In All the World, No Waters Like These

So its an interesting story of why we ended up going to visit Wilbur Hot Springs, a hot spring resort near the intersection of Hwy 16 and Hwy 20 northwest of Sacramento California in the mountains where Cache Creek runs through. One of the employees at Wilbur read my blog post about the natural hot springs of the Eastern Sierra, and left me a nice comment. I didn't get around to reading it for a while because I am not notified right away after people leave comments on my blog, but I finally did see it and read it about three weeks later. I was surprised to see that in the comment was an offer for a free day pass at the hot springs for me and Romy to come check it out!

So I got in contact with Wilbur Hot Springs, and again to my surprise, they really arranged for a free guest pass at the resort. Now I was getting excited to go check out the springs, because I had no idea there were hot springs so close. We arranged to go on Monday Jan 25th, right after the Caverns VWcamperfamily get-together.

It was a rainy wet day as we drove north from San Andreas, CA where the caverns were, through Sacramento and on through the Capay Valley. What a beautiful valley! I think it was nicer than Napa Valley, hands down! It was very narrow, with nice oak tree covered hills on either side. The valley was enshrouded with a hanging mist due to all of the moisture from the rain. We drove through it as the sun was going down. As we exited the valley, the road climbed through the hills, and we saw a bunch of BLM parking areas off the side of the road. Then we all of a sudden saw a bunch of elk in the hills. Elk!? I wondered if they might be farmed, because I thought elk only lived in the big mountains. Then there was another BLM pull off, so we pulled over to try to see the elk a little better and noticed an information sign. It was about the elk! The sign read that there used to be millions of wild Tule Elk that roamed the hills here, but they were all hunted to near extinction. Just 30 elk remained in the area until they were protected. Now there are a couple hundred and the population is rebounding. These are the same elk that I once saw in the Owens Valley by the Sierra Nevada mountains. We saw two herds along Hwy 16 by the BLM pull offs. In one of them, we saw an alpha male with his huge antlers looking over about 15 females. They were scared of the bus because it was loud. And just as we were going to drive a little closer, the bus gave out a loud lurch as Romy shifted into gear. Time for a clutch adjustment!


A picture of Tule Elk near Point Reyes (picture by kqedquest on flickr.com)

Anyways, back to the story about Wilbur Hot Springs. When it got dark Sunday night, we found a dirt access road on BLM land for hunters. I'm not quite sure what you could hunt, but the road was right off of Hwy 20, close to Wilbur where we were going to the next morning, and quiet and lots of level places where we could park the bus and stealth camp. It rained all night, and continued to into the morning. It was still raining when we woke up, and as we drove to Wilbur. The resort is totally off grid. They generate all of their own power with solar panels. The springs are tucked in between the hills in a canyon. They smell a bit of sulfur, which hits you as you get close, but then you get used to it.

After we checked in and they explained to us all of the rules, we were ready to check out the hot springs. The resort plumbed the hot source water into a Japanese style wooden open building which enclosed three flumes. The flumes were three long tubs, each had a different temperature. The coolest was 98F, then 105F, and the hottest was 110F. We tried all three. The water felt a little slimey, but I think it was because of the minerals in it. The tubs were pretty clean, and they were really big and room-y. We also had access to a dry sauna, and an outdoor cold pool, which was too cool to swim in for me.

We couldn't take any pictures by the pools, so here is a picture of the tubs from another website:



I read somewhere that the waters also have trace amounts of lithium in them. A lot of people at the resort who were there for a few days sure seemed loopy and uber relaxed. Especially in the communal kitchen, the people were all quiet and a little weird. But I don't know. . . I felt like I normally feel after being in a hot spring. Very nice and relaxed.

And of course, a big thank you to Michael who got us the day pass to Wilbur!

Caverns VW Camp Out

John, Shari, and me at the Caverns VW Camp Out vwcamperfamily event.

This weekend we joined Shari and her 1960 splitty and John and his 1971 Dormobile bus at the California Caverns. The camp out couldn't of been timed any better, as we had sunny skies driving across the valley and into the Sierra Nevada foothills. It was a nice break from all the crazy rain we've been getting. We arrived at the caverns around 2pm on Saturday, and found Shari already there behind the cavern welcome building. They had a small field set up for boy scouts in the back, which the cavern manager let us camp out at for free. There were picnic tables and even a rickety stage which had seen better days. We parked on a nice level grassy field right next to a stream which had swollen with all of the rain. In fact, a few days before, the grassy field that we were camping on was under water, but it was dry and pretty firm for us that weekend.

Shari had a bunch of firewood, and Romy and I brought kindling. We hung out till dark, debating whether or not we should wait for John (who said he was coming) to take the cavern tour. But we decided to wait, and it was a good thing, because John came rumbling in just after sunset in his bus. We had just started the fire.

John found an old Dietz lantern in Arizona when he went to Buses By the Bridge last weekend. Since he had a lot of them already, he sold it to us, and we are now the newest members of the Dietz lantern vwcamperfamily craze/club! Woo hoo!



The Dietz lantern from John.

The next morning we went on the 11am cavern tour. We were the only ones there that morning, so we had a kind of private tour. The tour guide took us on a short hike to the historical entrance to the cave along the (usually) small stream. It was mined during the mid 1800s part of the California gold rush. I think she told us that about 28,000 ouces of gold were mined out of that stream, and you can see that there were a lot of piles of dirt and rocks that the miners threw around as they were hunting for gold. The story is that the miners were shooting empty whiskey bottles along a rock wall next to the stream, and as they climbed up to retrieve some of the bottles, rocks gave way underneath them and they felt cold air blowing out of the hole. They had discovered the first entrance to the cavern (back then called Mammoth Cavern). Some of the miners were determined to find gold inside, but they had no luck. Instead they found a cave filled with many large rooms, and underground lakes.



The historic entrance to Mammoth Cavern (now California Caverns)



Getting our safety hard hats on before we go into the cave.

We got to see almost all of the cave that you could walk through except one room which was flooded due to all of the rain. It was really beautiful! There were many soda straws hanging from the ceiling, and cave bacon, and flow-stone and the bridal room was really cool! I tried taking pictures, but many of them were blurry because it was so dark in there.

In the late 1800s, the cave started to be toured, and the tourists all carved their name into the stone. Then for some reason, the cave was abandoned by 1920, and was left abandoned until 1983. During that time, people broke off a lot of the hanging features in the cave (which is sad). But there was also one man from Berkeley who found a secret room in the cave in the 60s and didn't tell anybody about it until the 80s. Because he kept it secret, it was preserved and we got to go see it. It was called the Jungle room, and had a lot of hanging formations. Many of them looked like animals, and there was even a Buddha!



Romy in the Jungle room (extremely blurry)



A flooded room in the cave, and a floating hard hat.

In 1983 (I think) the cave was protected, and it is now part of the California State Historic Landmark system. It was also renamed to California Caverns. There are a few other caverns in the area, like Merced Caverns.

After our tour was over, we packed up and started heading home. Well, Shari and John headed home. We were off to Wilbur Hot Springs. . . .

Romy Passed Prelim Exams at Berkeley!

Today the Mechanical Engineering department posted the test results of all of the graduate students who took the prelim exams in mid January. In order to be allowed to pursue a PhD in the Mechanical Engineering department, you must pass a set of exams. There are 10 exams, of which you must pass in at least three of the subjects, and one of the subjects must be your major.

The subjects are: Dynamics, Controls, Heat transfer, Design, Solids, Materials, Thermodynamics, Fluid mechanics, and Manufacturing. Romy took the thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and solid mechanics subject exams in August, but did not pass the solid mechanics subject exam. Since he passed his major subject area (thermodynamics), he was allowed a second chance (as are almost all of the grad students who don't pass all three the first time) so he tried the solid mechanics and heat transfer subject exams this January. He only needed to pass one of the subjects to pass the prelim exam, but he actually passed both of them. I went today to check the results which were posted near the student services office, and took a picture because I was so happy to see the results!!!



Romy passed the prelim exams! He was #4.

In case you're wondering about my exam results, I don't need to take the prelim exams because I am only doing a Master's of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. I will be finishing my Master's at the end of summer 2010 (I hope!) and then I'll be starting the PhD program in the Earth and Planetary Science department researching geological fluid mechanics.

My Blog Has A New Address!

Old links to my blog will still work (they will be forwarded to my new address). The new address is now:

www.jennandromy.com

Yes, I went ahead and bought a domain name through Google, but from Godaddy.com and I pay $10/year. My blog is still hosted by Google for free, and I also have the ability of making my own webpage (hosted by Google) for free off of jennandromy.com. I plan on making a homepage about me and school related stuff, like my research at Berkeley.

Crazy Drive to School

Today was the first day of classes this semester at Berkeley. For the past few days, its been raining here, and last night through this morning its been really coming down. We take Skyline Blvd and Grizzly Peak Rd up along the top of the Oakland hills all the way to the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab where we park and take the bus to campus. The road winds through the hills, which are steep, rocky, and have many houses perched off the cliffs. The houses cut down vegetation to clear out their land so that they can have a million dollar view of the San Francisco Bay. A lot of the road cuts deep into the hillsides and when it rains, there is a lot of erosion from the running water. Sometimes the water forms a small river following the side of the road.

This morning started out like any other morning, driving to school along the route, except that there was a lot of debris on the road, like fallen eucalyptus bark and branches, and small rocks and mud. As we were a little more than half way to the Lab, we saw a huge boulder rolling falling down the steep hillside to the right of the road. It kept rolling until it hit the road, and rolled right across it! The boulder was as large as me (if I went into the fetal position) and it rolled from about 50 to 100ft above, down a 75 degree slope. It rolled with so much momentum, it bent and wedged itself into the metal guard rail on the other side of the road.



The boulder.

The scary thing is that the boulder rolled across the road just 5 seconds before we would've crossed its path, and it also missed clipping a Prius from behind by just a second! The Daewoo (and Prius) just narrowly missed being hit. That would've sucked! On the way home, the rock was still there and I took a picture of it on my cell phone. Then we saw about 4 different rainbows along the drive home. We also picked up a hitchhiker. He was jogging when it all of a sudden started to pour hard outside. He lived just down the road, on our way home, so we dropped him at his house.

Starting to Sew

I am now starting to sew the canvas cover for the yurt. I am using a 13oz Sunforger canvas for the roof. It is all cotton that has been treated for water and mildew resistance. The color is natural. The roof should be light in color to let in the sun and also the lighter the color, the longer it will last against UV (since it reflects more light away instead of absorbing it if it was a darker color). I needed 34 yards for the roof, and the roll is 36 inches wide. I ordered the natural canvas from Kronke Co. in Hayward, CA. It was very convenient that they weren't too far away, because I went to their store to pick up my order instead of shipping it. Plus, the guy there was really nice over the phone.



34 yards of Sunforger canvas, 36 inches wide.

I also bought thread from Kronke Co., as it was convenient to just get everything together. To sew heavy duty material like a 13oz canvas, you have to use heavy thread as well. I bought a V92 weight polyester thread which is bonded. Make sure you buy the bonded stuff, because that really increases the strength. It feels thicker than normal thread, and it almost feels like there is a layer of wax or something over it, making it smooth. I bought 4 spools which were 4oz each.



Two spools of V92 polyester bonded thread.

The sewing machine also must accept at least a No. 20 size needle. John, who let me use his industrial sewing machine (THANK YOU JOHN!), also gave me a set of No. 24 size needles, which I have been using with the V92 thread. It has worked fine so far. In addition to the industrial sewing machine, I bought an old White brand home sewing machine on craiglist for $25. I really love it! It is teal, chrome, and black. I think it must be from the early 70s. The home sewing machine was able to accept the No. 24 needle as well as the V92 thread. Before I started sewing, I made sure to oil the machines.

Today I began sewing the roof together. It involves sewing long strips of the canvas together, and then making a cone shape. I only got to sewing three strips together, because it took a long time. Each strip was about 16 to 18 feet long, and each seam involved three length-wise stitches. I made french seams, which are strong and water resistant. I am using the pattern provided in Paul King's book, The Complete Yurt Handbook, although I double checked all his measurements (they check out).



Starting a French Seam on my home sewing machine.

When I used scrap fabric as a test, I learned that the home sewing machine can only punch through two layers of the canvas. When I added a third layer, the belt which drives the machine started slipping. But that was okay, because I didn't want to over work the machine, since I did have the industrial sewing machine too. The problem with the industrial one is that it is VERY hard to control. When you press down the foot pedal, the machine goes crazy - it sews very fast and hard. It has a motor which weighs 50lbs or more, and can seriously drive an air compressor. The machine can probably sew through metal! Not really, but it is a crazy machine. So first, what I did was sew the two canvas pieces together in two layers with the home sewing machine to start the french seam, since I was able to better control it. Then I took the fabric to the industrial machine to finish the seam, which involved sewing through four layers of canvas. Since the two pieces were already together, it didn't matter how crazy the machine got on me, at least I didn't have to line anything up. All I had to do was hope to sew in a straight line.



Completing the french seam with the industrial sewing machine.

So that's it so far. My sister is coming to visit in February and we will have a yurt canvas sewing party. The goal is to finish all of the sewing and have the cover completely done by the time she leaves. I think we can do it!



A close up the a completed french seam.