US Virgin Islands! (and stuff)

In the USVI with J, her sister, and sister's fiance. We spent the last three days hiking and snorkeling, so a rainy day is a welcome rest day. It also gives me a little time to catch up on blogging!

These three shots are from some of the worst mountain biking or trail riding I've ever done. I was exploring the powerline cut behind the former Bellwood Quarry site in west Atlanta. Don't ask me why.

It was: terrible. Like, no joke. I fell constantly, my legs were torn to shit by brambles, there were hidden holes throughout the knee to waist high brambles. It sucked. These shots are actually all from laying down on the ground after falling.

These shots are actually all from laying down on the ground after falling. This must have been a relatively early fall, since my legs are only very slightly bloody, and my shorts aren't torn yet.

The angle of the shot isn't an artifact of the digital camera: I was laying down where I fell, backwards in the weeds at about a 20 degree angle.

Another shot laying down backwards after falling.

Hey, since we're here, how about a little FOOD PORN? You wouldn't believe how many search engine hits I get from that term. Or maybe you would. They mostly probably weren't looking for pictures of tempeh and flash fried brussels sprouts.

St. John has a lot of ruins left over from the days of sugar plantations, started by the Dutch in the mid to late 18th century with slave labor. According to one source, there were as many as 109 sugar and cotton plantations, covering most of the island. Fortunately most of the island is part of the Virgin Islands National Park so the sites are protected. This site is great, and only accessible by hiking in.

These are the boiling vats which once produced rum. Yum!

Here is our comprehensively stocked freezer, which shows we're drinking plenty of the modern day product. Liquor is ridiculously cheap due to some weirdness with duty fees. A liter of basic Cruzan rum, made on neighboring St. Croix, costs as little as $4. Yep, you heard that correctly. Fortunately there is also a very generous import allowance of up to five liters of hard liquor per adult, and a bonus sixth if one of them is USVI produced.

This view shows part of the giant steam-powered sugarcane crushing machinery, which the book "St. John Off The Beaten Track" tells of a child getting crushed in:

On March 7, 1908 fifteen year old Maunie Dalmida was crushed in the gear assembly next to the rollers. The following account is taken from... "Boy That Got Caught in the Cogs": The undersigned was sent at Par Force to get information regard to a boy that got caught in the cogs of the mill... With his back toward Dalmida, J Samuel hord the cracking, he then look bahind him saw Dalmida caught in the cogs. Mr. Marsh... was outside of the boiling house, he run and stop the ingin. He was already broken in too. The right hand was also smash, the belly was smash, his bowels was torn asunder...

It's interesting (and heartening) to see the jungle reclaiming many of the ruins. These are the oddly named Par Force ruins. While par for the course, they are not forceful. These are a little over a mile from the Reef Bay ruins above, which are all part of the Reef Bay Sugar Factory Historic District. The Library of Congress has some neat B&W photos of the site before the NPS restored it in the 1960s. Here, for example, are the same boiling vats I pictured above.

C'mon now: you didn't think I'd do this long a blog post with this many randomass pictures without including some ONIONS, did you? Really?

Especially for R and A, here is a video clip of one of the many "Soldier Crabs" that inhabit the entire island, and according to one guidebook make an annual trek in August to the beaches to lay eggs (and presumably find new shells.) We were initially quite surprised to find them, since the first I saw were at least 3/4 of a mile away as the crow flies, with a 440 elevation gain: about a dozen were marching along in a line alongside the America Hill ruins. Yesterday at the Reef Bay Sugar Factory ruins, we saw them as big as an average adult's fist.

Edit: I'm not sure if that video clip is working for y'all out there in Internetlandia, since it's not working for me, so here is a screenshot of the solider crab in question:

Also at the America Hill ruins, since mom loves these shots of me behind signs indicating that it's dangerous and I shouldn't be there.

Okay, I'm going to post this sucker, and maybe, if you all play nicely, you'll get more later.

I know, I know.

It's been a while. But look, it's not you: it's me.

I'm a lead logistics organizer for a 400-500 person bike ride. Tomorrow. And then on Sunday J and I fly to the USVI. Whee!

I couldn't resist this (presumably unintentionally funny) screen shot from Patch, our little "hyperlocal" news source.

No, that's not the "crime beat" box, that's just some headlines you can click on. Yes, APD are clowns, all the way up the chain of command: that's a quote from (edit: former) Major Chris Leighty, Zone 5 Commander (where I live.)

I'm so in agreement. Screw car alarms:

Just back from an amazing long weekend in Cleveland. Lots to tell. But not here.

Cleveland!

Looking forward to a lovely vegan lunch at MELT Bar and Grilled in Cleveland.

And OH, MY GOD, what perfect timing with the music: Don't Let's Start, on the eponymous album They Might Be Giants, is playing overhead. This is the song I played essentially nonstop, on repeat, on my first CD player while writing my Div III, a long, long time ago. I can still reminder how that music used to make me smile.

I have this special love for the Rust Belt. I can't explain it without being cliche. I'll try briefly: for the most part, it's so real, so friendly, so genuine. Yeah. It's like that.

Busy busy busy!

Yeah, I know: y'all don't want to hear about how busy I am. You want... FOOD PORN!

I did some cooking last week when a guest was in town. Unfortunately they didn't really eat hardly any of it, but I enjoyed the crap out of it both nights.

Above is garlic bread, and stuffed mushrooms in the oven.

Yay for tofu steaks! 

Collard greens and garlic on the left; collard stems, broccoli, and garlic on the right.

Clockwise from top left are the collards, fried tempeh, caramelized ONIONS!, boring bits, a wall bit, curved needlenose pliers, brown rice, the collard stems, and broccoli with fresh ginger and garlic.


Headed to Cleveland this weekend for some urban exploration, then have a pretty remarkable 3.5 weekends in town before going to the US Virgin Islands for snorkeling and rainforest exploration.

In other news, while in California a couple weeks ago, I definitely came to the firm conclusion that I'm keeping the Surly Cross Check. It's a fantastic bike. Just not nearly as well suited for loaded touring as the Long Haul Trucker is. It's a ton of fun to ride, nimble, responsive, and much more a "go fast" bike than the LHT.

Food porn: VEGAN REUBEN!

Last night I was hungry, tired, and really didn't want to cook much of anything.

So, made up entirely of things I already had in the fridge, here is my tofu reuben that was OFF THE DAMN CHARTS.

Like, so good that I really almost wanted to make another one, even though I really, really didn't need it.

I ended up not using the mustard, since I had plenty of the quickly thrown together "Russian" dressing: vegenaise, sriracha sauce, and dill pickle relish. Then on the plate, clockwise from top: grilled tofu (from last week, still delicious), daiya "cheddar" on sourdough, homemade sauerkraut, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Delicious!

Got back on Monday from WV and Pittsburgh, tomorrow to California. (Not a big surprise that the credit card company put a fraud alert on my credit card.)

Holy friggen pollen, Batman!

These are the pollen counts in Atlanta for the month of March, 2012:

"Extremely high" on this scale is considered anything over 500 (grains of pollen in a cubic meter of air.)

See last Monday and Tuesday? The 19th set an all-time record for Atlanta, which was promptly broken the next day. That was just about the death of me. (Okay, okay, I made the STUPID decision to ride my bike to the dentist on Tuesday. Stupid stupid stupid.)

I'm still "sick" from it (though I think I might have also caught a small cold on top of the pollen.) Dry, unproductive cough interspersed with excessive, gross greenish yellow mucous production.

I need to go scout out a route for a bike ride I'm helping organize. I hate to say it, but I think I'll drive.

For reference, here are the March 2011 pollen counts for ATL:

Highest we got last year? March 24, at 3939.

2010 saw a high of merely 462. 

 

How about 2009? March 30, at 1727.

2008, you ask? March 19, at 534.

You have to go all the way back to 2007 to find a year even remotely as bad as this year. March 26, 2007: 5499 (which was, I believe, the previous all-time record, before it was shattered last week.) 

Why? In significant part, an unusually warm and early spring. And yes, pollen counts and season length are definitely linked to global climate change chaos.

Household plumbing fun

When was the last time you cleaned out the p-traps and pop-up drains in your bathrooms sinks?

Here's what they look like after only a few months of not being cleaned:

And that's the crap that came out of just one drain tailpiece and p-trap. If it looks gross, trust me, it smells worse.

In case you're wondering, the piece of red duct tape on the toothbrush handle is to remind J and I to not stick this one, used for such tasks, in our mouths.

Singed, Drunk

Doing my part to help heartwarming stories of owners and their stolen bikes being reunited go viral. 

As you can read in this HuffPost article, the above note was attached to a high end Trek road bike which was left at the Aspen (CO) Police Department / Pitkin County Sheriff's Office.

Fortunately for Drunk, the bike owner has decided to not pursue it, since he might have a hint of figuring out where Drunk works, and something tells me it's possible he didn't wipe off his fingerprints.

BAY AREA! food porn, beer porn, coffee porn, protest porn

As many of you know, I was in the bay area last week for quality time with, in alphabetical order, A, E, W*, and K.

*See this post for a reminder of who W is. 

 
A and I started the process of moving he and R into their awesome new apartment. Location hint: it's near this landmark business.

We got the most important task done first: fully stocking the fridge with all of the essentials.

I did some cooking in A's current apartment. This was for pasta. Yay for tempeh! (And they had this delicious salt and lime and chili powder spice mix.)

Artichoke hearts. 

Asparagus. 

And WHOA, WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE?!? Are those... ONIONS?!? Yes, folks, that's right: A had ONIONS IN HIS FRIDGE! So I used them. They were delicious.

Here are the assembled cooked ingredients: I put the DELICIOUS ONIONS in the middle in a separate bowl. Yeah, I'm a good friend like that.

 Walking through downtown Oakland, got a little protest action. Yay Oakland!

On my second to last day in town, I helped K with some prep for a party he was doing. This is the prep for spring rolls for 30. (I did everything but the mango, while he did stuff with meat.) 

Here is a photo of how the spring rolls turned out after K finished them for the party. Yay spring rolls!

And this is with W at Saturn Cafe in Berkeley. It wasn't amazing, but it was pretty tasty, especially on a cold, rainy day. 

A and I had coffee at Sight Glass in SOMA at before he dropped me off at the BART to go to the airport. Again, the espresso wasn't that incredible, but it was good, totally serviceable; the space, on the other hand is gorgeous, and full of beautiful people. With very tight jeans. And fixies. And Macbooks. And "service dogs".

Radio Silence

Been busy, okay? Lots of projects around mom's house, hanging out with siblings, drinking beer. Had a delicious bottomless brunch at Sugar Plum Vegan this morning. The image is of the comparatively boring cajun tots and hummus at McMenamins in Eugene. Basic, but quite cheap at happy hour.

Decided to keep the Cross Check: it's an awesome bike, and a lot of fun to ride, just not nearly as well suited for loaded touring as the Long Haul Trucker. (No real surprise there, of course.) The Cross Check is super versatile, kind of a jack of all trades, while the LHT is a touring monster.

More beer drinking about to ensue with A, and a return visit with E and possibly K to what is truly in my top ten favorite restaurants anywhere, Souley Vegan in Oakland. Stay tuned for more food porn!

Salem vegan food porn

Who'd have thunk it?

This place was great. The sesame ginger tofu was delicious, the beer selection fantastic, and the Firestone Wallet XV for $5 for a 13oz goblet was off the charts.

In Eugene now, and while the apparently partially ruptured Achilles tendon is feeling somewhat better, and I'll be doing an ice bath tonight, it's probably smart to let it detail further bike touring. Stats to come.

I heart rest days

Even though i got thoroughly drenched riding to downtown Portland, the food has been delicious. I was kind of amazed at how much I liked Deschutes' beer nuts: roasted Marcona almonds and cashews with brown sugar, porter molasses, and Hawaiian pink salt.

Bridgeport Brewing, Portland

Day for of the bike tour, and honesty, it's been rough. Snow, hail, sleet, and/or rain every day. Up and down hills. And an Achilles tendon injury, possibly partially avulsed.

Today is a winter storm.

But lunch and beer makes it all better. Bridgeport is amazingly vegan friendly.

Bike tour day one!

And new bike day, day two!

On the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton, and my brand spanking new Surly Cross Check is tied up down on the motor deck. Riding Bremerton to Olympia (actually Tumwater) today. Life is amazing!

Retro GARDENING PORN!

Some classic Alaska gardening porn. Damn, I miss being able to garden in Alaska.

Cabbage in raised bed. The chunk in the trash can is because I had to thin out the bed.

 I mean, this is how stuff grew inside, for crying out loud.

The herb garden raised bed in the front yard.

Various stuff in another raised bed in the front yard, including lettuce, which

big dumb overgrown cows like this one sauntering along at the top of our driveway liked to snack on, which is why I built the hinged cage to protect it. Sure, they could pretty easily tear it off if they wanted, but they had pretty limited attention spans and didn't bother.

Painting project!

dangr-us thoughts World HQ Editorial Desk: Okay, enough already of the damn food porn!

me: Alright, fine! Why don't you just throw some paint at the screen if you don't like what's on it?


This was a project I did with my wonderful nephews and niece in Sacramento in January. They wanted a kid's table for the back yard. Why not throw some paint at it?

A cheap 4x4 piece of OSB. Nephew D and I cut it. The rudimentary compass (see the sharpie marker taped to a string, tied to a nail in the middle of the board?) did the trick of giving us an even circle to cut.

The battlefield: we primed the wood, and Lowe's had several "oops" mistinted sample sized paint, and I bought a couple more.

And the final result, much flung and smeared paint later.

Yeah, that's right:

Still more FOOD PORN!

Tempeh and onions!

 Zucchini and onions!

Thai red curry! 

Binging

Even though this post is about alcohol, the binge here seems to be my blog posting today: this is #4 and counting, and I'm still going through photos.

Yep, it's all feast or famine here at dangr-us thoughts World HQ.

New Years eve in San Francisco, outside Johnny Foley's. No, I didn't go in.

And this is about 9am on January 2, in the elevator down to the Civic Center BART station (hey, I had an enormous suitcase, okay?) No, that yellow liquid on the floor isn't Sierra Nevada Celebration. Stay classy, San Francisco.