Mushrooms in a box

At the end of July I bought a box that touted 1-1.5 pounds of mushrooms that you could grow yourself! Of course, I love mushrooms and the thought of getting to watch them grow fascinated me. So I promptly bought a box. I followed the simple instructions on the box and set it on the counter in an appropriate place and waited. It was supposed to be 10 days to results…This is what it looked like to start, just a big rectangle of dirt and coffee grounds and spores and whatnot:

10 days came and went and I diligently watered the dirt morning and evening, but nothing. Sensing my deep disappointment, Seth did an amazing thing – he called the number on the box. They supplied him with an email address for a woman at the company named Jasmine, her email signature read “Community Happiness Guru.” By the time I contacted her 22 days had gone by and still nothing.

She recommended resoaking the dirt but this time for 24 hours as opposed to 12 and making sure I sprayed them with LOTS of water twice a day. I followed her instructions and voila! Action!

It started small – just a wee clump of fungus:

Everyday more and more growth occurred:

Then it started to happen – real mushroom action:

I ultimately think I got some sort of defective box because my mushrooms never got bigger than this and they certainly didn’t look like the mushrooms on the website. Nevertheless, I was ecstatic that the fungus finally bore fruit.

Frolicking

The Blah life went on the road this weekend - to Steamboat Springs, Colorado!

Per the Colorado norm, the weather was gorgeous.  An 11 mile hike in the Mount Zirkel wilderness was the highlight of the trip. We hiked the Gold Creek Lake-Gilpin Trail loop from the Slavonia trailhead.  The information said that the trailhead had limited parking and that there was heavy usage, so we arrived around 8 AM. There was plenty of parking and we saw almost no one on the entire hike. The guidebook also said that the scenery was "above average." We pondered what "average" scenery is for Colorado and what does "above average" mean...seems like a strange scale.

Although upon completion of the hike, I have to agree with the "above average" rating. Not only were there aspen forests and fields of avalanche lilies, there was a porcupine! It just ambled across the trail and away into the woods as if we weren't even there. The photo below is the only evidence I have and is of its retreat.

The fields of little yellow, down-turned avalanche lilies provided a perfect stage for frolicking:

There was also fungus, which was a big surprise because I don't normally expect to see mushrooms until late summer/early fall. There was even fungus coming up out of the snow!

We even spotted a beefsteak morel (aka brain mushroom), I've only ever seen these one other time in Colorado and they were fairly plentiful on this hike. Here's a little clump of them. 

We did eventually run into some snow near an alpine lake and we lost the trail...this might explain why there were fewer cars and people than expected. Here's what it looked like at the shore of the lake:

There were some ominous clouds that made us a little anxious when we lost the trail completely on the north side of the lake.  Luckily there were some footsteps in the snow that led us back to the beaten path.

The next day we did a short hike to and around Fish Creek Falls. It too had great things - slugs, butterflies, beautiful flora:

And, bonus! There was a cute guy hanging around the falls:

So that was a vacation from the blah life. Now I'm back to the blah. I'm not complaining though! A blah day in Colorado is worth a good week in many other places.

Until next time...

G’s Blah Year: 2010

January

Not an exciting month.  Yawn.

February

This was the month that winter eating really hit.  My friend Nadine and I spent the better part of a Sunday making cupcakes.  Here’s one of mine:

There were also a couple of weekend days that could basically be considered Denver-Boulder food tours.  Here’s me at Proto’s at the end of one of these tours.

March

Of course, the Academy Awards Show is in March and I went to Lisa’s for our annual champagne-drinking-Oscar-watching event:

I spent a few chilly but fun days in Moab, Utah, with Trisha and Kara.  This is Kara and I on a hike in Arches National Park:

Delicate Arch

It also snowed in Denver.  This isn’t rare but I did get some mediocre photos. This was one I took from the door of my condo building as I headed out for my walk to work:

April

I went to my first roller derby – lots of fun actually!  It is about as violent as you’d think.  One woman had a black eye and lots of them had bruises, but they looked to be having a good time…

I attended my first black tie event – the Downtown Denver Awards.  I posted extensively on my girly anxiety related to what to wear to this event.  I think I did an ok job in the end:

Hiking started in April! 

While descending Bear Peak outside of Boulder, my ankle turned on a rock and I landed in a prickly bush.  Unfortunately, my attempt to break my fall I ended up landing on my thumb.  It was sore for several weeks.  This is my in my blah hiking wear on the trail (my hiking wear is basically this and it will be featured in most hiking shots).

Oh, on and near the summit of this hike, there are always gobs and gobs of ladybugs!  Note the piles of them in the background of this photo.

May

The memorable event in May was going to DC for the WTS International Conference.  This was the first WTS conference I attended.  It was worthwhile but exhausting with social events in the evenings and getting up early each morning.  One of the highlights was a mobile tour to DC’s Union Station where there is a fabulously designed bike station!

Did get a chance to visit Fredericksburg, VA, and Chatham Manor, which is a beautiful garden and old plantation.  It was also the site of late night mischief in my high school years…

There are so many old, huge trees, some of which I think are “historic” and are preserved and kept upright with bolts and wires.  There are even enormous ginkgo trees.

Also got to visit with Jake and Morgan!  Here a photo of those gorgeous children:

June

Hiking season begins in earnest!  First was Cameron and Bross (both done on the same day).

Then there was the West Elk backpacking trip with Lisa.  I have an entire blog post about this trip, but here is photo that isn’t in that post (I think my eyes are closed – typical):

July

July was a fabulous outdoor month.

The trip to Glacier National Park was the most memorable thing I did in July.  This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

In Colorado, there was backpacking into the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness area and climbing of Humboldt.  Colorado in summer is heavenly. 

The view while pumping water:

The ascent with Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle shrouded in clouds behind me:

The summit ridge:

Bonus!  Lots and lots of not-at-all-timid marmots.

Then there was also the ascent of Torreys via the Kelso Ridge – so much fun (really!).  Here’s me on the ascent:

And here’s me on the “knife edge” – I’m actually quite scared here but trying to look tough for the camera.

August

Summer was winding down for me.  Lots of allergy “desensitization” shots had my immune system so worn out I was getting sick a lot.  I did get out with Lisa though – we hiked Devil’s thumb.  The mushrooms and flowers were the most memorable from this hike:

September

Attended both the Fort Collins and the Denver Tour de Fat events.  Tour de Fat is New Belgium Brewing’s festival of bikes, beer, and freaks!  Thousands of people come out on bikes in costume – it’s a good time.

This is me (left) with Amy and April on our way to the Tour de Fat opening parade.

September also is peak time for the changing of the Aspen trees leaves to golden!  Combined a trip to Buena Vista for the Autumn Color run with a leaf-viewing trip.

The annual Rocky Mountain National Park camping trip to listen to the elk rut is a September event.  This year Lisa and her family joined us.  Me and Lisa!

October

New York City baby! Loved NYC.  There is so much to see and watch and experience. 

Loved the subway:

Loved Central Park:

Loved the food – but actually didn’t get many photos of it.

Rail~Volution was in Portland, OR, in October also, but there is a post on that.

November

Not a lot happened in November.  Went to Joyful Journey Hot Springs for Thanksgiving – that was lovely.  No phone, no internet, no TV – just reading, soaking, eating, and napping.

December

A crazy month but nothing to speak of…

Happy New Year!

Rail~Volution 2010

I’ve just returned from Portland and four wonderful days of Rail~Volution, a conference that brings transportation professionals together once a year to “Create a national movement to develop livable communities with transit.”  Two thumbs up to the organizers – it was an excellent event.  I learned a lot and met some good people.  The folks from Pittsburgh, Vancouver, and Portland were my favorites (other than the Denver crew that is).

So I’m going to share a few photos from a few jaunts around Portland.

As always, I love the random and sometimes silly stickers and paintings on signs, cars, and walls. Denver seems to be lacking in this area and I know because I’m on the lookout.

This was taped to the greeter stand at Kenny & Zuke’s deli.  I enjoy stick figures and have been pondering the drawing’s origin – a small-breasted (and lop-sided), wild-haired woman throwing the horns with a seemingly complacent dog. It’s amusing.

These three were in various spots:

This is from the back of a Prius, obviously.  I was unusually delighted by it’s lighthearted nature.

There were also some less-random bits of art that I noted – tile work on a wall surrounding a park and a mural:

I ate at some of the food carts near Pioneer Square.  The weather was moist and chilly in the mornings until just after noon and I was drawn to the soup and grilled cheese cart.  The day I visited it was serving a Hungarian mushroom soup and a cheddar, gruyere, and goat cheese grilled cheese. So, so tasty and satisfying.

A few days later, Lacy (a friend and now co-worker) and I got a similar lunch at a food cart on Williams in Northeast Portland.  No food pic, but here’s a photo of the “cart.”

Right across from this cart was a walk-up window for ordering coffee.  It was aptly named a “ped-thru” as opposed to a drive-thru.

On Monday I took a mobile tour by bike of Portland’s green streets and bikeways.  The weather was amazing, the company was great (can’t go wrong with those that want to get on a bike!), and we saw some interesting and innovative stuff.  Near the end we took a break at a park and the tour guides had arranged for coffee and pastries.  The coffee was served by a coffee-by-bike sort of thing – Trailhead Coffee Roasters.  Quite good coffee but I did burn my tongue (user error). 

Walking around Portland in general was such a treat, especially this time of year.  The trees were turning and leaves were falling. We were so impressed by the size of some leaves we got these photos.

We also came across this huge elephant-on-elephant art in one park:

Finally, we rode and ogled at the streetcar:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Portland, I love you.