Flooded River and a One-Clawed Crawfish

We had some crazy big thunderstorms roll through a week or so ago. I took a stroll by the riverwalk to check out the results:


The Chicago River nearly flooded out by us. What you don't see in this photo is a dock that is normally four feet above the river. Added to that, the private property sign is around head level when standing on that dock. Pretty amazing.


Found a mudbug on the sidewalk that was missing a claw and looking confused as hell. He was pretty big, probably seven inches head to tail. I think the flooded river let him crawl up the embankment too easily and then he got lost. After harassing him a bit, I picked him up and walked him back to the edge of the river.

I'm really craving crawfish right now.

Winged Cupcakes

Cathy was contracted to supply a couple dozen winged cupcakes for Leah's birthday party. Not sure what the exact relationship is - if Leah is a cousin's daughter, does that make her a 1st cousin, once removed? Well whatever, I took a couple quick photos - just two of the cupcakes, but you get the idea:


Cathy made the chocolate wings herself. She also created a unique design/color scheme for each cupcake.


Pretty cool. I enjoyed ripping out the wings and snacking on em.

Kettle Moraine, 2 of 2

Some more from Kettle Moraine. After our morning dayhike, Ben, Christine, and Leah joined us. Did I mention I have to fix my tent? Right before we left for the trip, I discovered that the shock cords on my two-person tent had pretty much turned into some mysterious goo. I guess that's what happens when you don't use the thing for 4 years straight (I've been using bivouacs and my solo tents instead).


It was Leah's first time camping too.


The clouds and rain cleared up by noon and we all went on another hike. The conditions were pretty much perfect by then.


Leah enjoyed the hike, although she mainly just took turns getting rides from everyone.


Steaks for dinner.


And a whole bunch of other shit, including some beans, rice, ravioli, gimbap (Korean style futomaki)...


...and of course some more great brews.


Made a nice fire that night too. Lots of burnt marshmallows were had.

All in all, a nice little trip out of the city. As my brother implied in my last post's comments, the women's camp lavatory was pretty horrific. Despite this, Cathy had a great time - I think we'll be doing this more.

Kettle Moraine, 1 of 2

Went car camping at Kettle Moraine South this past weekend with Cathy, Julie, and Tim. It was Cathy and Julie's first time camping and I think it was a great success. Nature, tents, weird camp food, good times. Here are a couple photos:


We got there Friday evening after work. Cathy was crocheting in front of the fire within a couple hours. Figures.


Despite the light rain and overcast conditions on Saturday morning, we went out for a quick dayhike on the Nordic Trail.


The trails were wide, well maintained, and good for light hiking. Even with the rain, Cathy and Julie had no problem with it. Most of the trails in the area are also mountain bike friendly so if I ever come back, I'm bringing the bikes.


Among the things we saw on the trail was this really interesting red/orange fungus. Peniophora rufa.


Some sort of inchworm back at camp.


Some standard camp snacks. Apparently with cool spice! and wasabi!


The best part about car camping. Tim brought some tasty beers from a Wisconsin microbrewery which I enjoyed immensely. Also, the sun started to come out - bonus.

Set 2 of 2 later this week.

IPA

Remember that homebrewed IPA I posted about here? It came out great. It was bottled a while ago but it had to sit to let the yeast naturally carbonate it (bottle conditioning). I'd describe it as mildly hoppy, a good balance of flavor, and pretty dang potent.


Tastes even better out of a mason jar.

By the way, Cathy and I are going camping this weekend with her cousins. Although we're actually just car camping, it's one of the first steps towards me convincing Cathy that carrying a 30 lb backpack for a multi-day hike in the middle of nowhere is a good idea. Good times.

Parents' Backyard

Had a nice and relaxing time visiting my mom in Michigan. Every time I visit I always seem to do a couple things: drink beers, get sushi and udon noodles at Ajishin, and eat dim sum. It's a strange but delicious routine. This time I also spent a couple minutes in the backyard waiting for the morning coffee to brew. Always a lot of interesting stuff back there:


Leaf of a Tricolor Beech. As the seasons change, the leaves' variegation also changes into different combinations of green, pink, white, and copper. Variegation is a real word.


Top-wise view of some type of bearded lily.


Japanese Maple. The old house in Rochester had one that was actually two different colored ones grafted onto each other. Sweet.


And I have no idea what these are (edit: I think they are buttercups)

It was a bit sad leaving since I left Quentin there (an annual ritual). But just like me, I think he deserves to get out of the city for an extended vacation once in a while.

Chicago Dog

Going back to visit my mom in good ol' Michigan this weekend. I'll be leaving Quentin there for a couple weeks for his annual summer camp with my parents. So in honor of Q, here is the last of my famous toy on head series:


A Chicago dog...hey-ohh.

On a sidenote, I got Cathy a new mountain bike since the last one got stolen after less than a year of use. I bought a better lock this time so hopefully we can hold onto this one a bit longer. Still, you can be sure that if I ever see a dude riding a matte black Trek with a pink bottle cage, I'm going to immediately uppercut him.