The Wild West, Day 13
Monday, July 30

We left Casper for good this morning for another day of mostly driving. Our first stop was Devil's Tower, although we only stopped to take few pictures. Sometime in the late afternoon we ended up in Keystone, a tiny town right beside Mount Rushmore. We checked into our hotel and shopped around a bit before heading to the special night presentation at the memorial.

On the way up we didn't see many cars, but Mount Rushmore's parking garage was packed! We had been advised to get there half an hour early to get seats in the amphitheater — there weren't many left. Granny and Pop decided to sit on some small bleachers in the very back, but my mom and I went down closer to the front where we found some rocks that were actually quite comfortable. After a very nice presentation and short video, Mount Rushmore was slowly illuminated. I managed to take at least one good picture without my tripod.

So, that's all we did today. Tomorrow morning we're going back up to Mount Rushmore for a bit, and then on to Crazy Horse. See you then!

- Karen

The Wild West, Day 12
Sunday, July 29

Well, today was our last day in Casper. All of us slept late after staying up until the wee hours of the morning playing with Granny and Pop! I got to talk to Matt for quite a long time this morning, so that was fun. After lunch we went to Walmart with Chrissy to pick up some last minute things before we hit the road again. I also happened across a present for Rachel...

Granny and Pop took us all out to eat at Applebee's for supper. Also, today was Mrs. Woody's (Kay's mom's) 89th birthday, so we went back to their house afterwards for cake and presents.

Tomorrow we're heading off for Mount Rushmore, although I don't think we'll actually get there until evening. I'm not sure where we're going after that...but we don't have hotel reservations anywhere in particular!

- Karen

The Wild West, Day 11
Saturday, July 28

Wow...12:37. This might be a short blog.

Today Alan, Beau, Chrissy, Beau's granddad, my mom, and I went out on Beau's granddad's boat. First he took us on somewhat of a tour into the canyon, where I took lots of pictures that can be seen on flickr. We ate lunch at the boat club and then we took the boat over to a small beach where we swam around a bit (the water was quite cold). Salem, who also came along, didn't seem to mind at all.

After zipping around the lake a bit more, Beau decided to try and teach Chrissy and me how to waterski. So, he demonstrated first, making it look ridiculously easy, of course. I was...unanimously volunteered to try first, so I did. As it turns out, the hardest part is keeping the skis straight — ever. The fact that the life jacket was so big that it kept trying to eat my face didn't help either. After several unsuccessful attempts to get going, I gave up so Chrissy could give it a try. However, she didn't have any better luck than I did (but did lose her skis more often). Alan, who had waterskied before, decided to try after that, but he couldn't quite get it right either. After we finally decided to call it a day, Beau skied perfectly all the way back to the dock...

Tomorrow is our last full day here, and I'm not sure what we're doing yet. But you'll hear about whatever it is!

- Karen

The Wild West, Day 10
Friday, July 27

Today wasn't particularly eventful, and I don't have any pictures to show for it either. All the girls (plus Chase) went to eat lunch at The Cottage, a house that has turned into a restaurant. I was surprised to see several vegetarian options on their menu, so that was nice.

When we left there we went to Lou Taubert's, the store of all things cowboy. Mainly we looked around the home furnishings...not that I can see myself wanting to decorate my house like a dude ranch. We went a couple more places after that, including a chocolate shop, but didn't buy anything.

Granny and Pop had decided they wanted to keep Chase for the evening so Beau and Chrissy could go out to eat, so we had the leftover enchiladas from last week (and there are still plenty left!) And about 15 minutes ago we finished our last round of Rummikub.

Tomorrow Beau's granddad is taking us out on his boat...where I might learn to waterski. Might. We'll see.

Also, I hear from Rachel that my herbs have rabies. Or an IEP. Either way. Speaking of which (Rachel, not my apparantly rabid herbs), I think she would like the shoes that keep catching my eye everywhere I go. (And don't you say anything Matt...if you can have an ibuprofin fetish, I can have a funny-looking-shoe fetish.)

- Karen

The Wild West, Day 9
Thursday, July 26

We headed back to Casper today, so there was lots of driving to be done again. But before we left, we did a bit of shopping around downtown Cody. I saw lots of cool things, including a particularly awesome avocado slicer, but all I got for myself was a new bag from a store that was kind of like a miniature REI. I did, however, manage to find presents for all of my loyal readers in Martin and Germany...

After shopping, we left for Casper around 1:30. The first part of the drive through Wind River Canyon was very pretty (photos are up), but after that it was pretty boring. As in, not a single tree as far as the eye can see. In fact, we even passed a sign for a town that read "Population: 10." Exciting stuff, huh? When we got to Casper we went over to Alan and Kay's house for dinner. Surprisingly, I did not burst into a sneezing fit (they have a cat).

So, I think we're staying here until Monday, when we'll start the long drive back home. Nothing in particular is planned for tomorrow, with the exception of returning a retarded webcam that I bought. Talk to you tomorrow!

- Karen

The Wild West, Day 8
Wednesday, July 25

Today was perhaps the longest day of the whole trip...

We went to the Buffalo Bill museum as planned this morning, and got started around 9:00. If you haven't been there I should warn you: this isn't your typical museum. It's more like five museums crammed into one. And there's a reason for that stamp on your hand being good for two days.

The first section of the museum was firearms of the west (and then some). We weren't particularly looking forward to this section, as none of us are particularly interested in guns. However, it turned out to be quite interesting. There's even a picture of my favorite gun on flickr, if you'd like to read about it.

The next stop was the art gallery, which wasn't nearly as big. There was some pretty interesting stuff in there, including a painting that caused me to try very hard not to laugh too loudly. It, too, now resides on flickr.

After that came a particulary good section, plains indians. This part was huge...so huge, in fact, that we stopped for lunch halfway through. Buffalo Bill's grill didn't have much in the way of vegetarian food, and I ended up with this egg and olive sandwich which I was very glad Matt didn't see, as I know he would have gagged immediately. In fact, I daresay he is probably gagging just reading about it.

It was upon our return to the indian exhibit that things started going downhill. My mom and I had looked at everything we cared to in that section, but it seemed that Granny and Pop were only halfway through. We hung around for quite some time waiting for them to finish, but finally abandoned our efforts and went on to the new nature exhibit, which we hadn't seen before.

When we had finished that one, there was still the big Buffalo Bill exhibit to go. Thankfully, Granny and Pop were already almost through and my mom didn't particularly want to see it again. However, when we finally got away from that last section we were lured in by the giftshop. And little did we know that Granny was going to sneak away to the nature exhibit.

Finally, after much waiting and sighing and watch-checking, we left the museum where he had spent a grand total of: EIGHT SOLID HOURS! I am violently reminded why museums are not high on my list of priorities.

And after that we drove over to the Buffalo Bill Dam, where yet another miniature museum was waiting for us. I think I can quite honestly say that I never want to see another museum again in my life.

- Karen (all museumed out)

The Wild West, Day 7
Tuesday, July 24

So much for those couple of lazy days — today was mostly driving again. However, the drive was much more exciting as we came through Shell Canyon on the way to Cody. There were a couple stops along the way, and I took a lot of picures and two videos. The better pictures are posted on flickr. You'll notice that the badge has been temporarily decommissioned due to its liking for booting Matt of the network. It will make a comeback whenever he does.

We're staying at the Beartooth Inn for the next two nights, and tomorrow morning we're going to the Buffalo Bill museum. I've been to the museum once before and don't remember being particularly enthralled, but you know...

- Karen

The Wild West, Day 6
Monday, July 23

Today was a laid back day around the house again, which was fine with me. I borrowed Chrissy's webcam this morning and actually got to see Matt a couple times! Just after we had gotten it set up my whole family came in the door and proceeded to be amazed by the wonders of technology, but didn't seem to realize that they didn't have to shout at my computer...

Chrissy's webcam worked so well that I decided to be adventurous and buy my own. None of Logitech's cameras specifically say that they are Mac compatible, but the one I was using worked as soon as I plugged it in. Unfortunately, the Notebook QuickCam that I bought was not recognized by my computer at all.

After hanging around here all day, we went to Botticelli, an Italian restaurant downtown, for dinner. I thought what I got was really good — cacchioli soup and gnocchi gorgonzola. Granny had made a chocolate meringue pie this afternoon, so we all made sure to save room for dessert! After we had been back for a while Beau's parents dropped by and we got to meet them. (Beau, however, is in Cheyenne at the moment.)

Tomorrow Granny, Pop, my mom, and I are leaving for Cody, but we'll be coming back here again before we head home. See you tomorrow!

- Karen

The Wild West, Day 5
Sunday, July 22

As I hinted last night, Alan took us up to his property on the mountain this morning. Before we left, however, I had a pleasant surprise: Matt was online! Of course, not having talked to him in a whole day, I was very excited...

We got to the mountain around 10:00 and didn't get back until nearly 4:00. Alan and Kay have a trailer and a deck up there, and we took somewhat of a picnic lunch. They complained about how hot it was getting, but we thought it felt great because there was no humidity!

Beau and Chrissy made supper again, and we were joined by Beau's grandparents and Kay's son and daughter-in-law and their two girls. It felt so nice that we ate outside, and sat around talking until after dark.

I don't know what our plans for tomorrow are yet...I guess I'll just find out later. Don't miss the new photos I took on the mountain!

- Karen

Another Letter from Matt
Sunday, July 22

I'm just assuming you all got my last message since no one but Karen replied to me...

Anyway, in case you hadn't noticed, I've been updating my blog so that is the best place to get updates about what is going on here. I did end up going to back to the flat last night, as you can read all about in the blog, and I'm here now. The bike I borrow, although old and rickety gets me around just fine and I don't think it's 7km between the hotel and the flat after all. According to Google it's 2.7 so that makes me feel much better. It still takes 15 or 20 minutes to get from one place to the other, which is annoying when I've showered and immediately get sweaty from riding, and I haven't done it at night yet but it shouldn't be any problem. It's still quite cool here. They had rain on and off for three weeks before we got here and it sprinkled again last night, so I assume a cold front must be still around. According to weather.com, it's only 63 in Berlin and will be around 56 tonight. Good thing I have a jacket to go with all my T-shirts!

Talk to you all again soon,

- Matt

The Wild West, Day 4
Saturday, July 21

Not a whole lot went on today, we mainly hung around Beau and Chrissy's house. There was a riveting game of Oh Phooey this afternoon, and you will be happy to know that I was soundly beaten...in that one round.

Chrissy made some enchiladas, roasted sweet peppers, and jícama salad for supper and Alan and Kay came over. We also played a game of Sequence — at one point the hilarity grew to a level that woke Chase up.

Tomorrow Alan is taking us up to the mountain to show us what I hear are some really nice trees, rocks, and grass. I don't have time to upload any pictures from today, but I should have more tomorrow.

Be sure to keep an eye on Matt's blog, as he's successfully made it to Braunsweig and is currently practicing his German by speaking English to Dennis, Ingo, and Matthias.

- Karen

A Letter from Matt
Saturday, July 21

Hey everybody!

Just thought I would let you all know that we are here safely and getting settled in. I am in a hotel 7 km away from Dennis...and I was supposed to be going there for dinner tonight but I got lost and I wasted about an hour. It looks like rain so I'm just going to stay in the hotel tonight and then go over there tomorrow. We having nothing to do tomorrow, so I hope to use the Internet at their flat (I'm on the hotel's computer right now) and update my Web site with what's been going on. I love you and miss you all.

- Matt

The Wild West, Day 3
Friday, July 20

Looks like I don't have much time to get this written tonight, seeing as how it's already after midnight. Speaking of which, Matt should have arrived in Germany by now. If you haven't, be sure to check his blog for updates from Braunsweig.

We made several stops today, including Windlass Hill and Scottsbluff, both of which lie along the Oregon trail. There isn't much to say about them that can't be told by my photos.

After driving through what seemed to be the middle of nowhere for quite some time, we finally arrived in Casper. We're staying with my cousin Chrissy and her husband, so I will have access to the internet the whole time we're here!

As for the quote of the day, I suppose it's more of a short story. Pop was inspired to tell us his childhood career dreams. He thought the he would probably get paid pretty good money to clean outhouses. Well, it only makes sense that an outhouse-cleaner would need two mules to help him. And Pop had decided that he should name said mules "Tootin' Johnny" and "Pootin' Johnny." Surely, Pop has missed his calling.

- Karen

The Wild West, Day 2
Thursday, July 19

The events of today opened with a visit to Harry S. Truman's home in Independence, Missouri. The tour was fairly short, and then we were off to the Presidential Library. I'm not sure what time we got there...but it was several hours before we left. In my opinion, you can only look at things about Harry Truman for so long. Definitely not that long.

The rest of the day consisted mostly of driving, and our one other stop was at the original Pony Express station in Kearney, Nebraska. The station itself wasn't very photogenic, but I soon discovered a yard across the street...Several photos from today can be seen on flickr.

Tomorrow we will be driving the rest of the way to Wyoming, with perhaps one stop before we get there. I'm not sure what kind of internet access I'll have, so if you don't see any more updates you'll know why...

- Karen

The Wild West, Day 1
Wednesday, July 18

For every day of this trip, I hope to have a new quote. Here is today's:
Do you ever go to Goggle and click on maps? - Pop

Today my mom, my grandparents, and I set off on our road trip to Wyoming. We won't reach our final destination until Friday because we are...driving the whole way. Consequentially, I have very little to say about the events of our first day. We drove. That is all.

I suppose the highlight of the day was our discovery of a Sheridan's right next to our hotel. Sheridan's, which looks to be about 1/3 the size of the hotel, specializes in frozen custard of about 50 million different flavors. I decided to try a Mocha Wowiechino, which proved itself to be very tasty.

Tomorrow we are visiting the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and...driving. Rest assured that I will be listening for a new quote of the day. Hopefully, they will not all be from Pop.

- Karen

It's a good thing movies in Martin are cheap.
Saturday, July 14

I hope everyone made it through Friday the 13th yesterday...

I haven't had much time to update this week due to a movie-going rampage! Suddenly there were all these movies out that we wanted to go see, and as both of us are going out of town (or out of the country) next week, we figured we'd better get them all in while we could. Blair is in California, as you may have read, so we took Rachel along with us to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on Wednesday. Of course, this resparked our interest in Harry Potter and made me feel particularly guilty about not having read the 6th book, especially since the newest one comes out this Saturday.

On Thursday we went to see Ratatouille, the new Disney/Pixar movie about a rat who dreams of being a gourmet chef in Paris. And last night we went (with Rachel again) to see none other than Transformers! More than meets the eye! Transformers! Robots in disguise! I don't think I ever saw the show when I was a kid, just all those commercials... But don't be fooled — this isn't exactly a kids' movie, and we were impressed. We highly recommend all 3 of the movies we've seen this week, so if you're bored, you should go see them too!

Other than that, not much has been going on besides work. I don't think I've mentioned that I'm working in the chemistry department again. I worked for them last summer, setting up a new chemical inventory system with this crazy computer program, printing barcodes, etc. By the time I'm done I will have slapped a label onto every chemical at UTM. And half of them are older than I am! I sometimes find the warnings on the chemical labels amusing. One bottle yesterday seemed particulary terrified of itself, and felt obligated to include no less than eight exclamation points on its label...
Toxic! Irritant! Mutagen!
Cancer suspect agent!
Reproductive hazard!
Readily absorbed through skin!
Target organs: liver, kidneys!
Target organs: nerves, heart!
Don't even look at this chemical or you will DIE!

When extra toes start sprouting out of my head, you will know why.

- Karen

The Sushi Adventure
Monday, July 9

Matt and I went on an adventure yesterday...in our own kitchen!

A couple months ago Rachel and Blair gave us a sushi kit, but we hadn't bothered to try it out since we can't find sticky rice or nori (seaweed), the two most important ingredients, around here. But when Rachel made some wonderfully sticky rice balls the other day with some Jasmine rice she found, I decided to try making some sushi without any nori...

How to make sushi...

After we got together all our ingredients (pretty basic stuff: rice, vegetables, sugar, salt, and some rice wine vinegar) we got started. The sushi rice takes the longest to make at almost an hour! First you have to rinse the rice until the water is clear. Then you let it soak in the pot for about 10 minutes. Then you cook it and let it sit around for about 10 more minutes according to the package directions, covered with a towel. After that the rice is transferred to the biggest, flattest bowl-like dish you possess (in our case, a big skillet). Once it's in there, one person turns the rice with a wooden paddle while the other sprinkles a mixture of rice wine vinegar, salt, and sugar into it. Then comes the fun part: you draw horizontal and vertical lines in the rice to help it cool, and fan it with the rice paddle for 10 minutes. About halfway through making the rice, I realized that we were going to have enought sushi to feed a small army, so we invited Rachel and Blair over for dinner.

Of course, while you've been waiting all those various 10 minutes for the rice you have time to get all the other ingredients ready to go. The actual rolling process is pretty quick, but would have been MUCH easier if I'd had nori! I made three diffent kinds of rolls:

Hosomaki-Sushi with marinated carrots and cucumbers. The lettuce-wrapped one was the first one I tried.

Hosomaki-Sushi with cucumber and toasted sesame. This obviously looked much better before it was cut!

Temaki-Sushi with soy-marinated tofu and avocado. These worked great with lettuce since they're supposed to be cone-shaped and eaten whole with fingers anyway, and I think they were everone's favorite.

So, our first sushi-making experience turned out tasty, if not entirely aesthetically pleasing. The moral of the story is if you don't have seaweed, just stick with temaki-sushi. I'm going to find some nori!

- Karen

Some kind of Saturday
Saturday, July 7

At last, a real Saturday. Not the kind of Saturday like this Wednesday where you still have to go to work the next day. Not the kind like last Saturday which was spent a family reunion. This was the kind of Saturday in which the only thing we had to wake up for was to go swimming with Rachel and Blair. The kind where you eat lunch after swimming all morning, and don't bother to take a shower until at least 1:30. And after that you have time to make pesto with your own basil plant and that blender you got from Rachel. And when that's done, the only other pressing event for the day is a birthday party.

That was the kind of Saturday I had. The birthday party was for Matt's dad, who turned 51. Around here, the birthday song is always the most exciting part. Since we're all singers, we feel we should do our best to make it sound as terrible as possible. We usually succeed. I just so happened to take a video of our melodious noises this time around, and plan to show it to you soon...

Off the subject of Saturdays, you've probably noticed that things around here have changed up a bit! I supposed that most everyone who reads my blog would also be interested in reading Matt's, Rachel's, and Blair's, so there they are over to the right, all handily updated as soon as I notice a new post. Also, be sure you keep an eye on the new flickr badge in the top right corner, because it is set to display my most recent photos. And it just so happens that my most recent photos were uploaded a few minutes ago...including a shot of one of my tree frogs.

- Karen

The Fantastic Fourth
Thursday, July 5

You may have noticed that yesterday was the Fourth of July.

And it was certainly the most eventful holiday we've had in a while. After getting up late (which was an exciting event in itself) Matt and I packed up our gear and headed out to his parents' house for lunch and playing. We brought along our Wii, so Rachel and Blair played some tennis and bowling with us. Due to a particularly unlucky game of bowling I am, sadly, no longer a pro. Which pretty much means I don't get a sparkly bowling ball anymore.

After losing so many points to Matt and Blair, we decided to play Oh Phooey. Which (of course) I won. Easily. So that Matt could express his undying hatred for my guts. I love him too. When that game was over, I Matt and Rachel went out to play catch, Blair ran off to buy a soccer ball, and I made the Famous Pasta Salad for the Fourth of July get-together we were going to later.

When Blair finally came back with a shiney new soccer ball, he thought he would teach us all how to play. We soon found out that none of us except him are any good. At one point he suggested we play "every man for himself", which Rachel equated with "Blair wins".

Around six we went to the party of sorts, where some of our international friends were celebrating their first Fourth of July. After playing some water balloon games and watching the Famous Pasta Salad quickly disappear, Rachel, Blair, Matt, and I opted for going back to their apartment to swim instead of driving to Union City to see fireworks.

The 'Clubhouse' by Rachel and Blair's apartments has an indoor pool and a very wonderful hottub which, of course, no one was in at 9:00. So, we had the whole place to ourselves. We played around in the pool for a while, sat in the hottub, and then Matt and Blair discovered the air hockey table. Blair had already beaten Matt once and I was on the verge of not letting him get in a single point when Rachel excitedly summoned me outside to see something that Blair had...a tree frog! Obviously I thought this was great, and the look on its face said "please take me home with you". I had no sooner plopped my new friend into my beach bag than we turned around and saw another frog sitting inside. Well, what good is a lonely pet tree frog? Into my bag went the second frog, and with that we headed home.

Fixing up my aquarium for a couple tree frogs didn't take much effort, since I had already amphibianized it for a toad I had last summer. And since my apartment is overrun by moths, they will have a steady food supply. I was only a little bit worried about a hole in the top of the aquarium that I had covered with plastic wrap...

While attempting to sleep last night I kept hearing something thumping around. After a while something thumped on top of me, and I looked down to see my friends sitting on my bed. Needless to say, the aquarium is much better sealed now.

Pictures of my mischevious friends will be coming soon. Rachel already has some photos from yesterday's events at Everyday Postcards. And may I just say that the weird kid in some of those photos is definitely not me.

- Karen

Finally, an update!
Tuesday, July 3

Only 3 posts in all of June? How did that happen?

Maybe July will turn out better. I will certainly be not-quite-so-busy since my SI class ends Friday. But until then, I consider it a very good excuse to slack off on updating.

Remember how last time you heard from me I was planning a trip to float the Buffalo River? Do I have an interesting story about that. Not knowing how to get to the tiny town of Flatwoods, Tennessee and living in the marvelous age of technology that we do, we simply asked Google maps for directions from Martin to Flatwoods, printed off our instructions, and headed out. After at least a three-hour drive we started seeing churches with "Flatwoods" in their names, and figured we must be there. Nothing looked familiar to me even though I've been to Flatwoods several times, but I attributed this to my "not being able to remember how to get anywhere withought having actually driven there myself" disease. I finally whipped out the Tennessee map (the real one, not the dinky Google one) and noticed that we were nowhere near the Buffalo River. Apparantly there are TWO tiny towns in Tennessee named Flatwoods, and Google maps decided that it would pick the smaller of the two! Well, we were certainly in the smaller one — the one that consisted only of churches and was about 45 minutes away from the Buffalo. We finally got the the right Flatwoods and found Emily from Jackson patiently waiting for us. Since we got there so late, we opted for the shorter float (which turned out to be too short) but still fun. We're contemplating going back in the near future...

Nothing much exciting happened in between that weekend and this last one, in which Matt and I went to Jackson. Just about the first thing I did in Jackson was get this new phone! My old one was eaten by Matt's dog some time ago, and I have only been able to see half of the screen for months, so I was VERY excited to finally get something else. With a big, shiney, not-eaten screen.

Also, may I just announce to the world (and particularly Rachel) that Matt let me buy him some jeans in Jackson. And even more exciting, HE WORE THEM ALL DAY YESTERDAY! Now, this may not seem particularly exhilerating if you didn't realize that we're talking about the guy who has been proclaiming the evils of blue jeans for as long as I've known him. He first showed signs of hope in this entry, in which he tried on some jeans all by himself. Well, he has his very own pair now, so you can all be proud.

The main reason we went to Jackson last weekend was to meet up with my mom and grandparents and go to the Boehms family reunion at Henry Horton State Park. We drove there Friday morning, and went swimming with my aunt, uncle, and cousins in the afternoon. Despite slathering myself with SPF 50, I ended up with vibrant red shoulders, which consequentially made my freckles look a sickly shade of green. My shoulders are still sore but hey, now they have a tan. Is that everyone's philosophy, I wonder, who leave themselves out to bake in the sun? "I'll look and feel like a boiled lobster for a few days, but then I'll have a tan!" "And cancer!" Well, even Miss Advocate of Strong Sunscreen gets burned every once in a while.

Here are some pictures from the reunion, courtesy of Matt:

The kids were playing with Playdough. I decided to join in the fun.

Pop can still do pull-ups!

Part of our branch of the family: Greg and my mom's cousin Mandy, Judy and my grandad's brother M.G., Olin and Carol (Granny and Pop), Anita (my mom), me, and Matt. The two playful ones in the front are Greg and Mandy's kids, Nicholas and Sarah.

And in case you didn't notice, I've redesigned the template a bit. the big picture at the top will take you back to this page from whereever you are. The red links on the left will take you to Matt's and Rachel's sites, and a couple other places. The links on the right will change whenever something more interesting comes along...

- Karen