go play outside

i've been busy. not being able to do much on the computer, and not being able to read much has been good for me actually. i have to go out and play to keep myself out of trouble :-)

i like playing in my boat. i just visited a place i really like, and got to visit lewis and clark cove, which was overrun with fisherman the last time i was there. i don't know if it is really called that, but Ann and Lexi say it is. but i am skeptical, because they also tell me that the other end of this lake is called "deepest darkest africa", which makes me think they are full of it.

i also like to hang out with Mutt. he likes to hang out with me, too, unless i am in the mood to make him wear silly things like hats and babushkas. then he just tolerates me. if i put something on him and say "leave it!" he usually does. after i took this picture he was possesed with the urgent need to snuggle up against sarah's leg, therefore dislodging my REI river cap from his head. how would you describe the look on his face????

i went picking strawberries with cathy and marge. that is marge below, with strawberries. i think she is saying "don't you DARE" when i took her picture here. but she did give reluctant permission for me to put it on my blog. she's a good sport. especially on the night that a bunch of us were helping GJ make hay. marge and cathy and i were tossing bales on the wagon while marge's daughter drove the truck. except jenna drove pell mell down the field while Marge (her mom) was still attached to the bale she had just tossed on the wagon. GJ seemed to think it took longer to make hay with us "helping", but i think he never had as much fun making hay without us.

















this is a picture of some boats taken at an outfitters down near john and rosie and bobby nomads' place. one of my favorite places to paddle is on secret creek here. the outfitter is called Shank's Mare, and i mention it because i stole their logo for my blogpost title. if you click on the title, it will take you to their website. their logo has become my mantra. "go play outside"


below is my screen saver. a reminder of where i oughta be if i am idle more than a few minutes :-)

kayak rack part 2

last week, I posted a picture of a sprinter van with an unusual kayak rack that I parked next to in a truckstop in texas. I only got 1 photo that night, and was disappointed when the van drove off early in the morning before I could get more photos.

a couple days ago, I returned to the slabs from a trip to town, and there smack dab in the middle of camp was the sprinter van with the green kayak attached. you'd think I would cease to be surprised at the funky happenings in my life. but I was pretty blown away. the guy remembered me by the "hilltopmusicstore.com" sticker on the side of my van. oh, and yeah, the orange kayak, too!

turns out, he and bob had met at a gathering in tuscon last year, and when he bicycled into camp here at the slabs, bob invited him to join us. he has a really cool rig, and spent a lot of time showing us the modifications he made. bob will be doing an article about it at his
website cheaprvliving.com

I think we convinced reed to join vandwellers, and hope we'll be hooking up with him down the road.

hey!

happy winter solstice season, and all the holidays that occur during this time! my blog is nearing a year old, and what a year! i have been getting lots of nudges about the lack of posts, and i am going to alternately blog about current stuff, and flashback to some of the adventures of the last few months.

one of the most significant happenings was the acquisition of my first kayak. kayaking was something that fascinated me for the last few years, ever since Signe, my son's mentor in adventure school, told me i was born to be in a kayak. but finances were tight, what with a kid to raise and subsequent medical bills for cancer treatment........like many of my dreams, owning a kayak was shelved as "not possible in my lifetime".

well, one of the other significant happenings to me this year was meeting a new friend. an avid kayaker, he introduced me to the powerful zen of paddling on quiet waters, and helped make my dream a reality. the peace and centered-ness i feel on the water is one of the greatest gifts i have ever been given.....second only to the realization that the universe holds infinite possibilities, if we only just reach for them.

so the pic above is sorta like my christmas card to you all. now that the holidays are over and i can catch my breath, i need to decide my next direction. there are so many possibilities, and so many invitations, that deciding is difficult. i trust i'll know the right answer when i see it.....i can tell you it will involve a van, a dog, a kayak, and some of the many new friends i have made this year.......

later!