foodie adventures

I made bagels!! They were delicious and surprisingly simple to make. They were a big hit in the apartment, so I am definitely making them again.

On Saturday, I went to the Eugene Farmer's Market with Cristiana, Laura, April, Ethan, and Andrew. It was a lovely day, and there were so many beautiful berries!

How can you resist? So, I had to have some--and they are delicious! I also got kale, carrots, blue potatoes, and fresh garlic. Heavy on the veggies this week...fine by me!

Cristiana bought so many mushrooms in preparation for one of her two goodbye parties. She is leaving on Wednesday, and I am very sad to see her leave! I got a flank steak from the Meat Store in Eugene for the party as well.

Today, I went to Bend with Cristiana, Ethan, and Andrew for a food festival--yes, we went all the way to Bend just to eat some food. It was worth it:

• For lunch I had a salmon burrito. For dessert #1 I had a little cup of zesty strawberry sorbetto. For dessert #2 I had a slice of blueberry pie. It was all so very delicious!
• There was a rainbow around the sun! Like a double rainbow but way cooler.

• And the coolest thing that happened today: I saw someone wearing a Colorado College Carnivore Club shirt from Blues and Shoes 2010, and I asked how they happened to have the shirt. Apparently, I was talking to the very first president of CC's Carnivore Club!! Woweee, what a small world! We chatted for a while about the club and how great it is. Mainly how it began as a small little group on campus with no funding, to a growing group of people with a working budget. I was so excited!

Check out the next post for photos from Crisitiana's first goodbye party.

cristiana's party #1

Before we left for Bite of Bend today, Cristiana prepared the dough for her fettuccine, and I prepared the dough for my breads.

Later that day...

The team begins preparations for the party. Here, we see Ari and Andrew preparing ingredients for the vegan carrot cake. And Alex is slicing strawberries.

The flank steak all ready to go! Oh so delicious...my first taste of red meat in too long

Cristiana's fettuccine ready for cooking!

Cristiana and her mushies!

These are a few of my favorite things.

The Dinner Menu:

Salad

Flank Steak

Grilled Pineapple

Vegetables

Fettuccine and Mushrooms

Bread

Banana Bread

Carrot Cake

Strawberries and Whipped Cream

After dinner we played a newly invented game called "Froccer," which is a combination of frisbee and soccer. You get "frocced" when you happen to receive the frisbee and the soccer ball at the same time. When we were tired of being eaten alive by the noseeums, which are the annoying little bugs that torment us every night, we ended the froccing to to the dishes. And a kitchen dance party ensued:

200 feet in the air

Well, today was a great day!

After a monotonous start to the week, today was just what I needed.

And before I show you the greatness of today, I want to catch you up on my life.

Monday--

Back to work: same old same old. I go to the same PC sites everyday. Don't get me wrong--they are all beautiful--but I'm getting a bit bored doing the same thing everyday... So, to spice things up, I walked past my highest points on the 350 road, and went to look at the Sisters because it was a clear day. What a beautiful view!

Moving right along...

Tuesday was a long day. I spend a lot of my day just daydreaming about what I was making for dinner. But before I even made it to dinner, I got really stuck in a precarious situation in my truck. I had to call Terry to come pull me out of my own tire wells...

Oops! But, I'm glad I called for help. A good lesson in humility.

The day ended up good. I ended up making an avocado, goat cheese, tomato, lemon, onion, etc sauce for my pasta. I ate with the bird crew, and traded some sauce for some fish that they were grilling. We also made tin foil dessert (just like in the Redwoods) with bananas, chocolate, and peanut butter. YUM

AND NOW FOR THE BEST PART!!

TREE CLIMBING!!!

The bird crew put data loggers in trees today, and I went by to just watch, but really hoping to get the chance to climb. They spent some time setting up the loggers, and then, Rob (from Pacific Tree Climbing Institute), bird Sarah, and I went up! The tree is called Meltdown Tree, but for events that took place on the ground, unrelated to tree climbing.

I got all harnessed up and strapped in, and I started trucking along up the tree. You climb by moving a pulley up the rope, causing your feet to rise, standing up, and moving another pulley to hoist yourself up. I was climbing pretty fast, and I wasn't really nervous at all. I just enjoyed the views and the climb. It was spectacular!

Me and the ground, far, far below!

a look up into the canopy
Rob, fooling around
bouncing around in the canopy

the Sarahs!


I did get nervous, however, as soon as I took my feet out of the harness to stand on a branch. Rob and I just perched up in the canopy, and looked around at the views of the other tall trees and peaks around us. Also, very cool, there are plants growing up in the canopy called epiphytes: smaller trees sort of grow out of the big tree, and little ferns and moss grow in the soil that magically appears up there. Being up in the tree was very surreal, especially after reading the Wild Trees, it was just a dream to be up there. 200 feet up in an old growth Douglas Fir is a great place to be.


And to top it all off, I just skyped with Rachel, Joey, Chico, and Katie! What a happy day!

mountains and canyons

Well, Oregon seems to have the best of the best. This weekend, I went camping/hiking in central Oregon with Ari and her boyfriend, Alex. I was happy to get my mountains/canyons fix.

On Friday, we were feeling ambitious, and we started our hike up Black Butte at 7pm. We made it to the top in about an hour. Apparently, it is very steep--but it was nothing compared to the Andrews. The views were spectacular:

Fire lookout tower!

And the sunset on the way down blew my mind!

On Saturday we visited the Headwaters of the Metolius, where water comes out of the ground and becomes a river. Very cool:

We also went for a hike in Alder Springs, a nice area with canyons. It reminded me of Utah, but it was much more lush.

I've certainly been doing some gourmet camping lately. In the Redwoods we made tin foil tuna steaks, desserts, and eggs. This past weekend, Ari and I made pesto pasta with chicken sausage and veggies. We also conquered backcountry pancakes (photo to come...).

And this morning, we packed up camp and went to Ari and Alex's favorite breakfast place in Bend: Jackson's Corner. It was delicious:

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Back to work tomorrow!

warm air and cold water

ooops, I forgot to show you all photos of Ari's dessert-fest:

Jealous??

Left to right: Cristiana's cake, Jessica's vegan avocado cake, my amazing cookies.

_____________________________________________________________

Well, it's been warming up at the Andrews lately. It hasn't rained in a while, and the sun has been out every day! It's been very nice to have sun in my life again. But, it is supposed to rain again soon...

I have been tooting along with my project. I really like being outside, and seeing how the plants progress over the days. I helped the bird crew with their insect pulse today, and I will be doing that again tomorrow. It's kind of annoying to have to go to the same sites 3 days in a row, but one the other hand, it's nice to know exactly where all of my study plants are, so I have a system when I get to each site. I can "inspect" a site in anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes.

I got sooo hot today because I was wearing my rain pants because I still have to sew up the hole in the crotch of my pants (note to self...), and it was sunny and warm. So, when I got back from working in the woods, I went swimming in the reservoir with April. It was pretty cold, but also very refreshing. We sunned ourselves on some rocks after we were done. It was lovely.

I went carb-crazy today and made a baguette and tortillas.

Ari went home last weekend, and brought back 6 (yes 6) different kinds of honey. So we had a honey smelling and tasting session. DELICIOUS.

Going camping this weekend with Ari, not sure where yet. I'll be sure to take photos and tell you all about it.

redwoods etc.

Hello!! It's been a while...

I WENT TO THE REDWOODS last weekend with the bird crew AND IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL, AND THE TREES WERE SO BIG AND OLD, AND THE OCEAN WAS REALLY REALLY COLD. Here are some photos:

Me and the "Big Tree"

Lunch on the beach
April and tin foil dessert, YUMYUMYUMMMMMYYYY
Do you see me???
April saying hello to the big tree

It was a marvelous trip, and I can't wait for some more adventures!!

The Andrews filled up on Sunday. The first floor of my building is full, and my apartment has 2 free beds at the moment. A big change from when I was 1 of 6 people here...There are two guys in my apartment from University of Richmond, so it's nice to have two people my age to converse with.

On Monday, I went to the Pizza Research Institute in Eugene. It was some nice therapy after a terrible Travel Clinic doctor stuck me with a Yellow Fever vaccine. Also, grocery shopping is like therapy for me...gotta be careful.

Today, I started my second round of data collection! I saw a few bugs here and there, but the highlight of my day was seeing this beauty at PC1:

A Pacific Tree Frog, three cheers!!!!!!!!!

And I had a camera!! It was some sort of miracle!!

Ari neglected to tell us that her birthday was last week, so Cristiana, Jessica (new arrival, but old friend), and I have been baking up a storm. I made some cookies (same as I made before, here's the recipe). Cristiana is making her famous pie. And Jessica is making (drum roll please) a (vegan) avocado chocolate cake. Here's that recipe, you know you want to make it.

the PULSE

Last night, a film crew came to the Andrews. They are in the process of making a film about Oregon for a broadcasting company in South Korea. The lady, Miyoung, who is coordinating the project, stayed in our apartment last night. She came in with pizza and wine, and she was very peppy! She gave me her business card and told me to friend her on facebook, and to call her if I was ever in Seattle or Portland, and that she would take me to dinner. She was the cutest. The film crew was here to film the forest and talk to the people here about the many many projects going on here.

So, the PULSE:

A bunch of people came out to the Andrews today for the Pulse. Things went much more smoothly than I thought they would...though it was still very much a clusterfuck. Sarah (the other one), with whom I was working, tweaked her back at the first point we went to. She looked really uncomfortable, and like she was in a considerable amount of pain, but she was still WAY faster than me. Even on bird point 55, which is as steep as I've seen at the Andrews, she was to the truck at least a whole minute before me.

Oh, and I may have damaged some logs that are a part of a 200-year decomposition study...oops!

It was a nice day (thank goodness) for the Pulse; it didn't even rain! The sun is out more often now, and I get to see blue sky every day. WOOOHOOO about time! I think Colorado spoils me...

After we all had a celebratory piece of pizza, watermelon, and chips and guacamole, a few of us tossed around a frisbee. I spoke with Sherri (not sure exactly who she is...) about my project. It seems that I may add a little side project examining the difference in results from two methods of insect counting: leaf-turning and bush-beating.

I also went with Jay to the top of road 1507 to fetch the snowmobile. It was a beautiful spot!! And I had my camera:

Patch of old growth (the scrappy-looking, but beautiful trees) among a younger stand of trees

Tidbits peak

April (bird person) asked if I would like to join her and some others from the bird crew in the Redwoods for the weekend. So I am going to see giant redwoods this weekend!! So, in preparation, I did laundry, I made cherry raisin chocolate oatmeal cookies, etc.

We have a big drive tomorrow! I'm sure I will take lots of photos!!

trial run, trail run

Today was a day of driving all around the Andrews visiting 6 of my 8 study sites (2 of them are still covered in snow!). I got to drive a truck (!), which was difficult because my legs were too short to reach the gas pedal (I couldn't move the chair). And there are a lot of potholes and sharp curves, and steep cliffs... The day started out rainy and wet, but the sun came out in the end. Some highlights:

• a deer!
• monster slugs curled up like cats curled up in the sun
• newts
• driving around and seeing new stuff
• independence
• sun and blue sky

But the best part is the fact that now I am actually seeing the progression of the phenophases of the plants! I know, n3rdy!

So, when I go to the sites, I locate each study plant, and I identify the stage of development (phenophase) of the plant--in terms of vegetation and reproduction. A lot of the plants I saw today had buds that were just breaking open! I also examine the plant for insects--there is a specific protocol for this so that I don't have to look at the entire plant. I saw 2 caterpillars (on separate plants), a cicada (?), spiders, aphids, beetles, etc. Supposedly, the bugs will really be out in a week or so...can't wait!

When I got back to HQ, I had lots of mail!! Cherries and tea from home, a letter from Leah, and photo prints! I also had a lot of emails from the study abroad office (I am studying in Ecuador in the fall). And lots of emails from Mami, who is doing a lot for me (LOVE YA!) because I need shots and stuff to go abroad blah blah blah.

I made bread. The dough was a bit runnier than usual, but the bread turned out just great. I'm getting good at this! Anna (new apartment-mate) boiled her rice while it was still in a plastic bag! I'm not sure I understand her ways...

Ari got back from her day, and we went on a lovely run on the other side of the reservoir. There are a bunch of campsites over there, which will get busy in the next few weeks. It was a good, fast run.

Ari and I also talked a little about whether or not the Pulse is a good way to get a snapshot of the forest, especially the Andrews. Even with my high-frequency sampling, weather is a huge variable, not just over 3 days, but within one day (for example, today there was rain, drizzle, sun, and wind at different points over the day). The Pulse is on Wednesday this week, so I'll see then how it works in action, but right now it seems pointless. And I don't really see how my method (high-frequency) is anymore efficient or feasible. We shall see my friends, we shall see.

misty

The weather (do I talk about this too much?) had been nice for three days, so it was about time that we had some clouds and rain today.

Cristiana is gone :( she is traveling with her husband right now, and she will be back in about a week. Here are some photos from our last cooking fest:

She made one of her pies...it was gone the next day...

And I made pitas! they turned out really well

Today, I did a lot of work to prepare for tomorrow because I AM DOING A TRIAL RUN!! Wooohooo finally getting it going! After many emails back and forth, I have a subset of 8 points to visit tomorrow. Only 3 of them are tagged and flagged, so tomorrow is sure to be a long long day because I have to do a lot of extra work! And about half of the points are ones that I have never been to, so I should have a lot of fun finding those... But it's a trial run so it's ok.

Today, as I got ready to go on a run, it started raining...but the mist after the rain was nice:

This is the first photo I have taken of the headquarters. You can see Roswell Ridge (left) and Rainbow (right) dorms.

Rough-skinned newt!

I almost forgot!! A bunch of new people arrived at the Andrews! They are loud, and I haven't met any of them yet. ALSO, I have a new apartment-mate: Anna. She is from Latvia, and I'm not sure why she's here, but she's only here for 3 (!) days. She made a fishy (literally and figuratively) smelling soup. She also started complaining about the weather and the lack of storage space in the kitchen the moment she got here. More on this later...

"Beauty is whatever gives joy." Edna St. Vincet Millay