Oreo Lil' Rounder

So I got to try one of the new Oreo Lil' Rounders from Carvel Ice Cream for FREE. I actually had no idea that there was a store 15 minutes away from us. I used to get their ice cream cakes while we were in Boston since there was not a Dairy Queen nearby. I really liked their ice cream cakes and I love oreos combined with FREE and I had to try it. And, I wasn't impressed with it. The cookies were too crunchy and so the ice cream started to seep out the sides. Eh- I would prefer an oreo ice cream or a regular ice cream sandwich to this. At least I didn't pay anything to try it :-)

Chabot Space and Science Center

Saturday was Smithsonian Museum Day where hundreds of museums around the country gave FREE admission to their galleries. We decided to go to the Chabot Space and Science Center that is in Oakland since it was right up the street from the temple and it generally costs $15 a person. We definitely arrived there at the right time because we had no wait, but then a line appeared for the rest of the time we were there.

The museum has various exhibits, several shows (planetarium and special)and telescope viewing on weekend evenings. We decided to see the special lecture with a space historian who worked on the "From the Earth to the Moon" HBO series. He showed us the in depth aspects of the craters and valleys on the moon's surface using the Google Earth feature. I had thought that the differences in the color of the moon's surface was due to differences in elevation- such that the dark spots were the valleys and the lighter parts the mountains. It is somewhat related in that that the rock is actually colored differently (not just the shadows)- the rock composition is varies- one is lighter and the other is darker. We also learned about LCROSS- the satellite mission that will try to determine if water is present on the moon. The first part of the satellite will crash into the moon and then the particles will be analyzed by the following satellite. If you have a 12 inch or longer telescope, you can probably see the impact at 4:30 am on October 9th.

We enjoyed the exhibits- here we are seeing how astronauts get a work out- that little suit is really heavy (although William thought it was so easy that he finished before I was able to snap a photo).

We also learned that astronauts sometimes wear diapers- yes, diapers- since they have to be in those big, bulky suits which are difficult to remove. They even have the NASA logo on them. They had a demonstration showing this special powder that is in the diaper that can hold up to 1,000 times more liquid and it turns into this gel substance. If you add salt later, it turns back into the liquid. So amazing- William wonders why they haven't made these mainstream. They might have, but we just don't know it since we don't have children.

This is one of the pods that are launched up to the international space station. 3 people fit inside of this for 2 days to get to the station. That gives me even more admiration.

They have three different observatories. Here are two of them that house their lens telescopes

One of the lens telescopes look like this

The other observatory has a different design that is so ingenious- the roof completely slides to the side.

The telescope inside this building uses a mirror.

We had a good time and learned things we had not known before, but we were glad that it was free. We weren't sure that it would have been worth a $30 price tag for the two of us.

Carrot Cupcakes

Our neighbors gave us a bunch of carrots and so I made these carrot cupcakes and cream cheese frosting from the Martha Stewart cupcake book. I modified the cupcake recipe slightly and added different amount of spices (including nutmeg) since we didn't have ginger. A funny part is that I was so worried about the spice ratio that I forgot to add the oil on the first 6 cupcakes. I fortunately remembered for the rest of the batch and those were delicious. The oil-less ones were edible- they were just very dense and not very moist but some extra cream cheese frosting. Haha- you would have though that I would have learned my lesson with the cupcake pops- at least these definitely looked much more aesthetically pleasing!

The California Saints

Last night I attended a lecture at the inter-stake center at the Oakland Temple in honor of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Oakland Stake. The guest speaker, Richard Cowan, was a former professor of mine at BYU- I took his course on temples and absolutely loved it. He was the perfect speaker for this anniversary since he co-authored a book entitled The California Saints: Over a Century and a Half in the Golden State. His niece gave one of the most touching introductions with acclamations of praise for his work and service from President Monson, Ann Madsen, and Robert Millet. Bro. Cowan is truly one incredible for he is nearly completely blind. Yet, he received his PhD from Stanford, taught at BYU, chaired the committee for the Gospel Doctrine manuals, and written numerous books and articles. He is so kind and has a great sense of humor. One of his former students submitted this story that was published in Reader's Digest. He uses braille notes and at the beginning of class one day, he had a panicked look over his face for a second while fingering the notes but then exclaimed "Phew- I was afraid that someone had sat on my notes!" He had slides along with his presentation last night and when they became out of sync with the text, he joked "Some people claim that professors can see through the back of their head- well, I can't even see from the front of mine." Truly he is a brilliant scholar and an all around inspiration.

I enjoyed the talk as California has been my "home" for the past two years and probably will be for an indeterminate amount of time. Bro. Cowan recounted the story of Samuel Brannan who lead a group of Saints out to San Francisco on the ship, Brooklyn. The group left on February 4, 1846, the same day as the first pioneers left to go on their trek West. The ship sailed down around South America, stopped in Hawaii, and finally sailed into San Francisco nearly 6 months later in July. There is a plaque commemorating this event in the Chinatown area of San Francisco- I need to go and check it out. He told many other things about the church being established throughout California. There is also a special exhibit about the history of the church in California over at the temple visitors center that I want to check out the next time we are at the temple.

National Parks: America's Best Idea

"National Parks: America's Best Idea" is one of those monumental films that everyone needs to see. Directed by Ken Burns, it is a 6 part series highlighting the creation of the National Parks system. You can watch Part 1 online for a limited time. The cinematography in this film is breathtaking. The film provides the perfect blend of current images along with sketches and photos from the period. It has intensified my desire to visit Yosemite, as that- along with Yellowstone, was the focus of this episode. I was so glad that I was able to visit John Muir's home a few weeks ago and to learn about his life because the film spent even more time detailing his belief in the sublime power of nature, particularly that found in Yosemite. He dedicated much of his life advocating for the preservation of these sites, saying that "wildness is a necessity" for all of us. What Muir and many others had written was that observation of these sites confirmed the existence of a supreme being who had created these majestic sites. I loved that the subtitle of this episode was "The Scripture of Nature" highlighting the sacred nature of these places. However, I agree with the historian quoted in the film that issuing democracy- that all men are created equal- is America's best idea, but that national parks are definitely a great idea.

Clever

I greatly appreciated the sense of humor used by these vendors down in Monterey. It got a laugh out of me- but not enough to actually purchase the shirts or any other objects. But clever none the less.

Cannery Row and Bubba Gump Shimp Co.

Following the aquarium, we walked around Cannery Row

and the waterfront in the afternoon

and then right before sunset- I love the pink sky tones (Again, thanks Dan for the photos!)

We then ate at the original location of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co in Monterey CA (I had no idea it started here). William has eaten there before but neither Dan nor I had and there was no wait to eat outside (although they did have heat lamps- gotta love Cali for that) so we decided to give it a go. I was very happy with the food- especially the Hush Pups, these fried cornbread nuggets with little pieces of shrimp and fish inside. SUPER good. And they have a unique method of serving them- in newspaper lined tin can. I also liked their fish and chips. I liked the thing that they have signs on the end of the table for you to indicate if you need waiter service saying "Run Forrest Run" and "Stop Forrest Stop."

And of course nothing no trip would be complete without a stop at the Ghiradelli Chocolate store so that we could have their fabulous ice cream sundaes (I did share with William since we had just eaten). It was a great end to the day- and holiday traffic wasn't bad either.