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Tuesday in Las Vegas

I got up this morning intent on going to Red Rock before the conference started. As I was about to leave the hotel, I noticed several folks who were attend the conference and figured I should pick up a packet to make sure I didn’t miss anything important. I asked a fellow conference goer from Georgia where the sign up was and we ended up walking down to registration together. I told him my plans and he told me he was going to take part in a pre-conference workshop – something I had intended on doing before our department had a spending-freeze.

After picking up registration then dropping that in my room, I picked up some coffee and headed north looking for a bus stop. I still didn’t have the appropriate cash, but I stopped by the Rivera and turned a twenty dollar bill in to 2 five dollar bills and 10 ones. I asked a guy at the bus stop if I took the Charleston bus all the way to the end if I could get to Red Rock. He seemed confused, but said yes, that if I took the bus all the way out, I could easily walk to see Red Rock. The bus ride took nearly an hour and I saw more of Las Vegas than I care to recall. Suffice to say, I would rank Las Vegas even lower on the stankonia-ranking than Yakima, which while it has no popular destinations, at least isn’t as bad as LV. Riding transit here is vastly different than in Portland. For one, the transit stop and stop light alignment means that a giant bus must stop twice at each intersection. Once for the really long light, then immediately again for the bus stop proper.

As we got further away from the strip, I started to wonder if I was actually going to make it. The hills were getting closer, but something didn’t seem right. I asked the woman sitting next to me if the bus did get close enough to Red Rock that I could walk and see it and she said that yes, I could. The transit center was right at Red Rock so I could get out and see it then get back on for another bus when I was done. Whew.

When we pulled in to the Red Rock Transit center at the Red Rock Casino, my heart sank. I asked the driver, who was perplexed by me wanting to go to Red Rock Canyon, but that no, this was as far as the transit went. I did another check using my iPhone and I was still 11 miles from Red Rock Canyon. Too far to walk, and hell, too far to ride a bike with only 1/2 a liter of water and 100F weather. So I decided to eat my losses (I’m in Vegas after all) and catch the bus back to town. Stupid Me. Stupid Vegasans who thought I wanted to go to Red Rock Casino.

Anyway, after a late lunch (those Duece busses fill up quickly so I missed a bus or two) I headed down to the conference, checked my e-mail, then saw the keynote from Steve Wozniak. Sweet. The Woz. The keynote was OK, mostly a rehash of “the history” with some abrupt comments about education, then a reception where I got a Blackboard beer coozie. I’ll have to give my Canadian server admin grief about that when I get back. The exhibition was actually ok. I was able to see some cool posters, have some good beer and cheese and meet some of the vendors we do business with. The one I most wanted to meet and speak with was swamped with folks so I’ll have to catch up with him later.

Afterwards, I wandered back towards my room and dawdled above the gondolas in the Venetian mall and stopped at Mainland for dinner. The roast duck noodles jumped out at me and I have no regret. Just after I got back to my room, I got a call from Michelle and Ella. Getting a call from your daughter who says “Hi daadee” is just about one of the most incredible things ever. I talked to her for a while then Michelle for a bit before Ella wished me night-night. It was her bed time, but not mine.

Monday in Las Vegas

I recently traveled to Las Vegas for the Blackboard World conference. This is being posted a week later because of limited internet access.

I arrived in Las Vegas around noon. Caught the shuttle to the Venetian, but found out I was at the Palazzo; connected but separate. The shuttle ride sucked. I sat by the window, which was covered with a Bette Midler show advertisement so I couldn’t see where I was going. I did notice that we went by Hofbrauhaus, but lost context because of the windows and the weird geography. The two Japanese gents next too me were talking about their blackberry’s, Yahoo and golf. blah blah “intermittent showers” blah blah.

After I got to my room, and sufficiently scoped it out (awesome!), I walked to Hofbrauhaus. 2.4 miles in 102F. On crappy streets. With crazy people. By the time my sweaty self was seated, I needed a lager. I had the NÃ¼rnberger RostbratwÃ¼rst and kraut while trying to figure out how to get to Red Rock Canyon. I asked the waitress who had just moved for advice, but she couldn’t help me. She did say that I should just take the bus since it went right to Red Rock. I wanted to ask her why she chose to move to Vegas, but decided not to. It might have been a tragic story.

After lunch, I walked back towards the strip and was dive-bombed by a gray jay. It actually hit my head twice before I realized what was happening. It followed me for a few more palms, squawking. I warned the guy walking the opposite direction so he took a wide berth. I wish I hadn’t said anything so I could have gotten video of someone else getting pecked. I played some blackjack on the walk back and did fairly well for about 30 minutes then slowly lost my lead. Maybe I’m not patient enough.

After a humid walk back, I required a dip in the pool. It was really nice, floating on my knees looking up at Palazzo, Treasure Island, Wynn and Encore. Nice enough skyline. Afterwards, I sat in the room and sipped some tequila and watched the sun set. The worn thrust/fault mountains outside town really make me like the place much more. Suddenly there were cannon shots below and I discovered that it was one of Treasure Island’s many pirate shows. I saw it back in 2004 and remember standing on some concrete pylons across the strip by an empty lot. The room I’m in now didn’t exist just those few years ago. Freaky. There are lots of cranes all over the city and lots going on. Many of the casinos we passed last time no longer exist.

I went out for some dinner then came back to find my bed had been turned down and my ice bucket had been refilled. I could get used to this place. It’s a shame they haven’t embraced the internet. That would be nice. $10/day for wireless access is absurd. I just spent time in Nebraska where the hotel had free wifi. Get with the times.

First flight and Nebraska

Ella and I flew back to Nebraska for a wedding and for my grandparent’s 60th anniversary over the long weekend. It was Ella’s first time flying and her first time in either Colorado or Nebraska. Due to the cost of flying and lack of vacation, not only did we fly to Denver instead of Lincoln, but Michelle stayed home. My parents and sister who were driving back to Nebraska for the wedding picked us up in Denver, then we completed the last 288 miles with them.

I had kind of been dreading the trip because I was worried about traveling with a toddler, less than enthusiastic about going to hot & humid Nebraska during the summer, and all sorts of other little things that I associate with being in the Midwest. (i.e. no recycling, bugs, wal-mart everything, lite-beer, my family’s seeming need to out-religious each other, meat in everything, driving everywhere, etc.)

There was really no reason to worry though as I had a great time, and I’m pretty sure Ella enjoyed herself too. You see, I have 21 cousins (not all of whom were there) and as they are having kids, there were plenty of people for Ella to play with, or at least watch. She made quick friends with a couple of my first cousins, once removed. (that distinction was bugging me the entire time. “My cousin’s kid” wasn’t cutting it, despite being shorter)

The weather was even cooperative most of the time and we had several pleasant evenings outside with cardinal calls, lightning bugs, yard games, and a few mosquito bites. Ella even got to swim in the same pool that I swam in as a toddler some 28 years ago. When away from it, it can be easy to forget all the parts I like about Nebraska – family being foremost. Like the trip to Ontario last September, it was great to catch up with family (many of whom weren’t on the Ontario trip) and see how everyone is doing. It reaffirms how important the connection to family can be, and reminds me that we need to make sure we keep in touch for Ella’s sake. And ours.

Some photos

Sunday Parkway

One upside to Ella having croup and our camping trip getting cut short is that we were able to take part in the Sunday Parkway event in North Portland today. After some early morning errands, we got on bikes and rode over to Peninsula park to meet for a led “family ride.”

The park was chaos, in the good way. Bicyclists and pedestrians were everywhere, and despite the early morning drizzle, people were out and enjoying themselves. We followed the led ride for about 3/4 of a mile before realizing the slow pace and the volatile nature of a sick daughter meant we wouldn’t finish the ride before nap time. Michelle and I sped up and enjoyed the route with other random people, all of whom seemed rather happy.

Seeing so many people on bikes warms my heart. This was the biggest crowd I’d seen since STP, but without all the stupid outfits and misplaced competitiveness. We wound through NoPo on many of the same streets I’ve been riding with Ella the past few weeks, but she didn’t mind because she’d fallen asleep. We cut the route a bit short though and retired home for lunch and a proper nap.

I really enjoyed the event, but I’m not sure how it worked for other folks. One of the ideas was to get folks out on the street who were otherwise intimidated by traffic. I never get tired of cars having to wait for me while I cross major arterials, but I’ll be interested to see how other folks felt about the event.

When can I eat raw tomatoes again?

The CDC has a list of safe tomatoes available. Oregon is absent from the list. My garden isn’t producing tomatoes yet, and salads are kind of boring. Plus, today is the Interstate Farmer’s Market, and I’d like to make some caprese salad. When do we get the OK? Is it safe to get locally grown toms?

I’ve had salmonella before, and I’m quite wary of having it again. Last time my appendix was taken out because the pain I had was symptomatic of appendicitis. After it was removed and I wasn’t any better, it was discovered that I had salmonella. Imagine a moose standing on one hoof on your stomach. That’s what it felt like.

Eagle Creek

Yesterday Ella and I joined several friends (Joe, Lindsay, John, Jim & Rachel) for a hike up Eagle Creek. It’s a spectacular trail that’s really quite easy. It’s also very close to Portland and it was a nice day, so it was clear that it wasn’t an original idea. But the weather was so nice and no one really wanted to stop, so we hiked all the way up to Tunnel Falls before finally turning back. Round trip was about 14 miles and Ella did incredibly well in the backpack for such a long trip. I think the view along the trail, which is constantly interesting, was enough to maintain her enjoyment. (She didn’t get a sunburn either)

Here are some photos. My shoulders are sore.

No more shuttle

My employer’s free shuttle service ended yesterday for the summer. I’m not sure how much money I’ve saved this last year by taking the shuttle, but it’s been a treat to not have to think about traffic, car maintenance or filling up. All that reality is about to set in again if I don’t figure out some alternative mode of transport.

Drinking Water

Portland residents just received their annual water quality report, something that would normally go unnoticed by most if there hadn’t recently been a big to-do in the national media about finding trace amounts of caffeine, Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, and anti-biotics in several major cities drinking water supply. Portland was one of the cities identified, and the Water Bureau has done an excellent job of presenting water quality and addressing the contaminants:

“At the amounts detected, an individual would have to drink 1 gallon of water a day for more than 13,000 years to consume the equivalent of one Tylenol.”

Now there’s some perspective.

I do a half-cringe, half-laugh when I see people buying bottled water in Portland. The Bull Run water is the most wonderful drinking water I’ve ever had. The stuff in Wyoming was pretty good, Yakima was OK (the well water in the Nob Hill area is gross), and the water in Nebraska was wretched. Every time we fly back to visit I’m always so happy to be back at the Denver airport to get some good water again. I guess I’m a water snob.

Magic Carpet

Michelle and I have been working on finishing the basement so that its not scary to be in during, well, most times of the year. To make it livable, we put some old carpet down on the floor to hep us pretend that it was a real room. Before cutting out chunks of the concrete floor to repour, we rolled up the carpet and put it in my parent’s truck so we could take it to ~~East County Recycling~~ Environmentally Conscious Recycling. ECR is one of the only options for recycling carpet in the Portland Metro area.

We needed to pick up some sheet rock with the truck, so we set the carpet roll out on the parking strip. Later that afternoon when we returned, the carpet had disapeared. There’s a phenomenon around here where you can set out some reasonable item you’re done with and a free sign and it’ll be picked up within 24 hours by someone. The phenomenon is so strong that the following things have happened:

Well, for one, someone took our doubly-old carpet
The hippie neighbors put out utter rubbish and it somehow all disappeared, though at slightly slower pace.
Occasionally you’ll see a pile of something in front of someone’s house with a “Not Free” sign on it to signal the home owner’s intent to use the pile

If you attempt to use this phenomenon, do not attempt to kick-start by posting something on craigslist. You’ll end up with multiple unhappy parties who show up to get the free item when some dude who was just walking by picked it up not 4 minutes ago. I mean, it’s not my fault they drove from Vancouver to get a few rolls of sod.

I love recycling, but I love reusing even more.

Newport

Michelle had a conference in Newport this weekend, so Ella and I tagged along to see the sights. We actually left Thursday night and got there in time for dinner with her boss overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Friday while Michelle was at “work,” Ella and I went grocery shopping for lunch and snack items, then went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It was quite a treat for both of us, though by the time we got to the “passages of the deep” exhibit, a plexiglass tunnel through a massive tank, Ella preferred to run through the exhibit rather than look at the sharks and skates passing gracefully around us. Afterwards, we checked out the Yaquina Lighthouse, Rogue’s brewery, swam, walked to dinner, and swam again before settling down for a restful night. I’d already fallen asleep by the time Michelle got back, though she and her coworkers were socializing by this time, not strictly working.

Saturday Ella and I grabbed donuts then headed south in a hailstorm to Seal Rock. By the time we got there the weather had cleared and we were able to hike a bit and play in the foam created by the thrashing seas around the rocks. Then we checked out Ona Beach and played on the bridge before heading back to Newport to meet up with Michelle. Afterwards, we checked out the Aquarium again (it was really cool, and with the Bug, there was a lot that was missed) and went for an early dinner on the Bay and watched the massive sea lions on the docks.

Despite the on and off hail, there was plenty of sun, and was a delightful way to spend a weekend. I’ve not been to Newport for nearly 15 years, though I saw the store where my dad and I got our ideas for building skimmer boards for taking to Kalaloch. I definitely look forward to visiting again, though there are still many places on the list to visit first. I’ve added some pictures here.