Scaring Away the Cold with a Balaclava

Of all the winter cycling accessories out there, none can match the formidable powers of the balaclava. I daresay few garments will make a "cycle chic" photographer withdraw his camera faster. And what other article of clothing is capable of striking fear into bank tellers?As universally unflattering as it is terrifying, the balaclava is not an item one would purchase casually. You've got to get to the point where you really, really needit.For me that point came one December morning. As I pedaled my roadbike against a brutal headwind with temperatures in the 30s, I felt ready to give the dreaded balaclava a try. The one you see here is from Ibex, sent to me for review.

Broadly speaking, a balaclava is a garment that covers the entire head and neck in order to protect the wearer from the cold, exposing only small parts of the face. The Ibex balaclava has an opening for the eyes and nose, but covers the mouth completely. It is form-fitting, closely hugging the contours of the back of the skull, browbone and cheekbones. It is made in the USA of soft and lightweight merino wool (18.5 micron) with flat seams, one size fits all.

My interest in a balaclava is specific to roadcycling. Going at speeds of over 20mph in a leaned-forward position, my face takes the brunt of the harsh winter wind and this can feel extremely uncomfortable. The close fit of the Ibex balaclava is an advantage here: the opening is so tight that it feels almost elasticised; wind does not enter through it while cycling at high speeds. The thin fabric and close fit also make it comfortable to wear under a road helmet when I don one for organised rides: There is no bunching up or slippage. I would say that Ibex's take on the balaclava is designed for athletic activities, such as skiing and winter cycling, rather than for casual wear. Everything stays in its place, and the technical merino fabric forms a tightly woven layer of protection against the wind that feels feather-light and pleasant against the skin.

The inevitable downside of such a precise and form-fitting design, is that there is no versatility in how this garmentcan be worn. While in some balaclavas the lower portion can be stretched down to expose the mouth or pulled up to cover everything but the eyes, this is not possible with the Ibex version. In order to expose my mouth, I have to stretch the opening forcefully and as soon as I let go my mouth is again covered. Likewise, covering the nose would not be possible. For me that is probably a good thing, because covering my nose with fabric in the past felt constricting and uncomfortable. Even having my mouth covered feels somewhat restrictive and will take some getting used to.

Like most balaclavas, this one is profoundly unflattering - particularly to a face like mine, that becomes all nose and eyebrows once the other features are hidden. So if you're going to rock this, you basically have to not give a straw about how you look for the time being. Also, consider that drivers will be seeing less of your facial features and hair, which, in theory, could interfere with them fully processing you as a real, vulnerable human.

I am not sure yet whether I will be keeping the Ibex balaclava. Current retail price is $30, and I consider that a good deal for a US-made 100% merino product. As a roadcycling-specific garment I think it works well, but the sensation of having my mouth covered might just be out of my comfort zone. Have you worn a balaclava for cycling in the winter? Your thoughts, experiences, and recommendations appreciated.

Skeleton Dolls

Sarah, my sister, makes skeleton dolls. She calls the Dolls From the Bone Yard. The skeleton is plastic but the rest is all handmade. She sells them at farmers markets and craft events in and around Las Cruces. If anyone is interested leave me a comment with an email and I will get back to you. Shown here are cowboys, Mexicans, witches, Cap'em Jack from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, nurses, and fancy ladies. She also does Doctors, angels, brides and grooms, hippies, solders, and fisherman. I couldn't get over how cute they were. She sells a lot for the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead which is about the same time as our Halloween.

Bryce Canyon to Phoenix

Time to leave Bryce Canyon! We get up early and to Sunrise Point to catch the Sunrise (that's the whole point right?)

The sun comes up slowly (maybe because it's only 24 degrees outside)

On the road again heading towards Flagstaff. Passing thru Red Rock Canyons.

Yes, there are tunnels!

We stop in Kanab, Utah to visit Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. It is a no-kill shelter that takes in all kinds of animals many with disabilities or other problems that make them hard to adopt out.

This little cutie has an ailment that makes him unsteady on his feet,but he looks quite content.

We pass through a section of the Vermillion Cliffs and cross the Colorado River via the Navajo Bridge at Lee's Ferry

We arrive in Flagstaff on Tequila Sunrise Day. Apparently it is a college homecoming party that involves starting drinking Tequila Sunrises at 6 a.m. followed by many Red Bulls and a Parade. We decided maybe we didn't need to revisit Flagstaff

Thought this guy wascute but looks like he wasn't enjoying the Party much either.

Back on the winding Route89A always wondering what will be around the next turn.

A view of the road ahead (or should I say below)

I read on a T-Shirt that 89A has 156 turns in 12 miles.

We stopped in Sedona planning on spending a few days hiking but the town is not what we remembered from 10 years ago - it has doubled in size and the amount of people there was crazy - it was a weekend and 80's so we visited the Honanki Cliff Dwellings and continued on our way.



As we drove through Arizona to places we had previously been - we found it to still be in ruins!

Tuzigoot Ruins

Montezuma Cliff Dwelling Ruins

We arrive in Phoenix a couple days before our flight to Hawaii to try and find a place to store the RV. We finally find a storage unit that has a parking spot inthe back for $50 for a month, we just fit in. We also found that the Best Western had apark and fly option for $90 we got a nights lodging and parking for up to 2 weeks - cheaper than parking at the Airport and we got a free shuttle ride! Nothing worth posting about Phoenix just a large urban sprawl. We were very happy to get an email from "our boss", changing ourChristmas Tree lot from Phoenix toTucson- yeah! Next stop Hawaii!



Till Later!



Meanwhile we keep on Trek'n

Melissa & Gary

Thunderstorm over Wooly's Bluff

Taken last night at the end of the Arrowhead Trail at McFarland Lake. We were hoping for clear skies to try some star trail photography over the lake, but with the forecast calling for rain we knew it wasn't a good chance of clear skies. On the other hand, we knew that with the forecast being what it was there was a possibility of seeing some lightning if the thunderstorms that were forecast arrived early enough. Sure enough, not long after we arrived at the lake it was very cloudy and we saw some lightning flashes across the lake. Before long we were seeing lightning bolts coming down on the far shore. It made for a fun show for about an hour, then the rain came and we had to pack up our gear.

Sunday Morning Sunrise

The pictures below are for Susan. As we were having lunch the other day she wondered what pictures I had taken that would show what it was like in Indiana while I was there but at the time I hadn't taken any. These were shot this morning, south of Columbia City on highway nine, as I was driving down the road. A little snow. Lots of cold.




Yes, I went back home for a few days. I had some things to take care of before I got further away. My sojourn in Louisiana lasted two weeks. Thank you very much, Ruth, for your hospitality. It was cold the first week there but we managed a few short outings. The last couple of days in Monroe were quite nice with the temperature reaching 70 degrees. Then I went north. Where the temperature never got above 20 for the week. A big Thank You to my brother Jack and his wife Beesa and to my friend Cindy and her husband Bill for allowing me to invade their homes for a few days.

The journey has resumed. I'm heading south again, still hoping for some warmer weather.

Mission Bells

Misty Mission Bells, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

On a hike yesterday I spotted these mission bells in full bloom. They're really an interesting species, unlike anything else that grows nearby in the grassy oak woodlands.

Spring is here in San Luis Obispo, but what about your part of the world?

There simply aren't enough hours in the day

For some time, I've been contemplating creating a Public Member Tree on ancestry.com. Yesterday I uploaded a small gedcom file to use as a little test. It was created from Legacy using the default options, which essentially means everything would be included, except what was marked as private. Basically, I was trying to determine, and understand, how the data gets parsed and how it displays on a person's profile page.



The file consisted of just a few generations of Mom's ancestors and contained 58 people. Within seconds of uploading the gedcom there appeared 57 ancestry hints! A few minutes later 21 of those people had a total of 194 hints. What is that figure going to be if I upload a database of 5000 dead people? More than a little overwhelming, I think.








I perused about half of those hints and didn't discover any new information. In fact, the stories and photos that I viewed were from my blog or stuff I've shared over the years with other people. The record hints were mostly census records.




As far as how the data displayed - at first it didn't make a lot of sense. I may not like it, but I think I now understand why it is done the way it is.




I was somewhat concerned about the General Notes and Research Notes that I've got in my Legacy file. There's stuff in those Notes that I don't particularly want to share just yet. In the past that was where I put "temporary" information. When I had access to the internet for research and I'd find something it would go there until I got around to reviewing it and entering it into the events or facts for the individual. I've just never gotten back to it. Notes are also where I put the stuff that has not been "proven" to my satisfaction along with thoughts and analysis. Rather like a "holding bin" of sorts. Where other people might have piles of paper on their desk, I've got bunches of notes. The result is the same, it all just sits there waiting for that wonderful time called "round-toit" to show up.




Thankfully, the General Notes and Research Notes in Legacy went into a "Notes" area on the ancestry online tree that appears to be hidden. There is a notation on that screen that "Notes can only be viewed by the owner and by those invited to the tree as an "Editor."




Handling of events was a little strange, I thought.




Events were added to the online tree using the Event Name, Description, Date, and Place as they were in Legacy, which is good. But the "Notes" that I've added for each Legacy event went into an area that is available only by clicking on the "Unsourced Citations" link.






After clicking on the name of the Source Citation another screen displays and you have to click on "(view source details)" to see the entire citation.






This is where the detail information for the source is displayed. If any "Comments" have been added in Legacy regarding the source, they are included in the "Notes" area of the "Source Information" screen.








This is the screen that displays when you click on the "Unsourced Citations" link of an event. The text in the "Other Information" area is the notes that were entered in Legacy for that particular event.




That's a lot of clicking... will anyone click through all those screens to see the details or additional information? Doubtful.




After 2 hours of viewing various people and screens, the test tree was deleted. It had been a long time since I had created a gedcom from Legacy so I spent a little time looking at the options. In the test gedcom, I left the options at the default, which basically means everything would be included, except that marked as private. But there is a little button in the lower right corner that says "customize." Clicking on that button brings up a screen that looks rather intimidating at first.




What's cool is that it allows you to exclude "groups" of items such as Events, Medical Notes, Regular Notes, Research Notes, To-Do Items, and (gasp) even Sources.








The "Customize" screen for exporting a gedcom from Legacy.


I have so many events for some individuals that their profile screen in the online tree was extremely cluttered. I also have a lot of "special" or custom events created for my own use. In addition, I already have a lot of "Census" events so if I were to add the hints for census records as an event in the online tree, there would be a lot of duplication.



What I am now considering is uploading a rather "bare bones" file without events and notes but including sources. Such as they are. Then, I will selectively add "stories" from blog posts (as suggested by Apple) as well as adding "stories" as explanations for some of my conclusions regarding certain relationships.



My database is not perfect. It's not done. It never will be. There are some relationships entered that are purely speculation on my part, and some that are probably outright wrong. But if I wait until everything is "right" it won't ever get put online. On the one hand, I may be adding more misinformation to the multitude of misinformation already out there. Will that come back to haunt me some day? On the other hand, I know I have information that could resolve some of the misinformation on certain families.



So I'm still in a state of flux in deciding whether to put my database online, and if so, how much of it to share. Do I include events and sources? I don't particularly like how the events get imported but I also don't want to spend a lot of time adding things to the online tree. Do I put up a tree with just the ancestors? Or do I include all 5000 deceased persons in the database? Decisions. Decisions.

Desert Treasures

I never make a guess at what I might find when out on the desert. We have found all kinds of strange things - lots of beer cans and beer bottles, wine and liqueur bottles, soft drink cans and fast food wrappers are common. We have found lots of tires, chairs, broken TV's, computers, printers, cell phones, clothes, dishes, broken drills and other tools, and anything that you might think of would be in any household trash can. It seems a lot of people would rather dump their trash on the desert instead of paying their trash bill so that the trash company will haul it for them. To me that doesn't make any since at all. We have heard of people that have found nice furniture and other things that they took home and used - a recliner, dresser, kids swing set, and someone found nice curtains in a plastic bag they took, cleaned and used for years. You have to wonder why some things are thrown out. Couldn't they just be donated to the local thrift store? The other day Lee and I were driving down the road and at the same time we pointed and said, "Is that a boat?" we could just barely see it out in the sage brush. We drove out and yes, it was a boat, but to bad it wasn't in condition to take home. It looked as if it had been wreaked. Maybe on a trailer going down a highway and rolled off. We went on farther and there was what had been a nice couch sitting under a juniper tree just waiting for someone to sit on it and enjoy the scenery. The hill behind the tree and couch in the photo hides a pond where cows were drinking. I had a though about how many cows could sit on the couch at once but none came over to try.

Death Valley :: Scottys Castle

Be forewarned – this post is graphic intensive – lots of photos!



Thursday, March 8th - - Continuing on with today's excursion, it was only a few miles further north to Scotty's Castle. Walter Scott was a shyster. Using the lure of untold millions of dollars worth of gold in his mine, he duped wealthy business men into financing his imaginary mine – though they didn't know the mine really didn't exist! He eventually incurred the favor of a wealthy business man from Chicago. Albert Johnson, in poor health found another kind of wealth from the dry desert air and an escape from the busy life he led. He enjoyed Scotty's company and the tales he told, whether true or not.



In the early 1920s Mr. Johnson began construction of a vacation home – his wife didn't care much for camping and sleeping on the ground but she enjoyed being in the desert. Within a short time, the palatial house became known as “Scotty's Castle” and the Johnson's went along with it all, perhaps getting a great deal of pleasure in the ruse they were playing on friends and guests who visited the ranch and listened to the stories told by Scotty.



You can read more about the story behind Scotty's Castle on the Death Valley website. It's a fun and interesting story!





As you are driving in from the south, through pretty much barren land, nestled in a small valley at the end of Death Valley National Park there is a little oasis, likely the only potable water in that end of the valley, and nearby is the site upon which Mr. Johnson chose to build his little house.





The courtyard between the two buildings with the clock tower in the background.



Inscribed above the door is “Death Valley Ranch” which is the name the Johnson's gave the place.



The interior of the house is dimly lit, the windows are covered with the original draperies some of which were made of leather. The draperies are closed to block out the sunlight and help preserve the furnishings. Oddly enough, photographs are allowed to be taken inside – even with flash!







The main entry-room was impressive with its floor to ceiling fireplace spanning two floors. The second floor has a balcony that goes completely around the entry-room.





The tour guides dress in period costumes from the 1930s, which is when the Johnson's opened their home to tour groups to help pay for the upkeep of the ranch.





Decorative tiles over the kitchen sink.



The kitchen stove, with copper cooking utensils. The little white appliance on the left of the shelf above the stove is a toaster. Their vacation may have been in a remote area, but the Johnson's had the latest and most modern features.





A floor level view of that fireplace, taken from the kitchen doorway.



A corner fireplace in one of the guest rooms upstairs.



The music room. To the left was a long alcove with a player organ. As part of the tour, they turn it on and play one song. It was beautiful and quite loud.





The elaborate ceiling of the music room. The cables are part of the original construction, used to keep the walls from bulging outward.





A beautiful stained glass window in the west wall of the music room.



Looking up the spiral staircase that leads to the top of the tower, which can be seen on the right side of the photo below.





A front view of Scotty's Castle. The pool in front goes the entire length of the house, and more. The tour guide said it had never been filled with water. If you look closely you can see a cross on the hill above and behind the house. Scotty's grave is to the left of the cross, he died in 1954.





I was amused by the “old prospector” weather vane atop the front tower, probably depicting Scotty on one of his legendary mining expeditions.