Home Projects, Father's Day, & Paint Pots

It's been a really busy June!  I feel like I can never keep up with everything that's going on.

Our house projects have slowed down a little bit.  We've ordered windows but haven't ordered our doors yet.  We're still working on getting a quote for getting the roof done.  A lot of the roofing companies are busy in their general areas without having to go to Gardiner.  One guy came out yesterday to look at our roof, so hopefully we'll get a quote soon.  The bathroom has stalled (haha) because the man who was going to do our tile job got tied up with someone else's project which is bigger and was more pressing since it is a business that is just opening this summer.  Our oil furnace has been replaced with a propane furnace and a heat pump.  The catch is that our heat pump won't work until we make some major modifications to our circuit breaker box.  We've got most of that done, but it's a project of a few weeks because we had to have an inspector look at the new work and people from NorthWestern Energy do stuff.  When the propane tank was installed some damage was done to our underground sprinkler system.  I fixed a good share of the damage, but things keep on breaking!  With an older sprinkler system, I suppose it's somewhat expected.

Friday, June 17 Jean and I went to Evergreen Livingston to eat at their Father's Day barbecue.  Grandma seemed to be doing alright.  We had a good visit with her.  She's had a problem with depression in part because she can't remember when people visit her, so last month I put a calendar up next to her bed, but the dry erase marker almost immediately disappeared and no one tried to keep up on the calendar.  That afternoon Jean and I got some Velcro and new dry erase markers.  Now the dry erase markers stick to the wall next to the calendar.

Thursday, June 23 Zana, Jared, and Kassie came to the house.  During the morning we got some yard work done.  After we went to lunch at the Town Cafe, I took the kids to Yellowstone Park for the afternoon while Jean and Zana did some work.  Primarily I wanted to show them Artist Paint Pots because I hadn't been there in about six years and it's one of my favorite places.  We made a couple stops along the way at Rustic Falls and Sheepeater Cliff.  Artist Paint Pots is a very beautiful area with spectacular coloring.  Jared's color diffusion made it a little interesting with a few of the pools, but he could easily make out the blue ones.  They enjoyed watching the paint pots make plopping sounds.

Artist Paint Pots area

A blue pool next to the paint pots

Artist Paint Pots

Artist Paint Pots area

A thermal feature at Artist Paint Pots

Jared and Kassie wanted to see more paint pots so I took them to the Fountain Paint Pots.

While we were out there, Fountain Geyser went off.  Unfortunately we had to leave while it was going off.  Fountain doesn't go off very often, so I was a bit disappointed, but at least everyone got to see some mud pots.

Fountain Geyser

Beach Day

Sunday, April 17, Jean had to go to classes in the morning.  I did a little research for our vacation while she was working.  When Jean was finished with her classes, Jean and I drove along the southern part of Kauai.

I wanted to see Glass Beach, plus we were on an errand for finding natural sea salt for one of my co-workers.  Our first stop was at Glass Beach.  It's located in a more industrialized part of the island.  The reason it's known as a glass beach is because decades ago, used glass was dumped into the ocean in this location.  Over the years the ocean tides wore the glass down so that it is smooth.  While I was there, I saw a little crab coming out of a hole in the sand.  I'm told I saw a pallid ghost crab.  On the island of Oahu these little guys are pale in color, but this one matched the glass on the beach.

Glass Beach

Waves crash at Glass Beach

A pallid ghost crab at Glass Beach

After enjoying some of the afternoon there, Jean and I tried to find some sea salt.  The funny part about the sea salt was that I didn't realize how common it was, and that I could buy Hawaiian sea salt in grocery stores--even Walmart!  I ended up going to several touristy kinds of places and not finding it.  I did eventually go to a grocery store where I found it in plain sight.

On researching sea salt from Hawaii I found out some interesting facts.  There is still one place in Hawaii where sea salt is harvested annually in the traditional manner: Salt Pond Beach Park.  Here's the kicker--it's illegal to sell the sea salt that comes from there because the Hawaiians consider the salt to be sacred.  It can be given away, but you have to come in July in order to get it.  Of course we were there at the wrong time of year.  I found this guy's blog to be really informative on Hawaii's sea salt.  Anyway, here's a photo of what the salt ponds look like in April:

Honestly, it looks pretty marshy, except it's more of a salt water marsh at this time of year.  Salt Pond Beach Park is a local favorite location among the Kauaians.  I didn't see any tourists there--just locals.

We went to bed early that night since we had big plans for early the next morning!

Kauai Helicopter Ride

I know I've been a long time in writing about all I did during my vacation in Hawaii with Jean.  Sorry that it's been so long.  Between all the projects that I have around here and how much time it takes to get stuff done on the Internet my time has become very divided.  During the winter I have the advantage of being able to do most of my work on the computer while I'm working since there aren't a lot of people who stay in the Yellowstone area at that time of year.  Summer is always busy and I am always trying to get a million projects done.

On April 16, Jean went to her classes during the morning.  I did a bit of work on the Internet and on photos until she finished.  We had already booked a helicopter tour of Kauai before we arrived and made it to our appointment at 4:00 pm.  From the office, they drove us to the Lihue Airport.

On getting in the van, one of the passengers got a bit nervous because the driver asked if he would get out of the van for a moment (as if to talk to him privately).  Everyone on the van got quiet pondering what was going on; the guy wondered what he did wrong.  Once the passenger got out of the van, the driver got back in, started the van, and said, "Ok, we can go now."  Of course he let the other passenger get back on, but it was a good laugh.

Our helicopter tour covered approximately 94 miles from the beginning until the end.  Some of the key features we saw were the mountain Haupu (which people recognize from the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark), Manawaiopuna Falls (which most people recognize from the movie Jurassic Park), the canyons on the west side of the island, Na Pali, Kilauea Lighthouse on Kilauea Point, the waterfalls at Pohakupili, the mountain Kong (aka Hokualele), and the crater between Wai'ale'ale and Kawaikini.

The approximate route of our helicopter tour started and ended at Lihue Airport.

I had about 30 minutes of my own video to go through on this trip, not counting what Jean took.  It took me awhile to splice it together into something a bit more succinct.  More recently, I labeled the places we saw in the video.  If you've already seen the video (i.e. when I originally put it up and showed it on Facebook), then take a look at it again so you can see which places these are.

My two favorite places on this excursion were Na Pali and the waterfalls at the crater between Wai'ale'ale and Kawaikini.  Na Pali is an area of razor-sharp cliffs that look like upside-down draperies in a cavern.  Flying over them, we could really see how incredibly huge they were.  Video just makes the size of everything seem different.

Draperies from Moaning Cavern.  Image courtesy of http://www.adventure-caves-usa.com/moaning-cavern.html

Seeing the crater area was incredible because we were in a hole in the mountain.  We were close to the bottom of it and we could look up hundreds of feet into the clouds.  Words don't really describe the awe that we felt looking at it.  Wai'ale'ale is the wettest place on Earth, receiving about 40 feet of rain each year.  Consequently the top of the mountain is almost perpetually covered in clouds.  I did finally find a photo of the top and it was quite barren, probably because all the nutrients in the soil get leached out by the constant flow of rain water.  We saw a few waterfalls going into the crater from the top of the mountain and were told that there can be a hundred waterfalls coming off the top under certain conditions.  Wai'ale'ale is also the tallest mountain in Kauai (but not the tallest in Hawaii) at 5,148 feet.  That's about 150 lower than Gardiner!

This was one of the major highlights of our brief trip in Hawaii.  I must recommend a helicopter tour for any island in Hawaii just because the geography is so incredible that it can only truly be viewed properly from the air.  There are a lot of places in Hawaii that can't be seen from the ground.

That night Jean and I spent some time at Kalapaki Beach at the Marriott, where were staying.  It was a full moon, and the area was lit up nicely:

Waves crash on Kalapaki Beach.

Although we didn't, the beach is prime for swimmers because it's enclosed in Nawiliwili Bay.  In the photo, you can see Kukii Point on the left and Carter Point on the right.  The mountain on the right is Kalinipuu.  It was just relaxing to be on the beach after a good dinner and enjoy the night air.

Aparagi or asparaguses?

Answer: neither.  The plural is asparagus.

This was so good that I just had to share it.  Jean brought home some fresh asparagus last week and so I was left with the quandary of how to cook it.  We hardly ever eat it so what do you do with it other than steam or boil it?  Well I found this fantastic recipe in mom's cook book (Berry, Mary and Marlena Spieler.  Classic Home Cooking.  Pg. 349.  DK Publishing, Inc.: 1995.):

Asparagus with Parmesan

Serves 4

1 1/4 lb (625 g) asparagus
1 c (90 g) grated Parmesan cheese
lemon wedges and flat leaf parsley sprigs to garnish

MARINADE
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dry white wine
1 tsp white vinegar
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 herbes de Provence
salt and black pepper

1. Trim the woody ends from the asparagus.

2. Make the marinade: combine the oil, wine, vinegar, garlic, herbes de Provence, and salt and pepper to taste.  Toss the asparagus in the marinade, cover, and leave to marinate for 15 minutes.

3. Sprinkle the Parmesan onto a plate.  Roll the apsaragus in the Parmesan to coat, then arrange in a single layer in a large ovenproof dish.

4.  Pour any remaining marinade over the asparagus and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned and sizzling hot.  Garnish with the lemon wedges and parsley sprigs and serve immediately.

I didn't have time to worry about the garnishing accoutrements, but I made up for it.  Instead of using lemon wedges, I simply added a little lemon juice to the marinade.  Also, I didn't have herbes de Provence available to me, since I live in the middle of nowhere, so I had to make something like it myself.  I used a combination of sage, marjoram, fennel, thyme, rosemary, and basil.  It's my understanding that savory, bay leaf, chervil, tarragon, mint, oregano, and lavender can also be used in the mixture.

Cooking it is a little trickier.  I used a rimmed cookie sheet so the olive oil wouldn't make a mess.  Watch the oven!  The recipe said 15 minutes, but it was ready at about 7 minutes.  I wouldn't leave it longer than 10 minutes.  Maybe my altitude is a factor since I'm a mile high.  Once the Parmesan is baked onto the asparagus, it's ready to come out.  If the asparagus starts turning brown, it's overdone, but still edible. Yeah, I admit to overcooking it the first time around.  I had it in the oven for exactly 15 minutes.

Eating it is wonderful.  It's best when it first comes out of the oven.  Don't let it cool down.  If you make it with other dishes, this should be the last one out.

I've never liked asparagus that much until I tried it with this recipe.  I guess if it's drenched in olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and spices, it's got to be good. :)

Interlude - Computers, Kittens, and Home Renovation

I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to tell about my vacation with Jean.  Mostly, the length of time has been because of the graphics--editing videos, making maps, editing photos.  I took about 500 photos and videos.  I will continue explaining my vacation later.  Right now I just want to catch up on all the news since Jean and I got back.

Like every May in Montana, we've been really busy.  It seems incredible that May is already gone.

I went to a couple of Jared's baseball games April 30.  It was pretty funny because he won the first game against Gardiner 6-1 (if I remember right) and then they played against each other again, and Gardiner won against Big Timber (Jared) 6-2.  I was rooting for Jared, but I was still a traitor to all the Gardiner kids. lol

Dad wanted me to install a new monitor on his computer, but that has proven to be difficult when it shouldn't be.  My thoughts are that the BIOS (the programming installed on the motherboard) needs to be updated because of some problem with multiple monitors on earlier versions of the programming.  Unfortunately, the BIOS doesn't want to recognize the new programming so that it can be installed.  I've tried going online for help, but so far they've only made suggestions for things I've already done.  That's been a bit frustrating.  I'm going to have a little change of pace on his computer.  This week when I go to Livingston, I'm going to install Windows 7 on his computer.

Jean and I have been fostering kittens at our house for several weeks.  We got them at the end of April and have been raising them since then.  Someone left a mother cat with six kittens by the side of a road near Big Timber as I understand.  Tim, my uncle, brought them to Jean.  The cats are flame-point Siamese crosses.  They could already eat solid food by the time we got them, so the kittens were between 4-5 weeks old.  We've had a lot of fun with the cats, and it's been a new experience for me.  I haven't had to foster so many cats before.  I know what you're thinking--I'm just like the cat lady that lives down the street from where you live.  In any case, I had fun.  It's a lot of work to take care of them all, but it wasn't too bad; it worked out.

All six kittens had homes accounted for before they were even ready to leave the house.  One of the boys and one of the girls went to different friends of Jean's.  Mary, a friend of mine, took a little girl which she named Willow.  Jean and I are keeping two boys.  We've named them Thunder and Storm.  We already have a female named Lightning--though she's not the brightest cat I've ever had.  Our other female is Butterscotch.  Tim and Zana are going to take the mother and a little long-haired girl.  I think the mother's name is already given - Lily.

Tim and Zana aren't ready to take their two cats yet because they're in the middle of a move, but they'll probably take them in the next week or so.  It's probably a good thing since Lily has been shut in one of our bedrooms most of the time to avoid cat wars with Butterscotch and Lightning.  There's no point in mixing the cats when one of them isn't going to be a permanent resident and it would only cause trouble.  We've allowed their little girl to mix with ours since she won't be starting any fights with our other cats though.

This is completely off the subject, but is certainly interesting.  Since I got back from Hawaii, I spotted an albino mule deer one morning.  I didn't get a picture of it in time.  When I saw it at first I thought I was seeing things.  It was less than half a mile from my house.  I haven't seen it since, but I'm always on the lookout for her.

Also, I've seen the bobcat a couple times since I originally photographed it on April 1.  I've only seen it crossing the road at night near my house.  It's a good thing I don't let my cats out in the dark!

We've been slowly working on remodeling one of our bathrooms since before we went to Hawaii.  We're almost there.  I painted the room recently, and now we're waiting on a man to do the tile job.  He's been really busy in Gardiner lately so the project's been postponed a couple weeks.  We're almost finished with the bathroom, and we're very excited to see its completion.

Our oil furnace hasn't been working very well lately.  It hasn't been firing within its allotted time (I think it's 30 seconds) and so a breaker on the furnace has been switching off on a regular basis.  At the Valentine's Day dinner at Evergreen (the nursing home where Grandma and Betty live), Dad suggested that since we're doing work on the house, why don't we replace the furnace?  For goodness sakes--it's the original furnace that was put in when the house was built in 1958.  It's about time that we replace it, huh?  Before we went on our trip, Jean and I discussed our options.  When we got back, we decided to have a combination heat pump and propane furnace.  We have the two installed now, but we've hit a snag--we either have to add a 220 volt breaker to our already crowded circuit breaker box or replace the breaker box (which seems to be the better option considering all the factors we have looked at.)  At the moment the propane furnace works, but the heat pump is not going to work until we can replace our circuit breaker box.  We knew that we needed to replace the circuit breaker box sooner or later in our renovation, but evidently it's going to be sooner rather than later.

Oh, the joys of living in an older house!

Since we're working on making the house more efficient with heat and other things, we're also going to replace the doors and windows.  Our windows have already been ordered and should be here next month.  We're going to order our doors soon, but we already have everything figured out for them.  Next on the list of efficiency renovations is the roof.  We already have three layers of shingles on it, and we need to replace it soon.  We're thinking of a tin roof, but we haven't got any bids yet.

Also of note for the month of May is our unusual weather.  As many of you have seen in the news, Yellowstone Park received a lot of snow this winter.  It's still pretty bad for snow, and even Dunraven Pass is still closed (it's usually open by Memorial Day weekend).  Sylvan Pass is only open at night and early morning for fear of avalanches, and Craig Pass recently closed because they got dumped on again.  The road between Tower and Mammoth recently closed because of a rock slide including a boulder.  Business is a little slower in Gardiner than in past years, but I think it's because of some of the road closures and bad weather.  I called West Yellowstone today, and they seem to be doing better than Gardiner tonight for tourism.