Final Adjustments

Trim adjustments, seat positions, foot rests and straps, gunwhale
pads, decking preparations...the list goes on.

In it to win it

This is Mark's game face.

Ski to Sea Canoeing Practice, 5/27/11

We made it to Seattle and have been camping out in Ben and Mark's
living room. This weekend they are competing in the Ski to Sea relay
race, consisting of seven legs: a cross-country ski, an uphill
run/downhill ski, a road run, a road bike, a canoe and a mountain
bike. Ben and Mark are participating in the tandem canoe portion. They
rented a racing canoe from a shop in Canada and have been training on
a converted rowing machine in their living room. They are seriously
intense. The race is on Sunday in Bellingham and we will be driving up
to cheer them on.

House and boyfriend

We cooked black beans and veggie mix and rice for dinner. It was
delish, especially accompanied by some fine Tres Mujeres tequila to
ward off the chill in the drizzle-soaked air. Welcome to the Pacific
Northwest!! In our most genius move yet, we brought nothing for our
feet, save chacos and wool socks for sleeping. Never again. We ate in
the car and retreated to the tent. We slept warm and dry...enough.
There was water in the tent, but we are still miffed as to wether it
leaks or it is our moist breath condensing on the tent walls.
Annoying, but manageable so far. We might need to upgrade our gear for
drizzle camping.

I snapped this picture just before we dismantled our little tent-house
to drive to our new storage unit. The drive is nearing to a close!
Wa-hooo!

Campsite, 5/25/11

We ended up having to ask directions to a campable spot at the local
store. When the man behind the counter saw me come in, hugging a
torso-sized atlas, he said, "You're in Ashford." That much was clear,
thankfully. When I told him we were looking for Elbe Hills State
Forest Campground, he asked in a wonderfully backwoods accent, "You
goin' wheelin'?" That threw me for a loop, I assumed the answer was
no, but it took my gears a few spins before deciphering a reference to
FOUR-wheelin'. Apparently we had chosen a campsite for people on ATVs,
no wonder the road was shit for a Uhaul truck pulling a car!

The nice guy soon set me straight and recommended a few other spots in
the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. "Just go down past mile marker 4
and no one will bother you there." He tried to describe a few specific
spots that might be nice, but it really seemed like whereever would
do. We were disheartened when all the "pull-outs" he had described
were barely passable in a four-wheel drive truck. Finally though, we
located this choice spot and were able to get our rig off the road
completely.

Hoo hoo

Robert flushed this guy from a nearby tree (to another nearby tree)
while performing trailer gymnastics during our near epic search for
camping near Mt. Rainer National Park. We turned down a road that
devolved into nothingness and had to turn around in a less than
optimal situation. Robert did an amazing job and we got to see this
little guy to...hoot!

Oh shit! There are two!

Robert: "no, THIS is the COOLEST lizard I have ever seen!!!"

Snake kept chasing us, until he found his hole, which we were ingeniously blocking

Snake calmly chased us across the desert

It was really strange. The snake seemed to want to go towards us,
completely unafraid. (the snake was unafraid, Robert was beside
himself)

Second snake of the day, apples placed for scale

(keep in mind, those are crabapples. By my figuring, the snake was at
least 8ft long)

When Robert wants to catch a horny toad, bushes be damned

Then he had to arduously climb back up, on hands and knees because it was so steep.

So intense, in fact, that it blew Robert off the top!

The wind was intense at the top of the Big Dune

Lizard: "they'll never find me here!"

Second lizard Robert deemed, "the coolest lizard I have ever seen"

First lizard that Robert identified as, "the coolest lizard I have ever seen!"

Scenery, the dunes are to the right

Bird that I erroneously called a flicker, actually a meadowlark

Call sounds like....damn. I forgot, but it was distinctive and served
as our alarm clock both mornings we were here.

Robert and the ravens' nest

Snake that challenged Robert's decision to use the pisser

Pretty sunset at Bruneau Dunes SP

Rest Day, 5/24/11

A much needed respite from driving, we hiked around Bruneau Dunes
State Park today. We got too much sun and walked too far in terrain
ill-suited to Chacos, but we had a marvelous time. We saw a lot of
wildlife, mostly reptiles, but they more than thrilled us. Robert said
he was satisfied after seeing a snake outside the bathroom and a giant
lizard on the trail, but then came a horned lizard and more big
lizards and then a 3.5 foot snake near the end of our hike and then
more horned lizards and finally a mating pair of horned lizards! Add
climbing to the top of a giant sand dune to the mix and we are happy
campers. Dinner of lentils and veggie mix and rice PLUS chips and
salsa and sour cream PLUS pint-sized PBRs....mmm.

I will post pictures of the adventures soon, just need to upload them.
Next we drive to Washington and plan to camp near Mt. Ranier for a
night before unloading all our crap into a new storage unit.

Bruneau Dunes State Park, 5/23/11

I got attacked by a raven. Nay, two ravens! Before you think I am a
ninny, rush to the nearest world wide web portal and take a gander at
a few pictures of said beasts, making sure to note the scale of the
photos. They are gargantuan. And two of them flew straight at my head
in quick succession, beaks wide, talons barred, squawking angrily.
Have you seen The Birds? This could have been an outtake. I screamed
and hit the deck, narrowly escaping with my eyeballs! I know. I didn't
believe it had happened either. Robert would have been able to give
more details, but he covered his eyes at the last second so as not to
see mine get plucked clean out of my head.

Explanation of the behavior? We are camping at the deserted Equestrian
Camping area of the park and I walked up to the group shelter, which
has been repurposed as a raven's nest. Mama and Papa raven were none
too happy with my ignorant, close-quarters approach.

How ridiculously cool is that though? We are camping next door to two
giant birds, living in an even more giant nest, perhaps with babies
that they will feed tomorrow!!! (We retreated to a campsite a little
ways off so they don't abandon the nest. So much for using the one and
only wind/sun shelter in the Equestrian Camp...

On a side note, we might have also found an owl nest in the same
location. There is a broken board on the shelter, forming a well-worn
hole. Suspicious? Yes. But even more suspicious is what looks like an
owl-pellet, straight out of eighth grade science class, directly below
the hole.

I like nature. A lot. (Ben, what does that look like? An "ilikenature alot"?)

Tomorrow we are taking the day off from driving and I am thrilled.
There will be much raven stalking and there are sand dunes and marshes
and a lake to explore! We also saw a yellow-breasted flicker (not sure
if that is the technical name, but its close enough). Sigh. I am
getting so excited to go on our camping trip!

Did I mention the hoards of mosquitoes that tried to carry me off
while I set up the tent? (It's awesome here!)

Final, final note. We showered and it was glorious.

Inside our trusty steed, it often looks like this

Awaking by Lake Meredith outside of Amarillo, TX, 5/22/11

Happy to be getting on the road, 5/21/11

Driving Continues, Days 2 and 3

Our second day of driving was a marathon event with Robert as runner
and Jenn as principle cheerleader. We made it all the way to Grand
Junction, CO and listened exclusively to Eragon, hoping to finish it
before stopping. We did not, but we were grateful to be able to stop.
We supped on lentils, squash, brok, mush and rice. Our plan to make
meals ahead and add fresh veggies when we heat them up each night has
worked very well. A hot, homemade meal each night does wonders for the
soul while driving and eating cheetos all day.

Sleeping on public lands out by the airport, Robert and I both agree
it was the best night's sleep in quite some time. There is something
about the simplicity and independence of sleeping in a tent, waking to
sunrays just breaking over one mountain range to illuminate a facing
mountain range, that is wildly appealing.

We packed up quickly, located NPR news on the radio and a Starbucks on
the way to the highway. I take advantage of each clean bathroom to
scrub my face and hands in an attempt to feel clean, despite the sharp
odors emanating from my person, revealing the contrary. I think we
will shower in Boise, ID; we bought fancy 3 in 1 Pert Plus in
preparation! (shampoo, conditioner AND soap...crazy!)

Our third day of driving started with me at the helm. We chased
thunderstorms most of the morning, but the worst of the rain remained
over the mountains, sparing our windshield. We have begun an
undeclared, but hotly pursued, battle over gas mileage. It makes
burning through tanks of gas and hours of driving more amusing. My
first turn at the helm resulted in the abysmal rate of 7.29 miles per
gallon, but my last tank of driving was much improved, 9.10 mpg. If
I'm not winning yet, I'm definitely the most improved!!

We traded off more regularly as we crossed through Utah. Driving is
getting much easier and time slips past freely. We finished Eragon,
listened to music for a while, tried out Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale
(too strange), settled briefly onto Kerouac's On The Road (too little
plot development), and have settled on the second book in the Dragon
Girl trilogy by Larsson.

Now Robert is driving and I feel a list is in order.

Sustenance While Driving
Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos
Hummus
Wasa Crackers
Apples
Bananas
Cheese
Chocolate Covered Peanuts
Giant Tootsie Roll
Reduced Sodium Sunflower Seeds
Nutty Buddy Bars (ration of one stick per person per day)
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on potato bread
Dry Roasted Peanuts
Tabouli salad with half cucumber, half bell pepper and two 'maters
Yogurt and bran flakes and various fruits
Green curry (veggie mix: squash, mush, brok) and rice
Lentil soup and above veggie mix
WATER

Driving Notes, Day 1

Hit the road at 9:30am, destination: Amarillo, TX. Robert drove for
five hours. Stopping once to eat tabouli salad and cheesey crackers.
Then I drove for three hours, my first time pulling a trailer. We
listened almost exclusively to Eragon.

We found our campsite easily, we had been here only a month before
when we drove to Boulder, CO. This time was a little different. It was
a Saturday night and the public land was being used by swarms of
ATV/dune buggy/dirt bike riders. They are loud and hard on the land
(broken beer bottles and trash everywhere). Last time we got away from
them by driving deep into the area and camping beyond in less
adulterated land. This time, however, we are driving a Uhaul van,
pulling my car on a trailer, not the best for offroading, but we did
it anyways. The road was hard packed for a while, but soon devolved
into loose sand drifts. We decided to stop. No, that isn't completely
accurate. The sand drift decided we should stop ans when we didn't
listen, it surged up around our tires and made us stop. (Robert got us
totally and helplessly stuck.)

Here would be a great place to insert picture of our rig, mired in the
sand, but thankfully, a knight in shining armor driving a giant white
steed almost immediately rendered assistance. He had us out and on our
way (deeper into the sand trap) in five minutes. He even followed us
to a place where we could turn around and then continued following us
until we got back to the highway. Thank you, man in giant white
truck!!

At this point it was dark and we were parked in an utterly uncampable
situation. We did heat up some dinner to boost moral and it was tasty,
minus the moths that insisted on going for a swim. I really wanted to
just camp right there, but then a car pulled off the highway into our
"campsite" and the man walked to his back bumper and urinated at us.
(In his defense, we were eating our curry dinner in the dark, so maybe
he didnt know we were there.) I did make sure to turn my headlamp on
as he was pulling away to alert him to his blunder, but I'm doubtful
he cared.

Robert set himself to locating a new campsite and actually did an
excellent job. We had to drive to the other side of Lake Meredith (no
water), but we had the place to ourselves and it was clean. We ended
up camping in the parking lot because We missed the camping area sign
in the dark, but it was perfect anyways.

I woke at moonrise, blind, and very confused as to what the giant
glowing orb was, but soon enough I slept like the dead. The perfection
of our campsite was further proven when we awoke to a chorus of birds
serenading us. We walked down to the marsh/lake and noticed it was
perfect red winged blackbird habitat. They were multitudinous. We
broke the fast with bran flakes and yogurt and strawberries and all
were forgiven for getting us stuck in the sand.

(other wildlife sightings: pronghorn antelope, roadrunner, shrike)

Moving Day!

We leave in the morning...