After all that talk of boredom, we should have known that life would get other than boring.
We believe we will go back to boring. It went like this.....
We were thinking seriously of sending Dad to Phoenix, a likely recent candidate being 5-8 December, but we just could not settle on the bookings. Now we know why it would not have worked all that well .....
On Friday morning West Jordan was informed of a vehicular traffic incident in Utah County.
The Geo Tracker did not do well against another large and sturdy GM product.
The Tracker is no longer operable and Melissa will eventually be in search of a replacement.
Melissa is OK on the whole (ambulatory), but is working through an eye injury sustained - ironically - from the safety features. For now, she is trying to rest quietly in West Jordan.
If one is inclined to make petitions to higher powers, now would be a good spot to join us in them.
08 December, 2008
30 November, 2008
Mostly Boring status update and no Pictures
If this post is boring - and it is - it is because a lot of otherwise noteworthy stuff has come and gone without our having any comments. This is especially true of the "outside" stuff - U.S. Elections, Financial crises, etc.
Not much to say, did not impact us much, much discussion still ongoing, and nothing to be gained by rehash here.
Family stuff - Now, there is something of interest, but oddly enough, they have gotten covered over to some degree by the externals.
So we probably should make a few comments just to keep current. Let's see now.
17 October 2008 -
Parent Unit wedding anniversary - 33 years. Celebrated quietly at a local restauant. Nothing on the camera
22 October 2008 -
Amanda's birthday, the actual day of which she spent at work and we partied on the adjacent Weekend. I think we sat around and surveyed more Bollywood with her and sponsored her constructive kitchen ramblings then ate them.
Sometime during all of this we had some baklava sitting round in the refrigerator for a while, and I think she made some Moussaka a couple of times and we devoured it. Nothing on camera on this either.
25 October 2008 -
There was something on the camera, but it is really obscure. We had church music festival at the Stake building
for our area. Probably no one in the frames any of us recognizes, and no pictures of us.
04 November 2008 -
Election Day: no comment and glad all the suspense is over, sort of.
Financial Markets: They continue to be all over the place, but mostly in the tank;
Much doom and gloom predicted by everyone.
Definitely no camera footage of this. What would you even find to photograph?
22 November 2008 -
Our Cousin/Neice person Trisha Gates Winslow got remarried and will be moving to Texas in Jan 2009.
We went to the Wedding over at the Hillsdale building. A couple of pictures snapped at random.
27 November 2008 -
Thanksgiving Day ... Melissa and Amanda had the day off, and convened at West Jordan. The official dinner was just the 4 of us (Mom/Dad/Ladies). We had turkey.
We thought fondly of absentees and invoked good graces of the powers that be.
Contact with others of the family following the eating, namely:
(1) James and Marilyn stopped by later and hung out for a while.
(2) Joshua and Julie stayed in Mesa and called on the phone and we chatted a bit.
No pictures and now everyone has left and the food is nearly gone.
28-29 November 2008 -
Still days off for some/most, back to work for Dr Clark.
This turned out to be a good chance to get something done around the place.
Check this out for the most boring thing you have ever heard:
We (Dad) finished work on replacement of a section of half high fence on the north property line in front yard.
We (Dad) have become tired of wooden posts rotting off and falling over, so am trying a Steel post/wood rail/wood slat approach, using 5 foot X 2-3/8" dia steel corner posts. The idea is to have the fence stay up longer.
I took no pictures but I could. If I did and posted them they would probably be .... Boring
30 November 2008 -
Phone contacts with extended family - the CA chapters....
Livermore CA Uncle/Brother unit - called to report Venison eaten in place of Turkey, and also some other stuff about the Family History tech support call center volunteer thing he is now doing. After 3 weeks they asked him to coach others.
Altadena CA Uncle/Brother unit - called to chat. Still talking about his discouraging experience this summer. Talks with fondness about the trip to Hawaii in Feb 2008.
Not much to say, did not impact us much, much discussion still ongoing, and nothing to be gained by rehash here.
Family stuff - Now, there is something of interest, but oddly enough, they have gotten covered over to some degree by the externals.
So we probably should make a few comments just to keep current. Let's see now.
17 October 2008 -
Parent Unit wedding anniversary - 33 years. Celebrated quietly at a local restauant. Nothing on the camera
22 October 2008 -
Amanda's birthday, the actual day of which she spent at work and we partied on the adjacent Weekend. I think we sat around and surveyed more Bollywood with her and sponsored her constructive kitchen ramblings then ate them.
Sometime during all of this we had some baklava sitting round in the refrigerator for a while, and I think she made some Moussaka a couple of times and we devoured it. Nothing on camera on this either.
25 October 2008 -
There was something on the camera, but it is really obscure. We had church music festival at the Stake building
for our area. Probably no one in the frames any of us recognizes, and no pictures of us.
04 November 2008 -
Election Day: no comment and glad all the suspense is over, sort of.
Financial Markets: They continue to be all over the place, but mostly in the tank;
Much doom and gloom predicted by everyone.
Definitely no camera footage of this. What would you even find to photograph?
22 November 2008 -
Our Cousin/Neice person Trisha Gates Winslow got remarried and will be moving to Texas in Jan 2009.
We went to the Wedding over at the Hillsdale building. A couple of pictures snapped at random.
27 November 2008 -
Thanksgiving Day ... Melissa and Amanda had the day off, and convened at West Jordan. The official dinner was just the 4 of us (Mom/Dad/Ladies). We had turkey.
We thought fondly of absentees and invoked good graces of the powers that be.
Contact with others of the family following the eating, namely:
(1) James and Marilyn stopped by later and hung out for a while.
(2) Joshua and Julie stayed in Mesa and called on the phone and we chatted a bit.
No pictures and now everyone has left and the food is nearly gone.
28-29 November 2008 -
Still days off for some/most, back to work for Dr Clark.
This turned out to be a good chance to get something done around the place.
Check this out for the most boring thing you have ever heard:
We (Dad) finished work on replacement of a section of half high fence on the north property line in front yard.
We (Dad) have become tired of wooden posts rotting off and falling over, so am trying a Steel post/wood rail/wood slat approach, using 5 foot X 2-3/8" dia steel corner posts. The idea is to have the fence stay up longer.
I took no pictures but I could. If I did and posted them they would probably be .... Boring
30 November 2008 -
Phone contacts with extended family - the CA chapters....
Livermore CA Uncle/Brother unit - called to report Venison eaten in place of Turkey, and also some other stuff about the Family History tech support call center volunteer thing he is now doing. After 3 weeks they asked him to coach others.
Altadena CA Uncle/Brother unit - called to chat. Still talking about his discouraging experience this summer. Talks with fondness about the trip to Hawaii in Feb 2008.
16 October, 2008
West Jordan latest music/film discoveries - text by Mom
Amanda decided to explore some of the international DVDs available at the B.Y.U. library for checkout, and brought home several from India (otherwise known as "Bollywood" productions). Many of them have been interesting and most have been enjoyable, and several have been good enough that we ordered copies of them from the internet for our home library. You might be interested in renting them (if they are still available); Nick had seen "Lagaan" by renting it from Blockbuster.
In particular, we have really fallen for the music of A. R. Rachman, who uses a fusion of classical methods and orchestration with the native Indian instrumentation and rhythms. Perhaps CD Universe or YouTube would provide an opportunity for a listen should you care to check out the music for "Lagaan" or "Swades". It is an energetic, upbeat, layered kind of sound which we find hard to resist. Or, of course, you can always check it out when you come here, if you like. Much love, Mom.
In particular, we have really fallen for the music of A. R. Rachman, who uses a fusion of classical methods and orchestration with the native Indian instrumentation and rhythms. Perhaps CD Universe or YouTube would provide an opportunity for a listen should you care to check out the music for "Lagaan" or "Swades". It is an energetic, upbeat, layered kind of sound which we find hard to resist. Or, of course, you can always check it out when you come here, if you like. Much love, Mom.
15 October, 2008
West Jordan latest film discoveries - text by Dad
The following text was originally a fill-in for the immediately later post, which was originally written by Mom but then partially lost in a posting malfunction. Knowing that she wanted to talk about the Bollywood stuff, we then created this post. Having posted this, we then dug round and ran across the remains of her original post, so she re-entered the missing stuff and we posted it. We got very enthused about writing this post and did not feel like thowing it away, so we spammed the date a bit so that it would appear down the page from Mom's post.
As is typical for Dad's posts, you may well die from the detail.
Confused now? Oh well. Read on.
___________________________________________________________________
West Jordan, always sparse and library oriented in fillm viewing patterns to start with, has gotten into some different and slightly more promising material of late. This started with one of Amanda's recent explorations of the foreign film section at BYU Library, and the result was a stack of films from India, of all places. She says this is because she was becoming weary of the unpleasant aspects of American film and - being a prominent family try-er -wanted to ..... try something else.
Imagine what one might end up with by combining a fully developed film industry with a culture outside the US, say India, complete with stylistic nuances. There is in fact such a thing, and several of us have actually run into it.
The industry is based in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and is colloquially known by its sobriquet of "Bollywood".
We have found several of the films to be well suited to some of our tastes and now have a small collection of our own.
___________________________________________________________________
The current library consists of some films:
"Lagaan"(2001) - English:"Tax") - Theme: India under British Raj 1893 - Cast: Aamir Khan/Gracy Singh - Music: A.R. Rahman
"Swades"(2007) - English:"Homeland" - Theme: Expatriate Indians and "homeland" - Cast: Shahrukh Khan/Gayatri Joshi - Music: A.R. Rahman
"Veer-Zaara"(2006) - Names, untranslated - Theme: India-Pakistan relations issues framed behind ... the customary love story - Cast: Shahrukh Khan/Preity Zinta/Rani Mukerji/Amitabh Bachchan/Anupam Kehr
"Vivah"(2005) - English "Marriage" - Theme: Arranged marriage traditions in India - Cast: Shahid Kapoor/Amrita Rau/Anupam Kehr
___________________________________________________________________
Common stylistic attributes throughout, of which we are now mildly fond - they grow on one:
- Lots of singing and dancing - the folk kind - 6 ten minute all-out onate production numbers per film
- BIG FAT HINDUSTANI Weddings! - minimum 1 per film either conducted on set, profusely alluded to or hoped for
- Lengthy-ness compared to american films - as in 2 hours minimum - see above singing, dancing and weddings
- None or little of the following on set: SHAGGING, PDA, KISSING, WARDROBE ACCIDENTS
- Language - it is all in Hindi with occasional endearing lapses into popular english such as "No problem" & "Shut Up" - always turn on the subtitles and enjoy the lovely poetic renderings from Hindi by Hindustanis
- Offensive language: No films in our library do this
- Films we did not buy: A very occasional lapse into English for cussing, otherwise all buried in lovely poetic Hindi.
- Sappy idealism: To an extent such as to make US critics cringe and totally trash the film - we therefore like it!
- Happy upbeat soppiness: Universes full - remember this is India where conditions are frequently depressing.
- Same 2-3 playback vocalists per gender for ENTIRE industry output to date, actors ALWAYS voice over singing.
- Slimmer inventory of actors compared to Hollywood, extensive reuse of talent - Think Mollywood
- Pakistani national dress allows females to cover up in stunningly graceful outfits and without wearing burkas
- Hindi national dress does have a midriff gap problem, but draped with a sari and no muffin tops ever.
- What can we say - the men are uniformly modest and studly
- Singing: All men use same style - studly baritone, All women use same style - the little girl sound.
- When they do thoughtful/issue pieces, one can stand the result. Our entire collection is issue pieces.
___________________________________________________________________
And now a crash course in who's who in Bollywood (the good stuff we like):
Actors/Producers: ShahRukh Khan (SRK), Aamir Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan
Actresses: Preity Zinta, Amrita Rao, Aishwarya Rai, Gracy Singh, Gayatri Joshi, Rani Mukerji
Singers: Udit Narayan, Shankar Mahadevan, A.R. Rahman (composer doing own stuff)
Singesses: Lata Mangeshkar, Alka Yaganik, Shreya Ghoshal
Composers: the one we like is A.R. Rahman - we are face first down and in a heap over this guy's work.
___________________________________________________________________
Things to google to sample music from the movies:
Lagaan: 'Mitwah', 'Chale Chalo', 'O Palaan Haare'
Swades: 'Yun Hi Chala', 'Ye Tara Woh Tara', 'Ye Jo Des He Tera'
___________________________________________________________________
This post is exactly why we got into buying off-shore DVDs, hence the recent post regarding DVD playback
As is typical for Dad's posts, you may well die from the detail.
Confused now? Oh well. Read on.
___________________________________________________________________
West Jordan, always sparse and library oriented in fillm viewing patterns to start with, has gotten into some different and slightly more promising material of late. This started with one of Amanda's recent explorations of the foreign film section at BYU Library, and the result was a stack of films from India, of all places. She says this is because she was becoming weary of the unpleasant aspects of American film and - being a prominent family try-er -wanted to ..... try something else.
Imagine what one might end up with by combining a fully developed film industry with a culture outside the US, say India, complete with stylistic nuances. There is in fact such a thing, and several of us have actually run into it.
The industry is based in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and is colloquially known by its sobriquet of "Bollywood".
We have found several of the films to be well suited to some of our tastes and now have a small collection of our own.
___________________________________________________________________
The current library consists of some films:
"Lagaan"(2001) - English:"Tax") - Theme: India under British Raj 1893 - Cast: Aamir Khan/Gracy Singh - Music: A.R. Rahman
"Swades"(2007) - English:"Homeland" - Theme: Expatriate Indians and "homeland" - Cast: Shahrukh Khan/Gayatri Joshi - Music: A.R. Rahman
"Veer-Zaara"(2006) - Names, untranslated - Theme: India-Pakistan relations issues framed behind ... the customary love story - Cast: Shahrukh Khan/Preity Zinta/Rani Mukerji/Amitabh Bachchan/Anupam Kehr
"Vivah"(2005) - English "Marriage" - Theme: Arranged marriage traditions in India - Cast: Shahid Kapoor/Amrita Rau/Anupam Kehr
___________________________________________________________________
Common stylistic attributes throughout, of which we are now mildly fond - they grow on one:
- Lots of singing and dancing - the folk kind - 6 ten minute all-out onate production numbers per film
- BIG FAT HINDUSTANI Weddings! - minimum 1 per film either conducted on set, profusely alluded to or hoped for
- Lengthy-ness compared to american films - as in 2 hours minimum - see above singing, dancing and weddings
- None or little of the following on set: SHAGGING, PDA, KISSING, WARDROBE ACCIDENTS
- Language - it is all in Hindi with occasional endearing lapses into popular english such as "No problem" & "Shut Up" - always turn on the subtitles and enjoy the lovely poetic renderings from Hindi by Hindustanis
- Offensive language: No films in our library do this
- Films we did not buy: A very occasional lapse into English for cussing, otherwise all buried in lovely poetic Hindi.
- Sappy idealism: To an extent such as to make US critics cringe and totally trash the film - we therefore like it!
- Happy upbeat soppiness: Universes full - remember this is India where conditions are frequently depressing.
- Same 2-3 playback vocalists per gender for ENTIRE industry output to date, actors ALWAYS voice over singing.
- Slimmer inventory of actors compared to Hollywood, extensive reuse of talent - Think Mollywood
- Pakistani national dress allows females to cover up in stunningly graceful outfits and without wearing burkas
- Hindi national dress does have a midriff gap problem, but draped with a sari and no muffin tops ever.
- What can we say - the men are uniformly modest and studly
- Singing: All men use same style - studly baritone, All women use same style - the little girl sound.
- When they do thoughtful/issue pieces, one can stand the result. Our entire collection is issue pieces.
___________________________________________________________________
And now a crash course in who's who in Bollywood (the good stuff we like):
Actors/Producers: ShahRukh Khan (SRK), Aamir Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan
Actresses: Preity Zinta, Amrita Rao, Aishwarya Rai, Gracy Singh, Gayatri Joshi, Rani Mukerji
Singers: Udit Narayan, Shankar Mahadevan, A.R. Rahman (composer doing own stuff)
Singesses: Lata Mangeshkar, Alka Yaganik, Shreya Ghoshal
Composers: the one we like is A.R. Rahman - we are face first down and in a heap over this guy's work.
___________________________________________________________________
Things to google to sample music from the movies:
Lagaan: 'Mitwah', 'Chale Chalo', 'O Palaan Haare'
Swades: 'Yun Hi Chala', 'Ye Tara Woh Tara', 'Ye Jo Des He Tera'
___________________________________________________________________
This post is exactly why we got into buying off-shore DVDs, hence the recent post regarding DVD playback
09 October, 2008
West Jordan takes a crash course in DVD playback subtleties.....
This is actually the first of 3 posts regarding our latest discoveries in film literature.
_________________________________________________________________
Here is a tidbit we came across recently regarding playing of off-shore origin DVDs on US domestic equipment....
Television broadcast/display encoding standards:
All TV equipment uses one of several format standards for decoding/displaying video information on TV monitors. There are 3 major standard categories worldwide: NTSC (National Television System Committee), PAL (Phase Alternating Line), and SECAM (SEquential Color And Memory).
The coverage areas for each of these 3 standards worldwide are:
NTSC: North/South America (except Brazil,Argentina, Uruguay), and Phillipines, SouthKorea, Taiwan, Japan.
PAL: Brazil,Argentina,Uruguay, Europe (except France), Asia except SECAM/NTSC areas, Africa except SECAM areas, Austrialia & Pacific
SECAM: France, former Soviet Union areas, Africa except PAL areas
Most TV equipment, unless the manufacturer offers multi-standard equipment option, uses a single standard.
In the US, most equipment is NTSC only, with some exceptions.
DVD Region Codes:
The DVD zone code is a copy protection method, which uses a single digit number 0-8 and ALL. All DVD playback equipment is set for the single Zone in which it is principally used, with some exceptions. Computer DVD drives use a single Zone number at a time but limited number of changes of Zone.
DVD media is set either to a single zone, or more recently, enabled for ALL zones. The zones are:
0: None, or informally implied "worldwide"
1: US,Canada, US Territories, Bermuda
2: West/Central Europe, West Asia, Egypt, Japan, SouthAfrica, Swaziland, British overseas territories, French overseas territories.
3: SouthEast Asia, South Korea, China(Non-PRC)
4: Oceania, Central/South America, Carribean, Mexico
5: Ukraine, Belarus, Russion, Africa, Central/South Asia, Mongolia, NorthKorea.
6: China(PRC), HongKong
7: Reserved for future or other use
8: International venues (aircraft, cruise ships, etc)
ALL: All codes set, playable on any venue or equipment
Why all this?
We have all hitherto been oblivious to this, because US media is all Broadcast std NTSC and DVD Region 1,
hence this designation is considered uniformly implicit in the US, hence there are no markings whatever of this kind on US domestic media. One only cares when purchasing exterior origin media productions, in which case one must look carefully for correct markings to assure playability.
We have recently purchased a number of international film items, and all of them were MARKED as to Playback standard and DVD region. All but one were marked NTSC/ALL and all of those played. We did not make any note of this until one was marked PAL/ALL and did not play on our home TV system player. The culprit in that case, was the TV broadcast standard PAL, which caused our PHD domestic appliance player not to be able to even read the Region code to determine that it was ALL. The DVD did play on all of our laptops, which are apparently smart enough to recognize and adapt to the PAL/NTSC issue. Now it is known why on some occasions we have recently been seen mysteriously gathered round a laptop to view a DVD.
So now you know and are proactively informed of this fascinating bit of trivia.
_________________________________________________________________
Here is a tidbit we came across recently regarding playing of off-shore origin DVDs on US domestic equipment....
Television broadcast/display encoding standards:
All TV equipment uses one of several format standards for decoding/displaying video information on TV monitors. There are 3 major standard categories worldwide: NTSC (National Television System Committee), PAL (Phase Alternating Line), and SECAM (SEquential Color And Memory).
The coverage areas for each of these 3 standards worldwide are:
NTSC: North/South America (except Brazil,Argentina, Uruguay), and Phillipines, SouthKorea, Taiwan, Japan.
PAL: Brazil,Argentina,Uruguay, Europe (except France), Asia except SECAM/NTSC areas, Africa except SECAM areas, Austrialia & Pacific
SECAM: France, former Soviet Union areas, Africa except PAL areas
Most TV equipment, unless the manufacturer offers multi-standard equipment option, uses a single standard.
In the US, most equipment is NTSC only, with some exceptions.
DVD Region Codes:
The DVD zone code is a copy protection method, which uses a single digit number 0-8 and ALL. All DVD playback equipment is set for the single Zone in which it is principally used, with some exceptions. Computer DVD drives use a single Zone number at a time but limited number of changes of Zone.
DVD media is set either to a single zone, or more recently, enabled for ALL zones. The zones are:
0: None, or informally implied "worldwide"
1: US,Canada, US Territories, Bermuda
2: West/Central Europe, West Asia, Egypt, Japan, SouthAfrica, Swaziland, British overseas territories, French overseas territories.
3: SouthEast Asia, South Korea, China(Non-PRC)
4: Oceania, Central/South America, Carribean, Mexico
5: Ukraine, Belarus, Russion, Africa, Central/South Asia, Mongolia, NorthKorea.
6: China(PRC), HongKong
7: Reserved for future or other use
8: International venues (aircraft, cruise ships, etc)
ALL: All codes set, playable on any venue or equipment
Why all this?
We have all hitherto been oblivious to this, because US media is all Broadcast std NTSC and DVD Region 1,
hence this designation is considered uniformly implicit in the US, hence there are no markings whatever of this kind on US domestic media. One only cares when purchasing exterior origin media productions, in which case one must look carefully for correct markings to assure playability.
We have recently purchased a number of international film items, and all of them were MARKED as to Playback standard and DVD region. All but one were marked NTSC/ALL and all of those played. We did not make any note of this until one was marked PAL/ALL and did not play on our home TV system player. The culprit in that case, was the TV broadcast standard PAL, which caused our PHD domestic appliance player not to be able to even read the Region code to determine that it was ALL. The DVD did play on all of our laptops, which are apparently smart enough to recognize and adapt to the PAL/NTSC issue. Now it is known why on some occasions we have recently been seen mysteriously gathered round a laptop to view a DVD.
So now you know and are proactively informed of this fascinating bit of trivia.
27 September, 2008
Other reunion activity in September 2008
The Joshua R Clark family history conference was held on 25 September 2008 @ 1900-2100.
DDadson is on the planning committee, and also gave a presentation on the Wales quaker roots of Edwin D Woolley.
Various of you may have heard of this collection of stories and tidbits. A few of us have actually been to Wales. We are reluctant to beat it to death, however.
There will soon be a JoshuaRClarkFamily organization web site:
The URL is http://www.jrclarkfamily.org/
Another Clark family person - Stephen Clark in Livermore CA - is now the webmaster.
Check it out.
DDadson is on the planning committee, and also gave a presentation on the Wales quaker roots of Edwin D Woolley.
Various of you may have heard of this collection of stories and tidbits. A few of us have actually been to Wales. We are reluctant to beat it to death, however.
There will soon be a JoshuaRClarkFamily organization web site:
The URL is http://www.jrclarkfamily.org/
Another Clark family person - Stephen Clark in Livermore CA - is now the webmaster.
Check it out.
25 September, 2008
Nerdy trivia on 2008 hiking season
Most of this post is "read at the risk of your own boredom".....
The opera singing may be about to conclude on the 2008 outdoor crazy season....
OK - Make that Concluded. Fall has fell, White stuff litters the high country, and other activities approach...
See you all next year ... presuming there is one....
The counties of Utah summit exploration pastime included some revisits and some new items....
Some annoying tallies so far:
What happens when we get there ... the summit rituals .....
The summit rituals (in whatever order we deem applicable at the time) consist of:
(0) Arrive at the identifiable summit mark device - choices are Benchmark/Cairn/Register - or verify with GPS.
(1) Engage in jubilation - high-fives, group hugs, or other self-congratulatory expressions - as appropriate.
(2) Using water bottle, pour water on summit cairn or bench mark. Origin uncertain, but nevertheless customry.
(3) Using GPS, store exact Lat/Long or UTM coordinates of actual summit; record GPS altitude reading.
(4) Using camera, photodocument the visit as follows:
(--.1) The summit cairn/register/benchmark
(--.2) The summit team at the summit marker(s) - Permutations of summit team, taken by one member not shown
or entire team with self-timer of camera when possible.
(--.3) Horizon panoramae from summit.
(5) Eat lunch or other traditional/experimental foodstuffs (granny smith, bagels, dried cranberry), Chat, rest, extend jubilation as needed.
(6) engage in Optional extensions as desired
(7) Keep eye on weather and daylight and get-the-heck off as appropriate.
Optional Extensions:
(6.1) Welcome of slower stragglers to summit location using step (1) as necessary.
(6.2) Metaphysical conversations re grandeur of terrain, goodness of life, joy of discovery
(6.3) Discussion of descent routes.
Comments in re the above:
Item (0) is the essential pre-requisite item for being able to claim a summit visit, according to many, including us.
It is hence included in our rituals.
The technicality issue we currently have with Willard Peak is that item (0) verification could not be completed for safety reasons - no official summit verifier contacted.
We only got items 1, 4.3 and 7 completed prior to the noted T-Storm near-miss.
Finally, some really annoying lists ..... Only a hike fanatic could survive this next part - read at your own risk...
Annoying specifics on where we have been so far:
What is left to do in Utah (rough order of difficulty/probability):
Other unresolved issues:
Box Elder Peak - 11101' - Dad/James/Amanda
Mount Nebo - 11928' - Dad
Thats all, folks....
The opera singing may be about to conclude on the 2008 outdoor crazy season....
OK - Make that Concluded. Fall has fell, White stuff litters the high country, and other activities approach...
See you all next year ... presuming there is one....
The counties of Utah summit exploration pastime included some revisits and some new items....
| Summit | Alt/County | What/When | Who |
| Fish Lake High Top | 11633 / Sevier | First / 2008.07.25 | Dad/James |
| Blue Bell Knoll | 11322 / Wayne | Redo / 2008.07.26 | Dad/James/Marilyn |
| Pink Cliffs (Line) | 10080 / Kane | First / 2008.08.22 | Dad/James |
| Andy Nelson peak | 10028 / Kane | Redo / 2008.08.23 | Dad/James/Melissa/Joshua/Amanda/German |
| Willard Peak | 09763 / Weber | Technicality/ 2008.09.20 | Amanda (official summit mark not contacted) |
Some annoying tallies so far:
| Counties | Summits/Highpoints | |
Confirmed Visits by one or more of us: | 16 | 15 |
Unconfirmed Visits by one or more of us : | 1 | 1 |
Remaining to Visit: | 12 | 10 |
Total for Utah: | 29 | 26 |
What happens when we get there ... the summit rituals .....
The summit rituals (in whatever order we deem applicable at the time) consist of:
(0) Arrive at the identifiable summit mark device - choices are Benchmark/Cairn/Register - or verify with GPS.
(1) Engage in jubilation - high-fives, group hugs, or other self-congratulatory expressions - as appropriate.
(2) Using water bottle, pour water on summit cairn or bench mark. Origin uncertain, but nevertheless customry.
(3) Using GPS, store exact Lat/Long or UTM coordinates of actual summit; record GPS altitude reading.
(4) Using camera, photodocument the visit as follows:
(--.1) The summit cairn/register/benchmark
(--.2) The summit team at the summit marker(s) - Permutations of summit team, taken by one member not shown
or entire team with self-timer of camera when possible.
(--.3) Horizon panoramae from summit.
(5) Eat lunch or other traditional/experimental foodstuffs (granny smith, bagels, dried cranberry), Chat, rest, extend jubilation as needed.
(6) engage in Optional extensions as desired
(7) Keep eye on weather and daylight and get-the-heck off as appropriate.
Optional Extensions:
(6.1) Welcome of slower stragglers to summit location using step (1) as necessary.
(6.2) Metaphysical conversations re grandeur of terrain, goodness of life, joy of discovery
(6.3) Discussion of descent routes.
Comments in re the above:
Item (0) is the essential pre-requisite item for being able to claim a summit visit, according to many, including us.
It is hence included in our rituals.
The technicality issue we currently have with Willard Peak is that item (0) verification could not be completed for safety reasons - no official summit verifier contacted.
We only got items 1, 4.3 and 7 completed prior to the noted T-Storm near-miss.
Finally, some really annoying lists ..... Only a hike fanatic could survive this next part - read at your own risk...
Annoying specifics on where we have been so far:
| Summit | Alt | County | Notes | |
| AmericanForkTwinPk | 11489 | Salt Lake | 19xx-BC/J2/JG/AC | |
| KingsPk | 13528 | Duchesne | 19xx-BC/JG/J2 | |
| NaomiPk | 09979 | Cache | 2001-BC/J2/AC | |
| BridgerPk | 09255 | Rich | 2001-BC/J2/AC | |
| ThurstonPk | 09706 | Davis/Morgan | 200x-BC/J2 | |
| Deseret Pk | 11031 | Tooele | 200x-BC/J2 | |
| Cardwell(&Liner) | 10743/10840 | Wasatch | 200x-BC/J2 | |
| Monument Pk | 10452 | Carbon | 2005-BC/GC/J2/JGJ | |
| EastMountain | 10743 | Emery | 2005-BC/J2 | |
| AndyNelson(+Liner) | 10028/10080 | Kane | 2005-BC/J2/MH/JG/AC | |
| Brian Head Pk | 11307 | Iron | 2005-BC/J2/MN/AC | |
| Mt Nebo | 11928 | Utah | 2006-J2 | |
| SouthTentMtn | 11285 | Sanpete | 2007-BC/J2/AC | |
| BlueBell Knoll | 11328 | Wayne | 2007-BC/GCJ2/MN | |
| FishLakeHighTop | 11633 | Sevier | 2008-BC/J2 | |
| *Willard Pk | 9764 | Weber | 2008-AC |
What is left to do in Utah (rough order of difficulty/probability):
| Summit | Alt | County | Notes |
| Willard Peak | 9763 | Weber | Prime candidate for May-June 2009 for confirm of official summit - DayHike |
| Delano Peak | 12173 | Beaver/Piute | Tushar Range nr Beaver - moderate - Car camp overnight at 10K |
| Mount Peale | 12721 | SanJuan | La Sal range nr Moab - moderate (LaSal Pass) - overnight @ Moab |
| Bull Mtn | 09920 | Boxelder | Raft River range NW Utah - huge 4WD trip - easy walk - no overnight |
| Signal Peak | 10365 | Washington | Pine Valley range nr St George - long hike - Ovrenight car camp - Reunion possibility |
| Mine Camp Peak | 10222 | Millard | nr Fillmore/Richfield - Huge 4WD trip - short hike - Overnight in Richfield |
| Benchmark Eccentric | 12276 | Uintah/Daggett | Uinta range nr Spirit Lake - moderate if we do Spirit Lake again |
| Gilbert Peak | 13442 | Summit | Henrys Fork nr Kings Peak - anyone for a 4 day 26 mile pack trip? |
| Mount Waas | 12331 | Grand | nr Moab - LaSal range - still trying to research the access route |
| Mount Ellen | 11522 | Garfield | Henry range nr Canyonlands ... extreme middle of nowhere - long hike |
| Ibapah Peak | 12087 | Juab | nr Nevada border .... absolute middle of nowhere - huge hike |
Other unresolved issues:
Box Elder Peak - 11101' - Dad/James/Amanda
Mount Nebo - 11928' - Dad
Thats all, folks....
22 September, 2008
West Jordan recons Willard Peak
Willard Peak is the top of that ugly looking group of foothills we pass on I-15 between North Ogden and Brigham City, typically on the way to Logan. The easiest way to get withing walking distance of it is a road that goes south out of Mantua - the little town by the lake that we also pass on the way to Logan. So we keep going up there because it is pretty and we are very curious. Here is our most recent trip. We are not entirely sure what we are showing here, because the weather was marginal and we had to leave to minimize some risks. Amanda was the point person and hence the only one this high on the peak. She took the pictures and she was fortunate to get even these. We think this spot is definitely part of the formation containing the summit of Willard Peak (9763'); Amanda did not have time to verify the location of the official summit (cairn / benchmark); Neither was visible from where she is standing. The following 4 images are a panorama series from Amanda's point of highest ascent.
Pictures follow (below) captions.
(1) Looking south, including Ben Lomond peak in the distance. The outcrop in the mid foreground might actually be a bit higher and maybe contain the benchmark. Note the heavens gathering blackness.
(2) Looking southwest and what would be a spectacular view of the Wasatch Front valleys... Except for the dark clouds which are why our explorer vacated this location soon after these were taken. This is as close to a T-storm incident as she ever plans to get.
(3) Looking Northwest, and showing the easier of the two ridge routes. Amanda came up from the northeast using a more exposed route she did not like after using it.
(4) Looking north into Willard Basin. The brown ribbon on the hillside at right is the dirt road used to get here. This is the end of the high panorama.
And finally, Amanda, in subdued pose, immediately following descent from the top, taken from DDadson point of highest excursion. The weather was too cruddy for much jubilation, even though she got her mountain fix, such as it was.
So.... We think we will take what we got and be appreciative.... We have now thoroughly scouted this route, and picked up on the missed items from last exploration. We now have all the route info we need to return for a more formal putting away of this one .... Also, it was a lovely 10 miler overall during which Dad ditched some pounds and we both looked at pretty fall leaves..... But Dad did not hit the official top - further ascent above this 9640' point was discontinued in the interest of T-storm safety - so alas HE has to come back, and it will probably be mildly irksome for the time being until this yet other score is settled. There are ironies here: The place Amanda got to (~9760) is probably good enough for her (she got there), but not for DDadson, the closure freak (mainly because he did not get there). We just may be Clarks .....This area is becoming very familiar indeed to DDadson and is even a serious candidate for a further solo trip, assuming it just has to be that way owing to scheduling of others .... The weather and schedules are getting complicated, so much as some of us would like to have it over with, it just may have to wait until the next consistent good weather in snow free high elevation, maybe meaning next season. I hope that's not what this means, but I am afraid it is. Dang. (I hiked my head off, I lost a water bottle, the weather yelled at me....).
Pictures follow (below) captions.
(1) Looking south, including Ben Lomond peak in the distance. The outcrop in the mid foreground might actually be a bit higher and maybe contain the benchmark. Note the heavens gathering blackness.
(2) Looking southwest and what would be a spectacular view of the Wasatch Front valleys... Except for the dark clouds which are why our explorer vacated this location soon after these were taken. This is as close to a T-storm incident as she ever plans to get.(3) Looking Northwest, and showing the easier of the two ridge routes. Amanda came up from the northeast using a more exposed route she did not like after using it. (4) Looking north into Willard Basin. The brown ribbon on the hillside at right is the dirt road used to get here. This is the end of the high panorama. And finally, Amanda, in subdued pose, immediately following descent from the top, taken from DDadson point of highest excursion. The weather was too cruddy for much jubilation, even though she got her mountain fix, such as it was. So.... We think we will take what we got and be appreciative.... We have now thoroughly scouted this route, and picked up on the missed items from last exploration. We now have all the route info we need to return for a more formal putting away of this one .... Also, it was a lovely 10 miler overall during which Dad ditched some pounds and we both looked at pretty fall leaves..... But Dad did not hit the official top - further ascent above this 9640' point was discontinued in the interest of T-storm safety - so alas HE has to come back, and it will probably be mildly irksome for the time being until this yet other score is settled. There are ironies here: The place Amanda got to (~9760) is probably good enough for her (she got there), but not for DDadson, the closure freak (mainly because he did not get there). We just may be Clarks .....This area is becoming very familiar indeed to DDadson and is even a serious candidate for a further solo trip, assuming it just has to be that way owing to scheduling of others .... The weather and schedules are getting complicated, so much as some of us would like to have it over with, it just may have to wait until the next consistent good weather in snow free high elevation, maybe meaning next season. I hope that's not what this means, but I am afraid it is. Dang. (I hiked my head off, I lost a water bottle, the weather yelled at me....).
25 August, 2008
2008 Summer Reunion at Navajo Lake
Well, Everyone kept saying "We should go camp somewhere" all summer.
No kidding. At least that's what the oldies heard. Also, this "lets get the gang together" theme has been noticably repetitive for some time now (as in months) at West Jordan itself.
The venues considered have hitherto been in the frozen north though: Uinta north slope (Spirit Lake) and similar ... As in the idyllic memorable days of yore .... Whereupon the plot thickened ... there was this telephone planning chat with our fine Arizona crew in which we collectively came to terms with small boys in small family sedans for hours on end (12 to be exact) --- all for a weekend overnight camp which would be over soon after it had begun. We realized that this was not going to happen easily as we are currently residenced, calendared and configured.
So we started to rethink. Out came the maps and various "halfway between" possibilities and criteria thereunto applicable were explored and discussed ... Facilities, activities, and style of setting taken into account, etc....
Sometime during the process we settled upon Navajo Lake - 28 miles east of Cedar City, UT on Utah Hwy 14, altitude 9000'. Fairly cool scenery, nice high country, a lake, some 10000' hills and some red rock.
It was not, moreover, sight unseen; James and DDadson wandered through there on one of the crazy hike trips a while back. So finally, we just all threw it onto the calendar, made "hail mary" vacation requests in some cases and away we went.
......
The whole gang was here so most of the stuff everyone saw, but there were a couple of exceptions .... On Friday morning, during the group hangout session in camp, Dad and James got curious and slightly crazy. The result was a goofy little hike to this wierd spot at 10080' above some Pink Cliffs just up the hill from camp... This is not a summit, it is just a high altitude point on the Kane-Iron county line. OK, it was a wierd trip. Here is a video of the crazies among the quakies and pines at Kane county (Utah) high altitude point.....
There actually was some pretty cool scenery up there, but it is over through the trees to the rim of the cliffs.... Meaning where you saw the patch of blue sky through the trees in the video clip.
This (below) is what can be seen looking south from the rim ..... Virgin river drainage in foreground,
and that actually is Zion National Park in the distance, believe it or not. (The pics were actually taken on our way back down)...
No kidding. At least that's what the oldies heard. Also, this "lets get the gang together" theme has been noticably repetitive for some time now (as in months) at West Jordan itself.
The venues considered have hitherto been in the frozen north though: Uinta north slope (Spirit Lake) and similar ... As in the idyllic memorable days of yore .... Whereupon the plot thickened ... there was this telephone planning chat with our fine Arizona crew in which we collectively came to terms with small boys in small family sedans for hours on end (12 to be exact) --- all for a weekend overnight camp which would be over soon after it had begun. We realized that this was not going to happen easily as we are currently residenced, calendared and configured.
So we started to rethink. Out came the maps and various "halfway between" possibilities and criteria thereunto applicable were explored and discussed ... Facilities, activities, and style of setting taken into account, etc....
Sometime during the process we settled upon Navajo Lake - 28 miles east of Cedar City, UT on Utah Hwy 14, altitude 9000'. Fairly cool scenery, nice high country, a lake, some 10000' hills and some red rock.
It was not, moreover, sight unseen; James and DDadson wandered through there on one of the crazy hike trips a while back. So finally, we just all threw it onto the calendar, made "hail mary" vacation requests in some cases and away we went.
......
The whole gang was here so most of the stuff everyone saw, but there were a couple of exceptions .... On Friday morning, during the group hangout session in camp, Dad and James got curious and slightly crazy. The result was a goofy little hike to this wierd spot at 10080' above some Pink Cliffs just up the hill from camp... This is not a summit, it is just a high altitude point on the Kane-Iron county line. OK, it was a wierd trip. Here is a video of the crazies among the quakies and pines at Kane county (Utah) high altitude point.....
There actually was some pretty cool scenery up there, but it is over through the trees to the rim of the cliffs.... Meaning where you saw the patch of blue sky through the trees in the video clip.
This (below) is what can be seen looking south from the rim ..... Virgin river drainage in foreground,
and that actually is Zion National Park in the distance, believe it or not. (The pics were actually taken on our way back down)...
This (below) is looking straight down off the top of the cliffs
Below is another panorama to the south. Hills in the far distance are the Pine Valley range just north of St George.
The high spot on the left of the group is called Signal Peak. You guessed it - highest point in Washington County, Utah
Below is a closeup of the cliff formation from about halfway down.
Below is the cliffs from the hill just below them. 
So, that was where James and Dad were when they disappeared for 3 hours after breakfast on Friday.... Have to have at least one picture of Navajo Lake, so here it is.
Now for some stuff from the hike on Andy Nelson Peak (10027') on Saturday.... Andy Nelson is the highest peak in Kane county. So there is this debate about which one counts as the high point - this peak or the county-liner. Anyway, Joshua got German all the way up there for his very first summit. Oh dear. Now he is infected. Below is the crew that got to the summit. It is a summit and not a football field, though it would be hard to prove.
I had my tripod on the trip, but there was nowhere to put it up there anyway, so we had to rotate to get everyone.
Below is what it looks like looking south from the saddle just below Andy Nelson Peak. If Dad had been a slightly better guide on route selection on the way up we would have used the Lodge trail and gotten more of you up here.
Finally, something really nuts that part of the West Jordan gang did on the way home.
As the sign says, this is Brian Head Peak. It is a drive-up summit, 3 miles up a dirt road from Utah 143 just north of Cedar Breaks NatMon, and on the way back to SLC.
One last shot from Brian Head summit. Standing offer from Dad to anyone who'd like to go back. Not a problem.
We (editorial) keep hearing that everyone had a good time. Thanks to each of you for coming. It was transcendently pleasant InMyHumbleOpinion, because you all are such cool people to hang with anywhere. Put that with the quiet open countryside and it is irresistable. Incidentally, rumblings of "now let's plan something for next year" are already discernible at West Jordan.
26 July, 2008
West Jordan hike at Fish Lake High Top
Here we go again ... Comrade father, having no adorable tiny children antics to display, has to improvise and is recently discovered yet again in the midst of certifiable obsession with outdoor exploring; Drags any available family members along. Any time any of you want to go crazy, the offer still stands, you know where geezer is.....
This picture series shows what it looks like in the High Plateau country east of US 89 near Richfield.
There are about 3 or 4 of these high plateau style mountains in this region. Their tops are usually 11000+ elevation
with sizable surface areas at the elevation, and one or more additional hills rising from the plateau, one of which
is the absolute summit (highest point) of the entire plateau.
The ones we have visited in this area are Fish Lake High Top, Boulder Mountain (home of BlueBell Knoll); there is another one between Fish Lake and Boulder Top, I believe.
This series is of the Fish Lake High Top plateau (summit elevation 11633) just above Fish Lake.
Frame below is about halfway up the customary foot route which starts at one of the Fish Lake overlooks
(Pelican Point); the canyon forks here and we are headed up the North fork, shown ahead. The rim is in the distance above.
This picture series shows what it looks like in the High Plateau country east of US 89 near Richfield.
There are about 3 or 4 of these high plateau style mountains in this region. Their tops are usually 11000+ elevation
with sizable surface areas at the elevation, and one or more additional hills rising from the plateau, one of which
is the absolute summit (highest point) of the entire plateau.
The ones we have visited in this area are Fish Lake High Top, Boulder Mountain (home of BlueBell Knoll); there is another one between Fish Lake and Boulder Top, I believe.
This series is of the Fish Lake High Top plateau (summit elevation 11633) just above Fish Lake.
Frame below is about halfway up the customary foot route which starts at one of the Fish Lake overlooks
(Pelican Point); the canyon forks here and we are headed up the North fork, shown ahead. The rim is in the distance above.
Frame below is on the top of the plateau, looking toward the final 100' high hill which contains the highest actual elevation on the plateau - the actual high point is the top of a house size boulder.
Frame below is from the top of the exact highpoint boulder looking into the distance. Various trail notes and advisories say to find "the" house-sized boulder, but there are about 50-100 such large boulders up here, so it becomes a "which one" issue very quickly. Some surrounding boulders and the plateau are in the foreground.
This is another view from the summit hill, showing the plateau and looking towards Pelican canyon trail 
Now a video from enroute across the plateau shown in foreground above on my way down
This is really mostly intended as a sample of what kind of outdoor country there is in south central Utah.
You almost cannot tell the difference between downstate and Salt Lake from this, but if you go to the lower
elevations in the vicinity of this, it is drier.
24 July, 2008
West Jordan at Aunt Eleanor Birthday party
There was a surprise party in Orem for Aunt Eleanor Jorgensen on 24 July at the Washburn place. Various of the Jorgensen cousins contacted us. Aunt Eleanor, Uncle Cecil, and a goodly number of north Utah and Colorado
Jorgensen relatives in attendance: RI Jorgensen branch (Jerry, Steve, Mike, Jeff), Brown branch (Jared, George), and JR Clark (Bruce, Don Bragg). Also assorted progeny. Lunch and some hanging out before the group dispersed again.
Also we learned that Jared (Brown) has succeeded in getting a key family artifact back in the family: the Lion carried by to Utah by Mary Williamson (Mormon Martin company handcart survivor). This Lion figure has been talked about in family history in connection with the Mary Williamson story for years, but only Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Cecil had ever seen it. It has been a few places since 1858...
Mary Williamson and William Barton were parents of Amanda Barton Horsley, Florence V Jorgensen's mother.
The Lion went to Amanda Horsley and then to various Horsley family members and finally to some Horsley relatives in Montana who probably did not have much interest in most of the story other than it being an heirloom of some kind.
Jared was able to talk them into selling it. The plan is to place it for public display.
Lion figure, left side (note the screw - it is original, the figure is in two halves)
Lion figure, right side
Jerry Washburn holding lion figure
Jared/Margie Brown with Aunt Eleanor/Uncle Cecil and the lion
R.I. Jorgenson group (Jerry,Stephen, Mike, Jeff) with Aunt/Uncle and the lion
20 July, 2008
Birthday hike at Brighton (mount Evergreen)
We needed something short and to the point for this mid afternoon hike to fit Dad's birthday gathering.
Mount Evergreen (9890) turned out to be a nice pick for a quick 1.5 miles from the parking lot.
We took the ski lift road from trailhead to north end of Twin Lakes Dam (.75 mi),
then TwinLakes Pass trail along the north side of Twin Lakes to the back side of Evergreen (.25 mi)
to pick up the summit ridge access which is readily accessible.
Quick bash up the rocks past one endearing false summit - we were too fast for it to move
and there you go (.25 mi). Dad scouted this little gem alone last season.
None of these shots are OF Evergreen but FROM Evergreen. It is visually unremarkable, sorry.
We were thinking of the Arizona crew all the way up. Joshua has been all over this stuff too, remember.
Just stroll down memory lane if desired. Anyway here you go.
(1) Smiling faces of the happy summit team. We are much pleased with our self timer..
(3) East across the bowl to Clayton Peak.
(4) North East toward Scott's Hill and Guardsman area.
Some more stills for continuing nostalgia....
(5) On the descent - South across Twin Lake to Millicent/Wolverine/Tuscarora
(6) On the descent - Twin Lake Dam and adjacent lake
Ye Summit Riff - 1
Mount Evergreen (9890) turned out to be a nice pick for a quick 1.5 miles from the parking lot.
We took the ski lift road from trailhead to north end of Twin Lakes Dam (.75 mi),
then TwinLakes Pass trail along the north side of Twin Lakes to the back side of Evergreen (.25 mi)
to pick up the summit ridge access which is readily accessible.
Quick bash up the rocks past one endearing false summit - we were too fast for it to move
and there you go (.25 mi). Dad scouted this little gem alone last season.
None of these shots are OF Evergreen but FROM Evergreen. It is visually unremarkable, sorry.
We were thinking of the Arizona crew all the way up. Joshua has been all over this stuff too, remember.
Just stroll down memory lane if desired. Anyway here you go.
(1) Smiling faces of the happy summit team. We are much pleased with our self timer..
Now a video pan of what can be seen from where we are
Now 3 stills comprising the self same pan therein thereof ....
(2) South East to Milicent/Pioneer/Sunset Peak/Lake Mary area uphill from Brighton
(3) East across the bowl to Clayton Peak. (4) North East toward Scott's Hill and Guardsman area.Some more stills for continuing nostalgia....
(5) On the descent - South across Twin Lake to Millicent/Wolverine/Tuscarora
(6) On the descent - Twin Lake Dam and adjacent lake Ye Summit Riff - 1 Ye Summit Riff - 2
Ye Summit Riff - 3
17 June, 2008
Amanda & Parents complete Bachelors degree capstone tour (04-16 June 2008)
So ....
Another installment of our family traditional Bachelors degree capstone activity program is now history and we are back safely.
As a reminder, the remaining excursion with the Phoenix crew remains to be determined. We are still open and entertain hopes.
Our trip was very pleasant and we think Amanda has some nice memories and some new insights, which is what these trips are for.
To James, Melissa, Joshua and Amanda specifically, we cherish each and all. Thank you for being the transcendent souls you each are.
Dad now has the perspective of several trips. With each one he is called upon to stretch and expand horizons. This is a good thing even for a wandering business warrior. He continues to be pleasantly surprised by each new lack of death, destruction or even major inconvenience.
There are many photographs. We have them at the house and can view as desired at next in person gathering. I may post a few here.
Here is a tour summary:
04 June: Travel by air the entire day: SLC->JFK->IST (Istanbul, Turkiye) ... 4 hr across US, 9 hr across Atlantic/Europe, plus 9 hr time change(GMT-7 -> GMT-5 -> GMT+2)
05 June: Istanbul - tour local historic sites: Roman Hippodrome, Sultan Ahmed ("Blue") Mosque, Hagia Sofia, (Lunch), Basilica Cistern. (Hotel: Grand Ostanik, Istanbul)
06 June: Istanbul - regional sites on Asian side: Istanbul-Iznik (Bosphorus bridge,Tuzla-Yalova ferry), Iznik (Nicea), Iznik->Istanbul, Lunch, Topkapi Palace, Bosporus Cruise. (Hotel: Grand Ostanik, Istanbul)
07 June: Air Travel - IST->Izmir, Local site loop: Bergama (Pergamon), (Lunch-CarpetFactory),Akhisar(Thyatira),Izmir(Smyrna). (Hotel: Kaya Prestige)
08 June: Izmir->Kusadasi via site loop: Salihli (Sardis), Alasehir(Philadelphia), Denizli(Laodikea), Colosse (site), (Lunch: MeandrosCafe, Denizli), Transit to Kusadasi(Ephesus). (Hotel: Richmond Ephesus)
09 June: Kusadasi - local sites: Akkoy (Miletus), (Lunch), Ephesus, Shopping (Leather,Porcelain). (Hotel: Richmond Ephesus).
(End Turkey, Start Aegean)
10 June: Cruise Day 1 (Louis Aquamarine): Port of Kusadasi, transit, Patmos, overnight to Rhodes (Hotel: M/V Aquamarine)
11 June: Cruise day 2: Rhodes-ashore-optional: Shopping, Crusader Fortress, re-embark, overnight to Crete
12 June: Cruise day 3: Crete, ashore: Knossos (Minoan), Heraklion (shop), afloat: Crete->Santorini, ashore: Santorini(shops, scenery), Santorini-> Piraeus
(End Aegean, Start Greece mainland)
13 June: Piraeus/Athens, local sites: Acropolis (Parthenon, Areopagus, Agora), Athens overview, (Lunch-Titania), National Archaeological Museum. (Hotel: Titania(Athens))
14 June: Region loop: Athens->Corinth canal, Corinth, Mycenae, back to Athens, Final Dinner and Tour farewell meeting, (Hotel: Titania)
15 June: Main group of official tour transfers to ATH airport for return to SLC, official tour ends - Extension stragglers (3 family units) remain in Athens for church and other purposes.
15 June: Clark-Chartrand-Winter Athens extension: Attend LDS services at Acropolis Branch, 52 Amalia Ave, Athens (20 minute walk from hotel)
Church experience notes: (Astounding confluence of languages - Greek, French, English - and cultures - Greece, Africa, Bulgaria, Brazil, Romania, US. Note: Same struggle for Young Adult LDS marriage/family prospects as elsewhere in Europe, amplified by highly predominant (98%) Greek Orthodox or Muslim environment.)
Sabbath friendly exploration of Athens on foot (Botanical Garden, Temple of Zeus), snack on pre-purchased yummy Greek pastry. Hang-out at hotel with the tour remnants
(Hotel: Titania)
16 June: Extension group transfer to ATH airport for flights to US.... ATH-JFK-SLC.
Observations:
(1) We continue to love to travel with LDS groups if we are not up to a DIY trip.
(2) Turkey is a very safe place for peaceable US people, folks - NATO ally,EU applicant, language Romanized, VERY Europe/West friendly!
(3) Greece is a very nice place, but we knew it would be.
(4) Added 2 national food styles - Turkish and Greek - to our list of faviorites along with China and England. We hope to add Germany some day.
(5) We love breakfast containing Cucumbers, Yogurt, Fruit, spiced Feta, Broiled tomato (Just like UK), and specialty bread.
And now here are some pictures ...
Guess where (in Turkey) --
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Guess where (in Greece - Aegean)
(12)
(13)
And so ... there it is. Thanks for reading.
Another installment of our family traditional Bachelors degree capstone activity program is now history and we are back safely.
As a reminder, the remaining excursion with the Phoenix crew remains to be determined. We are still open and entertain hopes.
Our trip was very pleasant and we think Amanda has some nice memories and some new insights, which is what these trips are for.
To James, Melissa, Joshua and Amanda specifically, we cherish each and all. Thank you for being the transcendent souls you each are.
Dad now has the perspective of several trips. With each one he is called upon to stretch and expand horizons. This is a good thing even for a wandering business warrior. He continues to be pleasantly surprised by each new lack of death, destruction or even major inconvenience.
There are many photographs. We have them at the house and can view as desired at next in person gathering. I may post a few here.
Here is a tour summary:
04 June: Travel by air the entire day: SLC->JFK->IST (Istanbul, Turkiye) ... 4 hr across US, 9 hr across Atlantic/Europe, plus 9 hr time change(GMT-7 -> GMT-5 -> GMT+2)
05 June: Istanbul - tour local historic sites: Roman Hippodrome, Sultan Ahmed ("Blue") Mosque, Hagia Sofia, (Lunch), Basilica Cistern. (Hotel: Grand Ostanik, Istanbul)
06 June: Istanbul - regional sites on Asian side: Istanbul-Iznik (Bosphorus bridge,Tuzla-Yalova ferry), Iznik (Nicea), Iznik->Istanbul, Lunch, Topkapi Palace, Bosporus Cruise. (Hotel: Grand Ostanik, Istanbul)
07 June: Air Travel - IST->Izmir, Local site loop: Bergama (Pergamon), (Lunch-CarpetFactory),Akhisar(Thyatira),Izmir(Smyrna). (Hotel: Kaya Prestige)
08 June: Izmir->Kusadasi via site loop: Salihli (Sardis), Alasehir(Philadelphia), Denizli(Laodikea), Colosse (site), (Lunch: MeandrosCafe, Denizli), Transit to Kusadasi(Ephesus). (Hotel: Richmond Ephesus)
09 June: Kusadasi - local sites: Akkoy (Miletus), (Lunch), Ephesus, Shopping (Leather,Porcelain). (Hotel: Richmond Ephesus).
(End Turkey, Start Aegean)
10 June: Cruise Day 1 (Louis Aquamarine): Port of Kusadasi, transit, Patmos, overnight to Rhodes (Hotel: M/V Aquamarine)
11 June: Cruise day 2: Rhodes-ashore-optional: Shopping, Crusader Fortress, re-embark, overnight to Crete
12 June: Cruise day 3: Crete, ashore: Knossos (Minoan), Heraklion (shop), afloat: Crete->Santorini, ashore: Santorini(shops, scenery), Santorini-> Piraeus
(End Aegean, Start Greece mainland)
13 June: Piraeus/Athens, local sites: Acropolis (Parthenon, Areopagus, Agora), Athens overview, (Lunch-Titania), National Archaeological Museum. (Hotel: Titania(Athens))
14 June: Region loop: Athens->Corinth canal, Corinth, Mycenae, back to Athens, Final Dinner and Tour farewell meeting, (Hotel: Titania)
15 June: Main group of official tour transfers to ATH airport for return to SLC, official tour ends - Extension stragglers (3 family units) remain in Athens for church and other purposes.
15 June: Clark-Chartrand-Winter Athens extension: Attend LDS services at Acropolis Branch, 52 Amalia Ave, Athens (20 minute walk from hotel)
Church experience notes: (Astounding confluence of languages - Greek, French, English - and cultures - Greece, Africa, Bulgaria, Brazil, Romania, US. Note: Same struggle for Young Adult LDS marriage/family prospects as elsewhere in Europe, amplified by highly predominant (98%) Greek Orthodox or Muslim environment.)
Sabbath friendly exploration of Athens on foot (Botanical Garden, Temple of Zeus), snack on pre-purchased yummy Greek pastry. Hang-out at hotel with the tour remnants
(Hotel: Titania)
16 June: Extension group transfer to ATH airport for flights to US.... ATH-JFK-SLC.
Observations:
(1) We continue to love to travel with LDS groups if we are not up to a DIY trip.
(2) Turkey is a very safe place for peaceable US people, folks - NATO ally,EU applicant, language Romanized, VERY Europe/West friendly!
(3) Greece is a very nice place, but we knew it would be.
(4) Added 2 national food styles - Turkish and Greek - to our list of faviorites along with China and England. We hope to add Germany some day.
(5) We love breakfast containing Cucumbers, Yogurt, Fruit, spiced Feta, Broiled tomato (Just like UK), and specialty bread.
And now here are some pictures ...
Guess where (in Turkey) --
(1)
(2) (3) (4)Guess where (in Greece - Aegean)(5)
(6)
(7)
Guess where (in Greece - mainland)
(8)
(9)
(10) (Hint: the ORIGINAL caryatids)
(11)
(12)
(13)And so ... there it is. Thanks for reading.
Answers:
(1) Sultan Ahmed (Blue) Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey
(2) Hagia Sofia (Basilica/Mosque/Museum), Istanbul
(3) Agora, Laodikea ancient site, nr Denizli, Turkey
(4) Library of Celsus, Ephesus ancient site, nr Kusadasi, Turkey
(5) Harbor overlook, Patmos, Greece
(6) Minoan palace, Knossos ancient site, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
(7) Thira, Santorini, Grece
(8) Parthenon west side and Acropolis, Athens, Greece
(9) Parthenon - East side, Acropolis, Athens, Greece
(10) Caryatid Porrtico, Erechthion, Acropolis, Athens, Greece
(11) AcroCorinth (Acropolis of Corinth) from Corinth ancient site, Corinth, Greece
(12) Lion Gate, Mycenae ancient site, Peloponnesus, Greece
(13) Front door of Acropolis Branch facility, LDS Church, 52 Amalia, Athens, Greece
16 May, 2008
Michael F Gates wedding.
This event had two sections. Most of West Jordan was present for the family dinner in the evening, but only the Mom and Self were there for the Bountiful portion. So.... pictures ....
The wedding venue....
Bride and Groom, grooms family (Gates)
Bride and Groom, brides family (Butterfield)
Kerrin at the dinner providing sentiment-laden musical selection of contemporary style, Brady Allred on piano
There we go. Thats all folks
The wedding venue....
Bride and Groom, grooms family (Gates) Bride and Groom, brides family (Butterfield) Kerrin at the dinner providing sentiment-laden musical selection of contemporary style, Brady Allred on pianoThere we go. Thats all folks08 May, 2008
West Jordan and Livermore oldies visit Grantsville, UT
The Livermore Clarks were in town on their 3 week ramble to New Mexico, and the geezers went out west to Grantsville for some former family residence and cemetery browsing.
Former family homes....
We re-identified two properties that we knew were out there but could not remember the exact location/address of. So we took pictures - here goes:
The old Edwin M Clark residence at 312 East Clark Street. (we already knew about this one)
The old Joshua R Clark residence at 332 West Clark St. (unoccupied)
The J Reuben Clark historical farm at 378 W Clark St - the signage is new since we were last out to check (~2003)
The J Reuben Clark home at the Historical Farm - the house is older than it looks - it has been dressed up to house a pre-school which lost its other site and is using this one temporarily
Here are some headstones which might be familiar .... Probably self explanatory
Overview of the Clark group plot - Grantsville cemetery...
Name as shown (First generation of Clark family in Grantsville/Utah)
Name as shown (spouse, First generation of Clark family in Grantsville/Utah, connection to Woolley family)
Name as shown (Second generation Clark family in Utah)
Name as shown (spouse, Second generation Clark family in Utah, connection to Ratcliffe family)
Also in Grantsville:
Members of Ratcliffe family - James Ratcliffe and Emma Jane Eastham, James Ratcliffe (Sr)
Members of Eastham family - John Eastham and Jane Huntington
Members of Johnson family - A.G. Johnson. Ancestor of William E Johnson of West Jordan, connected to Clark family via Lucille Clark, sister of Edwin M. Clark.
Guess that is all for now on this topic.... Cheers
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