fuggled

@immamac Not sure if it's just me (or just DuckDuckGo) but I'm getting 503 errors in DuckDuckGo this morning. Chrome mobile and desktop work fine.

The other suggestions are good, but Lost Mine is partially closed right now and Santa Elena is also closed. So backup plans are good. We did Upper Burro Mesa Pour-off a couple years ago with my 6 year old and I thought it was a great hike. You don't have the elevation gain like you do on the mountain trails. After the first 1/4 mile or so, you drop down into a canyon for most of the hike which provides a lot of shelter from the sun/heat.

I hear you, I'd prefer a gentler downhill route too. But for some reason, kids seem to be the opposite. They don't like to climb, but they have those young knees that just bounce down the steep stuff.

Also, @Your Mom or others, what was the weather like when you camped the South Rim and when did you go? Any sense of how cold it gets up there in the fall?

Yeah, the tough reality is that I'd end up carrying most of that water and gear for 4 people. Plus, there was a fire at the South Rim last year so there are no toilets at the South Rim or East Rim campsites and you have to pack out your poop. Not a huge selling point for my wife. South Rim (without Emory Peak or the East Rim) is 12.5 miles. I guess that assumes I drive up to the Visitor Center and don't hike straight from the campground. The plan would be to hike up Laguna Meadows and then come down the Boot Canyon/Pinnacles side. Depending on how we're feeling, we could shorten things by cutting across Colima Trail, which would make it 8 miles total. We've done 5 & 6 mile hikes with the kids, so I'm sure they could handle 8 (at least).

Back in the spring I realized my kids (8 and 11) have a 4-day weekend in October thanks to the screwy school schedule, so I grabbed the last site in the Basin campground for that weekend. So, we'll be heading down in a few weeks. Unfortunately...this will be over OU weekend. This is going to be our second trip down there. We went in Oct/Nov 2020 when a lot of things were shut down. We stayed in Terlingua that trip, so this will be our first time camping in the park. On that trip we did the Fossil Exhibit, Boquillas Canyon, Upper Burro Mesa Pouroff, Santa Elena Canyon, Lost Mine, Close Canyon and Balanced Rock. I posted about that trip on this thread a few pages back: Apparently things have been crazy in the park this summer. Chisos Basin Campground has been closed for a month because it got overrun by aggressive black bears eating mesquite berries. I think they officially opened back up today, so hopefully we'll be good to go. There was also a ton of rain in August, so Santa Elena is closed as well as part of Lost Mine. We're going to drive out there (from Dallas) early Friday and setup camp. Not sure if we'll have time to do much once we get there. Maybe we could try the Window trail for sunset, but I'm not sure we'll be settled in time for that. I'd like to try and do South Rim on Sunday if I can talk my wife into it. We were going to try the Boquillas crossing because it was closed in 2020, but I forgot the kids' passports expired last year and I don't think we'll get them replaced in time. Given everything we've already seen, any suggestions for hikes and sites with the kids? We'll have 2 full days on Saturday and Sunday. Since we'll be in the park, is there any place to explore after dark? Also, since we'll be there during the OU game, are there any good spots to catch the game around Terlingua or Lajitas? Or for that matter, reliable radio stations in the park? Listening to the game on the radio while hiking through the desert sounds like a good way to spend a day.

It's probably too early to tell, but the assessment in that story seems...slanted. The units having success and capturing Russians aren't the ones that are going to get interviewed by WaPo in the hospital. War is hell, but it's more hellacious for Russia right now.

Ask and ye shall receive: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/where-did-all-the-bellwether-counties-go/ Now the question back to you is, what do you make of that? Do you read that article and conclude it is a well researched analysis of an evolving electorate that helps us understand this particular "anomaly", or is it more likely that we just haven't uncovered the fraud yet?

I think you're right that it's not a partisan issue. Unfortunately, I also think it's very likely there are a lot of Texans who would vote for a constitutional amendment to allow abortion, but won't be willing to pull the lever for a Democrat.

Yep. I get two pots of gumbo from a jar. Plus it's certified Cajun, so I'm covered there. I may try that Alton Brown method. Do you make it ahead and save it, or do you directly build your gumbo in that same dutch oven?

I hear ya. It's definitely not necessary. But I've tried it both ways and the hummus is noticeably smoother when taking the time to peel.

Here's a good hack story I remembered. Years ago my wife and I decided to go down to San Antonio to spend Christmas with her Mexican grandma. She was a Scrooge and didn't want to do anything for the holidays. So we were going to make her dinner We found the most authentic mole recipe we could and did it with turkey. We had about 50 ingredients and did everything from scratch. Soaked and pureed chiles, toasted pumpkin seeds, etc. I can't even remember all the nit picky ingredients we had to handle. It tasted damn good. Anyway, Grandma comes through the kitchen and stops to taste after we'd been cooking for hours. She lets us know how horrible it tastes. "Why didn't you just use the sauce from the jar? That's what I do. Let me show you." She then proceeds to pull Hershey's syrup and JIF out of the pantry and "fix" our mole the way she makes hers.

I defy anyone to tell the difference.

Thought of another one.... I'll use sunflower butter or just peanut butter when I'm making hummus. I know it's not authentic, but I don't make it often enough to keep tahini around just for that. Maybe I need more recipes that use tahini. Would love a hack for peeling garbanzo beans if one exists.

I use roux from a jar when making gumbo. It's just flour and oil, no reason to spend an hour making my own. Usually I'll brown chicken and andouille first, pull it out and then cook the vegetables with spices. Once they're cooked, stir the roux into the veggies to soften it and then start whisking in stock or water.

Wait, what?

Anyone have a stream for this game?

Yep, everything is GA.

A neighbor passed away this weekend after a 3 year fight with cancer. He left behind 2 elementary age boys. His widow is getting lots of "how can we help" offers from the community and would like to setup some kind of fund for the boys. GoFundMe seems simple and familiar but comes with overhead. There's also the issue of providing some transparency so people know gifts are actually going to the boys. A 529 could help with that, but it has limitations too (and not sure these 2 are college-bound). Any recommendations on setups that are easy for people to give to, lock funds to a specific purpose (somewhat) and maybe provide some transparency?

PSA: Kroger in Dallas has choice briskets for $2.47/lb with a digital coupon through May 3

Thanks for clarifying. Just so I'm understanding, you think we should eliminate all history and social studies from public education? No geography, no 3 branches of government, no bicameral legislature, no Constitution, no Revolutionary War, no Alamo, no Civil War, no Holocaust, no Vietnam, no Cold War, no space race, no MLK, no Kennedy, no 9/11? Is this what you're saying? Could you explain why you think that's a good idea?

Not saying you don't have a valid point here, but could you give some examples of the things we should try to stop teaching? Maybe clarify the "we" also. Are you referring to teachers, parents, politicians, celebrities?

Thanks for the suggestion, but the wife likes to monitor St Pete and gauge storm severity based on when he takes off his clothes (jacket, tie, etc.). So our system is pretty airtight.

My wife reports the dog has bad breath. My son wants to try on all the clothes in his closet. Stay tuned for more updates.

Big tornado warning in Dallas. Sitting in the closet in Richardson. https://twitter.com/wfaaweather/status/1506047616378880005?s=20&t=i-L65ztLkws55TpWKOwQUg