The Email... STS-134 OMG!!!!

Two miles directly west of the Gilchrist (Oregon) mill lies an old log cabin. Family owned, it sports a loft, a wood burning cook stove, a fireplace, and an unattached outhouse with a perfect view of the meadow. This cabin is located exactly 42 miles south of the middle of nowhere.(According to candidate Neil Goldschmidt, "in his hard-fought campaign for governor against Republican Norma Paulus in 1986, when he famously declined a proposed debate in Bend, calling it "the middle of nowhere."...taken from http://www.bakercityherald.com/Local-News/SPECIAL-REPORT-Ten-influential-Oregonians)

On March 21, at 1:20 pm, this is where I was, *(43°30'30.12"N 121°44'0.14"W ) when I received the most amazing email. It was spring break and we were attempting to get into the cabin despite being advised to do otherwise by my father.

We had a jeep, a large dodge 4x, a great adventurous friend, a teenage boy, myself, and three dogs. We had managed to get both vehicles stuck repeatedly in the deep snow, and were in the process of digging them out again, when I received an email from NASA.

“Dear Sarah Williver,

Congratulations, your registration has been selected to attend the NASA Tweetup at space shuttle Endeavour's targeted launch April 18-19 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida! The event will provide you the opportunity to speak with shuttle technicians, engineers, astronauts, and managers, and to experience the launch of space shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station....”

We weren’t lost. We weren’t in any real danger. (Although, my dad had advised me to call someone with a bigger truck than his, in the event we did get stuck...) We were close to the cabin and had cross country skied in the night before. We had food, cell phones (with data), sleeping bags, food, water... but we were stuck. And we had been stuck, and shoveling for the better part of the day. We would drive 100 yards, sink, dig, repeat.....We were tired, sore, and still stuck. But I was going to Kennedy Space Center!

And so my journey to watch the Endeavor (STS-134) launch with 150 0ther lucky members of the Twitter community began. The launch is scheduled for April 19th. More information on the #NASATweetup is here: http://134tweetup.com/ . I will be blogging about the community, the people, and the incredible journey I am about to embark on. You can follow my tweet stream at twitter.com/SkierSarah or @SkierSarah.

If Tent Caterpillars are endangered, I am going to Caterpillar Hell…. (Escape to Shevlin Park)

Shevlin Park directly west of Bend is a young scientists delight this time of year. And it is not a bad place for the scientist’s parent as well.

The park is only 4.4 miles directly west of Bend and offers a plethora of walking, biking, and wading opportunities.


View Larger Map

With our goal of two solid hours of exercise a day, Shevlin seemed like a logical place on this rainy, cloudy Saturday. It was close to town, it would be a quick trip home if we got soaked to the undies. (There is nothing worse than an hour car trip home with two cold, soaked kids.)

We biked the road in. It is about two miles, fairly flat. It is an easy ride that even the youngest kids could accomplish. No traffic even though the gate was opened! It is suitable for most kids, even kids with training wheels if they are willing to pedal hard.

We stopped at the top end to boulder.


There are rocks and boulders all along the road that are fun for clambering. Don’t let the kids loose unless you have time to wait. The boulders are tall, but not THAT tall.

From the far end of the park, we took the trail that heads directly south. It is an easy, flat trail that is ridable by almost anyone on two wheels. At the first junction, we headed North back to the car. This is an easy ride, with small ups and downs that is about two miles long. It is fast (more down that up) and winds itself along the ride back to the car.

(There is a map of the Shevlin Park Trails available here: http://www.bendparksandrec.org/Park_List_Hidden/Shevlin_Park/shevlin.html )

The biking portion took only about an hour so we decided to walk along the east rim. We found wild strawberries, and caterpillars. Hence, my going to tent caterpillar hell.
Nestled among the bitter brush are thousands of tent caterpillars. We have an aquarium just waiting for bugs at home…so we selected a few (okay ten or twenty tents) and kyped them. Yes, we plucked them off the bushes, and took them home. We’ll let you know if they turn into anything interesting. I am betting some sort of hideous moth….

The trail to the east was just a little over a mile, with some steep switchbacks at the beginning. Suitable for walking at almost any age, it takes a pretty fair set of legs to be able to ride up the switchbacks.

If your time is short, or if you have younger youth that need an excellent adventure, Shevlin Park is a remarkable park with lots of diversity. For older youth, bouldering and biking in Shevlin provide a close outdoor experience.

#FAIL (aka no marathon in Sarah’s future)

Life is just too fast, or I am just too slow. I will not make the marathon in June. In fact, I haven’t seriously tried to train. Call me lazy!!!

My fantastic sister, Darcy, however is well on her way! She and her husband, Chad will compete in the San Diego Marathon in June. I am so proud of them. Their daughter, Holly, meanwhile is continuing to battle leukemia. She is amazingly resilient. Follow her story here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hollyrosedavis