Spring in Belgium and others ...

Wow, I just realised that it has been a really long time since I've posted anything on this blog!

What have we been up to ...

I still haven't published the desert part of our trip through California with Scott, Caroline and Rachel. We visited Red Rock State Canyon park, spent two amazing days in Death Valley, discovered a great date palm oasis where we had the best date milkshake (or rather ice cream) ever and where I bought a really cute painting of a date palm and then dragged everyone to Speleo-Ed where we attended some interesting talks and visited soil pipe caves.

May then, we spent in Europe. The first week we spent in Belgium catching up with family and friends: Colleen & Andre organised a nice bbq and we even managed to squeeze in two Belgian caves on our only free Sunday that month! ;-)

Then we went on to Scotland where Scott took pity on me since Will had to work and took me on a tour of the Borders and had me pose for him as the fairie queen of elves for his multimedia project on Thomas the Rhymer. We also spent a day in Dunbar visiting the grandparents and the rest of the family, went for an amazing walk in Rosslyn Glen and managed to catch up with a bunch of friends and attended David and Carrol's squeezing in some time with Ralph.

The third week of May, we went caving and canyoning in the Ardeche in France with our fellow Spekulozen. Check here for some pics. After a long night of driving we arrived in Vallons Pont d'Arc and after breakfast immediately took off to do our first canyon, La Haute Borne. The next day, we managed to squeeze in two caves, one rather unexpectedly - the Cote Patieres - and then the one we had actually planned to do, Peyrejal. The third day a small group went kayaking for the day while five of us did another really cool canyon that started off like an above ground meandering cave (Roujanel) and managed to find freshly picked cherries for dessert. Our last day, the whole group went to do the Canyon du Haute Chassezac, another great experience and another day of really amazing weather.

The last week of May then I spent with friends and family, enjoying the great weather, having some quality time with Colleen & Andre and their newborn Callum, almost trashed the car and therefore discovered a bit more of pretty Brabant by cycle and then sadly had to say goodbye to every one again.

Early December

Caving

After our American caving career took off with the trip to the Lava Beds National Monument for Thanksgiving, Will and I went on another trip to a cute, little town surrounded by little lumps of gold and big trees: Volcano. Anyone interested in the trip report can check it out on the Spekul blog; it is written by John Tinsley who was our trip leader (yes, we have official trip leaders in the States!) that day. It was on the 6th of December which is "Sinterklaas" (to be translated by, but not to be confused with "Santa Claus") and one of the caves we visited that day was called - you'll never guess - Santa Claus ... because it happens to have a chimney! We also visited Mushroom Cave and Pearl Cave (very briefly) and had a nice dinner with the other guys @ Giannini's.

Oh and Will and I both got a GPS for Christmas, which arrived a bit earlier on the 5th of December so that we could already start experimenting with it on our Volcano trip ... ;-)

On the 12th (a Friday, so Will couldn't make it ...) Bruce and Pat (aka Pa & Ma Lava Beds) invited me to go sea cave mapping with them, Beej and Rich near the Cliff House and Sutro Baths in Northwestern San Francisco. The tide was extremely low that day, so a good opportunity to map some of the newly discovered sea caves the month before. We mapped one of them, but could not do the other one - baptised Brigadoon, alluding to the story/musical as well as to its sandy nature - due to the high level of sand. Winter storms should have taken the sands from the San Francisco shores to deposit it more to the South before bringing it back over the Summer, but a lack of storms this year (did anyone say something about climate change?) is filling up all the caves rather than freeing them.

The day after, we went to the SFBC Christmas party, which traditionally involves a pot luck dinner, gift exchange and auction and was not any different this time. Needless to say that we had a great meal involving turkey, ham, some great side dishes and home made beer. We had a lot of fun with the gift exchange game and collected loads of money for the grotto's bank account ... Will² graciously had us stay over at his place that night, gave us a tour of the Stanford campus the day after and introduced us to yummy dim sum.


The museum

The second week of December, I started working as a volunteer in the Hearst Museum for Anthropology and Archaeology. I had come across the museum website by chance and found out they were looking for volunteers, so I applied ... I'm working there three days a week now on three different collections. The museum has more than 3 million artefacts in store spread over four buildings and a lot of that material is still terra incognita ...

There's the North American Archaeological and Ethnographic Map Collection with old USGS (i.e. standard topographical maps from the US Geological Survey, with or without archaeological sites from previous surveys marked on them) and non-standard maps in it (i.e. maps that have been made for certain publications). Jonathan is in charge here and I (and other volunteers) help him with the cataloguing and making the inventory of the maps.

Natasha, who is Collections Manager for North America, needs assistance with the physical inventory of the California archaeological collections which means checking the object's name of record with the physical object, as well as verifying the storage location and archaeological site of the object. It's amazing to see how in geographically separated cultures like those of the Middle East and those of North America people came up with such similar tools!

One day a week, I'm also helping Paolo out. He's actually the only archaeologist working for the museum, the others are all anthropologists - although Natasha has worked as an archaeologist for years. He's in charge of the Archaeological Collection which contains material from all over the world. I got to inventory lithic material from some of the famous French Palaeolithic sites and pottery and stone tools from North Africa, but they have stuff from all over the world that has - in the past - somehow ended up at the museum one or the other way ...

Besides this, I've also been to one of their other storage units where I've helped with the relocation of an amazing collection of audio tapes from the early 20th century containing interviews with native Americans in languages that are now extinct and the unpacking, dusting and relocation of an enormous anthropological collection of basketry from the Far East dating to the first half of the 20th century. A lot to do there!

Other stuff

Before going to Philadelphia, we had a Christmas party at home with the house mates. Andy & Steph got us a real Christmas tree, Hilary & Taylor had the decorations, cats and dogs were dressed up properly, Hilary and Steph as well, we had a yummy meal together and a funny gift exchange in which a home made monster was bestowed upon us!

Picasa webalbum

Thanksgiving with the CRF at the Lava Beds National Monument

Wednesday 26th of November: Will and I were packing our caving and camping gear for the first time since we've arrived in the States! We were not sure what to take; other country, other habits ... Will H - who spent the night at our place that evening to make logistics easier - luckily gave us some tips.

Next morning - Thanksgiving Day - we took BART to Oakland (across the San Francisco Bay) where Brad picked us up in a rental car. We set off on an ~ 8 hour journey North, almost into Oregon. On the way we got some interesting insights in rocket technology, Mormon life and California geology and had a great view of the snow topped Mount Shasta from a little town called Weed ...

Around 17 h we arrived in the RC (Research Center or was it Recreational Center?! ;-)) and met the already present cavers from as many as 4 caving clubs: SFBC, Diablo, Mother Lode and the Shasta Area Grotto! We made some food and had some delicious chicken with veggies generously shared with us by Frank, Iris and James.

At about 20 h, it was time to go out into the cold and acquaint ourselves with the lava landscape. Will H. took us to Indian Well, the cosily lighted Mushpot Cave which is a developed (as in 'made easily accessible to the public with paved floor and plaques to explain the different features') lava tube and then searching for Lava Brook and / or Thunderbolt caves. We never found them (GPS's!), but stumbled upon Sentinel Cave, one of the larger and very interesting lava tubes with at least four superimposed levels; almost like a real cave!

The next morning Bruce - our trip leader together with Pat - had a serious announcement. This Thanksgiving CRF (Cave Research Foundation) trip marked the 20th anniversary of exploration in the area. To celebrate this event, we had to make sure to keep in mind the most important goal of the day: "YOU MUST HAVE FUN!"; which meant we could do some "course familiarisation" (i.e. be a "tourist") and explore Mammoth Cave, another of the bigger lava tubes with almost 2.5 km in passages. It is probably the only muddy lava tube around here and we were promised tons of mud. It turned out not to be that bad after all thanks to a relatively dry period preceding our visit. Upon request everybody was back around 16 h at the RC to start preparing for the Thanksgiving potluck dinner, which included the traditional turkey, a roast ham and a plethora of side dishes and desserts. It was a great evening and - just like the turkey - we all got really really stuffed!

The following day Will and I took off with Shane - who is the Park Ranger responsible for the caves -, Cyndi and Brad to the Big Nasty. We had been warned thoroughly about the Big Nasty: extremely uneven terrain due to expanded and then collapsed surfaces, snakes - luckily not so much in this time of the year - and prickly bushes all over which force you to crawl on hands and knees to get through. Although somewhat intimidated Will and I decided to go through with it and it proved to be a very good and productive day. An hour and a half walk bushwhacking led by Shane's gps brought us to promising territory and we managed to topograph 16 survey points (which is a good score apparently since you have to measure every station back and forth due to the lava's interference with the natural magnetic field) and still going before we had to go home. (You don't want to be out in the Big Nasty after dark, mountain lions all over!) Back in the RC, Brian took us to the Northeastern corner of the Monument for a visit of the Petroglyphs and in the evening we had another great meal: delicious soup made with turkey stock, an exquisite Oriental Style noodle dish and Italian pasta.

On Sunday morning, Will², Brad an I had to leave to be back in town by the evening, but not before getting to the top of Schonchin Butte. Will & Will, fighting over who would get to be addressed as Will and which one of them had to take on a pseudonym decided to have a contest ... first to the top ... The previous record set by Beej was 10.5 minutes. They managed to get it down to 8.5 minutes. I'll leave you to ask Will and Will who actually won ...

We decided to go back to San Francisco by the scenic route passing through nice landscapes and through the cute little town of Adin where we had an artisanal smoked hamburger sandwich. Further down the road we had some more fun playing around with some stones and around 20 h Brad safely dropped us off again at the Oakland BART station. Pity we couldn't stay longer in Lava Beds ... but it was a great trip to start our US caving career with and we'll be back! ;-)

Find some pictures here and check out Brad's video here (I hope)

Another week went by ...

Highlights of the past week were the arrival and assembly of our bikes (don't think I've ever had such a good bike as now - apart then from the purple and pink monster that was given to me for my communion when I was twelve ...) and the preliminary arrival of two Christmas presents: a naughty book-with-a-wink about Syrian lingerie and a bread machine! Bread is insanely expensive here and not necessarily that good of a quality, so I'm looking forward to baking my own bread again.

Last Saturday we spent quite some time trying to adjust the dérailleurs of Will's bike and then drove up Persia and down Avalon to the Mc Laren Park where we had a good view over the bay. Check out some pictures from our ride and of the house!

The Sunday - yet another incredible sunny November day with a sun still capable of causing minor sun burn - we had a pancake brunch at the house with Mike, Brendan and Jutta. Good company, yummie food! We dropped Mike and Brendan off at the Glen Park BART station as an excuse for a little walk and then went on a bit further and discovered the beautiful Glen Park Canyon!

Yesterday evening then was the last Tuesday of the month, which meant another SFBC meeting. The annual grotto elections were held with all positions filled unanimously, something unheard of at Spekul ... ;-) No bitter election campaigns, heated discussions or people voting against. It was a painless affair and very quick, no time to get bored! ;-)

We were all looking forward to this month’s program which sounded very promising. Dave DesMarais of NASA Ames gave a very interesting talk about “Exploring Mars for Evidence of Habitable Environments and Life”. The majority of those present seemed already rather well informed about the Mars expeditions, but for me it was an introduction into a whole new world. He mainly talked about the Mars Rovers who were sent there to gather information about the past and present climate and gather evidence on the (past)(non-) presence of water and possibilities for sustaining life on Mars. He showed a cool animation showing the take off of the space shuttle, the landing on Mars (very bumpy with bounces more than a 100 m high, but a cushion of air bags protected the shell that contained the Rover!), the unfolding of the Rovers (think transformers!) and the start of their voyage. Check Wikipedia or YouTube for some more info or a cool animation!

Tomorrow morning we'll leave for our first caving trip to the Lava Beds National Monument. Looking forward to that!

About a birthday, amazing weather and how to throw the perfect barbecue!

This Saturday Andy - our house mate - celebrated his 27th birthday. Good weather had been announced so Taylor saw an opportunity there to suggest a barbecue to celebrate the event. All of us did some last minute shopping ... mostly groceries and a lot of booze (as in a big bottle of rum, coke and lime to make Cuba Libre and a (large!) keg of beer!) and ice. But Andy also wanted a special piece of grilling equipment allowing you to shove a can of beer into the chicken's a*!# which indeed makes the grilled chicken very juicy! It was a cool party with lots of sun, very nice people, great food and an introduction for us into beer pong! Check here for a couple of pictures.

Sunday was yet another sunny day (thanks to East wind blowing desert air over SF). Will and I took advantage of it by going for brunch with Lukas, one of Will's geeky friends. In the afternoon we had a visit from Mohammad - who moved last year from Belgium to San Jose a bit to the South of SF - and spent some time with him in our backyard enjoying the sun, ice cream and apple juice. The day was concluded with two episodes of the original Star Wars movies ... Taylor had managed through Craigslist to lay hands upon four or more boxes full of VHS tapes! ;-)

Other notable events of the past week include us hosting our first dinner at the house, discovering the public pool two minutes walking from the house, me attending my first dancing class and registering for City College only to find out after that that I'll have to pay as much here to attend one class for six months as in Belgium for all of my classes for an entire academic year!

Oh yes, and we've met up with the cavers on the other side of the Bay from the Diablo Grotto. They're a nice bunch as well and their meetings are easily reachable by BART and somewhat less formal than those of the SFBC (although I don't mind the formality that much and they seem to have interesting talks at the SFBC meetings; about some kind of Mars research next time!) We've also managed to sign up for the Thanksgiving Lava Beds trip from November 27-30th! Our first appointment with actual "caves"!

The week that the US elected a new president (in a nutshell)

Last week Will and I did some touristy stuff. Went for a ride with the cable cars and a romantic walk at Embarcadero last Tuesday (at night this time, therefore romantic ... ;-), but also cause we went for pizza after that). Thursday evening we visited SF MOMA, the Museum of Modern Arts. They have an impressive collection of photos, some famous works of art and a very cool Jacob's Ladder in the main hall! On Friday then, we visited the California Academy of Sciences and were sufficiently impressed! Something to write on your to do list for those who plan to visit SF at some point! Check out the caimans and go and have a look at our Picasa webalbum!

Saturday then was the big day. We were finally moving out of the Gaylord Suites and into our new home at Balboa Park (in pouring rain! Something apparently rather exceptional for here ...). Our housemates: Hilary & Taylor, Stephany & Andy and Oscar; the cats: Goose & Cin Jin; the dog: Chinook. You can check out the street view with Google Maps, it's the brown house, somewhat hidden by the car and the tree, with stairs going up to the front door and with the blue house on the left.

Saturday evening we were invited to Jeff's (one of Will's colleagues) BD party. I really enjoyed that party: great food, great people and a very relaxed atmosphere! The only drawback was the wading through the puddles to get to Jeff's place. California's definitely not used to dealing with rain!

The Sunday Will and I set a record! We spent almost the entire day in IKEA looking for a bed & mattress, (computer)table & chair, bookshelves and minor items. Came back with heavy bags and were treated to a bbq by our housemates! ;-) That was very cool!

Monday was dangerously-leaning-out-of-the-window room cleaning day

Tuesday - apart from being that historic day when the US elected their first African American president (what a relief ...) - Ikea delivered our furniture and we went to the SFCB's vertical practice (including bbq and lots of yummy desserts!) Check out a very cool pic of Hilary celebrating Obama's vistory (and some others)!

Wednesday UPS finally brought our stuff that came from Belgium after messing up the previous day and - o joy - that evening we slept for the first time in - eeuh - more than a month in our own bed! :-)

And yesterday evening we went to a concert of Natacha Atlas. Despite rumours about her being notorious for cancelling concerts she did show up, and did so in style and accompanied by great musicians! Both Will and I enjoyed the concert a lot!

Meet the cavers!

Tuesday evening, Will and I met the local cavers and they seem to be a nice bunch!

Unlike our cosy weekly meetings with Spekul, SFCB (San Francisco Bay Chapter Grotto) members only meet every fourth Tuesday of the month. Admittedly, they seem to live much more geographically separated. For us, getting to the meeting took us an hour and 20 minutes by public transport!

We met them first at a pre-meeting dinner in a hamburger restaurant. Arriving at the restaurant we saw a huge table of young guys sitting all together, while none of the other folks looked, behaved or were present in numbers that would suit a thriving caving club. After some debating (we felt a bit intimidated, especially because there were no seats left around the table) we did go in and ask the group if they were the cavers. They turned out to be a football team ... Pfwieuw ...

The cavers we found hidden in a more secluded area of the restaurant and as in Europe, they turned out to be of all ages, some of them looking somewhat gruffy, an estimated 42 % of them female and all of them rather welcoming and very talkative ... ;-) Many people of the club seem to be (rather distinguished) geologists or other scientists, so we might learn a lot.

The meeting went well, although very different from what I'm used to at Spekul; so much more formal, but with a kind a humour that felt very familiar ... ;-) I've tried to sign up for a caving weekend for 7-11/11,- that is - if they have an opening ... They seem to have limits on how many people can go on a trip and also seem to insist on having a trip leader, a job which not too many people seem to want or can take upon them ... (first impressions ...) Will wouldn't be able to come that weekend since he "volunteered" to go to work that Saturday; they'll have a "hack day" at Metaweb or something the like ...

Yesterday, Will and I had a fun and very relaxed evening. We met after work to take a ride on the cable cars, went to Embarcadero - which luckily wasn't as touristy as during the day - paid another little visit to our friends the sea lions, had a nice view of the lights of SF, went to a book store and took the cable car back getting of at a small Italian restaurant where we had a late dinner.

Tonight we plan to visit the SF MOMA (Museum of Modern Arts, they're open almost until 21.00 h on Thursdays) and on Friday we'll give the California Academy of Sciences another try. Hope there won't be such a crowd on a weekday as last Sunday. On Saturday then, we'll finally be moving out of the Gaylord suites and into the house at Balboa Park! Looking forward to that!