A Very Long List

FAS has a posted a list of all the U.S.'s overseas military deployments since inception.  It is a very long list and doesn't even include domestic operations like the Civil War and the wars against the Indians.  Maybe we should take a break for a while.

Troop Weekend

Weekend Activities

• T774 Salty Mouse canoe day at Fiesta Island
• T774 booth at Cabrillo Festival

Sophie Turns 10

Sophie had her 10th birthday this week!  She got some meaty ribs and ice cream to eat. She is still very young at heart and most people think she is a puppy.

San Jacinto Backpack

We had our second family backpack up at San Jacinto.  I sent in for a permit, but failed to notice that the tram was scheduled to be down for maintenance up to the day we were going to be up there!  I checked the morning of our departure and found it was open.  So we made the long drive up to the tram station outside of Palm Springs.  We got on the next tram and up we went.  The ride is nearly 6000 feet nearly straight up.  Jaya was a bit nervous as the cabin rotated to give us all a good view.  At the mountain station, we walked around a bit to see the stuffed animals.  Someone told us that the spring at Round Valley was dry.  I decided to carry 5 extra liters based on that and we headed out.  After a quick stop at the ranger station to check in, we headed on the trail to our camp at Round Valley.  The trail was steeper in places than I remembered it but everyone did great.  We stopped for a bit to allow Bengt to scramble up the rocks to the top of a hill.  Getting to Round Valley, the spring was indeed dry.  There was a bucket to catch whatever dripped out and it had about a liter.  The surrounding terrain was dry sand, not the marshy spring like it was two years ago.  It took a while to find a good spot since they are so spread out but we finally camped at Upper Mistletoe.  Someone had built a kind of shelter from logs.  Although not very LNT, we pitched our shelters there since the ground was nice and flat.  Jaya had a touch of altitude sickness so she laid down in her tent while we made tea and some beans for dinner.  We then had a good talk for a while and Jaya joined us until it got very dark and a bit cold.  Bengt and I shared his GoLite Shangri-La 2 tarp which is very roomy.  The night was chilly but thankfully not windy.
I woke first the next morning, walked around a bit, made coffee and read my Kindle.  When everyone got up, we broke camp and started hiking out.  We passed the spring and noticed the bucket had filled up during the night.  The spigot was not dripping however.  Our original plan was to hike the peak in the morning but we had decided against it due to lack of water.  Even with the now-full bucket, we decided to head out.  We took the other part of the Round Valley Loop trail.  This section was much more scenic as it follows the upper slope rather than down a canyon.  We made it to the mountain station but were disappointed to find out they don't serve breakfast.  On the tram down, we found Rick's on Yelp which was close by and served breakfast.  Rick's turned out to be a great choice and we all enjoyed it.  After eating, we heading home.

Weekend Activities

• Harvest day at the Morilak's
• Celebration of New Ministry to welcome our new rector
• Sierra Club hike in Tecolote Canyon - hot but good walking

How Empires End

A great take on the real cause of the failure of great empires.

Summer Books

• Endangered Species (Anna Pigeon Mysteries Book 5) by Nevada Barr - another mystery in the Ann Pigeon series; stranger than Firestorm but more mysterious
• Six Spices: A Simple Concept of Indian Cooking by Neeta Saluja - Indian cooking, mainly vegetarian
• Mons 1914 - 1918: The Beginning and the End by Don Farr - interesting book about the WWI history of the town I have been spending way too much time in.  A bit too much detail on the early action but very fascinating account of occupied Belgium.
• Track of the Cat (Anna Pigeon Mysteries Book 1) by Nevada Barr - the first of the Ann Pigeon series and my least favorite.  I liked the hiking aspects but hated the ending.
• The Wallstrip (TM) Edge: Using Trends to Make Money -- Find Them, Ride Them, and Get Off by Howard Lindzon - skimmed this IBD-like book
• Ill Wind (Anna Pigeon Mysteries Book 3) by Nevada Barr - my favorite Ann Pigeon book so far
• Queen of the Sciences: A History of Mathematices by Prof. David M. Bressoud - great series on the history of math; gets in depth at times
• Blind Descent (Anna Pigeon Mysteries Book 6) by Nevada Barr - yet another Ann Pigeon mystery; I actually paid for this one since the library didn't have it
• American Cocktail: 50 Recipes That Celebrate the Craft of Mixing Drinks from Coast to Coast by Imbibe Magazine - cocktails!
• The American Way: The Lost Secret to American Prosperity and How to Get it Back by John Robb - good concepts but short on actions

Memorial Day Weekend

• Lunch with parent at Cheesecake Factory (I haven't been there in a long time)
• Reunion with some of the Kenya trip folks
• Lunch with the Golds
• Great waves at Moonlight on Sunday evening
• New hikes in the Bonsall/Fallbrook area at Hellers Bend and Los Jilgueros Preserves
• Built Jaya's new IKEA bed - went surprising well for an IKEA projects