Browsed by
Tag: photoblog

BWCA: day 2

BWCA: day 2

Comments 0 Comment

wednesday

  • 2 portages
  • 3 lakes
  • 1 rapids (!)
  • petroglyphs
  • wind
  • 4-star campsite
  • sad breakfast
  • very little sleep
  • off the water by 1 p.m.
  • naptime!

now i’m hanging in a hammock from 2 pine trees on an island site with a sandy beach and pine needle-ridden ground. the tents should be on softer ground now. last night was rough. whoever can come up with a sleeping mat that doesn’t cause my hips to start aching in the night will get all my money. i spent $100+ for the klymaloft and it DID stay inflated, but my my hip bones hurt. tonght i’m going to try putting the kush under my butt and try back sleeping. oof.

so today we left a little after 8 a.m. – the sunrise was burning off the morning fog and was nice to check out @6:30.

lots more lake canoeing today with 2 short portages – they both were rocky and a little treacherous. definitely want to watch the footing.

we made it to our 4-star campsite with a STONE TABLE that people would pay $$$ to have in their kitchens. sandy beach, nice rocky outlook. we got there about an hour before the previous group was ready to head out – we took a little tour of the petroglyphs across the way, had lunch, and got back just in time for them to leave. good news because the lake was choppy due to wind, and no one wants to canoe in that.

now i’m ready for a snooze. maybe more updates later.

…

we just missed a storm – from our vantage point, it looked like were were in a pocket of solace. after a sprinkle-pocked evening, the thunder rolling away in the distance, no big storms surfaced and we were all in bed by 9 p.m.

i slept 10 hours.

bwca 2020: day 1

bwca 2020: day 1

Comments 0 Comment

tuesday

  • 5 portages
  • 1/2 mile: longest portage
  • marshland
  • camp on lake agnes
  • 4.5/5 hours of moving nonstop
  • 2 lakes
  • start at 9:30
  • end at 3:00
  • lunch @ a warm-water sandy beach
  • breakfast at bannon cafe
  • supper: loaded baked potatoes
  • KT extreme tape is useless
  • yoga tonight
  • shoulders angry
  • photos tonight

after working a half day on monday, i left cloud town and headed north to the hinterlands. i trired to get in a state park, but there was no passport stamp to be found at mille lacs kathio park. i tweeted at the dnr with no (immediate)response, so after that fail, i decided to just book it north to ely.

looking back, i should have stopped at vermillion state park to check it out because that is the one park i haven’t seen much of. alas! it was on to the paddle inn for a throwback to the 60s motel scene before heading even more northward to the lakes.

i wrote my update in my waterproof notepad swinging slightly in my hammock between two trees – a pine and an aspen – as a noisy chipmunk chatters at me from his perch. we left ely at 8:30, were in the woods by 10. we started off with a half mile portage, then spend most of our paddle time maneuvering through wild rice strewn marshland.

we crossed nina moose lake, then after more march and a delightful little portage, we spit out on lake agnes and found a 3-star* campsite.

the lakes are quiet, which is odd because everyone as telling us the woods were full (permits sold out). so far we’ve come across two groups and the sites near us are empty. the wind is lulling in the the trees, the squirrels and chipmunks are brave, and the loons have already made a ruckus. i pulled my camera out on the nice portage and as soon as the sun gets a little lower in the sky, i’ll take it out again – maybe try out my ND filters. tonight looks to be the most promising for stars.

*the greg nohner method of campsite ratings is based on a 4-star scale. you need to take into account: shade, flat tent sites, nice canoe landing, rocks for evening sun, swimming options, distance to privy, and seating options, among others.

bread in the time of covid-19

bread in the time of covid-19

Comments 0 Comment

like everyone else and their neighbor, i decided that #stayathome was a good time to try out my bread skills.

if i had recipes that i created, i would put them here because everyone hates when the recipe is at the BOTTOM of a blog post. i don’t want to know your life story that led you to this moment when you made your go-to frosting for cinnamon rolls, karen. i just want to know what you put in it.

so here are the links to recipes i used for my bread that i’m about to photobomb you with:

sourdough starter

ATK rustic loaf (a google book because ATK is behind a paywall, which i should be able to access because i own the print copy good grief)

oatmeal honey sourdough

basic sourdough bread

oatmeal honey non-sourdough (i added a tablespoon of maple syrup to this one)

ok! so here i was browsing twitter and instagram and seeing all these peeps talking about making sourdough bread. being the challenge-oriented person i am, i thought this was something i should try out.

first, you should know that yeast and i generally don’t get along. i get too impatient with it. since i’m an end-of-the-alphabet person, i like my instant gratification. it doesn’t like to rise fast enough for me. i bake it before it’s ready. i get flat bread. you’d think i’d learn, but since i generally don’t like dealing with yeast, i stick to quickbreads (banana bread, pumpkin bread), cakes, pies. i pull out the yeast once a year to make bohemekuchen and that’s it.

so this would be a foray into patience for me. plus,  my kuchen this year turned out most excellent, so i was feeling a high.

firstly, i started the sourdough starter.

starter is SUPER easy – it just takes some time. 5 days before i was set to bake the bread, i put a 1-to-1 ratio of flour and water in a bowl and waited. each day, i added additional flour and water, and BOOM those little yeasties took right off.

in the meantime, i was itching to make some bread because that’s what everyone else was doing, so i perusing the good old america’s testing kitchen to see what they had for bread. they had a rustic loaf that i felt i could tackle – it used store-bought yeast, but it started with a SPONGE, which i’d never done before. a sponge is a sort of glorified yeast starter – instead of letting it bloom in water and a little sugar, you also add some flour and let it sit for a while – at least 5 hours.

the rest of the recipe was easy and i let my kitchenaid do a lot of the kneading. i ended up with a halfway decent wheat loaf that i was able to bake right on my pizza stone i have in the bottom of my oven all the time.

ooh fancy! and yummy! the crust was extra crusty and delicious.

by the time i’d had enough of this bread, it was time to attempt sourdough. so here’s where i failed  – since i was feeding my starter up til it was go time, i wasn’t sure if i needed to do the “leaven” part of the recipe or just use the starter straight away.

and the first loaf i attempted was a honey oat loaf, which probably wasn’t the best idea. the stretch and pull was awful, and i didn’t get any sort of rise out of the dough. 🙁

i also need proofing baskets if i’m going to attempt sourdough again, as i had to throw this in a bowl lined with a towel dusted with flour, and it still stuck. i might need some different, less sticky dough to dust with. obviously it stuck good.

it was also not very holey at all, meaning no real rise. sure, it was a dense loaf, but you’d think there’d be some rise to it.

BUT it was DELICIOUS. just the right amount of sour, and it wasn’t overpowering like some of the store-bought sourdoughs can be. if i figure out the starter issue and get a real proofing basket, i might try this one again.

but you know me, why stop at one failure and try for another? this time i tried out a plain white sourdough, and it was really promising! the stretch and folder was really working up some gluten and it was looking good! my loaves puffed out after i threw them in my towel-lined bowls, and even after i turned them out into my dutch oven and had to pull away the towel very carefully, i still had hope.

the fun part about baking sourdough is that you bake it in a dutch oven at 450-500º. you keep the cover on for about 20 minutes so it keeps the steam in to create that crusty surface, then you take it off so it darkens up.

mmm, the maillard reaction.

ah, success! this one was holey and sourdoughy, even though it was flat. there was so much gluten and goodness, that it almost ate like a popover – very eggy but without the eggs.

it makes darn good toast with some butter and raspberry jam.

i have two loaves of the plain white, and one’s in the freezer for later! my starter is in the fridge waiting for another round of sourdough after i figure out proofing baskets.

not to be outdone by it’s all-natural counterpart, i decided to give store-bought yeast another go and made an oatmeal-honey-maple loaf (or two). this one started with oats soaked in boiling water and mixed with some honey. i added in a tablespoon of maple syrup for good measure.

the top is melted butter, honey, and maple syrup mixed together. this is a more traditional loaf of bread, though a little bit sweet. this should also make some excellent toast, and i’m putting a loaf of this in the freezer for later.

we’ll see what other breads or baked goods i come up with for this time of covid. now that the governor has extended stay at home for another month, i’ll have lots of time on my hands. and carbs. good thing good running weather is upon us so i can fit into my regular clothes when this is all over!

any ideas or requests on baked goods or cooking you want me to attempt? no, i will not send you macarons, liz.

foodie friday – tday edition

foodie friday – tday edition

Comments 1 comment

as promised, here are some pics of the food from yesterday!

that butterscotch tart was probably the best thing i’ve eaten in a long time. it’s a pecan shortbread crust with a homemade butterscotch pudding in it. the pecans on top are candied. maybe if i were really fancy, i would add some sort of fruit compote to it – either underneath the pudding layer or just a thin layer on top. maybe a raspberry!

anyway, thanksgiving was a success! the gravy was smokey flavored from last year, the dressing was in excellent shape for being a year old, and the turkey was delicious with the dry brine. the fancy carrots and broccolini were a ncie touch!

10/10 stars. would make thanksgiving dinner again.

sad saturday

sad saturday

Comments 0 Comment

boo welcome to melancholy november and an abbreviated kablpomo. this morning i went out to st. john’s to try out my new wide angle lens, and it was just dreary out. in the last 50 feet to my car, it started to sleet. excellent. so here are a few pics from my mile or so walk through the woods in the doldrums of fall.

olé losers!

olé losers!

Comments 0 Comment

so i went to mexico! usually i bring a laptop with me when i travel and i blog every night, but i didn’t want to bring one with me this time, so i am blogging post haste at home before i forget what we did.

wednesday

lori picked me up and we headed to jane’s house around 4 p.m. from my house because we had to leave for our flight at 6 a.m. the next morning. the most exciting thing we did was go with jane to get her some flipflops.

thursday

the next day was almost entirely travel. we left MSP and had a layover in mexico city, where we changed money and had lunch, and then we caught another plane to puerto vallarta.

we left at 6 a.m. and got to puerto vallarta around 8 p.m. in the rain (no time change!). no one told us it was the rainy season! the good news is that it rains mostly in the evening and night, so our mornings and days were pretty nice. hot and humid, but nice. that night when we got in, we took a brief tour and then headed to one of the restaurants for buffet supper (food wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad).

friday

our first full day in mexico! first, i have to say that i was impressed with how much spanish i understood and how much came back to me. i was able to converse somewhat coherently. we woke up bright and early on friday because we had an excursion planned. we partook in the breakfast buffet, which was the best part of the all-inclusiveness of our resort. the bread in mexico is awesome.

then we got in a cab to go to our jump-off point for the one tour we had planned. we took a hosted ride up to san pancho and then sayulita. it was nice because we learned a lot about the area from our guide and got to drive through the rainforest and mountains to each little town. on the way, we stopped at a roadside stand to try some local fruits (jackfruit, pineapple, tamarind, coconut, etc.) and i got some vanilla extract – 3 liters for $20!

san pancho was quiet and small, and we visited a chocolate shop, a community center, and the beach. i have to say i am totally impressed with mexico’s recycling program. not only do they have a good one in place, but the people actually recycle. score one, mexico.

then we headed to sayulita, which was a little more intense.

we stopped at a tequila shop so liz could buy something for doug, and then we went on the beach where we stopped and had a piña colada and tried to ignore the vendors strolling about.

after that, we headed to a quieter location where our tour group fed us some pretty awesome tacos and i had a spicy mango margarita. (also: no fresh mangoes down there! i was a disappoint.)

we got back midafternoon and then it was beachtime!

the ocean was warm. the sun was hot. my sunscreen held.

that night we decided to try out the “steakhouse” at the resort, and it was mediocre at best. my “medium” ribeye was well done. the good food on our plates was the fried bar food – onion rings, fries, etc. but the view was nice and we saw some baby turtles hatch and make their way down to the water!

saturday

this was a lazy day! we started off at the beach after breakfast at the buffet (the breakfast was, once again, the best thing about the food). i also need to point out that all of us were usually drinking each morning by 10 a.m. i guess one good thing about all inclusive is you can find a bartender at any time.

there was a pool with a swimup bar, so we took advantage of that! then we’d head out to the beach and listen to the waves. after lunch on saturday (another mediocre buffet except i managed to just eat a plate of vegetables [good job self] and i had this amazeballs butterscotch cream puff), i requested we walk down the beach because i thought i’d seen a massage hut, and lo! we found it! i got an hour massage for $30USD including tip. i pay $70 for an hour massage here without tip and that’s relatively cheap. jane and i both pretty much flashed everyone at the beach because it was an open air massage, but you gotta take that if you’re gonna get a massage next to the crashing ocean.

that night we decided to go somewhere else for supper. i found a little restaurant right on the beach that had 4.5 stars on google, so we got in a taxi and braved all los topes (speed bumps) into buceria to mar y sol. we started off on the beach with our feet in the sand and ended up moving indoors when it started to rain.

we ordered some chips and guac and then some giant drinks. liz and jane each ordered basically two entrees, which neither finished. i got a plate of fresh seafood in a garlicky sauce.

i mean, yum.

after liz and jane stuffed themselves and we left a huge tip, we put our food in doggie bags and our server said he’d hang onto it for us and to come back so he can get us a taxi (finding a good taxi is necessary). we took a walk down and couple blocks and back to check out buceria. THEN i found the best thing ever: a churro stand. huzzah! i got fresh churros stuffed with nutella. we also stopped at an art gallery where jane got a couple pieces.

we were about a half a block away and our server was waving us over telling us he’d already gotten us a taxi and that we should have a seat, pulling out a couple chairs. (that’s how i knew we left a huge tip.)

once we got back, i ate one of the churros, and it was probably the best thing i ate on the trip. it was still hot and crispy, covered in sugar and cinnamon and stuffed with nutella. even the next day when it was cold and slightly soggy, it was still delicious.

then it was saturday night! we played some bad  rounds of quiddler and then headed down to the resort’s dance party. we found some awesome mexican tías (or, they found us), and we danced with them. the best was when achey breaky heart came on and EVERYONE LINE DANCED. wat.

after the dance party ended, the discoteca opened up, and we went in there and danced for a while. jane left early, then liz made a creepy friend on the dance floor. after lori and i thought liz had been kidnapped by the drug cartel, we all made it back to the hotel room. whew!

sunday

our last day! sad face. once again a buffet breakfast, then to the beach and pool. the waves at the beach were giant – i decided i did not want to get in there. then liz got slapped in the face with a fish and the fun was over. we spent some quality time at the pool; we got there early enough to sit at the swimup bar and order some drinks early on. we did some water aerobics with a group of people who were no younger than 50, but it was super fun. the instructor was jazzed and i was tipsy enough that it was a blast.

another veggie-licious buffet lunch for me, then we all took a nap to recover from saturday night a bit more before heading out to puerto vallarta’s malecon, a streetwalk of sculptures and art along the beach, which then crosses over into the gay district.

at this point, it was getting pretty steamy and we had been walking a while; jane was ready to call it quits. we decided to sit on the top floor of a restaurant and get some snacks to see how we felt after that. the breeze was nice, the guac delicious, and the fish tacos even better. but the best part was the view.

after that we walked another couple blocks and then caught a cab back to our hotel, just in time for a fantastic sunset on the beach.

then it was time to pack 🙁

you’ll be happy to know that, unlike california, all my junk fit quite nicely in my trunk. including the 3 liters of vanilla!

we hit the hay early because we needed to be out the door by 6:30 the next morning.

monday

travel day. we had two layovers: one in mexico city and another in atlanta. i got the middle seat with two strangers during the flight from mexico city to atlanta, so that was fun.

but the plane back to MSP was ginormous and not full, so lori and i shared 3 seats and liz and jane shared 3.

we headed out the doors of MSP into 40º weather and whispers of october snow that fell while we were gone. when we opened the car door at jane’s house, it smelled like fall. and so now i sit at home again with routine lulling me into my false sense of time to be had. time to travel more.

and even though you’ve heard it many times when returning from travels, i leave you with my favorite quote by michael perry:

“…to this day my two favorite things in the world are solitude and motion. I’ve found them in the next county, in a semi crossing the Nevada state line, on a Hungarian train, and on a bus approaching the Guatamalan border. In times of trouble, motion is my morphine. But as much as I love to run, I love even more to come home. At every latitude, my compass swivels to point back here, to little old New Auburn. This place is my true north. A stray dog running, as it turns out, is just circling the rug.”

in which i make some money

in which i make some money

Comments 2 comments

i do not advertise my photography skills to peeps. i probably could if i felt like it would be viable and i was past the whole “yeah this is ok but i’m not great at this” mindset.

that said, i will take photos of people i know who request my services. before this month, i’d done less than 5 weddings, several family photos. but like i said, i don’t generally agree to do photos for peeps because:

  1. it’s stressful. knowing that i can MISS THE SHOT. it’s not fun to run from one side of a place to another in record seconds to get another viewpoint. (sure a second shooter would fix this, but i feel like i’m at a second shooter skill level. who’d second shooter me? lol.)
  2. it’s so draining. i have to basically spend an entire day with a bunch of people i don’t know telling them what to do. after a wedding i’m exhausted and ready to pass out.
  3. while i enjoy the processing part, it does take a lot of time. i’d rather process than take the pics. but what’s the stressful part of that is when i upload the photos to my computer and start to go through them – did i GET THE SHOT??? oh lord i hope so. it’s sort of like watching a scary movie through your parted fingers in hopes that it all works out in the end.

so, when i got a referral from a former coworker for a wedding this month and then talked to another coworker who was getting married also this month, i ended up with two weekends in a row of wedding photos.

i haven’t taken wedding photos for compensation in seven years!!! (i took reception pics for my cousin molly in 2014 but that was really low key.)

so my one qualification for me to do your wedding pics? NO BRIDEZILLA. this must be STRESS FREE.

and so i ended up with two weddings this month.

the first was at a yacht club, and the second was at the albany pioneer days grounds. i knew more people at the yacht club one and i had fun, but man the pioneer one with strangers was a blast.

so, a couple pics from the first wedding that i’m glad turned out.

next weekend i’ll work on the second wedding!

international, even!

international, even!

Comments 0 Comment

after last year’s star photos up the north shore, i wanted to have another go at them, so i consulted my weather calendar early this year and found a weekend that would work for moonrise/moonset and made a reservation. labor day weekend was that weekend!

jane and i met at jay cooke state park on friday night for an overnight before heading up the shore.

there’s a reason this park is my #3 park! it may have been promoted to #2! (don’t worry blue mounds – i’ll visit you again before making that decision.)

i have to say my new tent is pretty awesome. it’s not as spacious as my old tent, but dang it stays dark! you almost need a flashlight to see what’s going on in there during the daytime.

anyway, we checked out the bridge and the falls at jay cooke before the sun went down at too-early o’clock in the evening. then we bundled up for bed because it was cold that night! i wore a wool shirt, a sweatshirt, and my down vest to bed, along with a winter hat and a blanket inside my sleeping bag. i was toasty.

the next morning we packed up and were on the road before 9 a.m. to head up the north shore. we stopped at the rustic inn just north of two harbors for breakfast pie, then headed up to check out grand marais.

i’ll tell you one thing: i forget how big this lake is. and the part you see from MN is not the big part of the lake. holy shamoly. grand marais was cute with its touristy shops and the marina. i wouldn’t mind spending a couple overnights in grand marais sometime.

then it was time for #moosewatch2019 as we headed up the gunflint trail into the BWCA. there was actually a moose outlook/observation deck along the way, so we hiked the half a mile or so to see if we could see some moose. my minimal moose investigation tells me that they like to hang out in swamps in the early morning, so the chances of seeing a moose at 1 p.m. were slim, but i wanted to at least try. once again, #moosewatch was a fail.

(then today i’m browsing twitter and i see a post about how a stray moose was just lollygagging across the football field at UND. seriously? good grief.)

but we drove up to gunflint lake, which is a border lake and along a nice little drive. then we headed back down to get to our campsite before dark.

the next two nights we spend at judge magney state park, where lori and i stayed last year. there is a nice little beach not even a mile down the road that’s great for star viewing, and the park itself is really small and non-electric, so there are no big campers and 5th wheelers. it’s nice to be in a quieter park, even if your neighbor doesn’t know how to use her inside voice after quiet hours have begun and the other neighbors brought two dogs who bark at anything that moves. -_-

we managed a decent fire and were hoping for clear skies, but ALAS it clouded over, so no star and no northern lights, which i guess were pretty awesome this past weekend. come on, weather. that part was disappointing.

let me digress here a moment and talk about camping coffee. there’s something about cooking coffee over a campstove and then sitting outside in the cold morning to drink it. it was invigorating! i have a percolator pot that kind of sucks, so i bought a stainless steel french press to make the coffee in. i use the pot to boil the water. it works out great.

ok, back to what was going on. after the star disappointment, the next morning we made some tasty scrambled eggs, then headed up to see devil’s kettle falls, which is what the park is known for. the hike up is only a mile, but man it’s a heck of a mile. hills, rocks, roots, 150+ stairs. but it was worth it!

so weird! one half of the water just dumps into a big hole in the ground.

i think the more picturesque scene was the river just before the falls.

it was a nice morning – still a little crisp, the sun wasn’t overbearing, and the crowds weren’t bad yet. we walked maybe another quarter mile up the lake superior trail, then headed back (and walked up the 150+ stairs. ooofda).

then we decided to make it international!

but first we stopped at grand portage national monument and learned about the fur trade, which i want to read more about. i guess the canadian version of lewis and clark is a lot more rugged and daring and made his way through more miles. that part of the state is still the best part of the state, i think. it’s mountainish, trees abundant, giant lake. <3

and i saw the closest thing to moosewatch i was going to get this trip.

🙁

then it was time to go to canada!

the drive up to thunder bay was amazeballs. it reminded me of a more woodsy colorado. it was great! pines and aspen all over the place, then these butte-esque mountainish hills. there’d be a field of wildflowers or grains that were yellow against the grey/blue sky then a butte would pop up as a backdrop covered in trees. ahhh, it was great! i’d definitely go back.

the bay at thunder bay was super interesting, with those butte-esque hills popping up as islands out of the lake.

then we headed back to the US, where the customs guy was not as fun as the canadian customs guy. he didn’t care if we brought live bait or ammunition back into the country. i wonder if he would’ve cared if we’d stopped at marijuana palace. (yes, that was a place we saw in thunder bay.)

on the way back to the park, we stopped at the casino in hopes of a big win, but it wasn’t to be. instead, i lost my firewood money and we had to stop at the gas station to pick some up, which was also a big loss. it was wet! i even bought two bundles, but it didn’t catch.

what a bust! and the clouds were even worse that night, so once again no stars. i’ll have to go back for some more astrophotography (oh no how sad).

and that was that. the next morning, we packed up and were on the road before 9 a.m. we stopped at betty’s pies on the way back and decided to visit the rustic inn from now on because the line at betty’s was stupid long and also the pie i had there was better.

i could go for some pie right now.

dropped jane off at her car at black bear casino (we did NOT go in), then headed down a busy I-35 and not-as-busy-as-i’d-expected hwy23*. and now it’s back to the grind!

i might make this a yearly thing!

*so i ended up driving to jay cooke on hwy23 the whole way, and now i have driven on every foot of hwy 23. i don’t know if that’s an accomplishment or not, but i thought it was interesting.

bucolic

bucolic

Comments 0 Comment

this evening i headed out to st john’s to get some pics of the lavender in bloom. if i’d been paying attention, i’d’ve watched the wind and taken my paddleboard out there, but by the time i noticed, i would have only gotten about 25 minutes of paddleboarding in.

i did get the lavender though.

the students are starting to filter in. i drove past a family hugging goodbye on the road out to lake sag. students were biking and jogging out on the trails. a hammock was set up between two trees on the grassy area next to the lake with two or three people swinging it back and forth.

i took the long way back – the scenic route. the road winds around the lake, then jogs along a short road abutting a farm in the hills.

august light slants in a lovely way.

let’s go west!

let’s go west!

Comments 1 comment

i just got back from a visit over to ND to see melissa.

stopped on my way out to take a pic of a storm to the north and sun to the west.

when i left this morning, i wanted to keep on heading west. the sky was summertime blue with not a cloud in the sky and the temp was 70ish. great traveling weather (well, i would be traveling, but toward home, not toward the west).

something about the big wide open skies and the endless horizon makes me want to go to the mountains.

but instead i headed southeast and now i’m at home withe my lakes and kitties and nate!