Josh and I did a bit of a mountain bike tour of the Fossil Creek ORV zone in the Owyhees this weekend. Fossil Creek is more Eastern Owyhees than where we usually explore, closer to Murphy off of Highway 78.
The Owyhees were particularly stunning out that way.
At about ten miles in, we came upon an old and abandoned corrals.
Apart from the stunning scenery and the opportunity to climb around on the corrals, the ride wasn't particularly awesome. We rode along this ATV style road which was mostly flatish and was rocky rugged. None of that is a deal breaker, but it just wasn't awesome. We had pretty much the same view of the Owyhees for most of the ride and rode along this mostly flat rocky road. During a mountain bike adventure, I personally like to feel like I'm going somewhere - - you know, taking in a variety of scenery and riding over a variety of terrain. I also found the 'downhill' rather disappointing, as it was slow and the rugged terrain made my hands hurt. Anyway, after the ride we went over to Given's hot springs for some hot water fun and then had dinner in Marsing.
After a number of more miserable days at my employ, I took some time this week to reframe my situation. For instance, situations that make us miserable may actually be a tool for us to more fully appreciate those situations and persons who give us joy and make us feel good.
Yesterday after work, I took myself out to the yarn shop in Eagle to treat myself to some new yarn. All day I had been looking forward to this, and then I was a kid in the candy store once there. They have such beautiful yarn, and I admired all of the lovely fibers and striking colors.
Even though I have two projects going, I've decided to start on a complicated fair isle project. I've sketched out and taken measurements for an asymmetrical jacket and I'm working to put together my own colorwork charts. In the above photo, that is Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn and Colinette Jitterbug Sock Yarn. The colors didn't come out in the photo at all, they are much more vibrant. I've been admiring the Jitterbug yarn for a while, it comes in magnificant colors and has a nice hand-dyed look. As for the Noro, the two skeins do actually match and the color is more true in the top skein.
Later that evening, Josh and I went on a small mountain bike ride. It was very enjoyable. I have been loving how not-hot the weather has been. Yes, a tad on the thunderstormy side, but not hot.
On Wednesday, Josh and I had pizza and beer with Elizabeth and Edvin. That was the day when I had a particularly miserable time at work, and the beer tasted heavenly. After several pints, we played smashmitten in the park and hiked to the top of the hills. It was a very enjoyable evening that made me completely forget the miserable day at work.
Over the weekend, I finally got my garden started. This is my little plot of ground which I managed to uproot most of the weeds. I check on my garden about every hour when I'm home, wondering when the vegetables are going to appear. There are a few wee little seedlings coming up, but nothing ready to put in my salad.
In other news, I wrote a knitting pattern. I've debated for a long time whether this is something that I want to get into - - but as I was contemplating my work-related misery, considered that writing patterns could be satisfying in so far as I would be the master of my own labor. I realize there could be some downers in this effort, but what the hell.
This is a simple shawl worked in garter stitch with stripes made from rows of yarn overs. Its purpose was to practice writing out instructions, not necessarily to contribute to the vast quantity of garter stitch shawl patterns already available. I have enough yarn for another shawl and would donate it to anyone who would like to be a test knitter. Either email me or submit a comment if you're interested. Click here to download file.
On Saturday, Josh and I decided to head out to the Bruneau Sand Dunes for some fun hyperactivity. We had thought about doing a big mountain bike ride, but felt like doing something a bit different... a bit more silly. And to ensure plentiful silliness, we brought sleds.
The hike to the top of the ridge was a good workout. On the previous day, we did a mountain bike ride up Hard Guy and so hiking on the dunes was an excellent complimentary workout. Once we got to the top of the ridge, we found that it was really windy. We used our sleds to shield ourselves from the wind.
Once on top of the ridge, we continued hiking. Above us, stormclouds were brewing.
Hiking along the ridge was quite a bit of work.
Some of us had to stop and take a breather.
Then the time came to sled down the dunes. And it was a lot of fun! Josh called it "a bit of glory" and we continued to experience "another bit of glory" all the way down.
Note how I crash at the end. That was common.
Cowabunga!!!
And we became completely covered in sand. Because of the wind and the sledding, I had so much sand in my hair that I expect it to take several showers before I can get it all out.
We took highway 78 back to Boise, and stopped at the Emu-Z-Um, sort of a 'mom and pop' museum of Idaho antiques. Wow, what an interesting place. These two people have, in the middle of Owyhee County, created this overwhelming display of a lifetime of collecting Idaho history. Possibly the most interesting aspect of this museum is talking to the owners, who have built buildings and created these museum-style displays. It is well worth the five bucks.
And, just in case you're wondering about the name... yes, there are emus.
I was most impressed by some of the driftwood displays.
There were also some impressive doilies. As a knitter, I can appreciate the doily.
And neat glass bottles!
And old bikes!!!
More photos are on the photoset (link below), though, you really have go to there to experience it. It is kind of incredible.
After the museum, we drove past Murphy and stopped at the Blue Canoe for dinner. We enjoyed ribeyes and an assortment of vegetables.
Oh, and remember those crazy stormclouds?
They caused some crazy flash flooding. During the drive, there was water running all over the road. And on the side of the road, creeks gushing with water where creeks before did not exist. Watching the erosion happen gave me chills.
I'd like to take a moment to chronicle some mountain bike adventures Josh and I have had this week.
On Monday, we excitedly set out to do a foothills ride. Josh had this BRILLIANT idea to connect to the Central Foothills trails via Elephant Rock. Considering that Elephant Rock does not connect, we found ourselves riding on this informal running trail traversing some hillside neighborhoods. Begin digression/. I keep wondering if this is a gender difference thing or a personality difference thing - - but Josh and I have different perspectives about what consistutes a good fun adventure. Josh is more of a "literally, off the beaten path" sort of adventurer and I'm more of a "hey, if loads of people ride here, it must be fun!" person. For our Owyhees Adventures, Josh leading the way works well - - not only has his intuitive sense of "off the beaten path" adventuring proven to be the appropriate riding MO in the Owyhees, but he also has a good sense of direction (advantageous for "off the beaten path" adventures). Other "not in the Owyhees" times, I feel that trying to ride on these hardly travelled trails totally sucks and that the reason that they are hardly travelled is because they suck. Ok, ok / end digression. So we make it to Freeway and are riding along to connect to Sidewinder. Not long thereafter, we notice our tires feel squishy. We pull over and note a large quantity of goatheads in each of our tires. Just to be completely clear on this point, goatheads are generally a non-issue on the well-travelled foothills trails, but are apparently a problem on less-travelled trails. AWESOME. We then proceed to patch our tubes...only, we don't have a patch kit. And then I pull out my spare tube, and discover that it was an old tube that had gotten ripped up and I should have thrown away, but instead have been carrying it around with me. DOUBLE AWESOME. Josh did have a pump and was able to put enough air into our tires for us to get down the mountain, but after they deflated again the tubes wouldn't hold air to get us home, and we walked about half a mile in our cleats.
On Tuesday, we gave it another go. After riding Sidewinder, we both felt that we had more riding in our legs and decided to connect with Trail 4 and Corralls. The disappointing non-ride from the previous day may have also provided us more incentive to do a harder ride and I found it particularly satisfying. I believe that riding up Trail 4 to Corralls is the less common way to do it, but it was awesome. Some of the harder climbs have been made more technical by the deep ruts carved by the recent thunderstorms, but I found them good and satisfying. And when we reached the top of Corralls, I felt that I had done a RIDE. Not a huge ride, or a long ride, but my legs had put in a solid effort and it felt good.
On Wednesday, we went to the gym for some weight training. On Thursday, we went our sepearte ways - - I rode Sidewinder and Josh rode Three Bears. As of this writing, we're excited about doing some bigger rides over the weekend. Stay tuned.
Here's a knitting update...
A few posts ago, I wrote about the Cocoon Cardigan I was knitting with the Andean Treasure yarn. That project, unfortunately, was doomed. I tried a number of variations, but couldn't develop sufficient confidence in the project, particularly in the yarn/pattern combo. It is a lovely pattern, and the cocoon stitch was nice... it just wasn't working for me at this particular time. After doing some sleuthing on other patterns that would work with the yarn, and contemplating doing another improvised pattern, I came upon this Drops Alpaca Cardigan pattern. It is bottom-up and seamless, with a lace detail along the yoke. I'm doing a twisted stitch ribbing because I'm bored of normal k2, p2 ribbing and I've added faux seams along the sides (in the form of p1, k1, p1, k1, p1). This yarn, wow, is the softest material on the entire planet... I can't wait to swaddle myself with it!
The other project I'm working on is a variation of the Climbing Vines Pullover. I'm working it in a wool/cotton blend yarn that I harvested from a thrift store sweater and am making it to be a garter stitch swing jacket. The only piece of the pattern I'm using is the climbing vine motif, which is fun to knit. As you can see, I'm also working some twisted stitch edgings. I have also been thinking of doing cropped poofy sleeves, possibly even with a pleat at the shoulder. AND, have been brainstorming how I might continue the climbing vine pattern either around the neck or down the adjoining sleeve. It should be awesome.
I had a lovely birthday weekend, thank you to everyone who wished me a merry day. Getting older is great as it involves collecting experiences.
On Friday, I got out of work early so to go on a quick bike ride and prepare for a potluck/BBQ at my place. From this experience, I've discovered that if you want to sample a lot of really really delicious food, host a potluck. I set up a 4' x 8' table which was completely covered in various food dishes. Yum! Lucky for me, there was more food than people were able to stuff into their bellies, and I continue to enjoy the leftovers.
Other than the food, of course, it was a very enjoyable evening. The attendees were, in no particular order, Elizabeth, my dad, Amy, Leah, David, Alisha and Samwise, Lorry, Sam, Edvin, Samir, and Sandina. Given the company, I obviously had a wonderful time. Even the most introverted of the bunch, who did not know everyone, seemed to have a great time. My father, for example, drank beers and conversed for several hours with everyone.
The photos of the evening, unfortunately, aren't that great. I attempted to photograph everyone naturally, which means that I have photos of people chewing their food and talking... poses that don't come out well in a still shot.
The weather had predicted thunderstorms and I was delighted that they held off just long enough for us to finish BBQing. Elizabeth and Edvin brought their delicious yogurt chicken and Samir and Sandina brought shrimp kebabs, both of which needed some grilling. Josh removed the last of the kebabs just as the rain began pouring.
Then there was Alisha and Samwise... and a lot of cooing. A number of us took turns holding the baby, who is really the cutest.
On Saturday, the weather limited what fun was able to be had. Josh and I had a Nampa day, during which time we visited the Canyon County Historical Museum, most of which is dedicated to the railroad. The first photo at the top of this post is from a photo at the railroad museum, and I love it.
The museum had several model railroad scenes - - watching the trains go around was mesmerizing. There was also display about the Chinese in Canyon County which I spent a long time contemplating, as they had one of the foot binding shoes. I had never seen one of the shoes before and found it totally disturbing, obviously. Then there was this WTF display at the museum.
On Sunday, Elizabeth and I drove out to the Owyhees and hiked Wilson Creek. It did not turn out quite as I had planned... The "plan" involved us driving to the 'trailhead' and starting from there. Unfortunately, every single time that Elizabeth and I have gone hiking this year, it has always been unbelievably muddy. In planning this adventure, neither of us recalled the torrential downpour that cause flashed flooding in parts of Owyhee County yesterday. Yeah... Anyhoo, so there we were, driving up the road, noting that it was getting muddier and muddier, when the car ceases to have enough traction to get up the mountain and is spinning out beneath us. Yeah...
After a pause to collect our thoughts, we managed to get the car turned around (for those who haven't been on this road, it is essentially a 'one lane' dirt road winding through the mountains) and navigated it down to a spot to park. We considered our hiking options and decided to hike the couple miles up the road to the 'trail' (and by 'trail' I mean the off-road road). Problem was that the mud was really crazy. It would stick to our boots and made them feel several pounds heavier. After we passed the spot where the car spun out, we found that that was the worst of the mud and it got significantly more hikeable thereafter.
It was beautiful out. We hiked up to the summit to take in the view - - another given when Elizabeth and I hike is that we always lose track of the time and go much farther than we are prepared for. Due to ill-preparation, neither of us had had lunch before the hike, and we began hiking about 1pm. Apparently we were so involved in blabbing for hours that we lost track of our hunger, and the growing pain in our feet and hamstrings. As we were approaching the summit, we were both becoming aware of these discomforts, but our desire to reach the summit overruled hunger and physical pain, especially because we kept talking about how the summit is just around the next bend... and the next bend... the next bend.
I had two Hammergels with me that we enjoyed at the summit, sitting on the rock, and very much enjoying the view. The view is totally worth starvation and buckling legs. Anyhoo, here's to my 29 years of collecting experiences.
