Winter Wonderland

We had quite a bit of snowfall the week before Dave came, so it looked like a painting once he arrived.  Our first winter adventure was snowshoeing in Ponderosa State Park.

It is fun to get back into the forest and not see others, especially with such beautiful snow covered pines and firs.

It was more of a work out than we remembered.  I can't wait to go again.

After a few days home, we took a trip to Atlanta for a week and a half to see our good friends.  Our first stop was Tonya's house, which had the bonus of two hilarious cats that like to play.  We ate amazing BBQ at Ann's, took a long walk on the rails to trails path to a downtown park where we played frisbee with another Antarctican, played 19 holes of frisbee golf, ate the best Jamaican jerk chicken, and played a round of Top Golf.  So great to catch up with someone so dear.

For the weekend, we went up to Brian's lake house on Lake Apalachia in northern Georgia.

We went fishing...a LOT!  It was peaceful and I took tons of photos.  You can't see him but Brian's three year old son is with us too.  What a trooper in winter temperatures!

Still green and beautiful even in the winter, with the pines.  This is a narrow boat compared to the pontoon boat.  But it goes fast!

The fish I caught.  He doesn't look like much in this photo, but the guys said he's trophy sized Bass.  Brian hooked him, and I reeled him in and released him.  That was our only fish for the weekend.

The dam on the other end of the lake and some other brave cold weather fishermen.

We enjoyed a whole lot of Jenga in the evenings.  Mercer, Brian's son, is actually really skilled at it too!

At the end of the weekend, upon our return to Atlanta, we went to see our friends DJ and Karen who photographed our wedding.  They took us on a hike up Stone Mountain.

This historic covered bridge was on the hike near Stone Mountain.

Gardens on the hike.  We also went to see historic mansions and an art community.

The restaurant at the top of this tower spun 360 degrees every hour.  We went there with DJ, Karen and Tonya for drinks to enjoy the far reaching views.

Beautiful water pond in the historic cemetery.  There were flowering shrubs and jonquils too.

A great feeling to have sunshine and t-shirt weather in late January.

Back in McCall, Dave and I went skiing twice at our local ski area, Brundage.

Our timing coincided with Winter Carnival, and this snow sculpture at the top of the ski lift was the winner of first place.  It's a train with men climbing onboard.

The theme for the sculptures was local history.  This is a Finnish settler.

And a Nez Perce Native. These two heads were back to back at the Mill Steakhouse.

I liked the Hot Potato Band carving too, by the Bistro 45 in the courtyard.

This one won most photogenic.  Payette Lake with Sharlie the dragon, near the jewelry shop.

We watched the celebratory fireworks from a few steps from our condo.  They were great!

This is at the top of Brundage Mountain.  I got a season pass there for the rest of this year.

Dave snowboarding for his first time since February 2009.  He had great form!

This was on a run called Alpine, on a great snow day, on my Birthday actually.

Snowy trees at the ski resort on the new backside bowl.  It looks like a fairytale!

Dave made his homemade pizza with homemade pesto sauce and it was incredible!  He also made homemade roasted garlic hummus which turned out delicious too.

This is a watermelon, wheat berry, parsley salad that I made.  I also made the Senegalese Peanut soup which both Dave and our neighbor liked and a Thai green coconut curry.  Its been fun expanding the food repertoire.  This week I've been making homemade salad dressings and marinated baked tofu.

This is from Brundage Mountain again, recently, after the rain stopped and we had a bit of blue skies and a great view.  The season pass has been a great way to get out for fun and fresh air.

This was on my favorite local walk.  The deer always gather in this dirt parking lot behind the police station in the winter because it's quiet there and they can nibble on the nearby grasses.  Had a great birthday celebration with Dave, skiing all day and then going out to dinner at the delicious new Mexican restaurant Pueblo Lindo.  And we went to the hot springs the evening before.

Hope winter is going along wonderfully for all of you as well.  Love you! Ildi

Winter and Holidays

This incredible, moss covered forest is on the Northwest Vipassana Center grounds.  I spent 7 days there volunteering this November, cooking three meals a day for meditation students.  Nothing like cooking lunch and dinner on Thanksgiving for 100 people and having everything turn out well!

A view from White's Pass in Washington State on Highway 12 near Mount Rainier National Park.  It's on the drive from McCall to Onalaska, where I volunteered. 

 Spring was in full effect when I arrived in late November.  These are tall lupines at a home in PA.

 Every street was adorned with flowering bushes like these lilacs, as well as tulips.

 An old pier near the Hotel Dreams.  The cormorants love to gather by the hundreds on this pier.

 

These flowers were at a restaurant with an incredibly scenic view of Punta Arenas and local Patagonian fare.  My friends and I went for ceviche and dessert.

A calm and gorgeous day in the Neumayer Strait just hours from Palmer Station.

This science cruise had a variety of missions, several which were tacked on during the cruise.  We conducted the Drake Passage Survey for the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (air samples, drifter buoys and depth/temperature/salinity measurements).  We also took the hazardous waste to be transported out of Palmer Station.  We delivered food and personnel.  Deployed a CO2 sensing mooring and took water samples near Adelaide Island.  (Below is the picture of the CTD machine with the water sampling bottles in grey and the depth/salinity/temperature measuring and reporting computer on the bottom of the rosette that I'm stabilizing during a launch.)

We did the Cape Shireff run I mention below to remove a scientist and some accumulated trash, as well as deliver some holiday cheer! And on our way home, we recovered two malfunctioning ARGO floats for the British Ocean Conservancy.

 My first chin strap penguin sighting, and there were thousands of them!

We took Penguin scientists, an Entomologist and two Mapmakers to the Rosenthal Islands, which are very seldom visited because the weather and seas make them treacherous to get to.  It was a stunning adventure: once behind some protective islands that kept the seas at our landing spots calm.

A gentoo penguin with two eggs.  It was incredible to see how the gentoos, chin straps and adelies nested right next to each other.  Also how they hadn't developed a fear response to humans, since they get such seldom visits.

We were scheduled to take a NOAA scientist out from Cape Shireff, along with 4 boat loads of their garbage that they've accrued over the past few months.  Since Christmas was coming up, we thought we'd send the 7 people there some holiday treats.  So we boxed up several oranges, apples and cookies, along with some mail that had come for them and bagged it up to look like a waterproof version of Santa's bag.  A sheer pleasure of mine to deliver the goods!

Dave spent Christmas at home with his family in Indiana, and they had a great time visiting family and playing cards, a trip to Coney Island and an Indiana University basketball game in Indianapolis!  It was incredible to get pictures of his time there everyday on the boat, and I was so thrilled that they got the chance to spend the holidays together!

I spent the actual Christmas eve with the Ship's Captain and Crew in Punta Arenas.  It was a cozy get together, and the guys made fresh ceviche and bread pudding.  So good!  But I asked Mom & Dad to keep the tree up so I could see it, and we took a family picture by the tree just recently.

I had a wonderful visit with my family in Reno.  I got to see my Grandma's new home, which has beautiful views of the mountains and is a very cheerful place. 

We also went to the gym regularly with Mom and on the long loop walk with Dad.  We went bowling twice, out to eat and shopping too.  We took a fun road trip to California, and spent a lot of time at the several beaches of Bodega Bay. 

We also visited the Redwood Grove, and went out to dinner with my aunt and uncle, Piroska & Sandor.  It certainly was an adventure, with monsoon rains and flooding the whole drive there, and us having to reroute due to a flooded road.  And the way back was a blizzard where we only saw 6 other cars in 5 hours.  But a journey to California to see her beauty is always worth it!

Back home in McCall, it is a winter wonderland with plenty of snow and gorgeous landscapes.

The lake is frozen solid and has quite a bit of snow on top too.  I've seen a lot of ice fishermen as well as people with fat tire bikes on the lake. 

 This is Mill Park under snow.

I've loved seeing the mountain ash trees with snow on their berries.  Lovely white flowers in the springtime too.  This tree and many others are on a walking path to the Smoke-jumper base.

Davis Beach, where Dave and I got married, blanketed beautifully. And speaking of Dave, I finally get to see him tomorrow as he's coming home!  Love you and thanks for looking!  Happy 2017!