babies to protect itself (an unwittingly feed and protect the babies).

Jen hiking down the trail. I took lots of photos of Jen because you never see her in her own family photos. Someone had to show the world what it was missing.

Leaves (actually leaflets) of 3, let it be.

Orange engine picture for Anders.

Oaks under a bridge.

Jen examines an interpretive sign about invasive plants.

Train bridge picture for Anders...and you!

Buttercups.

You have to admit that's a nice photo.

Wetland

California poppy. It's the state flower, don't you know?

Lupines of America.

Jen in the visitors center. Or the "VC" as we like to call it.

Finn learning things in the VC.

He's pretty cute in California.

Jen demonstrates how to wear antlers properly.

Then we went back to her beautiful house, had lunch and tried to get Finn to take a nap (yeah, right).

James' sister, Aunt Mandy and her boyfriend Nate were staying there, too. We went for a walk (to get Finn to sleep) had a yummy dinner (Jen is a great cook) and basically hung out.

Saturday morning Jen, Finn and I headed out for an exciting adventure. We went to the Stockton Urgent Care. Finn was not looking too happy and I wanted to deal with anything before we got back on the plane. I recommend avoiding this particular Urgent Care if you are a sane person and would like to remain that way.

Finn had an ear infection and conjunctivitis (don't worry, that's just pink eye). We went to Target where I was thrilled to find out that both of his prescriptions were on the $4 list. I didn't even know there was a $4 list. (I was also secretly glad there was really something wrong and that I wasn't being a crazy, overprotective parent.)

We went to a delicious crepe place to celebrate leaving the Urgent Care and then home for more hanging out and relaxing. Jen made another amazing dinner. I walked Finn around several blocks to get him to sleep.

Are you getting bored of this lengthy retelling, yet? Normally I only post one day's activities per post, so bear with me. Here are some more pictures.

Sunday morning Finn, the girls and I played in the backyard.

Caitlyn and Finn hang out on the swingset.

Jen talking to the girls on the porch.

Sophia and Caitlyn swinging.

Aunt Mandy (James' sister) and Nate

After Aunt Mandy and Nate left to drive back to Bend, Ore., Sophia and I walked around the block a few times to get Finn to sleep then sat on the porch swing (so he would continue sleeping).

Next we went to Moo Moos for lunch and then to a big county park whose name I forget. (Are you sensing a trend here? I was just along for the ride and to try to get Finn to sleep).

While Jen, James and the girls hit the playground, I went for a short walk (everybody join in!) to get Finn to sleep. Once soundly snoozing in the Ergo, I joined them at the playground.

If you look closely you can see the paddle boats across the lake.

Fish are not permitted past this sign. California fish can read, thanks to the superior school systems.

I miss oak trees.

Jen is psyched that I am taking so many pictures of her.

James and Sophia at the park.

Cait on the slidey monkey bar things.

Jen giving Sophia a "start" on the swings, really more of a cheater underdog.

Sofia swinging.

Finn and I swinging. He slept right through it. I left this awesome backpack/frontpack in California and it makes me sad. Now Finn has to ride in a garbage bag.

Jen releases her inner child.

Sophia and Finn hanging out on the couch.

I told the girls they could each paint the toenails on one foot any color they wanted. This is the result.

After the girls went to bed we watched the one reality show I would love to be on--The Amazing Race.

Picture me here.

Monday was my last day in sunny (and surprisingly windy) California. I learned what not to wear by watching a little TV. Finn fell asleep against my leg so I was pretty much stuck in place. Then Jen, Finn and I headed out for pedicures, lunch and an ice cream run.

Our section of the counter.

Jen getting a pedicure. I'm right next to her getting my own. With Finn in my lap, of course. While not as creative as the girls' version, this pedicure did come with a little massage and all the nail polish was on my toenails.

Finn watching the pedicures.

Jen shows off her It's It. You can't get those yummy treats in Montana.

I made Jen buy a whole box for nostalgia's sake. And for my taste bud's sake.

This is a fern Jen and I got for our dorm room in 1991. It has almost died on many occasions, but has always been nursed back to life. We named it "Person". You've heard of a person named Fern, so here is a fern named Person!!! It seemed hilarious when we were 18. And it's hilarious now.

Jen and her Bernese Mountain Dog, Bridger. Possibly the second cutest dog in the world. Definitely in the top 3.

Up close with Bridger.

You might think the next few pictures are at a park or botanical garden, but it is Jen's backyard. I covet it.

Starter plants and pansies.

I'm not jealous that she gardens year round.

And that was it. I got to spend time with Jen so the trip was a success, regardless of the constant Finn managing. Cait and Sophia were so fun to hang out with and get to know a little. I tried to harass James, but he didn't really take the bait.

The flight from SLC to Bozeman was pretty painful for Finn and I. And they lost my bag with the carseat and crib, which was a bit of a bummer. Delta gave me a loaner carseat and Finn had to sleep in our bed, but we survived.

Here is Finn on the flight from Sacramento to SLC (or pre-meltdown).

Finn on the airplane. He gets fuzzy at high altitudes.

Finn loves him some flyin'!

Blogging is time consuming and I want to do some yoga before Finn wakes up tonight, so you'll have to wait for pics from Henry's birthday....

On Tuesday I drove down to Daily Lake in the Paradise Valley to meet up with Cathy Whitlock and her graduate students. Cathy is a paleoecologist at Montana State University. She was also on my committee when I was in grad school in Oregon.

Southwest Montana was looking especially lovely on this sunny day.

Emigrant Peak.

Cathy and her students are used an auger to cut a hole in the ice then lowered the core through 22 feet of water to the lake bottom. Then they spent two days pulling out 11 meters of mud dating back about 16,000 years.

The findings from this lake will be important since it has some of the oldest sediments in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. They hope to find what vegetation first moved into Yellowstone after the last glaciation about 20,000 years ago.

Frozen Daily Lake.

The crew at work.

Pushing the corer into the lake bottom.

It takes a village.

Sliding the mud out.

The cores all wrapped up and ready to be taken back to the lab.

Daily Lake was frozen, of course, and had been polished by the wind that blows constantly across the lake. It was pretty cold during my visit even though it was close to 30 degrees out. The wind was bitter. The day before Cathy et al had been out all day in a blizzard, which sounded brutal.

Lake ice.

The drive home was as pretty as the way down (which makes sense since it was the same drive, only in reverse). I stopped at a fishing access-Mallards Rest--where the river was frozen.

The Absaroka range.

Bluebird box on a ranch fence.

Yellowstone River

The Yellowstone from Mallards Rest.

Hiking with Anders can be downright painful because there is so much standing around. He doesn't want to ride in the Chariot and keeps saying "walk, walk, walk!". Apparently, he doesn't know what "walk" means because as soon as he is out of the stroller he crouches down and starts collecting rocks or scooping.

I have to keep reminding myself of the long term goal: get the boys to love being outside so that one day we can all hike together. Plus, there are so many benefits of outdoor-time.

Last Saturday, Anders, Finn and I took a little day trip into Yellowstone. I chose a service road that leads to Mary Meagher's old cabin since I can't really carry both boys very far and needed to take the stroller.

Mary Meagher was a research biologist who studied bison and lived 6 months of the year "in a crude, remote cabin fetching water from the creek." (The cabin is maybe .5 mile from the road, so it's not that remote. From the outside it doesn't look that crude, either.)

We didn't see any bison in the area, but it definitely looks like good bison habitat. I can imagine living in that little cabin and getting up each morning, making a cup of tea and glassing the hills for wildlife. Seems like a pretty good life, even if you have to get water from the creek.

Since there was firewood stacked outside the cabin, I'm guessing the Park Service uses it for something else now.

It took us about an hour to get to the cabin (the one that is no more than .5 miles from the parking area), but we made it. We spent a little time exploring the area and then headed back. Anders did not want to ride in the stroller, until I suggested he stand up in it. Then he was happy.

We spent about 3 hours on the trail and around the cabin. Since Finn was awake much of that time (strapped into the Baby Bjorn, as usual) and Anders wore himself out, they both slept all the way home.

Finn suits up.

No hike is complete without a scooping device and a container. Anders was all about scooping dirt and snow.

Something pretty to look at while I waited for Anders to scoop.

Mary Meagher's cabin and barn.

Looking up from the scooping.

Lunch break on the cabin porch.

Peanut butter and banana sandwiches courtesy of Henry.

View from our lunch spot. I was really wanting a wide angle lens on this trip, but in lieu of that I did some fancy cropping. Nice, huh?

Looking the other way from the lunch spot.

Anders off trail in the sage. I zoomed in to take this shot, he was way the heck out there. He loves walking off the trail and into the bushes. Until he gets stuck, which is what happened right after this was taken.