пятница, 30 августа 2013 г.

Stay on Trail: Craters of the Moon National Monument

During law school, aspiring biglaw attorneys usually spend their second summer interning at a law firm they hope to call home.  Although they’re not attorneys, they’re called summer associates and treated quite well.  There are activities aplenty, along with the usual work.  One of the activities during my summer was a family feud-style game for which we had to answer questions beforehand to populate the answers.


One of the questions was, if you could be something other than an attorney, what would you be.  My answer?  A park ranger.   I realize that for many reasons this is not a good fit for me at this point in my life – what with no science degree and no desire to move around frequently during the start of a new career.  Instead, I simply enjoy my time outdoors and in parks, doing and learning as much as possible.  Craters of the Moon National Monument was the perfect place to do this.


Though a National Monument and not a National Park, we found that the facilities, ranger-led activities, maintenance, and services offered at this park were fantastic, the best we’ve seen on this trip.  We stayed for three nights and took advantage of this time to go on a number of great hikes, attend three evening ranger programs (at least I did, while Alan stayed back at the site to watch the sleeping babe), attend a ranger-led walk, and attend a junior ranger program.


We had thought that Van was too young to attend this program, as most of the junior ranger programming in parks is geared to children at least four to six years old.  The traditional junior ranger program (receive a packet, complete a bunch of activities through exploration in the park, and present the packet to a ranger for inspection) at Craters of the Moon is for older children, but a ranger came by our site and invited Van to the evening program, saying that he’d enjoy it even though he’s younger than most who attend.  And enjoy it he did!  He had a blast, sitting up front and raising his hands for lots of activities.  His favorite part was using the magnifying glass to examine items found around the amphitheater.


My favorite part was the induction ceremony for all the junior rangers at the close of the program.  Alan says that using the term “induction ceremony” is a bit too formal, but it was a ceremony and he was inducted as a junior ranger at the park, so I think that’s precisely what it was.  All the children stood up on stage and had to raise their right hand and repeat an oath.  Van didn’t do so well on the repeating, but the ranger made sure that his right hand was raised the entire time.


At the close, each child received a badge, which Van continues to wear.  Whenever we ask him what a junior ranger says, he says proudly: “Stay on Trail.”  He’s now super vigilant about keeping us on trail and often lets us know his motto whenever we’re out hiking – or frankly, even when we’re not out hiking.  Sadly, I didn’t bring my camera to capture the magic, but you can just imagine a squirmy Van on stage, his hand in the ranger’s, beaming proudly amongst a line of older children.  The only thing that would have made it better is if Van’s Uncle Jack was there to see it.


My brother had an infamous experience becoming a junior ranger at Devil’s Tower, showing up to turn in his completed packet with a massively bloody leg that resulted from a top-speed run in the park.  As we were reading aloud the junior ranger rules with the park ranger in hopes that we both qualified for our badges, we quickly learned that one of the important rules was that “Junior Rangers Don’t Run.”  Luckily, they didn’t hold Jack’s accident against him, and we were both sworn in as junior rangers.  Van has illustrious company!


All this talk of “ranger this” and “junior ranger that,” and I haven’t said much about the park.  We loved it – absolutely loved it.  It’s not every day that you get to visit massively large lava fields and volcanoes aplenty.  We even slept on lava.  Basically, for three straight days, we were constantly standing, walking, sitting, sleeping, and eating on lava.  The park has two main kinds of lava: áa and pahoehoe.   The áa lava is larger, rockier, and more jagged and the pahoehoe is smoother and looks more like what I think of as a stereotypical lava flow.  In addition, there were large cinder cones in the park, essentially large mountains of cinders, and spatter cones.


These were my favorites, both to see and to hike to and around.  Walking on cinders is a completely different sensation.  They’re pieces of volcanic rock, but they’re fragile and they crunch beneath your feet.  Weirdly, I loved the sound and feel of walking on the cinders and can’t relate it to anything else I’ve ever walked upon.   Luckily, the parks has many great trails, because without well maintained trails (almost all surfaced with cinders), your shoes would quickly get eaten up by the lava.  The lava, which looks black at first glance, has a thin glass coating on the outside, which both makes it sharp and colorful.  Good thing we also had the little guy eager to repeat his new mantra, Stay on Trail!  Most intriguing to me was the various textures and surprising colors in this charcoal-looking landscape.  I tried to capture a few examples in the photos below.  I like to refer to the photo of brightly colored lichen as nature’s graffiti.


Craters of the Moon may be out-of-the-way in south-central Idaho, but it is well worth a visit.  Though many folks come through for the day, if you have the time, spend a few days there to explore all the different types of volcanic formations, including the lava tubes.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go inside any of the lava tubes because we were wearing the same hiking shoes we had worn on our visit to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky earlier this year.


Given the rapid spread of white nose syndrome, which has a very high fatality rate for bats, you could only explore the lava tubes if you were wearing clothing and shoes that had not been in any caves since 2005 or if these clothes or shoes were properly decontaminated.  I never did get a full understanding of what proper decontamination would entail, but we knew that whatever it was, we certainly didn’t meet the standard.


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Stay on Trail: Craters of the Moon National Monument
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Heading to Florence. Travelling with BelTopRent

If I was the type of person who believed in horoscopes, I would probably feel pretty validated by my own personality. Born in September, I am a Virgo, which apparently means I am an exacting, meticulous, and precise person who likes to plan things out and carefully examine the minutia of all my plans. And honestly, that does describe me fairly well. I am not a very impulsive person, I think things through for a long time; I don’t jump blindly into commitments,  it tends to take me a long time to prepare for going on a trip or starting a new job. All of which made the events of the past few days such a surprise to me.


I’ve been living in Verona about a month and a half without traveling much outside of town, and I have been hoping to visit Florence and Venice before I leave. Unfortunately, I was being very slow about planning a trip. Neither city is very far, easily reachable in a couple hours by train, but I just hadn’t applied my Virgo mind to fine-tuning a jaunt over to these two cities and making sure everything was planned out.


After all, when I go on a trip I enjoy planning out the intricate details of the journey. I’m not a person who will regiment their day or anything like that, but I feel better having noted down train times and numbers, arranging ahead of time for where I’m going to stay, what I’m going to bring, how I’m going to move around, and so on. I’m leaving for Amsterdam on Monday, and while I already have my train and plane tickets printed out, I’m sure I’m going to write down information about my hostel, how to get there from the airport, what to bring, and what clothes to wear. It’s just the kind of traveler I am.  That said, last Tuesday I decided to act very (or, you know, somewhat) spontaneously.


I had been looking at prices for train tickets to Florence for a couple of days, and for some reason I decided at around midnight on Tuesday to go online and check ticket prices again. Luckily, Trenitalia, the company that runs most of the trains in Italy, happened to be selling very cheap tickets to Florence that very night. While I had been finding prices of around 90 to 100 euros, I found tickets for a two-day trip that would cost me just over 60 euros. Even at this point, I was little unsure about what to do. I wanted to go see Florence, I didn’t have much to do this week, and I thought everything might be lining itself up perfectly. Obviously, I had to find a hostel before I could leave. After a quick Google search, I found a hostel in the center of town, not too expensive, and before I knew what happened I had booked a room for a night.


Wow. I was in shock with myself. Having just paid for a deposit on a room, I realized I kind of had to buy the train tickets now. No backing out. (…so this is what risk takers feel like!) I quickly bought my train ticket and started packing up my backpack. In twelve hours, I would be on a train to Florence.


The next morning Francesca, my wonderful host, drove me to the train station and me and my backpack got ourselves on a train, first to Bologna and then to Florence. For the middle of the day on a Wednesday, the trains were both packed. I expected to have more room, but by the time each train left, every seat around me had been filled. Luckily, unlike with an airplane, this was not a very uncomfortable situation. Both trains I was on had plenty of leg room, and I was only in an actual train for a little over two hours in total.


I enjoy riding in trains a lot, and perhaps the highlight of my trip was a small family seated across the aisle on my first train to Bologna. A husband and wife with their young son, maybe eight or nine years old, were playing some version of Pokemon Uno, but what was great was hearing them continuously switch between English and Italian without a problem. Growing up bilingual, I like the idea of raising children to know more than one language, and it was encouraging to see another family like  mine. The son was able to talk in unaccented Italian and English and seemed to randomly switch between languages, which must have been what my brother and I were like when we were young as well. All in all, it was nice to see.


I arrived in Florence at around three in the afternoon and I stepped out of the train station into the Piazza of Santa Maria Novella, a church right next to the station. As I started walking towards my hostel, it was hard not to be struck by the general beauty of the city. Living in Verona, I constantly contrast the city with Morris and Moorhead and Minneapolis, and usually feel like I’m living in a much more historic and beautiful city (no offense Minnesota). Walking around Florence made me feel the same way about Verona. The amount of art simply lining the streets, existing in buildings, is simply amazing. The city really evokes the Renaissance in an unbelievable way. The feeling was only reinforced when I saw the Duomo for the first time.


To reach my hostel from the train station, I had to walk directly by the Duomo, or as it’s more properly called, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, and I was literally stopped in my tracks. Leaving the station, you can see the peak of the Duomo over the skyline, so it doesn’t sneak up on you, but seeing the architecture, the beauty, and the artistry of it still blew me away. I had seen pictures and videos of it throughout various history classes and documentaries, but it’s impossible to communicate the majesty of such a building through representations. You really have to see it. The color, the artwork, and immensity of it. It really is a sight to behold. After staring at it awestruck for a few minutes, I finally managed to get on my way and reach my hostel.


Dun dun duhhhhn. Finally drama strikes! I arrive to the hostel, try to check in, and am politely asked for my passport, apparently a vital piece of identification for non residents hoping to stay in a hostel. Well, shit. Not only did I not know I needed such a piece of identification, I had actually specifically taken my passport out of my backpack for this trip. (…this is why you plan, David, this is why you don’t act impulsively…). So, I’m standing in the middle of Florence, with no idea how I’m going to find somewhere to sleep for the night, and the very real prospect of sleeping in a train station sneaking up on me.


Luckily, we live in the 21st century, and not the 16th century, and computers and fax machines are real things, not just crazy dreams Michelangelo has when he’s drank too much wine. I called up Francesca and asked her if she could scan or fax my identification information to the hostel. Luckily she was still in Verona and promised me that she would send it on its way in a couple of hours. God bless that woman. Apparently, this was a good enough guarantee for the man at the check in desk, who when I suggested that I would come back in a couple hours to check in seemed so bothered by the thought that he decided to give me keys to the hostel and room and send me on my way. First hurdle, overcome.


Now, armed with a map and a growing sense of pride in my wild adventurous side, I walked out of the hostel and into the Florentine afternoon. The first place I decided to visit was the furthest from the center of town, il Palazzo Pitti, so I thought it would be a good destination for my first day, considering that most of the day was already gone. Unfortunately, I only looked at the actual map part of the map (confusing, I know) and  not the blurbs on the back which would have informed me that this was a “massive museum monstrosity” and that one should “have a heart to heart with your poor feet” before heading over. I think it was better not to know.


The palace itself was beautiful, there were two or three different art shows going on when I got there, and my ticket gave me entrance to two of them. One of my favorite parts of Italian “museums” is that they are often in very old artistic palaces, which leads to odd moments of walking through a room enjoying the art and casually looking up, only to realize that the mural on the ceiling and walls is as beautiful, if not more, than the actual art hung on the walls. I had a lot of those moments. The Pitti palace was an old home of the Medici, so I was able to see the throne room, bed rooms, and even a bathroom used by the family, along with the amazing detail of the artistry around the room.


I wont spend too much more time talking about the specific art, mostly because I’m unqualified to say anything other than, “Wow, I really like that” or “Hmm, the detail is very interesting on this one,” but also because I really didn’t think of myself as a fan of art until very recently (I should emphasize that I am really only talking about visual art, I’ve always liked music and literature). For some reason, partly through this trip, perhaps partly through growing up a bit, I’ve found a much better appreciation for art. Seeing these masterpieces up close and in person is completely different from seeing their representations. The detail and size and color is amazing (see, that’s really all I can say about them). As if it needs to be said, if you’re in Florence, check out the art.


Connected to the Palace, which took me over two hours to walk around in, are gigantic gardens which I subsequently decided to explore. Had I read my map, I would have known what I was in for. It took me about thirty minutes to walk from the entrance all the way to the other side of the gardens, where there was a beautiful fountain, and for some reason I then decided to take some smaller paths that were somehow all uphill to the other section of the property.


At the top of the hill was a fountain to Neptune that I sadly looked at for about a minute after damning my legs and feet and dragging myself back down  a different series of paths and out the palace. All in all, a great place to visit, but I felt destroyed at the end. The palace was stuffy and it was about 36 degrees (97 to you yankees) with the sun beating down outside. Obviously, being the smart person I am, I left my water bottle at the hostel and started having serious doubts about my ability to make it back to the center of town without literally exhausting the liquids in my body.


After resting for about an hour at the hostel, I got up and headed out to find something to eat. Usually, I don’t mind traveling alone, it makes it easier to randomly do what you want and go where you feel when there isn’t a second or third person along with their “opinions” and “ideas,” but it does make it harder to enjoy yourself after a long day of traveling.


The hostel I was at didn’t have much of a communal area, and I didn’t see anyone else from the hostel until late that night, so I left alone and walked around looking for a place to eat. The map I had recommended a couple of places, but after reading through a few more of their suggestions I grew a bit more skeptical of their advice, as I’ll discuss more in a bit. Regardless, I found a nice Trattoria about a ten minute walk from my hostel and enjoyed some deliciously homemade pasta and polenta, before taking a long walk around town and up and down the Arno river, which divides the city in two.


I got back to my room at about eleven or so, I’m not really the type of person to go bar hopping by myself and settled in to read a bit from the book I had brought, 54 by Wu Ming. It’s a great novel, written by a group of five Italian authors, and I was really getting into it when my roommate came back. I hadn’t met him up to this point, but as he walked in I introduced himself and we got to talking a bit about traveling. He seemed like a really nice guy, and my god had he been everywhere.


He was currently on an Italian trip going from Roma to Pisa to Florence to Milan to Venezia, before he was headed off somewhere to work at some kind of job. I didn’t get much information about what he did, but he clearly made a good amount of money for the trips he was taking, but the funniest part about him was his complete dislike for almost everywhere he had been. He named probably between twenty and thirty different European cities, but emphasized that he really only like Paris, London, Barcelona, and now Florence.


Everything else was just average, nothing to get excited about, as he repeated over and over. He was an Asian guy, originally from Chicago who spoke fluent Spanish, but it was unclear where he lived now or what he was doing. Right before he went to sleep he got a call offering him a job in downtown Detroit, which he gently declined, before laughing and comparing Detroit to Florence. Admittedly quite a difference. But he was really nice, and apart from an uncomfortable second where he got really racist about African-Americans (I decided midnight in a hostel in Florence wasn’t the right time to work on breaking down his racial stereotypes), he was a great roommate. Definitely a good first experience sleeping in a hostel.


I’m not really sure how this happened, but I ended up writing over five thousand words about a day and a half trip, so to keep this under control I’ve split it into two parts. Half up today, half up tomorrow.


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Heading to Florence. Travelling with BelTopRent
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Three-room Apartment Goldy for Rent in Minsk

Three-room apartment Goldy for short and long-term rent in Minsk


This apartment situated not far from subway stations «Phrunzenskaya» and «Nemiga». Only 10 minutes walking distance! Price of apartment is also awesome. Guaranteed booking acceptable only if you are going to rent this apartment for at least 3 nights. For this you must pay upfront minimum one night of rent (70 EURO). If you don’t want to deal with cash upon arrival, you can pay the full price of rent as well. Keep in mind, that you can rent this apartment without extra fees only if you moved in after 2:00PM and moved out until 12:00AM.


We accept all major credit cards(+3.75% fee) and PayPal (+15% fee). How to book this apartment? Contact us with your dates and time. If this apartment is available, we’ll send you our payment options. If apartment is busy, we’ll send you links of apartments which are still available. If we are fully booked, we’ll let you know too. We respond to emails in 5-15 minutes. Our booking service is super fast. Just contact us!














AddressZaslavskaya 12
Bedrooms2+living room
Beds (including sofa)3
PriceEURO 70 / night 
Sleeping Places2+2+2
Free InternetYes






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