bkdunn

National Parks List -- Mostly Visited

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:43:36 GMT

Posted this list originally here. Now updating!

I no longer think that I necessarily need to see every single US National Park before I die. The hamburger list has left me a changed man. OTOH, I'm pretty interested in going to Samoa now, so, you know. Things change. Alpha by park and I bolded the ones I visited while on the recent cross-country road trip:

Acadia: visited on road trip.

American Samoa National Park: not visited.

Arches: visited! A few times, back in Utah days. Very pretty. I like Canyonlands better, though. There can be only one.

Badlands: not visited.

Big Bend: visited on road trip.

Biscayne: not visited.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison: not visited.

Bryce Canyon:visited! Very photogenic and pretty small for a western-US park.

Canyonlands:visited! Way prettier than I expected and seemingly less crowded than the other Southern Utah parks.

Capital Capitol Reef: visited on road trip.

Carlsbad Caverns: visited on road trip.

Channel Islands: not visited.

Congaree: visited on road trip.

Crater Lake: visited on road trip.

Cuyahoga: I sort of drove through it. Half credit?

Death Valley: visited! Wentlast November andtook photos. I didn't think it was so amazing when I was there, but some of those pictures make it look dang pretty.

Denali: not visited.

Dry Tortugas: not visited.

Everglades: not visited.

Gates of the Arctic: not visited.

Glacier: visited on road trip.

Glacier Bay: not visited.

Grand Canyon: visited! And I've always meant to go back to hike and see what there is to see on the northern rim. Some day, some day. For that matter, some day I'm going to buy a scanner and scan all my conventional photos from pre-digital days. Just not today.

Grand Teton: visited!Another one I should probably go back to in order to actually explore. The family reunion we had there didn't involve much of the park. (Visited again on the road trip, fwiw.)

Great Basin: not visited.

Great Sand Dunes: not visited. (Seriously? "Great" Sand Dunes...? I should probably visit just to confirm/refute my skepticism.)

Great Smoky Mountains: visited on road trip.

Guadalupe Mountains: visited on road trip.

Haleakala: not visited. Next Hawaii trip though. Maybe.

Hawaii Volcanoes: not visited. February! (Hopefully.)

Hot Springs: drove through it on road trip and, since that's about all there is to do there other than getting naked and bathing, I'm counting it. I ate lunch there.

Isle Royale: not visited.

Joshua Tree: visited! Was interesting enough the first time, but the second time, well -- I kind of figure that my second trip to Mars will also reveal the destination to be a desolate, ultimately uninteresting landscape.

Katmai: not visited.

Kenai Fjords: not visited.

Kings Canyon:visited! (So theyare separate parks!)

Kobuk Valley: not visited.

Lake Clark: not visited. Is there any part of Alaska that'snot a national park? And I sort of get the sense that they have all these parks because there was no one who wanted to live there anyway.

Lassen Volcanic: visited on road trip.

Mammoth Cave: visited on road trip.

Mesa Verde: visited! I remember being hot and very, very sleepy -- but a fun trip with Fresh Goat and ErinJ and at least one of the goatlings. I think JA was on that trip too.

Mt. Rainier: visited!Many times, but most recently evidencedhere. Also visited on road trip.

North Cascades: visited!

Olympic: visited! Some day I want to go when it isn't fogged over, though. And I should probably go to the beach and rain forest side of it one of these days. Re-visited on road trip.

Petrified Forest: not visited.

Redwood: not visited. Probably this weekend though.

Rocky Mountain: not visited.

Saguaro: not visited. I don't think -- althoughthis photo was taken really, really close to the park entrance.

Sequoia: visited! Big trees.Big trees.

Shenandoah: visited on road trip.

Theodore Roosevelt: visited on road trip.

Virgin Islands: not visited.

Voyageurs: not visited.

Wind Cave: visited on road trip (again, just drove through it, but I saw caves in the area, looked at *more* bison in the park -- I'm counting it).

Wrangell-St. Elias: not visited.

Yellowstone: visited!I was a kid, though, so mostly I remember the smell of sulfur and a geyser. Visited again on road trip.

Yosemite: visited on road trip.

Zion: visited! And theVirgin River Narrows was the best hike ever.

Okay, so: barely mostly (31 1/2 of 58). Still technically correct.

bkd

PhD Programs -- Near-Final List

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:01:14 GMT

In case anyone still checks this blog and cares, this is where I'm probably applying to (alphabetical):

Michigan

Oklahoma

Pittsburgh

Purdue

UC-Irvine

Utah

I might still do Maryland and Washington also -- there are some factors to consider still with those two.

Adios.

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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BTW, I'm Not Posting Here Much During the Trip

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 06:35:21 GMT

But I'm posting a lot over at the other blog: 48stateroadtrip.com. Check me out there or on Facebook, I guess, where I brilliantly re-direct people back to the blog.

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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Turns Out I'm Not Any Stupider Than I Was 14 Years Ago

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:55:13 GMT

At least, not according to the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Although, to analyze my own assertion, I should note the following unsupported assumptions:

The GMAT in 2009 does not necessarily test in the same manner as it did in 1995.

The scores may be scaled differently today.

The test may not be a good measure of intelligence as such.

It may be that in 2009 I compensated for having become stupider by preparing better for the examination.

But whatever: I did well enough on it that I don't have to do it again and I beat my old score (barely).

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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Things I Will Not Miss About My Computer at Work

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:23:10 GMT

Mostly Windows- and Outlook-related. XP even, not Vista.

"Restore active desktop" button appearing on my desktop, behind my icons, for no clear reason.

Recurrent "valkyrie.dll" issues.

Normal.dot preventing me from shutting down.

20 minutes from turning the computer on until being able to do something with it.

Daily emails telling me my "mailbox is full" (not exactly helping the problem, are they?).

Receiving auto-generated emails telling me I should go look at the emails in my spam mailbox (?!).

Not being able to reserve rooms for recurring meetings due to one over lap during the next millennium.

"The data file 'Mailbox - Dunn, Brian' was not closed properly" and then waiting 5-10 minutes for Outlook to decide what to do about it.

Launching an application, getting bored waiting for it, switching to a second application, getting in the middle of doing something (an Excel formula), and then having the first application take over again after deciding it wants to run after all.

My (local) printer not working after un-docking "too many" times.

Spotty wireless connectivity inside the building.

Frequent hanging.

Outlook taking 60 seconds to display the text of an email because (?) there's a large file attached to it.

The mailbox full dialog box offering to help delete emails in ways that don't actually help. And then continuing to pop up after you've taken care of the issue.

Having to attempt to launch Internet Explorer two or three times before it actually launches.

Pulling an email back from the archive and having Outlook ask me whether I want to have the email retrieved "now" or "later".

Having Excel warn me Every Time I tried to open an Excel 07 document in Excel 03. Such clever marketers in Redmond!

Attempting to close excel, answering the "do you want to save?" question for three of the four spreadsheets I had opened, then realizing that I needed to keep the fourth one open, clicking cancel, and having the first three spreadsheets reappear as open.

Having emails sent from gmail addresses intermittently labeled "spam".

The "safeboot" security thing that increases boot time by five minutes for the sake of keeping someone from stealing the information on my laptop during all the travel I did in the last year.

Emails disappearing into the either after six months of storage.

Wow -- I'm getting mad just having to recall this stuff. Time heals all wounds. Time heals all wounds...

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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The Grapes of Wrath: Book Report

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:20:49 GMT

The *truly* impressive thing is that I finished it.

Good:

Steinbeck writes very cleanly.

Probably a useful depiction of a slice of life during the Great Depression (although... well, see below).

Makes me glad I wasn't a destitute farmer in (fictionalized) California during the 30s.

Bad:

I swear there were blocking problems everywhere in this book. Was never sure who was in the scene or where in the scene they were -- and this often mattered.

Probably about twice as long as it should have been.

It lacks event -- essentially, this is a 400-page vignette. Very little in the way of plot or tension.

There are certainly character arcs (Ma has the strongest, Casy obviously, Tom sure, Al sort of, Pa sort of, John should have but didn't), but they're just arcs. There are no epiphanies. Ma probably transcended herself, but she wasn't the focus of the novel for the most part. No one else seemed inclined toward overcoming anything. And Ma's development felt pretty arbitrary.

While it might be a useful depiction of real life during the Depression, Steinbeck hammers his themes home with such ferocity that I'm inclined to worry that what was depicted may have been skewed to fit his needs.

Man, but the PoV wandered. Wonder if that woman who taught that extension class at UCI knows about this...

The interstitial chapters, the ones that talked in generalities but then didn't, felt cloying, like they were trying too hard to be something.

The climax was teased hard and obviously from Page One on, but no part of it started resolving until 80% of the way through. And then it was very, very sudden.

Meh. I liked Of Mice and Men a lot better. For one thing, it was the right length.

Disappointed,

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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PhD Programs: The Final 37!

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 07:07:48 GMT

Spent all day today doing superficial research of Business PhD programs, the result of which is that I'm now still considering only 38 37 of them (I somehow failed to look into UNC-Greensboro the first time around to eliminate it). Final 38 37 hurrah! Yeah. I didn't weed out as many as I originally thought I might. My criteria for passing this cut was to (a) have a "strategic management" (or similar) concentration on offer, (b) be located somewhere that I might want to live (this was a broad net, unlike yesterday's post about places I want to live), and (c) can't have run up the score against BYU in a bowl game.

Here's who's left (in alphabetical order by what people call their football team):

Arizona State

Arkansas

Auburn

Cincinnati

Colorado

Duke

Georgia Tech

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kentucky

Michigan

Michigan State

Minnesota

Missouri

Nebraska

North Carolina

North Texas

Northwestern

Ohio State

Oklahoma State

Old Dominion

Oregon

Penn State

Pitt

Purdue

Texas

Texas Tech

Tulane

UC-Irvine

UNC-Greensboro

UT-Arlington

UT-San Antonio

Utah

Virginia Tech

Washington

Washington State

Washington University (St. Louis)

Ostensibly, then, I'll be attending one of the above from 2010 through 2014 or '15.

Tired of navigating sometimes confusing websites,

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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Where Should I Live After the Trip?

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 02:26:07 GMT

I have no idea where I'm going to be living after the road trip (speaking of which, several updates on the other blog since last time I mentioned it). A couple months to decide, o' course, but figure it'd at least be worthwhile to have some criteria set up:

Rents < $1,000 for a place with a 2-car garage and something like a yard.

Close enough to the mountains that getting a season's pass for skiing makes sense.

Close to good hiking.

Close to a real karting track.

In the vicinity of an adult baseball league I can join.

Close to current friends/family.

Not crushingly urban (e.g., New York).

Not crushingly rural (e.g., Twin Falls).

Not crushingly suburban (e.g., Mission Viejo).

Not crushingly pretentious (e.g., Laguna Beach).

Predominately sunny (not necessarily warm, just sunny).

Smart, reasonably compatible prevailing personality.

Should be non-imaginary.

It might be tough to find a place that meets all those criteria. Here are the places that could be considered front-runners, along with the areas where they may not measure up (listed alphabetically):

Kauai: Not much skiing, karting, or baseball; can't get a place with a garage for under $1,000 (but it's still a cheaper rental market than SoCal); might get really sick of it after three weeks.

Reno: No family and only one friend (whom I haven't talked to for a few years); could be too redneckish; possibly imaginary.

San Diego: Couldn't possibly get a 2BR w/ garage for less than $1K without living somewhere where I'd get shot daily (although it's really not much more expensive than Seattle-Tacoma); no skiing and karting is tricky; not as sunny as non-Cals think; could be pretentious or trashy, depending on the neighborhood.

Seattle-Tacoma Area: Not very sunny; don't really have any friends that live there (that I've talked to in the last 20 years at least); would have to get deep into the sticks in order to find a 2BR place with a garage under $1,000/month.

Tahoe: No friends or family; could be too pretentious or too rural -- really; not close to karting or baseball; no idea on personalities.

Some Random Place: I got at least a couple months to figure it out.

Or if some municipality wanted to pay me cash considerations in exchange for positive blog mentions, I'd be up for that probably.

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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My Current Simulated Entertainment Bender

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:24:32 GMT

Over the past 10 days I've gotten hooked on two different multi-player Internet simulation games:

AirwaySim -- It's an airline simulator. I have two airlines going. Just recently, SwampAir became the airline transporting the most passengers through its home base of Orlando and now has a daily nonstop to Manchester, UK. Dog Food Airlines, on the other hand, transports half of all traffic going in and out of Cincinnati/CVG and recently made its first acquisition of an aircraft (everything previous was leased). I have dreamed of this game since I was six. The only thing that would make it better would be if it came with one of those departure boards like they have in all the European airports, the ones that make the clattering noise as the board updates by flipping through all the letters of the alphabet for each space in the city name column. But otherwise, a dream come true.

BATracer -- It's a car racing simulator. I haven't dreamed of it since I was six, but so far it's kind of fun, especially as it coincides with my recent interest in auto racing. I have a couple of cars running: a BMW-Sauber in a 2009 Formula One recreation and a Force Warthog Peugeot in a British Touring Car Championship series. I qualified last in the first F1 race and 13th of 16 in the BTCC. Nowhere to go but up.

Toward a more-simulated future,

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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This Week in Security Theater

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:11:23 GMT

Saw this sign at the Long Beach airport on my way up to Seattle over the weekend:

First off, I'm glad that the TSA is finally getting around to their most important assignment: self-preservation through public relations. Otherwise known as scaring people into thinking that they're still relevant.

I love these accomplishments, though. System wide, an entire week of travel, and *these* are the Great Results that the TSA has wrought. They found TWO "artfully concealed" prohibited items? I'm guessing someone figured out how to turn a laptop into a water bottle. Arrests for "suspicious behavior"? I'm guessing bloggin about how stupid the TSA is would be considered "suspicious" by the TSA, no? 32 incidents that involved a checkpoint closure -- and they're trying to make out like that's a good thing.

Seriously. Hire a new PR agency, one that's willing to go the full monty and give you something worth reporting on by trying to smuggle timed explosives through. None of the things on the list above necessarily had anything to do with a terrorist activity. It's very possible to have a gun in your possession without trying to take over an airplane (I'm not necessarily advocating allowing people to bring guns on planes, but if someone were to get away with it -- that's not in itself dangerous.)

How about putting another line item on there for productivity minutes lost nationwide as a result of the "enhanced screening process"? Maybe that's what they were getting at with the closure count.

Remember that Simpsons episode with the bear patrol? Lisa tells Homer that the rock she has in her hand is keeping bears away because, well, she's holding it and neither of them see any bears around.

Homer buys the rock.

bkd

Welcome to Your New Prison, Americans!

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:16:18 GMT

In case you somehow missed the news, as of today you're no longer allowed to leave the United States without a passport. Previously, other countries might have required a passport in order to enter them, but as of now (well, this morning), your government decides whether you're allowed to leave its jurisdiction.

More here.

Y'know, the Soviet Union started with good intentions. For that matter, so did the German Democratic Republic. I mean, sure, their politicians wanted all the power for themselves, but so long as they kept their populace safe, secure, and somewhat fed, who could mind?

Please wake up.

bkd

Things I Have to Do Before the Trip

Fri, 29 May 2009 00:24:59 GMT

Here 'is:

Get my truck serviced.

Move the rest of my non-trip stuff into storage.

Move my trip stuff out of storage.

Buy a JetBoil.

Make reservations for Boundary Waters and other parts of the trip that need reservations.

Get signed up on health insurance.

Get my interim mailing address squared away.

Study for the GMAT.

Take the GMAT.

Figure out which schools I should be applying to.

Get my transcripts and other academic documents put together.

Secure all my would-be recommendation-writers.

Write drafts of at least a couple of the application essays.

Plan and book the family reunion.

Go to the beach once.

bkd

(Thanks to Miq for the blog post-as-self guilt trip idea!)

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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Book Report: Ghost Soldiers

Mon, 25 May 2009 06:39:24 GMT

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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My GMAT Prep Course with Veritas

Thu, 21 May 2009 19:39:26 GMT

Haven't talked about this much, but I'm getting ready to apply to Business PhD programs for admission in Fall of 2010. To that end, I have to take the GMAT again (turns out schools don't accept 14-year-old scores) and since I figured I was going to have a hard time getting myself to study for it, I enrolled in a course with "Veritas Prep", which sounds like an aptly branded high school for nouveau riche children.

It's not. It's just another test prep company like Kaplan and Princeton Review. I've gone for two weeks now and...

Good:

For the money, they give you a lot of class time (14 sessions vs. 8 or so with the other companies).

The workbooks they use are pretty well written and lend themselves to self-teaching.

On the second night of class one person who was re-taking the class said that last time everything moved too fast for her, to which the instructor responded that it moves as fast as it moves and they expect students to have some reasonable understanding of the subject matter beforehand so deal with it. I'm paraphrasing.

Most of the answer keys are correct.

Bad:

The teachers are more like TAs than professors. Basically, they just read through the manual and answer questions if they come up. I'm guessing this is the Veritas method, but it seems a little half-hearted.

More class sessions means it's kind of a pain having to spend three hours twice a week to attend.

The hotel where the classes are held appears to have no food-vending machines.

The other students in the class -- well, yeah. I guess they're about what I expected. But since most of the students in the class are going to be happy scoring 600 and the instruction is focused mostly on them -- well...

All in all -- it's probably the right thing for me to be doing to prepare for the test. I get next to nothing out of the in-class instruction, but it gives me six relatively quiet hours a week during which I can work through the workbooks and practice problems, which is a lot more time than I'd spend preparing otherwise.

bkd

Planes of Fame Air Show 2009: Old Planes in the 909

Mon, 18 May 2009 07:17:36 GMT

Went to the Planes of Fame Air Show in Chino on Saturday. This was the best photo I got:

[caption id="attachment_413" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="A B-24 Liberator comes in for a low pass while some guys work on an F6F Hellcat that claims to have shot down 29 Japanese planes despite being part of something called the "Commemorative Air Force"."][/caption]

Took 300 photos, most of which were awful. I blame the haze. And the number of people that were there. And my unwillingness to go stand in front of all the people for an unobstructed view. Plus, really, what kind of composition actually works for planes flying alone against a hazy-blue sky? Nosuch.

Air Show was at the Chino Airport, which is also the home to the "Planes of Fame Museum" I visited a while back. Was hot out there -- 90 maybe. Got good and burned on my neck, most importantly.

The show was mostly old planes, mostly from World War II, although there was a brief Korea showcase with an F-86 and a MiG 15 chasing each other around. Also had an A-10 Thunderbolt, which is usually pretty fun to watch (IMHO, slow flying trumps everything at an air show), and a C-17, which isn't necessarily fun to watch. And the tri-tip barbecue sandwich was way better than I expected I'd find at an air show.

Here's a photo of F8F Bearcats flying in formation, in case you care:

[caption id="attachment_414" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Three aerobatic F8F Bearcats fly in formation, shaming one of their less well-heeled bretheren into folding up its wings."][/caption]

So I really didn't rock it on the photography. Many life-lessons were learned, however. And the old planes looked and sounded cool.

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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My Sunday Exotic Car Walk, 5/17 Edition

Mon, 18 May 2009 01:18:30 GMT

My second weekend of living in Laguna Beach. Here's what I saw on my walk into town today (ca. 1.3 mi. each way):

Ferarris: 4 (2 NB PCH, 1 SB PCH, 1 Parked PCH)
Maseratis: 2 (1 NB PCH, 1 SB PCH)
Lamborghinis: 1 (NB PCH)
Bentleys: 1 (EB Bluebird Cyn)

Bonus: 3 Dodge Vipers in a row.

To qualify: No cars with MSRP under $100K in manufacturer's current US-available lineup (thus: no BMW, Lotus, Mercedes, Porsche, et al); mysterious or one-off vehicles that probably retail at over $100K (e.g., Oscar Meyer Wienermobile) may be included at the blog author's discretion.

As if I'm actually going to do this every week (?!).

Observationally,

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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Road Trip Site Updates

Wed, 13 May 2009 14:50:07 GMT

Don't know how long I should keep doing this, but I put up a couple of new posts on 48stateroadtrip.com.

New Road Trip Itinerary (version 9!)

Recurring Trip Themes (version 1)

So maybe check those out. If you want.

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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Scenes from the New Apartment

Wed, 13 May 2009 01:56:49 GMT

They're not really scenes, I guess. Just photos. With a bunch of stuff in them because I haven't really unpacked yet -- still debating whether it makes sense to unpack, for one thing.

The new living room. The place comes furnished, btw. It's nice, eclectic stuff.

The view out the front door.

The boardwalk at Main Beach in Laguna. This photo is about a mile down from where I'm living -- but there's another beach that's just three blocks and across PCH away from me (5 minutes walk).

Chief Idiosyncracies (of the Apartment and Area):

It's really small. Most of my stuff is in storage already, but not enough of it apparently.

No garbage disposal or dishwasher.

The recycling bin is bigger than the main trash can.

Backing out of the driveway is tricky (it slopes down toward the house and it's kind of a blind back-out situation as a result).

Town is crowded on the weekends.

More per capita Ferarris than any other city on Earth.

Everyone warned me about the traffic before moving here. But "everyone" hasn't lived here -- they've just experienced traffic trying to get here on a weekend, which I'm sure was brutal. But when you're starting with your car already in Laguna Beach, it's not quite so awful. Driving to work is 25 minutes now, but not that much traffic on the way and it's pretty free-flowing.

We'll see how it goes.

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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New Website for the Road Trip

Sat, 09 May 2009 15:52:02 GMT

Still not leaving for another (let's count 'em!) 67 days, but I launched a new cross-country road trip website (the URL: www.48stateroadtrip.com) to accommodate its chronicling. There's a new version of the itinerary there, for instance. Actually, that's all that's there. But anyway -- I'll probably post more stuff there, maybe update your bookmarks accordingly.

I also keep having people tell me I need to take up Twitter, at least for the duration of the road trip and now that I figured out how to get it onto my Blackberry (it was very difficult -- involved downloading and installing an app!) I suppose that could happen (my Twitter account is bdunn02 if you'd like to watch that particular apocalypse).

That's all I have to say about that. And now I can start loading the truck up for my new vacation lifestyle in Laguna Beach.

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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No Better Time than June 29, 2009 for Becoming Unemployed

Wed, 06 May 2009 02:16:38 GMT

Or at least that's my current operating theory. It was interesting to see how various people at work reacted to the news. Some surprised, some not so much. Me? Not surprised...

Jadedly,

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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48-State Cross Country Roadtrip Itinerary v. 4 or 7, Depending

Sun, 03 May 2009 03:23:57 GMT

Here's the latest version of the roadtrip. It's still getting tweaked. And full. It's been run out to 114 days, although at least seven of those are more personal than roadtrip.

First, map:

So I've written off South Florida. I think that needs to be a separate trip during the earlier part of the year (e.g., March). Apparently it rains water and/or insects the rest of the year. I also keep getting told that I have to go see Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, so that might have to find its way onto the official map.

And then here's the itinerary. Don't read too much into the dates -- unless you want to. The formatting is a little odd due to OmniOutliner not outputting useful HTML, resulting in this text version being the most reasonable. On the other hand, my pioneer ancestors didn't even have the convenience of digital watches, so -- you know.

48 States
- [ ] 7/16 Th - 7/18 Sa
    - [ ] CA
    - [ ] Hearst Castle
    - [ ] San Simeon
    - [ ] Big Sur
        - [ ] McWay Waterfall Trail (0.6 mi.)
        - [ ] Ewoldsen Trail (4.5 mi.)
    - [ ] Monterey Peninsula
        - [ ] 17-mile Drive
        - [ ] Carmel
        - [ ] Coast Guard Pier
        - [ ] Cannery Row
    - [ ] SF
        - [ ] Burger Joint, Hamburger & Fries (#16)
    - [ ] Point Reyes
    - [ ] Napa
        - [ ] Bistro Don Giovanni, Grilled Bistro Burger (#11)
- [ ] 7/19 Su - 7/21 Tu
    - [ ] CA
    - [ ] Yosemite NP
        - [ ] Half Dome (15.7 mi.?)
        - [ ] Sentinel Dome Loop (5.5 mi.)
    - [ ] == SLEEP: YOSEMITE NP ==
        - [ ] Reservation?
- [ ] 7/22 We
    - [ ] CA-NV
    - [ ] Tahoe
        o [ ] Glen Alpine Trail (California), 11.7 mi.
    - [ ] Reno
    - [ ] Placerville
- [ ] 7/23 Th - 7/25 Sa
    - [ ] CA
    - [ ] Lassen Volcanic NP
        - [ ] Hikes List: gorp.away.comhik_la.htm
              <http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_national_park/ca/hi>
        - [ ] Bumpass Hell Trail (3 mi.)
        - [ ] Kings Creek Falls Trail (3 mi.)
        - [ ] Lassen Peak (5 mi RT)
        - [ ] Paddling?
    - [ ] == SLEEP: LASSEN VOLCANIC NP ==
        - [ ] Reservation?
- [ ] 7/26 Su - 7/27 Mo
    - [ ] CA-OR
    - [ ] Mt. Shasta
    - [ ] Redwood NP?
    - [ ] Crater Lake NP
        - [ ] Garfield Peak Trail (3.4 mi.)
        - [ ] Annie Creek Canyon (1.7 mi.)
- [ ] 7/28 Tu - 7/30 Th
    - [ ] OR
    - [ ] Oregon Coast
        - [ ] Bandon
        - [ ] North Bend
        - [ ] Umpqua Lighthouse
        - [ ] Tillamook Air Museum
        - [ ] Seaside
        - [ ] Astoria
    - [ ] Mt. Hood
    - [ ] Eagle Creek Trail
        - [ ] 12 mi. r/t, 1,200' elevation gain.
        - [ ] East from PDX on 84, take Exit 41.
- [ ] 7/31 Fr - 8/1 Sa
    - [ ] OR-WA
    - [ ] Mt. St. Helens
        - [ ] Harry's Ridge Trail (7.8 mi.)
            - [ ] 1,000' Elevation Gain
            - [ ] Start at Johnston Ridge Visitor Center
                - [ ] End of Hwy 504
                - [ ] 52 mi. east of Castle Rock
        - [ ] Merrill Lake (Paddle, Fish)
        - [ ] Yale Lake (Camp?)
- [ ] 8/2 Su - 8/5 We
    - [ ] WA
    - [ ] Mt. Rainier NP
        - [ ] Crystal Peak (7.8 mi.)
            - [ ] 3,200' Elevation Gain
            - [ ] Trailhead 4.5 mi. past Crystal Mtn.-side park
                  entrance.
    - [ ] == SLEEP: MT. RAINIER NP ==
        - [ ] Reservation?
- [ ] 8/6 Th
    - [ ] WA
    - [ ] Browns Point
    - [ ] Bremerton
    - [ ] Poulsbo
- [ ] 8/7 Fr - 8/10 Mo
    - [ ] WA
    - [ ] Olympic NP
        - [ ] Hoh River Trail (18 mi.) -- Rainforest
        - [ ] Ozette Ranger Station to Shi Shi Beach (14 mi. one way?!)
              -- Coast
    - [ ] == SLEEP: OLYMPIC NP ==
        - [ ] Reservation?
- [ ] 8/11 Tu - 8/16 Su
    - [ ] WA
- [ ] 8/17 Mo - 8/20 Th
    - [ ] WA-ID-MT
    - [ ] Spokane
        - [ ] Riverfront Park
    - [ ] Glacier NP
        - [ ] Siyeh Pass (10.3 mi.)
            - [ ] Shuttle from trail-end to trailhead.
        - [ ] Swiftcurrent Pass (15 mi. o/w)
    - [ ] == SLEEP: GLACIER NP ==
        - [ ] Bowman Lake Campground ($15, FCFS; historic fill times
              avail. online)
- [ ] 8/21 Fr
    - [ ] MT
    - [ ] Whitefish, MT
        - [ ] Great Northern Railway Depot
    - [ ] Yellowstone NP
    - [ ] == SLEEP: YELLOWSTONE NP ==
        - [ ] Reservation?
- [ ] 8/22 Sa
    - [ ] MT-WY-ID
    - [ ] Teton Valley
    - [ ] Grand Teton
    - [ ] == SLEEP: VICTOR ==
- [ ] 8/23 Su - 8/24 Mo
    - [ ] ID-WY
    - [ ] Jackson Hole
    - [ ] Thermopolis
    - [ ] Sheridan
    - [ ] == SLEEP: SHERIDAN ==
- [ ] 8/25 Tu - 8/28 Fr
    - [ ] WY-NE-SD-ND
    - [ ] Devil's Tower
    - [ ] Mt. Rushmore
    - [ ] Custer State Park (SD)
        - [ ] Eastern Trailhead (12 mi. o/w)
        - [ ] www.sdgfp.infoparks <http://www.sdgfp.info/parks>
    - [ ] Badlands NP
    - [ ] Minuteman Missile NHS
        - [ ] Reservation Reqd, Tour starts at 9 AM
        - [ ] Reservation?
    - [ ] Niobrara National River (NE)
    - [ ] Teddy Roosevelt NP (ND)
    - [ ] Sheyenne National Grasslands (ND)
        - [ ] Trail to Iron Spring Creek (9 mi. o&b r/t)
        - [ ] Start at Eastern Trailhead (near Lisbon)
- [ ] 8/29 Sa - 8/31 Mo
    - [ ] Voyageurs NP
    - [ ] == SLEEP: VOYAGEURS NP ==
- [ ] 9/1 Tu - 9/4 Fr
    - [ ] MN-WI-MI
    - [ ] Duluth
        - [ ] Bike the Waterfront Trail
    - [ ] Pictured Rocks NL
    - [ ] Beaver Island (MI)
    - [ ] Charlevoix (MI)
    - [ ] Mackinac Island
        - [ ] Bike
    - [ ] Sleeping Bear Dunes NL
        - [ ] Paddle (end of river into lake)
        - [ ] Bike
    - [ ] Dearborn
        - [ ] Miller's Bar, Hamburger (#8)
    - [ ] Ypsilanti
        - [ ] Sidetrack Bar and Grill, Our Famous Burger (#19)
    - [ ] University of Michigan
- [ ] 9/5 Sa - 9/7 Mo
    - [ ] MI-IN-IL-IA
    - [ ] Nauvoo
    - [ ] Cahokia Mounds SHS
    - [ ] Chicago
        - [ ] Indiana Dunes SP
            - [ ] Loop Hike (7 mi.)
        - [ ] Poag Mahone's Carvery and Ale House, Hamburger (#18)
    - [ ] == SLEEP: WAYNE ==
- [ ] 9/8 Tu - 9/12 Sa
    - [ ] IL-IN-OH-PA-NY-VT-NH
    - [ ] Indiana U
        - [ ] Purdue
        - [ ] IU
    - [ ] Dayton
        - [ ] USAF Museum
    - [ ] Ohio State
    - [ ] Cuyahoga Valley NP
    - [ ] Zaleski State Forest, OH
        - [ ] Hike to South Loop Turnaround (10.0 mi.)
    - [ ] Kelley's Island SP, OH
    - [ ] Presque Isle SP, PA
    - [ ] Niagara Falls
    - [ ] Palmyra
    - [ ] Adirondacks
        - [ ] Cascade Mountain (4.2 mi.)
            - [ ] Between Lake Placid and Keene
            - [ ] Arrive by 9 AM for Parking Spot
        - [ ] The Brothers (10.3 mi.)
    - [ ] Vermont
        o [ ] Mt. Mansfield Trail, VT (6.8 mi.)
        o [ ] Devil's Gulch (4.6 mi.)
        o [ ] Hunger Mountain (4.4 mi.)
    - [ ] New Hampshire
        o [ ] Franconia Ridge (9 mi.)
        - [ ] Baldface Traverse (9 mi.)
- [ ] 9/13 Su - 9/15 Tu
    - [ ] NH-ME
    - [ ] Mt. Abraham (Maine) (8 mi.)
        - [ ] 3,000' Elevation Gain
    - [ ] Acadia NP
        - [ ] Cadillac Mountain (4 mi.)
            - [ ] "Start early to beat the crowds."
    - [ ] == SLEEP: ACADIA NP ==
        - [ ] Reservation?
- [ ] 9/16 We - 9/22 Tu
    - [ ] ME-MA-RI-CT-NY-PA-NJ-DE-MD-VA
    - [ ] Boston
    - [ ] Nantucket
    - [ ] Newport, RI
        - [ ] Spiced Pear Restaurant, Not Just a Burger (#3)
    - [ ] New Haven
        - [ ] Louis' Lunch, Hamburger Sandwich (#20)
    - [ ] NYC
        - [ ] Statue of Liberty
        - [ ] Peter Luger Steakhouse, Luger Burger (#2)
        - [ ] J. G. Melon, Hamburger (#14)
    - [ ] Philadelphia
        - [ ] Barclay Prime, Kobe Sliders (#5)
        - [ ] Rouge, Rouge Burger (#4)
    - [ ] Annapolis
        - [ ] USNA
        - [ ] Ft. McHenry
    - [ ] Washington
        - [ ] Mall
    - [ ] Quantico
        - [ ] USMC Museum
- [ ] 9/23 We - 9/25 Fr
    - [ ] VA-WV?
    - [ ] Shenandoah NP
        - [ ] Skyline Drive
    - [ ] Beckley, WV
    - [ ] Chesepeake and Ohio Canal NHP
    - [ ] == SLEEP: SHENANDOAH NP==
        - [ ] Reservation?
- [ ] 9/26 Sa - 10/2 Fr
    - [ ] WV-VA-NC-TN
    - [ ] North Fork Mountain Trail, WV (12 mi o/w)
        - [ ] Monongahela National Forest
    - [ ] Charlottesville
        - [ ] Monticello
    - [ ] Appomattox
    - [ ] Richmond
        - [ ] Confederate Capitol
    - [ ] Yorktown
    - [ ] Williamsburg
    - [ ] Jamestown
    - [ ] Wright Brothers NM
    - [ ] Cape Hatteras NS
    - [ ] Raleigh
        - [ ] Duke
        - [ ] UNC
    - [ ] Knoxville
- [ ] 10/3 Sa - 10/4 Su
    - [ ] TN-NC
    - [ ] Great Smoky Mountains NP
        - [ ] Mt. Cammerer (12 mi.)
            - [ ] 2,500' Elevation Gain
            - [ ] Starts at Chestnut Branch Trail
    - [ ] == SLEEP: GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NP==
        - [ ] Reservation?
- [ ] 10/5 Mo - 10/9 Fr
    - [ ] NC-SC-GA-FL-AL-MS-TN
    - [ ] Charleston
        - [ ] Ft. Sumter
    - [ ] Hunting Island SP, SC
        - [ ] Swim
        - [ ] Camp?
    - [ ] Savannah
        - [ ] Ft. Frederica NM
    - [ ] Pensacola
        - [ ] Gulf Islands NS
    - [ ] Mobile
        - [ ] Historic District
        - [ ] USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park
- [ ] 10/10 Sa - 10/11 Su
    - [ ] MS-LA
    - [ ] New Orleans
    - [ ] == SLEEP: NEW ORLEANS ==
        - [ ] Clarion Inn & Suites, $58
        - [ ] Reservation?
- [ ] 10/12 Mo - 10/14 We
    - [ ] LA-MS-AL-TN
    - [ ] Vicksburg
    - [ ] Jackson
    - [ ] Natchez Trace
    - [ ] Nashville
- [ ] 10/15 Th - 10/17 Sa
    - [ ] TN-KY
    - [ ] Mammoth Cave NP
        - [ ] Grand Avenue Tour (10 AM)
            - [ ] Reservation? (recreation.gov)
        - [ ] Historic Tour (3PM)
            - [ ] Reservation?
        - [ ] Kayak in Green River (bring PFD)
        - [ ] Hike
- [ ] 10/18 Su - 10/20 Tu
    - [ ] KY-MO-KS-OK-AR
    - [ ] Memphis
    - [ ] Springfield
    - [ ] Carthage
    - [ ] Cathedral Canyon (5 mi.)
        - [ ] Near Fredericktown.
    - [ ] Joplin
    - [ ] Ozark NF
        - [ ] Redding Trail (8.1 mi., Ark 23 N from Ozark 18 mi., then
              right on FS Rd 1003 for 3 mi.; campground)
        - [ ] Alt campground: Aux Arc ($17)
    - [ ] Seven Hollows Trail, Petit Jean SP, AR (4.5 mi.)
        - [ ] www.petitjeanstatepark.com
              <http://www.petitjeanstatepark.com/>
    - [ ] Hot Springs NP
        - [ ] Bathhouse Row
        - [ ] Bath
- [ ] 10/21 We - 10/23 Fr
    - [ ] AR-TX
    - [ ] Austin
        - [ ] Bat Bridge ("just before dark")
        - [ ] Salt Lick (Driftwood)
    - [ ] San Antonio
        - [ ] The Alamo
    - [ ] Fredericksburg
- [ ] 10/24 Sa - 10/26 Mo
    - [ ] TX
    - [ ] Big Bend NP
        - [ ] Bike Ride? (Rio Grande Village to Panther Jct. and back
              or part way)
        - [ ] Chisos Mountain Lost Mine Trail (4 mi.)
    - [ ] == SLEEP: BIG BEND NP ==
- [ ] 10/27 Tu - 10/29 Th
    - [ ] TX-NM
    - [ ] Carlsbad Caverns
        - [ ] Left Hand Tour (9 AM)
            - [ ] Reservation?
    - [ ] Roswell
    - [ ] White Sands NM
    - [ ] San Antonio (Socorro)
        - [ ] Buckhorn, Buckhorn Burger (#7)
    - [ ] Santa Fe
        - [ ] Bobcat Bite, Hamburger (#12)
- [ ] 10/30 Fr - 10/31 Sa
    - [ ] NM-CO-AZ-UT
    o [ ] Chaco Culture NHP
    - [ ] Four Corners
    - [ ] Hovenweep NM
- [ ] 11/1 Su - 11/4 We
    - [ ] UT
    - [ ] Grand Staircase Escalante
        - [ ] Calf Creek Hike (5.5 mi., Trailhead at campground)
        - [ ] Paria Canyon/Buckskin Gulch Overnighter
            - [ ] Apply for permit three months in advance at:
                  www.blm.govpermits.htm
                  <https://www.blm.gov/az/asfo/paria/permits.htm>
            - [ ] Permit?
    - [ ] Canyonlands -- Syncline Loop (8.3 mi.)
        - [ ] Island in the Sky District
        - [ ] Near Upheaval Dome
        - [ ] Hike clockwise.
    - [ ] == SLEEP: CALF CREEK CAMPGROUND ==
- [ ] 11/5 Th - 11/6 Fr
    - [ ] UT-AZ-NV-CA
    - [ ] Lake Mead
        - [ ] Paddle?
        o [ ] Bowl of Fire, NV (7 mi.)
    - [ ] Orange County

So that's about it. For now.

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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48-State Cross Country Roadtrip Map v. 4 or 7, Depending

Sun, 03 May 2009 02:56:15 GMT

Here's the latest pass at the map. It's still evolving. I keep getting told I have to go to Teddy Roosevelt NP in North Dakota, for instance. Oh well:

Would like to post the text itinerary, but WordPress keeps choking on it. Maybe it's time to upgrade.

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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Next Move: Laguna Beach

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:36:33 GMT

Due to a specific and herewith unnamed set of circumstances, I'm moving (again) next weekend, this time to Laguna Beach. The new place is about a three-minute downhill walk to the beach and is close to downtown Laguna, where there's supposedly a "scene" and "stuff to do". Which may make it somewhat unlike Mission Viejo. The apartment is smaller than the one I had in Manhattan and comes furnished and with weekly maid service. It's basically a vacation rental that I'm renting longer-term.

Further updates as events warrant.

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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National Parks List -- Mostly Unvisited

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:42:23 GMT

So yeah, I sort of have this idea that I should see every US National Park before I die. Although I'm not sure I should have to count the one in American Samoa. I got a long way to go (alpha by park):

Acadia: not visited.

American Samoa National Park: not visited.

Arches: visited! A few times, back in Utah days. Very pretty. I like Canyonlands better, though. There can be only one.

Badlands: not visited.

Big Bend: not visited.

Biscayne: not visited.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison: not visited.

Bryce Canyon: visited! Very photogenic and pretty small for a western-US park.

Canyonlands: visited! Way prettier than I expected and seemingly less crowded than the other Southern Utah parks.

Capital Reef: not visited.

Carlsbad Caverns: not visited.

Channel Islands: not visited.

Congaree: not visited.

Crater Lake: not visited.

Cuyahoga: not visited.

Death Valley: visited! Went last November and took photos. Y'know, I didn't think it was all that amazing when I was there, but some of those pictures make it look dang pretty.

Denali: not visited.

Dry Tortugas: not visited.

Everglades: not visited.

Gates of the Arctic: not visited.

Glacier: not visited.

Glacier Bay: not visited.

Grand Canyon: visited! And I've always meant to go back to hike and see what there is to see on the northern rim. Some day, some day. For that matter, some day I'm going to buy a scanner and scan all my conventional photos from pre-digital days. Just not today.

Grand Teton: visited! Another one I should probably go back to in order to actually explore. The family reunion we had there didn't involve much of the park.

Great Basin: not visited.

Great Sand Dunes: not visited. (Seriously? "Great" Sand Dunes...? I should probably visit just to confirm/refute my skepticism.)

Great Smoky Mountains: not visited.

Guadalupe Mountains: not visited.

Haleakala: not visited. Next Hawaii trip though. Maybe.

Hawaii Volcanoes: not visited. Ibid.

Hot Springs: not visited.

Isle Royale: not visited.

Joshua Tree: visited! Was interesting enough the first time, but the second time, well -- I kind of figure that my second trip to Mars will also reveal the destination to be a desolate, ultimately uninteresting landscape.

Katmai: not visited.

Kenai Fjords: not visited.

Kings Canyon: visited! (So they are separate parks!)

Kobuk Valley: not visited.

Lake Clark: not visited. Is there any part of Alaska that's not a national park? And I sort of get the sense that they have all these parks because there was no one who wanted to live there anyway.

Lassen Volcanic: not visited.

Mammoth Cave: not visited.

Mesa Verde: visited! I remember being hot and very, very sleepy -- but a fun trip with Fresh Goat and ErinJ and at least one of the goatlings. I think JA was on that trip too.

Mt. Rainier: visited! Many times, but most recently evidenced here.

North Cascades: visited!

Olympic: visited! Some day I want to go when it isn't fogged over, though. And I should probably go to the beach and rain forest side of it one of these days.

Petrified Forest: not visited.

Redwood: not visited.

Rocky Mountain: not visited.

Saguaro: not visited. I don't think -- although this photo was taken really, really close to the park entrance.

Sequoia: visited! Big trees. Big trees.

Shenandoah: not visited.

Theodore Roosevelt: not visited.

Virgin Islands: not visited.

Voyageurs: not visited.

Wind Cave: not visited.

Wrangell-St. Elias: not visited.

Yellowstone: visited! I was a kid, though, so mostly I remember the smell of sulfur and a geyser.

Yosemite: not visited.

Zion: visited! And the Virgin River Narrows was the best hike ever.

If I ever get around to the 48-state trip, I should be able to knock a bunch of these off the list. And then I'll have to do that driving trip up to and through Alaska. Then I can die. I mean, eventually.

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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Definition of Fascism

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:50:31 GMT

The definition of "fascism" has gotten pretty squirrely since Benito Mussolini coined the term to define his governing principles. The current street definition seems to be something along the lines of "stuff that someone else does that I don't like". The definition drift seems unfortunate -- its core definition is something that, IMHO, needs a word assigned to it. When I say "core definition", this is what I mean, as per Mussolini:

Anti-individualistic, the fascist conception of life stresses the importance of the State and accepts the individual only insofar as his interests coincide with those of the State, which stands for the conscience and the universal will of man as a historic entity.... The fascist conception of the State is all-embracing; outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist, much less have value.

Yes, I found this on Wikipedia.

To paraphrase, according to its father's teachings, fascism is the governing theory in which the state is supreme and the individual exists for the sake of the state.

Endut! Hoch Hech!

bkd

Originally published at bkdunn.com.
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