This salad is amazing...and cheap.

This napa cabbage salad is so amazing I just had to share it with the world immediately.  I couldn't believe how these ingredients combined to create such a fantastic, cheap, gourmet-tasting dish...and its vegan so all of your friends can enjoy.  Its not gluten-free but nothing is perfect.  Maybe if you found a crunchy replacement for the ramen?

Some changes I made:  Instead of balsamic vinegar I used red wine vinegar and a dash of rice wine vinegar.  I cut the sugar in the dressing down to about 4 tbs. For me, it was enough. I added a quick squirt of agave nectar, but I love experimenting with that stuff, just for flavor.  I added more soy sauce than it suggests, and I used the reduced-salt kind from Yamasa.  I also added a touch of black pepper to the dressing.

A lot of people in the recipe page comments section said that the napa cabbage was yucky but I disagree so I used it.  Some people said they used regular green cabbage.  I suspect that once the dressing is on, both will taste similar so if you only have access to one over the other, don't let that stop you.

For dessert:  Gas-X would be nice.

above the timberline...

One of my lifelong goals has to been to travel to the timberline, where trees will not grow.  Last Saturday, I beat the trees.  

Mt. Hood, up close and personal.

Even more personal....And approximately 7, 000 feet above sea level.

The Timberline Lodge.  Like 7 Springs + 10.

 What's it like up there?  The air is very v e r y thin.  Everything is really quiet because sound doesn't travel very well, and doing anything made me out of breath.

I don't look very happy.  Its more like I probably couldn't breathe.

The walk from the lodge to the timberline is straight up.  Do you want to recreate my experience?  Turn up your air conditioner and get on a stair stepper for about an hour and a half. Breathe into a plastic bag. 90's style clothing optional.

The photo does it no justice.  In the background you can see the high desert beyond the cascades.  The snow in the foreground is down in an enormous trench.