Camping on the trailhead....(a checklist)

Last month in Colorado, we decided to do a primitive camp. Even though I'd grown up camping almost every National Park in the states, my parents had never just driven through the mountains, picked a spot miles away from civilization, and set up camp before.
The purpose of this week in Colorado was actually a hiking trip, and we hiked about 50 miles over three days. Our biggest feat was climbing to the summit of Mt. Elbert. Last winter we began researching the trail, and what we needed to do to prepare.
We found out that if we camped on the trailhead, we'd shave some time off our hike that day. Considering Elbert is the 2nd tallest mountain in the contiguous United States, and the tallest mountain in the Rockies, we decided this was the best option. So we drove as far as we could get in our car (you need a 4WD vehicle to access this trail, period) and found a spot to call it a night.





We drove through beautiful Aspen trees so thick I could barely see through them.
This spot on the trail was far as we could get in Petey. Up ahead was a creek with huge boulders in it, and we had to stop here for the night. I was a little worried about being miles away from the nearest person, but we had no time to worry, and lots of work setting up camp before it got dark.

Camping enthusiasts, here is a quick checklist of the most important supplies to bring along if you're camping.

Don't forget to bring:

-warm clothing
-lots of sleeping bags and blankets

The temperatures reached the 30's at night, so we packed a gaggle of warm clothes, and lots of blankets. We brought one sleeping bag to open up and lay on, and one for on top. We also brought sheets and fleece throws for extra warmth.



-lighters/matches
-fire starters
-firewood





If your area does not allow gathering of wood (most National Parks don't) you need to bring your own. Since we were in the middle of nowhere, we were able to gather wood.

-plenty of food
-cooking gear

We had an ice chest with sandwich meat, eggs, fruit, and juice inside. Some places we've camped have bear safety boxes to keep your food inside of. If there are bears in your area, please please please do not keep ANY food or throw scraps around your site. Recently a family was killed in Yellowstone by a bear, and it's a very reasonable threat when you're camping. We keep everything inside our car, and burn off all our scraps in the fire. If we need to wash out dishes, we walk away from our site to a stream to do so.
For cooking, you need something to make the food in. Since we did primitive camp, we made our own fire ring out of rocks, and obviously didn't have a grill to work with. We brought a cast iron skillet from home, and also have used foil packets in the past. If there is water near by, you can do dishes, but we didn't want to bother. So we brought paper plates and forks, and burned them in the fire when we were done.
Please don't forget supplies for smores. Camping is not camping without them.

-tarps
-camping equipment
-a mallet/hammer
-stakes for tent
-rope



It almost always rains in the mountains. We take one tarp to lay underneath our tent, and one to make a canopy above. Michael is the tent builder, and I always work inside to get our bedding and main living area ready while he works away to keep us dry at night.



Obviously you don't want to forget your tent :) We also bring a Coleman propane lantern that has been in our family for ages. Flashlights, headlamps, an air mattress, knives, and chairs come along, as well.

-bug spray
-gallon jugs of water
-soap
-baby wipes
-ziplock bags

Those are your bathing needs. The gallon jugs work great for washing your hands and face when you need a quick rinse. Walk to a nearby stream if you have a bit more time.




The water was FREEZING!

The baby wipes are a less than appealing story. Primitive camp means no showers, toilets, or toilet paper. It also means that you bury your poop. Which translates to pooping in the woods. It's really not as bad as it sounds. Rest easy knowing that most people only poop once a day, especially with the kind of dense, nutritional food you eat on a hiking/camping trip. Unfortunately for me, I poop at least 3 times a day. This is why I left my modesty in Oklahoma, and bought economy size packages of baby wipes for the trip.
They come in pretty handy when you don't have showers around, and every night we camp I take a baby wipe bath. Ziplock bags just mean that you get to confine your dirty wipes to a bag until you can get to a trash can. They're not just for dirty butt purposes, either. My feet get so incredibly dusty and dirty when we camp, and I love climbing into a cozy bed with clean feet for the night.



When I have the chance I can't wait to share all the stories and pictures from this wonderful trip.

Happy camping, friends.

It's Here! // D o F u n S t u f f.

Hi, friends.
One of my favorite blogs is Ryan's, over at Pacing The Panic Room. He's been working with a few artists to put together a charity album for Littlest Buddy, who has been diagnosed with Smith Magenis Syndrome. All the proceeds will go to research for SMS.

So Long I'm Six from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.

The album is finally ready, and it's available on Itunes. The song on this video is one of the ones on the album, and it's so sweet and catchy. I am a big fan of the kid/adult friendly music and I can't wait to listen to the rest of it.




Swing by and pick up your copy, and visit Ryan's blog for some wonderful photography and stories about his beautiful family.

Sometimes, life feels stale.

Tomorrow is the second Dustbowl Arts Market, and all my things are packed and ready to go inside the trunks.
These are my favorite pieces I made, this time. Remember the treasures I told you I found in the abandoned house a couple weeks ago? The white signs are cabinet doors that we took from the home.
I was too tempted to keep them for myself, but lately the stress of clutter around the house has made me terribly uneasy.

Tomorrow all my preparing for the last couple months will be done, and I'll start two new projects.

One: a video of our Summer, full of little bits and pieces of memories I have been saving. I have been playing this story in my head for weeks.

Two: our house. I feel overwhelmed at the amount of things sitting around. Some days I just want to push it all into one huge pile: furniture, books, tables, piles of mail, shoes, and rugs. And I just want to push it out the door and live in an empty room on one cushion on the ground.


I feel this way about a lot of things in my life, lately.

I think at the end of every season I feel so stale and uninspired by the monotony of my day-to-day. I feel it something awful in the last few weeks of Winter, but the last few years I am also starting to notice that I have this pestering itch for the seasons to snap and for the burn of Fall to be all around me. We've slept with the windows open the last few days and already I feel life moving through me, again. Filling me with ideas, stories, and big plans for the future.



These were from last week, the day before I broke out in hives. We were out on a friends boat, enjoying the last few weeks of Summer.


Happy weekend, friends. Any wonderful plans?

In a cloud of gray, I'll make my great escape.

"Someday" -Brett Dennen

Jack Johnson gave me Hives.....I'm okay with this.

Since I talk about it constantly, you guys probably know how much I love music, and how it shapes my life. For the last 10 years, one of my big constants has been Jack Johnson. When Michael and I started dating, I was so excited to learn that he had also been listening to Jack for just as long as I had. Minus the complete heart-throbbing love interest in that man and his guitar.

No one ever comes to Oklahoma, but a lot of musicians trail through Dallas. So last night we took a road trip to Texas to see Jack, in the heat.
And guys, it was hot. Really, really hot. I love Summer, and I love hot weather, but Texas on an August day is just about the ugliest thing I've ever seen. The concert was outdoors, and after it decided to stop raining, the sun came out and it got muggy, to the point where it was hard to breathe.
And then Jack came out, and it has hard to breathe all over again.



We got there early, and a couple hours before the concert started, he was out in the main area with his guitar, just singing to the handful of crazy fans that got there early enough to endure the temperatures. I took one (exactly one) picture with my camera before security took it away from me for the rest of the concert.
So my terrible camera phone it was, for the rest of the night.





And then I started itching. And got more and more hot. And hotter. I partially blame this on Jack.



We got out of there right before midnight, and still had a 3 hour drive home. In the car I started getting even more itchy, and noticed I was getting a bit of a rash. "Bit of..." turned into my understatement for the year. The next morning when I work up, I looked like THIS:



Over every inch of my body. My scalp, ears, neck, face, back, stomach, and even my toes were covered in incredibly itchy, swollen welts. The worst part was first waking up, opening my eyes, and realizing they weren't open. They could only crack. And Michael looked at me, and said "oh....you poor thing. you look like you got beat up."

Guys, I never get sick. I never take medication, and a doctor visit is even more rare. The last visit I had was 7 years ago. The last antibiotic I took was closer to 10 years, and the last pill I took period was almost 2 years ago. That means no allergy medicine, no Aspirin for a head ache, no birth control, nothing. But this morning I went to the minor emergency and decided it was time to break my streak. My entire body looks like this, today:



Pretty, right? I'm thinking of writing Jack a letter and telling him that he gave me hives....but it's okay. It was worth it.


There are still a few cities left on his tour, so go see him if you get a chance. 100% of the profits from the tour, merchandise, and his new cd go to charity. He is definitely one of the most admirable musicians out there, and his All at Once organization works towards making the Earth a little bit of a cleaner, more conscience place, one bit at a time.
(the server is down right now, but check back on the website, later)


Also, here are a few videos for you to enjoy. I always have a really hard time picking my favorite songs when ten years have been spent listening to his music, but here are a few:

"Adrift" -Jack. you're welcome, ladies.

"All At Once" -Jack.

"What You Thought You Need" -Jack.

"You And Your Heart" -Jack.

"Better Together" -Jack.

"If I Had Eyes" -Jack.

Kayaking

One of my favorite places to be is out on open water. I love the way it feels when your paddle slices through the current, gliding you along.
It feels like a dance.



We try to fit in kayaking anytime we're on a new adventure near water.



In 2006 we took an 8 day trip to Puerto Vallarta. We hiked in the Sierra Madre mountains, visited small fishing villages, and kayaked along the shore of the Pacific Ocean.
The water was still and warm, and it was one of the most beautiful places we had kayaked.

In May when we visited Florida, I wanted to kayak in the Atlantic. Cousin James advised us that the current wasn't safe, so we reserved our days to surf, instead. But I got antsy to dance in the water, so we took a little road trip to Wekiwa Springs, to get on a kayak and paddle along.

It wasn't like any place we had ever kayaked before. I felt like we were in a sticky jungle, taking guesses at the wild noises we heard coming from the trees. We didn't know if they were monkeys, birds, or the lockness monster.





The water was completely clear, and fifteen feet straight down, it looked like another world, upsidedown. We saw creatures there that we had never seen before. Eels, mysterious fish bigger than anything I'd ever seen, and turtles at least 3 feet long.



And there were alligators. Lots, and lots of alligators. I've never been that close to them in their natural habitat. They just stared at us and disappeared under the water if we got too close.



Mama alligator huffed and puffed when we got too close to her babies on the log.



Did I mention the beautiful water?
I loved it there. And the hours we spent on that adventure, exploring the springs and all the creatures in it.


This was a sweet Summer. We have so many memories that we made in these sticky, hot months.


.....

I'm sorry I've been quiet. Lately it seems that I have put everything aside to just live. I haven't even taken pictures in weeks, which is incredibly abnormal for me.
I won't be gone forever, I just need a few weeks to still breathe in the moments of these memories. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

A little roadtrip to the lake & countryside.

It's the last month of Summer, and I'm still hanging on with everything I've got. With temperatures in the 100's, everyone I know is wishing for scarves and layers.
All I want is to hang tight and slow down these sweet Summer days just a bit.

Yesterday we took a little roadtrip to the lake to go for a swim.









On the way home we stopped at our little fried pie spot that we swing by every time we're down that way. I regretted my fried pies three bites in, and spent the rest of the evening with a queasy stomach.



We decided to take the long way home, and skipped the interstate to take sleepy back roads. We found a few old, abandoned country houses to explore, and drove through tiny towns.





We took home a few treasures from this one.



Including a dress full of stickers, thanks to exploring through overgrown brush.
& a picture of one big, juicy spider.




Backyard Farming Week will be done, eventually. Unfortunately for people who expect things in timely manners, most people that know me well know that "eventually" is the only way to describe how things get done with me. Sorry friends, I have a wandering mind & inability to stick with one thing for too long. And like I always say, life tends to get in the way of my to-do's quite often.


This month I am getting ready for my 2nd Arts Market, and I'll be spending my evenings painting, sewing, and preparing for that.
Things might be a bit quiet around here, but I will still be around.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.