Archives for October 2006

I have lived in Northern California for 8 years and I still say, “I am going home” when I talk about visiting my parents. I truly have a home in northern California and after being in Indiana for 3 days now can honestly say I like where I live and don’t want to leave even thought it is outrageously expensive. So why do I refer to Indiana as going home? Could be that my parents still live in the same house that I grew up. It could be that it is my parents and no matter how old I am you walk through the doors and you are still their kid. Whatever it is it doesn’t seem to change. My mom refers to Connecticut as “going home” and she has lived in Indiana and created a home here for the last 30 years.

It is a ideal place in my head when I have been gone for 6 months. I get homesick every fall and really want to get back to Indiana. I can usually convince myself that moving back to the Midwest would be fun. Then I come out to Indiana for a visit and I miss the mountains and water I see everyday. I like driving down the country roads but the strip malls and all the vacant buildings can be a little depressing. I was driving past strip malls yesterday and it felt claustrophobic. Almost like it was closing in on me and striping me of culture. It is definitely an over statement of Indianapolis but it is how the suburbs make me feel. The city has a lot going on for the middle of the country but the areas around it are really lacking. My parents have looked over the entire city to find ingredients and wine. Most weeks they make a 45 minute trip north to Cost Plus for wine, and penzey’s spice store and a small variety of other stores that have special ingredients. They can find most of the ingredients but not easily. The Trader Joe’s doesn’t have as big of a wine selection and you have to drive 45 minutes to get to it, there isn’t a whole foods (though it is apparently on the way), the local grocery stores are mostly chains or super wal-mart, target or Kmart stores. I want my Berkeley bowl and the whole foods down the street not to mention the farmer’s market.

I don’t think that the great local shopping, views and culture quite justify $900k average home prices, but I am willing to pay a little more for rent, groceries and gas to continue living in the bay area. However, every fall I will be coming “home”.

If it could be October all year round I would be in heaven. These reasons I vote for October are:
1. pumpkins
2. weather is perfect
3. pretty leaves
4. halloween
5. pumpkins
6. my birthday
7. apple cider
8. football
9. pumpkins

I really like pumpkins, jack o’lanterns and truly everything about October. We set out earlier today to get pumpkins but found that our favorite pumpkin patch only to find it has been turned into a regional park. The downside to this is now the patch is only open on Friday-Sunday. The best thing about this patch last year was that we had the place to ourselves. So we headed farther north to the Anderson pumpkin patch on the way to bodega bay on 116. Not at all the same patch but when it comes to pumpkins anytime you can roam through a patch and pick your own pumpkin you can’t go wrong. We had a large wheelbarrow and we filled it with 6 pumpkins. Including this one:

It is hard to tell in the picture but this is a black widow. This is the first black widow I have ever seen and luckily she was mostly dead. She had laid her eggs nicely on the pumpkin so for obvious reasons this pumpkin did not come home with us. The other 5 in the wheelbarrow however did and I can’t wait to carve them. I am eager to make a pumpkin pie and pumpkin muffins. I found a recipe for pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin panacakes that I think are also on the menu this month.

October really is my favorite month. Every year I try to make a trip home during October so I can enjoy a few more things on my list. Indiana has great leaves, weather and football. If you have read my post about apples you already know how much I love the apple cider from our local orchard.

Here is to October, the pumpkin patch, and let’s all get ready for the GREAT PUMPKIN.

I have now been to the top of glacier point in Yosemite twice. This picture was taken from time number two. The first time I was there was in June with my family. We drove to the top while I held the GPS to make sure it was working. It turns out that GPS is kind of like cell phones, you don’t really get reception everywhere. Glacier Point is one of the most amazing and complete views of Yosemite Valley. There is however one draw back, any tourist in the valley can drive to the top. I know that the first time I went I drove, but you have to have the back story here.
My first trip to Yosemite was simply to spend time with my dad and brother. They spent a week backpacking and camping in Yosemite while my mom and I shopped and cooked. We followed a week after them and joined them at a cabin in Wawona. My mom loved camp as a kid but no longer sleeps on the ground. Come to think of it I am not sure she ever did sleep on the ground. Camp was cabin tents and cots and when they went camping in the 70’s it was in the conversion van with cots and a tent that came with it’s own screened-in porch. Not exactly roughing it. Sure there was no shower and you had to use a pit toilet, but still not roughing it. I digress the story is Yosemite. So after we arrived at Yosemite with all the ingredients for three gourmet meals we cooked, slept and then ventured into the valley. I can’t honestly remember what day we went to glacier point I think it must have been day two though. There is only one reason for thinking this and that is that I was amazed at how loud Nevada falls was from glacier point. When you visit Yosemite in June the sound of the falls is shocking. My first day in Yosemite we hiked to what we think was old inspiration point. I was winded on the 2 mile hike (I think it was actually 1.6 miles). During the hike I couldn’t fathom why anyone would hike Yosemite for 7 days with most of there belongings on their back. It truly sounded like nothing I would even consider. Day two was the mist trail. I was very excited about this hike. After looking through the books this hike sounded like the most interesting. What could be better than granite and waterfalls and a simple 8 miles on paper that would be no problem. It was not an easy hike for me the first time or the second but I was immediately in love with Yosemite. After we hiked to the top of Vernal falls we headed back down to meet my mother so we could drive to glacier point. The falls I never made it to on the mist trail was Nevada and at the top of Glacier point you could hear it roaring. I was so disappointed that I hadn’t made it to the top of Nevada I vowed I would come back and go up the whole Mist Trail.
Glacier Point is amazing and I know the people that drive to the top think it is amazing because I was one of them. However, on my second trip to Yosemite I took the 4 mile trail, (really 4.6 miles), to the top of glacier point and I can say without any doubt that after hiking to the top the view is better. The reward at the end of a very hard, very uphill climb is worth it. The hike from the valley to glacier point is about a 3,000 foot gain in elevation. It is all switch backs and don’t believe your well meaning friends when they swear it will level out. After you learn not to believe them learn quickly that the people coming down are being very generous when saying “You are almost there.”. Almost there to a person coming downhill is truly not the same as almost there to a person that has hiked 4 miles straight uphill. The view and the trek mix at the top was so worth it that you might convince me to do it again next year.

This motley crew is me and my two friends from work. Two weeks before this trip I was suppose to go camping in Tahoe with these two and Annie another partner in insanity. However, because of a malicious schedule writer I had to miss the Tahoe trip. So a second trip was planned and it turned into a conversation that went a little like this….”It only takes 3.5 hours to get to Tahoe? Wow if that is the case we should just go to Yosemite.” And the trip was born. Unfortunately at the last minute Annie had to cancel because she is a ballerina and got a great opportunity to dance in some fancy show. So my two buddies and I headed into the wilderness for three nights. Don’t we look like we are having fun?

I was apparently in training during this trip. However, because of shear exhaustion from hiking the only ritual that I could participate in was a sip of Knob Creek one night. I wish I could post the movie of these two geniuses diving into ice cold water in the middle of Yosemite. After we woke up on our last morning we packed up and drove for civilization. After we reached the first major town we stopped for breakfast. I can’t tell you the name of the town, restaurant but I know exactly what I ate. I had the best two eggs, biscuits and gravy with coffee that I have ever eaten. I was truly a marvelous meal. You could ask was it good food because you had been eating boxed Indian food at a dirty campground two nights or was it just really well cooked food? I however choose not to ask this question and just remember that I was excited by the food and remember almost every bite. Serve my friend the same Deg Muffin (english muffin, pepper jack cheese and sausage) that we had in the valley on our first morning and I don’t know if he would be as impressed outside of the valley. I could go on and on about my trips to Yosemite and I might some day but it will all come down to something really simple.
Location, location, location. It isn’t just about real estate. It plays a huge role in how much we love foods. Simply the Best Trek Mix will never taste as good as it did that day on top of Glacier Point.