November, 2010

Four Loko, the caffeinated malt beverage affectionately called “blackout in a can,” has been in the news for hospitalizing a dozen college students and causing hundreds more to make very, very poor decisions.

The 23.5 oz can has about as much caffeine as a six-pack of Coke and about as much alcohol as a bottle of wine. The makers removed the caffeine and energy-boosting additives a few weeks ago pending a ban from the FDA.

That means Four Loko would likely not make it to these parts. So I was charged to investigate while visiting Illinois for Thanksgiving.

Friends have tried them, and although they said it resulted in craziness, they didn’t die. And my 23-year-old brother swore by them for a while. Safe, right?

On Saturday night, I had my first (and probably last) taste of the Loko, the lemonade flavor.

“$2.49 — that’s how you know it’s good.”

I made the mistake of smelling it before my first taste: Sour milk and lemonade jello. Coincidentally, this is the taste that lingered in my mouth the next morning.

The first few sips were rough. It tasted like a carbonated Country Time lemonade left in a warm place for a few months. My tongue adjusted and before I knew it, half a can was gone. I tried to pawn it off on someone but there were no takers. So I kept sipping.

And then it was gone. Worry set in. I had only planned to drink half — what was going to happen to me? The last time I had an energy drink — while reporting a story about caffeine addiction — I was in a caffeine-free stage and experienced heart palpitations and nausea.

I waited. Nothing. I felt buzzed, but it was more from the sugar, I think. I felt fine until I got ready for bed at 2 a.m.

Climbing upstairs at my mom’s house, I felt nauseous. Everything looked like it was moving up and down, like a busted TV. Then I felt sharp pains in my stomach I’ve only felt after extreme sugar overdoses. Then the alcohol hit my stomach. I might have thrown up, but I’m not sure. I do know I changed into PJs and brushed my teeth. The next thing I remember is waking up in the bed at 8 a.m.

I tasted that sour milk, lemon jello taste and gagged but kept everything down. My head hurt. My stomach hurt. Muscles ached, and it didn’t have anything to do with the 3 mile run the day before. Everything felt jittery, like I had been shocked or stirred from the inside. I wished for a hangover — that can be cured with greasy food and a lot of water.

I felt better after breakfast, lunch and a lot of water but the stomach pain stayed all day. I blame the sugar, which I’m already sensitive to. I’d built tolerance for caffeine thanks to the previous week’s legislative meetings and accompanying 24 oz coffees. I have no clue about the alcohol, since that probably hit me hardest after I went to bed.

The alcohol/caffeine combo is nothing new but Four Loko makes it more accessible and fruitier and mysterious and that’s what makes it dangerous. I can’t think of another reason to ever drink it again, except maybe to find out for sure if it makes me throw up.

Gratitude — I try to recognize it each day as it happens.

Things I’ve been thankful for recently:

• The woman above me chooses to leave on her heat  — which heats 2/3 of my apartment — while we are both gone.
• Last week’s winter storm disintegrating before reaching Casper, so I could drive to Colorado and fly home for Thanksgiving.
• Parents who drive to the airport late at night (midnight) and early in the morning (3 a.m.).
• A strong, healthy  body to run 3 miles through the woods and mud.
• Laughter, especially about things that don’t matter.
• Enough weekend to share with family, friends and  several hometown restaurants.
• Friends who offer to babysit me while I test Four Loko.
• My sister drove from Illinois to Colorado so she could be my Trader Joes mule and haul back almond butter and wine I couldn’t take on the plane.
• A cozy bed in Fort Collins to nap for a few hours before heading back to Wyoming.
• A Saturday shift so I didn’t have to go to work on Monday with only a couple hours of sleep.
• Two business days this week to get my bills/life in order.

Cleaning the carcass with my uncle in my mom’s kitchen, home of many thankful moments.

Tomorrow it’s back to work — another thing for which I’m constantly grateful.

I had my first low-key weekend in ages and I couldn’t keep still.
Done list.:

• did three loads of laundry
• snowshoed at the mountain trail center for the first time this winter
• cleaned everything – vacuuming, dusting, decluttering
• restocked baking supplies
• bleached and scrubbed all sinks
• declogged bathroom drains
• ran outside for the first time in two weeks
• sorted thru clothes and finished with a big box to donate
• sorted 1 year of magazine and newspaper stacks
• baked pumpkin muffins

Gosh, that sink looks pretty. It wasn’t that white when I moved in.

Also, I Googled “declutter” just to see what’s out there. There’s tons and not just from sources like Good Housekeeping and Real Simple but also the Wall Street Journal. It’s a little twisted that we have such a problem with clutter — we have so much stuff that it exceeds available space.

I’ve moved several times in the last few years, and every time I move I set a goal to leave with less stuff than I brought. It’s hard. It’s also one reason I didn’t want to look for a new apartment this summer.

I have a hard time getting back to the grind when I miss a weekday. No matter how relaxing the time away, I feel like I always miss something, have to play catch-up.

Which explains why I finally unpacked and am posting about last weekend tonight (got back Monday).

Last weekend was wonderful. Josh flew into Casper on Friday night and we drove to Jackson on Saturday morning. We shopped, ate, shopped more, warmed up in the heated pool, hiked, ate, hiked again and ate a couple more times.

It’s been unseasonably warm, in the 50s and 60s. Jackson is in off-season mode until Thanksgiving, which meant we got a killer rate on a four-star hotel and ate very well for very little.

We arrived in time to see the Capitol Christmas Tree leave Bridger-Teton National Forest and begin its 20-day trek to D.C. [Nov. 6]

The timing really was perfect — right after an election week, warm, off-season, dry weather for driving — except the road to Jenny Lake was closed for between-season maintenance. We thought about renting bikes for the 8 mile trek, but the rental shop was closed.

We settled for a 1.6 mile trail to Taggart Lake. A little more than a mile in, we met some moose on the trail — seven to be exact.

Yes, we were this close. [Nov. 7]

I was a little nervous. I’d heard stories about angry moose and I didn’t want to take my chances. But, when you travel with a photographer, running from beautiful wildlife set against the background of the Tetons is not an option — at least not at first.

After a few minutes, we walked toward the lake only to be stopped by a bull who had been eating further down the path.

He stared at us. We stared at him. And then we turned around.

Now we were surrounded by the herd. So we stayed and took more pictures. Eventually, they moved south of the trail. The last two — two large bulls — walked right in front of us and locked antlers. We swore they paused at one point to look at us. This wasn’t their first show.

We finished the hike and made it to the lake before there were too many late-morning ripples.

Quiet. Beautiful. [Nov. 7]

We refueled over a large brunch at homey Cafe Genevieve. With the Sunday New York Times covering most of the table and jazz oozing from the ceiling, I felt like I was brunching in New Orleans.

We passed on the bottomless mimosas (which we wouldn’t have done in New Orleans) because we had another hike planned west of where the road was closed. The afternoon hike wasn’t as eventful as the first but full of scenery and sounds of nature.

Another perk of the off-season: Few tourists in the park and none visible on the trails. For a few hours, the Tetons belonged to us.

Back in grad school a few years ago, three of my girlfriends and I realized we wouldn’t be together forever or for much longer. We decided the best way to guarantee regular reunions every couple of years was to get together for each of our 30th birthdays and do something special.

One of us had the first birthday earlier this month (wasn’t me!) and we made plans to meet up in California where Andy lives. The weekend included some of my favorite things: wine, running, ocean time, laughter and food.

Pacific Ocean in Half Moon Bay. [Oct. 29, 2010]

Andy had to work, so Cat, Sarah and I toured parts of San Francisco on foot on Friday: Chinatown, Union Square, Fisherman’s Wharf. Then we drove north to wine country and had the most amazing dinner at ZuZu in Napa.

On Saturday, we drove further north to Bothe-Napa Valley State Park for a 10K/half/marathon race. We heard the Napa Wine Country race was tough, but we were not prepared for 2 straight miles of hills, narrow muddy trails and jumping from rock to rock across small streams.

Crossing a creek in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. [Oct. 30, 2010]

The race was small (300 runners) and fun. The views from the top and smells while running past coastal redwoods were worth the pain felt in our quads the next day.

Napa Wine Country. Pictures can’t do it justice. [Oct. 30, 2010]

We soaked in hot springs in Calistoga, ate a huge lunch and stopped at a few wineries to taste bottles we can’t afford to purchase. Andy met us at our last tasting at Jessup Cellars (thanks – you guys were awesome) and we finally had a birthday dinner.

Sun-day stroll in Sausalito. [Oct. 31, 2010]

On the way back to San Francisco, we stopped in Sausalito for lunch a walk in the sunshine. We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge for a driving tour of the city before my flight home.

Before I knew it, it was time to leave, back to Wyoming, work, the election, etc. But the short weekend was just what I needed before a busy week.