Category Archives: off-roading

June 1, 2012 · 8:57 AM

How cool (and hot) is the Mojave Desert

It never fails. Every time we take a cool trip, or have a fun new experience, I swear I’m going to write a completely awesome blog post all about it. I’ll post lots of pictures, I’ll regale you all with funny stories and anecdotes and pithy observations. It will be epic.

And then, um, I return to the real world. I remember, “Oh yeah, I barely have time to shower.” There’s a house to tend to, and 4 days worth of smoky, dusty laundry. And appointments. And yoga training. And the little matter of four kids who have been entrusted in my care. And life.

It’s a shame too, because if I’d written it I could have waxed poetic about the beauty and majesty of the vast open desert, and how it’s become not only the most peaceful place in the world to me, but also a living metaphor for freedom and unschooling and life.

I could have told you about the crazy and deafening winds that first night, how hard we laughed about the frigid temperatures (It’s the Mojave Desert!), and how some of us came so very prepared for 120 degree heat… but with no sweatshirts.

I could have told you that the kids and I looked out the windows the entire time, hoping to catch a glimpse of a Mojave rattle snake, but that the only wildlife we ever saw was jackrabbits, birds, and lizards.

I could have told you how ridiculously sunburned my nose got, not when the heat finally hit mind you, but on the mild and cool second day.

I could have told you how wonderful and rejuvenating it was to spend that much uninterrupted time as a family, with no distractions, no ringing cell phones, no internet, and no TV.

I could have told you about the stars, and the moon, and the coyote. I could have told you about Tegan and her sand, Everett and his holes, Paxton and his juggling, and Spencer and his mad tent-pupping skills.

I could have told you about the little moments, those tiny moments that make a trip great. I could have told you about the ant we watched for a good half an hour, as it worked to saw off a little piece of the dropped peanut, to get a manageable size to bring back to its home…

But alas, a long fancy blog post is not to be.

I did however, make a little video diary (a viary?) that was lovingly put all together into a 20 minute movie by my better half. It will be of absolutely zero interest to anyone else, unless you A) want to listen to me ramble for 20 minutes, or 2) have more than a passing interest in seeing what the Mojave Trail looks like. But I’m glad I have it, because it really was an amazing trip. And even though I won’t have that monumental blog post, I’ll still have the pictures, and I’ll still have the video. I can look at them, and I’ll remember.

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Filed under camping, family, off-roading, vacation

May 15, 2011 · 11:03 AM

Desert Therapy

I had a week. I was feeling tired and run-down, sick from the medication I was taking, and grumpy from the heat. I was sleeping even less than normal (which is minimal to begin with), and badly in need of an outing and some good old-fashioned head clearing.

We had an off-roading trip scheduled yesterday, and I was so feeling so badly that we were wondering if we’d have to cancel. In the end though, staying home was just not an option. I HAD to get out, and the desert was the perfect place to be. Breathing in the wide, open, desert air is far and away my preferred therapy (better even than Alanis Morissette) It’s one place I can always relax. One place I can always be me. It was exactly what I needed, and it restored me in both body and soul.

This video is under two minutes, and is just something I quickly shot as we were driving through a little canyon. What I love about it is Tegan squealing happily in the back seat… the sound of which is of course better for the soul than the desert and Alanis combined.

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Another Lesson Learned

I took Driver’s Ed when I was 16. I remember:

~Andrew, the guy I sat beside, flirted with, became friends with, and eventually dated (I would later break up with him because I met my now-husband)

~Lisa, the girl who could turn just about anyone’s words into an innuendo, and frequently did so

~The day I sat through class with my faced numbed up and gauze in my mouth because I’d just had four teeth pulled in preparation for braces

~The checklist we had to follow every time we got behind the wheel, which always, always concluded with fastening our seat belt before we even started the car. I didn’t always wear my seat belt as a passenger, but I have always worn it as a driver, thanks to getting the habit so ingrained so many years ago in Driver’s Ed.

We spent today off-roading in Sedona, and I’m thinking of Driver’s Ed not because we were driving in places like this…

but because tonight I was reminded of the importance of a checklist, and of getting into good habits.

I’ve blogged before about my new camera, and of the fact that I’m still trying to learn to use it (without relying on the automatic mode) I have had moments of extreme frustration, to be sure, but I finally thought I was getting the hang of it, and starting to produce more keepers than not. So tonight, when I uploaded my 200+ pictures from the day onto my laptop, I was devastated to see that with very few exceptions they were all blurry, soft, and various other degrees of “off.” After a brief moment of mentally berating myself, I realized that my error was simple… it was on the wrong setting (and I then began berating myself anew) Mike had changed a setting when he was experimenting last night, and he’d never changed it back. And I never checked it when I started snapping today. I’m relieved that I’m not in fact just the worst photographer ever, but I’m oh so frustrated with myself that I made such a stupid mistake. And I’m disappointed that I missed on out some amazing photographs of an amazing place.

Next time – and every time – I will check my settings first.

Fuzzy pictures aside, we had a wonderful day, the kind that makes me glad I’m alive, and glad I live in Arizona. The whole thing was Spencer’s idea:

It was a trip he’d been wanting to make for months now. We planned on going on his birthday, but got rained out. We rescheduled for another day, but, alas, we got rained out again. Today was our day, and it didn’t disappoint.

We did some good rock-crawling, enjoyed some amazing views, had a picnic in the middle of red rocks, and watched the kids climb, jump and play.

Yup, ’twas a darn good day, made even better by the fact that we capped it off with gelato.

And next time I’ll check the settings on my camera.

Tiny Paxton

Second full day of their visit.

My favorite place … the middle of the desert. Off-roading. Exploring. Appreciating.

Appreciating History

I had one teacher in junior high and high school who made studying history interesting. He was what you’d consider a “tough” teacher – you definitely couldn’t get away with anything under his watch – but he was good, and he was the only teacher I ever had that shared history in such a way that I actually enjoyed it. Other than the classes I had with that one particular teacher, there are not words enough to describe just how bored I was with history. It was truly not my “thing.” All those dates and names and wars and treaties and memorization……

Yes, I struggled with history. As an adult, I appreciate its significance on the world and the country we live in today (though I still couldn’t recount 90% of the details that I had to memorize for my tests in school), but it’s surely taken me awhile to get here.

The kind of history that I do love, and have always loved, is the kind that I can touch. The kind that isn’t in a book but is right in front of me. The kind that I can see, and feel, and close my eyes and imagine that I was there, as a participant and not just an observer. I’ve taken some neat field trips with the kids, to places like the Pioneer Living History Museum, and Sahuaro Ranch, but they still weren’t as meaningful to me personally as a piece of history that has not been restored or re-created, turned into something that’s specifically meant to be educational, or designed to be a must-see attraction. It’s still not the same as something that just is.

Last weekend, we joined a few other vehicles on a way-too-fun off-roading trip. We crossed rivers,

Drove down cliffs,

enjoyed the desert scenery,

stopped to appreciate an old foundation,

and met Miner Bob.

Miner Bob lives in a cabin that’s been standing since the late 1800’s. He graciously talked to us, showed us around, and let us wander in and out of his cabin. I loved how sturdy it still was, how simply but beautifully made. I loved knowing that it’s been there, out in the middle of the desert, for over a hundred years. I loved imagining the people who once stayed there, using the fireplace, walking the land, and just living their lives. It made me think of Thoreau, and Walden, and “living deep and sucking the marrow out of life.”

Now that’s history. And as a side note, I loved our old home in New Hampshire for all the same reasons. Unfortunately, two of the boys missed the little impromptu visit to the past because they were off playing in this:

And getting an education of an entirely different sort 🙂

We caught up with everyone when we reached our destination – the teeny little old town of Cleator – where we stopped for a bite, and a beer, at the bar.

A bar that no doubt had a lot of interesting history of its own.

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Filed under about me, adventures, off-roading, unschooling