Still Alot of Ground to Cover

Bridget alerted me to this map that will show countries and states one has visited. I went ahead and did one for myself.  Airport layovers in Atlanta, Minneapolis or Detroit are not counted. I did include the stop in Bangor Maine in 1976 as it was not your ordinary layover. We spent a torturous time and significant energy and emotional trauma at that airport finding out if we were to be deported or not. So it counts. 

My stopover in the Azores Islands shows up as Portugal.

Even though a trip to Europe is  a noteworthy and memorable experience, on the world level it doesn't seem to be that significant, as you can see below. I visited one small part of Russia, yet the program counts the entire massive country which makes my map look impressive.


visited 22 states (9.77%)

Create your own visited map of The World



visited 36 states (72%)

Create your own visited map of The United States

NOTE: since creating this post we have done some traveling, visiting Scandinavia and some of the Baltic States. I have attempted to update the world map but can't make it work. It should be 31 states, 13.7%. Not that anyone's counting.

My Victory Over Radical Bunion Surgery—the Final Chapter

About a month after my radical bunion surgery on November 20, 2009, my foot was still painful and very swollen, and losing the crutches was in the distant future. Yet I made a goal then to hike demanding Dog Mountain at the end of May, something we do most years during wildflower season. It was an aggressive target yet I knew that having a reward to work towards would do wonders for the rate of my recovery. At the same time my friend Carolyn and I began making plans to climb mighty Mt. St. Helens the end of August. That was one trek I was aware might be too far a reach.

Nine weeks after surgery I drove a car for the first time and a couple of weeks later put the crutches away. And I quit using the wheelchairs at the grocery store. Limping was part of my life for three or four more months and that gradually diminished. I kept up some of the PT exercises and foot massage until mid-summer, and in May and June went to acupuncture to speed healing. Even now the ball of my foot is still puffy and the second toe is still stiff. It may always be that way.

On June 4th, I achieved my first goal of climbing Dog Mountain!  Read about that here.

And la-di-dah, on 2 Sep I slaved my way up Mt. St. Helens as if I had not had bunion surgery nine months earlier!!  That climb is tough for me even in the best circumstances and it was an even greater victory because of the hard months of work and care it represented!

reaching the summit of Mt. St. Helens

Katy, Carolyn, me, Tim at the summit

Separated at Birth?

I was recently asked to be a den leader to a group of Cub Scouts. Anna, the co-den leader who was a new acquaintance, came over to my house to deliver some information. She saw the antique family photos on our wall and was curious about them so I explained briefly who they were and where they were from.

When I got to Craig’s Texas clan and said some were Sellers, she said she had Sellers in her background too. Hers were from the Waco area. So are Craig’s. She detailed her ancestry: she is descended from Emmeline Sellers who had brothers Marvel and Orrin, and a sister Bell Zora. Yikes, my eyes popped out of my head. Could there be two different Sellers families from central Texas with those peculiar names? Not on your life! Anna and my husband are fourth cousins!

Take a look.  Can you see any resemblance? 

My Final MSH Climb

We did it again, another Mt. St. Helens climb!  For me it was the usual tough exhausting ascent.  About five miles one-way,  it starts with a two mile upward hike through an enchanting forest. After a short walk through an ash plain covered with stunted evergreens, the next couple of miles is an energy-sapping climb through a field of enormous boulders. Last section is a long steep haul up the ash cone to the summit. From Climber's Bivouac where we stayed the night before the climb, the ascent is something like 4500 feet.

The weather yesterday was clear and sunny, but not warm, and oh joy, the wind was whipping around us, sapping my will to go on. Transitioning from the boulders to the cone I was blown to my knees several times but once I employed my trekking poles, no more falls. But to make it up the cone I had to count 100 steps, then rest, 100 steps, rest. Thanks to rain the day before the cone was easier to navigate than on previous climbs.

At the top we had a little birthday party for my friend Carolyn, complete w/ a candle in a muffin. We couldn't keep the candle lit due to the gusts. In fact, a milestone birthday was the reason for us climbing MSH again. We both turned 55 in the past year, and we just wanted to see if we could still make the ascent--sort of a measuring stick of our energy and ability. And we're still with it!

But yesterday's climb was the last one for me. If I could make the ascent, then be plucked off the rim by a helicopter, that would be dandy. The descent through the boulders is absolutely torturous and demoralizing. Don't want to do that again.

So here is the summation of my experience on MSH
1995--climbed halfway with a group of Westview High students; turned back due to horrid weather
1998--camped overnight at Climber's Bivouac, then made the ascent w/ a group of 12 (Shirley Heninger, Daurie Larimer, Marsha and Larry Jensen, Katy and Tim Adams, Craig--Blair--Bridget Walker, Carolyn and Bob Cook, and me), 5.5. hours up
2006--camped overnight at Climbers Bivouac, ascended with 12: Craig Walker, Dave and Paul Bubnash, Steven, Greg and Keegan Atack, Katy and Tim Adams, Carolyn and Bob Cook, Robert from Poland, and me.  5 hours up
2010--camped at Climbers, ascended w/ 12??: Katy, and Tim Adams, Bridget and Jeremy Palmer, Emily and Craig Walker, Carolyn--Bob--Matt Cook, Betsy Brimhall and her father Steven Beus; Steve (Craig's friend), Kevin (??), me. Some strangers who bought our extra permits tagged along. 5 1/4 hours up

Craig's post today with lots of photographs:
http://acraigwalker.blogspot.com/2010/09/mt-st-helens-climb.html
My previous post on MSH:

http://topomountain.blogspot.com/2009_11_17_archive.html
Bridget's post:
http://miriampalmer.blogspot.com/2010/09/mt-st-helens.html

NOTE: I got conned into doing it again in 2017!

The Secret of Kells

For the first time in probably years we went to a movie in the theatre tonight. A short review in the Oregonian gave The Secret of Kells an A minus review and since we have seen illuminated manuscripts before and find them mesmerizing, we fought horrid rush-hour traffic to get over to the 5:10 show at Hollywood Theatre on 42nd and Sandy. Thanks to gridlock we walked in 15 minutes into the movie but the manager said it was ok to then stay for the next showing to watch what we missed. So we did that.

Turns out it is an animated flick featuring the richest hues and most enthralling graphics I have seen in animation. I thought, "they get it," they being those responsible for the film. And what they get is that this film is about The Book of Kells, a 10th century set of illuminations with gospel themes painted on vellum by monks slaving by candlelight in a dank dark stone fortress of a monastery.  Pages featuring figures and creatures that jump off the page in azure, emerald, ruby and scarlet, pumpkin, gold leaf, indigo and violet, umber, and butterscotch. A magnificent treasure it is, and the movie portrays that while reflecting on both the humble and difficult circumstances under which it was created.  See the trailer http://www.thesecretofkells.com/

As a side note, the Hollywood Theatre, built in 1926, generally shows unknown, NON-Hollywood movies! And no insulting, deafening previews either!

Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve

Last month we dropped off our youngest child at BYU to begin his freshman year. He graduated from high school June 14 and began college June 21. He was only 17 then (is now 18). His growth the past 12 months has been marvelous, and he had an excellent senior year—all As and 1 B, the only B being in AP Calc. He has shown he can meet higher education head on.

One of the most thrilling experiences in my life was transferring to BYU in 1973 as a sophomore. I’ll never forget driving up with my folks from Southern California in the pre-Interstate-15 days when much of the route was a sluggish 2-lane road. The freeway speeds us along now, but then it was fascinating driving down the main streets of historic pioneer towns such as Fillmore, Mona, Nephi, and Levan. Approaching Provo, the Wasatch Mountains loomed up in the distance, hovering over the campus. The weather was typical for late August—hot, clear, and sparkly. Coming closer, the gigantic Y emerged into view, perkily perched on the mountain to the east. When we passed the sign at the campus entrance,

Enter To Learn; Go Forth To Serve

a current of electric excitement ran through the air so strong that everyone felt it, even my folks who feared they were dropping me off at a cultish den of iniquity. I had joined the LDS Church the previous year, and though they knew a few Mormons and liked them, they understood little of the doctrine, but boy-oh-boy, they knew it was the antithesis of the stodgy church they attended.

 

BYU Campus and Y Mountain

My folks moved me into Heritage Halls where I met my roommates: Suzanne Gaden from Seiling Oklahoma, Dode Walker from Burley Idaho, Margie Scorup from Othello Washington, Holly Rogers and Linda Frost from Flagstaff Arizona. In front of Broadbent Hall, Dode and her folks were taking her picture. She was wearing this really odd getup: a gaudy sequined shirt and pants with a matching cowboy hat, all the same garish hot pink! What the heck!? Who dresses like that!? I soon found out it was the garb of a rodeo princess--we weren't in Kansas anymore. I had no idea about things like rodeo princesses and was about to learn much more, not the least of which was Mormon Culture 101.

I am deeply grateful for BYUs stunningly magnificent campus and setting, the cleanliness, the tidiness of the students. Mom and Dad commented on all of these, and were impressed by the friendliness of everyone they met. The BYU atmosphere contributed to my folks’ very positive impression of BYU and the Church. It was at that point they realized the LDS Church was a power for good and not some odd cult. And from this point on my life became much more pleasant. Thank you BYU!

Arches, Canyons, Needles and Reefs

Southern Utah—Wow!  We spent four days in four national parks: Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon, plus Natural Bridges National Monument. In each we hiked to and through some of their notable features. As dramatically beautiful as western Oregon is, it lacks arches, needles or reefs here (we are blessed with stunning mountains and waterfalls). Southern Utah comes in a rainbow of sandstone colors, and was prehistorically ocean floor. As a child growing up in an area of sandstone mountains in S. California, one of the thrills of my childhood was finding seashells stuck in canyon walls at the edge of town. Until this trip I didn’t realize just how extensive the ocean coverage was—all the way into what is now the Great Plains.

We camped out every night, and got plenty of hiking and gawking in on this trip. S. Utah is every bit a scenic wonderland as is the Grand Canyon or Yosemite or any other well-known US destination. Craig is writing about our tour in more detail here  http://acraigwalker.blogspot.com/