Bolsa Chica

Finally, got in some exercise. A group of family members went to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands Restoration project and walked 4.25 miles. In fact, I even got in a little bit of running. Not enough to make 50 miles this month, but some none the less. I just entered my activities on the WIN website and I'm not sure what my totals are but they seem pretty high. I wasn't able to average 10 miles per day this month but at least it was well over 10k steps per day. The healthy eating has been a real challenge, especially on the road trip portion of the month. Lots of salads, vegetables & whole grains.

Back to my original topic. The wetlands was a nice relaxing place in spite of being located next to PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) just north of Huntington Beach. There were a lot of birds including lots of egrets which I think look kind of cool especially when they are gliding. What made the walk really fun was that it was another opportunity to visit with all my relatives. This evening is a banquet with the obligatory group photos and more time to visit.

Wednesday evening - Too much food! After the hike, we met at my cousins home and we tried to finish off some of the food from previous days. This was just a couple of hours before a banquet at a local country club. I requested the veggie plate since I thought I had a chance of finishing it. After dinner, we watched a photo show made from old and current photos of family members. It was very well done. Then there were the pictures followed by going back to my cousins home to have coffee. Their son showed a DVD that he made as a helicopter pilot in the Navy. We were also able to print out 29 copies of the biographies to distribute.

Knott's Berry Farm and Earthquakes

Spent most of the day here and walked over 10 miles within the park. Lots of roller coasters but the only one I was interested in was Ghost Rider, the large wooden coaster. All of the rides in the park were shut down for a couple of hours after the earthquake but it wasn't anything major. The attendance dropped as a number of people left, I assume to check things out at their homes or businesses. We stayed there for the full 12 hours the park was open and I was exhausted even though I didn't go on many attractions.

Today, the reunion continues, after yesterdays free day, with a walk at the wetlands near Bolsa Chica. Should be nice. At least I'm getting more exercise in while I'm here. Yesterdays steps were more just a stroll throughout the day than real exercise but I guess the calorie consumption is about the same.

Huntington Beach

We had breakfast at Ruby's Cafe at the end of the pier at Huntington Beach. There were lots of surfers and life guard trainees. Breakfast was great. Lots of relatives and good food. What else could you ask for.

Monday evening - we had a picnic at Bolsa Chica State Beach. Great time, as usual and too much food (also as usual) and ended with a fire on the beach kind of like I remembered while growing up. It was cool and windy on the beach but everyone seemed to have a great time.

Reunion

This evening marks the beginning of the Machida family reunion here in Huntington Beach. It scheduled to run from today through Thursday afternoon with a variety of activities planned including barbecues, picnics, dinners, etc. The organizers are two of the Yonsei's (4th generation) and it looks like a full schedule. We've been looking forward to this for quite a while. This afternoon, we went to a local Japanese store and picked up a lot of weird candy to put into small, Chinese take-out boxes that my daughter inlaw stamped with the Machida family crest (or Mon I think). In addition, we picked up a small, butane burner that we'll try out on the trip home. It should work better than the micro-Coleman stove we used on the way down.

This morning, I flew from Nebraska to Fresno, CA, through Denver. I had to leave for the airport at 5:00 this morning but at least I arrived here around 10:30 this morning. Pretty nice hotel that I found on hotels.com for a fairly good price. It is very warm here but I did get my laundry done while sitting around the pool. Can't complain about that. Everyone else is arriving around 4 o'clock or so. Then we head for the Machida family reunion in Huntington Beach tomorrow morning. Should be fun.

SAC Museum

This afternoon, there was some free time so I went with Karl from LSU to the Strategic Air & Space Museum. It is located about 20 miles east of Lincoln towards Omaha. Very nice place, all indoors so it is air conditioned. This is a picture of an SR-71 hanging in the entryway. Other planes in the museum were B-1A, B-51, B-17, B-36 and many more. Most were in pretty good condition but were in the process of being restored. Also in the process of being restored was a B-29 and a T-29. These planes seemed phenomenally large but that may only be because you can walk right up to them, walk underneath them, and poke your head into some of the compartments such as the bomb bays.

I didn't get to spend a lot of time in the museum as they closed at 5, but got a good look around at all of the planes. There were also a couple of missiles standing up outside as well as a lot of other memorabilia associated with the cold war. I didn't even know that the SAC was located in Nebraska.

I didn't get much walking in today except walking around the museum and the round trip to the University. Since I have to leave for the airport at something like 5:00am, I don't think I will be running on the treadmill this evening. Fortunately, I have been able to eat pretty lightly with many vegetarian meals (mostly dinner). Breakfast has, unfortunately, been too much food since it is a buffet. Just like the Holiday Inn commercials mention, the food is pretty good and I end up cleaning my plate even though I'm not hungry.

Wednesday

This morning was somewhat cool again so I walked to the university again. I didn't go running this morning so this evening after dinner (had spicy seafood at a nice Thai restaurant), I went for a short run. Not enough to get excited about, but enough to tire me out. I am still going to make the 50 mile per month goal but just barely. I did my presentation this morning and at the end showed a picture of Fairbanks from last February when it was -45°F noting that they made the right decision to not try and schedule the meeting in the winter. Then I showed a picture of Fairbanks that I took from a hot air balloon a couple of years ago. Much better response. Maybe there is a chance that the meeting could happen in Fairbanks in a couple of years. That would be good for the university.

The Joint Tech meeting finished at noon today and was followed by a meeting of the IPv6 working group then a meeting to examine the content and direction for the IPv6 workshops. That meeting continues tomorrow. The working group sponsored a challenge to see how many people could get their laptops talking on IPv6. I think the final number was 134 out of 201 got it done. Pretty cool...

Fountain in front of the Student Union

This summer, the ESCC/Internet2 Joint Tech meeting is being held on the campus of the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Unlike many other universities, it is located right in town so it is an easy walk to a lot of places. I walked to and from the campus and though it isn't really hot, it is very humid. Tonight, there is a JET meeting at 8:15 so maybe I'll look for dinner around 7:00 or so. Supposedly, there is a good Thai restaurant nearby.

Tuesday afternoon - Ended up at a Connectors BoF then went and had a bowl of Spaghetti. This morning, I got up early and walked about 4 miles since it felt cooler and dryer at 6 in the morning. I guess this weather is a little unusual for here at this time of the year. I'm told that normally it is much drier.

There is some frustration whenever I attend one of these meetings since there are many talks on DCN (Dynamic Circuit Network) and there is, currently, no way for UAF to participate. I guess part of it is demand. Most of the schools have researchers on their campus that had a real need and, as far as I know, that demand doesn't exist at UAF. Part of this may because the capability has never existed in the past. Another part of the problem is the lack of communication channels between organized research and central computing.

Cornhuskers Stadium

Miserably hot and humid here in Lincoln. I have a great view of the University of Nebraska - Lincoln stadium (I think) from my hotel room. As you can see, it is really clear and sunny. Supposedly, it is just a short walk from the hotel to the auditorium on the university campus so I should get some walking in this week in spite of the weather.

I just started working on a presentation that I am scheduled to give on Wednesday morning about the review of our network by a couple of network engineers from other universities. Relatively short, only six slides so far. But then again, I've just started.

Later in that evening - I walked around the area and it really is hot and sticky here. Maybe I'll take the bus in the morning just to avoid the weather. I had a wonderful dinner (vegetable curry and naan) at an Indian restaurant located only a block from the hotel. Tried out the exercise room at the hotel and ran two miles in air conditioned comfort. Did I mention that it is way hot here!

On the way to Lincoln, NE

This is Mt. St. Helens taken near the beginning of my flight from Seattle, WA, to Lincoln, NE. I'm going there for an Internet2 Joint Tech meeting and yes, this is in the middle of my vacation. The rest of the family is headed to Oregon and I will meet up with them in the California just before a Machida family reunion in Huntington Beach. Supposedly, I'm doing a presentation but it isn't listed on the last agenda I received by email. I'll see when I get there. I'm writing this from the Denver airport during a short layover. Since this is a blog on walking, I probably should say something about that. Since we've been on the road, I've gotten very little walking in. Need a treadmill in the car (hmm, sounds like a Flintstone vehicle) or something but only 10k steps for the week. I'm walking around the Denver airport but it isn't the same. I feel like a real slacker...

On the road

Day 1: Fairbanks to Tok Junction. Lots of motorcycles. I don't know if there really are a lot more or I'm just more aware of them. There are also quite a few RV's though not as many as previous trips.

Day 2: Tok Junction to Swift River, YT. Gas is $1.52/l or just a bit more than it is in Fairbanks. Camping out with lots of mosquitos. As usual, this section of the trip was absolutely beautiful. There was a little bit of road construction but less than previous years. The section along Kluane Lake was really improved though they moved the road away from the lake in many sections.

Day 3: Swift River, YT to Fort St. John, BC. Gas price hasn't changed. We saw lots of animals. (Black bear, stone sheep, caribou, bison, swans). It was a long day with over 1000 km covered.

Day 4: Fort St. John to Clinton, BC. Saw several deer near the Peace River. Shorter day than yesterday, ~800 km. Lots of traffic after going through Prince George. The traffic was moving very quickly and I was feeling "pushed along". Not as nice as the northern part of the trip. Clinton is a very nice, small town and the campground at the south end of town was great. Kind of odd to see it get dark so early in the evening.

Day 5: Clinton, BC to Seattle, WA. No wildlife unless you include drivers in Seattle. Today was only about 360 miles but it was a really long wait at the border. Gas price stated high all the way into Washington. The cheapest gas through Canada was in Haines Junction at $1.42/liter. Almost everywhere else was over $1.55/liter.

The scenery was gorgeous, as usual. I really enjoy driving through Canada, especially the northern section. Once I get past Prince George, it is less fun. Too much traffic.

Headwaters of the Missouri

The meeting was over yesterday mid-afternoon and one of the other engineers was going to the headwaters of the Missouri River to look around. It sounded interesting enough and he didn't mind me tagging along. We went to a state park around 30 miles west of Bozeman and there were trails up and down some hills overlooking the confluence of three rivers, the Jefferson, the Madison and the Gallatin. These form the Missouri River which heads north from there before winding south in eastern Montana. I hiked on the trails though it did feel pretty warm. I took some pictures but there isn't a way to post pictures directly from my phone without downloading to my computer first. Afterwards, met with some network engineers from Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota for dinner. We found a small, local place which had great food.

Yesterday, I updated the firmware on my iPhone to version 2. I have been waiting for this as it has the ability to add third party applications which could significantly improve the device. The app support is what I missed after switching from my Treo. So far, so good. No crashes but it may be awhile before the apps I want are available. Well, almost time to board.

Update - i found open wireless at the end of concourse "B" in the Seattle airport so I uploaded a picture I took yesterday. It is the Gallatin River just before the confluence.

Bozeman, MT

I'm attending the summer meeting of the Northern Tier in Bozeman, MT. It is a very pretty area this time of year. I'm told that this is their 6 weeks of green. After that, everything is a bit dried out and I would assume, no longer green. It was really warm this afternoon when I arrived but I did get some walking in today. There was the now normal walking the concourses at the Seattle airport for a couple of hours between flights as well as walking around the airport here in MT while waiting for the hotel shuttle. The hotel has a real nice exercise room so I plan on using that tomorrow morning before the meetings start. Originally, I was planning on walking from the airport to the hotel since it is only about 8 miles but it was really hot plus there was some sort of reception this evening so I went ahead and called for the shuttle.

I started only entering my steps at the end of the week since finishing Startwalking IV. Still haven't requested my certificate yet, maybe lack of motivation. I really have to do a little more running this month. Over the last couple of months, the amount of running has been steadily decreasing. I guess I just like the cooler weather. I've noticed my WIN points have been steadily decreasing with each passing month. Maybe I should look at what the monthly goals are and see how I am doing.

Thursday Evening - I used the treadmill this evening to run a bit over 5 miles. I walked a couple of miles this morning before it got too warm but it was too hot this evening to do much outside.

Back from the 4th

Over the 4th of July weekend, we went on a camping trip next to the Delta River a couple of miles north of what used to be the Black Rapids lodge. I haven't spent much time in the area for quite a while. Years ago, I went on several hiking trips in the area including a couple of summer trips up the Casner glacier. Beautiful area. I rode my bike a little, some went up Donnelly Dome and I did get in some walking. It was miserably warm with temperatures in the mid-80s and the bugs were out in force. There was a dike along the Delta River that ran for a couple of miles and it was a nice place to walk. There was a nice breeze along the river which made for a very pleasant walk in spite of the temperatures. I didn't have my phone with me so no pictures. Maybe I should start carrying a better camera than just the camera phone. The pictures just aren't very good.

On Saturday, we went down to some lakes about 5 miles south of Rainbow ridge but we got hailed on so we went back to the campground. It was a great camping trip with a wonderful group from church and everyone seemed to have fun. I really enjoyed getting outside...