iFLY

Jan had another birthday present up his sleeve: A trip to iFLY in Portland for some indoor skydiving. Oh boy! It was SO MUCH FUN! Each of us got only 2 minutes in the wind tunnel (in two sessions), so there was a lot of waiting while others in our group had their turn, but it was definitely worth it. We had a blast!

As part of the package we could download two of the four videos. Here is us on our second minute in the wind tunnel. Since it was my birthday today I got a bonus high-fly for the last 30 seconds. Very cool! 

Timothy and little crater lake hike

As fall is coming, it's time to get some hiking in before the eternal rain starts. Hence, Labor Day weekend is prime hiking time! Originally we planned to make it a two day backpacking trip, but we were both so tired on Saturday, that we mostly slept through it. That left more hiking for Sunday!

We started out close to little crater lake, the origins of which are somewhat different than its bigger brother (artesian spring vs. volcano crater), but the water is equally amazing:

A short hike from little crater lake is Timothy lake - considerably larger (a couple of miles across).

 PGE has a dam here (compared to Bonneville, it's very tiny). Below is where some of the water is released:

 While hiking around Timothy lake, we came across some curious trees, the only thing alive on them appears to be some moss. We'll prod a biologist to learn more about that story...

 Pepper was all fired up, the last long hike was 2 months ago, after all. He maintained a very good pace throughout our 13+ mile hike.

 Timothy lake in the - partial - sun (morning had a complete cloud cover).

 Me on our second breakfast break: it's good to have breakfast!

 The trail is very well maintained. As always, a lot of people around when there is direct road access, but the density falls off a cliff as soon as you are at least one mile away from any access road. We did meet a few horse riders, though.

 Fall is coming...

 In the early afternoon the sun came finally out in earnest, but it never got really hot. (More than 3000 feet elevation helps...)

 After completing the loop around Timothy lake, we circled back to little crater lake. With the sun out, the water was even bluer!

Catching up

Where has the summer gone??? I can't believe it's September already and the semester is in full swing. So, time to play catch up: Here are a few photos I found on my camera that are worth sharing. 

In July, I flew to Sacramento to attend the annual AAPT meeting. On the flight I not only saw a beautiful rainbow, but saw Crater Lake (we had just been there a few weeks prior!).

Pepper managed to pick up a nasty eye and jaw infection. We're not exactly sure how, but the vet said he probably chewed on something that left a small splinter in the back of his mouth, which ended up inflaming a gland behind his eyes (either that, or an immune disease, which seems a lot less likely based on the improvement of his symptoms). Either way, the wonders of modern medicine made him feel better within just a week. 

We bought a small cart that I used to bring my books back to campus, now that I have an office again. On the way back to the car Pepper discovered a new fun way to travel! 

For our wedding anniversary, Jan and I (and even Pepper!) went to a cool brunch place in Portland, the Tin Shed. Dogs are welcome there (and can even order food off the menu). Pepper scored some of the fruit we had for dessert, no full meal. That just felt too excessive.

And then we took a trip to Ikea. We found nice new covers for our living room couch, a new rug (also a new rug for the entrance area), and a new couch for the TV room. Very comfy!

But, there's no denying it - fall is pretty much here. Mornings are getting darker again, and there's the early morning fogs and sunrises we hadn't seen for months.

Even though it's not quite the tenth yet, I already got my birthday present (mainly because the box in which it arrived was slightly defective, so we opened it earlier). It's a 1946 vending machine!! Super cool! Here it is in action: 

Robert Krulwich!

Today was Willamette's convocation and the keynote speaker was no other than Robert Krulwich of Radiolab fame. As we are huge fans and thoroughly enjoyed Radiolab's live show in Portland a while back, we had to attend, of course.
So I took the day off, made my way to Salem as well and joined Michaela for a convocation for the first time.

 Robert did not disappoint and delivered a stunning speech about the science of story telling and the need to wonder. Good stuff! Shortly thereafter we had a reception with Robert for the faculty (I was Michaela's '+1'!), where we were fortunate enough to chat with him a bit. Among other things we now know the outline of the next Radiolab show!! (No spoilers here.)

Crater Lake and Jan's 40th!

To celebrate Jan's special birthday this year we decided to head to Crater Lake. After all, after eight years in Oregon we have never been! And because of the 4th of July we had Monday off; perfect for a weekend trip to southern Oregon!

And off we go!

The kitties were home with their automatic feeders (totally fine for just one night), but Pepper was with us of course. After a good four hours on the road we entered the Crater Lake National Park.

Still quite a bit of snow on the ground! After fighting for a parking spot (not really, but it was very crowded!), we had our first look at the lake. Photos don't do it justice! And while most of the longer trails are off-limits to dogs, Pepper was allowed on the rim with us. Which he thoroughly enjoyed despite the heat.

We spent the night at the Allison Inn in Fort Klamath, a dog friendly comfortable little motel. I can highly recommend it! Super friendly owners who welcomed Pepper with a cookie and sheets on the couch and bed so he, too, could comfortably sleep :). Our room was number 3, second from the left.

The next day we drove up to Elk Lake to take the hike to Horse lake. The first mile or so was absolutely gorgeous,

Unfortunately, we then entered mosquito territory. *So* many mosquitos! When we were walking we could manage to mostly stay ahead of the clouds, but any brief stop, e.g. to drink some water, meant we were swarmed within seconds. Not too much fun! Nevertheless, we made it almost to horse lake before turning around. Despite that it was still a nice 2.5 hour walk, very enjoyable for the most part!

It's berry season!!

Read!

Michaela had her picture recently taken for Willamette's Read! program. It's such a great picture that I'd like to share it here: