The Great Outdoors

Jill is here, and the epic Trivial Pursuit battles have commenced! At last count Wendy was ahead 3 games to 2.

This evening we went for a walk at the McHenry dam. There seemed to be a lot of wildlife out and about, which was very cool. We saw a muskrat swimming in a pond, several frogs, a few deer, many different kinds of birds, the coolest of which was a field full of at least a dozen great blue herons, and, as usual, many lightning bugs. Afterwards we went swinging on a nearby swingset which is next to a large grove of pine trees. The swings, pine trees, and lightning bugs all made for a very pleasant evening.

A little over a month ago, I posted a link to a google map of the state parks we've visited so far. Google has recently released a programming interface to create custom maps, so you no longer have to rely on hacks. There's really no limit to where this will go; the possibilities are endless. People have already come up with maps showing live concerts across the country, earthquakes in North America, and even a map of injuries during the running of the bulls in Spain.

My favorite so far, though, is Gmaps Pedometer, which helps you record distances between points. Simply center the map where you want it, and start double-clicking to plot points. It does all the work of calculating the total mileage. Here's a map I created of a walk that Wendy and I would go on when we lived in Longmont. And here's a longer walk that I occasionally went on. It's a lot of fun when you can effortlessly connect technology with your everyday life!