Onions and Needles

Twice a year Jason and I head to Moab; these trips are nearly as constant as the ebb and flow of the tides. This spring we had a hard time finding an open weekend to visit our favorite adventure hub but somehow we squished it in. How can you not make time for Moab?

Crossing Onion Creek over and over was delightful and messy. I'm not usually that thrilled to be that soggy.
One prickly pear blooming in the desert is lovelier than a garden full of roses.

On this outing we again hit a couple new biking and hiking spots. It seems like no matter how many times we go to Moab there is always new terrain to explore. We biked 20 miles to the Fisher Valley Ranch and back via Onion Creek Canyon. Although this sandy bouncy road definitely wasn’t on the upper end of the technically challenging scale, the unfit would probably find it unfit for cycling due to its persistent climbs. For us though it was as tempting as a cup of hot cocoa in a snowstorm. All those bumpy hills strewn in unnatural looking reds, greens, grays, and yellows practically begged our tires to tread on them and we were happy to oblige. The dreamlike scenery kept our eyes popping but the best part of this ride was its 52 river crossings, and no, that was not a typo. Jason and I got to navigate our bikes through Onion Creek 52 fabulous times. It goes without saying that we did not return to our car dry. And, thanks to a 25 MPH wind that whipped the endless supply of sand into our faces, I didn’t even return to our car looking human. Instead I resembled what would happen if a stinkbug and a sandman produced unfortunate offspring. They really should never have kids together. Despite the gritty gusts that literally picked up our bikes on occasion and turned me into walking sandpaper, we thoroughly enjoyed this ride. I would recommend Onion Creek to those who aren’t super confident in their off-road skills but don’t mind a good workout or a wet crotch.

This is an untouched photo, as hard as that is to believe. Onion Creek was really that red and otherwordly looking.
That smudge of dust is not the workings of a camera lens gone awry but rather the sandy minions of an aggressive breeze.
In the narrows of Onion Creek Canyon my bike kept tilting toward the river gorge far below thanks to that tricky wind.

The second part of our adventure took us to The Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. Canyonlands is comprised of three separate sections that are divided by the Colorado and Green Rivers. While we’ve hit the Island in the Sky District before, we’ve never made the 65 mile journey south of Moab to see The Needles until now.

Misshapen rocks littered The Needles' landscape.
We came across this rattler in The Needles just a foot from our trail. Later we discovered that it was a midget-faded rattlesnake, one of the deadliest vipers in North America. Apparently they're quite reclusive so a sighting is rare. Lucky us!

The Needles bore little resemblance to the Island in the Sky or anywhere else for that matter. It was a jumble of strange boulders and outcroppings. Its fingers of rock lined the horizon like ancient stone cityscapes. Everywhere you looked fields of mushroom rock popped out of the earth as if they had sprung up overnight.

This tunnel added a little claustrophobic zest to our Chesler Park hike.

We hiked to a place called Chesler Park, a peaceful scrub brush covered meadow surrounded by spires of stone that stretched toward the infinite sky. There we climbed a random rock blob and ate our lunch with a 360 degree view of the circling sandstone towers while a curious crow watched us from a few feet away.

We came across these unusual kissing petroglyphs at the top of Big Spring Canyon. Okay, so we created them with our cheesy shadows but aren't we clever!

Sunsets in the desert are glorious and not to be missed. So after our hike we relaxed above Big Spring Canyon and watched the whittled stone transform from a dull brown to a blazing red within minutes. Unlike other flames, this fire burned without a sound. In fact the world was so still at the top of that canyon it almost made your ears ache.

The Red Cliffs Lodge is frequently our hotel of choice. It is also home to the Castle Creek Winery...and this cute truck.

That concludes my account of yet another trek into Utah’s southeastern desert. If you’ve never been to Moab what are you waiting for? You could travel the whole world and not find anything comparable to the understated patient beauty of this worn landscape. It may have taken thousands of years of infinitesimal alterations to create this unique masterpiece but I would recommend not waiting that long to enjoy it.

Santa Monica’s Eleven

Jason is not the world’s best planner. It’s a fact that only makes the trip he organized for our anniversary even more fantastic.

This year it was Jason’s turn to arrange our anniversary celebrations. For weeks he debated where to go and asked many for their location opinions. In the end he decided we would take a long weekend getaway to Santa Monica, California, a place both of us have seen in countless movies but had never visited.

Our hotel, the Shore, was very hip and modern. I'd highly recommend it to couples traveling without kids. A shower with sheer glass panels on both the bathroom and bedroom sides shouldn't be wasted on a family vacation.
From our hotel balcony the pier and ocean were just a short 4-floor drop away.

Jason diligently did his homework for this trip. He researched hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. After his extensive investigation he opted to book us an ocean view room at the beachfront Shore Hotel. Excellent choice. This new boutique hotel is contemporary, beautiful, and filled with all sorts of high-tech gadgetry. The location isn’t too shabby either. Our balcony overlooked the ocean and famous Santa Monica Pier; we were right in the epicenter of happenings. More than enough stores, yummy bistros, and natural wonders to keep us occupied were within a quick walk. Our whole stay we never even took our rental car out of the hotel parking lot.

You may have seen this archway in a few dozen or so movies.
From the top of the Ferris wheel the shoreline seemed to sprawl out infinitely in either direction.

Jason wanted this to be a proper relaxing escape so he compiled general ideas of what we could do while in Santa Monica but avoided setting plans in stone. This low-keyed method worked splendidly. We spent our anniversary walking hand in hand along the pier and beach. We enjoyed a panoramic view of the coastline from the Pacific Park Ferris wheel and giggled as waves chased us up the shore.

Jason's long wavy hair combined with the salty breeze created an instant beach bum. I'm not complaining though; it was cute.
Having your extensive hair fanned out behind you by a coastal breeze as you nimbly pursue waves may sound like the makings of photographic hotness but this picture proves that makings do not always pan out. Still, it was too funny not to share.

That night we ate a fabulous dinner at The Lobster, a distinguished joint right on the beach. Our anniversary reservations procured us special treatment at this restaurant and a table with a view of the sun dipping over the ocean, which is just what you need for the ideal digestion of baby beet salad and housemade shellfish linguini. Even though we filled our tummies at an unhurried pace we still had enough time afterwards to catch the new Avengers movie. What can I say, I’m a geek so, vacation or not, this film was a weekend priority for me.

Pacific Park, located on the Santa Monica Pier, is home to the world's only solar-powered Ferris wheel. You may recognize it from about a million movies.
I ordered the shellfish-strewn housemade pasta at The Lobster. With all those clams, mussels, shrimp, octopuses, and squids swimming in a sea of black noodles my plate looked a bit like the dregs of the ocean. But yum!

The next day we got some couples counseling in the form of a tandem bike we rented and rode along a shoreline path called the Strand. This jaunt was mellow and fun despite that cumbersome cycle challenging our teamwork skills. I guess Jason and I make a pretty decent pair because this excursion didn’t end with us hitting someone or wanting a divorce.

If you've never ridden one of these double-seated wonders you've never lived precariously. Talk about unwieldy and awkward!
One night we watched the sun setting over the ocean from our hotel room. The sky was a brilliant orange interrupted only by the swaying silhouettes of palm trees.

After our ride along the beach we met up with some friends, the Congers, for lunch. They happened to also be on vacation in Santa Monica. It’s funny how you’ll go years without seeing your buddies when you only live 20 minutes away from each other yet scramble to gather when you happen to be traveling concurrently in a different state. It was good to catch up with them though. After our meal it was time for some cute dress shopping followed by tranquil book reading on our balcony as waves broke rhythmically below us.

Our days on the coast passed by quickly, too quickly, but they made a perfect little break from regular life. Thanks to my hubby for not only planning a great and relaxing anniversary trip but for also being the best travel companion that a girl could ask for. Life is so much better with a Jason; everyone should get them one of those.

Nerds at the Park

When a bunch of chemistry geeks get together you might expect the periodic table of elements to get dragged into casual conversations and redox reactions to be discussed as if they were the flavor of the week. Perhaps your assumptions aren’t too far off but you may well be surprised by what else goes on when chemists gather. We don’t just enthusiastically gossip about the latest trends in silicones and quaternary ammonium compounds, as intriguing as those topics might be. Merely chatting about the functions of keratin is not enough for us; we scientists like to grab life by its keratin covered bones.

Jason was so toasty he opted for jeans when we were tubing regardless of whether they transformed him into Mr. Soggy Bottom or not.

Last week Jason and I spent a couple days in Park City with my chapter of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. Admittedly, there was some hardcore nerdery involved. During the seminar portion of our meeting we learned how to develop green actives that target cell receptors. Additionally, one of our presenters, Chris Kilham the medicine hunter, talked about sustainable harvesting practices in the Amazon. You may have seen Chris featured on The Dr. Oz Show or Fox News. Yes, we mingle with the famous.

At Canyons Jason coached me on how to do a wall hit. My first attempts were sad indeed but eventually I started getting the hang of it.

After filling our heads with data we were off to Gorgoza Park to let our butts soak up the soggy snow. It was an incredibly pleasant afternoon. Most of our tubing group just wore light jackets or skipped jackets altogether. We geeks linked our tubes in a variety of geometric configurations as we traveled downhill at an accelerated velocity. Wahoo!

The view from the top of the Echo run was pretty spectacular.

That night Jason and I headed off on our own to sample Reef’s Restaurant. We’ve long wanted to try their Middle-Eastern cuisine. Yum! The food there was just the right mix of spicy and surprising.

Jason used to board at Canyons a few times a week in his college days so he was pretty excited about riding his old stomping grounds again.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather the next day when we hit the slopes at Canyons. With a high near 57 degrees Jason didn’t even bother wearing more than a thin hoodie. I did sport my coat but mostly for its plethora of pockets; I unzipped everything to allow for massive air circulation. We hadn’t been to Canyons for a few years and I have to say that it was hugely gratifying to go on some of the runs that I distinctly remember having difficulties navigating before only to find their terrain super easy now. Yes, I suck less!

By the end of the day storm clouds had gathered but after hours of uninterrupted sunshine it was okay.

What a nice mini-excursion: celebrity speakers, fun snow activities, and warm spring sunshine. Geeks know how to have a good time, just ask anyone who’s attended a D&D party in their friend’s mother’s basement.