Cougar Mountain

After the first half mile, I was having serious regrets about suggesting a hike this Saturday. The morning had been sunny and clear while we stayed at home dutifully working, but the afternoon skies were turning grey. I was also missing a lot of the scenery because I was concentrating on stepping around the larger rocks and various puddles on the path. The "caves" were supposed to be about a mile into the park, so I kept going (except for those occasional breaks every .2 miles when we came to yet another trail crossing and I had to pull out the map to be sure we were still going the right way).

Then we reached another trail marker. I pulled out the map again. "We're getting close - the cave is supposed to be on the left side." We passed a fenced off area, some enormous trees, a few other Saturday afternoon hikers, and then we came to the next trail marker. "We passed it."

Upon further examination, we decided that this was the cave:



So we continued on, through the rain. There were a few places where we absolutely had to leave the path just to make it past the mud and water. I got a very dubious look when I decided to photograph this "mud puddle".



It will look very different when all those sticks are covered in green leafiness again. We also paused a few times to take pictures of ourselves on the trail.



We returned along the Wildside trail, making a loop back to the trail head. In fact, there are so many trails you could make many unintentional loops quite easily. About 200 yards from the trail head we found a display about the coal mining in the area. There we discovered that our "cave" could really be called a "cave in" because it is where the ground has collapsed into the mine workings below, causing a pit in the ground. The pits are not very obvious, especially since they are covered with many years of vegetation and because there are tons of ups and downs along the sides of the trail. There was a large path leading downward by the mining display - the broad green ramp led to a concrete wall blocking off any access to the old coal mine. There was also a nifty little mining cart display.



I can't think of a nifty conclusion to this post, so

Why haven't I blogged lately?

There's not a really good answer. I've had time to watch a movie or two, to play some computer games and to fill up the yard waste barrel nearly every week. I guess I just don't have anything specific to write about, so I write nothing.

Instead, I'll just ramble.

A friend at work just bought the Kindle 2. He brought it to work and let me play with it a bit. On the plus side it is lightweight and thin, it has good resolution, you can change the text size up and down, you can shop for new books right from the Kindle itself, and it keeps track of your place in each book you're reading. On the minus side the screen is pretty small compared to the overall size of the Kindle, it doesn't show as many words per page as a normal paperback book, you can't really read it in direct sunlight, the little button you use for navigation is way too tiny and awkward, the response to a click of the button is so slow that is caused my friend to accidentally buy a book he didn't want (you can cancel right after you buy it so that turned out okay), and you can't just flip through the pages of a book to find something quickly. I guess it's not for me. The Kindle also will read a book out loud - this could cut into the audio book market, unless you're like me and you really love the voice of the reader for the Harry Potter series.

I had a real treat this week on a video chat with my niece - HOORAY! I loved watching her dance. She even drew me a ballerina - her sketch could turn into the future ballerina potato-head! And I got to talk to my sister, which doesn't always work out because we both tend to be so busy that we just get 5 minute chats most of the time.

I activated my new work cell phone. I am now on an AT&T business plan, so I can no longer call most of my friends and family except for nights and weekends. But I can still text, within some limits. I don't like the new plan, but I love my new phone. The sound quality is a lot better than my old phone, and I like having a camera so I can set my own background images. The downside is that it doesn't have a normal headphone jack - I have to use a wireless headset.

And my mom just called to let me know that she drove all the way out to Safeway to find out that I had already used the gas discount. Oops. She never used to fill up at Safeway. And 70 cents off per gallon was really really nice.

Things I've taken pictures of lately:

My Valentine:


The Car:


Flowers (from my yard) and a Tree (not in my yard)

Want a Present?

I saw this idea on my friend's blog. Here is the deal: The first five people to comment on this post will get something made by me. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

-I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
-What I make will be just for you.
-It'll be done this year (by the end of 2009).
-You have no clue what it's going to be. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
-I reserve the right to do whatever I want!

The catch? Oh, the catch is that I'd really like it if you re-post this on your own blog and offer the same deal to 5 of your own lucky blog readers (I do not demand this). So, the first 5 people to leave a comment telling me they are in, win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! The definition of FAB-U-LOUS is really up to me too. Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it.

Please make sure I can tell who you are so you can get your present.