Home Again, Home Again

BACK IN TOWN: We made the six-plus hour drive from the Central Oregon coast today back to the Emerald City. It seemed to take too long, but I guess that's what happens when you have six animals with bladders packed into one Honda Fit. :0

When we finally made it back to Seattle, we saw the Great Wheel was sporting Huskies' colors, a hat tip to the Huskies playing in the Fight Hunger Bowl this evening.

One of our pit stops was in Centralia, at McMenamins' Olympic Club. We've always like McMenamins' for their unique art work and craft beers, but now that we bought McMenamins passorts, with prizes for hitting stops, we're especially motivated to stop. We make sure to get our passport stamps at each stop.
                                        
Each McMenamins has its own vibe, and perhaps the coolest thing at the Olympic Club is the women's restroom off the pub. "So many choices! I don't know which one to use!" Annabelle said of all the faucets.

And so, she tested them all. And yes, they all worked.

And here is Ms. Annabelle sporting a French fry mustache.

Tomorrow will be unpacking, cleaning, and finding new homes for all the great Christmas gifts.

This is a short one- turns out sitting in a car for several hours with one or more Havanese on your lap is exhausting.

Christmas Continues

 

FEASTIVUS: Another night, another holiday feast of roast beast (apologies, PETA et al). The vegetable dishes were every bit as delicious as the meat. This was part of Christmas dinner in Siletz.

 There were some decadent desserts, too. Mine contribution ended up being a bona fide cake wreck! I made a six layer banana cake with peanut butter and marshmallow filling, butter cream frosting, topped by toasted coconut and ringed in Whoppers malted balls. Apparently that was all a bit too much for the cake dish it perched atop. As I was smoothing the buttercream, the cake went for a roll off the stand and down onto the counter, next stop kitchen sink. I was able to catch it before it hit the sink, but let's just say it was a little worse for the wear.  We got it back up on the cake stand and I made it look mostly OK externally, but it was still super unstable. As soon as I started cutting it after dinner, it basically exploded. Sigh.

This morning brought bright sunshine here, near the Central Oregon coast. We went for a little walk.

Peeking through the moss covered trees, we could see the Siletz River

This canoe didn't quite make it to the Siletz, though. ...

Annabelle had a one-sided conversation with this fisherman ...

And we admired another friendly-faced, statuesque riverside resident.

We'll be heading back to Seattle tomorrow, after a week of being holiday road warriors. I bet our fish will be happy to see us. 

Ho Ho Ho!

RIVER KIDS:  The kids spent a few moments along the Columbia River on Christmas Eve.  It was so foggy, they couldn't see the Oregon side across the way!

We stopped for a bit of Christmas cheer at McMenamin's along the Columbia. It was full of people in ugly holiday sweaters, and travelers on their way to or from Grandma's house.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: Sorry no post yesterday. The Internets must have been overloaded with people trying to check Santa's status on the NORAD site. We were certainly checking, with CJ giving us updates throughout the day.

Annabelle had a case of the Bah Humbugs due to the computer foiling her.

THE WINTER OF '68: Forty-five years ago, in December of 1968, the Apollo 8 crew flew from the Earth to the Moon and back again. Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders were launched atop a Saturn V rocket on Dec. 21, circled the Moon ten times in their command module, and returned to Earth on Dec. 27. The Apollo 8 mission's impressive list of firsts includes: the first humans to journey to the Earth's Moon, the first to fly using the Saturn V rocket, and the first to photograph the Earth from deep space. As the Apollo 8 command module rounded the far side of the Moon on Dec. 24, the crew could look toward the lunar horizon and see the Earth appear to rise, due to their spacecraft's orbital motion. Their famous picture of a distant blue Earth above the Moon's limb was a marvelous gift to the world.

 Image Credit: NASA

The photo was captured with a they custom 70 mm Kodak Ektachrome ASA 64 color transparency film loaded into a custom Hasselblad 500 EL camera with a 250mm prime lens set to 1/250 second at f/11.

On Christmas Day, , * ** three humans orbited the Earth. Frank Borman,  Jim Lovell and William Anders

 

There's a video about the 45th anniversary of "Earthrise" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE-vOscpiNc#t=28. Christmas Eve 1968 was when the trio read Genesis from on high, as well. It wa the most watched television broadcast of all time at the time.

XMAS EVE STROLL:  We spent a bit of time Christmas Eve morning watching the tail end of the spacewalk.

Approximately six hours into Tuesday's spacewalk, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins and Rick Mastracchio finished installing a new pump module on the International Space Station's truss. They bolted the ammonia pump in place, hooked up the four fluid lines that help route ammonia through the unit and attached five electrical connectors.  It was the second spacewalk on Christmas eve, the only other 1999 servicing the Hubble STS-103

                   
Astronaut Mike Hopkins works outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk Dec. 24.

 Image Credit: NASA TV

This "Season's Greetings from NASA Television 2013" gives me some great ideas for next time it snows in Seattle!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYfwY1HzQF8&feature=youtu.be

COASTAL:  Our Christmas travels continue. We're down near Newport, Ore., now, visiting more family. We all had a wonderful swim earlier today, and another fabulous feast awaits. It's the most wonderful time of the year, indeed. 

Wherever you are and whomever you're with, we here at MPA hope you have a holly, jolly holiday.

Holiday Happenings

SOUTHBOUND: We left Seattle Saturday midday for a holiday junket. Saturday night was a fun family party in Lake Oswego. The sunset over the Columbia River was gorgeous as we crossed the I-5 bridge. My crappy cell phone camera certainly didn't do it justice.

PUZZLED: Sunday, we mostly worked and played around G&G's house in Vancouver. Annabelle found a brand new bamboo puzzle in a box, and decided to give it a go. She labored on it for a few minutes and when she had it completely disassembled announced with great flair, "I did it!" LOL. 

Um, no, Annabelle, you're done when you have reassembled the puzzle. Above is a 'before' picture. Looks pretty complicated to me.

We were invited to visit a remarkable, century-old estate in the Irvington neighborhood of Portland Sunday afternoon. What a wonderful, beautiful history lesson that was for all of us. 

WISH LIST: Today, we worked and played around G&G's house again, and the kids went to see "Walking with Dinosaurs" with the grandparents." CJ reports, "It was OK." I think it got a bit more enthusiastic review from Annabelle. 

While they did that, Christian and I did a little shopping. We did NOT buy this "Mars Explorer" Barbie for Annabelle (or CJ). 

I have taken a few photos of our travels, but I stupidly forgot to bring the cable to link my camera to the computer. Hopefully, I'll have it tomorrow.

MEANWHILE, ABOUT 18,000 FEET OVERHEAD: Saturday, we watched part of the spacewalk undertaken by a couple of NASA astronauts in attempt to repair an ammonia leak on the ISS. The views were astounding.

Here is a photo of flight engineers Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, who completed a 5-hour, 28-minute spacewalk, to remove the faulty pump module getting suited up for the spacewalk.
Their spacewalk went mostly well - they were able to get more of the repairs done than anticipated, so they may be able to finish the task in two spacewalks rather than three. The second spacewalk will commence on Christmas Eve, at 4:10 Pacific time.

Though the clouds blanketed most of the sky, we were able to catch a few glimpses of the ISS tonight, as it flew over just before dinnertime.

Here's hoping their spacewalk goes off without a hitch.

White Friday

LET IT SNOW: As we headed for our beds last night, we had visions of waking up under a white blanket ... of snow!

And lo and behold, the forecasters got this one right. Above is my view out of the upstairs window this morning. Not too many people down on the golf course today (that big white patch in the distance)!

It was just a small window of white - the snow started around 5 a.m. and was expected to be gone by noon - so the kids didn't waste any time getting out into it.

There were snowball fights ...

and a snowman was built.

I watched some of the action from inside. ...

But I kept going back outside to take more photos.

Tonight, the snow's just a happy memory.

SCIJINKS: We spent a lot of today prepping for the week-ish we'll be spending on the road, but we managed to shoehorn some school-y stuff in. For starters, I had the kids check out SciJinks - Weather Adventures. It's a NASA site geared at students, and all about weather here on Earth, as well as in space.

The kids checked out its front page, and then I suggested they check out the "Fun and Games" tab. Once there, Annabelle immediately chose "The Bad (Weather) Joke Machine."

She yukked it up and read all the jokes to us, including one about the Emerald City. ...

Q: How do you predict rain in Seattle? 

A: If you can't see the Space Needle, it's raining. If you can see the Space Needle, it's about to rain.

They both checked out Weather folklore, and Annabelle played Spectrix, a game where you combine colors to reveal information about weather and the environment. They also checked out Weather Tricktionary.

All in all, it's a great site, and one that we give six thumbs up.

FESTIVE FUNK: The kids got their groove on today with a fun Merry music machine. It lets you combine numerous musical elements into a high tech holiday symphony. Check it out: http://us.moo.com/merrymusic/

KEEP ON TRUCKIN': While so many on Earth gear up for holiday festivities, Curiosity keeps toiling away on the surface of Mars, and the livin's not easy.

In fact, the rover's wheels are showing more signs of wear and tear than was expected, according to a Mission Status Report from JPL.

PHOTO: NASA/JPL

Curiosity has been tackling some tough terrain in recent weeks. The team is going to take some photos of the treads, and plans to plot routes to future destinations that a little bit smoother.

CAN YOU DIG IT?: With great fanfare, the world's largest rotary drill started tunneling along the Seattle waterfront . Its job is to dig out a subterranean roadway with will replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Things got off to a bumpy start, with a workers' strike that idled it before it could even start. (Wait, if it hadn't started, it couldn't really be idled, could it?) Any way, Bertha eventually got going on July 30, but then ran into some sort of plastic-y strands that made its progress screech to a darn near halt. It finally got past that, and now it's been idle again for days and days, as it has run into something the huge cutting face can't handle. Not good. Not good at all. They thought they had a workaround, involving pilot holes, sending 'divers' down, and more, but Bertha is being inundated with ground water, so the delay is at least another two weeks.

To date, Bertha (which is 5 stories tall, might I note) has gone just over 1,000 feet on its 1.7 mile path from Sodo to South Lake Union.

If you want to watch the nothing happening, here's a live cam: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/viaduct/Traffic/ConstructionCam

But before I bag on Bertha any more, check out this cool photo. See - there is a wee bit of tunnel there!

Photo: Washington State Department of Transportation -http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/Viaduct/

Trying to make lemonade out of lemons, the Seattle clam chowder powerhouse Ivar's has a contest. "Tell us what you think is blocking Bertha for your chance to win Ivar's Chowder for one year (one cup per week). The most creative answer will win. And, just by entering, you'll get to dream of the grand prize with a coupon for a free cup of chowder."

What's not to like?! Woot!
Enter here by Dec. 23: http://www.ivars.com/promos/item/317-clamosaurus

POM PROJECT: I almost forgot, here (finally) is a photo showing what all those pom poms we made awhile back were for - several pairs of 'spirit' gloves. Not necessarily the most practical apparel, but fun. ;) Go Hawks!

To Market, to Market

I LIKE PIKE: After a couple hours of schooly stuff, we set out to do some holiday shopping. Destination: Seattle's world famous Pike Place Market.

We totally scored on a parking spot and headed for the excitement with no trouble. It was a glorious scene - still waters on the bay, ferries, the Ferris wheel - I'd love to share the beauty, but my camera lens malfunctioned for most of the morning. :/

We saw market pigs, of course. ...

And even a market bigfoot!

We made the rounds, and on our way back to the car, we made our way by Piroshky Piroshky Bakery, a market legend.

The kids pressed their red noses against the glass and looked at me beseechingly.

"Look at how long the line is," I noted.

"Sometimes you have to be patient," CJ pointed out.

Kids win.

And so, we waited in line, perusing their photo menu whilst we waited.

The kids had each picked out something, but when we actually laid eyes on the creations, I pointed out how friggin' HUGE they were and suggested they split something. Specifically, I suggested they split an "Oskar's Star," described as "a delicious buttery dough topped with chocolate, sweet cream cheese and sprinkled with hazelnuts" on their Web site (where it's spelled Oscar's Star, BTW).

They sat out at Victor Steinbrueck Park, enjoying a phenomenal view.

 But I don't think they noticed the view. ;) They were too busy digging in.

They *did* notice the birds, however. Many, many birds. Pigeons and seagulls who wanted to share their bakery treats. 

And these birds were brazen, as they're used to tourists (and so locals, no doubt) sharing morsels with them. The kids managed to keep them at bay by flapping and kicking.

We did enjoy watching this seagull perched on the fence overlooking the sound.

I am thrilled to announce We are Officially Done Christmas Shopping! Woo-hoo!

But we're not done baking. ... Tonight we cranked out a couple dozen more Seahawks Santas for Rick's co-workers, and put the finishing touches on a few more pairs of pom pom gloves. Tomorrow, there's packing, wrapping, baking and more in store. 'Tis the season.

Very Merry

SCENES OF THE SEASON: Thought I'd start by parking a trio of very merry photos here. The first and the second ones were were taken at the winter carnival at the kids' once-a-week Shoreline school. 

The third one was also taken on Monday, when Mr. and Mrs. Claus visited Chuck's on 85th, one of our favorite hang outs.  Nothing like a classy holiday photo in front of the beer cooler, right?!

MOLECULES IN MOTION: Today in science class, the kids had fun doing a few experiments with water. One was as simple as racing water drops down wax paper on a slope. 

The other demonstrated how water molecules expand and contract, depending on how warm or cold they are.

Yesterday, we spent a little time in the kitchen whipping up some presents for the kids two Shoreline teachers. ...

They liked them, which pleased us greatly. :)

PHONE HOME: NASA's number one network is turning 50 this month, and what a half century run it has had.

Beam Wave Guide antennas at Goldstone, known as the "Beam Waveguide Cluster." Each antenna is 111.5-feet (34-m) in diameter. They're located in an area at Goldstone called "Apollo Valley." This photograph was taken on Jan. 11, 2012. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech 

Deep Space Network (DSN)  is NASA's worldwide radio telescope array. It has been communicating with spacecraft throughout our solar system for decades now. DSN is made up of three facilities: The one in Goldstone, CA (pictured above), one near Madrid, Spain, and the third in Canberra, Australia. Together, they offer 24/7 coverage of the solar system, communicating with 33 spacecraft currently. 

NASA has a Web site all about DSN's anniversary, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn50/, and part if it lists some of the network's claims to fame. For instance, DSN showed us the first moonwalk, and the first-ever image of Mars, the first imagesd of Mercury's surface (1974). DSN relayed "The Pale Blue Dot" shot from Voyager 1, and transmitted data letting us know the craft had made its way into interstellar space.

INTERNATIONAL: This evening, we headed to the International District for some holiday shopping. Our destination was Uwajimaya.  On our way in, we had to stop and admire the Christmas-y colored lights atop the Seahawks' stadium.

Inside, it was wonderfully colorful, with thousands upon thousands of new-to-us things to check out.

The kids loved the big dragon hovering over the aisles.

We lingered at the live seafood counter, where CJ and Annabelle saw their first geoducks, I do believe.

We found the items we were after, so it was a great trip.