Peek-a-boo!

My family and I are driving down Lamar on the way to a combo Anthropologie/Book People run. Just a normal day, right? I guess we happened to be at the right place at the right time.

So the first time we passed this brave soul I saw him and pointed him out to my wife just as we passed him. We had to turn around and check him out a second time. Of course by this time I need to take a picture for my blog, so we go by him a third time, but the picture didn't turn out. We ended up parking so we could get a good shot the fourth time he passed us, the cheeky bastard.

Allow me to ask you a question, gentle reader. When wearing a thong and flip-flops, where would one carry their keys? Observant readers may have picked up on this guy's ingenuity.

Keys? Check. The wallet, though....

Technorati Tags: Thong,Austin,TX

Sudden hailstorm

After assuring my wife it was too warm to hail (what do you mean hail comes from the atmosphere...which is colder...), we had a freak hailstorm for about five minutes last night. It was coming down pretty hard, and the largest segment dumped pieces sized between a quarter and a golf ball.

Luckily there seems to be no major damage except for some window pane gasket things, but I'm sure we'll have someone out to inspect our roof.

After it stopped the accumulated hailstones looked more like snow.

Technorati Tags: hail,Leander,Hill Country

Krause Springs

We've been trying to go camping now that the weather has gotten colder, and our first choice was Inks Lake State Park, as we've gone there for day trips and my parents have taken me there as a child.

As luck had it, Inks Lake was booked through the rest of the year! At least, campsites with a fire ring on the lake side were booked. If we wanted to hike in ~1.5 miles schlepping our gear to a primitive site, there were a few openings.

No thanks.

We had heard about Krause Springs and had wanted to check out the place just as a swimming hole, and found out they had campsites. I called them up and spoke with Elton Krause himself, and when I asked him about reservations, he said just come up, drive around until you find a spot you like and pitch your tent!

Sold!

We left later than we planned, and had to make a few stops on the way, and got to the campsite a few minutes before dark. We used our headlights to help us set the tent (thanks Erika and Ty!) up and managed to drain our battery. Some nice neighbors help us jump it the next day.

Our first night went without a hitch and we woke up to masses of Monarch butterflies gathered in the trees right over our heads.

One of the other campers mentioned that they were migrating, and I wasn't sure about this (but I had no reasonable explanation otherwise - I guess it is the skeptic in me), so when we returned, I  consulted my pal Google. Armed with the knowledge that Spicewood, TX, is roughly at Latitude 30, I consulted this migration schedule. Zut alors! The time matched!

My wife found a Coleman cooking stove thing at a garage sale for $5 (normally ~$50) and it worked like a charm! It uses a small thermos-sized canister of propane, and we had a blast cooking outside. I had to go the instant coffee route, as I didn't have a chance to look around for a suitable camp coffeepot or get my French Press action going, but roughing it is roughing it!

Krause Springs has some amazing natural rock formations, with grottos, waterfalls, rockwalls teeming with squirrels, HUGE cypress trees, a natural spring that feeds into a lagoon/swimming hole, etc. We went exploring and ran out of space on our 1GB photo card.

I also took a panoramic shot of where we camped. We were in the middle spot - under the RV hookups and above the primitive area.

The right-most spot in the panorama was filled with Cub Scouts from Saturday to Sunday. We were there the weekend of the Red River Shootout (Texas vs OU) and one guy was camping in our area I noticed what I thought was football sounds coming from his area. I investigated and he had stretched over 200 feet of extension cord from a table outside his tent to a power outlet in the RV hookup area to watch the game. Roughing it indeed!

They also have a butterfly garden with some wind chimes bigger than I am, plus a swimming pool that is fed directly from the spring. Let me tell you - it was cold! I eased in to my waist before I took the plunge, but my wife was brave enough to dive in. It's brisk!

We had a fantastic time, and will definitely go back. In fact, we are trying to work out a November camp date. The kids loved it, we loved it, and it's cheaper and closer than Inks Lake. Win-win!

Technorati Tags: Spicewood,Austin,camping,Krause Springs,Monarch butterflies,panoramic

New recipe for roasted stuffed jalapenos

My parents got me a jalapeno roaster as a gift, and I have really been giving it a workout.  You basically core jalapenos, stuff them with, uh, stuff, and roast them for an hour.

I usually try to take all the seeds and membranes out, as some people still think they are pretty hot without them, but feel free to leave an amount in that suits your tastebuds.

I've been known to top them with pieces of bacon but I've not been doing this lately.

My most recent recipe is to start stuffing them with (American) Neufchatel cheese, then shredded pork barbecue (from HEB), and topped with apple or pineapple chunks.

I'm still working on coming up with something for roasting dogs. I feel like it needs to be more complicated than just putting them on a grill!

Technorati Tags: Jalapeno,roaster

First day in Hermosa Beach

After crashing for a few hours we get up with David's grandmother and head to Scotty's, a Hermosa Beach staple, for breakfast. I had the Acapulco Omelette, which is an omelette with chorizo and guacamole, sourdough toast and coffee.

I passed on the White Croaker Special.

After breakfast we walked around the beach and the closest pier.

Technorati Tags: Hermosa Beach,Scotty's,White Croaker

Headed to Los Angeles

We finally got ready and in the car. Our trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles will take about six hours! Instead of getting an early start, we hung out blogging, getting frustrated with a printer, watching the first fifteen minutes of Cloverfield and eating sushi.

FINALLY we take off, but it's like 6:00pm.

We start out through the city but after the Bay Bridge we run through a wind farm and a lot of desolate flat land.

 

We end up stopping a few times to get some drinks, jerky, etc, and end up at David's grandmother's house after 1:30am!

We spent most of the time reading about the SIGGRAPH conference schedule and I end up getting tired, delirious and inserting random words into the descriptions. I need a nap!

Technorati Tags: SIGGRAPH,San Francisco

San Francisco and The Clone Wars, episode 2

After lunch we walked through a few rooms of exhibits of concept art, maquettes and video, much of which was marked No Photos Please. There were a few photo opportunities, though.






The facilities are in the Presidio, which is a park open to the public. I took a quick panoramic shot outside the building, and a few other shots.

Finally some action pics

I know - playing a child's guitar in my jammies with a micro-Mariachi hat wasn't actioney enough. To satisfy my rabid fans, here you go.



Living on the Greenbelt is nice! Whenever we want to bust out the firepit, I just go outside the fence and find a big log. I tried using an axe, but I've had much better luck with my reciprocating saw from Harbor Freight.



I've gone through all my demolition blades and now I have a pretty scary specialty wood-cutting blade. Itsa nice! By nice, I mean it looks nice - I haven't actually cut anything with it. But believe me - it looks like it will do the job!

Here I am sanding our deck. We rented a huge industrial sander from Home Depot, and it pretty much drove us around the deck.



It was time for another treatment of stain, and we didn't want a repeat of the original stain job (oh, the humanity!) to happen again. Last time we waited too long after we had it built and then waited until the weather was as hot as possible. It was awful. The wood was so hot the stain would not be absorbed, and it never got a good lock, or set, or whatever the term is to indicate that stain has soaked in to your wood correctly.

Now we have to decide whether or not to keep the deck or take it down and build a stone patio!

Speaking of cheeseburgers....

Okay, you're hiking. Somewhere remote...rugged terrain...carrying everything you need in your pack. The tent is pitched, campfire blazing, perimeter secure. What's this? Hunger pangs? What sounds good?

Trail mix?

No.

Can of beans?

No.

Granola bar?

No!

There's only one thing that can satisfy camping hunger. What do you turn to when you're sleeping on rocks and putting your food in a tree away from bears?

Cheeseburgers.



Specifically, cheeseburgers in a can.

Check out this website for all your shipped cheeseburger needs. Something tells me that what comes out of that tin when the seal breaks won't look exactly like the picture.

If they could combine those burgers with the self-heating coffee can technology, I think we would have a winner.

Thanks Cale!

We were dreaming of a White Christmas!

I'm back!

We went to Copper Mountain, Colorado, for Christmas. The first leg was to Lubbock to spend the night with my brother and his family, and then we drove to Aurora, CO, to stay with some friends. Here is the view from their front yard.



We stayed in a condo, spent too much money and didn't ski enough. Here's another pano from the condo porch:



This is outside the condo, and you can see the dumpster.



We stayed in Silverthorn. Behind me is Lake Dillon, and we would drive over the dam to get from Silverthorn to Dillon.



These are icicles. Relax - it's just frozen water.



The morning we left it was 12 degrees below zero. That's not the wind chill! Including wind chill I think it was about 20 to 25 below zero.



We're on the road back!



We drove from Silverthorn to Denver where we stayed a few days with some friends of ours. Thanks Karen! Thanks Michelle!



We left Denver and decided to drive straight through the night just to have more time at home and not have to worry about finding a motel, carting in all the valuables, sleeping late, food, etc. It was 20+ caffeine-bombed hours.

I think this is Mt. Capulin that we passed on the way through New Mexico.

San Francisco, Wrapping it up

Next to the last day. We woke up and I had an omelet and a mocha at a place called Squat and Gobble.





We were headed to ILM for a tour but we took the long way and walked down to the Exploratorium. A lot of cool stuff that we didn't have time to see.



We continued to the bay to check out the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. I usually don't smile when I take self portraits, but I decided to buck my own system here.



Now this is a tailgate party! Wine, cheese, tablecloths?!? These Californians are really putting it to it! I have to assume that they are here watching the sailboat race and not gathering in my honor.



Now we are at ILM. I saw some pretty amazing concept art, incredibly detailed props and miniatures and Pee Wee Herman and Buzz Lightyear doing some truly awful things to each other. Unfortunately a lot of this stuff was in no-camera zones, but take my word for it - it was awesome.



After ILM we went across the Golden Gate Bridge through San Rafeal to try to get in to Big Rock Ranch, the Lucas animation company. Unfortunately there was some mix up, and while we could go in and have lunch in the common cafeteria, we couldn't really get a tour.



Some random Rolls Royce.



The terrain was really rugged and mountainous, and we were driving pretty sportily on a winding road great for spirited driving.



Lunch at Big Rock Ranch. We just barely made lunchtime, so I think they heaped our plates with what was left.







After Big Rock Ranch we drove around to Skywalker Sound, which was nestled in a secluded forest bowl surrounded by mountains and land that George Lucas owned. Seriously - he bought everything that you could see.

This should show both, with landmarks like Lake Ewok, etc.

So we get back to the Marina. It's not yet dinnertime, yet we need something to eat. What's a pair of hetero dudes to do that is both snacky AND hip?

Cupcakes!





I had my first car bomb that night, and we had some midnight pizza at our second choice. The first choice, Pizza Orgasmica, was so packed we couldn't get close to the door.

More pictures here.

I had a great time, did a little work and got to see some stuff that I may never have had a chance to see otherwise. Thanks Dave!