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New Catnip Toy
Duncan took an instant shine to it:
As did Ares:
Artemis, on the other hand, seemed more interested in the bag it came in.
Silly kittens!
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25 Miles. Wow!
We finally got back out on the bikes this weekend after being away for three weeks (travel and Ren Fest got in the way). We tried to get out on the W & OD Trail yesterday, but were hampered by the fact that everyone else in the Universe thought it was the perfect day to get out on the trail, too. We ended up biking close to home, and only did about 5.5 miles.
Today, however, we loaded the bikes on the car and drove up to Andrew’s work in Herndon (this is fast becoming my favorite place to bike from, since there are usually relatively few people on the trail up there). I tried to push myself on our way out, pedalling hard on the down-slopes when we could have just coasted, and trying not to slow down as much on the up-slopes. I was actually tired when we reached the little country shop in Ashburn (8.75 miles from our start point), but wanted to try for our 25-mile goal. After some orange juice and half a candy bar, we decided to push on. We turned around and 12.5 miles almost exactly (though it was hard to tell, because my wheel had been spinning when we drove up to our start point, so there was already ~1.25 miles on my computer when we started the ride).
The quarry pictured on the right was past our furthest one-way trek of 10 miles, so we stopped at the overlook. The silo is actually something we’ve seen on our other trips out of Herndon, and I’d meant to stop for a picture several times, but only managed it this time.
25 miles is really pushing my abilities at this point. I trust that next year it will become routine, but as for today, there were times I wasn’t sure we were going to make it. My thoughts roller-coastered along with the terrain: when we were on an up-slope I was sure we weren’t going to make it, on a down-slope I wondered why I thought 25 miles was so hard. Anyway, my goal has been made. Yay me!
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JWST
Posted by barb on Sep 26, 2005 in Pictures, Science Musings
Last week, a full-scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope was installed outside one of the buildings at work. Yikes! It’s huge! Check out the picture for the scale. The mirror is 6.5 meters in diameter and the sun shield is the size of a tennis court, which might sound big, but I never really understood the scale until I walked around underneath it.
One year!
Posted by barb on Sep 20, 2005 in Pictures
One year ago yesterday Andrew and I got married under the stars at the Arlington Planetarium. It was the best day of my life so far.
One year ago, this was the writing on the sidewalk outside the Stardust Restaurant where we held our reception:
Last night, this was what greeted me at the Stardust when we went for our anniversary dinner:
Andrew had called ahead and asked the manager to put this out for us. How sweet is that? Just one of the many many reasons that I married him, and one of the many, many reasons that this past year was so wonderful.
I love you, Andrew, and look forward to many more wonderful years with you. <kiss>
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So many observatories!
I went with a group from the conference for a tour of Kitt Peak National Observatory. They gave us scientist-led tours of the Mayall 4-meter telescope, the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope, and the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope. Wow!
Update (9/20): I’ve posted all of my Kitt Peak pictures in my photo album.
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Desert Museum
I played hookey from the first couple sessions today and ran off to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum just a few miles outside of Tucson. Wow! Best $9 I’ve spent in a very long time. The museum is part science museum part zoo part botany lesson. It’s situated smack in the middle of the desert, and it seems that the designers of the museum tried to disturb that desert as little as possible. The trails are lined with native cacti, many of which were flowering or with fruit today. There are several live-animal exhibits — from a river otter to a black bear to praire dogs to ocelots. There are also two aviaries – one with a variety of birds and another with hummingbirds. Winnie and I spent about three hours at the museum, and were able to see much of it, though we missed the “Desert Loop Trail” with the coyotes and javelinas. I highly recommend this museum if you ever find yourself in this neck of the United States.
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It doesn’t get much classier than this!
Posted by barb on Sep 15, 2005 in Pictures, Random Thoughts
Cheesy hologram crucifix seen at El Charro in Tucson.
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Ares Helping at the Computer
This is Ares’ idea of a good time. He loves to help at the computer, especially when the weather is cool enough that he wants a bit of extra warmth.