Fall 2 016

Hi all of you campers out there,  it isn't quite time to quit camping.  We have had a lot of fires in the area but now that the rain has come,  we are cleaning our the air and so camping begins again.  In fact, I am going to be going camping again this weekend at a friend's house in Spokane,  Just a few girls gathered together for some camping and thrift sale shopping and also to get our trailers out and about.  Pictures will soon follow.  I can't tell you enough how much I love camping with girlfriends.  It fills a hole in my heart.  It is fun and I truly feel like I am living life to the fullest when I travel and camp.  So much life to still live, Let's live it.

The Trailer Craze

It all started about a year and a half ago. I was picking up my kid from Boy Scouts and I saw it or it just appeared! To my left I saw a sign that said "For Sale" Trailer $1200.00 I wanted it but I was broke. I started immediately calculating in my head just how much I had stashed away. I always stash money somewhere for something. There was a phone number; it had been warn & tattered. I called the number and a man answered. He said "yaaah". I asked him about the trailer. I told him I was standing in front of it and I would like to see it. I asked him if he would take $1000.00 for it and he said "yaaah" again. He said he was just up the road and that the trailer was his office. It had belonged to a couple who bought it and used it and then stored it for a very long time. Before a few minutes I saw a man coming towards me. He asked if I wanted to see the trailer and I said Yes...although in my mind I was doing the Napoleon Dynomite thing and saying"Heck Yes I would". I know you are never suppose to get excited when you want to buy something really bad. I stepped up inside the door and lo and behold; my Imagination started going wild. I'm an artist and my mind sometimes goes bizzurk when I want to create. I was sold. 100% sold. Now all I had to do was come up with the money. My mind started thinking about everything I had in my house that I could sell. I told him Iwanted it without hesitation. He started to proceed to tell me that It was a 71 Shasta compact and was in pretty good shape. All I knew was that this was my dream come true and a trailer means travel and travel means freedom and I could use a little of both. My marriage at the time was a little rocky so I really needed to get away from it all and so I told him I would have the money for him the next day. I lied. I told my husband that I was going to buy a trailer with a girl and that I would repay the girl with art lessons. I lied. I told him that It only costs me $400.00. I lied. I knew it was wrong; but I knew if I told my husband that I wanted a trailer for freedom to get away from him...well.... He just wouldn't go for it. That night I couldn't sleep; of course, I don't sleep anyway but I was way too excited to sleep.

The inside was birch and The outside was beige with a gold stripe. I could hardly wait to start decorating and paint it and get those pink flamingos outside of it. Oh! The ideas. But first I had to come up with the money..Oh yes i almost forgot about it..The money.

Sunset at Booth's Park

Wish it had been me!

Wish it had been me! I was driving to work the other day and lo and behold here comes this guy all decked out with all his gear and his kayak stuff on top of his car. Man, I wish I was going was the thought that went through my head. He drove right past me with a smile on his face as I gave him the thumbs up out my window. He was headed somewhere. Definitely not going to work as he looked way too happy. He was probably driving up to some remote lake to take in all the fall colors. His kayak looked very nice and very expensive. He could have been a doctor or lawyer or someone with the time off. I felt a surge in my heart and a sudden urge to follow him. I wanted to go. Anywhere! Anywhere other than where I had to be. Darn, I really need to buy that dry suit. Wish I had an extra grand laying around. Oh yeah, like that's going to happen. My thoughts moved on to the streamline of the boat. She was beautiful, long, lean, kevlar, two toned with lime green. I suddenly wanted a new one, but mine was cool and anyway, I just bought it a few months ago. I felt the need to eat and suddenly recognized it as comfort food so I said no to the McDonalds as I drifted by. I knew I could never wait for spring to get back in the water. As I drove into the work parking lot I thought about maybe going to the library to see if any new kayak videos had come in. At least I could get in a quick visual before the end of the day. I looked up the term addicted in the dictionary. Yep, I had it. An addiction. An addiction to the water and a love of paddling. As if I didn't already know that. The only cure it seems is to go out and get in the water, but what if you can't? You just have to do the closest thing that you can do to counterfeit it. Videos, Movies, be a groupy at a kayak store, look for films in the paper. Whatever you can do. Of course, There is no known cure. Only a fever that burns within. Unquenchable fever. Molases. That's how work went that day. Slow, very very slow. When I got off work, I headed straight to the road to drive off all that excess frustration. I played the music really really loud. Nothing helped. I would just have to wait. Wait until spring. Some things are just worth waiting for and this is one of them. A certain familiar saddnes came over me. I had overcome that feeling before. I had done it last year. Of course, last year I longed for a boat. This year it's the water. Here I am in the middle of 9 lakes, surrounded by water and yet drowning in air. Lot's of space, just drowning. I will learn patience this time. Learn to wait and be silent. I went to the cubbord and grabbed my self a few chocolate chip cookies. Suddenly I felt much better. I opened up my Kayak magazine and started to read.

Schweitzer

The way of the world

The world teaches us to find an interest and get a good paying job to support our self and our family. What happens to most of us is that we have a variety of interests and don't know which way to go. Most of us find out at age 40 or 50 that we don't like our job and we want a change or find an escape route from the ordinary. What are we searching for? We work inside a cube with 3 Walls. Sometimes we even have a window if we are lucky. Most of us live for the weekend or a vacation. Europeans take three months off a year. Yeah, I'd like that!!!!!!!!!!! We seek the wind in our face, The sun on our back, We seek a hot summer's day and a long white beach. We seek the blue of the ocean and the sounds of a wave. We surf, We ski, we run. We want some form of freedom and we will do whatever it takes to get it. I personally am a beach girl even though I live in the mountains. They say you can never take the beach out of the girl I believe this is true. I think our real jobs should be the adventurous type. I think we should get paid to have a fun and adventurous life. What gives? Why won't someone pay us to have this lifestyle? It just doesn't work out that way. I have many interests and there is just no way that I would pick just one job. I cannot even think of which adventure I want to do when I have a day off. It all depends. I see my kayak all hung up in the garage, and my ski stuff is up there to. My golf stuff is inside along with all my running gear. I have my mountain bike, my beach cruiser, my speed bike and a girl-y bike with a basket. I just gave away two bikes to St. Vincents last week. I've got enough sports equipment to start my own Olympics. There are so many interests and loves of my life. The best rush: Sail Planes. If you've done it then you know what I'm taking about. Of course skiing really really fast comes in at a close second. How about going fast in a convertible around corners on a sunny day with your favorite tunes paying really loud. Nothing is quite like it I assure you. We all long for it! Don't tell me you don't. Someday I may even get enough nerve to jump out of a plane. Sounds extreme? You betcha! What will I try next? I don't know. What will you try? What is your next adventure? Keep on working because your day is coming.

Adventure in the dark

Ever kayak at night? Here we are on our way out. We can still see land but what lurks out in the wakes of the lake?