Tag Archives: Hiking/Camping

What’s Happening In My World

Been a while since I posted and time for another one.  Now where to begin….

We’ve been needing new laptops, ours are like 4-5yrs old and obviously outdated.  I personally was trying to hold on until the new windows operating system came out because I HATE vista.  But I was getting really worried about my pc, locking, shutting down……fans going all the time….not a good sign.

Well, hubby has had enough…we are tried of the antivirus programs that hog your resources, the continuous updates that windows has you do and frankly, vista was unforgivable.  So he decided on a macbook pro, screw pc with windows.  He got one last month and really likes it.  There are things that are weird on it but he is much happier with it.  He has been trying to convince me to get a macbook pro, but there would be no way unless I can use quickbooks and convert my files.  I can not do my job without it.

I found that QB does have a mac version and that there is even a mac version of office, which I needed for word & excel.  So after watching hubby with his new macbook and finding those programs, I too finally got a macbook pro.  A basic one that with only $100 extra let me go from 2gb ramm to 4gb ramm!  And after using my laptop with 1.5gb ramm….wow, big differences.

I got it on Friday the 8th, so I spent the weekend transferring files over and setting it up and learning it. We ordered my programs that I needed and of course it was a holiday weekend, so we didn’t the stuff until Tues….doh.  So I spent Tues trying to get those set up, had to get a new keyboard/mouse combo since my other one was for windows and get work done AND get ready for my friend Jessie that was coming out on the 11th for the Oregon/Purdue game in Eugene.

During all this stress and work, Sakura lost a claw while freaking out when she got caught in a plastic bag.  Now we didn’t know she lost a claw from this…they were playing with the bag, like all of previous cats have, so we didn’t think nothing of it.  Then we hear this huge commotion, see Drew fluffed up to 2-3times his size, heck we thought it was Sakura because we almost never see him do that.  He is all freaked out and when we finally find Sakura, she is behind the couch stuck in the handle of the plastic bag.  The water was a mess and the food was tipped over from Sakura running with it.  That was on Fri the 8th.

So late Sat we noticed that something was wrong with her walking, there was blood marks here and there.  We had just trimmed their claws like Wed/Thurs, so we are freaking out thinking we cut too far and she got an infection.  Of course the next day was Sunday, the vet was closed and then Monday was a fracking holiday…closed also.  We read online about soaking it in epsom salt, so we did that to her annoyance.  When we got her in Tues they made room for her because a claw infection is a serious thing.  We found that the salt helped, they gave her antibotics and saw that she lost her claw.  And when talking to the vet, it dawned on hubby that it wasn’t from the trim. She didn’t jerk when he did that claw and we only do the tips.  It was from the bag incident.

She is doing much better, lets us look at her claws (well, within reason) and looks to have another one growing.  But the messed up thing, is that Drew got into another plastic bag in the spare room a week later the morning that we were leaving for Eugene and the same damn thing happened!!!  It freaked him out so bad that he wet himself.  We don’t think he did it has bad as Sakura’s but he lost 3 of them.  WTF?!?  We’ve never had cats do that before.  His claws are already back to normal after a few times in epsom salt.  But no more plastic bags are allowed to be accessible to the wonder twins.

It was great to see Jessie! I haven’t seen her since her wedding. She use to work for me at Fannie May in Lafayette.  She use to be one of the ones the helped me run it.

She finally got here Thurs after her flight was late and we went to a pub that we liked to go to and just relaxed.  She was so thoughtful and brought us this Purdue football season t-shirts!  Friday we took her to the local sights, Larch Mountain & Multnomah Falls.  Then her and I visited the outlet mall nearby.

Saturday we drove down to Eugene, took us less time to get there then we thought it would. Saw a ton of Oregon Duck fans on the way. =)  Got a lot of stares for our Purdue flag and clothes…..grin

When we stopped for lunch and walked in….the host was wearing a duck jersey and just stared.  Hubby was like, yup all 3 of us….lol  Everyone was nice and good natured.  We found the stadium much easier then we thought we would and need kill time before they’d let us in, so we chilled out at the park surfing on our phones.  Now we were hot as heck and hid in the shade.  It hit 90degrees…icks So totally above our average at this time of year.

When we finally got in, the entrance we took was right next to the enclosed practice field.  And the Ducks do a really cool thing with it before the game.  They put a plastic/rubber cover on the field set up a bunch of tables/chairs, tvs, a bandstand and concessions.  It was really nice and great place to hang out and stay cool.

Then the oddest thing keep happening.  Oregon fans keep stopping to make sure that we were treated right and welcoming us to Eugene.  That was weird, but very cool.  When we got to our sets, we were surrounded by Ducks…the Purdue Alumni was about 2 sections over, but we did get a Purdue family in front of us….lol  Overall, the Oregon Duck fans were really cool.  We were so hoping that they wouldn’t be like Wash Husky fans who are the rudest and have the worst sportmanship we have ever encountered.  The OR fans were the standard fun trash talk & good natured ribbing that we were used to in the Big Ten.  The way it should be.

Autzen Stadium is a really nice.  It has really nice setup for the concessions and bathrooms.  And it is LOUD.  It is the loudest one I’ve ever been in.  My ears rang forever afterwards.

It was extremely slow going on the I-5 going home.  It didn’t actually clear up until we got on the 205, which was like 20min away from home.  But we still made better time then we thought we would with all that traffic.

Sunday, my friend was happy to just stay at home and chill out while watching some football.  I was actually able to get some of my regular work done, while she surfed and work on my other laptop.

I got up about 05:30 to get her to the airport Monday and actually skipped the gym due to all the payroll I hadn’t been able to get to.  Go thing that I did, learning the different version of the programs I use slowed me down and I had a ton of new people to add to it.  Payroll on the 15th is usually my easiest……not this time.  I can normally get it all ordered before bed on the 14th (since I’m on the west coast, cut off is midnight eastern)…..nope, not until Tues was I able to order it.  Then we have this fraud scrubbing we had to do, that I still have 6 people waiting on that before I can pay them.  I ended up 2 days behind on the catching up the books and spread sheets.

And if you saw my tweets, having major issues with the reconciliation in the mac version of QB.  I finally got it to work, but they really need to get it up to speed.  I expect differences between Mac QB and Win QB, but some of those differences are horrible.  Using Mac QB is like using Win QB from 6 yrs ago.  I know that this is like only the second year of them making a version for Mac again (didn’t have one for 7yrs) and that was due to apple’s decline.  So they have to rebuild it, but come on……I should be able to change my fracking fonts and the reports not look like something out of high school….ggeezz.

I usually wait 3-4yr in between my QB upgrade, but if they can get some of these basic changes in the next version I’ll get it.  Of course, I have to see it in action 1st to make sure that it is there. But for now, I’ll just work with it and hope for the changes.

So it has been a stressful week work wise and learning wise.  I’m finally taking time out for my own little work things.  Like getting our photo printer hooked up to my mac and getting the software downloaded for it.  I figured out how to import pictures through photo shop, because there is no way in hell that I’m using iphoto.  That is horrible system for people who want to do their own thing……you can’t even find the pictures on the HD when you import into that, you have to use that damn program….ggrrr.  It is enough that it gets under my skin and I’m so, so happy that I can use my photo shop for it.  =)

Need to learn the FTP program that we have for the mac.  Not sure about it, seen hubby use it and I don’t like the layout and he doesn’t either.  Seems unorganized….which is not us.

Since the kids are finally back in school we have some nice weather left, we are planning a day hike later this week.  We are looking at this trail : http://www.nwhiker.com/MHNFHike27.html

It almost 10miles and only a 1400 ft difference in elevation (after our last one of 12miles & 2900 ft difference, doesn’t seem as bad…lol)  What is going to be kind of strange, is seeing the east side of Mt Hood.  We live west of it and are used to that west outline of it.  I’m getting so psyched for this.  The pictures on that link look beautiful and I love hiking.  And since we did our 1st big one, we are much better on trying to prepare ourselves.

We will have to leave here around 6am, since it is about 90-120min away.  We don’t want to run out of daylight like that last time…..now that was scary because that trail got very rough and dangerous.  I’m HOPING that it will only take about 4-6hrs.  The last one took 8hrs & 20min and as I said longer and bigger elevation difference which slowed us down.

So now I’m trying to decide what I want to do…….thinking of attacking some pictures.  If I get the galleries made it force me to learn that FTP program we have. But today, other then making sure there aren’t any fires at work, I’m just trying to work on my own thing and watch some football.  =)

The Coastal RedWoods

Well, it has taken me a couple of months of getting to it, but I finally got the pictures up from our trip…..better late then never.   =)

They are located on this page of my blog : http://www.paulineantoinette.com/our-travels/

They are sorted by the different types of cameras and in sections so the galleries aren’t so overwhelming.

From the Nikon D70

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_0525_Redwood_NP/part1/index.htm

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_0525_Redwood_NP/part2/index.htm

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_0525_Redwood_NP/part3/index.htm

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_0525_Redwood_NP/part4/index.htm

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_0525_Redwood_NP/part5/index.htm

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_0525_Redwood_NP/part6/index.htm

From the Olympus Stylus 740

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_May_Redwoods/part1/index.htm

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_May_Redwoods/part2/index.htm

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_May_Redwoods/part3/index.htm

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_May_Redwoods/part4/index.htm

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_May_Redwoods/part5/index.htm

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_May_Redwoods/part6/index.htm

From my iPhone

http://www.paulineantoinette.com/PNH/travel/2009_redwoods_iphone/index.htm

I hope that you enjoy!

Hello Everyone!!

Been a bit since I’ve done an entry. If you’ve been following my tweets, it has just been the normal daily routine…..working, getting things done around the house, doing errands and the gym.

We have tried to stick with our routines just to keep our mind busy. Mine keeps drifting to Diesel’s family and I’ve been dropping them emails.

It is HOT…yuck. It is going to get hotter…blah. I know places like FL and IND gets hotter and stickier but for OR, the place where central air is not standard, it is hot. If it wouldn’t go past the mid 80s, it would be perfect. But we are suppose to hit the 100s in the next 3 days…ugh! Which also means the gym is going to be stuffy. Need to make sure we get treadmills near the fans.

I’ve been making progress and I hit the weight goal that I set when I started about 18 months ago. So I’m pretty pleased, just need to get rid of some more jiggly. I’m not sure what I want tightened more, my ass, thighs or abs. Ab wise, I’ve never had a tight one even when I was younger and in shape….so that is actually out realistically and I do like my curves. So I think I really would like to see my legs tighten up because I use to stop traffic with them. =) Either way, I’ll just keep with my exercise program and keep counting my calories. That is the only way.

Hubby and I are trying to decide where are next hike is going to be. We’ve been in OR for about 2 yrs and have yet to visit Mt Hood, then there is the Bend area and Crater Lake….not sure. Trying to decide if we want to camp or get a hotel and how many nights. We are counting down the days when school starts to free up the crowds in the parks and trails.

In fact, Harold mentioned that he is ready for fall. The colors and the comfortable temperatures…..the crisp air….the kids in school. =) I love fall, it is my favorite time of year.

Finally found out from my mom, that my great aunt that passed away last month is going to have a memorial next month in FL. Unfortunately, I’m not able to go. =( But mom is going.

I finally got a few months written on our holiday letter. I still need to do the rest of May, June and July. I really need to write them when they are fresh in my mind, but this year is flying by. I can’t believe that July is almost over…wow

I really need to get to my long term to do list…..picture galleries, clean up my hard drives and organize them, back up my pc……. I just really didn’t have motivation for them this weekend, too hot.

Well, I’m going to read my comics online and get to the bedroom, much cooler in there. =)

Our Trip

You know, I had started a post a few days ago and it has disappeared….wacky.

Watching WALL-E while doing this.  I love this movie!

I spotted my 1st raccoon in our neighborhood. I heard something up on the neighbor’s roof, thought it was one of the many squirrels, looked up and saw him.  It was hard to see him with losing daylight…..but he would come to the edge of that roof and look towards me as I talked to him.  =)

Today, I was actually able to get my work done after getting bombarded with things needing answering as soon as we got back from the gym.  I actually got time to get some things down around the house and have time to write up a blog. =)

My abs are sore as hell, that is what I get for not doing anything for week.  I can’t even laugh without it hurting.  But because my abs hurt, I’m not feeling the pain in my thighs, that I know is there.  And my new nose piercing isn’t hurting until I do something goofy, like hit it……..lol You don’t realize how much you touch your nose until you can cause pain doing it……grin

For those who missed my tweets (check them out…because I do post pics), I got my nose pierced Sunday and hubby got his other nipple done.  Since we got our anniversary presents early (the iphones in Apr) and we went camping last week for it, I knew we weren’t going to do much on it.  So I wanted to finally get our piercings done on a special day just to break it up especially since I was going to be working late on payroll.

Here is a hint, never have your wedding on a holiday or end/beginning of the month.  Messes up planning, so that is why we plan our celebrations early.

We went camping for the 1st time since our honeymoon….damn, can’t believe it has been that long.  We brought our tent and sleeping bags for our anniversary last year, but with trips and moving, never got to our camping.  So a year later, we finally got to use our stuff.  =)

We went down to the Redwoods in CA.  We took the quick route down, I-5 until we needed to cross over to 101.  Once we got to 101, we got to see some stunning scenery…huge trees and beautiful coastal views.  Once you opened your windows you could smell the forest….I love that smell.

We stayed at Prairie Creek campgrounds.  They have the last herd of Roosevelt Elk that frequents the meadow.  It was so cool to see.  They were just getting their antlers, so those were small and covered in felt.  The meadow was a fern meadow and not very tall at all, but it was amazing how they could easily hid in it.

We got a very nice spot, felt semi-private and tucked away.  We had one of the faucets for water right in front of our site, worked out nicely for washing dishes.  The fire grill was kind of high and big.  So you could sit and get the heat of it very well and with the size, couldn’t get good ashy fire.  The fires that are steady with the burning that makes it easier to cook over.  But we enjoyed anyway and learned a few things.  =)

We got our tent set up pretty quick.  Practicing in the living room really helped that.  =)  What flustered me, was that we try extremely hard to be organized and we couldn’t maintain that at all.  Always having to get our stuff out of the bear box and then forgetting that we had snacks and lotions..and stuff in our travel bags that we needed to put into the box….boy, we need more practice….lol

I know that camping is suppose to be roughing it and that doesn’t bother me, but I’m a female and love having a bathroom with running water.  And that campground had that.  =)  I really wasn’t looking forward to latrines….males have it so much easier for that.  They even had a few coin operated showers, which was great on the 2nd night after hiking…even if it was chilly on the walk back.

On the second day, we went hiking to the Tall Tree Grove.  That was really, really cool to see.  We had to get a permit to use the access road to get to it.

The 2nd night of sleeping was much more comfortable then the 1st night.  Think we were finally getting settled in it.

On the third day, we took the 101 out all the way.  We wanted to drive the Oregon coast. Wow is what I have to say about that.  It was a winding and hilly road, you really had to take care.  But it was stunning.  It was cool to see the sea and mountain air hit to make just beautiful mist.

We stopped at a great diner called Kozy Kitchen in Coos Bay. We had the best Turkey Manhattans ever, of course they were called open faced sandwiches and looked at us as if spoke a different language when we called them that……lol

We were going to drive all up to Cannon Beach, but we were so tired of driving and just wanted to chill.  So we ended up staying at Newport and got a room with a jacuzzi.  It was nice to chill out and check up, because we haven’t had a steady connection since we left home…lol  You don’t get the ATT 3-g network in the Redwoods or 90% of the drive up to Newport…grin

We had decided to head home the next day, but before we did that, we visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport.  It is one of the best ones I’ve ever seen.

What was surprising about our trip is that we got totally perfect weather for it!  At this time of the year the Redwoods it is normally rainy.  This time, it was sunny and clear, in the 60s and got to the mid 40s at night….perfect!

Even Portland has had great weather since Memorial Day and they haven’t had a non-rainy Memorial Day since 2005, I believe they said on the news….lol  We are suppose to get some thundershowers in the next day or so, but compared to last June with the constant chilly rain, I’ll take.  We have been having some perfect weather.

Overall, I really enjoyed myself even with the small things that drive you batty.  It was great to be out in nature and have fresh air.  Felt wacky as heck not to have some sort of online access, sadly……..lol…but nice.  I do need to learn how not to do anything again, felt kind of weird doing that.

I know that I should post more, but I spend a lot of my time working online, going to the gym, laughing at our cats, and doing everyday errands.  So I really don’t have much to post about.  Hell, I think most of my tweets are about work………lol  I need to work on that.  No one wants to hear the same thing over, over again.

And I’ve started to use twitter to make my comments on politics most of the time, since they are shorter and not long rants.  Boy, I could do some ranting about what has been going on….grin

I can tell you that our cat Drew loves to “roar” for no reason at all…….grin  He is always touching stuff….I swear he has ADD…..LOL

**I just noticed that my blog design is screwed up.  Looks like I may need to find another one.  =(  I really like this one.

My visit to the forest moon of Endor

The Grand Canyon

Some of you may know it as Redwoods National Park, but geeks will know it as Endor. We left Monday morning around 715 am and made really good time, We was driving down town Grants Pass when the F15’s did a flyover for Memorial Day so we timed that perfectly, but of course had no time to get a camera since it happen so fast.

Driving though Jedediah Smith State Park was fun, we stopped at a rest stop and ran into a family reunion (yeah, at a rest stop) which turned out to be a bunch of bible thumpers and we even had a 10 woman prayer circle in front of our Jeep as we was leaving. They was all in line for lunch (had to be 50+) and I was getting whiffs of the toilets they was next to, so I’m sure god must have told them that is where he wanted them to eat just so he could get a good laugh since he is a sick and sadistic fucker.

We stopped in Crescent City and got some Starbucks which was much needed and wanted and made numerous stops all the way down to our camp site which was called Elk Prairie and it lived up to the name, we saw 12 or so elk the minute we got there. We bought some really expensive firewood and made camp.

Tuesday we drove down to Orick, CA which was smaller than I expected and since Google maps was fucked, they did not have the Starbucks it said they had (which I just edited BTW on Google map) the marker was 40+ miles too far south… fuckers.

We also took a hike down to the Tall Tree Grove which was really cool to see trees that fucking big. What ticked us off was we wanted to get a toy Ewok to have some pictures with but of course we forgot it. I also dropped my shitty telephoto lens, so now it’s even shittyier and won’t work, so at least I have a legit reason to replace it other than “I want a better one” which was a good enough reason anyway.

Wednesday we wanted to drive to Cannon Beach if not all the way home via 101, we made a few stops and was just blown away by the views, but after 6 hours of driving in shitty traffic at times, we realized Newport was as far as we wanted to go and we grabbed a room next to the aquarium and just chilled out for the night.

Thursday we visited the Newport aquarium and we both really liked it, it wasn’t as packed as it could have been, but the kids screaming made up for it, but still it’s a very nice aquarium. Afterwards we took 20 to 34 to I5 and got home around 2 pm.

Pics are ok, my camera skills are ok at best and my lenses are cheap, but from what I’ve seen on video I like what I see.

I am not in the mood to write as I thought I was, so this is the end…