K'Nex Monster Coaster Buildfest

Recently Chris organized yet another K'Nex Buildfest party. He coordinated the buildfest with family birthdays and slated all for the weekend of August 17 and 18 at his house. Team members for this K'Nex event were Chris, David, Gary, Nicky and Melissa. The mission was to build a monster coaster in two days using more than three K'Nex coaster sets. The week before the build, Chris razed the Monster ParaBall (built January of 2002). Team members showed up on Friday night and worked until Sunday afternoon to complete the Monster Coaster. The final step was to lift the complete structure up fifteen feet into the air over their heads and suspend it on the balcony ledge. Of course the robocam was running the entire time along with the Dave Cam. If you logged on while the Dave Cam was going you probably saw some very bizarre camera shots and pans!

What is next?

To find out, there is now an official site for Chris' K'Nex projects. You can check out what has been built (four different creations so far) and what will be built next at www.buildfest.com/ (launch date: sometime in September).

Our July Vacation

When we look back at everything we did on our vacation we took in July, we are sure it must have been much longer than 19 days. We began with the Austin family convention in Denver, a unique experience in itself. When we weren't attending the workshops during the day at the downtown Denver Holiday Inn hotel, we were exploring the Denver library or the 16th Street Mall which included unusual art sculptures, cute shops and a free shuttle from one end of the mall to the other. A revitalization of downtown Denver appears to be a fresh one. Many people mingled, wandered, shopped, ate and enjoyed music from both big and small bands.

Not only did my Mom fly in to attend the convention, Marjorie and Dana, Robert's aunt and uncle, drove their RV to be there. Plus, Marjorie and Dana's daughter Janet drove from Missouri to attend as well! Other than looking and acting quite mature, Janet looks pretty much the same as we remember her.

On the first day of the convention, after a day of workshops, instead of going with everyone to dinner, we took an out-of-town trip to visit cousin Judy in nearby Commerce City. Judy, the daughter of my Mom's Aunt Fern and Uncle Joe, is happily enjoying life with two dogs and five cats. The cats are a result of her involvement in a ferret cat rescue organization. She had many old photos to share with us of which I was able to capture many with our digital camera.

From Denver, on Monday July 15, we drove to Rocky National Park where we camped for three nights. Putting our tent up the first night was a bit of a challenge since we had never done it before (even though we have had the tent for several years now). We walked around the campground looking for similar tents. Only then were we able to figure it out!

The first full day at Rocky National Park, we took a free shuttle up to Alberta Falls to hike a loop to Bear Lake ignoring the sign telling us the trail was "unimproved." Deciphering exactly where the trail was supposed to go got us in trouble. We ended up going down a canyon along a creek and never made it to Bear Lake. Several hours later after finding our way out of the woods and talking to a ranger, we were told we had ended up on a fire trail. Scrambling over rocks, climbing up banks and constantly having to find a trail that kept disappearing made for four very sore and tired legs. The following day we took much easier by "driving" up to the summit and then hiking only short trails to different scenic areas. The hikes took us to altitudes of over 12,000 feet. Yes, breathing was difficult.

After our summit drive and short hikes, we had time to go into Estes Park, the town near our campground, to buy groceries and a part to fix our broken camp stove. While in town we discovered Estes Ark. This ark was a store in the shape of a full size ark! Inside were three stories filled with thousands of stuffed animals. The first floor housed just teddy bears in all sizes, shapes and styles. Of course we bought an Estes Ark teddy bear to take home to Robert's Mom, who collects teddy bears.

Next destination, after Rocky National Park, was Glacier National Park. We had had our share of camping (especially we didn't even get to have fires due to the fire ban in Colorado) and we so looked forward to showering at the motor lodge room Robert reserved for us in Glacier.

However we didn't drive directly to Glacier. Instead, we drove 200 miles out of our way to see Devil's Tower. This huge monolith of a rock shooting right out of the middle of the ground was quite a sight to see and well worth the detour. Devil's Tower is famous for its role in the movie " Encounters of a Third Kind."

While in Glacier, we got in lots of hiking (42 miles in 4 days). And we did a lot of climbing. Robert says we climbed the equivalent of Donner Summit (elevation 6700 feet) and hiked as far as Concord (about 40 miles from Napa). The first day (the same day we drove over the summit on the way to our lodge) we hiked up to Hidden Lake from Logan Pass. We trudged through huge snow fields and saw a number of mountain goats on the way up and back. We even captured a really good picture of two marmots attacking each other! Robert had the camcorder going at the same time but just as they approached one another, the camcorder battery went dead.

The following day, we took a 15 mile round trip hike which included Iceberg Lake, Ptaragon Lake and Ptaragon Tunnel. On the way to Ptaragon Lake we came within 20 yards of a moose. She was standing right between the trees, ten feet tall, staring at us. We didn't dare stop. I certainly didn't dare take a picture. Robert though, quickly, and quietly, positioned the camcorder to point it in her direction and turned it on as we walked by. He actually managed to get some video of her! She was so majestic looking and yet so ominous. She looked like she was made of velvet that was of such a pretty, soft brown color. She just stared at us with intense eyes, keeping perfectly still except for the flickering of her ears. After we got past her, we kept looking back to make sure she wasn't coming after us. Robert wanted to see a moose while in Glacier and he got his wish!

Ptaragon Tunnel was the high point of all of our hikes. The tunnel is about 20 yards long, and six feet high carved right through the middle of the mountain as a foot path. Emerging from the other side we discovered an entirely new environment, the rocks were redder and craggier; there were more trees and a new lake which was a deeper blue and without ice like Ptaragon Lake. The path leading from the tunnel down the other side of the mountain was unbelievable. It had been steeply carved right into the rocky mountain side. Standing on the path looking out over the edge was like flying over the valley below.

Since the hike to the tunnel was tiring, we decided to take it easy the next day by taking a boat ride to a trailhead for an "eight" mile hike to Grimmel Glacier at the end of Josephine Lake. Turned out this shorter hike was our most harrowing. About halfway up we came across a sign on the trail that said "DANGER, snow field unstable, STAY OFF." When we saw other hikers beyond the snow field, we decided to follow. After all, we wanted to see the glacier! We had to cross a wide, fast moving river and climb around the top of the snow field. That was only the beginning of many more challenges on our trek to the glacier. We had another five or six snow fields to cross, many of them too risky to trek across because of how steep they were. For the most part we either climbed up and around or below them. As we came to each snow field, a few more hikers would give up and turn back. It was amazing we didn't get seriously hurt. We did get scraped up a good deal and I got quite wet sliding down a snow bank at one point. There was one snow field Robert decided to cross ( I chose to go up and around) which was very risky. Just as he reached the other side, a lady hiker behind him fell and started sliding down the slope. Robert instantly grabbed her arm and saved her from sliding down the mountain another 20 or 30 feet! You can be sure she was very grateful!

The next day on Tuesday, July 23, undaunted, we went on yet another 15 mile hike, this time to Swift Current Pass. The original plan was to turn back at the pass except we ran into hikers who told us about a hiker's chalet located in a wonderful panoramic view setting, just a mile further from the pass. Well of course we had to go see it! On the way down, my knee locked up so we took time to rest at the chalet. By doing so, we got to be part of the excitement of a grizzly bear spotting on a valley knoll across from the chalet. A crowd of about 30 people quickly gathered to try to spot the grizzly with binoculars or to take pictures with high powered zoom cameras. Robert pulled out the camcorder and was able to get something, albeit a jiggling speck on the TV screen when we viewed it later. But we could tell it was a bear!

Robert had been worried about bears (why we stayed in a cabin and didn't camp in a tent at Glacier) and said that was the best way to see one: a quarter of a mile away! Most all the while we hiked, we made noises and sang just as we were instructed to do so by all the rangers. This was so as not to surprise any bears. If bears know (by hearing their noises) that people are around, they "usually" will avoid them.

After our bear encounter and a half hour rest, we returned on the same seven mile path up over the pass back to our lodge. In spite of the rest at the chalet, my left leg gave me a lot of pain the entire way back. Robert's left leg bothered him as well. We were fine when we were climbing up the mountain. It was the downhill trek that was most difficult for us. We could barely walk and were quite a pathetic sight by the time we got down the mountain at 6:00 in the evening.

Once back and showered, we treated ourselves to "Fat Tire" beer with a stromboli dinner at the in-lodge restaurant then retired early at 9:00.

We totally enjoyed our four day experience in Glacier National Park, everything was so lush and green. Robert kept saying it was like walking though a park. There were so many different kinds of wild flowers blooming everywhere. Especially enjoyable was all the bear grass throwing its balls of tiny white petals on long slender stalks to the skies. Lewis and Clark named this plant because they believed bears ate it. It was later discovered bears did not care for it but the name stuck. I took lots of pictures of the bear grass and of course many more of other wildflowers.

Wednesday morning, at 6:30, we bid the mighty mountains good-bye and headed to Bellingham skipping our original plan to go through Canada. Originally we were going to leave Glacier on Tuesday. Robert decided to extend our stay an extra day once he saw how beautiful Glacier was. That gave us only one day to drive to Bellingham. I wanted the extra time to do some visiting and to finish up the piggy piñata I started before we left Napa. We were also hoping to get an opportunity to go sailing with Uncle Tom and also to visit Marla in Seattle however weariness got the best of us. I was lucky to even get the piñata done.

The theme for the piñata came from Frank Mesa's (this year's reunion host along with Dawn,Frankie, Chris and Irene) decision to roast a pig this year. In fact he invited anyone interested to come by when he started the roast on Friday night, the 26th. The pig went on the rotisserie around 6:00 and finished roasting just before midnight. Chris Mesa was the one who had to do all the work. The motor they had for it wasn't strong enough so the pig had to be turned by hand. Bravo for Chris!

There was a huge crowd for the Saturday potluck picnic and family reunion, a total of 47 came! We haven't had that big of a crowd in years. My Mom's sister Nancy and her husband Doc drove all the way from Naturita, Colorado. Because Doc has emphysema (from working in mines for years and years) and all the Colorado fires were intensely bothering his lungs, they decided to make the trip to Washington. Doc has two nieces who live in Tacoma who also came to the reunion. Bonnie's oldest daughter Delisa drove from Pollap in eastern Washington to attend. I told you about Delisa didn't I? She brought her two kids; Samuel, 4 years old, and Sara, 2 years old. Delisa looks so much like Bonnie! And like Bonnie, she is quiet, demure and very pretty.. Everyone enjoyed meeting her.

Robert and I were planning to head back to Napa very early Sunday morning. We changed our plans though when we found out Mom wanted to get the immediate family together for a lunchtime barbecue at Tammie and Anthony's house in Burlington. For the first time since we arrived in Washington, it rained that morning. The barbecue turned into an inside buffet. My sister Donna, who is a cook for 450 employees at the casino-hotel near Alger, and Tammie, her youngest daughter, fixed us great tasting meat wraps, potato salad, fruit, green salads and lots more.

After the family gathering, around 3:30, Robert and I hit the road. Robert reserved a Motel 6 room in Eugene and a good thing too since it was 10:00 by the time we checked in after buying groceries (for next morning's breakfast).

We got to Napa around 2:30 on Monday. Of course Chelsea and Madison were ecstatic to see us when we picked them up at Bonny Doone Kennel. When we went to pay for their boarding, we were given the "one dog -one month" rate which was 25% less than we had expected to pay. That was a pleasant surprise!

And at last our trip tale comes to an end. For me, this vacation was the best vacation I have ever had. Everything was mighty fine but It was the Glacier experience that really did it. We certainly did cover a lot of ground in the car, a total of 4,780 miles. Fortunately it wasn't all at one time. We drove about 800 to 1000 miles each leg of our trip: from Napa to Denver, from Denver to Rocky National Park, from Rocky to Glacier National Park, from Glacier to Bellingham and finally the last leg to Napa. I took over 400 pictures and Robert took 1 1/2 hours of video. We enjoyed all the people and family along the way and will always treasure these two plus weeks we stole away from our business and home!

Kathy's Graduation

On June 15th, Kathy proudly graduated from UC Irvine with a masters in urban planning. She celebrated this very special achievement by throwing a really big party. Robert, his Mom, his nephew Nicky and I all drove down for the occasion. Kathy worked very hard for this degree. She has been taking classes for two years and at the same time has been working at eLib, plus she freelanced and also interned for a large urban planning consultant company.

Not only did we do graduation the weekend of June 15th, we spent the next day visiting the aquarium in Long Beach followed by a very fun dinner at Joe' s Crab Shack. Being Father's Day, Kathy and Tim bought him a balloon hat to wear during dinner and a very cool Joe's Crab Shack shirt to take home as a souvenir. The day after that, Robert, his Mom and Nicky took in Disney's California Adventure. Kathy and I enjoyed a day at home, she doing some work in her office, me editing graduation movies then later both of us going shopping at Jo-An's Fabrics so she could buy material to use with the new sewing machine we gave her for graduation.

Now that Kathy has her degree, she has decided to go into business for herself rather than pursuing further employment as a urban planner with the company she had interned with. The company (RFB) was very disappointed because they absolutely loved her and the work she did for them. She found her internship with urban planning very intense making her realize that maybe urban planning isn't really what she wants to do just now. Instead, she is doing graphic design, web design, web database management and site management. She is renting an office in nearby Irvine and already has a great deal of business. Check out her portfolio at www.kathystudio.com on the net.