Say what you will about cable service, but at least you don't need to install a dish. And apparently, our house is not conducive to DirecTV satellite installation, HD-specific wiring, nor GIVING ME THE NETWORK I SIGNED UP FOR AND PURCHASED AN HDTV FOR!!!
Ahem. Anyway, after I ask the neighbor if she doesn't mind 10 3" lag bolts being drilled into her roof, 4 cables running the length of our 2-unit building (townhomes) and then make sure all this is approved by the HOA, I might be able to get it installed next week... when the opening weekend of college football is long gone. So tell me why they don't ask you these questions before you spend 45 minutes signing up for your package?
Good thing I took half a day off work today for this.
8/31/2007
8/25/2007
For the love of programming!
Whew! I just ordered a DirecTV package. Has some good sports programming (FSN Detroit & Big Ten Network), HD channels, and movies. It was really stressful ordering the right package and hardware - I'm not really an electronics guy.
Now, just need to get an HD TV by Friday...
Now, just need to get an HD TV by Friday...
8/05/2007
Mountains Do
I primarily want to share some pictures and stories from several trips I took in July. We spent too much time in a car out of necessity, but lots of time outdoors on hiking trails, near mountain lakes and rivers, and had beautiful weather throughout. I spent more hours on roads called “Scenic Byways” than I ever had in my life. To me, scenic byways are code for “you may drive off a cliff because you can’t stop staring at the beautiful mountain scenery.”
The first weekend trip was to Annie’s mom’s log cabin in the Uinta Mountains. It’s a true log cabin, and it’s way off the beaten path. I had been up there back in January to go snowmobiling, where you can only actually get there via snowmobile. Since it’s summer, Annie’s plucky Jetta got us up the winding dirt roads with ease, although it’s much better suited to a 4x4 truck. The kids were troopers on the easy-to-medium difficulty hikes we did. At a gorgeous spot called Scout Lake, the kids ventured out onto some shallow rocks, when I spotted a little fish, maybe about 6”. It looked like it was frozen in place, not moving even the slightest. So the kids and I looked closer, and we could tell it was ensnared in some fishing line, wrapped around a stick. Zoey and Preston crept out closer, prodding the stick, and the fish would start straining against the line. Zoey got brave and dragged the stick out of the water, but it became clear the fishing line had cut into the fish’s belly and he wasn’t going to make it. So we left it. The kids were sad. After hiking around the lake a bit more, we were crossing that same spot when a seagull swooped down and nabbed that little dying fish right out of the water! It’s the circle of life, it’s the wheel of fortune…
The following weekend, Annie and I packed up my car and we headed up to Grand Tetons National Park for some tent camping, rafting, and hiking. The drive itself was great. The scenic byway on this trip included some 8% and 10% grades between eastern Idaho and Jackson, WY. Speaking of Idaho, we passed not 15 miles from Preston, ID – the setting for Napoleon Dynamite. We thought about stopping to play some tether ball, but we decided to keep chewing up miles instead. Jackson is a great mountain town, mixing the super-rich with real life cowboys.
As we entered the park, signs everywhere told us we were either going to burn down the forest, or get eaten by bears. This was going to be awesome! The bear threat level was Reddish-Orange. Fortunately, we found about the last available campsite in the park (after stopping at several others and getting sent away like so much touristy bother), which was at Lizard Creek on the north end of GTNP. Relieved to be out of the car, we cooked dinner on our small, controlled fire in the designated fire pit, then stashed everything back in the car. As I lay in the tent, I heard every crack of a stick or rustle of leaves clearly; sure the bears were going to find us among the 50 or so campsites.
Saturday morning, we packed up early, and drove south through the park, stopping along the lakes and several scenic spots. Our goal was to get a more desirable campsite, then go rafting. Annie knew of a campsite east of the park, in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, but as we approached, it showed “NO FIRES”. So we backtracked to a site in the park called Gros Ventre (pronounced ‘gro vont’). It’s named after a river, and roughly translates to “Slightly less threat of getting eaten by bears”. After reserving our site, we headed back to Jackson, and got hooked up with Dave Hansen’s Whitewater, getting the last 2 seats on a 16 person raft. With several hours to kill, we walked around downtown Jackson. Thirsty, we stopped into one of those country-boy bars next to the rafting office. I swear, everyone there stared at us like we were aliens. After a longer-than-expected bus ride to the drop in point, we hit the water for my first rafting experience. It was somewhat of a joy-ride tour, mixed with four or five lower class rapids. The best part was a long stretch of calm river, where most of us just jumped in and floated next to the raft. Quite refreshing. We were pretty exhausted once we got back to our site, but had time to cook some bratwurst, corn, and chili on the fire. Being several miles east of the mountains, we had a great sunset view, too.
Sunday, we packed up and headed back into the park. After some much needed coffee and bagels, we visited the Jenny Lake campsite and took the ferry across the lake to some cool hiking trails and river falls. We decided to hike back, rather than boat, and the 2+ mile hike was tougher than expected, with lots of rocky terrain and hills. Best workout I’ve had in months. With legs slightly burning, we stopped at a great little pizza place in Jackson on the way out of town. We made awesome time on the way back to SLC, only stopping once in Blackfoot, ID. Sadly, we saw no bears during the trip. But we did see a heard of bison!
I gotta do more camping. It forces me to be outside and do things I wouldn’t normally do. We have at least 7 national parks within an easy drive from Salt Lake, so I’m sure it will become a more frequent part of my summers here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sj.gingrich/MountainTime
The first weekend trip was to Annie’s mom’s log cabin in the Uinta Mountains. It’s a true log cabin, and it’s way off the beaten path. I had been up there back in January to go snowmobiling, where you can only actually get there via snowmobile. Since it’s summer, Annie’s plucky Jetta got us up the winding dirt roads with ease, although it’s much better suited to a 4x4 truck. The kids were troopers on the easy-to-medium difficulty hikes we did. At a gorgeous spot called Scout Lake, the kids ventured out onto some shallow rocks, when I spotted a little fish, maybe about 6”. It looked like it was frozen in place, not moving even the slightest. So the kids and I looked closer, and we could tell it was ensnared in some fishing line, wrapped around a stick. Zoey and Preston crept out closer, prodding the stick, and the fish would start straining against the line. Zoey got brave and dragged the stick out of the water, but it became clear the fishing line had cut into the fish’s belly and he wasn’t going to make it. So we left it. The kids were sad. After hiking around the lake a bit more, we were crossing that same spot when a seagull swooped down and nabbed that little dying fish right out of the water! It’s the circle of life, it’s the wheel of fortune…
The following weekend, Annie and I packed up my car and we headed up to Grand Tetons National Park for some tent camping, rafting, and hiking. The drive itself was great. The scenic byway on this trip included some 8% and 10% grades between eastern Idaho and Jackson, WY. Speaking of Idaho, we passed not 15 miles from Preston, ID – the setting for Napoleon Dynamite. We thought about stopping to play some tether ball, but we decided to keep chewing up miles instead. Jackson is a great mountain town, mixing the super-rich with real life cowboys.
As we entered the park, signs everywhere told us we were either going to burn down the forest, or get eaten by bears. This was going to be awesome! The bear threat level was Reddish-Orange. Fortunately, we found about the last available campsite in the park (after stopping at several others and getting sent away like so much touristy bother), which was at Lizard Creek on the north end of GTNP. Relieved to be out of the car, we cooked dinner on our small, controlled fire in the designated fire pit, then stashed everything back in the car. As I lay in the tent, I heard every crack of a stick or rustle of leaves clearly; sure the bears were going to find us among the 50 or so campsites.
Saturday morning, we packed up early, and drove south through the park, stopping along the lakes and several scenic spots. Our goal was to get a more desirable campsite, then go rafting. Annie knew of a campsite east of the park, in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, but as we approached, it showed “NO FIRES”. So we backtracked to a site in the park called Gros Ventre (pronounced ‘gro vont’). It’s named after a river, and roughly translates to “Slightly less threat of getting eaten by bears”. After reserving our site, we headed back to Jackson, and got hooked up with Dave Hansen’s Whitewater, getting the last 2 seats on a 16 person raft. With several hours to kill, we walked around downtown Jackson. Thirsty, we stopped into one of those country-boy bars next to the rafting office. I swear, everyone there stared at us like we were aliens. After a longer-than-expected bus ride to the drop in point, we hit the water for my first rafting experience. It was somewhat of a joy-ride tour, mixed with four or five lower class rapids. The best part was a long stretch of calm river, where most of us just jumped in and floated next to the raft. Quite refreshing. We were pretty exhausted once we got back to our site, but had time to cook some bratwurst, corn, and chili on the fire. Being several miles east of the mountains, we had a great sunset view, too.
Sunday, we packed up and headed back into the park. After some much needed coffee and bagels, we visited the Jenny Lake campsite and took the ferry across the lake to some cool hiking trails and river falls. We decided to hike back, rather than boat, and the 2+ mile hike was tougher than expected, with lots of rocky terrain and hills. Best workout I’ve had in months. With legs slightly burning, we stopped at a great little pizza place in Jackson on the way out of town. We made awesome time on the way back to SLC, only stopping once in Blackfoot, ID. Sadly, we saw no bears during the trip. But we did see a heard of bison!
I gotta do more camping. It forces me to be outside and do things I wouldn’t normally do. We have at least 7 national parks within an easy drive from Salt Lake, so I’m sure it will become a more frequent part of my summers here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sj.gingrich/MountainTime
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)