Recipe for week 3 – Lomo Saltado

Lomo Saltado – 6 servings, ~400 calories (AND SUPER DELICIOUS!)

Lomo saltado is a typical Peruvian dish.

1 pound(s) raw lean beef tenderloin, cut into 1/2-inch thick strips
2 medium garlic clove(s), thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp table salt, divided
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup(s) cilantro, fresh, leaves, divided
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
6 medium Yukon Gold potato(es), cut into 8 wedges each
4 spray(s) olive oil cooking spray, divided
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 medium red onion(s), thinly sliced
2 average serrano chile(s), cut into thin strips
2 medium sweet red pepper(s), cut into thin strips
2 medium tomato(es), cut into wedges

Instructions

In a nonreactive bowl, combine beef, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, cumin, 2 tablespoons of cilantro and lime juice; cover and marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450ºF. Coat a nonstick baking sheet with cooking spray; place potatoes on top. Coat potatoes with cooking spray and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil; sprinkle with remaining teaspoon of salt. Turn potato wedges over several times to coat. Roast for 15 minutes; turn over and roast until both sides are crisp yet tender inside, about 12 to 17 minutes more.

While potatoes are baking, coat a large skillet with cooking spray and add 1 teaspoon of oil; heat over medium-high heat. Brown beef, flipping once, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side; remove beef and set aside.

Add remaining 2 teaspoons of oil and cook onions, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add chiles, peppers and tomatoes; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes more. Add beef to skillet and toss to coat. Serve immediately, topped with fries and garnished with remaining 2 tablespoons of cilantro. Yields about 1 1/3 cups of beef mixture and 8 potato wedges per serving.

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Elvis says the difficulty with me trying all these new recipes is that he likes everything and I’m making him fat!  Luckily most of the things I am making are healthy and fairly low cal!  He actually really loved the way the potatoes were done in this recipe because they ended up super crunchy and delicious.  We did use Russet potatoes instead of Yukon Gold, though I’m not sure this made any sort of a difference.

Another one of our goals for this year is to save money.  One of the best ways to do that is to not spend it in the first place, right?  So, I’m turning into my mother and have started clipping out coupons from the newspapers…  Last week I got a pretty awesome deal, though.  I had 2 – 55cent off tortilla coupons AND the tortillas were on sale for $1.50 AND they double coupons at the store I went to, so the tortilla packs ended up costing me 40 cents each.  I don’t remember for sure if there were 8 or 10 in each pack, but that will cut down on the cost even more for the next time I make Freezer Burritos!

The other thing we do is purchase almost all of our clothing at second hand stores. We have both been able to find quality clothes there at a mere fraction of the original price (like the almost brand new Calvin Klein Jeans I got the other day). Elvis has a bunch of compatriots that work at the second hand stores, too, so often we get an even FURTHER discount (those CK jeans? Marked at $14. Paid <$1.) We were especially lucky the other week, though. I had off MLK Jr Day from work and was bored, so we hopped in the car and headed to one of the stores nearest our house. Unbeknown to us, they were having a 50% off of everything sale! For $50, we were able to pick up 10 pairs of pants/jeans, 2 t-shirts, a sweatshirt 5 dress shirts, a leather jacket, and a small humidifier! Pretty cool, huh?

Progress Report

So yesterday I had finished typing a post about Ultimatum, the first book that I read this year, when my browser suddenly froze and I was unable to post it!  Hmph!  All in all, it was a good book.  The book’s about global warming and a secret bilateral deal with China that almost escalates into a nuclear war.  Set in 2032 after a new president takes office, more drastic and exact figures about global warming are released.  After San Francisco is annihilated by a nuclear bomb, the rest of the world decides they side with the US and eventually so does China.  I liked the book partially because it deals with the issues I work on on a daily basis.  It was also a quick and easy read (even though the book is 400 pages long).  One downside is that there’s a lot of talking and not a lot of action.  Instead of “sitting in” on the negotiations, we hear the report back to the President, for example.  There were also A LOT of characters, so it was hard to keep them straight sometimes.  Overall, however, I think I’d give it 3.5 to 4 stars out of 5.

And now we have….MORE RECIPES!

Freezer Burritos (Original Recipe) – 8 servings, 400 calories each

1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
1 1/4 c. salsa
2 t chili powder
1 t cumin
1 t paprika
1 t oregano
1 t sugar
1/2 t salt
1 1/3 c dry pinto beans cooked
1 c shredded cheese
8 8″ tortillas

Brown the ground beef with the onion.  Add the salsa and the spices.  Process the beans in a food processor until smooth, then add to beef mixture.

Assemble burritos – tortilla, beef/bean mixture, cheese.

Wrap in waxed paper and aluminum foil to freeze.  When you’re hungry, take one out, remove the aluminum foil and microwave 2  to 2 1/2 minutes.

My modifications:
I didn’t add any sugar…no reason for it to be in there.  Also, I didn’t have any store bought salsa on hand, so I added in 2 chopped plum tomatoes, 1/4 of a green pepper chopped up and 1/8 to 1/4 c. of chopped fresh cilantro.  Instead of using pinto beans, I used black beans since we always have those on hand.  Also, I processed about 1/2 of them in the food processor and left the rest whole.

I made a double recipe and froze them so that Elvis can heat them up for breakfast in the morning on his way to work.  They would also make a good snack or small meal on the weekends when we don’t want to cook.  I think in total it cost less than 75 cents per burrito – including the wax paper and aluminum foil – a much better deal than stopping at 7-11 or something like that to pick up breakfast.

Hamburger Buddy – 8 servings, 260 calories

1 lb lean ground beef
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 carrots, grated
10 oz white mushrooms, sliced
1 lg onion, finely chopped
1 t dried thyme
3/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
2 c water
14 oz beef broth
2 T Worcestershire sauce
8 oz noodles
2 T flour
1/2 c low fat sour cream

Brown the ground beef in a large saucepan, drain off any fat.  Add in garlic, carrots, mushrooms, onion, thyme, salt and pepper.  Cook until veggies start to soften.

Reserve 1/4 c. broth.  Add rest of broth, water, Worcestershire sauce  and noodles to beef mixture.  Cook until pasta is tender.

Add flour to reserved broth, whisk.  Add to pasta/beef mixture with sour cream.  Simmer until sauce is thickened.

This was delicious and a much healthier alternative to Hamburger Helper.  Elvis loved it and it’s definitely on my to-make-again list.

Another Recipe

Okay, so this recipe is another new one that we tried in 2009 – on Thanksgiving, actually, but it was a twist on a traditional vegetable dish and something that we all enjoyed. Also over at Life As Mom, she runs a weekly recipe exchange and the theme this week is veggies, so I thought I’d add this recipe to her exchange, too!

Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Cashews (originally found on allrecipes.com)
6 servings, 180 cal/serv.

1 1/2 pounds of fresh broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
1/3 c butter (can use less or use margarine)
1 T brown sugar
3 T soy sauce
2 T white vinegar
1/4 t ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c chopped salted cashews

Place the broccoli into a large pot with about 1 inch of water in the bottom. Bring to a boil, and cook for 7 minutes, or until tender but still crisp. Drain, and arrange broccoli on a serving platter.

While the broccoli is cooking, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Mix in the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and garlic. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Mix in the cashews, and pour the sauce over the broccoli. Serve immediately.

New Year, New ME! :-)

So I’m going to try to start off this new year right by posting more often which means that my posts will have to be PROactive instead of REactive. To that end, I think I’ll use this blog to track progress on some of my goals for 2010 in addition to update you all on my life.

All of my life I have set goals for myself. I have some long term goals which include things regarding family, travel and financial goals. I created a “bucket list” a long time ago before the movie came out, actually, of things I want to do before I die, but that’s a topic for another post.

For 2010, I have several short-term goals as well. I think that I’ll make progress reports on 2 of them here:

1) Read 8-10 “classic literature” books.
After I finish the book I am currently reading (Ultimatum by Matthew Glass), I plan on digging into some books that I have never read that are considered classic literature including The Grapes of Wrath, Lolita, 1984, Catch 22, and we’ll see what else I get to.

2) Try at least 1 new recipe a week.
I enjoy cooking, I really do.  I often write down recipes that I think would be interesting to try and then don’t actually get around to making them.  That’s about to change.

The new recipe I tried this week was for my Turbo Cooker (Thanks Gram and Aunt Jean!), but I won’t post it here because making it requires you to have a Turbo Cooker and if you have a Turbo Cooker, the recipe (for chicken, roasted potatoes and veggies) came along in your pack.

I will, however, post a recipe for one of our favorite things that we tried last year:

CHORIZO, SHRIMP AND RICE
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
2 T Olive Oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cup quick cook rice (I used plain white rice, but you can use Spanish rice or any other variety)
7 ounces chorizo sausage, casings removed and cut into 1/4″ slices
2 c chicken stock
1 lb large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped for garnish (original recipe called for parsley, but we used cilantro and it was delicious)

DIRECTIONS:
Heat olive oil in a large lidded frying pan over med-high heat.  Add onion and bell peppers, cook for 2 minutes.
Add garlic, continue to cook for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add tomato, rice, salt and pepper to taste and cook for 2 minutes.
Add in chorizo and stock.  Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the rice is tender, but the dish is still moist.
Add shrimp, stir and cover.
Cook for 5 minutes or until shrimp are no longer pink and the liquid has been absorbed.
Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:
About 550 calories, but high in sodium and fat.  Leaving out the chorizo drops the calories to 320.  The fat and sodium also drop drastically.  This probably changes the final taste, though adding some other spices could help!

I think that’s enough for today’s post!  Stay tuned for more recipes and book reviews.

November and December

Oooops. Guess it’s that time again – time for another overdue update of this blog…

Let’s see. November started out with me trying to get caught up with things at work. Then there was a week spent in Michigan at the National Grange Session. I was there to present my mad sign language skillz to the world. Yes, a 12+ hour car ride (one way) to be on stage for less than 4 minutes.

While there Norman and I also went geocaching which was fun – I’m interested in trying to do some around here and maybe more of the “naturey” ones and not the city-based ones.

The following Thursday, Mom, Dad, Matthew and Megan came to our apartment for Thanksgiving.  I think things turned out really well, though I did make too much cranberry sauce – oh well!  We went duckpin bowling and introduced Mom and Dad to MarioKart (Mom’s now an addict!).

The next Wednesday, I flew to Peru for a workshop in Cusco.  The first day there, I was incredibly sick from the altitude which was not any fun, but I made it through and learned a lot about the Peruvian context for environmental issues which is great since we’ll be planning a workshop there in either 2010 or 2011.

I was home for 36 hours before heading off to our annual work staff retreat in West Virginia.  That was okay, it was good to see the faces of the people who work remotely.

This time I was home for less than 24 hours before packing up again to head to Copenhagen.  The UN Climate Convention was held there this year.  We gave a presentation on the work we are doing with the Surui people in Brazil and since I managed all of the logistics work for everyone, I got to go along – pretty cool!  It was pretty interesting seeing how a large meeting like that works.  Also made some good contacts and learned a lot of information.  Unfortunately a strong treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol upon its expiration in 2012 was not reached, but progress was made especially regarding forests – the area in which I am working now.

I arrived home on Thursday, came to work on Friday, had a crazy time trying to get Philip from the airport due to the 18″ of snow that fell on DC that weekend, worked a few more days and then it was Christmas!

Christmas Eve Elvis and I left DC around 10 and drove to PA.  Upon arrival, we found that the MarioKart disc was not in the MarioKart case, so we had to go to the store to get another.  1.25 hours later, we were back at the house playing with Heather and Philip.  We had a traditional American meal this year for Christmas Eve (we’ll find something new next year!) and headed off to Christmas Eve services.  Afterwards, we had the traditional gathering at our house, complete with lots of food and gift exchange.  Christmas morning we opened gifts, bummed around for a bit and then had a delicious ham lunch.  The rest of our time in PA was pretty relaxing and included a lunch with Tina, Norman and Sarah, a lot of MarioKart, and the Walters family gathering.  Now I am back at work and tomorrow is New Year’s Eve already – how did that happen???

I resolve next year to be a better blogger!

September and October

Well, time has certainly flown by since my last update. Since then pretty much everything revolved around our wedding.

After the fair, we turned around and went back to PA the following weekend for the wedding of my friends Cory and Austin. It was a beautiful wedding and gave us some ideas for our own!

We then turned around to come back on Sunday morning for another Latino music festival in Virginia.

Then it was planning, planning and more planning. I honestly don’t remember what else we might have done the entire month of September. Our wedding was October 10, and from what I know, all went well.

I drove up to PA on Thursday and got to hang out with some of my bridesmaids that evening. Friday we went for manicures and pedicures which was super relaxing. From there, we went to Olive Garden to eat and then to Tussey Mountain to decorate. The decorating went really quickly (I guess that’s what happens when you have 5 bridesmaids, 2 junior bridesmaids and a mom to help out!). I went to check the boys in at their hotel since we didn’t know what time they’d be getting there in the evening and then it was time for the rehearsal. Except the boys weren’t there yet.

So we took advantage of the time to decorate the pews (simple bows and leaves) and set up the church. Pastor Nathan also worked on his Spanish! The boys finally showed up only about 45 minutes late, minus the best man. Unfortunately he had to work and wasn’t there for the rehearsal at all! But it was okay because he didn’t really have to do anything during the service.

The rehearsal went well and then we had dinner in the church basement. There was a ton of food and a bunch of Grange folk came to help out (mostly because they wanted to see what was going on!). After dinner, the girls “kidnapped me” and took me to Jenna’s house while Matthew took the boys to Hooters.

The girls had gathered a bunch of ridiculous props for me (including a fuzzy pink crown, a Bachlorette sash, a veil and a huge blinking “diamond” ring), made even more food (which involved chocolate) and gave me a bunch of lingerie…I gave the girls their gifts which included a bag that I embroidered their first initial on, their jewelry for the next day, and a note.

Since some of my bridesmaids are good friends with the groomsmen and rarely get to see each other, we decided that it would be fun to get back together that night and just relax. We ended up at Cory’s parents’ house where we relaxed in the 12 person hot tub for a few hours before heading back to sleep!

Sleep? Who slept? Well, I did sleep, but not for very long! At 6 am or so, Jenna rolled over (we slept over at her house) and was like “YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED TODAY!” We did manage to get a little more shut eye before getting up for the day.

After breakfast and coffee (very important!), I headed to the church with Tina and Heather to make sure everything was in order. Susan and Greta brought the BEAUTIFUL flowers soon thereafter and we began to prepare for the day. Cory came to help the girls with their hair and make up while Jenna did mine. It took close to 3 hours for her to curl my hair, but it looked great when all was said and done!

We took a bunch of pictures before the wedding – mostly the ones with all the guys and the ones with all the girls.

The ceremony started right at 3:30 and went really well. The pastor did say that Elvis tried to call me every day for 6 months instead of 6 weeks (that would have been TOO long), but that just made everyone laugh. It was good that he made them laugh, because I made them all cry! I said I think the second line of my vows and then realized that there was no way I was going to get through the rest of them without crying. I tried to collect myself and continue, but it just wasn’t happening! Tears poured out of my eyes and, according to Aunt Thelma, “there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.” Before we knew it, we were pronounced husband and wife! We dismissed everyone from the church and then took more pictures. Shortly thereafter, we arrived at Tussey.

Everyone was announced as they entered, Elvis and I danced our first dance (a marimba waltz) and then I danced with my Dad. Martha (the girl I used to babysit) cried the whole time I was dancing with my Dad…so sweet! I just didn’t look at my Dad so that I could avoid doing the same! Then there was a toast, food, cake cutting, surprising Philip with a cake (it was his 21st, after all) and DANCING!

We danced for the rest of the time and it was SOOOO much fun! The DJ played mostly latino music, which was wonderful for Elvis and I, but we weren’t sure how my family would like it. Before we knew it, Aunt Thelma and Aunt Barb were up there dancing with us and George Witherite joined in, too! We did play some more typical songs like the Chicken Dance (everyone said don’t do it, but that’s the song everyone danced to!) and the YMCA (at which Uncle Danny decided he was dyslexic and wanted to dance the ACMY) and some slow songs as well. It was a LOT of fun!

We also ended up with the absolutely most perfectly wonderful sunset which was amazingly gorgeous and led to some beautiful photos!

After the reception, we headed to the hotel where we called Elvis’ family and talked to them some more. I really wish that they could have been there on the big day, but we knew that it wasn’t going to be possible, so calling was the next best thing. Actually several of his cousins and family members called during the day and we had a chance to talk to them then which was cool. We’re also planning on having a party sometime if we can get there to visit!

On Sunday, we opened gifts and then drove back to Maryland. We slept in on Monday and then headed to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. It was absolutely gorgeous there with all the leaves changing color and the views over the mountains. We saw some deer when we arrived and camped on Monday night. It was REALLY cold, though, so we decided that we weren’t going to stay another night. We did head farther down Skyline Drive on Tuesday, saw a mama bear and 2 cubs, walked a bit to see a waterfall, and then left the park.

On the way back, we went to Luray Caverns because Elvis had never been in a cave before. It was kind of neat because it’s a self-guided tour (they give you earphones), so you can take your time to see the things you want to see. Elvis was kind of worried about a stalactite falling on his head, but it was really neat. There are actually some pretty cool formations in the cave. My favorite part is a section where there is water on the ground but it is absolutely still, so there is a reflection of the stalactites on the floor and it’s really pretty.

Wednesday I tried to clean some things up around the house while Elvis was back at work. That evening we received the news that my Grandma Walters had passed away which was upsetting, but was also something we knew was around the corner. We had already bought our tickets to see the US-Costa Rica World Cup Qualifying Match here in DC, so we decided that we would go there anyway. It was a really exciting match, but unfortunately we had decided to leave before the US scored the tying goal in the 5th minute of stoppage time!

Thursday and Friday were spent at the house cleaning and arranging things. Saturday we went to see part of the University of Maryland football game, but it was cold and rainy, so we went home early. Some of the guys came over to look at wedding pics and eat and such that night.

Sunday Matthew and I made the trek back to PA for Grandma’s viewing and funeral and then back to MD on Monday. Now things are back to “normal”, I guess. Worked some last week and this week is my first full week back in the office since…early August, I believe. Craziness, right? The one thing that isn’t completely normal is that Elvis is finally taking the class he needs to take to get his driver’s license, so he hasn’t been back home until 9pm or so. That means all the cooking, cleaning and other household tasks fall to me this week which is mostly okay, but somewhat tiring…oh well. Maybe someday everything will be normal…what is normal???

August

So the month of August was absolutely insane.

It's still standing!

August 1 and 2 were spent in Pennsylvania.  We fixed Mom and Dad’s flowerbed in the back yard that has been falling down for about 10 years now.  We also replaced a few boards that were about to fall down on the front grape barber and did some other random things.  The flowerbed turned out quite nice and hasn’t fallen down.  Yet.  That afternoon was also the celebration of Emily and Russ’s wedding which was fun and I got to see some of my cousins who I haven’t seen in awhile.  That evening, we tried to play mini golf only to find that the course was overrun by weeds and dirt, so we settled for Meyer’s ice cream instead.

Elvis and I ready to go to Latin Palace on his birthday.

The next week was spent at work and the next weekend was equally insane.  Elvis’ birthday was on the 7th, so we went to Latin Palace for the first time in FOREVER.  Don Enrique, the owner of LP was SOOOO touched when we gave him the invitation for the wedding that he almost started to cry!  Elvis got his trophy and was incredibly proud of himself – it’s the first trophy he ever “won”!    Saturday was spent preparing food and partying with Elvis’ friends who all came over to celebrate his birth.  Or something like that.  At some point in time, I wandered back into the house and fell asleep.  Sunday we went to Sandy Point with Elvis’ cousin, Gerson, his wife Carolina and their son, Anderson.  My friend Julia and her boyfriend Rene met up with us there.  We had a great time feasting on watermelon, spending time in the water and playing soccer.

Two Yawanawa leaders give a blessing at the opening ceremony for the workshop.

I left the following Wednesday to go back to Brazil.  After 36 hours of travelling, I arrived in Rio Branco on Friday and started to get things ready for the course the next week.  The course ran from Sunday through Thursday and was really well received.  The workshop was for indigenous community leaders to learn about payments for ecosystem services and REDD (what we work on here). Many people liked it and have asked us to repeat the workshop in their home state.  The only thing people complained about was the heat.  With the humidity factored in, it was 113* one day and we were outside!  Friday we had a  small public seminar which was also well attended and well liked.  This was in conjunction with the state government and on a slightly higher level

Beautiful sunset over the river near the workshop.

than the workshop the week before.

Saturday was spent tying up loose ends and shopping!  Then I flew to Rio de Janeiro.  Since the plane tickets aren’t any more expensive, I try to spend a few extra days in the country when I fly for work.  The first time, I stayed an extra day in San Jose, Costa Rica and went white water rafting and walked around the city.  The second time, I stayed in Cuiaba for an extra day to go to Chapada dos Guimaraes.  The third time, I stayed in  Sao Paulo, and this time I stayed in Rio.

Rio as seen from the Christ statue.

Rio is an amazingly beautiful city.  Mountains and beaches right next to each other – what could be better???  On Sunday I went to the market and bought myself a bag.  I don’t think I bought much else there.  Then I found my way back to the hostel and I went to Maracana – the largest

Me at the soccer game in Maracana

soccer stadium in South America – to watch a soccer game.  That was pretty cool. There weren’t too many people there, but they sure made a lot of noise!  Monday I went on a tour of Rio with a group from the hostel.  We went to see a place where they go hang gliding, a waterfall in a state park, the Christ statue, a small neighborhood called Santa Teresa and Lapas.

Me and Christ.

I wish that we would have had more time in the state park to walk around and do some exploring – this is definitely on my to-do list if I ever have the opportunity to go back and I can go with someone (walking around a state park by myself is not on Mom’s Approved List of Things Rebecca Can Do Alone).

Some of the steps.

My favorite thing, though, was probably Lapas.  Lapas is a neighborhood where apparently there are some crazy parties

See - told you he has a fascination with pregnant women.

that happen at night.  We were there during the day, however, and we went to see these steps – there are 215 of them.  This Chilean artist, Selaron, came to the neighborhood and decided to cover the steps with tile.  And he paints some of the tiles, and apparently changes them around. They have been featured in a Snoop Dogg video and in the newest Incredible Hulk movie. They are really neat.  Selaron, however, has some sort of personal problem and he always paints a pregnant person (not necessarily a woman) in all of his drawings.  They turn out pretty cool, though. He was out for lunch when we stopped in, but I bought a drawing from him which will be hanging in our apartment as soon as we get a frame.

Cool panoramic of the city - the drawing I got is similar to a part of this.

Beach shot at Copacabana - it was a little rainy and cold, so there weren't many people.

Tuesday was spent shopping and relaxing on the beach before my plane ride home.

My footprints in the sand.

Arrived home on Wednesday and slept. And did laundry.

Thursday I worked from Panera for a bit (man, I love Panera, I can’t believe there isn’t one in Georgetown!).  Then Elvis and I packed up the car and headed to Grange Fair.  Elvis really enjoyed the fair, especially the animals.  I got to talk with Tina for a long time on Friday night which was wonderful.  We also managed to get our marriage license, see Philip’s play and eat lots of fattening food in there.

Sunday was my bridal shower which was pretty neat.  I’m still not too sure how I feel about being the center of attention, but whatever.  I got a bunch of new kitchen stuff which is pretty exciting.  Some new recipes to try out, too.

We got back late Sunday evening and I didn’t even bother to unpack everything!  I was tooooooo exhausted!  Monday was back to work for the first time in 2.5 weeks, then unpacking and cleaning.  And all of a sudden, it was September!  Who’da thunk it???

Watching the horse show.

Elvis wanted to send these cows to Guatemala

Jenna and Heather with their award winning dress. Modeled by Margaret.

Hannah, Martha and Julia and their toilet paper wedding dresses at my shower.

the rest of the story

So on Tuesday, we set off from the shelter .  We passed through Sky Meadows State Park in Virginia which was pretty neat.  We even had a decent view at one point in time.  Suffice it to say that there are not very many views on this hike.  We rolled into the shelter (the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter?) at 9:15 pm and everyone else had already gone to bed!  I felt bad about making noise while setting up the tent and cooking dinner, but I was hungry!

The next morning Jenica, my hiking partner, wasn’t feeling too well, so she slept and slept and slept and we finally left the shelter a little after lunch time.  I wasn’t very happy about this, but have to have a healthy partner.  This was also the day that we started the Roller Coaster – a series of hills over a 13ish mile span.  It definitely wasn’t easy, but we went for the challenge, right?

Well, we made it over 2 hills and Jenica decided she had had enough for the day.  It was only 3pm.  I said “I don’t think so, we’re going over at least one more hill.”  She didn’t really like that idea, but went with me anyway.  We crossed the next hill (only 1.5 miles further) and ended up with a pretty cool campsite – there was a river (the water was FREEZING), a small waterfall, and someone else had built a fire ring there, so we got to make a fire!  (According to the “Leave no Trace Policy,” you  really shouldn’t build fires when you’re hiking because the idea is to leave nature as undisturbed as you can and fires are an obvious sign that someone had been there.)  We relaxed for a bit, cooked dinner over the fire, played some card games and went to bed.

The next morning, we set off fairly early, but we were pretty slow-going through the mountains.  I had high hopes of hiking farther than we did the previous day.  There were a bunch more ups and downs and eventually we had an amazing view at Bear’s Den Rocks!  We relaxed there for a bit, then hiked a little farther and camped off of the trail on the top of the hill.  I wanted to go farther so we had a more reliable source of water, but Jenica refused.  Luckily I still had plenty of water from the Bear’s Den (a hostel), so I let her drink the water out of the stream which had waaaaayy too many floaty things in it for my taste, though we did boil some of that to make spaghetti for dinner.  We hiked a total of 6.8 miles that day.

Friday we got off to a slow start and headed on through the roller coaster.  At the top of the first hill, we met Red Dog (everyone on the trail uses nicknames and not their real names).  Red Dog reminded me of Uncle Jim – you couldn’t tell which stories were true and which were figments of his imagination.  He decided he would hike with us that day.  In some ways this freaked me out and in some ways it was cool – we heard lots of interesting stories and had some company.  He also piled a bunch of logs on top of a copperhead for us so that we could pass.  (I did feel bad for the copperhead, though…he really just should have killed it!)  One way or the other, it pushed Jenica to keep walking.  We did have a good view along the way, here, too.  We hiked 8 miles that day in a shorter amount of time than we hiked the 6.8 the previous day.  We arrived at Blackburn Trail Center at 4 pm or so, maybe, and decided to stay.  The Trail Center is pretty amazing.  You can stay there for free, they give you dinner, and they have a solar-powered shelter.  It was nice.  We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon with Dreamcatcher – an amazing 60 year old woman from Texas who is hiking the whole trail and Red Dog.

I had thought that we would have made it into Harper’s Ferry either late Friday night or early on Saturday.  I realized on Wednesday that we weren’t going to make it.  I wanted to go white-water rafting in HF and we were hoping that Christy would be able to join us.  We decided we had 2 choices.  1) Call someone to pick us up at the Trail Center (there’s a road that leads there) or 2) keep hiking and give up the idea of rafting.  I wanted to make it to Harper’s Ferry since that was our original goal and I probably would have thought that anything less was a failure, but I decided to leave it up to Jenica as to what we should do.  She (reluctantly, I think) decided that we should hike the rest of the way into HF.  So then the question became do we 1) hike all 12 miles in 1 day (something we hadn’t done since Day #2) or 2) hike most of the way and then go the rest of the way in on Sunday morning.  According to the information at the Trail Center, the only trains back to DC were super early in the morning, so if we were to hike the rest of the way in on Sunday, we would have had to wait until Monday to take the train back to DC, so we decided to go all 12 miles in one day.  We were now off of the roller coaster, so we assumed it wouldn’t be nearly as difficult.

We started off a little later than I would have hoped to and made it to the David Lesser Shelter (3.2 miles) by 11ish.  After a snack break, I was ready to continue, but Jenica was in need of water.  The spring was .5 miles from the shelter (not on the trail) down a steep path.  It took us 1 hour to get going again (meaning we were averaging 1 mile per hour…and we still had 9 miles to go!).  The good part about this was that we met 2 women from Harpers Ferry who later met up with us on the trail again and offered for us to go to their home and spend the night (think soft bed, warm shower, home cooked meal).  They had never done something like this before, so that was pretty cool.  Around 3pm, we still had 4ish miles to go and the thunder started.  Luckily for us, this was the worst weather we had all week.  We decided to keep going until the heavens let loose at which point we quickly set up the tent in an attempt to stay dry.  The rain only lasted about 30 minutes, however, and we were soon back on the trail.  The last 2 miles of the trail were NOT ANY FUN AT ALL!  It was a whole bunch of steep downhill which was torture for my knees.  They were hurting very badly by the time we reached the Shenendoah River.  After crossing the river, however, it was a very steep uphill (we saw a buck at this point in time) for a mile maybe before we reached the town of Harper’s Ferry.  But we made it!  After some phone calls to family, Sherri (the woman we met earlier that day) came to pick us up and we went to their house to hang out for the evening.  We had a lot of fun there with them and in the morning, took the train back into DC.

All in all, it was a great learning experience and something I’d like to try again.  We’ll see when or if that happens, though!

What in the blue blazes?

Jenica and I maybe still in Sky Meadows State Park?

The downhills on the rollercoaster are more fun if you put your hands in the air and scream on the way down.

River on the Roller Coaster.

Me and my campfire on Wednesday night.

One of the few views along the way.

Me at Bear’s Den – possibly my favorite picture

View on day 5

The Shenendoah River at Harper’s Ferry

On the trail on July 5…

here we go again

So apparently people are still checking back.  And I’m still not good at updating.  But I’m going to update now!  Yay!

Exciting things that happened since June 19:

June 26 – 28: Went camping at Gambrill State Park.  This was a lot of fun, a new place that we hadn’t been camping before.  Went mountain biking, it was TOUGH.  Lots of uphills and downhills over rocky terrain (little did I know this was foreshadowing for my next adventure).  We went swimming in the lake, and just basically hung out just Elvis and I which was really nice.

June 28: Verano Zol – huge music concert at a fairgrounds near the house.  Had a bunch of really good Latino artists, WAAAAYYY too many people, decent food (though you had to wait 3 hours to get it), but it was a decent afternoon, even with the rain.

July 3 -5: Went home to celebrate the 4th.  Saw my cousin Zech be crowned as the next PA State Junior Grange Prince and a bunch of my Grange friends on Friday night at Junior Grange Camp.  Also met Tina’s daughter Sarah for the first time!  On Saturday Philip, Elvis and I went out for lunch with Tina, Norman and Sarah which was also fun.  Bought fireworks, built a campfire, made S’mores and mountain pies, set off said fireworks, went to bed.  Sunday went to church, ate lunch with Gram and Aunt Jean, drove back to College Park and crazily prepareed for the next adventure.

The next adventure was the famed APPALACHIAN TRAIL (thanks to the governor of South Carolina, I have heard many jokes regarding whether or not I was on the actual trail or if I headed off to Argentina.  I was on the actual trail.).

We set off on Sunday from Front Royal, Virginia, hiked for a little bit and camped for the night (it was like 7pm when we started to hike…and it got dark pretty quickly).  We camped on a downhill slope which was not fun and neither one of us got much sleep.

The first day, it took a lot of getting used to to carry our packs.  My pack probably weighed about 50 pounds at the beginning of the trip and my shoulders were definitely not used to that!  Everything was so new and different the first day, though, so we barely noticed it when we hiked 11 miles and arrived at the Manassas Gap Shelter fairly early that evening.  We set up camp, took “showers” with water bottles filled with COLD spring water and cooked dinner (spaghetti!).  It was at this time that we realized neither one of us brought a plate or bowl, so we ate out of the pans.  (Luckily I brought 2 forks along!)  Later on down the trail, we would learn that other hikers referred to the Manassas Gap Shelter as ‘Copperhead Shelter’ because there were so many copperheads in and behind the shelter!  We didn’t see any there, though, thank goodness!  I slept SOOO soundly that night – don’t think I woke up once after my head hit the sleeping bag (no room for a pillow in the pack!).

The next morning, after a breakfast of oatmeal, we set off on what would be the longest hike of our trek – somewhere between 13 and 14 miles depending on which guide and which signs you believe.

More later…

Brazil Round 2, Part 2 and everything since then

Well, I think 1 whole person saw the last entry that I posted, so I’m going to write another entry. Perhaps if I update more frequently, more people will tune in to my so-called life!

Let’s see Rio Branco went pretty much like this: eat, meeting, eat, meeting, eat, meeting, sleep, wake up, repeat. For 3 solid days. Not too much fun, and we didn’t actually accomplish much, but whatever.

The flights back were not fun at all because it was just after the plane en route to France “disappeared” off of the Brazilian coast, so I was a little bit more on edge than I have grown accustomed to be on planes.  I also did a lot of thinking about how the “safety” features on planes are not likely to save anyone’s life…seriously, under what conditions is a seat that helps you float going to be useful?  If, and only if, all of these conditions are met: 1) the plane is above water to start with, 2) the plane lands softly in the water, 3) you are able to get out of the plane before it sinks and 4) you are close enough to an empty cruise ship or land so that someone can come rescue you before your arms wear out or you die from hunger/exhaustion/hypothermia.  How often are all of those conditions met?  The Hudson River crash is the only time that I can think of….oh well.  Flying is still safer than driving.

Since coming back, we hosted a party (8 people plus Elvis and I) in the basement to watch the World Cup eliminations which was pretty cool (this, by the way on our new television – it’s like 4.5′ x 3′ or something crazy and cost $70 from the second hand store), we’ve been back to Sandy Point, went to a bridal shower and we went on a 10 mile-ish (maybe a little longer) bike ride.    We’ve also seen a few soccer games and been soaked by the torrential downpours which have been soaking the DC metro area every afternoon for a few hours (just at the right time so that you can’t enjoy the evening!).  We were hoping to go camping this weekend, but we’re going to put that on hold for another week – I’m kind of worried about the campsite being soaked and the bike trails being pure mud and ruining the weekend!  Well, that’s all for now folks, stay tuned for another edition!