~ Lake Lowell/Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge
Weather never ceases to amaze me. Take, for example, today. It's the beginning of February, and was absolutely glorious. I don't know the exact temperature, but I'm guessing it was around 50 degrees. And absolutely glorious. Josh and I had planned to go to some museums, but when the day started exhibiting signs of gloriousnitude, we had to take advantage of it.
We took our bikes out to the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge and circumnavigated Lake Lowell. I'm pleased to report that I managed to put together a chilly-weather cycling outfit that kept me comfortable throughout the ride (never too hot and never too cold, but just right).
We started out at the visitor's center where a friendly guide told us a little bit about the national wildlife refuge and the sights. Josh mentioned that he used to work at Lake Lowell, with the Youth Conservation Corps. The two noted that, unfortunately, litter is a problem on public lands. We then perused some of the wildlife learning exhibits before getting all saddled up on our bikes.
This was a very enjoyable ride. It was lovely to be outside enjoying the sunshine, and the route took us along some interesting scenes, one of which was a bison ranch. I managed to attract their attention as I was attempting to take a gu out of my pocket, becoming frustrated at the cumbersomeness of my pocket. Josh later said that I had a cow in front of the bison.
We stopped on the bridge/dam and took in the view. The lake was frozen over, with long cracks stretching through the ice.
The ride was about two hours. Except for a brief moment or two when I experienced a low blood sugar attack, hence the having of a cow in front of the bison when I was unable to extract the gu from my pocket, I felt really good for the duration of the ride.
Photos on my photoset
~ kn-update ~
Lately, it's been silent over here in knitting knews. The silence is somewhat intentional, as I've been working on a secret project which I would be very excited to show all of you, except for that it is secret. That I have succeeded in keeping this project a secret demonstrates my committment to the secrecy as well as my self-restraint.
In non-secret knews, I've been working on a reversible longways cabled scarf (photo above). This project is my first official 'stash-down' project. Last year, I managed to accumulate a ridiculous amount of yarn without realizing it. I blame my yarn storage unit, which not only stores WAAAY more yarn than one would think possible, but also misleads a person into thinking that one has FAAAR less yarn than what one actually has. So yeah. About two months ago, I was rummaging around in my yarn storage unit, and was 'surprised' by how much yarn I found. By 'surprised', I mean totally shocked and horrified.
Having an ample stash is not as amazing and wonderful as one might imagine. It's not as though I spend my free time rolling around in all of my yarn, really enjoying it. And it's not even as handy or convenient as one might imagine. In fact, I am finding it more annoying and burdensome than anything. Most of it I bought on sale, which has resulted in a handful of skeins in each yarn, with some 'interesting' choices in color.
Anyhoo... the scarf above, my first stash-down project. It's about halfway complete. I am knitting up all four skeins of a random superwash merino that I found at the bottom of the yarn storage unit. The color is a nasty washed out snot-green, and I'm thinking that I will dye it a different color. I can only attribute my paying money for a yarn in this color (and not buying enough to really do anything with it) to temporary insanity resulting from the word "SALE".
As for the cables, you all know I love cables, these aren't particularly interesting, but they are reversible and I think they will make a nice scarf. Plus, when I began this project, I wanted a fairly mindless project as a contrast to my secret project, which is almost stressful in its use of my mental faculties.
~ dancing humans ~
Last week was not the greatest week of all my time, and I came into the weekend greatly relieved that the week was over. Nothing in particular happened, it was just exhausting and I was feeling crappy. On Saturday, I was excited about doing something outdoors - - and so Josh and I took our new hiking boots up Bob's Trail. Some sections of the trail were very muddy, but it was mostly frozen. Walking along the icy creek was nice - - it not only afforded some pretty scenery but the water and air bubbles moving through the ice yielded some pleasant and unique sounds that I enjoyed.
At one point, we noticed some weird "microscopic" black lifeforms on the trail which we spent some time examining. Of course, I noted that they were not really "microscopic" if they could be seen by the naked eye, but whatever. We surmised that they were fleas. They were neat to watch - - they were moving around on the ground so fast that the ground appeared to be moving.
Josh spent a good amount of time describing to me what Bear Grylls would do to survive the danger on Bob's Trail. We also agreed that Josh needs to be featured on a survival program. Josh demonstrates his ability to distribute his weight across the ice, in the below photo.
More photos on my photoset
Later that evening, we went out with my sister and Dad for a family bowling night to celebrate my Dad's birthday. We got some pitchers of beer and a large pizza and had some fun at Emerald Lanes. After about an hour, "Disco Video Bowling" started and I think it was a bit overwhelming for the Dad. They turned off the overhead lights, turned on neon lights, increased the music volume, and lowered screens next to each lane onto which was projected some music videos. It was sensory overload and possibly a little much for my senior citizen Dad, though I think I witnessed him bopping his head to the Black Eyed Peas.
It may surprise you that my tendency to excel at all things does not extend to bowling. In fact, my average score for an entire round of bowling is generally between 60 and 80. With such a score range, it may not surprise you that I did not win. In fact, I lost. After the second round, I had a particularly dismal score of about 62 (I get worse the longer I bowl), while Joanna won with about 125ish.
We were all in awe of the old lady and her middle aged son bowling on the adjacent lane, whose scores were a series of strikes and spares, one after another. It was really something to watch - - the old lady would just kind of drop the ball on the floor and it would magically knock down all of the pins, and the guy would awkwardly cradle the ball in his arm and hurl it, also magically knocking down all of the pins.
More photos on my photoset
