Tag Archives: adventures

Personal Blog

Mammoth Cave Adventure!

What a fun weekend! I love camping.

We got to the park and set up camp with no troubles and saw our first batch of wildlife right off. There were some deer nosing around the trail, and a pileated woodpecker having a fit up in a tree. Pileated woodpeckers are huuuuuuuuuuuuuge. We actually have one of those that used to live in the woods right behind my house. He still comes around now and again, and occasionally pecks on the house to make us think someone is spraying machine gun bullets into our walls.

We also saw a yellow jacket nest in the ground right next to our campsite. It was strange because there were always one or two horseflies milling about near the nest, and occasionally one would wander too close and get its ass handed to him by one of the wasps. I don’t know what the deal was with those horseflies, but I wasn’t about to waltz up and get a closer look at the yellow jacket nest either.

My new tent is quite nice, and for some reason I am very good at sleeping in tents. Sleeping on the floor hurts my chest very badly nowadays, so I was a little worried, but sleeping on the ground was very pleasant and I got a good night’s sleep.

It rained a bit early in the morning, and thundered some. It was nice, though, because the thunder rolled on and on all across the park and the rain pattering on my tent was very lulling. I watched through the mesh of my tent as the daddy-long-legs scurried underneath my rain slick to keep dry. It was a very lazy morning, disrupted only by some turkey vultures screeching and calling on the road near our campsite.

When it stopped raining we got up and prepared a fire for breakfast. I think I need to learn more about different types of fires. The only fire I can build (and I can build it well), is the massive heat-generating “keep this drafty house built in the 1700s warm on the coldest of Connecticut winter nights” fire that I refined while staying with Carleton’s family awhile back. I’d built said fire the night before, and it was a bit much for a summer night. I think it would have been too hot for cooking, so I tried another fire design that apparently wasn’t very good, because we had a tricky time getting it started. If anyone has tips for building a cooking fire, I am listening!

Anyway, once we got the fire going, I made a delicious breakfast on my cast iron skillet. Nothing fancy, just bacon, eggs, and pancakes (the trick to amazing pancakes, I found, is to cook them in bacon grease, but isn’t that the trick to amazing anything?) My brother and sister-in-law were very appreciative, as they’d never had a hot breakfast on a camping trip before, usually resorting to powdered donuts in a box. After the delicious meal, we promptly returned to our tents for a nap.

The cave tour was also awesome. It was hot and muggy out, so the 54 degree cave was a blissful relief (until we exited the cave at the end, at which time the muggy atmosphere was amplified by comparison and it felt like we were walking out into a rainforest). I’m really glad we did the lantern tour, because exploring caves by lantern-light is quite different than a walk-through tour with electric lighting, or scrambly spelunking with a flashlight helmet, which are the two types of caving I am used to. We had a main ranger giving the tour and another ranger following up the group, and occasionally slipping ahead and hiding off the trail, so that when you walked by and held your lantern out to see some area the main guide had just finished telling some spooky story about, he’d be standing there staring at you. GAAAAAH!

Mammoth Cave tours focus a lot on human history, which I am only so-so interested in. I’m much more of a formation/geology person when it comes to caves. Not to say the human history of Mammoth Cave is dull by any means, for example, I had no idea there was a TB hospital inside the cave in the mid-1800s. KIND OF CREEPY A LITTLE. Regardless, Mammoth Cave is GIGANTIC, clearly, with huuuuuuuuuuuge rooms that are quite impressive. However, it is somewhat of an ugly cave, both from the damages of its historical use and from the fact that it has a very strong roof, with a layer of sandstone overtop, so you don’t get many stalactites and stalagmites until you get closer to the surface. As I said, I’m a formation girl, and I think in the end I prefer the smaller yet prettier Marengo caves than the gigantor Mammoth. (My next camping trip is planned already!)

I shouldn’t sound overly picky, though, as I had a great time on the trip and am really glad I went! Plus, there were tiny bats at the end of the cave tour that were so adorable it was worth the 3 mile underground hike. The Tuesday night ballers should really go caving more often.

Personal Blog

Biking

Today is a special day!

This is the first time I’ve ridden my bike to work every single day of the week. I ride my bike to work often, but I’ve never made a straight week for various reasons (rain and storms, illness, having to go somewhere far straight after work, etc.)

On Sunday I noticed the weather was supposed to be good all this week, so I set a goal for myself to ride my bike every day. I have achieved my goal!

I really enjoy biking to work. The mornings are blissfully cool, I’m brave enough to ride on Bardstown road without any problems, the exercise to and from work gives me energy so that I don’t want to crash and take a nap in the evenings, and everyone at work who sees me on my bike treats me like I’m the coolest kid in school (it seems that half the faculty and staff here are environmental nuts and the other half are health nuts). All in all, riding my bike is great.

There is only one thing I dread about biking and which keeps me from automatically riding all the time without question, and that is carrying my bike up the stairs to my apartment at the end of the ride. It’s only 3 flights of stairs, but I have yet to figure out a way to lug the thing up that doesn’t absolutely kill my chest and my hands and my wrists. Nothing’s perfect, I guess.

So, to reward myself for reaching my goal, I am going to go and buy a tent! This is because I’m going camping on Saturday, and my brother and sister-in-law have decided to go (I was initially going to borrow their tent). Camping is exciting! I haven’t been camping since I was a freshman at Centre, and I haven’t been to Mammoth Cave since I was 4, so that’s practically having never been at all.

Have a good weekend, everybody!

Personal Blog

Beaches and Bread

Today we wandered to the beach, where we played with the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific is much more unruly and prone to wrestle than the Atlantic and the Gulf, but it made for fun times.

Then we sat quietly and I dug a hole in the sand all the way to India.

Now I am baking a fresh loaf of bread.

NOTE: Please be aware that I cannot find my phone charger, though I’m almost certain I packed it. Thus, my phone is dead for the moment, so don’t freak out about it.

Personal Blog

Yay tar!

Today Will and I went to the La Brea tar pits. We had to drive straight through downtown Hollywood to get there, which Will was annoyed with, and even drove by the Klasky Csupo studio, which Will was even more annoyed with.

But once we got there, things were quite cool!

It did not smell as heavily of asphalt as one might expect, and the large bubbling lake of tar was super awesome. There were dramatic statues of a mammoth sinking into the lake trumpeting in despair whiles’t a baby mammoth stood on the shore, reaching its trunk out and bellowing “Noooooooooo!” It was a strange touch to a family-friendly park.

I discovered that I have the same physical reaction to tar as I do to oil paint. That is, when I’m in the same vicinity as it, I’m going to somehow mysteriously get it all over me. It was worth it, though, to use a stick to poke at a newly bubbled up tar puddle that they hadn’t put a safety fence around yet. It was so gooey and awesome!

The fossils inside the museum were super-cool! On one wall they have something like 400 dire wolf skulls mounted in a glass display together, and that is of something like 1600 total dire wolf skulls that have been dug up at the tar pits. It was impressive to see them all together, but it gave a rather “holocaust museum” impression upon first seeing it.

I was a big fan of the sloths, the bird skeletons, and the antique bison skeleton. We took some photos, but only managed one or two before the camera battery died. I did some sketches, but only a couple.

It was an awesome place and I’m glad I got to go. HOORAY FOR SCIENCE!

Personal Blog

Visiting Sunny LA

I am in California! Yay for visits!

Visiting Will has been fun times and adventure thus far. I am glad to be here, even though I will miss the Saturday Basketball Extravaganza.

The only downer is that Will’s computer conveniently crapped out just before my arrival, so a certain amount of time is being devoted to getting that up and running. It’s been Murphy’s Law all over the place though. Stupid computer.

Besides that things have been leisurely. I got a drive-by tour and saw some of the studios, and we lazed and swam and went to the grocery store and cooked up a delicious meal.

Today Will is taking me to work with him, so I will get to see the innards of Cartoon Network. Hooray! Tomorrow we are going to the La Brea Tar Pits, which I am more excited about than anyone apparently should be. If luck has it, I might even get to go eat with Sanela, who I haven’t seen in quite some time.

Adventures resume!

Personal Blog

Miniature Golf

Last night, DC, Beth, Brendan, Scott and I all went to play miniature golf. This was quite pleasing to me, as I love mini-golf in such a disproportionate amount compared to my skill at it.

Nevertheless, I still came in second place, which was very surprising to me, as the best I hit the whole night was a 3, I think. I tend to have Happy Gilmore syndrome, in that I can launch the ball well enough to get it close to the hole on my first shot, but putting is impossible for me.

Highlights of the evening included DC stepping into a pond, Brendan hitting the ball so hard that it violated the space-time continuum and teleported onto the next green, me nearly taking out DC with my follow-through swing, and me apparently doing some matrix-like move that involved rocking up on my toes just in time to let a ball speed under my heels.

Afterwards we putzed around in the arcade and won enough tickets to get 3 super balls and 2 Chinese finger traps.

An evening well-spent.

Personal Blog

Traveling Adventures

Well, here I am in Pittsburgh. I ended up having to make the journey alone, but it was not so bad. In fact, I sometimes forget how recharging long spells of alone-time can be.

It turns out that my dinky little mp3 player will play protected wma files afterall, so I was engaged for most of the journey with listening to Dracula. (For those who do not know, you can download audiobooks for free from the public library. Their selection isn’t immense, but big enough that you’ll likely find something you like.)

It seems I am pretty good at listening. Dracula is a book I have started no less than three times by seeing it laying at someone’s house, and picking it up to read. I’ve never acquired a copy long enough to finish it, though.

I won’t say I get excited about long road trips, but I find traveling pleasant for the most part, and I do enjoy pretending I’m on some grand adventure, or making attachments to the car I’ve been following for the past 100 miles, or stuff like that.

When I stop for a break, I like to find those small pocket places that have no business existing except to cater to the needs of the road tripper. You know, the sort of outposts just off the interstate that have all the necessities for the traveler clustered together: fast food, gas station, armor merchant…

My brother told me of this, but I experienced it myself to verify: driving into Pittsburgh is bizarre. You have just spent a good amount of time driving on the interstate, through rolling hills and trees as far as the eye can see. Then you go through this tunnel, and on the other side you are suddenly smack in the middle of downtown Pittsburgh. It is quite strange! I bet they have a portal in the middle of the tunnel.

Anyway, I’m up here safe and sound, and will spend the evening taking advantage of every nook the hotel has to offer. I’m excited about my visit tomorrow. Updates soon!

Games and Game Development, Personal Blog

Chicago!

Hooray for visits!! This weekend I made a brief jaunt up to Chicago to visit D Flo, who has been wanting visits since my short stay with him last year before my Japan trip (note, I still haven’t put up all my pictures from that, doh!)

I arrived at Midway and trained my way downtown successfully, with the loss of only one man. Two mans left for the rest of the weekend! (Also, D Flo, I swear there is no means of transferring from the red line to the orange line at Lake without leaving the station!)

We ate at a Mexican restaurant which was alright, except I think they made their tortilla chips with flour tortillas instead of corn. Grah! We then went to Best Buy and picked up a cheap compilation game for the xBox with Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell, and spent the latter part of the evening gaming away.

D Flo’s new pad is super nice, especially compared to his old no-bedroom one. It is great big and decorated in a very D Flo style, with hardwood floors all around. It is also right above a bar, and the living room (where I slept) was right above the stage area. It wasn’t so bad except that Friday night was apparently Live Punk Rock night.

Saturday I slept in, a big step for the no-later-than-8 trend I have picked up since starting work, but it was mostly attributed to the aforementioned punk rock show. We went out to grab food at a diner, and my appetite made a guest appearance, which I took advantage of.

We went down to Navy Pier and hopped on a boat tour (one of D Flo’s friend from his acting class is a tour guide, so we got to go for free). It was really fun and interesting, and since said tour guide was a comedian-in-training, it was entertaining as well. I got a little more sun than I had anticipated, but ah well, it will not kill me

After this, we met up with Rebecca, who works in the box office at the Briar Street theater, and assured me that if she’d known I was coming she could have hooked me up with Blue Man tickets. Doh! I may attempt to take advantage of this on my next Chicago visit.

We dined on Cold Stone (French vanilla with strawberries and oreo mix-ins, yum!) then saw a show at Second City. It was pretty funny sketch comedy and quite enjoyable. I can’t wait to see a show that D Flo is in (his D&D Improv hoo-hah starts up soon!)

After the show, D Flo and I picked up a pizza from the pizzeria right next to his place. T’was my first experience with Chicago style deep dish; it was strange but delicious. We spent the rest of the evening gaming (by which I mean my hands hurt, so I watched him play Splinter Cell).

A fine visit! I would like to go back again and have a museum day, and maybe catch Blue Man Group. Everyone should go visit D Flo and hang out at his new apartment. Win!

In other news, this visit has opened up the gates for a whole line of summer and fall visits! Lisa will have no money! But that’s okay, who wants a visit?

Games and Game Development, Personal Blog

Atlanta Adventure

The perk of working at a school is that I get most of their breaks for myself, so I plotted to give myself a for-real vacation over fall break. I flew down to Atlanta for some good fun times and adventuring.

I came in Friday night and met up with Marji and Hanna, whom I met through Will via the not-so-secret-anymore-secret-summer-project (that being JamJams, which Will outlines a bit in his journal). They are good awesome folk and made me feel right at home.

On Saturday Will and Cari drove up from Savannah, and the group of us went trouncing around in the city. Most of it was idle wandering, but we did at least get to the Center for Puppetry Arts and had a good look around. They have some Lion King mask prototypes there, as well as a skekse from the Dark Crystal. It was a fun place and I’m glad I was able to go (in spite of the terrifying “Puppet Storeroom” exhibit). Our former plans of also visiting the Coke museum were thwarted by the infrequency of the MARTA, so we headed back to Marji and Hanna’s for video games and cooking. Pie also happened.

Sunday was mostly lazy napping (on my part), homeworking (on Cari’s part), and visiting Cartoon Network while Hanna went to pick up work stuff (on Will’s part, much to his enthusiasm). We all reconvened for video games, which was very fun, and Will and I beat yet another Dynasty Warriors campaign. That night, we accompanied Marji to a Radical Axis party for the opening of Squidbillies, on which she works. I was fearful of a major social event at first, but fortunately for me it was an evening of exhausted animators all watching cartoons, with little to no need for mingling. Hooray! (yes I know, I’m a social cripple).

Monday, while Hanna and Marji were at work, I spent the day with Wheeler, who has conveniently relocated from Sante Fe to Atlanta. We went to the zoo, and then spent the evening at the arcade. We played quite a bit of DDR, and I’m proud to announce that my former panicky “I CAN’T DO ANY MORE THAN 3 FEET!!” bar has been raised to 4 feet, comfortably. Strother would be so proud! *tear*

We also played a bit of pool, Time Crisis 3, and then I had a go at Ms. Pacman. I immediately regretted this, for I had forgotten that Ms. Pacman is actually a VERY stressful game, most of which I spent panicking. Also, I affirmed the fact that I’m good at those light-spinny ticket games by winning the jackpot of 316 tickets, which I used to buy Marji and Hanna thank-you presents for being good hostesses. Anyways, it was great to hang out with Wheeler again.

That evening I cooked dinner for Hanna and pie happened a second time. All in all it was a fantastic visit, and I hope to make another one in the future. I feel very rested and ready to spring back to work. Boing!

(note, i haven’t forgotten about the activity i posted last entry, I’ll follow up on that soon)

Personal Blog

Mountain Trip to Japan

Well, I leave bright and early tomorrow morning for my adventure!

First stop will be Chicago, where I will spend the day hangin with D Flo, who I haven’t seen in FOREVER. It will be awesome fun.

Monday morning I start the big flight, and some hours later will land in Nagoya, Japan. I’ll be there 2 weeks, and will have all manner of adventure.

I am very excited about going to Japan, yes, but equally excited to see my friend, Andrew. I haven’t seen him for several years now, and it will be awesome to hang out and catch up and play.

So yeah, I’ll possibly update from time to time, but I’ll be back June 06. Take care, you guys. Have fun, stay safe, and wish for good traveling for me!

LOVE! Bye.