Happy Christmas

As they say in lands across the great pond... Happy Christmas from the macandbeardog blogspot. All four of us have, as of today, completed an epic holiday journey across the country, beginning in Gardnerville, NV and commencing in Charleston, WV. The best part, obviously was Kansas. We did find joy also in the snowy mountains of the Basin and Range and the moonlit peaks of Colorado's highcountry. I also was excited that Bear and I were left off the last four hours of the journey. Not that I did not want to spend time with Shirlette and Darla (the matriarchs of the Hanna/Phoenix union) in the lovely WV, but merely because Bear and I were OVER being in the car. We all enjoyed one afternoon/evening together at my parent's new house in Cleveland, OH. The quote of our arrival was, of course, "Here's the liquor cabinet. I'm not going to serve you." Always a good time at the Finnerty holiday gatherings. And with the Sierra Nevada and the Celebration Ale decorating the garage floor in festive shades of red and green, we knew it was Christmas. Why we feel the need to celebrate the birth of Jesus with liquor and beer, I'm not sure. Perhaps in recognition of future miracles involving the water and wine. It's all I've got to justify holiday drinking. With that being said, bring out the board games, open the beverage of your choice, and enjoy the holidays!

Some Priceless Peptalks

It's better than Peyton Manning...

Mo for Sale?

Hmmm....Begs the question, "How much is the first Mo?" I know finances are tight right now and all but..... And for a non sequitur finally some snow in the Northern Sierras, whoo hooo!!

Desert Rats

We tried our hands at being desert rats for a few days. The best part about being a desert rat is actually seeing the desert rats. The trip to Joshua Tree marked my first kangaroo rat sighting since 2004. Monumental. Its okay to get excited. Take a minute. Okay... now that the excitement has worn off a little, let's continue. We had the pleasure of 5 days in J-Tree thanks to my friend Cynthia's uncanny ability to land jobs in super cool places. So, good company, great turkey, and I even got my own room. A significant upgrade from life in the bay area. J-Tree is full of some of my not so favorite things, like plants that will kill you, but thanks to the recent rain, the harshness of these plants was softened by the occasional bloom. Speaking of harshness, the best part of this park is by far the harsh, although ridicuously sticky, rock. Not so much on the hand holds, though. We spent 3 days hoping that miraculously, our feet would stick to nubbins and our hands wouldn't bleed too badly. Or, in the absence of nubbins, we jammed our fists, arms, and feet into painful cracks, hoping the jams would stick. Sounds fun, huh? It was sweetness. The battle wounds alone were worth it. Incidentally, I promptly ripped off the scabs of the battle wounds during the groundfighting portion of our defensive tactics class. And this week, I also nailed my shotgun qualifications and even enjoyed it! Things are looking up as the snow falls in Tahoe and I only have 10 days left! Woohoo! Pic is Clay rocking a 5.10 dino. Sweet.

Bear's Adventures with Horses

So, I've been living at this place now for a little over a month and the freedom is fantastic! Everyone leaves me and Toby in the yard ALL day long. We have walnuts to eat, birds to chase, and fences to dig under. Toby seems to excell in the hole digging, but I'm getting quite adept at using my mouth. I found a gopher the other day, but he was too fast. The other day I figured out how to dig under the fence and go visit the horses next door. They let me roll in stuff. But then when my mom got home at 930 at night, I had to get hosed down. I was not pleased. Pretty soon I'm going to get my teeth on Captain the Cockatiel. I'm working on my balance. Soon I'll figure out the lock on the cage. So give me time. I'll catch the bird. For now, the horses seem pretty easy targets with their constant eating and chewing. They'll never suspect.

The Office

So you may or may not have experienced the classic TV show, The Office. If you find yourself in the latter group I do suggest it. It is a humor that takes some getting used to and is full of awkward scenes that kind of make you squirm. Although I do spend my days mostly in an office now my experience is really nothing like that. But we did have a Black Bear wandering around outside our office the other day which made the time sitting at my computer a bit more exciting. One lady driving by actually flagged me down to make sure I knew there was a bear outside our office. Anyways you can check out the video of it all below. Oh yea and the newspaper reported that the dog you see in the video is actually trained to keep bears treed until they can tranquilize them. Clearly not playing the 'good idea bad idea' game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2PQVNkX5ls

So, this is fun?

Actually, its not too bad, saved by intermittent bursts of hilarity and the three legged wonder dog, who is funny doing just about anything. Particularly chasing his new doggie disc. Sometimes there is an occasional face plant, but he's getting better at it.

This week, I survived pepper spray. Oh, suck. I would rather be beaten, tazed, or made to run a marathon in Death Valley than do that again. It felt like I had sand in my eyes for 3 days. Not even living on islands for 2 years prepares you for that. But they're starting to focus again, and after rubbing my eyeballs with Johnson's baby shampoo, the burning did eventually subside after 55 minutes of excruciating pain. Mostly, it was sweet.

Today is drive fast day. Going okay. Made it through the course only hitting one cone. Wonder if that was the pregnant nun. Hear you get more points for those.

And a recreational triumph (who'd-a-thunk, in wine country...) Climbed my first 5.10a in 7 years. Yep, I'm bragging. It hurt and I was excited. My finger tips are still sore! I forgot how much I love climbing. Plan to do lots more in the next 4 weeks. Woohoo!

Thats this week's skinny. Missing snow. Wish I was skiing. :)

Photo is me with my eyeballs pried open into a fan to make the hurting stop. Neato. I love Ranger Academy.

The Cop Stache Phenomenon

I think that the best thing about being a female in this crazy academy (aside from the many different ways we get to wear our hair... (up in a bun, or, hold on, get ready, up in a bun) is that we can take comfort in knowing that we will never, ever, have to succumb to the "cop stache" phenomenon. Never in my life have I ever seen such half assed attempts at growing such a useless bit of facial hair. If you're going to grow a mustache, own it. Tom Selleck comes to mind. I think there should be a thickness requirement. The worst part is, they're serious about that strip of peach fuzz on their upper lip. Very serious. And there seems to be an awful lot of newly acquired peach fuzz, probably grown specially for the academy. Ah, to be a girl, and avoid such peer pressure...

The Scooter Experience in G-Ville

I have finally made it back to the 'Silver State.' And although I have still yet to locate necessary cooking utensils I do have a place to live. Moving in was a big cluster (par for the course for this segment of my life). We didn't get to move our stuff in until much later than expected and the whole condo was left disgusting. Hence the two cleaning ladies who came by early the next morning. But I was able to let out some pent up aggression as I tore apart the huge computer desk (matches well with the huge TV that was left as well) that was left in one of our bedrooms. I borrowed a hammer from my neighbor for said project, but declined his offer of a sledge hammer. Seemed like it might get too messy. Oh yea and the place came with a cat. Clearly. But after a week and a half of being here I have started the unpacking process including retrieving the sweet scooter from my friend's garage. Although my commute here is about the same distance as in the Tetons it is all a new experience. Both are a bit sketchy though. In the Tetons I had to watch out for the families in their rented RV trying to find their way to Jenny Lake. And in their state of confusion they forgot that all normal driving rules still apply in National Parks. Here I just have to navigate traffic, stop at red lights, merge in and out of traffic, and slow down for school zones. I realize this all sounds like normal driving situations until you are on a tiny 49 cc scooter that tops out at 43 mph (downhill). Then add to the mix my fellow drivers who are driving trucks so loud and large that they seem like they should be in some sort of monster truck competition, and the morning commute gets pretty exciting. Fortunately there is only a short section of my commute where the speed limit is unattainable (45 mph) for 'the phoenix'. No matter where I am the scooter makes the commute to and from work a much more enjoyable experience. I suggest you all come and take it for a ride :)

More from California

After a grand total of 16 hours of federal law (i.e. Death By Powerpoint), I'm still here. 2.5 weeks down. I have checked out some local parks in the off time, though. Bear has taken to rolling in goose poop and ripping up grass around ground squirrel holes with his teeth to try to extricate them with one paw. Genius. He must be bored, because he has also decided to start chasing (and catching) disc golf discs. This new skill, although humorous, has caused injury to several of my favorite discs. We also managed to put a hole in a baby pool during bath time. Bathing two 70 pound dogs in a baby pool is a less than advisable task. I've noticed that we're finding joy in much more simple things out here. Probably for lack of large mountains on which to nearly kill ourselves. Hopefully we'll remedy that soon.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Well, academy isn't quite like Hogwarts, but I do think it's pretty magical that I've learned how to properly shoot a firearm. And I haven't seen any bewitched ceilings. But its a class nonetheless and I seem to be making it through. Today marks the end of 2 weeks. 7 more to go. Bear has settled in, too. He spends his days eating walnuts in the yard. Strangely enough, there are no squirrels in Sonoma County, so I think he's fairly disappointed. We found a great place to stay about 20 minutes from the academy. I am not, however, accounting for the stop and go traffic I encounter every day. At that moment, skills such as apparition would we significantly more useful than the memorization of the Bill of Rights. Oh, the fun never stops. And neither does the marching. I'm getting rather good at it, actually. I'm sure I'll use it. Alot. I see party games coming on... This will be a good adventure, really. The first part, living out of the subaru, was a bit stressful, but it seems to be getting better. The shooting is fun... in a stressful, high energy sort of way. I have not however, lost focus. Ski season is quickly approaching and fortunately, there's a climbing gym in Santa Rosa. Saving graces, really. It's important to stay focused. Hopefully adventures in the Bay Area this weekend! :)

Drive Fast School

No pics for this post, but just a first day of school update. I may have gotten an orange plastic gun. And a cool belt 7 sizes too big. And learned to march. Yep, I had to figure out which heel to turn on. There was lots of yelling. Hut... What does that mean? Hut. Why does that make me want to move? Bizarre. But I think it'll be good. Super small class and they seem like good people. Although they all said none of them could do interp on the intros. Then I got up and said I'd been doing it for 10 years. Represent. I don't think they were as impressed as they should have been. Interp is indeed impressive. You appreciate it more when you get to LE class and they say that one of hardest things we'll learn to do is talk to visitors. Oh, the irony.

Also, may have found a place for me and beardog. It has a hottub. Fingers crossed. ;) Thanks for all the support!!! I'll start making phone calls soon, when the stress level comes down a bit.

-M

Bluegrass, Discgolf, and the Ghetto

So we got to Tahoe and might have not had any place to live. Either one of us. Even after the free hotel room. We eventually locked in a townhouse, but Aimee can't move in until the 15th. Sooooo, the homelessness continues. The upside is that Bear got to go on his first camping trip. Camped up at the lake (because we had no other place to live. Sweet). He did great. Didn't even put a hole in Clay's tent. Then we took him to watch the Kokanee spawning. One of the sweetest things I've ever seen. A recommendable fall activity in the Tahoe area. We left the elk mating in the Tetons, for the Kokanee spawning in the Sierras. Nothing like a little love. Then to Petaluma, where Ben and Cynthia have been excellent enough to allow both of us homeless miscreants to sleep on their floor while house hunting...

Oh, the house hunting... Mixed reviews on this part of the adventure. The freebies have continued, so that's been sweet, but, the househunting has been entertaining. There was this one place... seriously deliverance. We did a driveby... Yikes! Grandpa was out on the front porch in a wifebeater. Should not have been in a wifebeater... and there were so many appliances in the yard, I found it wery ironic that they had no washer or dryer on site. I saw it. I swear. It was just in the dirt on the side of the house. No one told them that if you move it inside and connect it, it works a lot better. The other places we looked at were either 1. in the Ghetto or 2. in a weird little town full of methheads. But we have a lead. A friend of a friend of a friend thing in Windsor. Fingers crossed.

Yesterday was a free Bluegrass show in San Fran. Bear got to go. There were no rules. It was a great show. John Prine, Los Lobos, Bruce Hornsby, and Bela Fleck, just to name a few on the menu. It was sweet. The best part, aside from Bruce Hornsby, was the grown man in a dinosaur head scaring small children. Or the dad smoking pot next to the stroller with the Coors light in the stroller drink holder. Sweet. But the shows were good. If one more person tells me how "poor" a dog I have... And I learned something new... Bear only has three legs. In a town where men can wear tutus to a rock show, you'd think there would be something else to mock than the three legged wonder dog.

Today, we all went to play disc golf. Bear chased geese. He's sleeping now. That is a big day. More adventures to come. Tuesday is D-Day, except without the water and add pepper spray and tazers. And I don't think anyone is going to shoot at me, at least not on the first day.

The pics: Bear's 1st camping trip. Aimee couldn't get enough of Inspiration Point at the Tetons, so we found one in Tahoe. The Kokanee spawning. And yes, that's Bruce Hornsby on that piano.

Long Drives, Bright Lights

This begins our next adventure, and its starting out spectacularly... Well, sort of. Here's the good. We managed to leave Wyoming at 2 pm. So much for the 8am departure. We packed EVERYTHING we owned plus the three legged wonder dog into two cars and started driving. We made it all the way to Salt Lake. We may have then bottomed out the scooter trailer on Larry's driveway, but no worries--- the scooter is just fine. Then, Larry made us Tortilla Soup. It was about the most delicious meal ever. We had a warm bed (made much colder thanks to ill advisedly leaving the window open for the dog) and a hot shower in the morning. Plus, she made us pancakes with chokecherry syrup for breakfast. Score! And Bear got to run around in the backyard with Larry's two puppies. So at the crack of 10am, we left Salt Lake for Reno. Nevada is a state that needs a cloud and a tree more than any I have ever been to. It was 8 hours of sagebrush and mountains that needed rain. Lots of rain. The scooter stayed on the back of the CRV without incident and Bear somehow managed to contort into a position of comfort, eventually. Then we got to Reno. We did score a free hotel room at the Holiday Inn thanks to my parents value point card thingy. There was no continental breakfast, but we did get free passes to something in the casino downstairs. The best part about this particular hotel was the complete lack of a rear or side entrance. What did that mean for us? Walking though the lobby with the three legged dog and a rather cumbersome mountain bike that surely would have otherwise been stolen. Downtown Reno isn't the safest ciy in the world. And because of that, we then, after not making eye contact with anyone in the hotel for fear they would kick out either the dog, or the bike, went to Lowes to purchase a large chain cable and an even larger lock. After riding to dinner with 70 pounds of hair on my lap, we secured the scooter with said chain and lock. Dinner was delightful. We ate at the Wild River Grill on the Truckee River. The food and atmosphere were both great. Even better, though, were the outdoor heaters. And the fact that because of the outdoor heaters, we were the only ones outside, and our waitress sort of forgot about us. Insert free beer. She bought us each a beer for forgetting us. At $5 a pint, it was a pretty good deal. And to continue with the freebies... We enjoyed a relaxing morning of Sports Center in our freee hotel room (thanks dad!). Then we travelled on down the road to Starbucks, because apparently Reno had no bagel shops. I clipped Bear to an outside table. Genius. This delightful lady named Mary came by and, as do most people, felt really bad for Bear, the three leg thing and all. So, for adopting this gem, she offered to buy our coffee. Both being unemployed, there was really only a slight argument. What she didn't realize, however, is that Bear is about the most spoiled animal on the planet and certainly doesn't drink coffee. And, yes, that is the first time I have used my crippled dog for a meal. I knew he would pay off... So then, we get to Gardnerville (which for the purposes of this blog and all other correspondence will from this point be G-Ville) and find out that the townhouse we were supposed to move into today won't be ready until the 15th of October... Waaaaaa-waaaaaaa. So now we've got 2 cars LOADED to the ground with stuff, and no place to live. To the storage unit. We somehow managed to get everything from 3 people into a 5X10 unit. A-mazing. It's not going to be pretty when it gets unloaded. To maximize vertical space, we may have thrown some things. Maybe. So now that's figured out. I'm going to Santa Rosa tomorrow. I'm homeless there too. It's more expensive. Sweet. I'm taking Aimee with. She has no job. That was a new addition to the mix this morning. She's negotiating that point. So for now, to Santa Rosa where the only place we have to live doesn't take dogs. Damn the man! Hopefully, upon Aimee's return, her boss will have gotten lots of jobs and pass them on to her favorite Park Ranger. But ski passes are bought and Don taught me how to shoot a gun, so let the adventures begin! (Sorry Clay...)

Pics are as follows...
-Cars are loaded at the Highlands. Bear had no idea what he is excited about.
-So we can't even tell you whether this was in Nevada or Utah. That's how interesting it was.
-Bear's happy place.
-The biggest little city in the world. Cool.
-The sideways storage unit. Done and done. And don't know how to rotate pics yet.

A Place Called the Highlands

The seasonal migration from the Highlands to whatever winter destination awaits us has begun. The courtyard resembles that of a used car lot. Cars are being stuffed and are loaded down to the point that speed bumps will be touch and go for some. It is always a bittersweet time of year. Excited for the adventures that lay ahead yet sad to leave such a special place. Landscape architects often try to design spaces that will give the user's a 'sense of place.' I'm quite for certain that there were no Landscape Architect's involved in the design of the Highlands (on old motor lodge from the 1950s). Yet nowhere else I have been has quite reflected a 'sense of place' like the Highlands does. It's a mixture of about a dozen of so cabins each one with their own unique charm. Some so small you can make your morning coffee without ever leaving the warmth of your covers. Although the cabins are quaint it is the inhabitants of these cabins that makes the Highlands such a special place. Rocks thrown at metal roofs are our doorbells, clothes left too long in the dryer are often times are folded and delivered to your cabin, and dinners are always a shared event. There are always morning welfare checks for those of us who thought drinking whiskey out of the bottle until the wee hours of the morning was a good idea. We are a gaggle of Park Rangers from all over the United States and we are unwilling to let the summer go by without filling it up with as much craziness and shenanigans as possible. Each resident of the Highlands brings their own special charm to the group. Bonfires are a nightly event, complete with story telling and fire jumping. Margarita Mondays, movie nights, game nights and Family Night Dinners are all weekly festivities. Ahh yes leaving the Highlands is always emotional but we always have plenty of good stories to last us throughout the winters. It is a place unlike most others. A place that we are all thankful to be a part of and are always thankful for one more summer spent here. May you all find such a place.

Pictures--Larry carving the Thanksgiving Turkey at our last family night dinner.

Don, Cliff, and Tom at Thanksgiving Dinner

One Last Hoorah

So this past weekend we said goodbye to the seasonals, going to God knows where, Barb, going to Olympic, and Jay, our EMS coordinator extraordinaire, going to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was emotional, but mostly we just drowned our sorrows in Jameson and tasty beverages from local brewing establishments. Needless to say, the 12 mile hike up and over Hurricane Pass we did the following day was painful to say the least. I'll get pics posted from that soon. It was a fantastic gathering typical of the Highlands--- Grills, burgers, brats, lots of dogs, fire jumping, you know, the usual. Regardless of where we all end up, we will all truly miss the folks at the Highlands. The photos of the crew are, from top to bottom... ((Jay, Barb and I (and Todd adding a little something special)), ((Jess, Kari, and Aimee)), ((Jess, Larry, Don, and Jeanne)), and ((Clay and Aimee)). Good times were had by all and we all counted ourselves lucky to have spent time with such an all star group of people for at least one last season...

Weekend with Mom

So, my mom is visiting... Good times. So far, we've had an ambulance ride, came an inch from the rear end of a moose, 10 feet from a bison, and dumped a canoe into the Snake River and lost a paddle. You could say we were up a creek without a paddle and you would be 100% correct. If she were a lesser woman, she would never come visit us again. The river rangers had to come bring us a paddle. Embarrasing? Eh, if you can't laugh at yourself... Right. As it is, however, she appreciated the attractiveness of the medical staff at St. Johns Hospital, is not afraid of large woodland creatures at close range, and thought that flipping the canoe in a raging torrent was a great adventure. Thank goodness! She is, however, beating us all royally at Euchre and I think enjoying every minute of that. Today I suggested she lay low, read a book, and hang out with Bear. She said he made it to the dumpster in the parking lot before he realized she was not me and laid down in the road. He's a bit snobby. I'm back at work, lamenting. Hopefully the rest of the visit will be a bit more uneventful. ;) Clay and Aimee and I decided that every weekend should be at least three days long.

Ice Cream Headaches on Scooters

I've noticed that in September, motivation for working goes significantly downhill. Thoughts turn to buttered rum and skiing. Today, for example, Bear, no doubt napped after trying to figure out what animal was making the gutteral groaning and screaming noises during our 6am walk. The leisurely bike ride to work was absolutely frozen! Aimee took the sweet scooter. Bad idea. Ice cream headache the whole way. Still trying to get feeling back in her ear lobes. When you have to scrape the ice off the scooter cover, it's a sign. Aimee struggled through the morning on the desk making decorations out of the pieces of paper left in the hole punch, which found their way to my desk. I detailed myself to work with a friend to make parking barriers out of the sappiest logs ever. Note to self... need to get chainsaw certified. Seems a good way to get out of desk work. The vast majority of our staff has started detailing themselves quite often. Not even sure where they go all day, but at least they take radios. This afternoon, to the range to shoot stuff, maybe do a ride along. It's kind of like office space... maybe 15 minutes of actual work. I did actually post some internship announcements for a couple of hours this morning. Also, rode the scooter to lunch. Nothing makes you really feel like you've accomplished something like tooling around in your park service uniform on the orange scooter. Weekends in September are fantastic!!! Family dinner night this evening... Soup night is the theme. Maybe someone will bring the buttered rum. It's kind of soup-like. Snow in the forecast to encourage thoughts of skiing. See, its all coming together.

Push, Pull, Paddle

This weekend, to the great up north... Took a paddle, sloppy crawl, and hike up into Moose Basin. Jackson Lake was exceptionally muddy, thanks to the need in America for potato and potato products. I think at some point we were all knee deep in mud that had been at the bottom of a lake all summer. Mmmmmm.... Smelled delicious. Then a beautiful hike up, up, up into Moose Basin to a camp above a glacial lake for sunset and, as Carl Sagan would say, billions, and billions and billions of stars. Pics to follow. The trip out involved an uneventful hike down Webb Canyon and a slog of a push, pull, and paddle to get across the lake. Better planning would have helped, but the Karate Kid maneuvers on the tree stumps made up for it all. :)

Playing in the Winds

We took this pic after a delightful day of hiking and getting hailed on in Wyoming's Wind River Mountains. Bear had to spend the weekend with his girlfriend Koka. Poor Bear.