Pictured Rocks Rock

Way back in August, when I still thought I had plenty of time to finish all of my projects at work before graduating, two of my dearest ex's and I (that's ex-roommates) went up to the upper peninsula of Michigan in search of adventure.  At the recommendation of the paternal unit, we ended up in Pictured Rocks State Park, and now, I can also make the same recommendation to everyone reading this blog.

A couple highlights:

It took awhile to get there.  Google maps says 8-9 hrs I think.  Throw in a meal at Green Bay, plus a stop at Walmart, and it's more like 12 hrs from Champaign.  Joseph took a lot of pictures in the car to keep busy.

My pen blew up, but I didn't realize it.  The ink somehow spread to my jeans, shirt, arms, hands, nose, and ear.

It looked like it was going to rain, and we were worried we wouldn't find a good camping spot, but we went to the place dad recommended, and then all was well.  This is the top of a > 100 ft high log slide where they used to toss down timber to the lake for boats to pick up.  We were gonna toss down Paul for some medics to pick up later, but then again, he's a pretty nice guy.  We didn't.

A view from the top.  We eventually camped at one of those streaks of trees off in the distance.

A view in the opposite direction.

Walking down was pretty fun.  It was actually more like controlled falling because it was so steep.

Joseph decided to fall uncontrollably.

This was about half-way down.

Finally at the bottom.

The view at the bottom.  Not a soul in sight.  But then again, I guess you can't really see souls.

The water was super super clear.

And we made it just in time to see the sunset.

We found a camping spot that was on a medium size dune, and the first thing we did was set up a little shelter in case it rained.  Thank God it didn't...

Dinner: dehydrated rice and/or pasta.  I forget.

The view from my room.

The thing about camping on a sand dune is that there's not really a whole lot of flat real estate.  We stayed up late talking and then tried to fall asleep in a sitting position, but then I slid about 10 ft down the slope.  Fearing that I would end up in the lake, I dug a small nest into the side of the dune.  Quite comfy actually.  No tent required, just us, the waves, and the sky.  I saw two shooting stars.

In the morning, PT set up an altar and praised God.  Or planted a tree.  Something like that.

It made a good butt-scratcher.

It seems like I'm always the one working in these pictures.

To get back to the car, we had to climb back up the sand dune.  No small feat.  We had to take 10 or so breaks on the way up.

Goodbye beautiful illegal camping spot.  We'll miss you.

Almost didn't find the path back to the car.  It was hidden quite cleverly.

On our second day, we did a bit of exploring.  Paul jumped in a waterfall at the bequest of an older woman.

He forgot a fresh pair of shoes though...

Then we went to see THE pictured rocks.  I pictured them.

Just recently I watched a documentary about a woman who was pushed over this very railing and murdered.

For lunch: Ramyun.  I foolishly disposed of all our cutlery, so we made our own eating utensils.

Homemade chopsticks.

Koreans (Joseph anyways) think it's funny when you put crackers in ramyun.

The second night we also camped near a beach, this time on a small island.

Paul and Joseph had a fun time moving that log.

PT is pretend cooking.

Now he's explaining something that he thinks is either important or funny.

Group photo time.

We caught one last awesome sunset.

And decided to use a pre-fabricated shelter this time.

Then hit the hay before another long ride back home in the morning.  Best camping ever.

My life is difficult.

Grad school is tough. So many research problems to keep on top of ... sometimes I just need a nap.

Kalbi weekend

It's getting near to the end of the semester, and a lot of big changes are about to happen.  People be graduating, getting new jobs, marrying etc.  Most of the guys from the house are moving onto bigger and better things.  (Not me yet.  Soon, please soon...)  So, time to celebrate!

We know how to do it right.  Lots of meat.  Twenty-five pounds of it to be exact.  Kalbi time baby.  

Over the past several years, this is our fourth Kalbi weekend (Kalbi = BBQ'ed Korean style ribs).  A lot of sweat and tears goes into preparation (also $$$).  Here's your's truly, tenderizing that delicious meat.  In total, it cost us two labor-intensive hours, two broken tenderizing hammers, and one casualty to blisters, but we prevailed.

Gideon substituted in for the injured Brendan.

And here's us after finishing...so tired.

Danny took care of the marinade -- a combination of his mother's secret recipe, another recipe from the www, and intuition.  Lot's of ingredients go in...

...and they come out like this.

Then you got to layer it on like this.

Allow it to simmer for a day or so.  After showering all the splattered meat off my body and getting a much-needed rest, I prepared my body for meat consumption by running a half marathon.  Nothing like a brisk 13.1 mile run to work up an appetite.  (I originally was going to name the post "Half Marathon Weekend", but then realized that most of the post had to do with beef).  I was particularly excited for this year's half marathon, because my running buddy was much cuter than last year's (No offense Paul).

Mike was a good friend and woke up early to take pictures of his coworkers during the race.  Even though it's only mile 5, it looks like I was already loosing some mental composure.

Here's one that's a tad more normal.

We finished in about 2 hrs 10 mins.  Not too bad; only 3172 people finished before me.  And my mission was ultimately accomplished, because I was starving afterward.  So was my running buddy.

Finally, time to chow.

We had a bunch of great friends show up, including some from Chicago.  Somebody said something funny here.

These were the attendants for the initial batch of BBQ.

And Brendan finally figured out where the meat was too.  Finally another white guy to celebrate with.

Whoa, Ok, maybe a little too much celebration here.

Danny with the Chicago friends.  Also an amazing icecream cake for his BDay.

All the fellas.  Well, almost.  Looks like Brendan took off again.  I've never seen him eat a whole meal in one sitting.  Maybe he was off debating anatomy terms with Ritika again.

And finally, Danny with all the ladies.

I'll miss all you guys next year.  It's been an amazing couple of years.  I'll never forget.  Thanks for all the memories.

Onward we go!