Things I Learned From My Pizza Box

• In 2004, Washington state ranked third in voter turnout for the presidential election with 82% of registered voters voting. The first two states were Colorado and Oregon with 89% and 85% respectively. My friends Kathy and H have chosen well with where they have lived in recent years.
• It is the law in Australia to vote. They get 95% turnout that way. The US averages 52.5% for presidential elections and under 40% for non-presidential elections.
• The US ranks in the bottom 20% of the world in voter participation. I always think of the pictures I saw when blacks in South Africa were finally allowed to vote. The pictures showed people lined up for miles to be able to cast their ballot. It is a precious freedom that we take for granted in this country.

Thank you Pagliacci for tasty fig prosciutto pizza and election factoids.

Aloha!

Back from Hawaii and I will post pictures and tales from the tropics later after I catch up on some sleep. Stay tuned for sea turtles and mongoose, pineapple and guava, geckos and nene, volcanoes and horseback rides, snorkeling and hula.

Hawaii is a beautiful place and I can't wait to go back but there is no place like home. Say it with me . . . "Seattle". Even the name is beautiful.

In the Midnight Hour, I Want S'more, S'more, S'more!

I think many people will agree with me that there is a fundamental problem with the S'more. All three ingredients are tasty and good but when put together there is something wrong . . . the chocolate. The chocolate just sits there like a cold lump and doesn't melt. How much better would the S'more be if only the chocolate would actually melt? Scads better I tell you! So with this problem in mind Kevin and I came up with the solution to all the world's S'more problems. Simply take a pie iron and unhinge it into two parts. Place the tasty graham cracker on the pie iron and top with fine chocolate of your choice.

Place the pie iron in the coals. Toast marshmallow to glorious light brown.

Take the graham cracker and chocolate off the pie iron and place the beautiful marshmallow on top of the now soft and melted chocolate. Top with the second graham cracker.

Enjoy S'more perfection!!!!
Genius I tell you! Where's my Noble prize?

Volcano Road Trip

Last weekend Kevin and I took a five day trip down to Lassen Volcano National Park and Crater Lake National Park for some road tripping, sightseeing and camping. We had an amazing time. It was relaxing and fun and took me completely away from the day to day here which I was really ready for.

Lassen Volcano is very pretty but unless you happen to be in the area or are trying to go to all the national parks like we are I wouldn't recommend you go out of your way to see it. This is Lassen Peak which erupted back in 1915 and Kevin who has a mild temper and I have yet to see erupt.

The coolest part of the park is what greets you at the end of this trail.It also wins for best trail name ever. This trail leads you to a geothermal area where you get to see bubbling mud pots and large steam vents that roar like engines. It is also a place of amazingly bad stink. Epic stink. Picture if you will 100 elderly women in a hot windowless room getting old-fashioned home perms while simultaneously boiling 10,000 eggs. Bumpass Hell smells something like that. I am blessed/cursed with a good sniffer so the smell was starting to make me sick. Kevin, being the chivalrous and observant fellow that he is, kindly offered me his bandanna to hold over my mouth. I was embarrassed to be such a Polly Prissypants but you would have understood if you smelled this mighty stink.

We camped that night and I got to use my very first bear box. Bear Box. Ur doin it wrong!

On the way to Crater Lake we made a stop at Lava Beds National Monument in the middle of nowhere California. I had no idea what to expect but this place is filled with lava tubes to hike through and explore. We were short on time so we only got to go down into two of them but they were a lot of fun. No bats though. Dang. Here I am portraying the lava tube goddess emerging from the end of the tube. Or something . . .

I hadn't been to Crater Lake in 16 years and it was still as stunning as I remember it being. This was Kevin's first trip and he was just as blown away by the beauty of the lake as I was. This time we got to hike down the lake and take the boat tour and get to see the lake in an entirely different light than just doing the rim drive. Plus we got some additional geological information that we might otherwise have missed. If you have never been here you absolutely need to go. This place is amazing and the lake is the most amazing shade of blue you will ever see.

Two nights camping under the a beautiful star filled sky, eating all the classic camping foods (SPAM, Jiffy Pop, S'mores, PBR) while sitting around a campfire. It has been far too long since I camped and can't let that happen again.

Next time on Devil's Starchy Fingers: We have perfected the S'more! Stay tuned for our culinary revelation!

DNC

Fabulous speech. He did the dems and the American people proud. I think I will have more victory donkey cookies to bake in November!

That's an Order

Saw this street sign on our road trip to Lassen Volcano and Crater Lake last weekend and briefly contemplated stealing it for Fishergirl. A picture will have to suffice.

Change of Plans

After what felt like a never-ending series of crappy runs I have decided to drop out of the Maui Half-Marathon next month. I couldn't put together a solid long run and even my short ones were frequently tougher than they should be. I just didn't have enough of a base running fitness when I started focused training on July 1st. Since I didn't have a strong base I also don't feel that 10 weeks would have been enough time for me to get ready. Sure, I could have walked sections of the course but I have already been there and done that and I want my next half to be something I can run the entire way and improve my time. This wasn't going to be that race.

Once I made the decision after about two interminable miles into what was supposed to be a 10-miler I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders. Giving myself permission to quit was such a relief. I was pushing myself for something I wasn't ready for. Distance running is very mental and if your head isn't in the game then nothing good can happen. I will take these next few months and focus on getting faster and stronger and when I am ready to tackle another half-marathon I will give it the proper three to four months that I should. Then I can leave my 12:01 pace in the dust.

So instead of getting up at 4:30 a.m. to be at the starting line at 5:30 a.m. , running 13.1 miles through an area that means "merciless sun" in Hawaiian, Kevin and I will be sleeping in and maybe going down to the finish line to cheer on the marathoners and half-marathoners with breakfast Pina Coladas in hand.