Saturday, July 24, 2004
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Sound Advice from the US Army Survival Manual
view the full manual
Our government has repeatedly told us that we all should prepare for a likely terrorist attack. But should such an event happen what should we do? How will we survive? The government has the answer. Its all there in the trusty US Army Survival Manual. In the event of a catastrophic attack on the infrastructure of our society we should expect to be able to survive with out any modern convenience and be able to procure water and food from nature. Have you thought about this?
"With training, equipment, and the will to survive, you will find you can overcome any obstacle you may face. You will survive."
Much is said about the will to survive and how to achieve it and rightly so. In such an event we must remain cool, resist panic, and stay safe. You may be isolated, cold, in pain, injured or in shock, thirsty and hungry. All these scenarios are possible and probable according to our government. Do not fear, the manual will take you through each scenario frankly and provide the minimal equipment required to survive in any environment. Even if you should find yourself completely bare and without tools and provisions the manual offers sound advice.
All Americans must understand the potential situations terrorists might impose on us. Become familiar with topics like:
Survival Planning:
"Survival Planning is nothing more than realizing that something could happen that would put you in a survival situation and, with that realization, taking steps to increase your chances of survival. In other words, survival planning is being prepared."
Survival Medicine:
"In a survival situation it is you who must know what to do to stay healthy. In other words, you must know how to avoid illnesses and how to prevent and treat injuries."
Field Expedient Weapons and Tools:
"The main reason why you need a weapon is so you can hunt on the move. A field expedient weapon is not intended to protect you from enemy soldiers, but it can extend your area of defense beyond your fingertips. It can also give you a feeling of security."
Water Procurement:
"Water is one of your most urgent needs in a survival situation. You can't live long without it, especially in hot areas where you lose much through sweating. Even in cold areas, you need a minimum of 2 quarts of water a day to maintain efficiency."
Wild Plants for Food:
"After water, food is your most urgent need. So in a survival situation you should always be on the lookout for wild foods and live off the land whenever possible. Save your rations, if any, for emergencies."
Wildlife for Food:
"Meat is more nourishing than plant food. In fact, it may even be more readily available in some places. But to get meat, you need to know the habits of, and how to capture, the various wildlife."
Shelters:
"A shelter can protect you from the sun, insects, wind, rain, snow, hot or cold temperatures, and enemy observation. It can give you a feeling of well being; it can help you maintain your will to survive."
Firebuilding:
"A fire can fulfill several needs: It can keep you warm; it can keep you dry; you can use it to cook food, to purify water, and to signal."
Water Crossings:
"When you are in a survival situation in any area except the desert, you are likely to encounter a water obstacle."
Field Expedient Direction Finding:
"There are several methods by which you can determine direction by using the sun and the stars. You can come up with a more nearly true direction if you have knowledge of the terrain of the territory or country."
Signaling:
"One of your first concerns when you find yourself in a survival situation is to communicate with your friends/allies."
Desert, Tropical, Arctic and Sea Survival:
"Survival in a desert, or in any area, depends upon your knowledge of the terrain and the basic climatic elements, your ability to cope with them, and your will to live."
Knots:
"In a survival situation, you need to know how to tie different knots and what knot to use to meet a particular need. For instance, making snares, field expedient weapons, and shelters requires the use of knots."
All these topics make for fine bedside reading. The knowledge contained moves beyond the realm of survival and into practical living. If we truly want to ignore the terrorists we must be able to live without and modern convenience and not just survive, but thrive.
JD Brenny
Our government has repeatedly told us that we all should prepare for a likely terrorist attack. But should such an event happen what should we do? How will we survive? The government has the answer. Its all there in the trusty US Army Survival Manual. In the event of a catastrophic attack on the infrastructure of our society we should expect to be able to survive with out any modern convenience and be able to procure water and food from nature. Have you thought about this?
"With training, equipment, and the will to survive, you will find you can overcome any obstacle you may face. You will survive."
Much is said about the will to survive and how to achieve it and rightly so. In such an event we must remain cool, resist panic, and stay safe. You may be isolated, cold, in pain, injured or in shock, thirsty and hungry. All these scenarios are possible and probable according to our government. Do not fear, the manual will take you through each scenario frankly and provide the minimal equipment required to survive in any environment. Even if you should find yourself completely bare and without tools and provisions the manual offers sound advice.
All Americans must understand the potential situations terrorists might impose on us. Become familiar with topics like:
Survival Planning:
"Survival Planning is nothing more than realizing that something could happen that would put you in a survival situation and, with that realization, taking steps to increase your chances of survival. In other words, survival planning is being prepared."
Survival Medicine:
"In a survival situation it is you who must know what to do to stay healthy. In other words, you must know how to avoid illnesses and how to prevent and treat injuries."
Field Expedient Weapons and Tools:
"The main reason why you need a weapon is so you can hunt on the move. A field expedient weapon is not intended to protect you from enemy soldiers, but it can extend your area of defense beyond your fingertips. It can also give you a feeling of security."
Water Procurement:
"Water is one of your most urgent needs in a survival situation. You can't live long without it, especially in hot areas where you lose much through sweating. Even in cold areas, you need a minimum of 2 quarts of water a day to maintain efficiency."
Wild Plants for Food:
"After water, food is your most urgent need. So in a survival situation you should always be on the lookout for wild foods and live off the land whenever possible. Save your rations, if any, for emergencies."
Wildlife for Food:
"Meat is more nourishing than plant food. In fact, it may even be more readily available in some places. But to get meat, you need to know the habits of, and how to capture, the various wildlife."
Shelters:
"A shelter can protect you from the sun, insects, wind, rain, snow, hot or cold temperatures, and enemy observation. It can give you a feeling of well being; it can help you maintain your will to survive."
Firebuilding:
"A fire can fulfill several needs: It can keep you warm; it can keep you dry; you can use it to cook food, to purify water, and to signal."
Water Crossings:
"When you are in a survival situation in any area except the desert, you are likely to encounter a water obstacle."
Field Expedient Direction Finding:
"There are several methods by which you can determine direction by using the sun and the stars. You can come up with a more nearly true direction if you have knowledge of the terrain of the territory or country."
Signaling:
"One of your first concerns when you find yourself in a survival situation is to communicate with your friends/allies."
Desert, Tropical, Arctic and Sea Survival:
"Survival in a desert, or in any area, depends upon your knowledge of the terrain and the basic climatic elements, your ability to cope with them, and your will to live."
Knots:
"In a survival situation, you need to know how to tie different knots and what knot to use to meet a particular need. For instance, making snares, field expedient weapons, and shelters requires the use of knots."
All these topics make for fine bedside reading. The knowledge contained moves beyond the realm of survival and into practical living. If we truly want to ignore the terrorists we must be able to live without and modern convenience and not just survive, but thrive.
JD Brenny
A Noteworthy restaurant on the East Side
As a student of UWM I must have walked past Sala da Pranzo hundreds of times. Its located on New Hampshire Avenue just off Downer Avenue. It always seemed to be a bit hobnobby, but respectable and the patrons all seemed to be enjoying wine way to early in the morning. It seemed pricey yet maintaining that 'Eastside Upper Class' sense of casual. For my wife's birthday I decided to finally check this place out. I enjoy a well cooked meal and have found that few restaurants deliver. I make nearly all my diners and practice in self taught culinary art. If I go out to eat I like to find unique and non-chain restaurants. Milwaukee and the surrounding suburbs happen to have a remarkable amount of them, though they are hidden. Sala da Pranzo certainly measured up. They serve mainly Italian dishes and use all fresh ingredients. The menu is surprisingly large and their prices reasonable. 50 bucks for an all out dinner for two including soup, salad and drinks. An easy $25 lunch for two could be had. I would recommend giving this restaurant a try for some non-occasion. Bring a friend or a lover. The drive there is a scenic and enjoyable cruise up the lake shore and into the old fashionable end of Milwaukee. I would recommend coming into town a little before your meal and take a walk in Veterans park or out on the McKinley Pier. Perhaps just park far enough away to get a nice walk through the neighborhood, but come in ready to relax and eat.
JD Brenny
Sala da Pranzo
2613 E. Hampshire Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53211
Phone: 414-964-2611
JD Brenny
Sala da Pranzo
2613 E. Hampshire Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53211
Phone: 414-964-2611
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Tickets to see John Edwards
Mary received a call from Mayor Tom Barrett today inviting us to see John Edwards in Milwaukee this Satuday, July 24th.
Free tickets are available through the following link:
Tickets: Edwards Rally Milwaukee, WI
The event will be held at King Park, 1531 W. Vliet Street . Gates open at 10:00 A.M.
Because of security, no bags, umbrellas, or outside signs will be allowed. Please limit personal items. This event will take place RAIN OR SHINE.
Hope to see you all there.
Jim
Free tickets are available through the following link:
Tickets: Edwards Rally Milwaukee, WI
The event will be held at King Park, 1531 W. Vliet Street . Gates open at 10:00 A.M.
Because of security, no bags, umbrellas, or outside signs will be allowed. Please limit personal items. This event will take place RAIN OR SHINE.
Hope to see you all there.
Jim
Monday, July 19, 2004
A Look at some of our National Parks and Monuments
Let me begin by saying that this article sites no scientific evidence. As a honeymoon idea I thought it might not be a bad idea to drive clear cross the country in a rented car, stopping along the way at a few of our national parks and monuments. Leaving from Hartland, Wisconsin with aim to hit the coast in Washington. The route would have to be a strategic one to hit a good number of these national interests. It came down to the South Dakota Badlands N.P., Mount Rushmore N.M., Jewel Cave N.M., Yellowstone N.P., Grand Teton N.P., Craters of the Moon N.M., Mount Rainier N.P., Olympic N.P., Cascades N.P., Glacier N.P., and Theodore Roosevelt N.P. How much time I wondered, more importantly how much time could I get. Workplaces tend to be slightly lenient to newlyweds so I managed to get 16 consecutive days off. With $1800 in wedding money from my loving relatives and friends Casey and I were off. It should also be noted that Casey is 24 weeks pregnant with our child Kali. Casey and I are reasonably adept travelers, in fact, 24 weeks ago Casey and were exploring the Big Sur National Forest in California. I especially live for the traveling, I toil away hours planning and take great pleasure in exploring.
Our journey together began Saturday 6/26/04 our wedding day. The weather, in a dramatic change became very pleasant, 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We married and had the reception at my parents house in Eagle, WI. Marriage ceremony and reception went excellent. Got a somewhat late start on Sunday because a friend of mine demanded that we bet him to walk over the bonfire coals barefoot. We all knew it was sheer madness and refused to bet him, but he did it anyway and was driven to the hospital $63 richer, but with severe 2nd burns on his feet. The drive to South Dakota is relatively uneventful. Minnesota gives your eyes a wonderful welcome crossing the Mississippi river, but soon glazes them over with endless miles of flat cornfields. Wind mills become tremendously interesting. Made it as far as Souix Falls, SD on our first day of driving. 505 miles.
Day 3. The next morning a Monument to the Native American Cow god was the first thing I ran across. It is interesting that all the cattle that are penned in with it stay on the backsides of hills, careful to keep out of sight of the thing. Local gossip claims that the cows approach the monument at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm and they bow their heads in a strange prayer. Very strange indeed. It appears that human life in SD is wholly dependent on billboards and that without them travelers might get the notion that the state is more or less devoid of motels and amusement. I got suckered into stopping at the worthless Corn Palace, the feature content of about 40 billboards. The Badlands take you by surprise, they appear to be giant sand castles grossly out of scale. All the spires and knife ridges, as far as the eye can see, have exactly the same red and tan color pattern and all the sediment segments line up perfectly over a huge expanse. Entirely logical when you think about it, but the brain stumbles at the sight of it. Up close the first thing you notice is how incredibly fun they are to climb around and or on. At the first pullout kids are crawling all over the ridges. After exploring the nature trails and boardwalks I would recommend getting off the trails and search for fossils. Search the yellow clay areas for the best chance of finding any. I searched but yielded no fossils. Casey and I hiked into the wilderness a bit with a blanket and watched the sun set and the acrobatics of some bats. There was a full moon and more stars than I have ever noticed, we had plenty of light to make it back to our little cabin inside the park. 790 miles.
Day 4. After 1,247 signs, finally we have arrived in Wall Drug. The ultimate setup job. Wall to wall junk, everything for sale. I considered myself lucky to leave only with a free bumper sticker. The first thing you notice coming into Mt. Rushmore is how goddamn pretty the Blackhills are. You don't get a chance to really walk amongst them inside the park. Getting off the lone trail is prohibited and strictly enforced. The monument was quite impressive, but my mind was preoccupied with the question of "Why are the flags still at half mast for Reagan?" and with the disappointment of being unable to really explore the land. Jewel Cave was a little more interesting. We took a tour through the cave. 723 steps that my wife was dreading and an hour and twenty minutes underground. Worth every penny and the pain of traveling with a group and tour guide. We continued west and called it a night in Moorcroft, WY. It was a cheap motel and I haggled the guy down 15 bucks on the room, but it still was not worth it. Casey claims to have come away with flea bites. 1014 miles.
Day 5. There are vast expanses of our country that are hardly worth opening your eyes for. The stretch between Moorcroft, WY and Yellowstone N.P. happens to be one of them. Right in the middle of this expanse, however, is the first taste of the mountains to come. The Bighorn Mountains rise like an oasis in the high dessert. Chances are you might even see moose or two. The Bighorn's also leave you with the big question, to take highway 14 or alt 14 through different passes. As it was explained to me, both routes are equally long and equally pretty. But, Alt 14 has a steep grade, 10%, and a larger number of switchbacks and one might infer that it would require a bit more road driving skill to negotiate. It seemed to me that alt 14 has a few more towns along it that will slow you down and generally depress you than hwy 14. Getting past Cody, WY is when things begin to look up. The drive into Yellowstone is gorgeous and once your there you might as well hit every big attraction. It is not hard to take hundreds of pictures in Yellowstone, everyone there does. The thermal areas of Yellowstone rival the Badlands in strangeness and are probably unrivaled. However, there is a price to pay for witnessing this spectacle of nature. Lots of people and lots of traffic. 600,000 years ago Yellowstone catastrophically blew up, unfortunately there were not many tourists there to experience it. Casey and I toured the east side of the Grand Loop road and stopped at the mud volcano area and at the upper falls of the Yellowstone river. The bison and elk are numerous along the roadways and care little for traffic or gawkers. We stayed two nights in a cozy little cabin in Mammoth Hot Springs. The hot springs area itself, consists of very unusual terraces, bone white and where the boiling hot, mild sulfuric acid solution runs a weird algae like organism grows. They are called thermophiles and they range in color from shades of orange and red to white. 1447 miles.
Day 6. Casey and I drove down the westside of the loop to check out the various geyser basins and, of course, to witness Old Faithful blast off. The Park is beginning to recover from the 1988 fire that burned most of Yellowstone and most of the lodgepole pines are only about 10 ft in height. The forests are littered with old skeletons that tower over the newly emerging forest. But lodgepole pine forests never have compared with the mighty redwood and spruce forests of the western coast or the oak savannahs of the Midwest. Certainly it is not the reason anyone comes to Yellowstone. The whole westside is scattered with geyser basins each with an assortment of unique geysers, pools, mudpots and fumaroles. The air stinks of sulfur and you can not help but think you are on some strange planet or visiting the planet in a much older time. The Old Faithful area has the most abundant and revered of the features and is subsequently the most packed with visitors. The trade off is worth it, but they do not call Yellowstone the Disneyland of national parks for nothing. After spending the day shoulder to shoulder on the boardwalks and bumper to bumper on the roads the most relaxing thing to do is take a one way trail into the wilderness and quickly leave that to go completely free style through the mountains. This is not allowed in the thermal areas and would defy common sense. But I guarantee you that you will not see another soul in the mountains though. Yellowstone encompasses 2 million acres and 2 million visitors spend their time on maybe 200 acres. Really getting away from the roads impresses you with the fact that Yellowstone is more than just geysers, pools, mudpots and fumaroles.
Day 7. The drive south out of Yellowstone pits beauty and frustration in an all out slugfest that continues long past Grand Teton N.P. However, beauty lands a good blow to frustration when the Grand Teton peaks loom off to the west. The Grand Teton view almost puts every other scenic mountain view to shame. With no foothills the peaks climb from a flat plain to nearly two miles into the sky. Pioneers who came into this valley on their way to California must have cursed their luck. This is actually how the town of Jackson was created, tired and smart pioneers who knew damn well they was no way in hell they were gonna make it over them mountains with a wagon. After leaving the park we drove on for Craters of the Moon N.M. The drive through southern Idaho demands the rational mind to question why anyone would like to live there. Very dry and very flat. In the middle of the dryness and flatness the Devil staked his claim and decorated his area with homely lava flows and black craters. All quite recently too, right around the time Christ was born. Coincidence? Anyway, the Devil has a unique eye for landscaping that is worth checking out and spending the night in. Plus for those looking to check out all the wierd lava flow features, Idaho is a lot closer than Hawaii. Despite the illegality of rock collecting it is almost impossible not to take home just a little piece of hell. 1920 miles
Day 8. From Craters of the Moon N.M. to Mount Rainier N.P., this shakes up to be a long drive. Luckily we gain an hour briefly catching up with the sun. Eastern Oregon is the only highlight of this drive Before arriving to the park. A short foray into the mountains with a different type of pine tree growing all over them. Once you finally get inside Washington a bit and Mt. Rainier first comes into sight it is imperative that you stop for fresh cherries, provided that they are in season which is about all summer. The Wenatchee National Forest that borders Mt. Rainier is absolutely beautiful. In fact all of western Washington can be summed up quite nicely in three words; "Pretty damn pretty." Mount Rainier towers over some other rather tall mountains and lush alpine meadows home to hundreds of species of wildflower. We stayed in Paradise, WA in an old chalet. I hiked up 1500 ft from the inn to where a thick fog had developed. The rest of the surrounding mountains were visible, but there was about 7000 ft of Mt. Rainier that was still shrouded. Much of my climb was over snow and I passed a few downhill skiers on my way up. Supposedly at this time of year and especially because it was the Fourth of July weekend the park is supposed to be packed, even impossible to park. Thankfully, this was not the case and the neat old lodge we stayed in was relatively quiet. The crowd that this place gathers consists of mainly foreigners and classy Americans. Casey and I do not fit the mold, but are hardly ones to care. At the 'lounge' I demanded that the bartender stop playing godawful Sting music and I slipped in a Muddy Waters CD of mine. This greatly improved the atmosphere of the place and landed me free beers for the rest of the evening. 2554 miles.
....To be continued
JD Brenny
Wedding Pic.JPG
Badlands.JPG
Jewel Cave.JPG
Mammoth Hot Springs.JPG
Morning Glory pool.JPG
Grand Teton.JPG
Craters of the Moon.JPG
Mt Rainier.JPG
Our journey together began Saturday 6/26/04 our wedding day. The weather, in a dramatic change became very pleasant, 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We married and had the reception at my parents house in Eagle, WI. Marriage ceremony and reception went excellent. Got a somewhat late start on Sunday because a friend of mine demanded that we bet him to walk over the bonfire coals barefoot. We all knew it was sheer madness and refused to bet him, but he did it anyway and was driven to the hospital $63 richer, but with severe 2nd burns on his feet. The drive to South Dakota is relatively uneventful. Minnesota gives your eyes a wonderful welcome crossing the Mississippi river, but soon glazes them over with endless miles of flat cornfields. Wind mills become tremendously interesting. Made it as far as Souix Falls, SD on our first day of driving. 505 miles.
Day 3. The next morning a Monument to the Native American Cow god was the first thing I ran across. It is interesting that all the cattle that are penned in with it stay on the backsides of hills, careful to keep out of sight of the thing. Local gossip claims that the cows approach the monument at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm and they bow their heads in a strange prayer. Very strange indeed. It appears that human life in SD is wholly dependent on billboards and that without them travelers might get the notion that the state is more or less devoid of motels and amusement. I got suckered into stopping at the worthless Corn Palace, the feature content of about 40 billboards. The Badlands take you by surprise, they appear to be giant sand castles grossly out of scale. All the spires and knife ridges, as far as the eye can see, have exactly the same red and tan color pattern and all the sediment segments line up perfectly over a huge expanse. Entirely logical when you think about it, but the brain stumbles at the sight of it. Up close the first thing you notice is how incredibly fun they are to climb around and or on. At the first pullout kids are crawling all over the ridges. After exploring the nature trails and boardwalks I would recommend getting off the trails and search for fossils. Search the yellow clay areas for the best chance of finding any. I searched but yielded no fossils. Casey and I hiked into the wilderness a bit with a blanket and watched the sun set and the acrobatics of some bats. There was a full moon and more stars than I have ever noticed, we had plenty of light to make it back to our little cabin inside the park. 790 miles.
Day 4. After 1,247 signs, finally we have arrived in Wall Drug. The ultimate setup job. Wall to wall junk, everything for sale. I considered myself lucky to leave only with a free bumper sticker. The first thing you notice coming into Mt. Rushmore is how goddamn pretty the Blackhills are. You don't get a chance to really walk amongst them inside the park. Getting off the lone trail is prohibited and strictly enforced. The monument was quite impressive, but my mind was preoccupied with the question of "Why are the flags still at half mast for Reagan?" and with the disappointment of being unable to really explore the land. Jewel Cave was a little more interesting. We took a tour through the cave. 723 steps that my wife was dreading and an hour and twenty minutes underground. Worth every penny and the pain of traveling with a group and tour guide. We continued west and called it a night in Moorcroft, WY. It was a cheap motel and I haggled the guy down 15 bucks on the room, but it still was not worth it. Casey claims to have come away with flea bites. 1014 miles.
Day 5. There are vast expanses of our country that are hardly worth opening your eyes for. The stretch between Moorcroft, WY and Yellowstone N.P. happens to be one of them. Right in the middle of this expanse, however, is the first taste of the mountains to come. The Bighorn Mountains rise like an oasis in the high dessert. Chances are you might even see moose or two. The Bighorn's also leave you with the big question, to take highway 14 or alt 14 through different passes. As it was explained to me, both routes are equally long and equally pretty. But, Alt 14 has a steep grade, 10%, and a larger number of switchbacks and one might infer that it would require a bit more road driving skill to negotiate. It seemed to me that alt 14 has a few more towns along it that will slow you down and generally depress you than hwy 14. Getting past Cody, WY is when things begin to look up. The drive into Yellowstone is gorgeous and once your there you might as well hit every big attraction. It is not hard to take hundreds of pictures in Yellowstone, everyone there does. The thermal areas of Yellowstone rival the Badlands in strangeness and are probably unrivaled. However, there is a price to pay for witnessing this spectacle of nature. Lots of people and lots of traffic. 600,000 years ago Yellowstone catastrophically blew up, unfortunately there were not many tourists there to experience it. Casey and I toured the east side of the Grand Loop road and stopped at the mud volcano area and at the upper falls of the Yellowstone river. The bison and elk are numerous along the roadways and care little for traffic or gawkers. We stayed two nights in a cozy little cabin in Mammoth Hot Springs. The hot springs area itself, consists of very unusual terraces, bone white and where the boiling hot, mild sulfuric acid solution runs a weird algae like organism grows. They are called thermophiles and they range in color from shades of orange and red to white. 1447 miles.
Day 6. Casey and I drove down the westside of the loop to check out the various geyser basins and, of course, to witness Old Faithful blast off. The Park is beginning to recover from the 1988 fire that burned most of Yellowstone and most of the lodgepole pines are only about 10 ft in height. The forests are littered with old skeletons that tower over the newly emerging forest. But lodgepole pine forests never have compared with the mighty redwood and spruce forests of the western coast or the oak savannahs of the Midwest. Certainly it is not the reason anyone comes to Yellowstone. The whole westside is scattered with geyser basins each with an assortment of unique geysers, pools, mudpots and fumaroles. The air stinks of sulfur and you can not help but think you are on some strange planet or visiting the planet in a much older time. The Old Faithful area has the most abundant and revered of the features and is subsequently the most packed with visitors. The trade off is worth it, but they do not call Yellowstone the Disneyland of national parks for nothing. After spending the day shoulder to shoulder on the boardwalks and bumper to bumper on the roads the most relaxing thing to do is take a one way trail into the wilderness and quickly leave that to go completely free style through the mountains. This is not allowed in the thermal areas and would defy common sense. But I guarantee you that you will not see another soul in the mountains though. Yellowstone encompasses 2 million acres and 2 million visitors spend their time on maybe 200 acres. Really getting away from the roads impresses you with the fact that Yellowstone is more than just geysers, pools, mudpots and fumaroles.
Day 7. The drive south out of Yellowstone pits beauty and frustration in an all out slugfest that continues long past Grand Teton N.P. However, beauty lands a good blow to frustration when the Grand Teton peaks loom off to the west. The Grand Teton view almost puts every other scenic mountain view to shame. With no foothills the peaks climb from a flat plain to nearly two miles into the sky. Pioneers who came into this valley on their way to California must have cursed their luck. This is actually how the town of Jackson was created, tired and smart pioneers who knew damn well they was no way in hell they were gonna make it over them mountains with a wagon. After leaving the park we drove on for Craters of the Moon N.M. The drive through southern Idaho demands the rational mind to question why anyone would like to live there. Very dry and very flat. In the middle of the dryness and flatness the Devil staked his claim and decorated his area with homely lava flows and black craters. All quite recently too, right around the time Christ was born. Coincidence? Anyway, the Devil has a unique eye for landscaping that is worth checking out and spending the night in. Plus for those looking to check out all the wierd lava flow features, Idaho is a lot closer than Hawaii. Despite the illegality of rock collecting it is almost impossible not to take home just a little piece of hell. 1920 miles
Day 8. From Craters of the Moon N.M. to Mount Rainier N.P., this shakes up to be a long drive. Luckily we gain an hour briefly catching up with the sun. Eastern Oregon is the only highlight of this drive Before arriving to the park. A short foray into the mountains with a different type of pine tree growing all over them. Once you finally get inside Washington a bit and Mt. Rainier first comes into sight it is imperative that you stop for fresh cherries, provided that they are in season which is about all summer. The Wenatchee National Forest that borders Mt. Rainier is absolutely beautiful. In fact all of western Washington can be summed up quite nicely in three words; "Pretty damn pretty." Mount Rainier towers over some other rather tall mountains and lush alpine meadows home to hundreds of species of wildflower. We stayed in Paradise, WA in an old chalet. I hiked up 1500 ft from the inn to where a thick fog had developed. The rest of the surrounding mountains were visible, but there was about 7000 ft of Mt. Rainier that was still shrouded. Much of my climb was over snow and I passed a few downhill skiers on my way up. Supposedly at this time of year and especially because it was the Fourth of July weekend the park is supposed to be packed, even impossible to park. Thankfully, this was not the case and the neat old lodge we stayed in was relatively quiet. The crowd that this place gathers consists of mainly foreigners and classy Americans. Casey and I do not fit the mold, but are hardly ones to care. At the 'lounge' I demanded that the bartender stop playing godawful Sting music and I slipped in a Muddy Waters CD of mine. This greatly improved the atmosphere of the place and landed me free beers for the rest of the evening. 2554 miles.
....To be continued
JD Brenny
Wedding Pic.JPG
Badlands.JPG
Jewel Cave.JPG
Mammoth Hot Springs.JPG
Morning Glory pool.JPG
Grand Teton.JPG
Craters of the Moon.JPG
Mt Rainier.JPG
Sunday, July 18, 2004
I Reserve My Right...
To post extremely bad poetry whenever I feel like it.
Thanks!
With that said, I'd like to point out our date of July 22 as our originally projected first print date. I'm impressed with the contributions so far, and have been getting positive feedback from those who are already checking us out.
I'm going to take new works in progress up to the 22nd and ask that we complete those by the end of the month. I have been talking to some of you about this and want to get the word out that we are contemplating several ideas as to how our site will take printed form. Ideas are welcome. And, there have been very good ones already. I'll speak to each of you individually about this. One thing I really want to get done is the audio interviews with all writers. If you have already written an article, you have mail waiting from me regarding this.
Statisic: our site received 52,006 hits in the month of June. 27% of those hits were to old pages on our server relating to flash mobs. The rest are related to our new blog. Pretty impressive. Type a phrase from our writings into the Google search engine and you'll find that many times our site comes up as one of the first few listings.
So, keep those ideas coming! I know many of us have been extremely pre-occupied with the Bush administration, and understandably so. This will inevitably be a main topic up until the elections, but I'm going to try to expand my one-track-mind to cover other areas as well. We already have a lot to work with.
Thanks again.
Jim
Thanks!
With that said, I'd like to point out our date of July 22 as our originally projected first print date. I'm impressed with the contributions so far, and have been getting positive feedback from those who are already checking us out.
I'm going to take new works in progress up to the 22nd and ask that we complete those by the end of the month. I have been talking to some of you about this and want to get the word out that we are contemplating several ideas as to how our site will take printed form. Ideas are welcome. And, there have been very good ones already. I'll speak to each of you individually about this. One thing I really want to get done is the audio interviews with all writers. If you have already written an article, you have mail waiting from me regarding this.
Statisic: our site received 52,006 hits in the month of June. 27% of those hits were to old pages on our server relating to flash mobs. The rest are related to our new blog. Pretty impressive. Type a phrase from our writings into the Google search engine and you'll find that many times our site comes up as one of the first few listings.
So, keep those ideas coming! I know many of us have been extremely pre-occupied with the Bush administration, and understandably so. This will inevitably be a main topic up until the elections, but I'm going to try to expand my one-track-mind to cover other areas as well. We already have a lot to work with.
Thanks again.
Jim
