Fall travel craziness!

On the Road... near Big Bend National Park, Texas, Copyright (c) 2007 Wendee Nicole

I can't believe it's been more than a month since I've blogged. It's been busy around here - and that's a good thing! A couple weeks ago, I finished my big feature on the Elwha dam removal project and that should be coming out next month in Environmental Health Perspectives. I had a few days of downtime, during which I actually went out on the town! Big news for me - I'm kind of a homebody sometimes. I went to lunch at Ruggles Green with my very first high school boyfriend, Sean, who I recently reconnected with on Facebook, then I got together for a fun dinner at Sparrow (celebrity chef Monica Pope's new restaurant) with Texas A&M buds Kim and Rob, and then had like the worst date of my life. Dude was so ridiculously egoic, it was almost funny, if his behavior wasn't so horrifying! One of these days I will write a humorous essay about all my crappy dates, but suffice it to say dude had one thing on his mind and apparently thought I did to, but noooo sir ee bob. Then he kind of freaked out and got all angry. Ah, dating is so much fun! (not). At any rate after my few days of downtime, I got another short turnaround assignment, due Monday, and that's what has me occupied for the last few days. Still working on it...

Rob, me, and Kim at Sparrow. Kim has her PhD in psychology and does something like... pediatric neuropsychology I think?! I'm so proud of her - I met her when she was a 17-year old freshman and she lived in my dorm! She's now married with a cute lil un. I havent met her husband, but they just moved to Houston, and I found her online. We went to lunch a few weeks back too! In college, she became friends with Rob and we all used to hang out a lot. I hadn't seen him in like 20 years! He is a PhD in Economics and is now a consultant. 

But I have some other exciting news to share... First... drum roll please... ... I have changed my name to Wendee Nicole. I decided it was time to move on from my "old" life, that is my ex-husband's last name, and time to move on from that and embrace my 'rebirth' with a new name. I registered wendeenicole.com and it's now live! I am in the process of updating some of the links, and other things around the web, but check it out!

And next... upcoming adventures!! Next week I'm headed to the SXSW-Eco conference in Austin - woohoo! There are several colleagues and friends I will meet for the first time and/or reconnect with there. I love networking! I was all set to go last year but then Costa Rica called... (and hey I'm probably going back there in November and I'm totally stoked about that.)

After that, I am headed to Washington DC because I was accepted into the NIH Medicine in the Media Course. I am headed there a day early and staying with an editor friend. and then...

The National Association of Science Writers conference in Research Triangle, North Carolina! This will be my first NASW conference and my first time to NC. I have been to almost every state in the U.S. except a handful on the east coast. One of these days I'll have to calculate the number left... and make a trip to them! But I digress. While there I get to stay with my old bud Lisa Sullivan, who lived near me in the apartment I lived in when I first separated from my exhusband. We did bible study together, carved pumpkins together, and she moved to NC a few years ago and I havent seen her since!

With all this travel, I'll be back a week in between just about every trip so it's gonna be a busy/crazy fall but I really love traveling. Tomorrow Sam is having his 16th birthday party, and I'll have a houseful of loud boys - all the while I'm trying to write my article on a crazy complicated research paper... sigh. I will be very glad when my article is done!

A silly pic of Savannah and I... pretty much sums things up.

nutrition, vegan eating, & science denial - oh my

West Texas Thunderstorm - Copyright (c) 2007 Wendee Holtcamp

I am sitting here eating carob blueberry ice cream - vegan, sugar free, dairy free - and yumilicious! I did a 7-day juice fast following an online course by Casey Lorraine and Philip McCluskey (who lost 400 pounds by juice fasting and going raw/vegan. Wow - impressive! And he looks like my exboyfriend... Not the 400-pound version - ha ha). Anyway, so now I am doing their 28 day Beautiful Body Detox course, which is basically like I was eating before the fat flush - no dairy, no wheat/gluten, no added sugar (fruit only) but I'm also trying to not eat oil a la Joel Fuhrman and his bestselling Eat to Live book. OK, let me rephrase that. I don't usually just eat oil... rather, cook with oil. I have discovered baking vegetables on...parchment paper! And making kale-avocado salad without the Tablespoon of oil. And it's just as good!

I am really trying to be committed to my nutrition and my fitness. I have a tendency to alternate eating really healthy with eating crap. I go through stages where I eat a lot of sweets. And coffee is (or was) pretty much a staple of my diet. I have a huge sweet tooth and I also was eating a lot of corn chips... not to mention kale chips, but those are ok. And the homemade Carob ice cream is sweetened by Stevia, which is ok on this plan. So I'm just trying to get into a more healthy eating pattern and lose maybe just 5 pounds but mostly it's about being more fit and toned! And less using food as comfort (though I do love me some food!) I have made soooo many recipes since I have been off the juice a week -- marinated tofu triangles, kale-avocado salad, "faux" tuna (with garbanzo beans and cashew cream), zucchini-sagna (raw zucchini & tomato slices with pesto in between), and loads of smoothies and fresh juices. Today it was cinnamon vanilla carrot juice! And I may be doing 3 months of "boot camp" at my gym. Yikes!

I have a load of travel coming up in October, but some I am still trying to nail down, so I will update on that soon, and possibly a trip to Costa Rica in November. THAT I am super excited about! This Christmas, I won't have the kids, and my mom & stepdad will be in Hawaii so.... I have to figure out something to do so I'm not all alone! Will probably end up in Cali visiting one or another of my best friends.

And, here are my latest stories! Let me know what you think! The first one is on a topic I am really passionate about. And before I say adieu, how about that Mars Rover Curiosity sticking its landing?! :)

• Flavors of Uncertainty: The Difference between [Science] Denial and Debate. Aug 2012 Environmental Health Perspectives. Aug 2012 (PDF here). A feature that arose from my visit to the Science Denial conference in Madison, WI (remember the pics?)
• One Study, Two Paths: The Challenge of Dual-Use Research A feature for Environmental Health Perspectives on research that can be used for good or evil -- brought to light by the recent hubbub over the avian influenza genetic engineering research. Jun 2012.

Is the Life I Wanted Passing Me By?

Cocha Blanco near the Manu Wildlife Center in the Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peruvian Amazon Copyright (c) 2007 Wendee Holtcamp

I am in the process of sort of redefining - or clarifying - my life goals, my yearly goals, and my short-term goals and steps that I need to take in order to reach the next step in my own evolution. And I am listening to Debbie Ford's CD's "The Power to Make Life Changing Choices: The Right Questions in Action" and something she said really jumped out at me.

Lately I have felt a bit disillusioned with my life. Instead of being thrilled by all the amazing things I have seen and places I have gone, I have felt depressed and sad and that life has passed me by - or perhaps that the best is behind me. I know, I know... that's crazy talk. Call it a mid-life crisis, I don't know. I'm staring the empty nest smack dab in the face, and it scares the hell out of me. But worse than that, I feel like there are so many of my dreams that I don't even know if they are dreams anymore, they are buried so deep. Dreams like spending several months in Africa (I am scared now - where did that come from?). Dreams like writing a book (remember what happened to kill that dream? yea, like a book miscarriage). Dreams like having a good relationship with my daughter, something different than I had with my own mom (I really thought I had checked that one off the list, until the shit hit the fan this year in a excruciatingly heartbreaking way). Dreams like... saving the world. Producing and maybe even starring in a documentary film. Going on mission trips (can't afford them - why don't they want volunteers that don't have $3000 to spend?!), joining the Peace Corps, volunteering with the homeless and impoverished. Writing something that actually makes a difference in the world. So many things that now seem so distant and far off... But I know they are still dreams, and though the intense passion of my youth for these things has waned, I want to resurrect my dreams and figure out which ones I still really want to pursue. So I have been thinking about goals.

So back to the point: The CD outlines 10 questions you can ask yourself for every decision to make sure you are making decisions that lead you in the direction of your deeper vision (of course, it helps you have first defined that deeper vision).

Ford explains that when we head to the grocery store, we get in the car and we drive there. We don't stop at every corner and ask how we "feel" or ask ourselves, "do I want to stop here? Do I want to go to that corner shop or that coffee shop" while on the way. We would never get to our destination because we would be pausing and following every whim. Likewise, in other parts of our lives, we have to set an intention and a goal, and then determine how to get there, and not divert from that path. We need to not consult our "feelings" and "emotions" at every juncture on our path - do I want to take this assignment or that one because I like it, or eat this donut or french fries when I'm on a diet -- but rather we should always tune into our deeper vision.

She says there are no small choices, because every single choice we make either leads us toward our vision, or keeps us stuck in old patterns and in the past and our default way of doing things. Each choice, she says, affects our mood and our self esteem. We have to have the faith that we deserve the very best life, and that we can make our dreams a reality. Amen to that!

There's a lot more detail for each of these questions, but it's something to get you started on your path to living your dreams! What do you think?

The 10 questions are:

1. 1. Will this choice propel me toward an inspiring future or will it keep me stuck in the past?
2. 2. Will this choice bring me long term fulfillment or will it bring me short term gratification?
3. 3. Am I standing in my own power or am I trying to please another?
4. 4. Am I looking for what’s right, or am I looking for what’s wrong?
5. 5. Will this choice add to my life force, or will it rob me of my energy?
6. 6. Will I use this situation as a catalyst to grow and evolve or will I use it to beat myself up?
7. 7. Does this choice empower me or dis-empower me?
8. 8. Is this an act of self-love or self-sabotage?
9. 9. Is this an act of faith or an act of fear?
10. 10 Am I choosing from my Divinity or am I choosing from my humanity?

And so, the answer to the question I pose is no, but... I have to get on the wagon to make sure that the second part of my life doesn't roll right by me on the same track, when I do want to switch gears a little bit. I love what I do - I LOVE writing (most of the time) but I want to add some new things to my life repertoire. So let's go! What is on your bucket list?

Showing my son the Olympic peninsula

Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park is absolutely breathtaking! Copyright (c) 2012 Wendee Holtcamp

The last weekend Sam and I were in the Pacific Northwest, I took him to Olympic National Park. As I've said before, it's my favorite national park - it's so incredibly gorgeous and unique. But I also had to do some additional reporting and photography of the Elwha River for a second story I'm doing. My first story came out in Nature a couple weeks ago - Fish Return to Undammed Elwha River - and I have a feature due in a couple months. I also will be posting a slideshow and maybe doing a podcast for my Wendee Holtcamp Report at Adventures in Climate Change. I had so many technological difficulties on this month away from home, I have gotten really behind on a lot of things. So it took me a couple days to even get groceries in my fridge. I had a deadline on some edits immediately after I got home, I have another story due Monday, and I had to spend some time with my daughter, of course! I am also getting caught up on my two online writing classes I'm teaching simultaneously (note to self: teaching two classes at once is not advised in the future) :) 

Sam and I drove up to Washington's Olympic peninsula on Saturday morning after I had a great evening out on my birthday having a couple drinks at Random Order with my friends Kelli and Orna. Orna gave me a box of amazing Missionary Chocolates (vegan and the proceeds go to a good cause - and they are not only beautiful but absolutely delicious!) I will post a separate post about my birthday and other aspects of my trip soon but I want to keep this focused on Olympic National Park. Without further adieu, here are my photos from the trip, divided up by the location. I would make all the images the larger size but unfortunately the blog isn't wide enough, and it cuts them off! I am going to see if I can work on this...

Hurricane Ridge

It takes about 4 hours and some change to drive from Portland to Port Angeles on the north part of the Olympic peninsula, our home base for the trip. I took Sam to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center, which I hadn't been to in many years. Dad said we went there when we traveled there 20 years ago, but I don't remember that part! It was very different from other parts of the park, but this park is so diverse, with beach, temperate rainforest and alpine habitat that you never run out of options! At any rate, this is one of the most visited parts of the park. We took the drive and then did a short hike from there. This is the alpine view from the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center.

Another view from the visitor center.

We did a short trail to Sunrise Point on the High Ridge Trail.

But first we had to cross over the ice field of doom. Sam got pegged by a snowball from a young girl.

There were many wildflowers out in bloom, including these avalanche lilies.

I love lupines!

Sam named this deer Fluffy. We saw many black-tailed deer out there at Hurricane Ridge! We never did see any elk. Sam reallllly wanted to go fishing or crabbing and we got some information from the folks at the visitor center, but we didn't really plan for that so didn't have a fishing pole or crabbing gear, and licenses for even a day are pretty pricey. So I told him he'd have to just come back another time!

Sol Duc

On Sunday morning, we ate breakfast at The Haven, a little dive recommended by a friend of mine. Then we headed over to the Sol Duc area for a hike to Sol Duc Falls. But first, we stopped at the Salmon Cascades demonstration because I stopped there last time with Terri and it was pretty cool! Apparently at certain times of year you can see salmon jumping here pretty easily. I didn't see any though.

The"hugging trees"!

So we arrived at the trailhead to the Sol Duc falls, and I forced Sam to change from flip flops into his tennis shoes. It was only 0.8 miles each way, but I didn't know the trail conditions. We saw this nurse log on the trail. A nurse log is one that dies and many other plants or trees start to grow out of it. Sam himself noticed it! And I took a picture.

A little stream on the trail to the falls. This one was taken by my phone! Not bad for a phone pic. 

Coastal temperate rainforest. Isn't it gorgeous?!

Another view of the falls. I just love the mossy rocks in this park!

Another view of the falls.

The Sol Duc Falls

There's a bridge that you cross to get to the area where I took the above photos. 

Sam played on the rocks for a while and I just sat and enjoyed the scenery and the sounds (When I wasn't trying to sneak a photo of him! He's quick!)

The Sol Duc river flowing through the canyon.

Elwha River/Humes Ranch Trail

In the afternoon, we went on another hike with a friend. This time we went to Humes Ranch loop trail. This is a shot of the clouds across the canyon on part of the trail. Pretty cool! Reminded me of an image I shot of the Amazon rainforest in Peru. We walked along and then took a detour that was really steep and went down to the riverbed. It was then that I realized Sam had changed *out* of his tennis shoes and back into his flip flops. Sigh. And this was when he really needed some sort of hiking shoe! Boys!

A view of the Elwha River through trees. This is upstream of where the Glines Canyon dam is (or was - it is partially removed at this point) The Glines canyon dam is the upper dam and is the one still actively being removed, whereas the Elwha dam is already totally gone. See my last blog post from a month ago - Elwha dam removal - for photos of the two dam sites!

Another shot of the Elwha River

A giant pock-marked rock on the Elwha River, a slightly different spot than above. We walked along the stream for a while and then took a different trail back up. It was a good thing because it wasn't near as steep!

Another view of the rocky riverbed.

Another shot of the Elwha River

And double bonus: We got to see the Goblin's Gate! This is one of the narrowest parts of the Elwha. 

"Inside" the Goblin's Gate. I climbed down to get closer, and the boys followed. 

We saw a ruffed grouse on the trail too. Sam was excited to see some wildlife. I was a bit disappointed we didn't see more, myself, because I love wildlife! We did see a couple chipmunks and Douglas squirrels.

And finally, the Hume's Ranch cabin! At the end of the hike, Sam was parched. Not only had he worn flip flops, we hadn't brought any water... oops. It was a pretty good hike too. We got back and drank some water, and then had a nice dinner!

Elwha River Mouth

Monday morning, before we headed back to my dad's, we visited the mouth of the Elwha River, where you can see the muddy plume caused by sediment coming down the river and out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We accessed this from the Lower Elwha Tribe Reservation.

This is an estuary just inland of the river mouth which is very important to young fish. It is also the part that is mostly or partly blocked by sediment from the dam removal, as I mentioned in my Nature piece. 

The beach on the Lower Elwha Tribe's reservation near the mouth of the Elwha River, looking back towards the mountains. Breathtaking!

Driftwood has accumulated here that has come downstream since the dams have been removed.

Another shot of the driftwood released after the dams came out washed downstream.

Rocks on the beach.

A shot of the muddy plume. The other water is much more blue.

A surfer walks along the beach near the Elwha River mouth. I LOVE this image! It was an opportunistic moment. It looks really cool in a larger size. Click on it!

Another view of the surfer at the mouth of the Elwha.

Talk to the Hand!

And just for fun, a series of images of my darling son and his hand! He so loves having his photo taken! :) I thought it was funny looking through all my pics and seeing "the hand"!

The first night we stayed at the Quality Inn in town, and the next night, we stayed as guests at the Inn at Rooster Hill B&B. We stayed in the Lauren Room and it was great! This was my bed. It had a kitchenette in a separate area, plus ....

These totally cool cubbies! Sam slept in here. There was another one on the other side that was like Alice in Wonderland with a bigger but small door and then a smaller one inside, and then a little tiny room in there. Great for kids. It's great because it's just a mile from the central part of town but it's on 2 and a half acres so it feels like it's in the middle of nowhere. The best of both worlds!