Carbon on wheels

(click for a bigger image)

Sexy, isn't she?  Now I just need to come up with a name...

Everything that looks black in the photo is actually lacquered carbon fiber.. so it's a silverish and black patterned look up close.  (And when I say everything, I mean it... crank arms, shifters, brake levers, handlebars, seat post, everything = carbon.)  We took her in for a proper fitting this morning at the local triathlon store (TriSports), and everyone at the store commented on how beautiful and nice this bike is.  They were extremely impressed by Josh's workmanship in building the bike from the ground up.  Apparently being an electrical engineer can also be good for building bikes.  The guy who did my fitting also commented on how perfect of a fit it was for me-- the frame is perfect, the stem of the handlebars is perfect, the saddle is perfect... they actually seemed pretty amazed that Josh and I had managed to collect and assemble the parts of this bike as well as we had.  They made a very few minor adjustments to the fit of the bike, helped us tighten up everything and double check our work, and we were all set.  They didn't even charge me for the bike fitting (usually it's like $100) because everything required so ridiculously little adjustment.  The people at TriSports are incredibly nice and they totally hooked us up today.

And now my new ride is ready to go!!!  I am chomping at the bit to take her for a ride, but it's a bit too toasty this afternoon to really get in any mileage.  I'll report on the maiden voyage soon.  :)

Canine Top Models

No animals were harmed in the production of these photos... 

Dog in Hammock.

Dog in Birdbath.

Mule Creek

I love being in the field.  I think I could actually be a shovelbum for the rest of my life and be happy.  I won't, for domesticity's sake, but I would probably enjoy it.  I spent the last two weeks in a small place called Mule Creek, New Mexico.  It's not a town so much as it is a small area of ranches and farms (to their credit, they do have a post office, but no other amenities of any kind- the closest soda/booze/snacks is a 20 minute drive).  6,000 feet above sea level, beautiful rolling hills, a series of small creeks, abundant wildlife, and no phones, television, or internet to speak of.  It was pretty fantastic.

I have two friends doing work in this area for their dissertation projects.  This summer, our objective was to help Katherine get a better idea of the layout of the Fornholt Site, a ~50 room masonry pueblo which appears to date to the Tularosa Phase (A.D. 1125- 1300).  We spent two weeks chasing and exposing the tops of walls across the site so that she might be able to make a clear map of the wall alignments and have a clear picture of how the site was arranged.  From the maps we made Katherine can then formulate her work proposal for next summer, which will include her plans for test excavations in the structure.  Since excavating an entire site is neither realistic nor responsible, she'll use the new maps to figure out the best areas of the site in which to dig in order to address some of the questions she has about the site (which have to do with ritual architecture).  [And maybe, if I play my cards right, I'll be able to return again next summer to help with the excavations.]

So I got to spend two weeks in a beautiful place, do relatively low-intensity work, hang out with some really fun people, and eat really well.  The site sits on private land and we are only able to work there because the landowners have given us permission to do so.  In fact, the landowners are wonderfully supportive of archaeologists in addition to being really sweet people.  The animals on this ranch are spectacular-- they include, among many others: a herd of four-horned sheep, three different kinds of goats, alpacas, and both a 160- and a 240-pound Mastiff.  Yes, a 240-pound dog.  His name is Striker.

Deb and I managed to get in one decent bike ride while we were in Mule Creek.  It was hilly, and hot, and windy, and hard.  I felt great afterwards, but it was really hard to motivate myself for a repeat performance after working everyday in the sun and wind... mostly all I wanted to do once we returned to camp was drink a cold beer and take off my shoes.  And that's what I did.

So, I had a great time in the field and now I'm back to Tucson just in time for a week of 105+ temps.  I will post more photos of the site and the crew once some of the others get around to passing out their pictures.
Oh yeah, and the snake count jumped up by 5.  But still no rattlers.

Back to the routine!

Pure Romance

Please take a look at this webpage:  Sexy Hotness Sleeping Bag


I was completely convinced that this was a joke when I first saw an advertisement for it... but alas, it is in fact real.  That Backpacker actually reviewed it is quite amusing to me, and that the reviewer seemed to take it seriously and even give it positive reviews is even more entertaining.


I can't quite decide if I think this is great or if I think it is slightly creepy.  The "subtle karma sutra embossed lining" is a tad over-the-top, and the fact that the website claims, "zippers on both sides allow you to connect as many sleeping bags together as your party requires" leaves me hoping that they're simply joking around (but if so, then why are there actually zippers on both sides??).   If nothing else, it is certainly funny to me that someone feels there is enough need in the market of outdoor gear for such a product, and that people are buying it.  


And seriously, to be honest, who wants to have sex inside a sleeping bag that promises to keep you warm in 20-degree temps?  I mean, talk about overheating.  That being said, the functionality of the leg zippers for other uses (walking around camp, using the bathroom, etc) has potential... but the karma sutra embossing just knocks it all back a notch.

The Big 2-9

I pulled off a terrific surprise today.  Josh's birthday isn't until Tuesday, but because I am leaving for the field tomorrow, I told him that we would celebrate his birthday on Saturday.  Last night, we went to see the 'Bodies' exhibit downtown (which I have to say was very cool, but slightly disturbing at the same time) and then went to a great dinner at Cafe Poca Cosa.  I told him that we were going to have to wake up early in the morning for his present, but refused to tell him anything else.

4:30 this morning the alarm goes off.  I wake up Josh, who is quite unhappy to be awake and pretty confused as to what we're doing.  Get in the car, start driving... he has no idea.  We drove up to Marana, and pulled into a dirt field in the middle of nowhere just as the sun was about to come over the mountains.  Josh asks me if I'm planning to push him into a ditch and abandon him for dead.  He then learns that my intentions are less hostile: we are going for a hot air balloon ride!!  It's apparently something J has always wanted to do, and I've heard him mention it many times, so it seemed an obvious choice to me.  I was actually very shocked that he hadn't guessed where we were going, but he said he was completely surprised and had no idea.  Score one for me, the awesome girlfriend who pulled off an awesome early birthday surprise.

The folks who ran our little excursion were wonderful.  Our pilot, Pat, is a world record holder and has flown balloons all over the world for something like 25 years.  He's the kind of guy who tells stories that would be unbelievable from most people, but he's so quiet and humble about it that you kind of have to believe every word out of his mouth.  [He's piloted balloon safaris over the Serengeti desert, flown Ronald Reagan and the Queen of England, holds the world record for the highest altitude in a hot air balloon (23,000ft!!), and more...]  Pat's wife Boby and their kids helped with the launch and the packing up, along with a few other crew members, and everybody was supremely nice and funny.  It was a great experience.

Our balloon got up to a top height of about 3,200ft, and we flew for about an hour.  There wasn't much wind this morning, so we didn't actually travel very far from where we took off, but the scenery and views were amazing.  Being in a hot air balloon feels like you're standing still on the ground and watching the scenery change around you-- you can hardly tell that you are moving at all.  The landing was surprisingly soft (no doubt that with other, less experienced pilots this would probably not be the case).  Once we had landed and the crew started to pack up the balloon, we were presented with a great little breakfast of pastries, fruit, and sausage-- and champagne!  It was quite the spread.

The birthday boy was thrilled with the surprise, and we both had a blast.  We were back home by 9am and promptly went back to bed as a result of the early wake-up and the champagne breakfast.  We have agreed that between my birthday present of skydiving last year and this, we're going to have a hard time trying to one-up each other for future birthdays.


In other news,  I'm leaving for the field tomorrow morning and will be gone until June 20th.  I'll be in a tiny place named Mule Creek, New Mexico... helping out a couple of friends from school with some of their dissertation research.  Off the grid, digging stuff up.  Just the way I like it.

Alabama

Well, I (finally) met Josh's family and came out unscathed by the experience.  I was fully expecting a grand inquisition, but our short two-day trip was actually quite painless and everyone was very sweet.  I couldn't really gauge what they thought of me, but my overall impression is that it probably would have been obvious if they had disapproved.  The women in Josh's family are not exactly shy.  So, yet another relationship stepping stone has been turned quite anti-climatically.  Maybe that just goes to show how even-keeled we are and how smooth things always seem to go with us.