Here Comes the Big One!

The Blizzard of '13 is on the way. The National Weather Service says we'll get 18-24". The local TV weather guy thinks those of us north of Boston might get 33".

The girls have been wishing for a snow day all winter. They got their wish: school on Friday was cancelled at noon on Thursday.

We're looking forward to hunkering down during the storm and then enjoying some excellent sledding after it passes.

Jupiter!

One of my many interests is astronomy and astrophysics. I read a fantastic blog called "Starts With a Bang" by Ethan Siegel, an astrophysicist and great teacher from Portland, OR. I often share what I learn with the girls. Ethan frequently uses images from the Hubble Space Telescope which are especially amazing and inspiring. I try to inculcate the girls with a sense of wonder about the sheer scope of the universe. Audrey has taken a real interest, to the point where she sometimes says she wants to be an astronomer.

For some time I've been desiring a telescope for skywatching with the girls both at home and while camping away from the light pollution of the city. It took me a long time to learn enough to select a telescope. Last week I finally felt confident enough to choose and I ordered an Orion XT4.5 Dobsonian telescope. This particular type of telescope strikes a good balance between observing planets and deep space objects like nebulae and clusters.

From reading the amateur astronomy forums, it sounds like there is a law of nature that when you buy a new telescope it will be cloudy on the day you receive it. It was true the day we received ours. Last night, however, the clouds dissipated around sunset. We went out to dinner and when we returned I pulled out the new scope. It was only 34F out so I knew we wouldn't be outdoors too long. Jupiter was conveniently right overhead so I sighted it in. Each of us got a good look at Jupiter and we could also clearly see four of its moons. We don't have a camera for our telescope yet (you can bet we will) but what we saw, other than the positions of the moons, looked very much like the image above.

I've very satisfied with the instrument I selected. I'm very excited to have many years of skywatching ahead of us and it's going to be a fun addition to all of our summer camping trips.

Breakfast in Bed

This morning Carol and I slept in a little. By that I mean until 8:00. The girls, who normally play downstairs until we get up, had decamped to Charlotte's room and were playing quietly until they heard us talking. Then they decided to bring us breakfast in bed. Ten minutes later this lovely meal was delivered.

Sledding

We got our first real snow of the season back on December 29th while we were out of town. We received about 3-4 inches at our house. The girls have been enjoying sledding in the Burtnetts' back yard across the fence from us.

On January 6th Audrey and I went to Melrose's public Mt. Hood Golf Course which is the semi-official sledding hill in town. We'd never been before. I was concerned there might not be enough snow left but it was fine.

As soon as we got there Audrey shot downhill headfirst on a disc. A mom standing nearby said, "She's a daredevil!" Indeed.

We had a fabulous time! I think we'll be making regular trips there after future snowstorms.

Washington D.C.

Washington D.C.

When we made the decision to move across the country we listed the ability to visit Washington, D. C. as one of the benefits. After three years we hadn't yet done it. In November we realized we had a week between Christmas and New Years with no particular plans. Hotel rooms near D.C. were dirt cheap so we made some bookings.

The drive should be about 8.5 hours not including stops. We drove down the day after Christmas. There was a storm working its way up the east coast that brought a lot of snow away from the ocean but only rain along I-95. Even just rain caused very slow traffic along most of the 125-mile New Jersey Turnpike. We had hours of stop and go traffic and the trip took 12 hours from door to door. Oh well, we survived.

Carol had contacted our local congressman in advance hoping to arrange a White House tour. The White House was closed that week but we made reservations to tour the Capitol. That was what we did on the morning of the 27th. The girls enjoyed the rotunda under the dome. The tour guide referred to it as "the Wow Room."

After the Capitol we stopped by the Museum of the American Indian and then made our way to the Air and Space Museum. We saw a cool exhibit about astronomy and the universe. In a corner of that exhibit was a model of the Mayall Telescope. For many years starting in 1973 it was the largest telescope in the world. The chassis for the telescope was built at Western Gear in Everett, WA - my dad's employer for 22 years all through my childhood. Somewhere in a box there are photos of me climbing on the telescope chassis while it was being assembled in Everett.

For the girls, the highlight of any trip that involves a hotel stay is the pool. So after the Air and Space Museum we headed to the hotel and went swimming.

The 28th was expected to be the nicest day - still cool with temps around 40 and some wind, but sunny. We thought we'd start by going to the "money factory", the Bureau of Printing and Engraving where they print paper money. Unfortunately the money factory was closed for the holiday week.

We weren't far from the Jefferson Memorial, which I had always wanted to visit, so we bundled up and walked around the Tidal Pool to visit it.

After that we drove closer to the other memorials and visited the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial. Showing the girls those memorials up close and in person was one of my goals for the trip - check that off! The Lincoln Memorial is always especially impressive.

After our tour of the memorials we drove to the National Zoo. We saw pandas, tropical birds, elephants, gorillas, orangutans and a bunch of other animals. Too bad we visited during winter because in warm weather the orangutans get to use an aerial cable system to travel from their enclosure to an enrichment facility, passing over the main pedestrian walkway.

Then back to the hotel for more swimming.

On the 29th we started the day at The Original Pancake House. They had Audrey's favorite breakfast food: crepes. Then we drove about 10 miles to Mt. Vernon, George Washington's estate on the Potomac River. From the girls' point of view the very best thing about Mt. Vernon was that it was snowing huge fluffy snowflakes that they could catch on their tongues. But we also enjoyed the tour of the house and the excellent exhibits in the galleries. I didn't realize what a successful businessman Washington was. He owned land all over the country as far west as Ohio and Kentucky and ran several businesses including, for a time, the US's largest distillery.

After Mt. Vernon we drive back to the District and visited a few more Smithsonian museums. We started at the Castle - the original Smithsonian building. I don't think I had ever been in it. It's quite small! Then we walked across the Mall to the Natural History Museum where we saw the Hope Diamond and the very large gem and mineral collection. That museum was completely packed and we could hardly move, so we didn't stay too long. Then we walked next door to the American History Museum. We saw the ruby slippers. We also toured a cool exhibit on the history of transportation.

Then back to the hotel for more swimming.

On the 30th we planned to drive to Hoboken, NJ to spend the night with my good friend Bill. But in the middle of our last night in D.C. Charlotte got sick with a stomach bug. Seemed like we had three options: stay longer; fly Charlotte and Carol home and I drive with Audrey; or tough it out in the car with a sick girl. None of the options were going to be especially comfortable for Charlotte so we went with the most expedient: drive home.

We made Charlotte as comfortable as we could in the car. Audrey, who can't stand to hear people be sick, withdrew into a cave of pillows with earphones and movies for the entire drive. Charlotte was of course miserable and we felt badly for her. Carol, I have to say, is an excellent nurse. We powered through and after a 10 hour drive we were home. By the following afternoon Charlotte was starting to feel better.

Except for the ending we had a wonderful trip.

Another place on my list to visit is Quebec (both Montreal and Quebec City). The six hour drive to Montreal will seem easy now compared to the D.C. drive!