The air mattress patch did not work. The ground was frigid and hard. It was not a happy night in the tent.
Breakfast was granola cereal, then Robert went off to catch a fish, I think i found a three inch tape worm? in the lake and then set up my hammock. I curled up in it with a couple books, some water and a blanket and promptly went to sleep for about three hours. I awoke confused, but well slept finally. Then it started raining, apparently a daily afternoon occurrence. Robert grilled eggplant while I chopped a salad. It was tasty. Then we took another nap in the tent (we got caught there when it continued raining unexpectedly, so we made the most of it).
Our only notable occurrence of the day was our short walk around the lake. We finally bothered exploring and we were rewarded with a deer sighting and a rabbit sighting. The rabbit even stuck around to have his picture taken.
Then, dinner. Robert wanted to make something to break-in the Dutch oven he inherited, so we attempted chicken and dumplings (minus the chicken). He manned the fire, I chopped the veggies, we spiced it together and collaborated on the dumplings. In my opinion, it was the best thing we have eaten so far. We started with butter, garlic and onions, then added six cups of veggie broth. We added cream of mushroom soup to the broth to thicken it. We put in carrots and potatoes first. Then added kale, zuke and fresh mushrooms. Then we spiced the hell out of it (cumin, salt, soy sauce, and of course loads of black pepper). The dumplings were made with two cups bisquick and two-thirds cup milk and lots of spices themselves. We put coals on top of the lid to help cook and brown the dumplings. (can you tell that we want to be able to replicate the dish?) the only thing that we need to fix is that it was more gummy than soupy. It was tasty as hell, but more water needs to be added before the dumplings since the dumplings suck up a fair bit of water. You are jealous that you missed out.
Robert attempted a second patch job on the air mattress, but we put the thermorests underneath incase the patch job failed again. We were warm and only slowly lost air overnight, the mattress lasting until about two? I don't know, it was only okay because of the thermorests. At least we weren't as cold. I now officially hate air mattresses. Jerks!
Recording the adventures of Robert and Jenn since 2010.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Day Twenty: Goodbye Durango
Today we had the house to ourselves since the employed people had to go to work. We meandered our way through packing up and preparing for another stint of camping. We are heading to Alta Lakes or Gold Kings Basin (a game time decision since they are close, both near Telluride, CO). We plan to spend the week camping there for free on National Forest Land, acclimating to the altitude, fishing and chillaxing. At the end of the week we will meet David and friends in Silverton, CO for July 4th camping.
Later...
We decided to camp at Alta Lakes because we couldn't find a good place to set up camp at Gold Kings Basin, despite it being more spectacular and more private. We got camp set up on less than level ground, the sun shelter a good piece away from our tent so as not to attract bears. I was struggling with the fire and fairly willing to give up and go to sleep, but Robert (being the Eagle Scout that he is) prevailed and gave us heat. We got our new Coleman stove up and working, but opted only to reheat tikka masala to make it quick (it was dark and cold even with the fire). The cold raspberry wheat ale from the growler didn't help the cold, but it was tasty.
This is going in my blog moment: Robert found the second lost lens cap, you know the one I felt terrible for losing, in his pocket!
Going to try out our patch job on the air mattress, think good thoughts for us.
Later...
We decided to camp at Alta Lakes because we couldn't find a good place to set up camp at Gold Kings Basin, despite it being more spectacular and more private. We got camp set up on less than level ground, the sun shelter a good piece away from our tent so as not to attract bears. I was struggling with the fire and fairly willing to give up and go to sleep, but Robert (being the Eagle Scout that he is) prevailed and gave us heat. We got our new Coleman stove up and working, but opted only to reheat tikka masala to make it quick (it was dark and cold even with the fire). The cold raspberry wheat ale from the growler didn't help the cold, but it was tasty.
This is going in my blog moment: Robert found the second lost lens cap, you know the one I felt terrible for losing, in his pocket!
Going to try out our patch job on the air mattress, think good thoughts for us.
Day Nineteen: A Lazy Sunday
It was a late morning seeing as I felt like someone had blown off the back of my skull with birdshot when I awoke. We sat around for most of the day, soaking up the Internet and the couch. Then we made an excursion to WallyWorld for groceries. We decided to make Tikka Masala for dinner topped off with mint chutney and naan. It turned out wonderfully. The chutney was a little too spicy, but still tasty. Then it was early to bed since David and Christina had work early in the morning.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Day Eighteen: Engineer Mountain
Today we are hiking Engineer Mountain. It tops out at about 12,900 ft. I'm scared, but we will make it. There has been much discussion about how difficult the hike is, scaling boulders near the top to get to the summit, and Robert and I are sure to be affected by the altitude. Hopefully I will be able to report back later...if we make it back down.
Later...
The first part of the hike was nice. It was long switchbacks through diverse vegetation, lots of cool flowers including Columbines, which we enjoyed taking pictures of. There were also this strange plants that looked like dry land kelp to me, broad leaves all the way up a thick stalk. The hike was still difficult though and we stopped frequently to rest and catch our breath.
The second part of the trail proved much more difficult seeing as it basically went straight up the mountain. You can see the summit and little people walking around, which was cool but daunting. We tied Cooper to a tree because the summit trail is too difficult for him. The trail began through a snowy patch that most descenders decided to butt-sled down. It was understandably difficult to pass through and left my hands nearly frozen. The next part was again steep and slippery with lots of loose rock. Quickly I became the last in our group and then decided that it was too steep and too slippery for my liking so I crab crawled back down the mountain. I went back to hang out with Cooper while the others finished the climb. Curse my fear of heights and death. The others enjoyed the hike up, admitting that it got even hairier later as you had to boulder over a few places next to sheer drops.
We hiked back out, cleaned up and went out for happy hour drinks and food. First we went to The Office for red wine, then to Carvers for raspberry wheat ale, then the Irish Embassy for a car bomb, then Purple Haze for music and some light dancing. It was a long night. (but we had a blast!)
Later...
The first part of the hike was nice. It was long switchbacks through diverse vegetation, lots of cool flowers including Columbines, which we enjoyed taking pictures of. There were also this strange plants that looked like dry land kelp to me, broad leaves all the way up a thick stalk. The hike was still difficult though and we stopped frequently to rest and catch our breath.
The second part of the trail proved much more difficult seeing as it basically went straight up the mountain. You can see the summit and little people walking around, which was cool but daunting. We tied Cooper to a tree because the summit trail is too difficult for him. The trail began through a snowy patch that most descenders decided to butt-sled down. It was understandably difficult to pass through and left my hands nearly frozen. The next part was again steep and slippery with lots of loose rock. Quickly I became the last in our group and then decided that it was too steep and too slippery for my liking so I crab crawled back down the mountain. I went back to hang out with Cooper while the others finished the climb. Curse my fear of heights and death. The others enjoyed the hike up, admitting that it got even hairier later as you had to boulder over a few places next to sheer drops.
We hiked back out, cleaned up and went out for happy hour drinks and food. First we went to The Office for red wine, then to Carvers for raspberry wheat ale, then the Irish Embassy for a car bomb, then Purple Haze for music and some light dancing. It was a long night. (but we had a blast!)
Day Seventeen: A Taste of Durango
We woke up and spent some quality time on the Internet. Then we went to Carvers Brewing Company for breakfast. I had a tasty bloody Mary and an avocado burrito that was killer (way better than then previous night's Tex-Mex at Tequilas). Then on to a camera store to get replacement lens caps; we have managed to lose two lens caps! This time we got replacements with a clever elastic strap so the lens is physically attached to the camera.
Then Robert, David, Cooper (dog) and I went on a short hike near Molas Pass and Little Molas Lake. It was beautiful. The terrain wasn't too hard, but Robert and I were sucking some serious wind. We stopped halfway and enjoyed the view and sitting for a while. On our way down, a storm started approaching, it had some pretty gnarly thunder and lightning and it looked like the black clouds were melting into the mountains. We scurried down to the treeline and felt the first raindrops right as we reached the car. Robert picked up a book called from Dirt to Plate, all about foraging wild plants. I have read it just a little, but I was eyeing the dandelion greens with interest as we hiked.
For dinner were grilled lots of veggies, steaks and portabellas. David and Christina's friend Jolly came over to help us eat and drink and be merry. We tried to watch more Benjamin Button, but quickly retired because we were exhausted.
Then Robert, David, Cooper (dog) and I went on a short hike near Molas Pass and Little Molas Lake. It was beautiful. The terrain wasn't too hard, but Robert and I were sucking some serious wind. We stopped halfway and enjoyed the view and sitting for a while. On our way down, a storm started approaching, it had some pretty gnarly thunder and lightning and it looked like the black clouds were melting into the mountains. We scurried down to the treeline and felt the first raindrops right as we reached the car. Robert picked up a book called from Dirt to Plate, all about foraging wild plants. I have read it just a little, but I was eyeing the dandelion greens with interest as we hiked.
For dinner were grilled lots of veggies, steaks and portabellas. David and Christina's friend Jolly came over to help us eat and drink and be merry. We tried to watch more Benjamin Button, but quickly retired because we were exhausted.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Day Sixteen
Let me start by finishing last night. As we got into New Mexico, we hit a pretty terrible storm. Driving rain and strong winds. Rob was worried about the SnugTop, but it held fast and there was no where to stop to weather the storm anyways, just miles of desert. Eventually we passed through the storm and got into a beautiful sunset. We decided to press on to El Porvenir, despite the possibility of more rain.
At some point I made a fatal mistake. We stopped at a gas station and I was craving Hot Tamales, there were none to be found so I opted for Junior Mints. Once we were back on the road, I was reviewing the nutritional information to see how many corn products were in them and how many empty calories I was about to enjoy, when I noticed...gelatin was the final ingredient. (I'm sure you knew this one already, Amanda, but you know I have a very selective memory.) I was appalled and downtrodden. This would have been my first candy of the trip. Now it sat at the floorboards, narrowly escaping angry foot stomping. (When we stopped next, Robert went in claiming, "I am really thirsty." He came out with a bag of Hot Tamales. What a charmer.)
Driving to El Porvenir was interesting, the houses kept getting poorer and poorer, the road more and more narrow, steeper and winding. It was about dusk when we finally found the campsite and trailhead. We got out of the car to look around and immediately didn't feel right. There was a seemingly abandoned suburban at the trailhead, the road up to the campsite was closed and graffitied with "Why?," a nearby house was blaring strange music, and not a soul was camping at the campsite. We walked the entire loop, eyes darting, me glued to Robert's side, Robert with his shotgun slung over a shoulder, that's how creeped out we felt. We conferred a bit and eventually decided that we would rather not camp there, despite it being almost 10:00pm with no hope for an alternate campsite for miles. It just didn't feel right. As we were leaving, the creepy music shut off abruptly and the abandoned car had mysteriously disappeared, good decision.
We decided to head to Taos where we would both surely feel more comfortable camping. We had about an hour and a half drive ahead of us. I took it since Robert had driven us for the last five hours? Something like that. We took 518 over, a small winding mountain road, it was difficult and slow going. Finally, Taos. On through to our next prospective campsite: El Sombra in the Carson National Forest. The road again became a winding nightmare, with the added bonus of deer and elk along the road! One was even newly dead, laying serenely in the road. Sad.
We kept driving and kept driving. It was supposedly 15 miles, but 15 came and still no campsite. Eventually I got so tired that I gave up on finding the campsite. It was getting dangerous for me to be driving and Robert wasn't any better. We found a wide pullout and parked. The tent fit between the truck and the fence line pretty well. It would have to do for the night. We got out long unders and hats because the temperature had dropped considerably. I think it was low fifties when we hit the sack, securing one edge of the fly in the car door because the ground was unstakable. As soon as we were zipped into our bags, we plunged into sleep and it was great. It was both of our first times as roadside campers, more contingency planning in the future.
We woke in full sun with cars zooming by, oh yea, maybe this is why most don't opt to camp by roads. Hmm. Drove into Taos for a triple espresso and chai tea fix. (see if you can guess who got what) Next we pulled our bikes off the truck and pedaled our way to breakfast at The Bean. It was so tasty. I got my deluxe breakfast burrito smothered in Christmas salsa (half red, half green, both excellent). Next more pedaling back to town square and window shopped for an hour. Notable were the outdoor shop, where we chatted with a friendly guy about how lost we got the night before (we literally drove those 15 mi in the opposite direction), correct size of a pack for me, and then he stopped us to chat about Surley's, and the Moby Dickenson Bookshop where Robert got a fly fihsing book and a guide to edible plants in the Rockies and I got a lonely planet, southeast asia on a shoestring and a notion that maybe I would like to run a bookstore one day.
Now driving up to Durango, just passed the 10K ft mark. Serious elk country, gorgeous meadows surrounded by pockets of forests of pine fir and Aspen, we think. Just pulled off to get some pictures of the view and spoke with another motorist who just had to stop so a brown bear could cross. More bears! These sound more dangerous though - don't fight back, just play dead, completely at their mercy. Sweet. Going to pay attention to the drive now.
Later...
Got to Durango. Had a hot shower, started some laundry, went out for Mexican food and a margarita, slept in a real bed - I feel almost like I'm not on a crazy camping trip. We watched Benjamin Button until too late. It was quite nice to curl up on a soft couch that didn't resemble a log or a rock or the ground.
At some point I made a fatal mistake. We stopped at a gas station and I was craving Hot Tamales, there were none to be found so I opted for Junior Mints. Once we were back on the road, I was reviewing the nutritional information to see how many corn products were in them and how many empty calories I was about to enjoy, when I noticed...gelatin was the final ingredient. (I'm sure you knew this one already, Amanda, but you know I have a very selective memory.) I was appalled and downtrodden. This would have been my first candy of the trip. Now it sat at the floorboards, narrowly escaping angry foot stomping. (When we stopped next, Robert went in claiming, "I am really thirsty." He came out with a bag of Hot Tamales. What a charmer.)
Driving to El Porvenir was interesting, the houses kept getting poorer and poorer, the road more and more narrow, steeper and winding. It was about dusk when we finally found the campsite and trailhead. We got out of the car to look around and immediately didn't feel right. There was a seemingly abandoned suburban at the trailhead, the road up to the campsite was closed and graffitied with "Why?," a nearby house was blaring strange music, and not a soul was camping at the campsite. We walked the entire loop, eyes darting, me glued to Robert's side, Robert with his shotgun slung over a shoulder, that's how creeped out we felt. We conferred a bit and eventually decided that we would rather not camp there, despite it being almost 10:00pm with no hope for an alternate campsite for miles. It just didn't feel right. As we were leaving, the creepy music shut off abruptly and the abandoned car had mysteriously disappeared, good decision.
We decided to head to Taos where we would both surely feel more comfortable camping. We had about an hour and a half drive ahead of us. I took it since Robert had driven us for the last five hours? Something like that. We took 518 over, a small winding mountain road, it was difficult and slow going. Finally, Taos. On through to our next prospective campsite: El Sombra in the Carson National Forest. The road again became a winding nightmare, with the added bonus of deer and elk along the road! One was even newly dead, laying serenely in the road. Sad.
We kept driving and kept driving. It was supposedly 15 miles, but 15 came and still no campsite. Eventually I got so tired that I gave up on finding the campsite. It was getting dangerous for me to be driving and Robert wasn't any better. We found a wide pullout and parked. The tent fit between the truck and the fence line pretty well. It would have to do for the night. We got out long unders and hats because the temperature had dropped considerably. I think it was low fifties when we hit the sack, securing one edge of the fly in the car door because the ground was unstakable. As soon as we were zipped into our bags, we plunged into sleep and it was great. It was both of our first times as roadside campers, more contingency planning in the future.
We woke in full sun with cars zooming by, oh yea, maybe this is why most don't opt to camp by roads. Hmm. Drove into Taos for a triple espresso and chai tea fix. (see if you can guess who got what) Next we pulled our bikes off the truck and pedaled our way to breakfast at The Bean. It was so tasty. I got my deluxe breakfast burrito smothered in Christmas salsa (half red, half green, both excellent). Next more pedaling back to town square and window shopped for an hour. Notable were the outdoor shop, where we chatted with a friendly guy about how lost we got the night before (we literally drove those 15 mi in the opposite direction), correct size of a pack for me, and then he stopped us to chat about Surley's, and the Moby Dickenson Bookshop where Robert got a fly fihsing book and a guide to edible plants in the Rockies and I got a lonely planet, southeast asia on a shoestring and a notion that maybe I would like to run a bookstore one day.
Now driving up to Durango, just passed the 10K ft mark. Serious elk country, gorgeous meadows surrounded by pockets of forests of pine fir and Aspen, we think. Just pulled off to get some pictures of the view and spoke with another motorist who just had to stop so a brown bear could cross. More bears! These sound more dangerous though - don't fight back, just play dead, completely at their mercy. Sweet. Going to pay attention to the drive now.
Later...
Got to Durango. Had a hot shower, started some laundry, went out for Mexican food and a margarita, slept in a real bed - I feel almost like I'm not on a crazy camping trip. We watched Benjamin Button until too late. It was quite nice to curl up on a soft couch that didn't resemble a log or a rock or the ground.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Day Ten, Eleven and Twelve: Backcountry
Day Ten: We hiked out from Polls Gap five miles to backcountry campsite 41. A pleasant hike downhill, dreading the inevitable return trip. Enjoyed starting my very first personal fire all on my own - Robert helped a little, but let it be my baby. It started like a champ and warded off the bugs. Ate Pasta Primavera (alpine back country dehydrated food) and curry lentil soup mix for dinner. Got water from the stream for cooking, just boiled it. Used the clever bear bag system to hang our packs overnight.
Sat by the fire digesting until we saw we had visitors. Three sets of eyes in the dark about twenty yards off. Quickly alerted Robert, turned on headlamps to find nothing. Then the eyes opened again. Crap! They were moving and quickly, the eyes were closer now. Robert was dubious that the eyes would shine without our lights on, so he guessed there was someone coming down the trail, shining a light. Headlamps on...no one...headlamps off...eyes. Breathing quickened, scrabbled closer to Robert - this is black bear country.
Lightning bugs.
Still didn't sleep that night and to add insult to injury one of those little guys hit me in the face and lit up in my eye to freak me out again at which point we retired to our protective nylon covering (the tent).
Day Eleven: Day hiked an eight mile loop. 2.3 miles straight up. Found our first bona fide bear tracks, bear scat too. Hike up was Tough. Survived. Pandered for a pot of water at The Swag (a swank resort that parallels the park by Hemphill Bald). Felt like a dork sitting on park land watching the wedding preparations on the other side of the fence. We even put out head nets on the bugs were so thick, I'm sure we made a great backdrop to their fancy pictures! Bald = a bald, grassy spot on to of the mountain. It was picturesque so we took pictures. Easier downhill back to camp. Camp was full of scouts preparing for Philmont. Don't mind us, we are just going to chill our beers in the stream. Best idea ever! Much more sleep seeing as the camp was teeming with people and no bear would dare to mess with us with those odds.
Day Twelve: Dreaded uphill hike out. Turned out to be not so bad. I just had to breath after every step and let Robert trail ahead of me so he wouldn't see me cringe at every step uphill. We made it out around noon and planned to hit up Clingman's Dome, highest point in the park, but the road was still under construction. I started to feel incredibly car sick. We found a place to stop and it was literally difficult for me to walk from car to picnic table with out hurling (sorry Amanda). I sat there, head down, until Robert forced me to eat our lunch of Pb&J tortillas. In ten minutes, my outlook changed and I was fine. Apparently my body wanted more food. Car sickness hasn't been that bad since thank God.
Drove into Gaitlinburg to get groceries and call the dads for Father's Day; Gaitlinburg proves it's worth- cell service and fresh veggies.
Dinner of green curry finally! Bucket shower after dark. Illegal, but it felt so good.
Sat by the fire digesting until we saw we had visitors. Three sets of eyes in the dark about twenty yards off. Quickly alerted Robert, turned on headlamps to find nothing. Then the eyes opened again. Crap! They were moving and quickly, the eyes were closer now. Robert was dubious that the eyes would shine without our lights on, so he guessed there was someone coming down the trail, shining a light. Headlamps on...no one...headlamps off...eyes. Breathing quickened, scrabbled closer to Robert - this is black bear country.
Lightning bugs.
Still didn't sleep that night and to add insult to injury one of those little guys hit me in the face and lit up in my eye to freak me out again at which point we retired to our protective nylon covering (the tent).
Day Eleven: Day hiked an eight mile loop. 2.3 miles straight up. Found our first bona fide bear tracks, bear scat too. Hike up was Tough. Survived. Pandered for a pot of water at The Swag (a swank resort that parallels the park by Hemphill Bald). Felt like a dork sitting on park land watching the wedding preparations on the other side of the fence. We even put out head nets on the bugs were so thick, I'm sure we made a great backdrop to their fancy pictures! Bald = a bald, grassy spot on to of the mountain. It was picturesque so we took pictures. Easier downhill back to camp. Camp was full of scouts preparing for Philmont. Don't mind us, we are just going to chill our beers in the stream. Best idea ever! Much more sleep seeing as the camp was teeming with people and no bear would dare to mess with us with those odds.
Day Twelve: Dreaded uphill hike out. Turned out to be not so bad. I just had to breath after every step and let Robert trail ahead of me so he wouldn't see me cringe at every step uphill. We made it out around noon and planned to hit up Clingman's Dome, highest point in the park, but the road was still under construction. I started to feel incredibly car sick. We found a place to stop and it was literally difficult for me to walk from car to picnic table with out hurling (sorry Amanda). I sat there, head down, until Robert forced me to eat our lunch of Pb&J tortillas. In ten minutes, my outlook changed and I was fine. Apparently my body wanted more food. Car sickness hasn't been that bad since thank God.
Drove into Gaitlinburg to get groceries and call the dads for Father's Day; Gaitlinburg proves it's worth- cell service and fresh veggies.
Dinner of green curry finally! Bucket shower after dark. Illegal, but it felt so good.
Day Nine
Local day hike up Bradley Creek so Robert could fish with his license and unnecessary stamp. Despite sliding down a steep embankment and losing Robert completely for a while, it was a good day through and through. Started playing with the camera more, taking pictures of moths eating horse poop most notably. Played in the stream while Robert fished or wrote in my journal. Headed home when he lost a fly, skunked. :(
Potato soup for dinner (nod to you, mom...it's the Bear Creek soup mix you gave me eons ago). It was tasty after lots of black pepper...a trend you might notice.
Potato soup for dinner (nod to you, mom...it's the Bear Creek soup mix you gave me eons ago). It was tasty after lots of black pepper...a trend you might notice.
Day Eight
Drove to Waynesville, NC to find Internet via the one way scenic road out from Balsam. Given directions to the public library and the best BBQ in NC from some Okies we met in the bathroom parking lot at Balsam. They talked up the baby back ribs so much that we didn't have the heart to tell them that we had packed ourselves a tabouli lunch and that I only ate vegetables. Lovely drive. Managed to find Waynesville, despite the repetitious and ever-changing directions. Eventually found the library after asking at two different gas stations. Did the Internet thing for a while until we were both done with it for a while.
Headed off to find the walmart so we could get a few things. By the end of the whole walmart debacle we were done being in a town. The man insisted Robert get a trout stamp, even though he knew it was not required for fishing in the park. The pharmacy gave him hell about filling a prescription. The checkout man clammed up when I tried to make small talk with him, etc. We were just done. Forgot father's day card so we had to go back, then I couldn't find my stamps so we had to make another stop at the office of posting. Ughh. Closed. Robert panhandled for a stamp to no avail, instead got directions to a gas station selling stamps. Whew and we were outta there. Dinner was leftover stir fry and more Mac and cheese and peas, random but tasty.
Headed off to find the walmart so we could get a few things. By the end of the whole walmart debacle we were done being in a town. The man insisted Robert get a trout stamp, even though he knew it was not required for fishing in the park. The pharmacy gave him hell about filling a prescription. The checkout man clammed up when I tried to make small talk with him, etc. We were just done. Forgot father's day card so we had to go back, then I couldn't find my stamps so we had to make another stop at the office of posting. Ughh. Closed. Robert panhandled for a stamp to no avail, instead got directions to a gas station selling stamps. Whew and we were outta there. Dinner was leftover stir fry and more Mac and cheese and peas, random but tasty.
Day Seven
Awoke and moved campsites to a better location. Set up sun shelter in a choice spot only marginally blocking a walkway (campsite was sparsely populated so no worries). This was day one of eating less and working more so we had a small breakfast and attacked the FitDeck (nod to you, Josh). I'm sure our neighbors thought us a little strange, stretching synchronizedly on my big green blanket, but we didn't mind. Then it started raining, a lot (nod to you, Ben). We holed up in the shelter, me to read and Robert to write. Ranger came round at the end of the storm to ask us to move our sun shelter...unless we had kids...I don't know how that figured into things, but we don't, so we grudgingly moved. Quiet night.
Day Thirteen
Today we went looking for waterfalls. We started at Laurel Falls, a simple 1.3 mile hike along paved trail off 441, the main cross-park thoroughfare. The accessibility was not lost on The Masses. The trail was clogged with families with small children, grandparents with canes and teenagers decked out in bikinis. This was not our cup of tea, but we pressed on to see what was touted as the tallest falls in the park. Rob dealt with the crowd by walking as fast as is humanly possible in sandals. "Excuse us," was heard repeatedly as we flew up the trail. One amusing sign along the way was: Caution. High vertical drops. Falling deaths have occurred. Control children. We got to the top shortly and were wholly disappointed. The falls were less than spectacular, water just slipping over a jumble of rocks, made even less spectacular by the hordes of children playing in the water and parents taking postcard shots of their chitlins by the "falls." We asked a man to take our picture though, climbing up next to the falls like everybody else. He handed the camera back to us apologetically, "I couldn't figure out how to zoom." We are in the frame and so are the falls, so we were satisfied.
We decided to drive to the Rainbow Falls trailhead before eating our tabouli lunch, so off we went. After a stop in Gatlinburg so I could call Benboy for his birthday, we found the trailhead disappointingly jammed with cars like Laurel Falls. We were surprised since this falls requires a 2.7 miles hike in. We decided to try it anyways. Like a good omen, Robert spotted a three and a half foot long black snake. He was very tolerant of our picture taking and didn't even really want to move away from the trail when Robert poked him with a stick. He did eventually move though back to his tree stump home and then rattled his little tail out his hole like bait trying to attract a meal. It was cool and a great start to a hike.
Around the next corner we got another treat. We met a father/daughter pair and asked about trail usage to find out that there were actually not too many people on the trail, the falls were worth the hike, and they had seen a bear a mere .8 miles up the trail! My face lit up like Christmas in June I'm sure because we hadn't seen a bear yet, despite all the talk about them. I practically ran up the trail.
Despite Robert's and my best efforts, we spotted only Beardeercats. Eventually we gave up and picked up our pace. Notable along the trail were the occasional log bridges helping us cross the stream we were chasing up the hill. Life Lesson 21: waterfall trails tend to go uphill. On one such bridge, Robert managed to knock his camera lens cover loose and it dropped into the stream. There was an exciting sequence of events as he made chase since it got stuck by a rock for a bit before rushing downstream to find a new home (first casualty of the trip). This would have been a bummer except that it got us down to the stream where we found scads of salamanders playing at the juncture between air and water. We spent a good thirty minutes taking their picture, chasing them (Robert was successful!), and trying to feed hapless flies, of which there were many, to terrified spider friends.
Once the flies became too obnoxious we continued on our merry way, neither of us much remembering that the camera lens was now dangerously exposed. It took us a fair bit longer to reach the falls, but it was entirely worth the walk! The water came cleanly off a forty foot precipice and dropped onto an exposed rock ledge. We of course climbed up to it to take an impromptu shower. How can you blame us? Beautiful waterfall, no other people in sight, no proper shower in over a week and no promise of one to come...it was inevitable and wonderful. We even waited around for the sun to dry our sweat soaked shirts so they were warm and dry for the hike down.
One final surprise colored our decent...a BEAR! Another set of bikers up asked us if we had seen a bear because they had been told about a sighting early, but we wrote them off as just getting excited for nothing as we ourselves had earlier. Neither of us remembers who saw it first, but an adolescent sized bear was foraging about thirty yards off the trail. He smartly turned around to leave when he saw us, so we were welcome to watch him depart at our leisure. I was giddy. There was a family behind us that I creeped out by snapping at them to alert them of the bear, but they just came closer to show their kid - not afraid in the least. They were locals so they were accustomed to bears. I on the other hand was not and enjoyed it greatly.
We saw another bear on the way down from the trailhead in the car. About five cars were messily stopped in the road and gathered fearfully, but curiously on the shoulder, cameras at the ready. I got out to gawk as well, but the poor bear was hiding behind a tree to get away from the terrifying tourists. I quickly rejoined Robert, too cool to get out and gawk with the rabble he was still sitting in the car.
Dreaming of how were going to cook a big pot of red beans and rice, we returned to our campsite famished to find our stove was leaking propane at an alarming rate. After engineer-boy took it apart, we discovered the broken copper tubing and cursed our luck. Dinner was then prepared using our two backpacking stoves, burning the snot out of the bottom of Robert's thin backpacking pot and smoothed over with a couple of jiggers of whiskey. All and all a great day.
Then we went to bed...to find our air mattress incapable of holding any air. Thermarests saved the night and for once we were glad we brought about two of everything!
We decided to drive to the Rainbow Falls trailhead before eating our tabouli lunch, so off we went. After a stop in Gatlinburg so I could call Benboy for his birthday, we found the trailhead disappointingly jammed with cars like Laurel Falls. We were surprised since this falls requires a 2.7 miles hike in. We decided to try it anyways. Like a good omen, Robert spotted a three and a half foot long black snake. He was very tolerant of our picture taking and didn't even really want to move away from the trail when Robert poked him with a stick. He did eventually move though back to his tree stump home and then rattled his little tail out his hole like bait trying to attract a meal. It was cool and a great start to a hike.
Around the next corner we got another treat. We met a father/daughter pair and asked about trail usage to find out that there were actually not too many people on the trail, the falls were worth the hike, and they had seen a bear a mere .8 miles up the trail! My face lit up like Christmas in June I'm sure because we hadn't seen a bear yet, despite all the talk about them. I practically ran up the trail.
Despite Robert's and my best efforts, we spotted only Beardeercats. Eventually we gave up and picked up our pace. Notable along the trail were the occasional log bridges helping us cross the stream we were chasing up the hill. Life Lesson 21: waterfall trails tend to go uphill. On one such bridge, Robert managed to knock his camera lens cover loose and it dropped into the stream. There was an exciting sequence of events as he made chase since it got stuck by a rock for a bit before rushing downstream to find a new home (first casualty of the trip). This would have been a bummer except that it got us down to the stream where we found scads of salamanders playing at the juncture between air and water. We spent a good thirty minutes taking their picture, chasing them (Robert was successful!), and trying to feed hapless flies, of which there were many, to terrified spider friends.
Once the flies became too obnoxious we continued on our merry way, neither of us much remembering that the camera lens was now dangerously exposed. It took us a fair bit longer to reach the falls, but it was entirely worth the walk! The water came cleanly off a forty foot precipice and dropped onto an exposed rock ledge. We of course climbed up to it to take an impromptu shower. How can you blame us? Beautiful waterfall, no other people in sight, no proper shower in over a week and no promise of one to come...it was inevitable and wonderful. We even waited around for the sun to dry our sweat soaked shirts so they were warm and dry for the hike down.
One final surprise colored our decent...a BEAR! Another set of bikers up asked us if we had seen a bear because they had been told about a sighting early, but we wrote them off as just getting excited for nothing as we ourselves had earlier. Neither of us remembers who saw it first, but an adolescent sized bear was foraging about thirty yards off the trail. He smartly turned around to leave when he saw us, so we were welcome to watch him depart at our leisure. I was giddy. There was a family behind us that I creeped out by snapping at them to alert them of the bear, but they just came closer to show their kid - not afraid in the least. They were locals so they were accustomed to bears. I on the other hand was not and enjoyed it greatly.
We saw another bear on the way down from the trailhead in the car. About five cars were messily stopped in the road and gathered fearfully, but curiously on the shoulder, cameras at the ready. I got out to gawk as well, but the poor bear was hiding behind a tree to get away from the terrifying tourists. I quickly rejoined Robert, too cool to get out and gawk with the rabble he was still sitting in the car.
Dreaming of how were going to cook a big pot of red beans and rice, we returned to our campsite famished to find our stove was leaking propane at an alarming rate. After engineer-boy took it apart, we discovered the broken copper tubing and cursed our luck. Dinner was then prepared using our two backpacking stoves, burning the snot out of the bottom of Robert's thin backpacking pot and smoothed over with a couple of jiggers of whiskey. All and all a great day.
Then we went to bed...to find our air mattress incapable of holding any air. Thermarests saved the night and for once we were glad we brought about two of everything!
Day Fifteen
At about 12:30am this morning, we pulled into Brushy Lake State Park. It is a tiny state park next to a reservoir lake that they don't want you swimming in. My knowledgeable companion told me it's because of a crocodile infestation. After some casting about in the dark, we found a grassy place to pitch our tent. We opted to not put up the rainfly since it was clear skies and stars and a waxing gibbous moon and hotter than...
We awoke this morning to the sun heating up even our very well ventilated tent. The man sitting next to the bathrooms directed me to the better shower facilities and I started getting excited. The bathroom I had found in the dark the night before had been pretty horrendous, but this shower was perfectly adequate! Robert was in a rush to leave, but we flipped a coin: heads we shower, tails we leave and be dirty hippies for another day. Heads!
It was the first proper shower since we left and it was nice. Hot and everything. Now on the way to Las Vegas, NM to camp the night. Tomorrow we plan on climbing Hermit's Peak and driving into Durango, CO.
Later...
Drove all morning, stopped for lunch outside of OK City at this great little family run Italian place called Primo's. We only found it because it had a sad billboard advertising it as "Very affordable. Very Italian." We were quite impressed once we found the place. Their antipasta salad bar was superb, then they gave us bread and oil/vinegar/pepper and then we had two giant pasta dishes that neither of us could even put a dent in. More leftovers, yum!
Next we wandered over to the Hastings next door to use my languishing gift card finally. We got a guide book to Indonesia and Barbara Kingsolver's newest book on tape, Lacuna.
More driving. Flat flat land, big sky, hot. The car thermometer registered 102 Fahrenheit at one point! Four more hours to go for today. It seems interminable.
We awoke this morning to the sun heating up even our very well ventilated tent. The man sitting next to the bathrooms directed me to the better shower facilities and I started getting excited. The bathroom I had found in the dark the night before had been pretty horrendous, but this shower was perfectly adequate! Robert was in a rush to leave, but we flipped a coin: heads we shower, tails we leave and be dirty hippies for another day. Heads!
It was the first proper shower since we left and it was nice. Hot and everything. Now on the way to Las Vegas, NM to camp the night. Tomorrow we plan on climbing Hermit's Peak and driving into Durango, CO.
Later...
Drove all morning, stopped for lunch outside of OK City at this great little family run Italian place called Primo's. We only found it because it had a sad billboard advertising it as "Very affordable. Very Italian." We were quite impressed once we found the place. Their antipasta salad bar was superb, then they gave us bread and oil/vinegar/pepper and then we had two giant pasta dishes that neither of us could even put a dent in. More leftovers, yum!
Next we wandered over to the Hastings next door to use my languishing gift card finally. We got a guide book to Indonesia and Barbara Kingsolver's newest book on tape, Lacuna.
More driving. Flat flat land, big sky, hot. The car thermometer registered 102 Fahrenheit at one point! Four more hours to go for today. It seems interminable.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Day Six
Today was just packing up the car and leaving Bonnaroo. It was hot like always so we made short work of it. Most other cars full of people seemed to have magically disappeared overnight so it was easy getting out of our parking lot space. Most notable story of our retreat from Bonnaroo was our run in with the most excitable cop ever. We were required to leave our front bike tires locked to a fence outside the festival so we couldn't use our bikes during the fest and now we needed to retrieve them. We spent all morning obnoxiously reminding each other so we didn't run off and leave them. Then we proceeded to do just that. The road wasn't cued to go by where we left them anymore! When we realized we had gone too far, we pulled off the road at the first turn off, by the aforementioned copper. We politely explained the situation and he told us to move along regardless. Robert jumped out of the car with his bike keys to go get the tires and screaming began. Cop threatened to call a tow truck on us as I fumbled for my bike key so Robert could unlock both locks I put on the tires. Thankfully, cop was all bark and no bite (he was far too old it seemed to do much more than yell at us loudly). I drove the car down the road a piece...still being verbally accosted by the cop mind you...and parked to wait and hope that Robert could find both the tires and me! We had no means of communication and had not had time to make a reunification plan. Fifteen minutes later he sauntered up, fully successful.
We made our way to the second closest gas station, desperately on fumes at this point. Next was a grocery stop where, despite being helped by a very cheerful woman, we were unable to procure curry paste. We got plenty other tasties, Robert went to pay and I accidentally took his wallet with me to the restroom...and on my trip around the store to find the last few forgotten items. Sorry, babe! (really, if you must know, it was his fault, I didn't even know he had slipped his wallet into my purse!)
On we drove towards the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to recoup after our tiring days in the sun at Bonnaroo. We had no idea what we had to cross through two of the most tourist-trappy towns I have ever experienced: Pigeon Forge and Gaitlinburg. It was a horrible experience, but we managed to come out the other side unscathed. I will try to find the excerpt from Bryson describing the towns because he captures the feel of the towns perfectly.
On to our campsite at Balsam Mountain Campgrounds, selected because it had the greatest elevation (5,200 ft) and ostensibly would be the coolest. It was decidedly lovely. We bucket showered for the first time and it was lovely to be clean, mostly. Bugs were everywhere. Grilled eggplant and it was and excellent appetizer to our stir-fry dinner.
We made our way to the second closest gas station, desperately on fumes at this point. Next was a grocery stop where, despite being helped by a very cheerful woman, we were unable to procure curry paste. We got plenty other tasties, Robert went to pay and I accidentally took his wallet with me to the restroom...and on my trip around the store to find the last few forgotten items. Sorry, babe! (really, if you must know, it was his fault, I didn't even know he had slipped his wallet into my purse!)
On we drove towards the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to recoup after our tiring days in the sun at Bonnaroo. We had no idea what we had to cross through two of the most tourist-trappy towns I have ever experienced: Pigeon Forge and Gaitlinburg. It was a horrible experience, but we managed to come out the other side unscathed. I will try to find the excerpt from Bryson describing the towns because he captures the feel of the towns perfectly.
On to our campsite at Balsam Mountain Campgrounds, selected because it had the greatest elevation (5,200 ft) and ostensibly would be the coolest. It was decidedly lovely. We bucket showered for the first time and it was lovely to be clean, mostly. Bugs were everywhere. Grilled eggplant and it was and excellent appetizer to our stir-fry dinner.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Day Two, continued
Day Two of the Great Adventure culminated in us entering Bonnaroo. After an entire day in the car, Rob and I were grumpy and tired. We also only had about 2 gallons of gas. The empty light came on sometime in line and we refused to lose our spot to get gas! We got our car checked for contraband items and surrendered our front bike tires at the gate, both of which were nerve wracking experiences. We had plenty of glass bottles, which are prohibited, two of which I can think of off hand as being vital to the success of the trip: sesame oil and whiskey. Thankfully the checker man was satisfied by taking our pickles, olives and one of our two jars of peanut butter. Then I had to scurry across multiple lanes of traffic to get to a fence to lock our tires, hopefully to see them again in a few days. Deep breath, wristbands on and away we go to find our camping spot.
I was pretty curious to see how they managed organizing that many people into campsites. Basically, they just ushered us into a slightly spread out parking lot formation with about 20feet between rows. We then set up camp in front of our car. Thankfully, the people beside us didn't have a tent (car sleepers), so it was okay that we unpacked two giant tent like structures. One was Rob's car camping tent, the other was an even bigger sun shelter with mesh sides. It is about seven of my paces across and so large Rob and I can barely move it once it is up. Amusingly enough, we managed to get it set up in the dark for the first time ever without instructions in less than 15 min. Not too shabby.
So now our house is set up and we are ready to go to the festival, granted it is about 10:30pm at this point and all the shows we wanted to see are over. We make our way towards Centeroo (where the music happens) and the people watching begins. Many people who didn't have to wait in line for eight hours have had their fill of the festival for the day and are heading, bleary-eyed, back to their corner of the tent city. We wander about the festival for a while, just to see what we came cross-country to see, but quickly call it a night because we aren't interested in the bands that play the wee hours of the night. As I'm sure I will describe in more depth later, there are people everywhere. Many are sleeping in the grass, or passed out, it's hard to tell the difference. But we head home.
If only we knew where home was! We had a map, but we had no idea where we set up our tent. The tent cities were divided into sections, but everything looked the same, so we had to take a guess. We decided to walk towards section 8 because we remembered seeing a tall balloon marked with an eight on it. We quickly realized 8 was no where near where we remembered leaving our house. So then we just wandered in the general direction of where we though home could be. It was fairly difficult at this point because we both wanted to be home and asleep and done with this bearish day, but we were lost. Finally we found the road we came in on, but there was a fence in our way. I remembered a ghetto fence crossing down the way so we went commando style through someone else's tent city for a while. Robert didn't like this plan, but I was determined. Robert opted to head back to the road to find a proper path, I continued stubbornly with my plan. A few minutes later I triumphantly found the fence crossing and found our tent city, then a while later stumbled upon our tent. Alone. Robert was still out there somewhere, but I just had to wait and hope that he could find his way home too. Eventually he did, with the valuable knowledge of how to use roads to get to and from the festival, but I was done at that point and we both grumpily got into our sweltering tent.
(a good night's sleep did us well, as we awoke ungrumpified with no hard feelings)
I was pretty curious to see how they managed organizing that many people into campsites. Basically, they just ushered us into a slightly spread out parking lot formation with about 20feet between rows. We then set up camp in front of our car. Thankfully, the people beside us didn't have a tent (car sleepers), so it was okay that we unpacked two giant tent like structures. One was Rob's car camping tent, the other was an even bigger sun shelter with mesh sides. It is about seven of my paces across and so large Rob and I can barely move it once it is up. Amusingly enough, we managed to get it set up in the dark for the first time ever without instructions in less than 15 min. Not too shabby.
So now our house is set up and we are ready to go to the festival, granted it is about 10:30pm at this point and all the shows we wanted to see are over. We make our way towards Centeroo (where the music happens) and the people watching begins. Many people who didn't have to wait in line for eight hours have had their fill of the festival for the day and are heading, bleary-eyed, back to their corner of the tent city. We wander about the festival for a while, just to see what we came cross-country to see, but quickly call it a night because we aren't interested in the bands that play the wee hours of the night. As I'm sure I will describe in more depth later, there are people everywhere. Many are sleeping in the grass, or passed out, it's hard to tell the difference. But we head home.
If only we knew where home was! We had a map, but we had no idea where we set up our tent. The tent cities were divided into sections, but everything looked the same, so we had to take a guess. We decided to walk towards section 8 because we remembered seeing a tall balloon marked with an eight on it. We quickly realized 8 was no where near where we remembered leaving our house. So then we just wandered in the general direction of where we though home could be. It was fairly difficult at this point because we both wanted to be home and asleep and done with this bearish day, but we were lost. Finally we found the road we came in on, but there was a fence in our way. I remembered a ghetto fence crossing down the way so we went commando style through someone else's tent city for a while. Robert didn't like this plan, but I was determined. Robert opted to head back to the road to find a proper path, I continued stubbornly with my plan. A few minutes later I triumphantly found the fence crossing and found our tent city, then a while later stumbled upon our tent. Alone. Robert was still out there somewhere, but I just had to wait and hope that he could find his way home too. Eventually he did, with the valuable knowledge of how to use roads to get to and from the festival, but I was done at that point and we both grumpily got into our sweltering tent.
(a good night's sleep did us well, as we awoke ungrumpified with no hard feelings)
Day Two
Sleep was great last night. Thanks to Rob we got horizontal for the night and it was well worth it. Despite rangers buzzing the campsite multiple times, no one asked us to pay...so we didn't. Thanks state park! I didn't feel bad not paying because we didn't even use the restroom facilities, just occupied a six foot by four foot space of ground from 2am to 8:30 am.
Anyways, we are headed to Wallyworld and the completion of our drive shortly after that. What's for BK?
6:15pm, I continue my post in desperation. We began driving this morning at 8:30 trying to finish the last 2.5 hours of the drive to Manchester, TN. After a brief walmart run, We started hitting Bonnaroo traffic at about 12:30. We are still in traffic outside the festival! This is insane, but we are just now starting to move at even a slow pace.
7:29pm, festival entrance in sight. I won't be posting during bonnaroo, so expect my blog to be dark until Monday at the earliest. Take care!
Anyways, we are headed to Wallyworld and the completion of our drive shortly after that. What's for BK?
6:15pm, I continue my post in desperation. We began driving this morning at 8:30 trying to finish the last 2.5 hours of the drive to Manchester, TN. After a brief walmart run, We started hitting Bonnaroo traffic at about 12:30. We are still in traffic outside the festival! This is insane, but we are just now starting to move at even a slow pace.
7:29pm, festival entrance in sight. I won't be posting during bonnaroo, so expect my blog to be dark until Monday at the earliest. Take care!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Day One
We are officially gypsies! We locked up Rob's apartment and parked my car at my parents' place and off we went into the sunset. Well, not so much a sunset as a big rainstorm. We are in Nacogdoches, TX now and it is still raining.
We almost forgot our big pillows and had to stop back by Rob's apt on our way out of town. What did we actually forget? (CHIPS! Thankfully every convenient store has an ample supply.)
The trip still doesn't feel real, but I'm starting to get excited about finally going to Bonnaroo. It starts tomorrow, whether we are there or not. (we will be there, don't worry)
Departure time: 2:08pm
Kamikaze cardinal dies upon collision with the windshield. An unpleasant experience for all involved parties to say the least.
Just hit the AK state line, time: 6:51pm. Moral is improving. Trip is beginning to feel real.
We ended up driving until 2 am and then having to hunt a place to sleep for a while. I was pretty grumpy by the end of it, but Rob was a trooper. Oh and it was raining, which made me all the more determined to sleep in the car. Alas we found the Natchez Trace State Park and through light rain we set up my backpacking tent and passed out to the lulling sound of raindrops overhead.
Tanks of gas: 3
Miles driven: 703
Menu: tortilla/bean taco and salsa, potatoes and peppers from the Kondret Garden panfried, tabouli and fresh tomatoes also from the Kondret Garden topped with the last of our Mother's Cashew Tamari dressing, nacho cheese doritos, barbeque lays stackers, twizzlers. Not a great food day there at the end, but the tabouli was an excellent discovery. We will be eating more of that for sure.
We almost forgot our big pillows and had to stop back by Rob's apt on our way out of town. What did we actually forget? (CHIPS! Thankfully every convenient store has an ample supply.)
The trip still doesn't feel real, but I'm starting to get excited about finally going to Bonnaroo. It starts tomorrow, whether we are there or not. (we will be there, don't worry)
Departure time: 2:08pm
Kamikaze cardinal dies upon collision with the windshield. An unpleasant experience for all involved parties to say the least.
Just hit the AK state line, time: 6:51pm. Moral is improving. Trip is beginning to feel real.
We ended up driving until 2 am and then having to hunt a place to sleep for a while. I was pretty grumpy by the end of it, but Rob was a trooper. Oh and it was raining, which made me all the more determined to sleep in the car. Alas we found the Natchez Trace State Park and through light rain we set up my backpacking tent and passed out to the lulling sound of raindrops overhead.
Tanks of gas: 3
Miles driven: 703
Menu: tortilla/bean taco and salsa, potatoes and peppers from the Kondret Garden panfried, tabouli and fresh tomatoes also from the Kondret Garden topped with the last of our Mother's Cashew Tamari dressing, nacho cheese doritos, barbeque lays stackers, twizzlers. Not a great food day there at the end, but the tabouli was an excellent discovery. We will be eating more of that for sure.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
An Explanation
For those of you that I haven't spoken to in a while, here's the scoop. I recently finished my first and last year as a seventh grade science teacher at KIPP Austin College Prep in Austin. I have moved out of my Austin apartment and all of my worldly possessions are currently back in The Woodlands. From these possessions I am trying to select a very small subset that will support me on a cross-US camping adventure, which starts...tomorrow! Rob (boyfriend) and I will set out tomorrow morning for Bonnaroo, a music festival in Manchester, TN. After four days camping and listening to great music with 90,000 of our closest friends, we will visit the Smoky Mountains and then head west to Durango, CO to visit Rob's brother. After that, our itinerary is purposefully wide open. That's the short story.
You might also be interested to know that the only bits of technology I will be taking are my brand new iPad and my camera. This does present some challenges: no, I don't have a phone. I am working on the best system of communication, so please be patient with me. I will be on Facebook chat and google chat fairly regularly, also email will never fail you. Aside from that, I'm working on it.
Ok. It's time to continue the crazy amount of packing there is still left to do. First on the list is to get a bike rack lock so our lovely Surlys don't get stolen.
You might also be interested to know that the only bits of technology I will be taking are my brand new iPad and my camera. This does present some challenges: no, I don't have a phone. I am working on the best system of communication, so please be patient with me. I will be on Facebook chat and google chat fairly regularly, also email will never fail you. Aside from that, I'm working on it.
Ok. It's time to continue the crazy amount of packing there is still left to do. First on the list is to get a bike rack lock so our lovely Surlys don't get stolen.
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