Yummy Wakame

Not safe for work ;@)

Watch it on Kontraband.

Wow I love Ohiopyle! If only my phone hadn’t died on me I could have taken some photos of this amazing tiny town. It’s got so many activities for the outdoors. We crossed a pretty high bridge over the beautiful, fat river which was hilariously signposted something along the lines of, “No jumping, fishing or diving from the bridge allowed.” which pretty much spells out how creatively active the people around there are.

It was very laid back too. I hope we get to spend some more time around there in the coming years.

We also bumped into this group of four really interesting women again who we kept bumping into along the trip. They all had 16 year old kids in common, but we couldn’t help noticing they were in way better shape than us, huffing and puffing our way to the end while they zipped around. They were amazing! And so interesting to talk to. I hope I see them again and have a feeling I will.

Oh and by the way for anyone interested in doing a part of the Laurel Highlands Trail – the first 6 miles (in our case the last 6 miles) were by far the most breathtakingly beautiful. The views were jaw dropping!

Backpack blogging:

There have been amazing views, interesting people along the way, greenery, cute animals and long luscious nights of dead tired sleep. Its raining and freezing cold tonight though – a fire would have been amazing if we had some dry wood…

I cant stop thinking about home comforts… snuggling my boys, enjoying a glass of milk, hot running water, a hard beating shower, washing my face! Using a flushing toilet, feeling a mattress give way to my hips instead of being bruised by the hard floor.

6 more miles tomorrow and I’m home free! Well sort of – there’s another camping trip planned this weekend near Ohiopyle. But that will be pretty luxurious in comparison.

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[Sent from my phone]

Backpack blogging:

On day two we figured out Anna’s shoes were a half size too small too late – she’d already lost most of the skin on both her heels. So for the rest of this trip Anna’s been hiking in her flip-flops! In the rain, through mud and sludgy steep downhills, no arch support and a 45lb backpack on. Without her nifty sticks there were a few scary slips that might have ended our dream of finishing. Backpacking in flip flops crazy? Yes. Hardcore – more than a wee bit. I’ve never seen anyone so sure-footed.
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[Sent from my phone]

Backpack blogging:

Filtering water at our lunch break spot as the water will be contaminated at our shelter area.

It’s been fun hiking with Anna for a lot of reasons. She packs awesomely delicious food and snacks which have been life savers on cold rainy days. Anna’s also a great spotter of cute snails, amazing spiders and tiny fat froggies along the way. It’s been raining pretty much constantly this trip. We didn’t have it so bad today though.
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[Sent from my phone]

Backpack blogging:

Finally a site with pumpable water! It was a treat to not have to filter water from a river this morning. Its such a gorgeous old relic and works fast! I have all new clean clothes after hanging them off to dry on the backpack today.
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[Sent from my phone]

Backpack blogging:

… and continued for the whole 10 miles. Clothes soaked, boots and socks soaked, change of clothes also soaked, we arrive at the cabin to find the firewood soaked… Its still pouring outside and getting dark. It will rain all night. We need to find a water source too.

An hour later its still raining but we have full bellies, full water supplies, washed dishes and thanks to Annas sacrificed journal pages we also have a gorgeous warming fahr. At the moment I’m drying one soaked log at a time to keep it going strong.

We hope to wake up to dry clothes and sunny times :@)
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[Sent from my phone]

Backpack blogging:

Today’s forecast – sunny, tomorrow sunny, the rest of the week… thunderstorms.

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[Sent from my phone]

Backpack blogging:

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[Sent from my phone]

Backpack blogging:

The beginning!
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[Sent from my phone]

Today I’ve been scrambling around town looking for the only Solio in Pittsburgh to keep my phone charged. As it turns out Nathan’s cute little Hymini doesn’t power iPhones and for a few hours today I was panicking that I’d not even have emergency phone contact after a few days. The crisis is over – thanks Best Buy for stocking this great product! I have a few more things to pack, wrap up some work, stuff my phone with tunes and then its off to bed to try too sleep.

Here’s my new shell for the next week –

more…

That being the rugged 70-mile Laurel Highlands Backpacking Adventure! I’ve been looking forward to it for months. Anna and I are taking up the challenge to complete Pennsylvania’s famously gorgeous, scenic trail over 7 days. It starts in Ohiopyle, PA and ends near Johnstown, PA, though we will be doing it backwards.

Check out the route map!

more…

Dancetown Fitness System!

AMAZING!

“‘Funky Forest’ is an interactive ecosystem where children create trees with their body and then divert the water flowing from the waterfall to the trees to keep them alive. The health of the trees contributes to the overall health of the forest and the types of creatures that inhabit it.”

Thanks Pieter :@)

I would definitely buy one.

How to fold a towel monkey!

I’ll be hiking the Laurel Highlands all next week which I’ve been ridiculously excited about for months… but I wish I wasn’t missing this…

The 7th Annual
GAIAN MIND SUMMER FESTIVAL
~ Summer Solstice / Full Moon ~
Wednesday, June 18th to Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
Four Quarters, Central Pennsylvania, USA (directions)
Extended dates – gates open Wednesday!

Join us for five days and four nights of Transcendental Dance in the open air – truly, a magical event which has established itself as an annual summer tradition for the global Trance Tribes!

(Thanks Tins!)

May 28, 2008

A new living computer, bred from E. coli bacteria instead of stamped from silica, has for the first time successfully solved a classic mathematical puzzle known as the Burnt Pancake Problem.

While this bacteria-based computer is more proof of concept than practical, a living computer might one day solve complex mathematical problems faster than silicon supercomputers.

“The computing potential of DNA far exceeds that of any other material,” said Karmella Haynes, a researcher at Davidson College and lead study author. “If we figure out how to increase that capacity in a practical manner we will have much more computing power.” …more

An American Self-Portrait

“Statistics can feel abstract and anaesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 32,000 breast augmentation surgeries in the U.S. every month.

This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. Employing themes such as the near versus the far, and the one versus the many, I hope to raise some questions about the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.”
~Chris Jordan, Seattle, 2007

Thanks Pieter!