Strang-e Adventures

9 days

noheroine — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:38:08 +0000

Nine days until we close on our new house. we are so excited. To finally move in, of course I hope to put up a tour once we are actually first moving in of what the place looks like without “other people’s furniture.” We are super excited to move in, settle down, and then begin plotting our next project. we THINK we have almost everything planned out as far as which rooms things will go into. The only thing I can’t seem to figure it is where I will put my office. I’m sure the next few weeks will be super hectic, but I hope that I will remember to update everyone on our new place.

Our (soon to be) new house!

noheroine — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:07:35 +0000

We made an offer on a house, and our offer was accepted this morning! In approximately 45 days we will be the proud official owners of our very own home.

Getting back into it

noheroine — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:41:29 +0000

So obviously we haven’t been updating the blog in quite some time. Now that we have rejoined civilization there are so many things to take up our time. It’s so good to be back in Louisville. This coming weekend we are going to spend Saturday looking at houses. Pretty exciting i think. We picked about 10 places that we’re going to check out. This is our first weekend of house hunting so we’re pretty excited.

We’ve also been getting re-acquainted with our old hobbies:

Webb is pringing is little metal men to paint. I’ve been doing the cardmaking as well.

noheroine — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:59:36 +0000

Whew!! This morning Webb and i got up at 6am to participate in the Anthem 5k Fitness Classic. We ran with the kids from St. Joe’s run club. Anthem waived registration fees for the kids and volunteers so we got to hang out with some great kids, get a free t-shirt AND exercise. I would normally post lots of photos of an event like this, but to protect the privacy of the kids we don’t take photos.

The weather was amazing and the kids were great. Reports project that there were about 9,000 particpants.

Our newest favorite-est recipe

noheroine — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:15:48 +0000

Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs with Edamame and Snow Peas

This recipe is great because you can fiddle with the veggies involved (I’m looking at you Melody), and honestly you could probably change around the “meat” involved, even using tofu since the key is the ginger flavor.

Tonight we are going to attempt Cedar Plank Salmon…I’m not usually a salmon fan, so we’ll see how it goes.

And for dessert…

noheroine — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 19:37:40 +0000

I’m going to try this recipe from Ordering Disorder. It looks really delicious, and if i make it with apple slices for dipping, Webb might even try it.

Cream Cheese Dip-Check out the website for great step by step instructions.

Dinner Menu

noheroine — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 19:29:35 +0000

Tonight’s dinner menu will consist of the following:

Blackened Tilapia
Broccoli with Chipotle Cheddar Cheese
Sweet Potato Stir-fry with Dates and Walnuts
Whole Wheat Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
Corn Chipotle Bisque.

It all sounds so high class when you type it all out like that. instead of saying, fish, broccoli, sweet potatoes, pasta, and corn soup.

Now I wish i could find my camera and take a picture of the spread.

Please read the letter that I wrote

noheroine — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:00:50 +0000

I heard a small part of this song on NPR Monday morning driving to work. Just that little bit had been stuck in my head for over a day. Now i’m totally hooked. This might be the first actual album I’ve bought in a really long time.

Kentucky

noheroine — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:34:08 +0000

We’ve finally settled into our new place in Kentucky and i realized that i have completely neglected this blog. “Realized” is probably a poor choice of words, because i totally knew i wasn’t posting, but i had just been so busy that i felt i had other more important things to do. Frankly there are a lot more things to do here in Louisville than in Canon City. For starters, real human interaction…in person not over the phone. Of course there are the requisite places to shop and restaurants to vist etc. etc. Having a job and spending time with other people takes up a lot of time when compared to unemployment and social isolation, which is really the way it should be and the way i prefer it.

A few things that have happened since our last post.

We left Colorado behind, for several weeks after returning we agreed to pretend it was just a bad dream.
Thanksgiving-In Kingsport
Christmas-In Louisville
Lived in my childhood bedroom with my husband for 3 weeks
Moved into a house on Frankfort Ave.
Got a temporary job with my Mom (and for awhile my sister too)
Reconnected with several good friends (though still several to get in touch with)
Celebrated Webb’s 26th birthday
Learned to cook a delicious recipe Ginger Chicken Meatballs (post to come)
Lost power for a week from an ice storm

Things are going well, I’m goignt o get back into the swing of things with the blog.

Hiatus

noheroine — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:18:28 +0000

Sorry, we are putting everything on a temporary hiatus since we are packing. We are returning to Kentucky in the last week of November. More on all that later on, along with a post about Bishop’s Castle.

Victor Cripple Creek

noheroine — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:37:25 +0000

Once we reached about 10,000 feet elevation all of a sudden the terrain abruptly changed. I am not sure if this is altitude related or not, but the forest just gave way to a meadow. Webb pointed out that it reminded him a lot of Tennessee farms.

Victor, Colorado is a mining town of less than 500 residents currently. In the late 1800′s the town was booming with prospectors and miners. The history of the town is quite interesting, you can read more if you follow the link. History of Victor, Colorado

This is a distant view of Victor, Colorado. The town sits below the tailings of a former large gold mine. This reminds me of mountain top removal mining in KY, the entire mountain in some areas seemed to be nothing but a pile of rubble, and often we know that these areas are poisoned with heavy metals and other waste from the gold mines. To continue the similarities the leftover rubble from the mines are often dumped into valley fills. Below is a photo of one of the mines near Victor and Cripple Creek.

Notice the similarities to Mountaintop Removal mining in Appalachia.

History of Cripple Creek Colorado

Cripple Creek, Colorado was once a city of 50,000 during the Gold Rush years. Now limited stakes gaming has been approved to bring in income to the region. While in Cripple Creek Webb and I stopped into a little shop and noticed this extremely disturbing sign…

Since it was getting dark and late we decided to drive Northeast to Colorado Springs to access an actual paved highway. We came around the Western side of Pikes Peak through Woodland Park. Below is an image of Pikes Peak viewed from Woodland Park, Co.

Phantom Canyon part deux

noheroine — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 06:32:22 +0000

ore photos from our recent trip through Phantom Canyon, CO! In this part of the canyon we are starting to really get up there in elevation. Canon City is 5,332 ft. The road climbs slowly, but for reference at the end of the road we are at nearly 10,000 ft.

A picture of our SUV (gas-guzzler ) on the side of the road, looks like a commercial. Ford trucks!!!

We found this strange pit mysteriously near the roadside. Don’t know what it’s purpose was. Mostly I just hoped no one ever fell in, because it was filled with nastiness. There was nothing around to explain what this thing was doing out here in the middle of NOWHERE.

Webb don't JUMP!!!

As you can see…nastiness…

This is the only remaining original bridge along this road.

Yes those are wooden planks…

More road through the canyon.

A view from the side of the road, one of the many many times we abruptly halted our ascent to take photographs. It took us well over 2.5 hours to complete this trip one-way, but we stopped A LOT. At this point the temperature is dropping quite a bit the higher we go. The difference between beginning and destination temps was 58-35 degrees F. The leaves at the lower elevations haven’t begun to change, but here the leaves are in full swing. (about 7000 feet)

These are Quaking Aspen. They grow in colonies and share a root system.

There were signs along the road marking where towns used to be during the gold rush. All of these towns have since disappeared without a trace.

More aspen…

As you know this area of Colorado is famous for it’s major fossil discoveries including a practically complete stegosaurus fossil. Amazingly we discovered perfectly preserved dinosaur remains in the woods!!!

Poor Barney…

The view at almost 9,000 feet. You can see the road we drove in on down below as well and the Aspen which tend to follow the creek bed. Amazingly it is entirely possible that ALL of the yellow Aspens you see in this photo are part of a single root structure.

Of course, Webb waves at the camera from the scenic overlook. It is cold so we keep our hands in our pockets.

Phantom Canyon

noheroine — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:45:44 +0000

Finally a trip up Phantom Canyon!!!

Here’s some information about the tour from Sangres.com which has a lot of pictures and info about the gold Belt Tour and the surrounding area. This was a great resource for us while planning this trip.

Phantom Canyon Road was built to connect Florence, CO to the mines in Cripple Creek and the surrounding area. From 1894 to 1912, railroad cars filled with gold ore rolled down Phantom Canyon feeding up to nine processing mills running day and night in Florence.

It was 1890 when Bob Womack made the gold strike that started the Cripple Creek Gold Rush. Since that time, more than 500 mines in the Cripple Creek and Victor Mining District have produced over 21 million ounces of gold – more than the Alaska and California Gold Rushes put together. Gold is still being produced in the District.

The terrain begins in the dessert-like scrub and makes some pretty intense transitions to thick evergreen and aspen cover and then to meadow up around 10,000 feet.

The majority of the land along this route is owned by the Bureau of Land Management particularly on the lower portion of the road. Since 1996, Phantom Canyon has been designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern by the Bureau of Land Management.

Here is a shot as we are entering the canyon as the blacktop becomes a dirt road. The green you see to the right is the path of the creek which carved this canyon. At the time the creek is barely 3 feet wide and patchy (even following a pretty recent rainfall) but there are numerous reports of 30 foot flash floods racing down the canyon.

There are two tunnels along this route, the Upper and Lower Tunnel. The entire road is a converted narrow-gauge railroad path.

Lower Tunnel

There are some pretty steep drops, especially as you emerge from the upper Tunnel.

Upper Tunnel

This next picture shows one of the cuts blasted out for the railway. There is literally only room for one car here, and just beyond there is a sharp curve and STRAIGHT down. We were very fortunate to encounter another truck just as we emerged from this spot…of course we took the right side allowing the oncoming vehicle to risk sliding off the edge.

Notice how the trees have changed to evergreens…big tall ones!

From the Gold Belt Tour Website

Up further we pulled off and explored some of the camping, hiking in the area and found this creek and large fire pit.

Colorado Senate Spot

noheroine — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:35:59 +0000

I can’t help it, I actually love this campaign commercial, every single time I see it i have to laugh. Yes yes, I know that he doesn’t actually say anything substantial here except that out of state interests are attacking him. Still i just think it’s catchy the way that he begins the commercial.

Around here at least every other commercial is for some sort of campaign or amendment issue. There are so many amendments on the ballot this year that it actually requires extra postage!!! And the ads for the presidential campaign are numerous as well.

Dear Sir or Madam,

noheroine — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:11:14 +0000

Something occurred the other day which i have never ever witnessed before in my household, someone put a new roll of toilet paper ON THE HOLDER! I was confused at first as to how it got there since I hadn’t put it there. This is not something that I nag about since I often neglect to replace rolls and the toilet paper is stored under the sink within easy reach. My dear sweet husband did it. He also loads/empties dishwashers and vacuums too. I also mopped my kitchen and bathroom with a bleach solution for the first time (I usually use a swiffer). Very clean, and hopefully temporarily germ free. I felt like i was back at The Little Gym mopping/cleaning the mats, which is actually something I found relaxing and pretty enjoyable.

In other news, (though i’ve probably mentioned it several times before) with the cold weather we had a brief invasion of icky buggles. However, with the frosty conditions and a few bug spray treatments the threat has subsided for now (though I am afraid to speak too soon). I am not particularly terrified of bugs, except when they touch me. Particularly when a millipede strolled across the back of my hand, trust me, he/she got the squish treatment with GUSTO. I do sometimes get a little aprehensive when a friendly bug-eating spider disappears from view without warning, one can’t help but imagine it hunting you down and crawling on you while you sleep.

As far as our house (aka horrible rental) is concerned. The next task is to straighten up and hang curtains in the living room, a task I have neglected so far my excuse being…laziness. I have also prepared a written list of complaints to be submitted to the landlord, since phone calls seem to take weeks to get a response. The list consists of the following though not in these exact words.

Heater doesn’t work or isn’t turned on…I think this is somewhat essential considering it’s October.
Kitchen sink leaks under the sink and above all over the counter.
Deadbolt on front door broken, cannot lock/unlock from the outside.
Did anyone ever fix the roof which leaks and has several water marks from past leaks too?
Window in bathroom will not close, I just know the pipes will freeze, plus taking a shower with a cold wind blowing on you is not fun.
Bushes and weeds seriously overgrown, I thought you were going to trim this back. In your words, “I’ll hire someone to do some landscaping.” Our yard looks so ghetto and abandoned. It’s really trashy.

Always bring your camera to Wal-Mart

noheroine — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:49:36 +0000

Today, while passing Wal-mart customer service we saw a little girl pounding away at the job application kiosk’s keyboard. “Wow, the economy must be really bad huh?”

Once again, another reason to always bring your camera to your local Wally World. I’ve missed several notable photos by leaving my camera at home while going to the grocery.

Happy Anniversary

noheroine — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:54:09 +0000

Today is my parent’s 28th anniversary. Happy Anniversary mom and dad! I think this is the first anniversary where all the kids are moved out of the house (if you count my sister being in college). So after nearly 26 years of having kids at home, i’m sure it’s nice to have a break.

Octoberish

noheroine — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:47:53 +0000

When did October happen? I know that it is Sept. 30th and not actually October yet, but seriously!? Life often teaches us that when we are bored time slows to a crawl, and when you’re busy and enjoying things it goes by in a flash. Well I’ve been plenty bored, but it seems to have flown by. I’ve been here over three (3!) months now, and Webb for six. It’s changing from Summer to Fall and Winter will be here soon enough. Still, where did the time go?

My Dad has always pointed out that as you get older the days seem to go by faster and faster. At 25 I can’t imagine it going by faster than it already is. I’m already saying, what happened to 23 and 24? Now in less than a month I’ll be 26, how did this happen?

—

Yesterday I cooked what I think is my new favorite pasta dish of all time. An experimental recipe that actually didn’t end in utter disaster. I guess i’ll call it spicy alfredo for now, it remains to be seen if I can ever replicate the recipe. Still it was a major hit and reheats well. It’s also very simple and uses chicken, pasta, alfredo sauce and habanero sauce.

Grill chicken (I rubbed mine with a chipotle chicken rub and used my George Foreman grill). Slice chicken into thin slices or cubes. Cook pasta. Heat Bertoli Red Pepper Alfredo Sauce (in a jar in the pasta aisle) on the stove. Add about 5-10 squirts of Habanero Sauce to the alfredo sauce (err on the side of caution, stir and add more).

Habanero sauce may sound gross, but it will add more “heat” than actual flavor to the sauce, though as i said, add a little…taste test…then add some more. Too much and you won’t want to eat it.

A camping we will go…

noheroine — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:45:02 +0000

We went camping again this weekend. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera this time. We weren’t actually planning on going, but when Webb came home from work we just threw everything in the car in less than 15 minutes and hit the road. Pack-up, set-up, and take-down are super fast now that we know the routine. Plus our tent is super easy to put up even with just one person. We camped at the same place we did last time and actually got a good night’s sleep. It actually wasn’t that cold out there, about 49 degrees. Since the moon didn’t rise until maybe 1am that night and it was clear you could see the stars very well, we saw several shooting stars.

In the morning we packed everything up and drove a different way out to see if the road eventually looped around…unfortunately after a terrifying ride (steep and rocky) the road simply ended with no place to turn around. Thrilling, especially when we were discussing how we might possibly get stuck out there and what we would do. We managed to turn the car around without breaking anything and clawed our way back out.

Sushi is good

noheroine — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:43:11 +0000

Tonight we went to Pueblo and ate sushi with our friends Angie and Steven. Very very good. We went to a restaurant named MoMo in Pueblo, I would have to say that the Las Vegas Roll was the yummiest of all the many yummy rolls. I also learned that you can disolve wasabi in your soy sauce and it is very tasty. For dessert I had Green Tea Ice Cream which sounds very strange but tasted really great. We’ll definitely being going there for special occasions in the future.

—

Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera, and therefor have no picture of the nasty disgusting Wind Scorpion which Steven caught in their HOUSE?!??! Egad!!!

Sun Spiders/Wind Scorpions/Solpugids Sun spiders are bizarre looking arachnids (Order: Solifugae) most common to southeastern Colorado. Occasionally they are found along the Front Range. They possess large conspicuous jaws used to crush prey, but they do not have venom glands. Also present are prominent enlargements of the mouthparts (palps) that give the impression of a fifth pair of legs. Sun spiders are active animals, and a common name ‘wind scorpion’ reflects this behavior. They occasionally enter buildings, particularly in early summer.