We love new gear.

The very wise marketing team at Wild Country (UK) wereconcerned about me climbing on French made gear. Not safety, style.They are so style conscious, the Brits.So they chose this stunning outfit for me.The Wild Country Ultralite Elite harness.And they racked it up, left and right, with their latest and totally techno-fabulousHelium quickdraws.



Climbers, you know I'm not that fussy about harnesses and quickdraws, I've used a lot of junk in my time and I never blame my gear,but when I took this lotfor a burl today I felt like I was using the best.Good gear matters.

















The Helium Quickdraws areabsolutely superb. They are lighter than anything I've used before.The dogbones are fat, the way I like them, andthe wire gate secures in an ingenious recessed fashion, no doubt made possible by tricky new manufacturing techniques.And how good do they look?



The first matching set of quickdraws I ever bought were Wild Country, and I fondled them all the way home in the car from Brisbane.

I don't know what a quickdraw will look like in 10 years, but for now this is as good as it gets.Thanks Wild Country, thanks Steve Foster.

Gushing, I know.But don't tell me you guyshaven't slept with your new gear beside your bed.





Good night.

jj

Wow! I've been nominated...

Thank you so much to everyone who nominated Kinexxions for the Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy Blogs (in the Personal/Family Category)! And congratulations go out to all of the other nominees.

The editorial staff of Family Tree Magazine will be selecting 40 blogs in the various categories for an article scheduled to be published in the May .. issue. Blogs were nominated by readers last month and the voting is now open (and will continue to November 5th) to determine the final 80 blogs that will make the cut.

Blogs were grouped into 10 different categories based on the purpose or intent of the blog: All-around, Personal/Family, Local/Regional, Cemetery, Photos/Heirlooms, Heritage, News/Resources, How-to, Genealogy Companies, and Genetic Genealogy. The Genealogy Insider has more information about the categories.


Caution, shameless plug coming. . . I realize that Kinexxions has been a bit preoccupied with some traveling and hasn't posted much content recently that is related to family history but if you'd care to vote for me I'm near the bottom of the list (hopefully that doesn't really mean anything ;-) in the Personal/Family category. And, hey, you can even vote more than once if you'd like to!

Update October 6th:
I've been informed by Bill West (thanks Bill!) that the list of blogs in each category changes each time you view the poll, so you'll just have to look for the blogs for which you want to vote. Also, the illustrious footnoteMaven (who has been nominated in two categories!) has created a list of links to each of the nominated blogs, which is quite helpful in reviewing the nominees prior to voting.

A taste of Dutch countryside and Dutch pancakes at Theehuis Rhijnauwen

Dutchman and I brought Dr. Balin to our favourite pancake house, the Theehuis Rhijnauwen in Utrecht for Sunday brunch. Pancakes are typically Dutch and is an all-time popular favourite by Dutch families, especially during weekends.



Because I wanted Dr. Balin to see a little bit of the Dutch countryside, I decided to park the car in Ameliswaard, 2 kilometres away from the pancake house which is located in a small forest. I discovered this area a few years ago when Dutchman and I did a nature walk in Ameliswaard, afterwhich we continued our walk to the pancake house in Rhijnauwen for early dinner.







Dr. Balin walking along the Kromme Rhijn (Rhine) River.





This is the port at the Rhijnauwen Castle (not in picture) which is now a hostel.



It’s a lovely place with a scenic river, the Kromme Rhijn River—a tributary river of the Rhine River that flows to Germany and the Swiss Alps. Rhijnauwen=Rhijn (Kromme Rhijn River). The place also exudes the typical Dutch countryside feel, with farm houses, cows and sheep on the fields.



It was already very busy when we arrived at the pancake house. The restaurant was brewing with activity. We wanted to sit outside by the river but all tables were already taken.









Waiting (impatiently) for our brunch to arrive: pancakes!



Our brunch finally arrived!







Here’s our pancakes: Dutchman's pancake on the right had bacon with raisins. My pancake in the middle had bacon with apple and cheese. Dr. Balin's pancake on the left had ham, mushrooms and cheese.



To go with the pancakes are the typical Dutch supplements of sugar syrup and poedersuiker (fine powdered sugar).









Although the pancakes were thin, they were massive, we couldn’t finish them all, but thankfully Dutchman came in very handy!



Dutchman and I were here at Theehuis Rhijnauwen last May with the Dutch family. Incidentally the Dutch brother-in-law knows the owner who came to our table that day and gave us a free round of drinks.



Going back to the parking, we took the other path across the river and came upon this Dutch farm house. They sell fresh farmer's milk here.







And we passed by some big Dutch cows having an afternoon chill out spree on the grass fields:









A second cow came forward. Think this cow got jealous and needed some attention from Dr. Balin as well =)



Visit Period: September

Destination: Rhijnauwen (Bunnik - Utrecht), The Netherlands

White Yucca

Against a blue New Mexico sky I got this picture of white yucca blossoms from the large yucca above.

Cycling the Parliament

Our ride around Vienna this weekend yielded such a rich harvest of photos, that I've decided to split it into several posts. Hope you enjoy!

What you see here is the Austrian Parliament building. The entrance is up on a big winding hill, and we decided that what better way to test the Retrovelo's gearing and brakes than to cycle up and down it.

After briefly considering whether this was "allowed", we decided that such a trifling thing hardly mattered, and went for it. Anna went for it, that is - while I photographed her.

I mean, that hill looks like it was made for cycling, doesn't it?

Upon making it back down, Anna reported that the brakes on the Retrovelo worked just fine, which was a much-needed piece of information for the remainder of our trip. Going uphill was a bit of a challenge, but she did that with flying colours as well.

This heroic feat did not go unnoticed: We were immediately surrounded by a group of Chinese tourists, who were interested in the Retrovelo (for the record, I was riding a Specialized Globe, but they were not nearly as taken by it).

It was not clear what exactly about the bike appealed to the tourists: More than anything, they seemed to be interested in the headlight, but we could not understand each other as they spoke neither German nor English. We posed graciously for many, many photos, and finally parted ways.

Such was the beginning of our adventure. Stay tuned for more. And for the record - cycling with Anna is great fun. Visit her on Cycling Is Good For You!

Bugged

A Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica). Bad news. Alien invader, rose-chomper, crabapple defoliator. Off with them to a bucket of soapy water. Die, die, die!


Not a Japanese beetle: an Emerald Flower Beetle or Emerald Flower Scarab (Trichiotinus lunulatus).


Yo, bug party at the Queen Anne's Lace. (Be there or quadratus estó?)


A big thanks to Thingfish23 for the Emerald Flower Scarab ID!

No, I never took Latin, feel free to correct me.

Pashley and a Burning Bush

The Co-Habitant's Pashley Roadster Sovereign has not made an appearance here in some time, but today he demanded to be featured by posing handsomely next to this beautiful "burning bush." The Co-Habitant loves this bicycle. He has been commuting to work on it since May, and says that it only gets more comfortable with time and that he is even happier with it now than on the day he got it. That is a pretty glowing review! Lately, he even seems to prefer the Pashley for longer rides, like the 25 mile trip we made today.

He is also extremely pleased with the B33 saddle, which is super-sprung to support the weight of a large man in an upright sitting position (the Co-Habitant is around 6ft and 200lb).

Tall, dark, handsome and brooding. Perfect.

You can't really tell in this photo, but the bicycle is enormous for someone with my body-frame. The saddle reaches past my waist, the handlebars to my armpits, and I can't clear the top tube. Still, I like to pose with it and pretend that I can ride it. It is a beautiful bicycle and a great partner to my Eustacia.

Got slides you wanta digitize?

If you've been following my blog recently then you are aware that I've been on a digitizing spree. It started in April with scanning a few photos for my mother's 80th birthday and evolved into a project to scan our family's picture albums. That's almost done, just waiting for my niece to get her part of the project completed ;-)

The next phase was started this past week with the purchase of a ScanSnap S300 scanner for digitizing my genealogy documents and correspondence. I really can't say enough about that little scanner. It is amazingly quick with very good quality. I heartily recommend it!

All the while I've been wondering how to digitize my slide collection. I've researched scanning services found online but the cost per slide (anywhere from $.35 to $.65 cents EACH) was prohibitive. Too much money. I tested the slide scanning capability of my flatbed scanner. The results were good but it took several minutes to scan each slide. Too much time. I investigated purchasing a scanner made specifically for digitizing slides. But after reading reviews and blog posts about the process have decided against that method. Too much time and too much money.

The other day a friend and I were discussing our scanning projects. She had purchased a slide scanner but gave up after scanning only a few as it took too much time. Then she mentioned that someone had told her about a place where you could get slides digitized at a very reasonable price. That place? Wal-Mart. Yeah, right. So I stopped by my local Wal-Mart store and found out that they do indeed scan slides to CD. (I don't know if every Wal-Mart has this capability though, you'll have to ask.) Their price? $2.50 for 40 slides. That's only 6.25 CENTS for each slide! To say that I was skeptical would be putting it mildly.

On Thursday, after selecting 80 slides of varying quality and subject matter, I dropped them off for processing. Yesterday I picked up the slides and their accompanying CD. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality. They are NOT high resolution archival images but they will give you a decent 4x6 printed image. And they look good on the computer screen. And, I think for my purposes they will do just fine. Very few of my slides were ever printed. I'm not interested in making large prints or prints of any size for that matter, I just want to be able to view the pictures again and enjoy re-visiting the places I've been.

The old adage "you get what you pay for" definitely applies here. You won't get archival quality images for 6 cents but you will get acceptable images for viewing on-screen. So, as I'm scanning my genealogy documents I'll also be spending some time sorting through my slides selecting those to be digitized. This may not be acceptable to you but I thought I'd present it as an alternative to the higher priced digitizing services. Try it with a selection of 40 slides and see what you think. At worst, you'll only waste $2.50 to find out if it is worthwhile for you.

Yellowstone National Park, July 1979
Copyright © 1979/.. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman

Overview and map of Alsace Wine Route Villages

Last month (April ) I did a road trip to the Alsace Wine Region in France. The area is famous for Riesling and Gewurtzraminer (white) wines. What can I say, I fell in love with the place! The whole region is so pretty, amazing, gastronomic and intoxicating! Haha! As the popular slogan goes — drink moderately, if you are in the area =)



Alsace Wine Route Map



For starters I have here below 2 maps of the Alsace Wine Route and Villages.









As you can see on the right map, there are many villages that fall along the 170-kilometre wine route and all these villages are pretty and welcoming in their own right. Some are bigger while the others are smaller. Because I do not have a week to leisurely explore these lovely places, obviously I have to make a choice, which proved to be quite difficult at first because I wanted to visit them all. On the left map shows a condensed map highlighting the popular villages.



Ideally, visitors to this region need a minimum of 2-3 days to see the highlights at a travelable not rushing pace. This is of course excluding the big cities such as Mulhouse and Strasbourg, the latter you need to spend at least a day or two. Based from my recent experience, I suggest a maximum of 3 villages in a day — first village in the morning where you have coffee, second village during midday where you spend your lunch at, and the third village in the afternoon for tea and to close the day. The villages are very near each other, about 10-15 minutes away. To calculate actual distances, go to googlemaps.



For Colmar, since this is a bigger town, I suggest to spend a day or a lunch until the afternoon here or during summer into the evening when the terraces are open late.











The actual Road Trip



So these are the wine villages (and cities) I visited during my road trip:



Ribeauville

Riquewihr

Kaysersberg

Eguisheim

Turckheim

St. Hippolyte (and Haut Konigsburg)

Colmar (where I stayed)

Strasbourg (where I did a pit stop going back – lunch, this city needs a revisit from moi in the near future)



Colmar I believe was the best place to base this trip because the city literally is nestled in the heart of the wine growing area giving it easy access to the villages up north as well as down south. The city is even christened as the capital of Alsatian wine. Well, I can tell you this, Colmar is the gateway to the Alsace wine country.



I chose these villages based on the reviews and pictures I saw online while researching the trip. And I strongly believed as well that I have indeed chosen the prettiest and best wine villages.



Stay tuned! I will be posting my stories and pictures soon.

Jack Roberts, climber, 1952-

Jack Roberts 1952-



Jack was a friend. In the end a lot of things go through my mind about Jack. Too many stories to remember and tell. I was always impressed with Jack's climbs. How could you not be!? Jack wasn't perfect buthe almost always hada smile to share and he neveruttered a bad word about anyone. Both things I find hard to emulate. Those are also the things I find most importanttoremember about Jack Roberts.



Jack could tellhis own story best I think.



"Life Training"

Thursday, May 12,



By Jack Roberts



Here I am again running up the Mesa Trail in the early morning light with my dog Pisco, training for another South American climbing trip.





Pisco, with a smile on his face as well. Here is why:

http://blog.ospreypacks.com/?tag=jack-roberts-climbing-adventures

I’ve been watching my pulse, feeling my breath, counting the calories, the carbs and especially the fat content of all that I eat. I’m lifting weights on odd numbered days and climbing on all the others. That’s when I’m not guiding for a living as well. I’m trying to do the right things that make me stronger and more successful in the mountains - whatever that means. The training always changes. Sometimes I need to run more for endurance so I can fly like the wind on long, alpine routes. For other climbing trips I need to climb indoors and lift weights so I develop explosive strength for those steep, long free climbs that are always on my hit list. But one thing I do notice is that I am always training for something. What? And more importantly, why?



Mainly I’ve found that training for climbing helps keep my life simple. And in this day and age with instant meals, instant travel, instant information and instant gratification, life gets complicated. It’s not easy living a simple, uncluttered life. It takes work. Effort. Just like running, or climbing, or lifting weights. For me it’s important to not own a TV and to read a lot of books and to write. It’s important to cook my own meals and have friends to share those meals and wine with. It’s important to go outdoors often and return after a day out hungry, dirty, tired and sore. That always puts a smile of my face and makes me feel alive. It’s the simple pleasures that give meaning to my life.



Climbing for over 40 years has instilled values in me that go deep. The lifestyle that has evolved around climbing has now become more important than the actual physical sensation of moving on stone or ice. More important than reaching summits is living an examined life, making every action count.



Climbing has trained me well for life separate from the cliffs and mountains I play on. Climbing has taught me how to overcome fear, hesitation, self-doubt, sickness, hunger, fatigue and more. It has shown me the necessity of being alone occasionally, that being afraid is normal and that being in wild places where no one has gone before is a good thing. Climbing has taught me how to leave security behind in order to lead a more fulfilling life. It has taught me to conserve energy, and save money, time and resources. This lifestyle has given me everything. Whatever I can’t carry on my back has to be left behind, not only in alpine climbing but also in life.



This is what I m really training for as I run the trails or solo the Third Flatiron. A better life. It isn’t the physicality of the body that I am training for so much as it is to sharpen and hone the mind’s ability to let go of all the stuff in life that doesn’t matter. It is a constant reminder to keep my life uncluttered, simple and pure."





Name: Jack Roberts

born: May 29, 1952

Height: 5’ 10”

Weight: 170lbs



Best Rock Band: Rolling Stones



Favorite pastime: climbing



Married or single: married



Jack and Pam



Kids: no way! (Jack would have been great with kids as his students and clientsall knew)



Claim to fame: Wearing a Victoria’s Secret dress in a La Sportiva ad (seriously, he did that)







Favorite motto: “You might not find what you want but you might just get what you need”.



Favorite curse word: Piss Off!



Biggest turn-off: Lazy, fat people (I often wondered why we ever got along)



Favorite climbing area: Tuolumne Meadows Why?: Perfect rock, perfect climbs, perfect weather.



How long have you been climbing?: 37 years



Favorite beer: Guinness



Current job: Professional climber/author/guide





Jack guiding in Cham

Nominee for Coolest Song Ever: Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On”?



Number of US States visited: 38



Most famous person you’ve ever met: Ricardo Cassin



Place of birth: Los Angeles, California



Best movie ever: Apocalypse Now



Who’s #1 on your speed-dial? Tra-Ling’s Asian Café.



Favorite fruit: Banana



Most memorable outdoor accomplishment: Having established 1st ascent SW Face Denali



Something nobody knows about you: I secretly listen to Neil Diamond songs, WAIT, no I don’t!



Dog or cat person?: Dog of course…….Golden Retrievers ROCK!



Most inspiring person in history: Mahatma Gandhi



Most recently-finished book: “Marley and Me”, by John Grogan



Other Sponsors: La Sportiva, Bluewater, Mammut, Osprey, Bibler, GU, Sports Street Marketing



More questions for Jack Roberts:

blog: http://www.jackrobertsclimbing.com



Do you clip bolts, plug cams, stack pads, or crush ice?



Yes, I dominate all forms of rock and ice!!





Jack doing what he hasdone from the beginningand making it look easy.

How long have you been an athlete with La Sportiva?



Approximately 16 years...



What are some of your lifetime climbing goals?



To continue to climb to my maximum potential in rock, ice and alpine climbs. To establish alpine FAs until I drop.



Do you have a claim to fame?



The reputation of the shape and condition of my toes and feet have made me infamous. Even Reinhold Messner wanted to see them! Also, I'm the only male Sportiva athlete to appear in a dress in any ad.



Do you have any vices?



Yes, but too many to list here........





One of thereal pleasures in life...coffee in Cham with Jack

What makes you tick as a climber and in the real world?



Climbing stops the voices in my head from gaining control. If I stopped climbing I'd become dangerous.



What drives you to climb? The money? The groupies? The fame? What?





Alaska in '78http://www.alpinist.com/tcl/email/jr/038.pdf

Definitely the fame. Groupies are over-rated. Money is....what was the question again? Seriously, the freedom of moving in the mountains either solo or with good friends feeds my psyche and makes me feel alive.



What is your favorite movie?



Apocalypse Now.



Do you have any nicknames? Explain:



Many old friends call me JACQUES rather than Jack. These friends felt that I had more style than the name "Jack" . implies.. The nickname stuck.



What’s the longest you’ve gone without sleep? Why?



Four days. On a new route on Denali. Altitude and stress kept both my partner and I awake. We spent that time in a Bibler tent waiting out a big storm.



If you had to be named after one of the 50 states, which would it be?



Alaska. Because I've spent over 20 seasons climbing up there and know those mountains to be the most beautiful.



What did you have for lunch yesterday?



Sushi. A Rainbow roll along with some salmon and tuna sashimi.



If you could hook up a thought monitor to your head, would you see pictures, hear words or would music be playing?



A visual of someone climbing vertical ice to the Rolling Stones song......Fancy Man's Blues....the lyrics appear in a bubble above the climber's head.



What really scares you about climbing?



It's very easy to mistake the sensation of feeling omnipresence for omnipotence and get severely hurt trying to understand the difference.



If your life was made into a movie, what would it be called?



The Unsolved Mystery of Alpine Jacques......in 3D version.



Where would you live if it could be anywhere in the world?



Mexico. Food is tasty, Tequila is the world's best alcohol, Surfing is the perfect compliment to climbing and the beach life down there doesn't get much better...



Have no food or have no gasoline?



Got beer and two sticks to rub together for my fire...... Why ask for more?



Do you wish you had sexier feet?



No one has sexier feet than I have. Didn't we have this discussion earlier?





Jack's feet, while working in the spring of before surgery.

More about Jack here:



http://c498469.r69.cf2.rackcdn.com/1997/80_roberts_arctic_aaj1997.pdf#search=%22jack%20roberts%22



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//02/you-dont-know-jack.html



http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/basecamp_blog/jack_roberts_a_tribute/



God's speed my friend. I wish I could do more.



Canadian ice in

"Yesterday, January 15, Jack Roberts was climbing Bridalveil Falls, an almost 400-foot-high (150-meters) Grade 5 ice route up one of Colorado's biggest waterfalls. Jack, in his guidebook Colorado Ice, which details most of the state's ice climbs, calls Bridalveil Falls, "A climb of legendary stature and beauty" and "A Colorado and indeed an American classic."



Jack was leading the second pitch, a long steep pitch up a pillar on the right side of the falls, when he fell 60 feet about 12:20 p.m. His belayer was able to signal hikers below, who summoned the San Miguel County Search and Rescue group. While waiting for rescue, Jack suffered a cardiac arrest and died. The 18 rescuers were able to evacuate Jack, who had a broken hip, off the falls but their CPR efforts were unable to resuscitate him."







Photographs and quoted content are courtesy of Jack and a number of known and unknown Internet sources not credited directly. I hope no one minds.