Longyearbyen

This blog isn't quite dead yet!  There are new travel posts coming!  Travel posts about what/where?  Well, Longyearbyen! 

In the mean time, check out this article: 12 Facts ... About Longyearbyen: The World's Northernmost City!

The Case of the iPhone

As a followup to my post from 2009, "The Case of the iPod", I have decided share my opinions on iPhone cases. I know, exciting!

Cases

• iSkin Solo
• Otterbox Commuter Series
• XtremeMac TuffWrap
• Generic Protective Crystal Silicone Case from China
• Incipio NGP

Basically, I wanted something low profile and not too slippery.  Why get a case if you're more likely to drop the phone because the case is hard to hold?!  

Here we go!

iSkin

iSkin Solo

So here's the deal.  I had an iSkin case for my iPhone 3GS that I really liked.  I liked it so much that when I upgraded to an iPhone 4S, I decided to stick with iSkin.  I also really liked that case!

Pros: 

• Low profile
• Durable (survived a bad car accident with only a scratch, phone was fine)
• Antimicrobial (who knew I wanted that in a phone case?!)
• Easy access to all ports/buttons.
• The volume buttons are covered.  Awesome!

Cons:

• The 3GS version had more colors to choose from.  Seriously, that's it.  Great case!  

Color options for 3GS

Color options for 4S

Otterbox 

Otterbox Commuter Series

Otterboxes may offer the best protection for your phone, but there's a catch: they're huge.  I bought a used Otterbox from a coworker for $10.  Good deal, right?  I was pretty happy with it!  Despite nearly doubling the size of the phone, it was a good case, and easily slid in/out of pockets.  

Pros:

• Great protection
• Easy to slide in/out of pockets

Cons: 

• Bulky (but potentially worth it)
• Personally, I don't like the cut out for the Apple logo.  I don't need to see it, and it just gets dirty.  Bleh.
• It broke! :(  The outer shell cracked on the corner near the headphone jack.  Bummer!

XtremeMac 

XtremeMac TuffWrap

I considered XtremeMac's TuffWrap case when I first got my 4S, but ended up sticking with iSkin.  When I found myself needing a new case I decided to give it a try.

Pros:

• Low profile
• Pretty protective

Cons:

• Fits the phone so loosely that it sometimes comes off of a corner or two when sliding the phone in/out of a small pocket.
• Volume buttons aren't covered.

Note: it's actually much more of a neon color than the pictures on the website would lead you to believe.  Not a pro or con, just something to note.

Generic Protective Crystal Silicone Case

Generic things from China!

Since I wasn't satisfied with the Otterbox or the XtremeMac case, I decided to give a generic silicone case from China a try.  It was $1.61 on DealExtreme.  Who can argue with that price?  Turns out it kinda sucks.  Not terribly surprising given the price or sketchiness of it... 

Pros:

• Low profile

Cons:

• Volume buttons aren't covered (they are in the picture)
• Doesn't fit the phone very well
• Sticks to the back of the phone and therefore looks cheap (not that it wasn't cheap...)
• I didn't feel that my phone was as safe in it as in the iSkin that everything else has failed to live up to so far.

Incipio

Incipio NGP Matte

I finally found a case that compares to the iSkin!!  The Incipio NGP!

Pros:

• Low profile
• Fits the phone perfectly
• Volume buttons are covered!
• Seems pretty durable
• Bonus: it comes with a screen protector!

Cons:

• Nothing yet!

Recommendations

Of the cases I've tried, I prefer the iSkin Solo and Incipio NGP.  Both meet my requirements of being low profile, not too slippery, and decently protective.  The Otterbox Commuter was a good case, if a bit bulky.  I'm sad to say that I can't recommend the XtremeMac Tuffwrap.  I really wanted to like it!  Obviously I'm not heartbroken or surprised that the generic case that cost <$2 didn't work out.  

I hope this was helpful/useful!  Hooray for iSkin and Incipio!

Albino Redwoods

March 2010
We had stopped at Fernwood Resort in Big Sur for dinner before returning to our cabin up the road at Riverside Campground*.  We were talking about potential hikes for the next day when Jimmy mentioned the existence of albino redwood trees.  What?  No way.  Lies!  And no way for him to prove it without cell reception**.  But Fernwood had wifi!  So we looked it up, and it turns out they DO exist.  And the nearest one?  Yeah, right behind Fernwood, about 100' from where we were eating.  It was already dark, so we decided to come back in the morning to check out the rare trees!

Albino Redwoods
They're parasites!  Albino redwoods can't produce chlorophyll, so their needles aren't green, they're white.  Without chlorophyll the trees cannot photosynthesize.  So in order to eat, they leech nutrients from 'host' redwood trees by tapping into their root systems.  Even with their stolen nutrients, they don't grow to be nearly as large as normal redwoods.  They look more shrub-like.

Photos!

So if you happen to be in Big Sur, stop by the Fernwood Resort and check out the albino redwood!  Since the tree is so rare, Fernwood asks that you do not take any souvenir branches, noting that when the needles dry out they just look like normal redwood branches. 

Sources

• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albino_redwood
• Fernwood Resort: http://www.fernwoodbigsur.com/albino.html (includes a few photos)
• Discover Magazine: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/12/08/a-creepy-monster-of-the-forest-the-albino-vampiric-redwood-tree/
• SFGate article: http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/It-s-no-snow-job-handful-of-redwoods-are-rare-2519371.php

Notes
*We had a 1 bed + bath cabin at Riverside, and it was incredible.  Stay there!  :)
**No cell service made finding our campgrounds a bit tricky, but it was kinda nice to be phone-less.

Limon, CO: That place on all of those I-70 signs in Denver!

All of the I-70 signs in Denver say "I-70 E to Limon".  So we decided to go to Limon to see what's there!


View Larger Map
Limon is about 1.5 hours southeast of Denver, and I-70 passes just north of town.  Wikipedia states that 1880 people live in Limon (2010 Census), and it is the most populous town in Lincoln County.  Before we get too far, here are some photos of the drive out there:


In Town 
Limon is apparently referred to as the "Hub City of Colorado", due to many highways (I-70, US-40, US-24, US-287, CO-71, CO-86) and railroads (Union Pacific, Kyle Railroad) passing through the town.  Their pride in this is shown via a mural on Main St:


We chatted with a few locals while in Limon, including a nice lady at a gift shop (we bought magnets for some lucky friends!), and a waitress at a local bar/restaurant.  Sadly, the bar had violated a liquor law of some sort, and were thus alcohol-less until 2/1/2012.  The waitress told us that the local prison was featured in a special on the National Geographic Channel, but that she hadn't seen it yet.  Interesting!

The lady at the gift shop told us about the local museum, but that it's only open between Memorial Day and Labor Day.  Looks like we'll need to stop in Limon again this summer when we conquer Mt Sunflower, KS!  Until then, here are two more photos:

Weather: PA vs CO

I grew up in Pennsylvania. Yay!

Then I moved to Colorado. Yay!

Since I moved west, everyone back east has been asking me about the weather out here.  Ok, mostly those who have never visited Colorado.  You see, apparently everyone on the east coast believes that Denver is high on a mountain top.  Not so!   Here's a spoiler for those who haven't visited yet: Denver's nickname is the Queen City of the Plains.  Plains?  Yes, plains.  It's flat here.  Flat in a way that my rolling-hills-of-the-mid-Atlantic-Appalachians self couldn't imagine until I first visited.  Vast and FLAT:

Looking east, past the 'burbs southeast of Denver.
At least it's not Iowa.

But if you look west:

Mountains!

Central Park off of MLK Jr Blvd

Anyway, living in the middle of a continent and above 5000', the weather patterns are certainly different than living 2 hours away from the Atlantic Ocean. So let's compare the data!

Allentown, PA

	Units	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average High	°F	36	40	50	62	72	80	85	83	75	64	53	41	62
Average Low	°F	21	23	30	40	49	59	64	62	54	42	34	25	42
Precipitation	"	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	4	5	4	3	4	45
Snowfall	"	11	11	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	34
Average Relative Humidity	%	69	67	64	62	66	67	68	71	73	71	71	71	68
Mean Daily Sunshine	Hours	5	6	7	7	8	9	9	8	7	7	5	4	7

Denver, CO

	Units	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average High	°F	44	46	54	61	71	82	89	86	78	65	52	43	64
Average Low	°F	19	21	27	35	44	53	59	58	49	37	26	18	37
Precipitation	"	0	0	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	15
Snowfall	"	7	6	10	6	1	0	0	0	1	4	9	10	53
Average Relative Humidity	%	56	56	54	51	54	52	51	52	51	51	59	59	54
Mean Daily Sunshine	Hours	7	8	8	9	9	11	11	10	9	8	7	6	9

Comparison

	City	Units	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average High	Allentown, PA	°F	36	40	50	62	72	80	85	83	75	64	53	41	62
	Denver, CO		44	46	54	61	71	82	89	86	78	65	52	43	64
Average Low	Allentown, PA	°F	21	23	30	40	49	59	64	62	54	42	34	25	42
	Denver, CO		19	21	27	35	44	53	59	58	49	37	26	18	37
Precipitation	Allentown, PA	"	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	4	5	4	3	4	45
	Denver, CO		0	0	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	15
Snowfall	Allentown, PA	"	11	11	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	34
	Denver, CO		7	6	10	6	1	0	0	0	1	4	9	10	53
Average Relative Humidity	Allentown, PA	%	69	67	64	62	66	67	68	71	73	71	71	71	68
	Denver, CO		56	56	54	51	54	52	51	52	51	51	59	59	54
Mean Daily Sunshine*	Allentown, PA	Hours	5	6	7	7	8	9	9	8	7	7	5	4	7
	Denver, CO		7	8	8	9	9	11	11	10	9	8	7	6	9

As you can see, the basic differences are:

• Average High: Allentown's average high is a few degrees cooler than Denver's average high.
• Average Low: Allentown's average low is a few degrees warmer than Denver's average low.
• Snowfall: Denver receives an average of 53" of snow per year, while Allentown only receives 34", but...
• Precipitation: Allentown receives 45" of precipitation per year, while Denver only receives 15".  
• Humidity: It's pretty dry in Denver... 54% average relative humidity for the year, with the winter being the most humid.  Allentown is at 68% average for the year.
• Sunshine: Denver is the clear winner here, with 9 sunshine hours per day (mean).

Humidity and sunshine hours are the biggest differences.  Allentown has overcast weather for much of the winter season, and is pretty humid all year.  Denver's winters are much more sunny (though both cities are at nearly the same latitude), and is generally not very humid at all.  Denver's general lack of humidity contributes to that 53" of snow melting into less than 15" of water.  Spring and summer rainstorms in PA can last a week, whereas July in Denver brings the daily 30-minute thunderstorms, followed by clear skies and sunshine.

Notes

Allentown's temperature/precipitation/snowfall measurements were taken at Lehigh Valley International Airport (1981-2010).  This is pretty much in the center of the Lehigh Valley metro area.

Denver's temperature/precipitation/snowfall measurements were taken at Stapleton International Airport (1981-1995) and Denver International Airport (1995-2010). While Stapleton is quite a bit closer to the city than the new Denver International Airport (19 miles closer!), both sets of measurements were taken relatively far from the actual urban area, which is generally a few degrees warmer than the surrounding areas, and gets a different amount of precipitation. NOAA does have data from Denver Water (near downtown), but it starts in 1997 as opposed to 1981, which is when both Denver's and Allentown's airport data begin. For a consistent comparison, I chose to use the Denver Airport data.

For your enjoyment, here is a map of Denver's new and old airports:

View Denver Airport Locations in a larger map

Data Sources

• Temperature/Precipitation/Snowfall: NOAA
• Denver
• Allentown
• Average Relative Humidity: NOAA
• US Cities
• Mean Daily Sunshine Hours: Hong Kong Observatory
• Denver
• Philadelphia (closest available measurement to Allentown)