Cache Valley Utah

Spinach Meals

2009-06-14T22:37:00.010-06:00

The spinach has been loving the rain. I harvested quite a bit yesterday and there's more still in the garden. Since I also went to the gardener's market yesterday and got some fresh eggs, I decided on a quiche.

I've never made a quiche before, but figured it seems like a dish that would be very forgiving. I used the bacon that had been in my freezer since Christmas, a crust I had in the freezer from ages ago and fresh chives from my garden.

5 fresh eggs

.75 cup low fat cottage cheese

4 strips bacon, cooked

a bunch of spinach, sauteed in the pan used for the bacon, chopped

a bunch of fresh chives

2 oz blue cheese

I got over eager and took a sample before I took a picture. It might have been better to not cook the spinach in the bacon grease, but I was at first playing around with the idea of not putting in the bacon, just using it for the sauteing. It tastes fine and it was a good experiment.

I had some left over spinach and used it in soup.
chicken broth - homemade that I'd had in the freezer a little while
packaged cheese tortillini
fresh basil from the garden
garlic salt (since I didn't have any salt in the homemade broth, otherwise garlic powder)
pepper to taste
add spinach in the last few minutes of boiling.

Upcoming Events: June

2009-06-13T12:45:00.002-06:00

June 19-20
Summerfest

June 21
Summer Solstice Hike with the Logan Social Club

June 25
Meet and Greet at the White Owl with the Logan Social Club

The Weed Patch

2009-06-13T10:53:00.000-06:00

Here's a picture of my garden part way through the process of de-weeding:

Here it is now:

I notice that I seem to have done some damage to the plaster on the side of my house in this process. Two steps forward, one step back. The after picture is from several weeks ago. Perhaps I should take a new one to show how well that squash plant is growing. It seems to love all the rain we've been having. I'm worried about the tomatoes though. It seems like it's rained pretty much every day the past couple of weeks.

Wildflowers

2009-06-11T00:32:00.000-06:00

I haven't been hiking this year except for the one to wind caves. I know I'm missing so much. Here's a sample a friend brought me from Cherry Peak a couple weeks ago. They were all wilty by the time I got them, but perked up well in water.

First Annual Beaver Mountain Music Festival

2009-06-11T00:13:00.003-06:00

September 12, 2009
3:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Tickets $25

Live Music from by:
Shaky Tree
The Legendary Porch Pounders
Arsen Gang
Orjazm
Conscious Honesty

This is all the information I've run into. It's from a flyer posted on the SkiTheBeav.com website. There's more on the flyer, but it's blurry.

First Harvest

2009-05-17T16:05:00.003-06:00

I arrived from Alaska this morning. The first thing I did was take a stroll back to the garden. I was happy to see that my tomato plants had survived my abandonment. The next thing I noticed was the weeds trying to reclaim their old stomping grounds. 10 days and they'd nearly taken over the spinach bed.

The spinach was fighting back though. I hadn't gotten around to thinning it before I left, not being ready to pick winners and losers yet. Today that couldn't be put off any longer - if for no other reason than to make it easier to weed. The result is a much neater looking row of spinach, with plenty of room to allow growth. AND a bowl of baby spinach leaves - enough for a handsome dinner salad.

Logan City Online Utility Bill Pay

2009-05-06T16:01:00.004-06:00

For some reason, Logan City isn't including the website for online billing on their bills anymore. The web site is: https://secure.loganutah.org/UtilBillPay.cfm. You'll need your account number handy and amount of the current bill.

Crimson Trail Hike on Sunday

2009-05-05T21:58:00.002-06:00

Meet at 10 at the ranger station to carpool with members of the Logan Social/NewComers club. Deatils here.

Veggies in the Ground

2009-05-05T21:36:00.005-06:00

On the Sunday hike, someone mentioned that we were at the 50% frost date - there was a 50% chance that there wouldn't be any more frosts. Then I looked at the 10 day weather forcast and there's not going to be a frost for another 10 days. I took a chance and started throwing plants int he ground as quick as I could.

I didn't drive home immediately after the hike, but made a beeline to Lowes where I bought a bunch of herbs. I torn out a bit of sod near one of my new pear trees, not far from the weed patch and threw in an herb garden. Yesterday, I went nuts at Home Depot and bought 11 tomato plants, 3 peppers, 2 cantalopes, a zuchinni, a yellow squash, a tomatillo and a water melon. They're all in the former weed patch. I'm a little obsessed with tomatoes.

Tomorrow I'm headed to Alaska. I feel like I'm abandoning my children. I got a babysitter, but these aren't toddlers. They're infants. The kind that you don't leave with a stranger. Probably they're biggest threat is still frost, but I'm feeling lucky. There's no frost predicted out to May 14th and the 10% frost date is May 20. If the forecast is right, surely there can't be more than a 20% chance of frost now. Here's hoping...

Envision Cache Valley Town Hall Meetings

2009-05-04T12:35:00.006-06:00

Join your neighbors at an upcoming town hall meeting. Get involved today!

At the Envision Cache Valley Town Hall Meetings, Cache Valley residents will learn about the four growth scenarios developed from ideas explored by the public at the workshops. Residents will weigh their potential impacts on air quality, infrastructure costs, water consumption, housing affordability, and other measures that affect quality of life. Participants should plan to attend the entire 75 minute event, so they have time to review the scenarios, hear the presentation, and express their preferences through wireless technology. Feedback will be used as the basis for the draft Cache Valley Vision, a set of principles and implementation suggestions to serve as a voluntary guide for long-term growth decisions.

Envision Cache Valley Town Hall Meetings

Tuesday, May 19:

Hyrum 2:00 p.m. - Hyrum City Building, 83 West Main Street, Hyrum
Smithfield 5:30 p.m. - Senior Citizen Center, 315 East 600 South, Smithfield
Preston 5:30 p.m. - Robinson Building, 186 West 2nd North, Preston
North Logan 7:30 p.m. - North Logan Library, 475 East 2500 North, North Logan
Clarkston 7:30 p.m. - Clarkston City Hall, 50 South Main, Clarkston

Wednesday, May 20:

Richmond 2:00 p.m. - Pepperidge Farm, 901 North 201 West, Richmond
Dayton 5:00 p.m. - Westside High School, 775 N. West Side Hwy., Dayton
Nibley 5:30 p.m. - Nibley City Council Room, 625 West 3200 South, Nibley
Providence 7:30 p.m. - Elementary School, 91 East Center Street, Providence
Cache County 7:45 p.m. - Historic Courthouse, 199 N. Main, Logan

Thursday, May 21:

Wellsville 5:30 p.m. - Tabernacle Theatre, 75 South 100 East, Wellsville
Millville 5:30 p.m. - The Pavilion (Providence S. Stake Center), 360 East 450 North, Millville
Mendon 7:30 p.m. - Mountainside Elementary School, 235 East 125 North, Mendon
Logan 7:30 p.m. - City Council Chambers, 255 North Main Street, Logan

Trail Report

2009-05-04T10:46:00.002-06:00

The trail report at the Logan Ranger District hasn't been updated in a while, but I imagine as the season progresses, you'll find it updated more often (check the date at the top). The trails are listed near the end of the report.

First Hike of the Season

2009-05-03T21:30:00.018-06:00

For some reason I want to blog about all the hikes I do this season. Mostly, I want to get to some of the hikes that you can't easily get information on and provide some record of them. Wind Caves is not one of those. It's one of the most well known in the canyon.

The trail was muddy from all of the rain we've had recently. In places it was hard to get traction to walk up and/or get down without sliding. The weather was drizzly when we started, but cleared up about the time we reached the caves. I was happy to have my ankle high gortex boots for the one stream crossing we had to do. It's always easiest to stomp through rather than trying to balance from one rock to the next.

It was all in all a good first hike of the season. I thought the rain might make us cold. But I think everyone - including myself wore enough clothes to keep warm. Typical me in Utah: I prepared for the cold and ended up hot - so the rain was actually refreshing. The rain let up just in time for the hike down. The clouds were particularly neat, quickly moving through the canyon, building up in pockets against the mountains and then dissapating.

There's plenty of green, but not too much is blooming. There were lots of these little yellow buds around though.

I also learned a new bit of information today. There is also a trail called Wind Cave Way. The split off for it is at the brown verticle "Wind Caves" that's about 1/2 the way to the caves: go right at the split. It was built by Cache Valley Hikers and goes to the ridge. My guess is that it probably meets up with the Preston Valley trail that comes out of Green Canyon to the same ridge.

A fellow hiker also mentioned a hike that goes up a ridge, starting on the north side of the mouth of green canyon. I'm assuming it's from the parking area directly to the left of the Shoreline trail as you enter the canyon. He said there's a picnic bench a little bit up the trail and the trail continues at least 4 mi up. You can probably follow the ridge a ways further and perhaps meet up with Cherry Peak.

No Swine Flu in Cache Valley...Yet

2009-04-30T16:40:00.007-06:00

I might have thought Utah would be protected more than other states, particularly out of ski season. But I guess the locals have been high tailing it to Mexico for mudseason and they've brought back pandemic flu. Swell. The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that there are 5 cases in the state. Here in Cache Valley, we take our threats seriously. A coworker just went out to grab some hand sanitizer and it's getting hard to come by.

It's hard to know what to make of it. But 20 people here, 6 people there, surely there are more people with flu than that on a typical day anyways. I sat in a pandemic flu preparedness workshop when avian flu was going to strike about 3 years ago. The worst case scenario is bad...way bad. Just what we need to follow the subprime crisis. Shutting down schools, businesses and airtravel (part of the typical worse case scenario) is sure to do us in if the flu doesn't. It did make me think what's worse, the flu or our reaction to it? That's actually what I'm most worried about. Everyone freaks out - won't travel -won't go outside - service industries have no one serve - maybe no employees - recession becomes depression.

Since I figured I couldn't in good conscious not be prepared for pandemic flu after spending a whole day learning about it, I each went so far as to get an N-95 respirator mask at the time. Two actually. I used one just last week when sawing (before the threat of pandemic flu reared it's ugly head again). Thank goodness I have one stored in a safe place. I wonder if I should use it on my flight next week.

Economic observation: I give it two days before someone says that pandemic flu is going to have a positive impact on the economy (just like WW-II and the great depression!). Then perchance the economy turns around some time within the next year. For the next 75 years people will speculate about how disease or natural disasters are just what you need in an economic downturn (since war isn't working as well as it used to).

Mountainous Cake

2009-04-29T23:32:00.010-06:00

My friend Becky made a very cool cake for her boyfriend for his birthday. It was a volcano, errupting raspberry sauce, with dinosaurs all around. For some reason when Carrie started talking about what to do for Scott's birthday cake, the inspiration came back. Here's what happened:

It's a 9x13 cake, with cake in a bread loaf pan on top as the base of the mountain range, then a large cupcake and a mini cupcake for each peak. It's all covered in chocolate frosting, a drizzle of ganache at the peaks, coconut for snow, food coloring and coconut for grass, and swedish fish.

Scott likes to fly fish, among his many outdoor activities. Carrie looked and couldn't find a biker or skier. Good thing, because we would have run out of room on the cake.

Sprouting Spinach!

2009-04-28T07:50:00.005-06:00

A little over a week ago, I planted some spinach. Sunday I noticed a little sprout, but thought there was a good chance it was just grass creeping into my spinach bed. The test for sprouting spinach is many little sprouts that look basically the same. Yesterday afternoon, they were there. They each look like two little sprigs of grass growing together. Less than 40 days left until I have my own home grown spinach.

Upcoming NewComers Events and New Website

2009-04-10T18:14:00.002-06:00

Logan NewComers has a new website. You can check out upcoming events and join the club through the website and RSVP for events. This actually gives members the functionality that we've been asking for a while.

In gearing up for the NewComers' season (most people move in during the summer) - there are a couple Meet & Greats coming up. If you're new to the area, this is a great way to get linked up with people of similar interest. If you've been around for a while, and would just like to meet some new people, you're also welcome.

For the latest upcoming events check out the club's new webpage at:http://new2logan.ning.com/events

April 11 Saturday Settlers of Catan Cache Valley Championship
April 12 Sunday Vegetarian Potluck
April 14 Tuesday Yoga
April 16 Thursday Meet and Greet - Firehouse Pizzeria
April 22 Wednesday Book Club
April 23 Thursday This American Life - Live! (Radio Movie)
May 2 Saturday Girls Night Out - Spa Day
May 12 Tuesday Meet and Greet - Black Pearl

Logan Canyon - Sites and Spots

2009-04-10T17:51:00.001-06:00

Googling around to update a link, I ran into this nice overview of Logan Canyon. It provides 31 "sites and stops", including campgrounds and trails. It's useful for play in the canyon if you're not familiar with all the typical landmarks and place names.

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Fundraiser in SLC

2009-04-10T14:32:00.004-06:00

If you're going to be in Salt Lake on this Saturday, April 11th, check out the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraiser at Piper Down. 1492 South State St., SLC.

Flocks of Phlox?

2009-04-06T20:07:00.018-06:00

The first bulb plants are starting to poke out. As yards are filling with the early signs of spring, I'm kicking myself for not being able to commit to a location for hyacinth, crocuses and irises last fall.

In the mean time, I'm wandering around my yard, inspecting the apple trees for signs of budding and wondering if the daphne has just gone off and died. I'm also inspecting everyone else's plants to see if mine are keeping pace. Or perhaps someone else has planted a hydrangea, so I can safely plant the one I've been nursing inside for a month.

In a welcome sign that spring is finally here for me as well as everyone else, this morning I happened upon these little babes.

There are in fact two clumps of them, right where I planted perennial phlox last autumn. In fact, that's the only reason I have for believing that it is phlox. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's not a clever weed, tricking me into watering and feeding it.

It had also somehow escaped my attention that the coral bell has been underway for quite sometime, camoflauged against the mulch. Sneaky little bugger.

Envision Cache Valley

2009-03-04T10:16:00.005-07:00

Envision Cache Valley is a project to collect public opinion and feedback about future development of hte valley. Check out the website to learn more about the project. By taking the online survey you can learn a lot about the project and give your feedback.

Attend a workshop to have a great voice in the process. You can attend any of the workshops regardless of where you live. Light refreshments provided. RSVP to Mary at mdavies@envisionutah.org or (801) 303-1462. Workshops will run from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The ones remaining:

Mar. 4th
Hyrum - City Hall, 83 West Main
Wellsville - Wellsville Elementary School, 90 East 100 South

Mar. 5th
Logan - Mt. Logan Middle School, 875 North 200 East
Hyde Park - City Hall, 113 E. Center Street

Firehouse Pizzeria Fundraiser

2009-02-19T21:34:00.003-07:00

Team in Training is having i's second annual fundraiser at the Firehouse Pizzeria. This one promises to be an even bigger success and more fun than last year's. We have four live bands playing

Bruce Moulton, Jacob Davidson,
Jan Reed Summerhays, and American Attic

There will also be a raffle, silent auction, cash bar and all you can eat pizza and salad buffet. And it supports a great cause.

Location: Firehouse Pizzeria, 880 South Main, Logan, Utah
Time: 4:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Cost: $20/person, $15 w/student ID, $6 for kids under 10.

To see more about the event, Team and Training, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, check out logantnt.blogspot.com.

Word of the Day: Yard Sale

2009-01-14T14:46:00.002-07:00

Yardsale: A wipeout so serious that the person is sprawled on the ground with all their equipment spread around them. - From Bart King's The Pocket Guide to Mischief.

Usage: The collision with the rental rodent resulted in a double yard sale.

Word of the Day: Rental Rodent

2008-12-28T15:06:00.001-07:00

Rental Rodent: A kid on a rented snowboard or skiis. From Bart King's The Pocket Guide to Mischief

Usage: You can't seriously be going to Park City this today, the mountain will be overrun with rental rodents.

Confession: I've never heard this before, but thought it still might be a fun word of the day. We don't have so many rental rodents at Beaver. You're more likely to have a tike zoom past you on his/her older siblings' gear.

Yule Log!! December's Daring Baker's Challenge

2008-12-28T10:51:00.003-07:00

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.

The challenge it to make a log that includes ALL 6 of these elements
1) Dacquoise Biscuit
2) Mousse
3) Ganache Insert
4) Praline (Crisp) Insert
5) Creme Brulee Insert
6) Icing

The hosts have made all sorts of recommendations for using different flavors for the layers. I may have to make two so I can try out my favorites. I'm thinking of making one following the hostesses' first choice flavors and one with alternative flavors, leaning toward the tropical.
Chocolate
1. Almond Dacquoise Biscuit
2. Dark Chocolate Mousse
3. Dark Chocolate Ganache
4. Praline Feuillete
5.Vanilla Creme Brulee
6. Dark Chocolate Icing

1.Coconut Dacquoise Biscuit
2. Mango Mousse
3.Dark Chocoalate Ganache
4. Coconut Crisp
5. Chocolate Creme Brulee
6. Dark Chocolate Icing

This month, I am not going to make the mistake of trying to write the entire blog in 15 minutes sitting in a friend's kitchen. I throghoughly enjoyed last month's and I'm not sure if that came across. This months' looks like quite the challenge. So many parts! Luckily I have family coming at the end of the month, so I'll have someone to share it with.

Ruby Pipeline

2008-12-22T18:13:00.005-07:00

An Idaho ABC affiliate is reporting that the Cache County Council has taken a neutral position on running the Ruby Pipeline through the county. This reverses an earlier decision by the council to no allow the pipeline. The buried line will run from Wyoming to Oregon and serve California and Oregon.

I attended a Cache County Council meeting several months ago in which a representative from a local government in Wyoming gave advice to our County Council members on making decisions regarding the pipeline. The major message of this gentleman was that the county could position itself to gain from the pipeline, but that it would have to be well organized to do so. The impression I was left with was that the pipeline company could be quite forceful. If the county isn't careful, we could end up with a pipeline that served no one but the citizens of California and Oregon. If the pipeline company is able to get federal approval for a route and a private landowner along the route will not sell, it will be able to use federal laws to condemn the land.

It seems that the Cache Cache route was considered after several obstacles arose for a route through Idaho. The reasons cited at the Council meeting for considering the Cache route were a prohibition of locating the pipeline too close to (within eyesight of) the Oregon trail and cost savings. The BLM doesn't want the pipeline going through national forest with out road access as would happen on the northern route. Additionally, it sounds like there are many pipelines in a cooridor along the norther route, so it may be getting a bit crowded.

The original reasons cited for the "no" vote on the pipeline were environmental impacts and a disrespect for the private landowners. The reason for the reversal seems to be that no one spoke against the pipeline in an October public hearing. If you've ever had to follow an issue through the county council, you'll know how difficult it is to find out whether your issue is going to be on the agenda. The agendas are not published in advance. The most recent agenda published on the website is currently from September. You basically have to subscribe to the Herald Journal where I assume they publish at least the public hearings. Or you can call every two weeks on the day of the meeting and ask what's on the agenda.

I do hope the county saw to resident's concerns regarding preservation of the national forest, private landowner rights, and reduced natural gas expense for the area before reversing their decision. But I am skeptical that this has occured. The minutes from the December 2nd County Council meeting don't reveal much.

The proposed route is through the Cache National Forest, southwest of Hardware Ranch, North of Porcupine Reservoir, near Avon, then north of of Mantua, over to Brigham City. You can see the topo maps (and perhaps make more sense of them than me) at the Stop the Ruby Pipeline Coalition website. A newsgroup ariticle explains the case against the proposed route.

Since it seems that these pipelines seem to be constructed in utility cooridors, I wonder if this is the first step in establishing a new cooridor.

More Snow Vocab

2008-12-19T15:19:00.002-07:00

Courtesy of the Herald Journal's article on snowboarding.

aggro: aggressive
Betty: female snowboarder
crater: to land a jump badly
duck-footed: in a stance when the toes point outward
dude: any person
eggbeater: bad fall
grommet: young snowboarder
huckfest: when riders compete trying to catch bigger and bigger air
Jibber: a freestyle rider
old school: primitive techniques
spew: talk a lot about oneself

Opening Day!

2008-12-19T07:50:00.004-07:00

The Beav will be opening on Monday December 22. Hours are 9am-4pm. This is the day we've been waiting for since the first early flake fell in September. My ski rack is on. My skis are tuned up. At last! I probably won't get any skiing in at the Beav until after Christmas, but it's good to know it's there.

Word of the Day: Pow

2008-12-14T14:55:00.002-07:00

Being new to Utah, I've had to get used to some new terms.

Pow: Short for powder, the fluffy white stuff.

Usage: 2008 was an epic pow year.

New Brew Pub in Logan

2008-12-02T10:03:00.006-07:00

The past couple of weeks, Logan has been a buzz with talk of a new brewpub opening downtown. Mikey at Utah Beer summed up it up in his blog. The biggest concern at present is whether or not the brew pub will smell. Sounds minor and sounds like Logan will have a brew pub soon.

I believe the current issue before the city council is a an ordinance change that will allow a brew pub. Then individual proprietors will have to go through the process of opening a new business under the ordinance terms.

*edit*
The proposal passed. And Mikey's summary of the history of brew eastablishments and prohibition in Logan is pretty interesting.

Daring Baker's Challenge Nov 2008: Candy Lab

2008-11-29T10:59:00.001-07:00

A couple of months ago I ran across a blog of someone who had done a Daring Baker's Challenge. I was attracted to the community of alternative bakers. The idea is that everyone involved cooks the same recipe and posts it on their blogs once a month on the same day. The rules are that you follow the recipe and instructions as directed unless you have a health concern that prevents you from doing so.

I don't have any health conditions, but I would like to eat more healthy. In particular I'd like to avoid sugar because of the diabeties in my family. For my first month, I have just followed the recipe as directed. I would like to try an alternative verison that uses stevia, agave and/or brown rice syrup, but I didn't get around to that yet.

This months recipes are: Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon, as published on Bay Area Bites . And Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich. The host this month is Shuna of Eggbeater. Cohosting are Alex of Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie duo, Jen of Foray into Food, and Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go.

This month is very much dedicated to sugar. It's caramel cake, with caramel frosting and optional caramels. I love candy making (caramel popcorn and toffee), but I hadn't tried caramel yet.

The syrup is required for both the cake and the frosting, so I started there. It was hard to get know when to take it off the heat. The first time I under cooked it and it turned out to be a thick mass of solid uncarameled sugar. The second time, I cooked it a bit longer and think I got it about right. Here they are side-by-side, with the correct one on the left. The one that is under cooked looks like a tub of butter, but it's really hard.

I opted to make cupcakes instead of cake, because I thought it would make them easier to share. I also made some as mini-cupcakes. I didn't have wrappers for those and most of them broke coming out of the pan. Drats! I had to eat those. The cake recipe was pretty straight forward. The frosting was pretty easy as well. I did have to warm up my caramel syrup a bit to make it easier to spoon out.

I was wondering if I could make something out of the sugar mass from the caramel syrup gone wrong. So I reheated it adding a litte cream and cooking it to the fudge stage. At the time, I wasn't thinking that would turn out to be like pralines, but I realized it was as soon as I poured it. I should have therefore made little patties instead of the big mass of candy I created. Here's how it turned out:

Because I thought it would be pretty, I drizzled some of the praline like candy and the caramel sauce over the frosted cupcakes. I was a little overwhelming for the flavor because the cupcakes with frosting were plenty sweet enough all ready.

I loved the idea of making the optional caramels. I made them with cardamom as recommended and then made a batch with lavendar. Both turned out a pull-your-fillings-out consistency, kind of like Sugar Daddies. I think I might should have reduced the cooking temperature because I'm at high altitute. I loved the flavor though of both the cardamom and lavendar. I rolled them in powdered sugar to prevent them from sticking to each other. I forgot to take a picture of that. I would consider wax paper instead of foil in the future, because I ended up with bits of foil stuck to the candy.

Candy Lab: Once the caramels were hard and I realized they weren't a good texture. I tried reheating them in a couple of different ways, adding milk, butter, and soy milk. I did find that they were salvagable. I would cook them with the liquid/fat until bubbling again. I ended up with all range of textures from thick sauce, to burnt hard candy. It was fun to play around.

Here's some picks of the candy in the pan and with a bit of foil stuck:

Cross Country Skiing

2008-11-16T16:37:00.003-07:00

I went cross country skiing at Tony Grove today. The snow wasn't great, icy and choppy (A water skiing term, but I feel it works. Think frozen waves.). You can find the snow depth at the snotel site.

This was only my second time cross-country skiing and the last time was about 8 years ago. I some how completely forgot that a person might need skill for the activity. That quickly became apparent.

The trails that we could get to by crossing the dam were icy, but good practice for a beginner. The snow was nicer on the nature trail (look for the trailhead at the end of the parking lot). Sorry no pics :(

Ski Swap Tonight and This Weekend

2008-11-13T10:13:00.004-07:00

Details for this year's Beaver Mountain Ski Patrol Ski Swap. Beaver Mountain has an all volunteer ski patrol and I thin this is their main fundraiser.

USU Stan Laub Center 1400 N 1000 E Logan, UT
Nov 13 7p-10p
Nov 14 9a-10p
Nov 15 9a-6p

Skis, Snowboards, Boots, Bindings, Poles, Gloves, Hates, Googles, Ski passes and More! All major credit cards accepted.

Growing the Logan Team

2008-11-12T17:27:00.006-07:00

To me what we're doing here in Cache Valley with Team in Training is really amazing. The team is really expanding the fundraising base for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The more we run, the more other people find out we're here and want to join. At the same time, we're increasing awareness of services for cancer patients in the area. The society has found us our own team honoree, Ian, right here in the Valley. For me that brings home that we're working for this amazing national organization, but there's also a really important local connection.

The picture above is of of Team Logan's captains and coach recruiting at Logan's First Dam 10k/5k run.

If you'd like fight blood cancer by running the Salt Lake Marathon/Half Marathon or the Country Music Marathon/Half Marathon, it's not too late.

Contact me or the Utah Chapter of Team in Training:

180 South 300 West, Suite 260
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Phone: (801) 519-6600
Fax: (801) 519-6606

To donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society visit my fundraising page.

Beaver Mountain Lodge Upgrade

2008-11-12T11:45:00.005-07:00

For an article check here. I snagged their pic.

Annual Nordic United Fundraiser and Membership Party

2008-11-10T09:45:00.002-07:00

Annual Nordic United Fundraiser and Membership Party

When: Wednesday, November 12, at 6:00 pm

Where: Cache Valley Learning Center (75 South 400 West)

What: Please help support Nordic United by joining us for an evening of good food, many auction and raffle items, and live music!

Nordic United is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and provide non-motorized winter recreation opportunities in the Cache Valley area of northern Utah.

Beaver Mountain Ski Patrol Ski Swap

2008-11-07T22:39:00.003-07:00

Looks like the 2008 Beaver Mountain Ski Patrol Ski Swap is going to be November 13-15. But I haven't seen it advertised any where, just the organizing info on their webpage. It was at the Stan Laub (1050 E 1400 N) training center last year.

Team in Training 2008-2009

2008-11-07T21:17:00.003-07:00

It's Team in Training time again. Last year, 5 of us raised over $6000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This year, the team in growing. We're going to run the Salt Lake Marathon and Half Marathon in April 2009.

I want to thank all of the people that supported me last year and made our team successful. You donated your own money and passed the word along. It really adds up. I raised over $1700 one donation at a time. 380,000 participants just liked me have raised over $900 million dollars. The research this has funded has greatly increased the survival rate and comfort of cancer patients. But there still isn't a cure, so we keep racing to save lives.

I really need your support in helping to fight blood cancers. Please visit my fundraising page to make a contribution.

Ski 2008-2009

2008-11-07T14:56:00.003-07:00

Ski season is here. Snowbird opened up for early season today. To which people in Cache Valley will respond, what about the Beav? Not yet. Check the weather report for the Beav here. Welcome the cold and percipitation :D

Zucchini

2008-08-12T22:16:00.007-06:00

Anyone have any zucchini recipes?

I went to the gardner's market on Saturday mainly on the look out for tomatoes (no luck, though there were promises of tomatoes on this coming Saturday. I induldged in some Hip Mama's Lemonade. Then I ran into the biggest zucchinis I have ever seen. The lady told me they were good for baking, so I figured I take advantage of the 3/$1 giant zucchinis.

This morning, I went out my front door for the first time in a couple of days and there were two giant zucchinis. So me, to leave my zucchinis hangin' on the porch. But where did the other one go and the bag they were in? I looked around a bit and then just took my stash in. And there to my surprise was my bag of zucchini.

It turns out that I am the beneficiary of the local custom of pawning off your unwanted zucchinis on neighbors. My coworker says that you need to leave your car windows rolled up in the summer or you'll find zucchini in your car when you come back.

I said GIANT. Here's a pic for scale. That food processor at the top is a 14 cup and the zucchini make it look tiny.

Salt Lake Tribune's Hike of the Week

2008-08-01T21:43:00.002-06:00

I just ran across a source for local hiking info. It's the Hike of the Week published by the Salt Lake Tribune. The hikes as you might suspect aren't confined to Cache Valley. In fact, I only see three in Salt Lake, but if you're looking to hike in the Salt Lake Valley or maybe even some of the Parks down south (this week's hike is in Escalante), it would be a good resource. The Cache hikes are White Pine Lake, Naomi Peak and Wind Cave. He also lists ski/snowshoe trails for the winter.

Logan NewComers is hiking White Pine Lake on Sunday, August 3rd. Meet at the Logan Ranger station at 8:00 am to join the goup.

NewComers Article

2008-07-28T14:36:00.002-06:00

The Herald Jounral sent a reporter to the 1 year anniversary meet and greet for Logan NewComers. Here's the article.

Out of the Wilderness

2008-07-16T19:22:00.003-06:00

There's an article in The Economist about the decline in visitors to US National Parks. They give several reasons including competition from cities for tourism and conservationists attempts to reduce impacts on local ecology. The point of the article seems to be that if conservationist manage to thwart all efforts to upgrade park infrastructure (e.g. nicer hotel accomodations and new campsites), Americans will stop going and eventually stop supporting the parks through taxes.

I'm not sure where the right balance lies between protecting the parks and providing access and amenities that make them more enjoyable for more people. I recently noticed for the first time on a hike up Card Canyon that fire roads provide pretty good access for ATVs and 4WD vehicles in the Cache National Forest. One the one hand, it kind of takes away from the hike when you're left in the dust of a dirt bike and realize you aren't as remote as you thought you were. On the other hand, I realized that if my dad made it out in June/July, I would be able to take him into meadows of wildflowers.

BTW, the Card Canyon Hike was on in late June. The Mountain Bluebells were at their peak. On the east side of the loop, we walked through waist high stands of them. The east side trail was also a bit overgrown, but still easy to follow. At the pond (misquito pool), just make sure to walk left toward a dead tree that currently has a pink marker flag.

Richards Hollow

2008-07-13T19:43:00.006-06:00

I went on a hike at Richard Hollow with Cache Hikers yesterday. It's a 5.5 mi hike listed as moderate. I can see doing it as a mountain bike ride. There are some sections near the beginning that look pretty tough, but most of the trail looks pretty approachable. We did run into several people on motor bikes.

Richard's Hollow starts out from Left Hand Fork in Black Smith Fork Canyon. It goes through a fairly deep canyon before coming out into meadows. There's a nice waterfall near the beginning. You canget to the bottom of it by taking a short steep side trail.

We didn't make it to the top of the trail. We decided to stop for lunch and turn around near a series of Beaver pools. It was very serene. I had no idea that Beavers could have such an impact. There were a series of pools one after another that were quite large.

There were lots of wildflowers blooming. I had bought a field guide for the purpose of identifying them. I hoped that there would be a single comprehensive field guide that would have most of the flowers I was looking for. But I don't think there is such a book. Luckily, the Cache Hikers I was with yesterday were a great resource. They made the hike an enjoyable educational field trip.

I thought the most exciting wildflower find was the Sego Lily, near the trailhead, but we didn't see notice it until we were on our return. There were several on a sunny east facing slope.

List of wildflowers we saw (I didn't take the pictures in the links)

aster - purple daisy-like
monkey flower - yellow
mountain bluebells - these are the ones that are waist
flax
sticky geranium - pink, five radically symmetrical petals, maple like leaves
wild white geranium - look just like the sticky geranium, except white.
white columbine
indian paint brush - bright red at top of plant, very distinctive
scarlet gilia - red tubular flowers on an elongated stem
horsemint -
yarrow - clustes of tiny white flowers with fern like leaves
woodland star - white, dsitinctive shaped petal, I thought it looked like a snowflake
wild sweet pea -
cow parsnip - clusters of tiny white flowers look similar to yarrow, but the leaves are very different
larkspur - purple, also called delphinium
western salsify - I had been assuming that the giant dandilion puffs around here were from giant dandiloins, but they're from salsify

Black Pearl Fortune

2008-07-11T13:07:00.003-06:00

There's a new chinese restaurant in town. This is pretty exciting because general consensus has been that Logan has no good chinese. I'm not quite ready to give the Black Pearl a full thumbs up. I thought the egg drop soup was a little weird, but the sesame chicken was decent (deep fried anything should be easy to nail though). I could just be skeptical of all local chinese now. They definitely were quick in putting my order together. I called them when I was on 200 N and main and they had my order ready to go by the time I got there (2095 N Main).

The best part was the genuine fortune cookie. How long has it been since you got a fortune cookie that actually risked making a claim about the future? Mine did. It read: "You deserve respect and you'll have it one day." That's good stuff.

Hiking in Cache Valley: Resources

2008-07-01T23:11:00.011-06:00

Groups
Cache Valley Hikers: A local group that meets from spring through fall to do various hikes, mostly in Logan Canyon and on the weekends. They post their upcoming events on the Logan Library Events Calendar.

NewComers: Has a hiking interest group.

Trail Guides

There is no comprehensive resource for hikes or trails in the area. Cache Trails by Jim Sinclair is the closest. It is not avialable for sale online, but is in local outdoor stores. I have the 2004 edition (rev 2006). I haven't seen any newer versions. A 1994 edition is posted online. It lists Jim Wood as the author, but has a similar structure and the same publisher. There are notable differences between the two, so it's worth looking at both. The online version focuses more on the trails and provides notes on how to put them together. The book focuses more on recommended hikes and frequently joins several trails together, sometimes piecing them together with fire roads.

The Logan Ranger Station is working on a list of local hikes, but it doesn't include much descriptive information. It does give information about what type of access is allowed (horses, bikes, ATVs, etc) and the seasons that the trail is open. The visitor's bureau lists some city hikes that aren't elsewhere.

In DC/Arlington, there were only a couple of "hiking" trails within half an hour of the city. So I'm used to driving over an hour for a good hike. Most of the hiking information above is geared toward hikes right in the Logan area. If someone was looking to explore futher there are trails available off Hwy 36 between Preston and Montpelier, ID. This area has Cache National Forest signs, but there US Forest Service map online shows the boundary at the UT/ID border. Cache Trails shows some trails into the Idaho border including Danish Pass and Sink Hollow. In any case, the proximity of the Logan Canyon hikes makes it tempting to stay local.

Upcoming Newcomer Events

2008-06-26T16:31:00.003-06:00

June Meet and Greet
Picnic in the Park
Saturday, June 28th, 5:00-8:00pm
Willow Park, 500 West 700 South
Potluck, BBQ, Zoo, Fish Pond, Playground, Volleyball

Card Canyon Hike
6.5 mi, moderate difficulty
Meet at the Ranger Station, 1500 East Highway 89, Logan,
Sunday, June 29th, 9:00 am

July Book Club
Date: TBD
Book: We Need to Talk About Kevin

July Meet and Greet
Saturday, July 26th, 5:30pm
White Owl, 36 West Center St, Logan
On the deck upstairs
Come celebrate the Newcomers One Year Anniversary!We hosted our first event at the White Owl one year ago

For more information about Logan Newcomers see www.new2logan.com.

The Birds

2008-06-23T00:04:00.003-06:00

About a week ago a blackbird buzzed me out of no where. I thought it was a rather freakish, fluke fly-by. But then it came back at me. But who ever heard of a bird doing anything by flying away from people. I crossed the road to get out of it's way, but it followed me. It flew right at me, missed me, turned around and flew right back at me.

Luckily, I was out for a jog and had my water bottle. So I started running away from it, then turned around and squirted it with water so it wouldn't actually peck/claw me. Jog, turn, spray, jog turn spray. It was so freaky, I logged all of .26 mi on the run, and retreated to the safety of my apartment.

I thought I might be a rare victim of Hitchcock like birds. But today there's an article in the Chicago Tribune posted on the Drudge Report about these vicious birds terrorizing the citizens of Chicago.

Loganites, be careful on 400 E from about 1600N to 1700N. The nest is in the powerlines on the canal side of the road. If you have to walk down this road, I recommed a squirt bottle. You might just want to keep one on you where ever you go -- just in case.

Cooking with Lavendar

2008-06-05T21:32:00.004-06:00

I ran into this recipe for lavendar scones in a Sunset magazine earlier this year. Then, when I was roaming around the Whole Foods at Kimble Junction (Park City), I ran into culinary lavendar. Score!

I've never made scones or cooked with lavendar before. The first time I made them, I was worried that the dough was too dry. I added some extra liquid, thinking that would help it hold together better. Even after adding more liquid and butter, this is what it looked like when I turned it out to knead:
I was afraid it wouldn't come together, but actually the scone part of the recipe turned out fine. The lavendar flavor was really weak. I wondered if there was a misprint in the recipe and there should have been a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon of lavendar.

So I decided to make them again with more lavendar. I also saved the lavendar after I separated it form the milk and kneaded it back into the dough. Also, I didn't add as much liquid, just followed the recipe for that. The dough turned out better and the flavor is great. Here's a picture of the final product:

Bedtime snack with herbal tea.

Temple Fork Sawmill Trail

2008-06-01T19:56:00.016-06:00

I returned to Temple Fork, figuring it would be a lot dryer than a month ago. The Logan Ranger Station report is saying that it’s muddy in the shade, but there were only two muddy spots, just enough for Mudpuppy to feel like he was living up to his name.

Look for the sign on the right side of Hwy 89, between Right Hand Fork and Tony Grove. The gate is still closed on Temple Fork Road, so you have to take a gravel road on foot or bike about 2.5-3 miles to the trail head. I would think that the boredom of the road would deter hikers, but there was still some foot traffic. Follow the sign to Spawn Creek Trail Head and look for the Temple Fork Sawmill trail head.

On the gravel road, I noticed a rainbow just hanging in the sky. I noticed something similar on the juniper trail yesterday, but it was so faint when I took my sunglasses off, I couldn't see it. This one was also a lot more distinct with my sun glasses on, but it was visible to the naked eye. I did enhance the picture a little to make it stand out a bit more.

It’s a single track. Right away you can choose between a right and left single track option. The left one is a little more difficult. It's also the one to choose if you're worried about mud. It was dry on May 3rd when the right option was a mix of mud and snow. They meet up pretty quickly. It’s a gorgeous ride along the stream with wildflowers and aspens.

The trail isn’t steep, so I think it would be a pretty mild hike. About two thirds of the way it turned into a bit more technical bike ride. Mudpuppy and I had our most impressive fall to date. Even though it wasn’t too steep, I walked the bike a bit.

At the end, there’s a little sight commemorating the sawmill with a historical marker. Overall, it was a great ride, the perfect amount of difficulty for where I am. Mudpuppy got a bath in the car wash when we were done, so he’s had a pretty good day.

Jardine Juniper Trail

2008-06-01T18:58:00.018-06:00

What a difference in the snow pack from May 3rd. The Jardine Juniper Trail is almost entirely dry now. I hiked it yesterday, keeping an eye out for the trail's mountain bike potential. There were at least half a dozen tougher bikers on the trail. Still, I think it’s well beyond my current ability. The scariest part is a wobbly log bridge over some quick water. We saw some bikers just grab their bikes and carry them over it. Yikes! I had to shuffle across real slowly and I still nearly fell. Later in the season, it should be easy to just ride through the water a little down stream of the bridge. Still, even without snow and a wobbly bridge, I won’t be biking up to the Jardine Juniper anytime soon.

It’s 5.2 miles from the trail head to the tree. It’s a pretty steady climb the whole way. It gains over 2000”. The hike isn’t too difficult, but I won’t be taking any lowlander guests. Throw in an elevation factor and it would be dang tough. There are great views all the way up. My friend was playing shutter bug, so I don’t have too many pictures to share.

The word on the trail was to avoid the shady route and take the scenic route (a well marked option near the top) because of mud and snow pack. The scenic route definitely lives up to it's name. There was snow pack on the shady route, but definitely passable on foot (not bike). You can take one heading to the tree and the other going back. They split at the Jardine Juniper sign on the return.

I was quite obsessed with the wild flowers. I had noticed these flowers in Smithfield Canyon last week and then a vendor at the Gardner’s Market who sells local pictures has a picture of one and told me they are glacier lilies. There were plenty of those, mountain bluebells and yellow fritillaria.

That gave me this idea that I should get a field guide for wildflowers and carry it with me. Maybe I could try to see how many I could check off. I went to the Borders today to do that. There were a couple of guides that looked promising, focusing on Utah or the Rockies , but I decided that my test for a book would be whether or not I could find this plant I’m calling snoofpoof (because it looks like it would be in a Dr. Seuss book). No luck. Poor snoofpoof. It looks like the flower elitists don’t value you enough. So I couldn't bring myself to buy one.

The eponymous flora is an old juniper tree growing out of a rock. There seems to be some debate about the age. There is a painted over sign that claims that it is 3200. Reports on the Internet put it between 1500-3200 (can we get a dendrochronologist here?).It’s being touted as the oldest tree in the Rockies.

Update: Snoofpoofs are actually called Waterleaf. I saw one on the Birch Canyon Trail on 6.07 and it was purple instead of white. The Wasatch Bloomers website has a nice index of local wildflowers by color. Unfortunately, it appears that it hasn't been updated in years.

Mud Season Trail Report

2008-05-29T21:58:00.008-06:00

The Logan Ranger Station has a recreation update that was posted on May 23. It gives an update on the camp grounds, picnic areas and roads that are open in the area. It also gives a report on the condition of the local bike/hiking trails. My guess is that the muddy and snow patches in shade conditions should be fine for hiking. The trails with mud patches should be fine for biking. I guess it depends on how dirty you want to get.

Update: May 31. Perhaps because it's been 7 days since the recreation report was updated, but the Jardine Juniper trail is almost completely dry to the split (near the top). Take the scenic route to avoid snow and mud. The snow and mud on the shady route is easy to navigate on foot. I've heard that both Wind Caves and Crimson are plenty dry.

Update on the Park Strip

2008-05-20T13:28:00.003-06:00

The plan to enforce the parkstrip rule passed 4-1 last week.

There may be accomodations made for parking, with each appeal costing $212 and none of the accomodations resulting in park strip parking. Permits may be issued for parallel street parking, costing $200 each. A volunteer group of citizens may be formed as an advisory board on parking decisions that will be made at the individual property level.

For more on the enforcement plan, see the Herald Journal.

Being a Penguin

2008-05-20T13:07:00.004-06:00

I like John Bingham's most recent blog about delivering the essential message of being a penguin to 5th graders.
I would have put it in terms of being a llama, but to each his own.

John Bingham is "The Penguin". He writes for mid/back of the pack runners in runners world and travels around giving pep talks and participating in races.

May Newcomer Events

2008-05-13T22:27:00.006-06:00

Upcoming Logan Newcomer Club Events

See http://www.new2logan.com/ for more details.

Hiking and Hot Tubs
This is going to be a gorgeous sunny weekend with highs in the 70s
Saturday May 17th Day Trip (or camping Friday-Sunday).
A weekend of relaxing, campfires, hot chocolate,marshmallows, short hikes, and soaking your worries away is waiting for you in a tranquil valley an hour north of Logan at Maple Grove Hot Springs.

Indiana Jones - Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Premier
Thursday, May 22nd, 7:00pm Stadium 8 Theatre. Providence
Meet at Casper’s Ice Cream Shop at 6:00pm.

May Book Club
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
May 27th, Tuesday, 7:00pm

Newcomer Girls Night Out
Rock climbing at Rock Haus.
Wednesday, June 11, 6:30 pm ** Date change
Cost: $8/person plus $3 for shoes

Adventures of Mudpuppy

2008-05-12T21:19:00.010-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I bought a bike. I mostly got it so I could bike to work and around town. But if I was going to sink money into a bike, I thought I might as well get something that I could use for recreation too.

So I went down to the Joy Ride and got myself Mudpuppy. He's a Scott Aspect 60. Here's him earning his name on Temple Fork (not quite ready for riding as of May 3). For those not from Utah, there is a fifth season between Winter and Spring called mudseason. I had mud on every part of my body after this ride -- helmet, back, eyeglasses, even in my shorts somehow.

Mudpuppy's other adventures.

Jardine Juniper - May 3 Mudpuppy was so exicted about this ride. He made it about 515 feet. I knew we weren't going to make it when I got of the car and had this view.

Bonneville Shoreline Trail April 26 - before the mud.

Green Canyon May 11

Here's a good list of mountain bike trails in the Logan area; unfortunately a lot of the details aren't filled in: http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/wcnf/unit/logan/recreation/logan-mountain-biking

Local Matters: The Park Strip

2008-05-12T20:16:00.011-06:00

Around town there are signs in yards that read "Logan City Leave Our Property Alone". The issue is planned enforcement of a restriction on parking in the "park strip" - the area between the curb and the sidewalk. The proponents of enforcement see this parking practice as being related to blight because it makes these formerly single family homes easier to rent out to college kids.

The area where this is most common (or the focus of the issue) is the area just west of the university that's really popular to rent out to college kids. Many of the homes were built in before 1950. Many of the properties are situated on small lots with structures blocking the ability move parking to the back of the lots. The other local factor is that during winter months parking is not allowed on the streets at night - for ease of snow removal - I guess.

What I find kind of odd in this whole situation is that the area in question has fewer "blighted" properties than other areas in central Logan - such as the west side and the Island. Equally goofy are the "alternatives" being proposed. I'm not sure what Steve Thompson is getting at and why he thinks it will help. Keep the parking, increase taxes and subsidize the improvement of "blighted" property and offer free sidewalk snow removal? The details are as murky as coffee - to borrow Mr. Thompson's "joke".

The city council will vote on a resolution tomorrow night at the Municipal City Council Meeting, 5:30, May 13. My prediction is that this issue will not be resolved so quickly. As a prospective home buyer, the uncertainty is making it hard to make a decision about where to settle in Logan.

House Parties

2008-04-11T16:27:00.004-06:00

If you are planning to throw a house party in Logan, UT, you may want to acquaint yourself with these tips supplied by the city. Note the bail amounts.

Microsoft Plea

2008-04-11T13:57:00.004-06:00

The next time you launch a new operating system can you please not also lauch a new Office Suite as well? It's a year and a half later and I still can't get people to stop assuming the Office 2003/2007 file format compatibility issue as a "Vista" problem. This is results in questions like "I don't understand why Susie can't read my files if she got a Vista upgrade." GAH!
Was this really necessary? This is why people like those Mac/PC comercials. Off to shoot out another email on downloading the compatability pack...

Local Drinking Song

2008-04-06T23:22:00.004-06:00

So unexpected. Particularly for a school that hosts root beer pong.

More beer for old Utah State

Bring on the whiskey, we drink it straight

Send somebody after gin don’t let a sober person in

We may stagger, but we never fall

We sober up on wood alcohol

And when we’re through we’ll burn the hall

For the glory of Utah

StateRaw, raw, raw.

Spring on the Way

2008-04-06T09:02:00.004-06:00

Poll from the Herald Journal:

For people out of Logan, it's 33F right now. The high yesterday was 49. Yesterday I noticed that our apartment pool has opened up once again. There were kids with water wings running around. I usually don't swim before it's 80 outside.

As spring approaches, I keep putting away my heavy winter coat thinking - see you next year. But it keeps coming back out of the closet. I am surprised with 30 or 40 seems cold. Two months ago a 30 degree day felt hot. Perhaps in another winter, I'll be hardened to swim at 50 and join the early flip flop crowd.

Indications of spring: snow melted in most yards in the valley, green grass in many lawns, hyacynth are blooming, other bulb plants are poking their heads out

Team in Training Party

2008-01-21T20:36:00.001-07:00

Join Cache Valley's first ever Team in Training for a night of fun, food and fundraising!!

This Sunday!

Location: Firehouse Pizza- 880 South Main Street, Logan
Date: Sunday, January 27th, 2008
Time: 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Tickets: $25 for one ticket, 2 for $40
$15 with student ID, 2 for $25
$5 for children under 8 yrs old
*****Special prices for families!****

Entrance tickets include:
•All you can eat pizza and pasta buffet
•One raffle ticket
•Silent Auction
•Soda’s with free refills

•Live Music: Ryan Gregson & Triple Threat

Raffle Prizes ….
Gift certificates: Le Nonne’s
Lift Tickets: Beaver Ski Resort
Many more fabulous prizes!!!

Book Club - Life of Pi

2008-01-15T20:25:00.001-07:00

I went to the Newcomer's book club tonight. I was glad that it finally got me to finish Life of Pi, which I had started and put down in the summer. I used to love literature class in high school, but I've been on a slow decline in my appreciation of higher fiction. It was good to not only finish a book outside of the Harry Potter series, but to be forced to think more deeply about some of the concepts - not too deep though and I sure don't feel like righting any papers.

Next month they're doing a nonfiction book about animal behavior (this one I think), a great follow up to The Life of Pi. After that, I think they're moving on to The Golden Notebook. I think I'll try to join in. Mary does a great job of leading the discussion; we had a good time, but I didn't feel like I was in class.

Life of Pi review: Good thinking optional book. Enjoyed it when I was just taking it for what it was on the surface, commentary on animal behavior, religion and a pretty good plot (which picks up 100 pages in). It was also easy to see more to the book once I was in the club's discussion.

Cool. Maybe I can start looking for books that aren't the next installment of Bridget Jones.

Ski Report

2008-01-08T21:26:00.001-07:00

I skied at the Beav for the first time in a while on Sunday. There was so much powder, I didn't know what to do with it. Man it was nice though. They also donated some lift tickets to the Leukemia Society that we'll be giving away at our fundraiser at the end of the month. Thanks Marge!

It's not done either. Check out the ski report.

Logan Forecast: Nothing but snow.

Beav Snow Report

Beav Forecast

Brrrr!

2008-01-03T07:16:00.001-07:00

Running heled me to come to appreciate winter. I used to think that running in the cold would be miserable. After a winter of running in DC, I came to realize that it never was too cold to run. NPR just said that it's -6F at the airport. Weather.com has it at a warmer -1F. Brrr.... I think I'll skip this AMs run.

White Owl Closed

2007-12-28T22:28:00.001-07:00

Some TNT mates and I gave some thought to hosting a New Years Eve party to raise money, but we thought we might have too much competition. If only we'd known!!!

I heard on NPR this AM that the White Owl is getting shutdown from Dec 31 to Jan 4 for serving a minor. According the Herald Journal, the White Owl has an incredibly strict underage drinking policy and the minor was let in by mistake.

New Years Snow!

2007-12-28T22:20:00.001-07:00

Woo hoo! I leave for a week and boy does it snow. When I got back to the Salt Lake City International (International? Really. I noticed a flight from London was on the same baggage claim carousel as mine), my trusty Moondoggie (X-terra) was a car-cicle, covered in snow and ice.

The Beav is open, but I'm headed to Park City for the weekend. I just tried on new socks, this mask, and my ski boots and tromped around my apartment for a while loading the dishwasher and brushing my teeth. I'm pretty sure that my downstairs neighbors loved it. I have now given up because my shins kill. Think it's a bad sign? Think I should dress like that all the time, so I'm prepared for the door-to-door salesmen?

TNT shout outs: Between Marmalade and Wildernesse, I'm over $400 - reaching my goal of $400 for the month of December. I've got to raise $400 a month until April. Thanks guys!!

More TNT Shout Outs

2007-12-16T13:52:00.002-07:00

A big one to KJRM who shocked me with a $100 to the cause. Wow!

Snow Pics

2007-12-16T13:38:00.001-07:00

So, it's been snowing pretty regularly. In the valley, if it sticks, it tends to melt within a day -- except for this resistant icy patch behind my parking place, determined to see me slide into a metal pole or a neighbors car. It does seem as though it is collecting in the mountains though.

There was enough snow for some decent early season skiing last weekend at SnowBasin. Did I post on that? I had to rent skis because Al's is consipring against me, but I did get to try these Stocklis, which I really liked.

In any case, I did finally get around to taking a couple pics in front of my apartment the other day.

Holiday Cooking - Brigadeiro

2007-12-16T12:25:00.001-07:00

Last night JW of Logan Newcomers hosted a games night and chocolate potluck. I left myself about 3 hours to prepare something. I ran to Allrecipes.com, my favorite online recipe source and found a recipe for a Brazilian treat I'd never heard of, brigadeiro. It has three basic ingredients and looked like it wouldn't take that long to prepare.

I tried coating them in four different ways. 1. Hot Cocoa mix - I thought this would be easy and tasty, but I didn't like how the flavors and textures mixed. 2. Coconut flakes - it was harder to get the mixture to roll on, but the flavor was the best, I'd only attempt this when you're rolling the candy as it's still slightly warm. I left half of what I made in the pot overnight and rolled them this morning in 3. Powdered sugar - easy, elegant. 4. Powdered sugar mixed with cocoa powder - probably the best combo of flavor, coating ease and appearance. As long as you don't let the warm candy balls touch, you wouldn't actually need a coating, it develops a bit of a shell as it cools, but for appearance and taste, I would add some sort of coating.

I did couldn't find mini cups at the store yesterday, just pastel regular size, so I arraigned them as a trio in the cups. "Trio" makes me think of Top Chef. They do trios all the time.

I didn't make it to the game night last night because some fellow newcomers and I decided to hit up another party first. You know, just pop in, say hi, meet some new people. But by the time we left, the game party was over. So I have a plate of candy in my fridge staring at me.

Candy review: Easy of making: 8 out of 10 (rolling by hand is a little time consuming, but I was able to get a batch and a half made in under three hours including the trip to the store). Appearance: 10 out of 10 (it's so easy to make these look very elegant, and vary the appearance). Taste: 7 out of 10 (tasty enough, but no English toffee or pralines).

All I Want for Christmas

2007-12-12T21:00:00.001-07:00

A "No Solicitation" sign for my door. This one's only $7.50. I have no color preference. This one is nicer, but $20.00. Check out this one with a cat. Oooo maybe I can get this (pictured), the small one is okay.

Anyways the point is that I get a ridiculous number of door to door sales men and various other solicitations at my apartment in Logan. It's quite annoying.

If you'reworried that someone else might have gotten me a sign already, you can always donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Shout outs to JH and EH for recent contributions. My goal line is showing $155 out of $1,700. In truth I have an extra $100 that I put in myself to cover the cost of my participation in the race, so there's $1445 to go.

More Awesomeness

2007-12-03T21:25:00.001-07:00

Wildernesse gave me a plug on her blog for TNT. Thanks!
Plug love: Read Wildernese to see how someone else is exploring her new 'hood (Raleigh, NC) and general adventure seeking.

Update: I think that I must attribute a $25 contribution from FL to this plug. Thanks again!

Local Art

2007-12-03T20:06:00.001-07:00

So I completely forgot to update on a CV local outing last Friday. I stopped by the art gallery walk (I don't remember the official name). I loved the snow. That was the best thing (are you catching a theme here?). It was so gorgeous and just added to the whole affair. The next best thing was how neat it was to see that we have a population of local artists. There were paintings, a band, prints, ceramics, and poetry. I only stopped into the Italian Place which looked pretty good and had a great cozy feel. It was all very nice. I should make a point of doing the full tour next year, but I got distracted by the Owl. Bad Owl.

The other art that I noticed was a series of the coyote prints at the Cafe Sabor (presumably always there). It's the same coyotes that are on the Common Ground gift cards that have been around town for a couple months. Anyways, I like the print of the coyotes with working on their Ponzi Scheme and asset allocation. Who's a dork? The chicken taco was also good. BTW, for the beer matrix: Cafe Sabor - Negra Modelo real, Dos Equis not.

Who rocks the house?

2007-12-03T18:07:00.001-07:00

LM. It's true. Holy-quick response to my appeal for TNT funds-batman!

Also the peep's at Alkaline. They've volunteered to make some of their one of the kind items for sale and raffle at the Logan February TNT fundraiser.

Any locals want to weigh in on when the fundraiser should be? Thursday Feb 7th or Sunday Feb 10th. FYI: The annual chocoalte festival is on the 9th. We can get a restaurant to ourselves on Sunday. Thursday, we'll have a max occupany of 95.

So Much Snow

2007-12-02T08:18:00.001-07:00

We've gotten quite a bit of snow the past couple of days. If I can pick myself up off the couch, I'll take my camera out on a run.

I meant to take it to our Team in Training run yesterday. We decided to continue running on the river trail. There was quite a bit of snow, which made it pretty and really hard running. It was fun, but I don't think we're going to make a habit of it. We ran into people cross country skiing.

All the snow made me realize I should finally get my bindings mounted on my skiis. So I took them to Al's where a kid told me that they can't mount bindings unless I have a boot. So asked them if they have a demo package (I don't want to buy yet because I want to test them out first), and they don't. I hear I may have better luck at the Sportsman.

Rock Paper Scissors Tourney

2007-12-02T08:09:00.001-07:00

I was recently telling some CV peeps about a Rock, Paper, Scissors Tourney I had been to. Maybe it was a TNT fundraising idea. I was beaten to it though. Apparently this is what we have to do for fun in Cache Valley (Sorry for the ad, I couldn't find it on You Tube).

North Logan Downtown

2007-11-30T01:29:00.001-07:00

I just ran across a reference to a development plan for a North Logan "downtown" in the Herald Journal. So I looked into it and found this plan online. Basically, there's an area along 200 E running from 1800 N to 2500 N that is charted to have mixed development including a hotel and luxury condos.

It strikes me as a bit odd because I associate mixed development with the near city communities in Arlington, VA (where I just moved from). I have a hard time understanding how a Ballston or Shirlington would work in Cache Valley. Looking at the plan, one big difference between the mixed development of Arlington and North Logan's is the vast amount of land devoted to parking lots. It's essential for that intensity of land use when parking garages don't make economic sense. It looks like they've done a decent job of hiding the parking lots except for a stretch along the east side of 200 E and the west side of 400 E. I just don't buy that the trees are going to hide much, not here.

I can't decide if it's completely ridiculous to plan mixed development here or if I should look into one of the condos. I do miss some of the conveniences of the arrangement.

This is such a huge change. I run down 200 E from 1400N to Hyde Park because it's relatively flat and there aren't too many cars to deal with. I guess that's going to change. No more horses and fields either. It's sort of neat to see a "downtown" being established. I generally think of them as just springing up naturally. I'm sure in some cases they did.

Newcomers Ad

2007-11-26T07:41:00.001-07:00

The best way to find out about Logan Newcomers upcoming events is to go to their website, new2logan.com. But one of the founders will also ocasionaly put something on meetup.com. I know it's one of the first places I looked for stuff when I came to town. Maybe the ad will remind me to RSVP to events there, so other newcomers know there's activity there.

Lowest Crime in US

2007-11-20T13:12:00.001-07:00

The Logan metropolitan area is the safest in the country. Read about it here.

SNOW!!!!

2007-11-20T13:10:00.001-07:00

We have flurries in the valley! About time.

Sunday Beer

2007-11-18T18:22:00.001-07:00

The big story this week in Cache Valley is the sale of beer at the Nibley Maverick on Sundays. It turns out that Nibley (town south of Logan) just doesn't have a law against it. There is discussion of expanding beer sales to other cities in the Valley and Nibley may decide to write an ordinance prohibiting Sunday beer. So, get it while it's hot.

BTW, Mickey did a post on the liquor laws. Seems to be consistent with what I've learned. I think he left out the bit about 1oz of liquor limit in cocktails. Or maybe that's myth.

The next challenge, the skinny on how drinks change by venue. E.g. the Corona at Chili's is standard. At Et Toro, it's 3.2, but the Negro Modelo is standard. Everything at the White Owl is under 4%. I'm not sure I got that right, but I'm coming to understand that it's a little more complicated than I thought at first.

Running Llama

2007-11-17T18:19:00.001-07:00

Team in Training training runs started today. Afterwards the team got together to discuss fund raising strategy. First step, I have a web page. Check it out! I also drafted a letter. If I have your address, you'll be getting a letter sometime in the near future.

Other ideas:
We're planning a fund raising event in February. More details to come. I'm pushing the karaoke idea hard. We'll see...

I was also thinking about having some sort of bake sale. It would give me an outlet for my desire to cook. The missing piece is a place to set up shop. I could just make fliers offering to make stuff for people's holiday parties. I did hear something about people tailgating at Beaver Mountain on Sundays. Beer and caramel popcorn?

Ski Swap

2007-11-12T21:38:00.002-07:00

I've been noticing these signs around town since last Thursday for a ski swap. I was going to look it up online. Thanks to John at NewComer's I got the inside scoop delivered to my inbox.

Ski Swap Thur-Sat, Nov 15-17Stan Laub Indoor Football Training Center (about 1050 E 1400 North) Half a football field (literally) of used snow equipment. Mostly downhill skis and snowboard, cross country,snowshoe, and clothing.

November 15, 2005 7-9pm
November 16, 2005 9am-10pm (Best Day)
November 17, 2005 9am-10pm

If you are thinking of trying out equipment this year before you buy:
Beaver Mountain has a good selection of rental Demo Downhill skis on themountain.
Sam's Club has snowshoes for $70 now
ORC rents snowshoes for $10 for the weekend
ORC cross country skis are $10 for the weekend

The other hint I've heard is that if you're willing to wait the college kids off load stuff like crazy in the spring before they go home. Here's to being a townie.

Playground

2007-11-12T21:34:00.001-07:00

Speaking of swag*, the Warren Miller annual film was last week, Playground. I went with the Logan Newcomers. It's basically a swagfest (with more todo about swag than actual swag) with the main give away being a lift ticket to The Canyons, which is apparently so difficult to use that I haven't met anyone who's actually used it. There are also some door prizes, stuff from Al's Sporting Goods and a season pass to Beaver Mountain. I didn't win anything, but give it up to the announcer from Al's who actually made other people winning seem fun. As for the movie, it made me content with my baby skis and add a water weenie** to my Christmas list.

* Out of respect, I separated this from the missionary post.
** I can't believe there isn't any footage on You Tube of the BYU Water Weenie Squad.

My First Visit

2007-11-12T21:02:00.001-07:00

It was really only a matter of time, right? I got my first visit from Mormon missionaries tonight. They knocked quite vigorously, so I thought it might be my fam making a surprise visit. But when I looked through the peep hole (purely a screening process, I've been getting a lot of salesmen -sooo not worried about criminal types here), there were a couple of guys in the suits. One of the guys was waving. How'd he know I was looking through the peep hole?? That completely freaked me out -- thinking he could see my eye and all -- so I opened on up.

I let the guy get through a bit of his spiel before explaining, I'm not buying what he's selling. We dialouged a little. "If God had sent his son to die for our sins wouldn't it be nice if he told us?" " Makes sense." "Do you live alone?" "Who's asking?" But I didn't want to lead them on. It's a bit too cold to be wasting time standing outside talking to someone who isn't going to convert.

I did get some cool swag, my own Book of Mormon. I'm actually pretty jazzed about it. Not just because all swag is good, but because I'm genuinely interested in knowing more about the locals. They asked me to read the intro and told me they'd be back. Awesome. I plan to do the homework. Next time I'd like to ask for some literature besides the book (like cliff notes and Mormon theology for dummies), but I'm a little concerned about giving the wrong impression.

I need to keep my apartment more picked up, so next time they come I can think about inviting them in. It's cold.

Team in Training: Logan Team

2007-11-07T23:19:00.002-07:00

We've got 3 (almost 4) people on board with a Team in Training in Logan tonight. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but it's enough to get the ball rolling. I'm hoping that we'll be able to get some others to join. Our captain is hoping to announce it at the monthly Meet and Greet for Logan Newcomers next week.

Some of the details:

Long runs on Saturdays - in the valley most of the time, but we'll probably try to hook up with the larger Salt Lake group every so often
Group fundraising events - some of the suggestions in their pamphlet sound like a lot of fun.
Chapter Event Kick Off - November 13, 2007; 7:00 pm (or 6:00 pm if you want to get additional info and register)
Fundraising goal - $1700 per person
Honored Teammate: Omar F.; 7 years old with Hodgkins Lymphoma; currently undergoing; loves dinosaurs
Salt Lake Marathon - April 19, 2008; 26.2 miles

Article on how close researchers are to finding a cure for Hodgkin's disease.

TNT

2007-11-06T19:20:00.001-07:00

In case anyone reads this, TNT is having a meeting tomorrow. It's going to be fun! Come on.

We will be meeting at the Sports Academy & Racquet Club (1655 North 200 East North Logan ). The meeting will begin at 6:30 PM and last for no longer than 1 1/2 hours.

About the Leukemia Society:
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. The Society's mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, the Society has invested more than $550.8 million for research specifically targeting blood cancers.

The Society is committed to curing leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, and helping patients and their families. The support you provide is invested wisely. In fiscal year 2007, the Society invested $64.7 million to support more than 480 researchers and projects in 15 countries on five continents. The Society also provides financial assistance to patients; sponsors scientific conferences around the country; produces educational materials and videos; and runs dozens of Family Support Groups nationwide.

Team in Training

2007-11-04T14:52:00.001-07:00

A fellow newcomer is helping to put together a Team in Training (TNT) group for the Logan Area. Team in Training raises money for the Lukemia Society. Participans agree to raise a certain amount of, and TNT will train you to run/walk the Salt Lake City Marathon or Half Marathon.

I'll provide further updates after the informational meeting on this Wednesday (November 4, 2007 6:30pm Sport's Academy). As a newcomer, this should be a fun way to meet people. This should be great encouragement to keep running through the winter.

Boulder

2007-10-14T11:46:00.001-06:00

When I was moving west, I really wanted to go through Boulder on my drive out. In my mind Boulder has been one of the ideal places to live. When my friend in NYC said that she was plannng to try out some cities in the west -- thinking she wanted to move --including Denver, I encouraged her to think about Boulder. So we decided to meet in Denver, check it out and then go to Boulder.

I knew that I had built it up in my mind a bit, so it would be hard for it to meet my expectations. So I was a little concerned about that. I was also concerned about Virginia enjoying it. We're different people and there's not too much reason to think that we're going to be looking for the same things in a place to live.

Anyways, it's been just horrible. For starters, the weather sucks. It's pretty much been raining and cold since we got here. We're in bad moods and we've been hanging out in our hotel room way more than I like. Yesterday, I was trying to be positive. I'm done with it. Out loud, I'm practicing only saying positive things for the moment. I think that taking positive actions and saying positive things can make things better. But I'm so miserable.

The silver lining: my fascination with Boulder is over. I'm pretty sure that Boulder would be a fabulous place to live, but it's not magical. I thought being here could make me sad about where I live. It's got the night life and culture that Logan lacks. It's a good place to be single. To be honest, I didn't move to the Cache Valley to be in this location. I moved for a job. I have been trying to make the location work. There's lots to enjoy about the Valley. Approaching 30, I don't really need a night life anymore. I get to be close to family. And enjoying one's home is determined by how you live your life far more than where your home is.

I'm not a person that gets home sick and I can't think of a time in recent memory when I have wanted to be in my home more. Cache Valley, I'm so happy I get to wake up with you tomorrow.

Crowding Out

2007-10-09T07:39:00.000-06:00

I was all curious about how crowds would be a factor in the more rural environment. Observation: don't try to do laps in the Sports Academy pool before work. Really, it doesn't take too many people to crowd out a lap pool, so this shouldn't be too much of a surprise. This is the second morning that I've had to retreat from morning laps. I've never had a problem in the evening though.

I used the time to go grocery shopping and to learn how to subscribe to RSS feeds. I'm using Google Reader and changed my homepage to iGoogle, where I can display it. I've been clicking on those subscribe to blog feed links on people's pages for a while and nothing ever seemed to happen.

Snow!

2007-10-07T19:43:00.001-06:00

We got snow! Not in the valley, just on the mountains and a bit on the bench. We got snow a couple of weekends ago in the mountains as well, but there was much more this weekend. Yesterday was all grey and ugly, but it was gorgeous today. I switched up my run today so I could take in the best view of the valley that I know if from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

There was great constrast between the autumn colors of the leaves and the snow. It's hard to see in pictures, but from across the valley, you can see the snow line on the Wellsvilles and below it, it's still all red.

It took me an hour to run 3 miles because I kept stopping to take pictures. I felt like such a tourist. I'm just all excited about having snow. Plus, while there will be plenty more snow, the fall colors won't be around for much longer.

Wellsvilles

I have long thought that the Wellsvilles were the steepest mountain range in North America, but Wikipedia can't confirm it.

First Dam

You can pick up the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, by parking at First Dam and going through the tunnel under 400 N. This is the view on the way up the switch backs.

The Island

The Island is formed where the Logan River comes out of the canyon and there is no bench against the mountains. The bench is the old shoreline from Lake Bonneville and it sits higher than the rest of the valley which would have been under water. So the trees that are low in this picture are on the Island; the houses that are visible are on the bench.

Snow and Maples

On the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Wasatch Range. You acn also see the sage brush, which was particularly fragrant. Perhaps the snow brought out the smell.

Malt Beverages

2007-10-01T07:12:00.001-06:00

I was half listening to NPR this morning and heard something about a vote to change the status of malt beverages in Utah. I interpretted it as the 3.2 rule being overturned. This rule limits the beverage that can be sold in grocery/convenience stores/some restaurants to 3.2 percent alcohol by volume. This means that there is a whole class of low alcohol content beer and malt beverages marketed in Utah. Restaurants with hard liquor lisences and package stores (State stores) may sell normal content beer and other alcoholic beverages. I've been trying to untangle Utah liquor laws from the mythology. There are further rules about how alcohol can be served in restarurants and different classifications of restaurants (private clubs).

Anyways, the 3.2 rule is not being overturned as I had hoped. Nope, the State liquor regulators have voted to pull flavored malt beverages of the shelves of grocery and convenience stores (they were already less than 3.2 percent) because they are marketed to appeal to minors. There was some talk of taking this to the legislature, but that would have opened up the issue to unfortunate debate, so the requlators are just going to go forward based on the Alcoholic Beverage Control Comission vote.

Correction: "Also you refer to the alcohol limit in beer as 3.2% by volume. That's incorrect. The alcohol measurment your thinking of is by weight. Utah beer available in grocer/convenient stores maxes out at 4.0% by volume. Or 3.2% by weight. those are two different types of measurment." That's according to Mikey. I'll have to ask him what the impact is on the beer. Mikey seems to keep abreast of state/local liqour laws. He scooped NPR here. He also has some information on local beer related events.

Sucky Blog

2007-09-03T22:14:00.001-06:00

My blog sucks. I know it. I was just reading Liz's blog and it's so awesome. Cache Valley, I'm going to do you better.

She also opened an online shop selling crafty things. I love this apron and if I had it I would wear it out. Or I would cook all the time and find friends to come be my audience.

Cache Valley Gardeners' Market

2007-09-03T21:22:00.001-06:00

I have to go to the Farmer's Market!!! It's going to be ending in a month. I can't do it this week because I'm running the Huntsville Half Marthon, but I'm so doing this the next weekend. Don't let me forget. Actually, I'm putting it in my calendar. It does mean I'll have to wake up early to do my weekly long run, but it's sooo going to be worth it.

(Wasatch Back–North: Logan) Cache Valley Gardeners’ Market in Logan, Utah.

Open Saturdays from May 13 through October 14 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Pioneer Park, 100 South 200 East, Logan, Utah. "The market was started to allow people who were growing large gardens, so common in the Cache Valley, to market their extra produce. That’s why it’s called a Gardeners’ Market. The market has grown to include produce vendors who only come to sell a one time surplus of potatoes, to small scale farmers who make it every weekend and have a following of loyal customers. In addition, we welcome vendors with handmade craft items and food products to our market." See SAABRA.org for more information.

Was that way too much excitement for a post on a market that I haven't been too? Well, I was talking to Em in SF and she was telling me about a recipe made with frissee lettuce, and I was like, "Where do I get that in Logan?" And then I ran into this online. So anyways I got all excited mostly because it's easy to get excited when talking to Em. And also, the Citrus and Sage (coffee shop on 100 E and 100 N) serves its iced lattes with two shots standards. No more two shots for me. I have a one shot max from here on out.

North Logan City News

2007-09-03T20:15:00.001-06:00

I got this newsletter today, so I thought I'd let you know what's going on in NLC.

1. Community preparedness exercises Sept 5 and Sept 19. Features: a table top exercise a day long disaster exercise involving the entire community, a calling tree organized by the LDS church.
Seriously? A calling tree? Organized by the church? I have two feelings at the same time. That's so small town cool. The other is does the LDS church have my cell number? I doubt it and I plan to keep it that way. In the event of a North Logan City disaster, I am sooo screwed.

2. Banned Books Week. That's a direct quote. It's Sept 29-Oct 6. Now I was pretty intrigued when I read that. It turns out that the event is to celebrate "our freedom to read". ??? It's actually an event developed by the American Library Association that encourages the reading of commonly banned books. I think I'll bring along a copy of And Tango Makes Three for the kids.

3. Two meetings of the City Council this month, Sept 6 (also a Planning Commission meeting for the County) and Sept 20th. Issues: new subdividisions, the Mixed Use Zone's interaction with the city center initiative, road changes.

4. Planning for the annual Pumpkin Walk Oct 18th- Oct 23rd.

5. Directions on how to earn points toward being a Super Citizen. This month NLC super citizens are getting involved in disaster preparedness by creating their 72 hour kit and participating in the local exercises.
Super Citizens are collecting points to earn a SUPER CITIZEN AWARD!!!!! You can participate from now until July 2008. I'm sort of tempted to participate.
Do you think I could be a North Logan Super Citizen?

Discount Tickets

2007-09-02T18:45:00.000-06:00

Now that I'm mostly equiped for ski season. I'm on the look out for discount lift tickets. Locally, lots of people get season passes to Beaver Mountain. They go on sale sometime in spring and go up in price until the season starts. They're at $420 now. That's probably not worth it for me anymore. Maybe next year.

It seems that some ski shops sell discounted lift tickets in SLC and Park City. Canyon Sports is one. I'll have to check out the Logan ski shops.

BIG SALE AT ALs!

2007-09-02T17:30:00.000-06:00

There was a "tent" sale at Al's Sporting Goods yesterday. Someone told me I had to go check it out and get $500 skis for $90. So I headed on over.

Normally I like to research my gear purchases thouroughly in advance, but I went into this one nearly blind. I tried to impress upon the sales person that even though I don't know anything about ski equipment that I'm not actually a beginner, so please don't give me beginner skis.

She was sooo not convinced.
How long have my skis been in the past? Uhhh... I remember renting some 165s about 4 years ago.
Well... skis are getting shorter now, how bout these 153s? Uhhh.... Are these baby skis?
No. . <Silence>
Well, how can I argue with that? I'm just so sure that I have just bought baby skis. On the bright side they have a price sticker that says $299 and I got them for $89, so at least they are a good deal.

Then I went to the bindings guy. He found two that might work. I noted that either the blue or the red would match my baby skis. He pointed out that the more expensive red ones can be looser now that I'm in baby skis, but when I graduate to the next level, they can get tighter and will even go with my next pair of big girl skis. He knows I don't really need baby skis. Sold!

The big ego killer was that there was noone to standing by to help with the poles. Apparently anyone who would think to buy poles would know how high they should be. Uhhh... I felt like such an idiot. They all seemed so tall. I grabbed the shortest pair I could find in 10 minutes of digging. Then I went back to the ski girl. She said that she would want them shorter. Well this is the girl that outfitted me in baby skis, so I ignored her and bought them before she could take back my baby skis and try to sell me a tube instead.

I have found my skis online in a lot of beginner rental packages at resorts, which makes me sad about my purchase. But then I found this: "Designed for intermediates and beyond. Based on a stable, wider waisted chassis, these skis give developing skiers the confidence they need to loosen boundaries and expand horizons in all conditions ." That's me. I'm expanding my horizons. That's also pretty much what the ski girl said, without the inspirational horizon part and she didn't tell me I need a wide waisted chassis. Good think on that last bit.

Other Al's booty includes some Smith Sun glasses and Gu -- all on sale of course. I still need to buy boots. That's a key purchase, so I'll probably recruit a local who knows the jargon to help me out, or maybe I'll demo to begin with.

Red!!!

2007-08-09T23:30:00.000-06:00

Check it out! I have red tomoatoes. I'm going to eat them tomorrow. They smell so good and tomatoey -- even if they're small.

Vegas Weekend

2007-08-09T22:54:00.000-06:00

One of the nice things about moving to Utah is that I'm closer to Vegas. I've been telling my friend that'd I'd come visit. Last weekend I finally did for the first time.
The best thing about Vegas (besides friends) are the pools. We started out at the Palms where Beth convinced me to where heels.

I was thinking that it was just like a party in the vicinity of a pool. Nope, it's a party in a pool. Heels and water aren't a classic combo. So I walked around in my bare feet. The ground in Vegas is hot!!! -- but vodka makes it cool off...or something.

My hosts and I snuck into the pool at the Wynn. They're sooo cool -- teaching me all the local tricks. Wha? You think I'm going to dish here? No way. Go find your own hip locals.

Japanese Teppan! I will have to put up the video of the guy putting onion on fire, but that will require me posting on YouTube, which means getting an account. So it's just me an minerva watching the strobe light onion fire.

Note the people dancing and the smoke. This is Moon -- it's a club. Someone local in Logan asked me if I'd gone to a club here yet. See that, that's a club. Do you see that in Logan. No. We probably do have a D.J. of the same caliber, i.e., s/he was pretty bad. But the venue more than made up for it. There is a great view of the strip from outside.

Logan ... club?

Here are Beth and Kim. Aren't they pretty?

Oh and I showed my incredible ability to find the llamas where ever they may be. This is the mythological great white llama. Sigfried and Roy found it deep in the Peruvian cloud forest. It was a key part of the show until it mauled Sigfried -- or was it Roy.

It was protected by a very surly alpaca. Grrr!

Fire Update

2007-08-09T22:26:00.001-06:00

Yesterday the Logan Newcomers went on a short hike on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, starting at Dry Canyon. We walked to the area where the fire was last week. The area was black and charred, but it was less dramatic than I expected. I guess that's because its surrounded by yellow grass. The burned areas almost blend in.

Tire tracks through the fire scar

The edge of the fire scar

Kerry and I in the burnt tree arbor with Snook and Abbey

The newcomers are pretty nice. The people that started the group aren't completely new, so they have lots of useful information. They're also pretty energetic trying to get people involved. It's all quite nice. I can't participate int the events for the next couple of weekends, but I'm going to keep trying to go to the weekday events.

I guess I can't next week. I'm going to Lake Powell. Oh Drats!

YouTube Finds

2007-08-01T20:50:00.000-06:00

So following the link to the fire report led me to a selection of Cache Valley oriented YouTube videos.

I'm not sure what I think of this one. Walking in Logan Is it inspirational? creepy? It is funny to note that I recognized specific houses in addition to the iconic places (the Temple).

Oh man, there are a ton of these. I'm going to discover Logan culture through YouTube.

The sport of Tire Rolling is worth a couple chuckles. According to evidence on YouTube, tire rolling is popular any place where men live in mountainous areas.

Top Five Romantic Places in Cache Valley. Ugh, put it on mute - such a bad sound track. In case you don't want to watch, they are 1. Tony Grove, 2. Flying (not a place, but cool) 3. Benson Marina, 4. These folk's home, 5. North Logan Foothills.

Here's video on the crazy man that stands at 1000 N and Main. I've been trying to take pictures of him on my phone as I pass. He's walking here. What I think is interesting is that this THE crazy guy. The crazy guy in Ballston wore a devil costume. This guy is wearing khaki shorts and a polo. That's just not all that crazy.

Okay, he's not the only crazy guy. There's the man on bike. Maybe he's on YouTube too.