Cookbooks

I have been on a big cooking trip lately.  Mainly to support my Primal habits and increase the overall healthiness of my diet.  I have concentrated on grilling/BBQ and vegetable dishes.

Wild About Greens: 125 Delectable Vegan Recipes for Kale, Collards, Arugula, Bok Choy, and other Leafy Veggies Everyone Loves by Nava Atlas - a good starter book on cooking greens; a lot of recipes what have grains but plenty of basic dishes

Fruit Trees in Small Spaces: Abundant Harvests from Your Own Backyard by Colby Eirman - more of a zen book on trees than a how-to guide

Beer-Can Chicken: And 74 Other Offbeat Recipes for the Grill by Steven Raichlen - am looking forward to trying a few of beer-can chicken recipes

Sausage: Recipes for Making and Cooking with Homemade Sausage by Victoria Wise- after reading this book, I decided that buying good sausage is easier and just as wholesome as making it

Raichlen on Ribs, Ribs, Outrageous Ribs by Steven Raichlen - the ribs bible from the BBQ king

The 150 Healthiest Slow Cooker Recipes on Earth: The Surprising Unbiased Truth About How to Make Nutritious and Delicious Meals that are Ready When You Are by Jonny Bowden - grabbed some great slow cooking recipes out of this one

Primal Backpacking

Since I migrated to a fully Primal diet a few months ago, I found one of the biggest challenges was developing menus for the camping and backpacking.  To help out, I recently got a dehydrator and vacuum sealer to prepare and package my own meals.
I have been making batches and batches and of beef jerky.  I get Mendenhall beef from Whole Foods.  It is pastured, grass-fed, local meat, not to mention delicious.  I make different flavors depending on what I have around.  Jerky is a fabulous snack for my treks.
If I have extra veggies around, I have been dehydrating them as well.  They take quite a while to dry.  I have zucchini, bell pepper and onion so far.  I also have dried chicken breast and ground beef (both pre-cooked).  My plan is to make soups and stews using vegges and meat and some seasoning.
On my last trek, I took a stew with ground beef, veggies and some left over ramen mix.  It was pretty decent.  The key was the flavored oil from the ramen pack (I ditched the noodles).  For the veggies, the zucchini seemed tough and bland while the bell pepper was vibrant and very tasty.
I will continue to experiment with different ingredient and combos.

Nation of Pansies

Why didn't anyone fight back?  Have we abdicated all our "security" to the government (which is incapable of performing such duties).

Books

• Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics by Henry Hazlett – a series of lessons on free market economics (only got through the first half before I had to return it)
• How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age by Dale Carnegie and Associates – updated version of the classic; a bit heavy on the blog quotes
• The Way Out: A True Story of Ruin and Survival by Craig Childs – couldn’t finish this one, I wanted more on the adventure and less on how their lives and the world was a bad place
• Eric Sloane's Weather Book by Eric Sloane – a fabulous reprint of an old weather book

Camp Osten

We had by brother's kids in town for Camp Osten 2012!

• Cirque du Soleil at the Kodak Theater for the girls
• Knott's Berry Farm for the boys
• Perfect Encinitas Days: bacon for breakfast, Moonlight Beach, Rico's Taco Shop
• Fireworks in Santa Ana
• Pool time!
• Epic water fight with the neighbors
• Rock City gym
• Lot's of bad-for-you-food

Cuyamaca Backpacking

I finished my Rayway tarp and set out to Cuyamaca Rancho State Park to test it out.  The trap saved me around 2 pounds over my tent.  I had a base weight of 10.4 pounds and a total pack weight of 21.1 pounds (with 3 liters of water and 1.6 pounds of food).
I parked at far southern end of the park at Merigan trailhead.  I had to get ranger permission to leave my car there overnight since it is a day use lot.  I headed north via the Dead Horse Trail, California Riding and Hiking Trail, Arroyo Seco Trail, West Mesa Fire Trail, and the Lookout Road to Paso Picacho camp.  Total mileage was 11.5 miles and took 4.5 hours.  Many parts of the trails where overgrown or encroached upon by weeds.  Long pants and shirts sleeves where a must.  There was a lot of up and down that left me beat at the end.  I had brought small hex stove and some small tablets to cook dinner and heat water.  The wind was blowing and I didn't have a windscreen so the stove couldn't really heat the water too well.  I still had some decent coffee and a home-grown meal of dehydrated ground beef and veggies.  The key to the main dish was some flavored oil from a leftover ramen-type meal.
Tarp time!  I set up the tarp broadside to the wind and with the windward side pitched lower.  It worked great.  The winds were 10mph with 30mph gusts.  The tarp allowed just the right amount of ventilation and I was comfy and cozy inside my warm weather bag.  The newly acquired polycryo ground sheet worked as well on the hard pack.
Woke up early and heated some water for some cocoa.  I needed the sugar fix for the trek up to Cuyamaca Peak.  I left the camp at 6:05a.  The next hour was 2.5 miles straight up 1600 feet.  By this time my feet were very blistered.  But it was worth it with the view of what I call the "second sea," the marine layer that envelopes much of San Diego almost every morning.  The tall peaks poke up over the clouds like islands in a vast sea.  Then spent the next 3.5 hours heading south back to the trailhead.  Thankfully this was almost all downhill but my feet and legs where not happy.  Total mileage was 13.5 miles at 4.5 hours.
Total trek mileage was 25 miles.  I love hiking CRSP and can't wait to get out there again.

View from California Riding and Hiking Trail.

From geocache along Arroyo Seco trail.

Rattler crossing the Fern Flat Fire Road.

Tarp with the windward side lower.  Had to search a few minutes to find suitable sticks.

Second sea viewed from Cuyamaca Peak.

Weekend Activities

* Finished the Ray-way tarp.

* 2.7 mile hike to Kwaay Paay peak in Mission Trails.

* Walks with sophie at the lagoon, Pipe, and Cardiff


* Babysat Bengt's tadpoles as they turned into frogs and tried to escape

Crash Course

Just finished up Chris Martenson's Crash Course. Pretty interesting stuff. Here is the last episode, but you should start from the beginning.

Weekend Activities

* Took the SDIC HALT water trek training.  This canoe-based training was held over the weekend at Fiesta Island.  The morning winds made it very difficult but everyone did great.
* Jaya had her end-of-year piano recital and potluck
* Bengt had a Scout trek to Fry Creek campground at Palomar Mountain - his first trek without his old man!
* 8.33 mile hike to the library and Whole Foods.

SDCL is Library of the Year

As a big user of the San Diego County Library, I am not surprised to hear they were named "Library of the Year."
I love the online catalog and the ability to reserve books and have them delivered to your local branch.

The Fall of Palm

I love "inside" stories of Silicon Valley and this one is especially interesting since I was a Palm user for so long.

Books

• Pacific Crest Trail: Southern California by Ben Shirfen, et. al. - one of the canon of PCT guides
• The Cartoon Guide to Calculus (Cartoon Guides) by Larry Gonick - calculus is still hard even with the cartoons
• Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury - a great Scout adventure loosely based on a true story
• A Scout Leader's Guide to Youth Leadership Training: Working the Patrol Method by Four Eagle Scouts - a fabulous book on youth training and the Scouting Patrol Method

Weekend Activites

* Helped friend move to the Ranch
* Encinitas Wine Festival
* More work on Jaya's room - built endless quantities of IKEA furniture

Memorial Day Weekend Activities

• Flag posting at Rosecrans National Cemetery with Troop 774
• Moved the furniture out of Jaya's room and painted it blue
• Landscaping!
• Grilling!
• Walks with Sophie

At Mataguay for the International Camporee

I am here: 33 12.104 N 116 39.213 W Google maps

The Land of the Free?

Another example of our freedom?

Weekend Activities

• Walk the dog at the lagoon to get some exercise for her hurt paw
• Swimming merit badge course at La Costa Valley pool
• Episcopal Refugee Network Gala on the Berkeley at the San Diego Maritime Museum - no better place for an evening of fun and charity
• 3.5 mile urban hike to downtown Encinitas
• Choral evening service at St. A's

Books

• The Historical Jesus (audio) by Bart D. Ehrman- a very detailed look at the historic record of Jesus's life; extremely fascinating
• From Boy 2 Men: A Adventure in Paradise by Marshall Lubin - a fabulous worldwide adventure as told by a local author
• The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health, and boundless energy (Primal Blueprint Series) by Mark Sisson - my current diet and exercise blueprint
• ART COLLECTING 101: Buying Art for Profit and Pleasure by Alan Klevit - a nice primer on art collection, especially for prints
• Ray Way Tarp Book Essentials by Ray Jardine - a primer for tarp camping; bought along with a tarp kit

Dixon Lake Camping

Bengt and Troop 774 spent the weekend at Dixon Lake in Escondido.  It was a great location, very close and overlooking the city.  We did some fishing (but didn't catch anything) and training the new scouts.

Big Island Vacation

I recently got back from a week vacation on the Big Island in Hawaii.  It was my first trip to that island and thought it was awesome.  Very different from the others.
We stayed the first four nights in Volcano Village.  This little town right outside of the entrance to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is over 4000 feet in elevation so was fairly cold and rainy (more like Oregon than Hawaii).  This location allowed us to visit the park and the eastern side of the island.  We stayed at the Volcano Country Cottages, a great little bed and breakfast run by Garret and Sandy.  We loved the roomy and cozy bungalows and the wonderful breakfasts.
For our first day, we hit the park to check out the volcano.  Kilauea is the currently active volcano and it has two areas of activity.  One is a big hole that is spewing toxic gases.  This is easy to see from the lookout at the end of the road to the west.  The gases are the reason the road is closed so you can't drive all around the crater.  We also stopped by the steam vents which were very interesting. Later in the day, we took a ranger led hike down into the crater. The crater surface is unworldly, kind of like a desert floor but all black.
On the second day, we went to the Puna area.  A quick stop at Lava Trees State Monument to see lava covered trees and then we hit the Wa'opea tidepools for some snorkeling.  The pools made it like swimming in a pool but with corals and plenty of fish.  We ate dinner at the wonderful Kiawe Kitchen in Volcano Village.
On the third day, we again went into Puna.  First up were some waterfalls and then lunch at Hilo Burger Joint in downtown Hilo.  We did the same snorkeling trip and then drove to Kalapana in the evening to see the lava flows (the second point of Kilauea activity).  Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see, just some far off orange glows;  apparently the flows lately have been sporadic.
On the fourth morning, we checked out of the B&B and headed back into the park for the short hike along Devastation Trail.  We then headed south and west along the way to Kona.  Our first stop was Punalu'u Black Sand Beach where we saw some turtles resting on the beach.  Lunch was in Na'alehu at Hana Hou Restaurant (the southernmost restaurant in the US, with good food as well).  We then took a detour to South Point, the southernmost point in the United States.  The drive down there was like being in Texas with the grasslands and cattle everywhere.  This side of the island is much drier so doesn't have the lushness of the east.  We also stopped at Ailani Orchards to pick up some organic mac nuts and great Kona coffee.  We got into Kailua-Kona in the early evening and checked into the King Kamehameha Courtyard Marriott.  The hotel is located across from the street from the start-finish line for the Ironman.
Our first day in Kona started with breakfast at Island Lava Java.  We then headed to Honaunau Bay for some snorkeling.  They call this spot "Two Steps" due to some ledges along the lava that allows for extremely easy access to the bay.  The fish and corals were fabulous but the depth was a bit too deep to get close up.  We then drove by Kealakekua Bay to check it out for a future excursion.
On the second day in Kona we went to Kahalu'u Bay for more snorkeling.  The sea was rough but fish here were the best of all the places we snorkeled.  We were supposed to do a night dive with manta rays but it was canceled due to the swells.  Everyone was bummed.
ON the third day in Kona, we headed to Kealakekua Bay and rented kayaks.  We paddled over to the other side of the bay where the Captain Cook Monument is.  You aren't supposed to beach your kayaks but we had a hard time tying them up to the nearby trees so we just snorkeled off the boats.  Our trip was cut short when Jaya stepped on a sea urchin!
That afternoon we headed back to Hilo for our red eye flight back to LAX.  We took the Saddle Road route.  It led through Parker Ranch and some more Texas-like terrain.  We stopped at the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy vistor 9,200 feet up the mountain.  It was chilly there but the view were spectacular.
A slideshow is here.

Encinitas to Old Town Hike

I took a 24 mile urban hike from Encinitas to Old Town. Here is the track plotted on Google Maps. The hike from the Encinitas train station through Del Mar was nice and pleasant even though I was alongside the road. Almost the entire path south of Del Mar was ugly, dangerous or both. The short cut through Pacific Beach was particularly bad due to the heavy traffic and complete lack of pedestrian amenities like crosswalks. Here are some pictures from along the way:

Books

* Trail Life: Ray Jardine's Lightweight Backpacking by Ray Jardine - ultralight backpacking classic
* EatingWell One-Pot Meals (EatingWell) by Jessie Price - some great one-pot meals
* The Backpacker's Field Manual: A Comprehensive Guide to Mastering Backcountry Skills by Rick Curtis - comprehensive but some stuff out of date in this first edition
* The Occasional Vegetarian: 100 Delicious Dishes That Put Vegetables at the Center of the Plate by Elaine Louie - too many recipes with grains
* The Dehydrator Bible: Includes over 400 Recipes by Jennifer MacKenzie, Jay Nutt and Don Mercer - a great book on dehydrating * Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook by Mary Bell - a decent book but the Bible is better
* Great Battles of the Ancient World (audio) by Garret G. Fagan - a fabulous lecture series on ancient warfare from Mesopotamia through Rome