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April 7, 2007

Eugene After First Week

We've been living in Eugene for a week now. We're still in the midst of unpacking and getting back to every day life, but things are going well so far.

This morning, I woke up to see it was raining, and I was psyched! Yes, I'm weird like that :) It had begun to clear up some by about mid morning, and we headed to opening day of the farmer's market, where it didn't rain on us at all. We bought some veggies, salsa, bread, etc. The kids were restless, so we headed off to lunch.

Lunch was at a grill at the Oakway Center. Then we hung out in the courtyard for a while while the kids played, and Xander specifically enjoyed getting rained on. Then it was off to a park back in our neighborhood. We were at the park until 4pm, the whole time it was sunny. Finally, headed home to move a bit of furniture around and then make dinner. Had a tasty Mexican spread. After dinner it seemed hot, and I realized it had gotten up to 77 in the house, with all the sun streaming in. Opened some windows, which was a great bit of fresh air, and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Looking back on the week, a few other notes:

  • Market of Choice is my favorite market in town, but it sure seems expensive. We'll have to see. The place is gorgeous (doesn't hurt that the closest one to us is brand new and very nicely done). It's similar to say an Andronicos, or maybe an aspiring Whole Foods, etc. Great cheese selection (yea!), cool cafe with fresh pizzas, good meat selection and quality, big spread of produce, lots of organic, etc.
  • Bicycles are a VERY common way to travel around town here in Eugene, which is something I love. I'm now investigating a town bike. I'm likely going to go with a Niner, and use it both as a town bike, as well as an alternative mtb.
  • Our dryer is still not hooked up. When it was delivered, the house didn't have the special vent attachment for the house, so they couldn't finish it. Then, once we had that, on Sears second trip out, they couldn't seem to plug in this vent attachment (which I've since managed to get in, but it was tricky indeed), nor did they have the right power cord (which I've since purchased and wired up). Now the real trick is to figure out how to get the vent hose attached, and be able to climb out of the space without having to use a real excess of vent tubing. Sears comes again on Monday, so we'll see.

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Filed under  //   cycling   Eugene   Moving  

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December 5, 2006

Camera and Camelbak Backup Solution #1

Following up on my previous post about needing a backpack that was both for camera gear and held a Camelbak, for use mountain biking, I've identified my first solution. After further discussion with Dakine, and having talked to various others, I'm going with the Ridge pack (in black/olive) and their Camera Block. Dakine suggested this, and believes it should work. The only question is that it may be a bit of a tight fit with a full Camelbak bladder and Camera Block, but we'll see.

Their packs, with the diagonal ski carry are still the most appealing to me for carrying a tripod. I also like the back access and full/instant access to all camera gear that it and the Camera Block brings. I should get these within a week or so, and will report again once I've had a chance to ride with it and try it all out.

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Filed under  //   cycling   Photography   travel  

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December 4, 2006

Looking for combo camera and Camelbak pack

I've been searching for a backpack for mountain biking while carrying camera gear (digital SLR, extra lenses, etc.). There are many camera backpacks, but none seem to have a Camelbak/hydration sleeve/compartment. If you know of one, please let me know (add a comment). I've started compiling a list of some that may work, or that I might be able to customize or so on, on a backpack page. My current setup is just to individually carry camera+lens in a padding neoprene Zing pouch, and then carry lenses in separate lens bags, and stuff these in my Camelbak Transalp, which is a fairly large Camelbak. This works pretty well, but I'd also like to carry my tripod, and have a more organized setup, preferably with a bit easier camera access. If only the Dakine Sequence had Camelbak sleeve.

I haven't tried putting my tripod on the Transalp yet. I may be able to lash/secure it to it, but not sure. The tripod is a magfiber 4-section Manfrotto, so it's relatively light and a bit shorter than average. Regardless, it's not just a little thing to lash on.

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Filed under  //   cycling   packs   Photography   travel  

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