Road Trip – Day 16: Flagstaff to Idaho Falls
That was a hell of a long drive.
And that’s all I have to say.
Road Trip – Day 15: Las Vegas to Flagstaff (Grand Canyon)
It
Is
Too
Damn
Hot
In
The
Southwestern
United
States.
Anyway, today we drove over the Hoover Dam (we didn’t stop because parking was $10 and we’re cheap and it’s hot) and went to the Grand Canyon. Nate has seen it before but I haven’t (despite having lived in AZ for a bit), so it was a good place to go even though it was easily over 80 degrees most of the day (no, I’m not going to stop mentioning the heat until we get out of it).
The first picture is the “unimpressive” side of Hoover Dam; the rest are Grand Canyon. The colors turned out really well in the pictures at least!
Road Trip – Day 14: San Francisco to Las Vegas
WOO, VEGAS!
(It’s like 8 billion degrees outside and this picture pretty much sums up what we saw of the strip before we got to our air-conditioned hotel room. We also just had dinner in the hotel’s 24-hour restaurant because we’re done with big cities and buckets of pedestrians and—I reiterate—it’s 8 billion degrees outside.)
Road Trip – Day 13: San Francisco (Giants/Braves Baseball)
Today Nate and I braved the streets of San Francisco to walk along the waterfront (with the secret motive to obtain candy) and then to get to the Giants/Braves game at AT&T Park.
The waterfront was a bit less terrifying than the non-tourist part of San Fran, at least. And we found IT’SUGAR, which is pretty much the best candy store ever (though it’s more expensive than our candy store in Calgary). We each got 2+ pounds of candy, ‘cause we’re addicts awesome.
The game was super cool, too. Baseball is so weird without the TV announcers! The Braves lost, which is too bad, but it was fun. Pictures!
Tomorrow we’re getting the hell out of San Francisco as fast as we possibly can.
Road Trip – Day 12: Santa Rosa to San Francisco
Holy hell, San Francisco is frightening.
I don’t know if it’s because both Nate and I had different expectations of the city than what we got or if we’re just in a bad part of downtown, but wow. Not a place we’d want to visit again and certainly not a place we’d ever like to live. No offense to any subscribers or passers-by who live there, but it’s not a city for us.
It is also FREAKING EXPENSIVE. We went to Denny’s when we were in Oregon, ordered dinner, and spent about $13 for the both of us. Tonight we went to a Denny’s here, ordered exactly the same things (‘cause variety is the spice of life and we don’t like spices), and it cost about $36. Crazy.
At least the Golden Gate Bridge looked nice.
Road Trip – Day 11: Fortuna to Santa Rosa
More hiking today! We went to Prairie Creek and did an 11-mile round trip hike that brought us out to a beach and back.
I also took STUMP PICTURE…
…which is probably going to end up being my best picture from the whole trip, just wait.
Edit: yup.
Road Trip – Day 10: Crescent City to Fortuna
We were originally going to do another hike today, but since we Lewis-and-Clarked it through the woods yesterday, we’re switching our plans up a bit and driving the Avenue of the Giants today instead of tomorrow and hiking tomorrow instead of today.
I’m pretty sure that since I’ve seen the Grove of Titans and thus have seen some of the biggest trees on the planet, all other trees will seem “small” now, haha.
The Avenue of the Giants was still pretty, though!
Road Trip – Day 9: Crescent City (Jedediah State Park)
Alright you bro-factories, sit down and let me tell you the tale of the amazing and colossal Redwoods in Jedediah State Park, the quest for the Grove of Titans, and how Nate and I almost died in the woods.
Ready?
So you get to this state park and you see all these random trees everywhere, and then suddenly—BAM—Redwoods.
Now you’re probably thinking, “Okay, cool, trees that are pretty tall, hooray for you, whatever.”
NO.
You are WRONG.
LOOK AT THESE.
They just jut right out of the ground. It’s like someone air-lifted massive pillars of ridiculously straight-growing trees and just plunked them into the soil. These don’t taper at all until like 50 feet up.
They’re all over the place in this park.
And let me tell you something else…those Redwoods in the pictures above? Those are the small ones.
Remember way back to NaNoWriMo last year when I wrote that godawful story Arborhood? I was (loosely) basing the Redwoods in my story on the Redwoods in what is known as the Grove of Titans. The Grove of Titans is a grove within Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park that contains quite a few super massive Coastal Redwoods—some of the biggest (height-wise and/or volume-wise) trees in the world, actually. These massive trees were the ones I’d written about.
So today, since we were in Jedediah, we decided to go hunt for the Grove.
Brief background: we both knew about the existence of the Grove before we got to the park; hell, we did about two hours of internet research the night before trying to pinpoint where it might be. The actual specific location of the Grove is not supposed to be revealed (to protect the giant trees within), but we found several legitimate-looking online sources to give us a good set of hints to find it.
Or so we thought.
Lots of the sources said that the trail was “faint” but “slightly worn from foot traffic.” There were also hints telling us to look for a specific and distinctive burl on one of the titans (it was said this burl could be seen from the main trail). This burled giant would lead us to the Grove. But we also found one source that appeared to very accurately pinpoint the location of the Grove based on some specific locations.
So what did we do when, not two miles down the trail, found a faint but “this is probably a trail” trail that was kind of close to where we thought the Grove should be? Why, we followed it, of course.
We followed it until it stopped being anything resembling a trail…then we kept going. For a mile and a half.
(This picture does not do those woods justice.)
And we weren’t just walking through some light underbrush or anything. We were freaking marching through super thick ferns, super thick plants-that-weren’t-ferns, dead and rotting fallen trees, walls of branches and twigs, an uncountable number of spider webs, hovering masses of mosquitoes, and who knows how many other bugs. The fact that we didn’t end up with poison oak is a freaking miracle.
Anyway, we eventually decided to give up after it was clear that the Grove of Titans was NOT where the internet said it was (surprised?). Defeated by flora, we returned to the main trail and trudged on.
You know where we found the Grove?Well, one of the internet sources was right—it’s “hidden in plain sight.” It really is. You just have to know what to look for. And we did! (And even then we kind of found it in a more difficult manner, haha).
And now, behold: GIANT TREES.
This is the Screaming Titans, two massive Redwoods fused together. One source says he’s 30 feet in diameter at his diameter breast height (measured 4.5 feet above soil level). The fact that he is two fused trees and not just one on its own is what keeps him from holding any records. He is the first one in the Grove we saw.
The above is El Viejo Del Norte. He’s 23 feet in diameter and 323 feet high and holds an estimated 35,000 cubic feet of wood. He’s got a super distinctive burl on him and is the fifth largest Coastal Redwood.
This massive tree is the Lost Monarch, the largest (non-single-stem) Coastal Redwood. She is at least 26 feet in diameter and 320 feet high. She’s estimated to hold 42,500 cubic feet of wood. Here’s Nate for size comparison:
It’s too bad pictures can’t do these guys justice, really. Will videos work any better?
There are other record-holding trees in the Grove, of course, but these were the three we could easily recognize from pictures we’d seen online. If you ever get to Jedediah, it is so worth trying to find the Grove of Titans. Trust me.
Just don’t go too far off trail or you’ll be eaten by spiders.
Road Trip – Day 8: Newport to Crescent City
More beach times!
Oysters!
Nate!
We made it to Crescent City today, meaning that tomorrow will be REDWOODS!
I am way more excited about trees than I ever thought I would be.
Road Trip – Day 7: Ocean Shores to Newport
BEACH TIME!
Here’s Nate striking a sexy beach pose!
Also, this just in: the Pacific Ocean is cold.
The nice thing about having a week to get down the coast to San Francisco is that we have time to stop at any good-looking beach and taunt the ocean.
It also gives us the opportunity to be disgustingly cute:
Road Trip – Day 6: Bremerton to Ocean Shores
On our way to our next destination, we stopped in Ozette National Park to do a decently-long walk/hike through there. The walk was in three parts—the first and last parts were through the woods, and the middle part was on the beach. All of my pictures are from the beach portion, haha.
Somebody else stacked these; I just took the picture, haha.
Here’s Nate trying to determine how much further we needed to walk on the beach.
Road Trip – Day 5: Moscow to Bremerton
We left Moscow this morning to head to Bremerton, WA. We were going to stop at a zoo in Tacoma, but we got a bit of a late start so we decided to stop at Snoqualmie Falls instead. Nate had been there before, but this was my first time.
Our hotel in Bremerton was cheap but really nice. We were on the shore of Oyster Bay.
Road Trip – Day 4: Moscow (and Lewiston)
Today was our last full day in Moscow, so my mom and I took Nate down to Lewiston and then ended up playing some mini golf in that little golf course thingy by the Moscow-Pullman airport (it was really nice; I’d recommend going there if you ever want to mini golf or use a driving range). Have some pics:
Lewiston!
Nate and me at the top of the Lewiston hill (I have no idea why this one looks so much more washed out than the first).
Road Trip – Day 3: Moscow
First full day in the States! Nate and I walked around Moscow and I showed him a bit of downtown, a bit of campus, and took him to our super exciting mall. I didn’t really take any pictures since I could probably draw a map of the city by memory, but here’s Nate by the fountain.
Tomorrow we’ll probably go to Lewiston!
Road Trip – Day 2: Crowsnest Pass to Moscow
USA!
That was probably the easiest border crossing I’ve ever had, and I’ve always had super easy border crossings. It probably took a total of 10 seconds, seriously.
And I got to see my mom again, which is super cool ‘cause I’ve missed her since January (and it seems like I’ve been gone longer than that).
And now to chill in Moscow for a few days.
Road Trip – Day 1: Calgary to Crowsnest Pass
We’re off! We won’t be reaching the States until tomorrow, since we have to go drop off Nate’s birds at his parent’s house so that they can be in good hands while we’re away.
I don’t have anything exciting to say today and no new pictures yet, so…have some old recipes I’ve saved in my bookmarks but haven’t posted here yet, haha.
Scrambled Eggs with Cottage Cheese
Copycat Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits
ENGLISH MUFFINS!!!! (I like English muffins, sorry)
Eulering
Heyyyyyyyyy, what’s up, fools?
So remember Project Euler, that site that has hundreds of programming challenge problems? Well, I haven’t had much time for it lately (blame school), but today I decided to log back in and see if there was a problem I could try. And I found one!
This is the problem:
Passcode derivation (Problem 79): A common security method used for online banking is to ask the user for three random characters from a passcode. For example, if the passcode was 531278, they may ask for the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th characters; the expected reply would be: 317.
The text file, keylog.txt, contains fifty successful login attempts.
Given that the three characters are always asked for in order, analyse the file so as to determine the shortest possible secret passcode of unknown length.
This is one that I was able to solve by hand pretty easily, but since it’s a coding challenge site, I figured I ought to give it a shot using R. It took me a bit to get my code just right (there was one particular thing I was trying to do and I couldn’t figure out how to do it in R, so I had to modify things a bit), but I finally got it right!
Anyway, I’m not going to share my code here (it’s discouraged to share solutions outside the problem forums, each of which can only be accessed once you’ve input the correct answer for a given problem), but I thought that this was a super interesting and fun question to try. It’s easy to do by hand, but in my opinion a bit harder to do with code.
If you like this type of stuff, try it out!
Also, happy birthday, mom!
I already miss school, haha
I am BORED OUT OF MY MIND, so I’m going to answer each of these survey questions with a haiku. Turn back now.
If you were to attend a costume party tonight, what or whom would you go as?
A costume party?
Is nudity a costume?
Best costume ever!
What are your choice of toppings on a hamburger?
A lot of mushrooms
And lots of cheese, too (hooray!)
Ignore this last line.
You are chosen to have lunch with the President. The condition is you only get to ask one question. What do you ask?
“Mr. President,
Could you bring Gottfried Leibniz
Back from the dead, please?”
It’s your first day of vacation, what are you doing?
Vacation? Hooray!
I’m doing internet stuff
Or finding music.
What is your concession stand must-have at the movies?
I don’t do movies,
At least not often. No food
But maybe water.
What do you think Captain Hook’s name was before he had a hook for a hand?
“Captain Hand,” maybe?
No, it was “Hook” all along.
Oh, the irony!
Rock, paper, or scissors?
“Rock, paper, scissors”
Is a good haiku first line.
I am great at this.
Let’s say a brick fell on your foot, and your kid is standing right next to you, what is your ‘cleaned up’ swear word?
I have a kid now?
Oh crap, where did he come from?
(Does he enjoy stats?)
Which is worse, being in a place that is too loud, or too quiet?
I don’t like too loud.
Even the ‘net can be loud.
CAPS LOCK IS LOUD, RIGHT?
What is one quality that you really appreciate in a person?
Yes: genuineness.
A person true to themselves
Is very awesome.
At the good old general store, what particular kind of candy would you expect to be in the big jar at the counter?
Candy in big jars?
Not sure I’ve ever seen that.
I want M&M’s.
What is the most distinguishing landmark in your city?
Likely the Tower.
Or that sculpture that burns dudes.
Silly Calgary.
Everyone hears discussions that they consider boring. What topic can put you to sleep quicker than any other?
Money or finance.
I really don’t care that much
About stocks and bonds.
If you had to have the same topping on your vanilla ice cream for the rest of your life, what topping would you choose?
Just one? Nuts, I think.
Or awesome rainbow sprinkles.
Rainbows are the best.
What food item would need to be removed from the market altogether in order for you to live a healthier, longer life?
Most likely chocolate.
Specifically, M&Ms.
Though then I’d be sad.
You are offered an envelope that you know contains $50. You are then told that you may either keep it or exchange it for another envelope that may contain $500 or may be empty. Do you keep the first envelope, or do you take your chances with the second?
I’d take my chances.
500 bucks would be sweet,
And quite worth the risk.
If you had to choose, which would you give up: cable TV, or DSL/cable internet?
Goodbye to TV,
Since all I could ever want
Starts “http.”
What kind of lunch box did you have as a kid?
It was hard and square
Mostly purple and some pink
I put worms in it.
What would you rather have, a nanny, a housekeeper, a cook, or a chauffeur?
None of the above.
I can clean and cook just fine
And do not want kids.
Trip Prep
It’s almost time for our road trip…which means it’s almost time for THIS:
I’ve been waiting since February to read this! Though I’ll have to either finish it all before the middle of June or so (my annual reading of Antognazza’s Leibniz: An Intellectual Biography must occur on or around Leibniz’ birthday, after all) or take a break and interrupt Newton with Leibniz.
I might have to go with the latter, just because of being able to interrupt Newton with Leibniz.
Edit: online Principia!
Relaxing
Okay, I definitely recommend this coloring book to everyone (once it’s back in stock). If you are like me and enjoy doing super tedious things to chill out, this is a wonderful outlet. Have the first page colored Claudia-style!
This book also gives me a chance to continue watching Achievement Hunter’s Let’s Play Minecraft videos. I stopped around 60-something before; now I’m watching them again and coloring at the same time. Good way to relax!
PSHOOOOOOOO!
As you may have noticed by the songs I tend to post on this here blog, I really like remix versions of songs.
Remixes and mashups, really.
So I actually wanted to see what percentage of my “new” music (i.e., my daily downloads since 2010) is remixes/mashups.
‘Cause why not.
- 2010: 31/365
- 2011: 15/365
- 2012: 32/366
- 2013: 40/365
- 2014: 41/365
- 2015 (so far): 31/130
Total: 190/1956 or 9.7%. That’s a smaller percentage than I thought it would be, but I’d still say it’s a pretty decent chunk.
Oh, and just for funzies, have one of the better songs I’ve found this year (it’s a remix!):
This Week’s Science Blog: Look Up
(Hey look, it’s one of them TWSB posts! It’s been awhile, huh?)
So anybody who knows me knows I like clouds and cloud classifications, right? Well, so does (as expected) the World Meteorological Association (WMO). In fact, they published the first edition of the International Cloud Atlas in 1896 and have been updating it ever since.
Well, actually, the last update—meaning the last new cloud type added—was way back in 1951 (it was the cirrus intortus, meaning “an entangled lock of hair”).
However, thanks to people who really like to look up at the sky and try to classify all the clouds in it, there might be a new addition in the 2015 edition of the Atlas. The call for the possible new cloud type, the undulatus asperatus (“turbulent undulation”), arose in 2009 from Gavin Pretor-Pinney, a cloud enthusiast and founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society (I HAVE HIS CLOUD BOOK). He was editing selections of cloud photos for the Society’s gallery when he saw several of this new type of cloud which he believed did not fit into any other variety.
To gain further support for the new cloud type, Pretor-Penney worked with Graeme Anderson, a graduate student at the University of Reading, who wrote his dissertation on the undulates asperatus. In addition, many other cloud enthusiasts have continued to document cases of this type of cloud around the world with hopes that the WMO will officially add it in 2015.
Clouds, man.
Eh, Why Not?
Today has been super craptastic and I don’t want to blog about it, so you get a survey. Deal with it.
Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find sentence 4.
“Beyond that they do not venture.” (Facts from Figures, that old stats book from the ‘50s.)
Stretch your left arm out as far as you can, What can you touch?
My lamp.
Before you started this survey, what were you doing?
Listening to music.
What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Chopped.
Without looking, guess what time it is
3:45 PM.
Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
3:33 PM.
With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The furnace.
When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Yesterday. Went for a nice long walk.
Did you dream last night?
Likely, but I don’t remember doing so.
Do you remember your dreams?
If they’re weird enough.
When did you last laugh?
Not today, that’s for freaking sure.
Do you remember why / at what?
I don’t remember. I hate everything.
What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Minecraft poster, Antarctica map, picture of the night sky, a Neil Gaiman poster from Nate.
Seen anything weird lately?
I’ve looked in the mirror today, yes.
What do you think of this quiz?
OH CRAP IT’S A QUIZ? AM I PASSING?
What is the last film you saw?
Age of Ultron!
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
I like Calgary.
If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
I’d give my mom enough money so that she could retire.
Do you like to dance?
Sure.
Would you ever consider living abroad?
Ehhhhhhhh, maybe.
Who made the last incoming call on your phone?
My mom?
What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer?
A song.
Last time you swam in a pool?
It’s been quite awhile.
Type of music you like most?
Anything with a good beat, really.
Type of music you dislike most?
Country, probably.
Are you listening to music right now?
No, surprisingly.
What color is your bedroom carpet?
I don’t have carpet in my bedroom.
If you could change something about your home, without worry about expense or mess, what would you do?
Make it not a basement.
What was the last thing you bought?
Groceries.
Have you ever ridden on a motorbike?
Nope. I might if there was no highway driving involved.
Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?
I’d go sky diving again, but I wouldn’t want to go bungee jumping.
Do you have a garden?
Haha, no.
Do you really know all the words to your national anthem?
Indeed!
What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?
“Blaaaaaaaaaaaaah.”
If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be?
LEIBNIZ I DON’T CARE THAT HE’S DEAD BRING ME HIS URN I’LL BUY IT A SANDWICH
Who sent the last text message you received?
My mom.
Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Hahaha, probably Walmart.
What time is bed time?
What is this “bed time” you speak of?
Have you ever been in a beauty pageant?
HAHAHA. No.
How many tattoos do you have?
Forty-thousand.
If you don’t have any, have you ever thought of getting one?
I ALREADY HAVE FORTY-THOUSAND.
What did you do for your last birthday?
Went to class. I’m a damn whirlwind of excitement, I am.
Do you carry a donor card?
My license says I’m a donor.
Who was the last person you ate dinner with?
Nate!
Is the glass half empty or half full?
Today? The glass is broken.
What’s the farthest-away place you’ve been?
Helsinki.
When’s the last time you ate a homegrown tomato?
Never.
Have you ever won a trophy?
No.
Are you a good cook?
I apparently make good scrambled eggs.
Do you know how to pump your own gas?
That’s about the extent of my car knowledge.
Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school?
No. Unless you count when I had to for marching band.
Do you touch-type?
Yes.
What’s under your bed?
The floor.
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Yup.
Where were you on Valentine’s day?
Walking to and from Chinook Centre with Nate, then making pasta and watching The Avengers with him. It was a good day.
What time do you get up?
I don’t sleep.
What was the name of your first pet?
Wooder.
Who is the second to last person to call you?
My mom.
Is there anything going on this weekend?
Not anything out of the ordinary, no.
How are you feeling right now?
Blah.
What do you think about the most?
Stats.
If you had A Big Win in the Lottery, how long would you wait to tell people?
Depends.
Who would you tell first?
Depends.
What do you do most when you are bored?
Brood.
What do you do for a living?
Brood (I’m a grad student)
Do you love your job?
Yes.
If you could have any job, what would you want to do/be?
Stats instructor.
How many keys on your key ring?
Nine?
What kind of car do you drive?
I don’t have a car.
What are your best physical features?
N/A
What are your best characteristics?
N/A
If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go?
Right now? Hanover!
What kind of books do you like to read?
Anything off my 200 Books list.
What is your favorite time of the day?
I like noon.
Where did you grow up?
Idaholand.
How far away from your birthplace do you live now?
Not too far. About a 9 hour drive.
What are you reading now?
Nothing right now, ‘cause I’m a bad person.
Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Very much a night owl.
Can you touch your nose with your tongue?
Yup!
Can you close your eyes and raise your eyebrows?
Yes.
Do you have pets?
Annabelle, but she’s back in Moscow.
How many rings before you answer the phone?
All of them. All of the rings. Phone calls scare me.
What are some of the different jobs that you have had in your life?
Front window worker at Wendy’s, cleaner at the U of I, in-home caregiver, STATS INSTRUCTOR!
Any new and exciting things that you would like to share?
I’m not wearing pants.
What is most important in life?
Not wearing pants.
What Inspires You?
See above.
Future Outlook
Dudes, check it:
“To determine the best and worst graduate degrees for jobs, Fortune consulted the careers site, PayScale. The site considered the full-range of graduate degrees, including Ph.D.s, master’s degrees, and law degrees.”
The ranking is based upon three factors: long-term outlook for job growth, median salaries at mid-career, and job satisfaction scores.
Guess what was ranked highest?
Ph.D., Statistics
Median Salary: $131,700
Projected Growth in Jobs by 2022: 23.7%
Highly Satisfied: 71%
Low Stress: 67%
An MS in stats made the list, too!
Master’s, Statistics
Median Salary: ($109,700
Projected Growth in Jobs by 2022: 18.2%
Highly Satisfied: 80%
Low Stress: 51%
I know it’s just one ranking, but it’s pretty cool that the thing that I love doing has the potential to lead to jobs that are high-paying and satisfying.
Eigenblogger 