That Time I Went on a Sister's Camping Trip and didn't Blog About it Until a Year Later

My sis and I are going on another camping trip together, only this time we get to stay in a cabin. I guess it's not really camping if you're in a cabin, but I'm not going to turn my nose up at  flush toilets and showers and an actual bed to sleep in.

Our husbands are being dragged along in case we need them for something going, but will likely stay in the cabin and watch T.V. while sis and I hike and get all outdoorsy. Which is fine because hiking isn't much fun when your companion keeps referring to it as "The Death March."

It occurred to me recently that I never told you about last year's Sister Camping Trip we took to Zion. It was just me and my sis.That was the trip right after I fractured my spine (which I didn't know I did or I probably wouldn't have gone hiking) and when I got back it was really painful to sit at my computer and write so I didn't blog for a while.

Anyhoo, thought I'd catch you up and tell you about it today. I made a few notes while on the trip, so that I would remember everything to blog about...but damned if I can't read half of them! Note to self: Put notes in my phone next time.

We left on a Friday afternoon, right after I got off work. That morning, I bent down to tie my shoe and felt this weird shifting feeling in my back, like a collapsing, and this sharp pain that went from my chest through to my back. It was the weirdest thing and I almost went to urgent care over it, but I didn't want anything to interfere with our trip. I had some back pain the rest of the day, but it was bearable, so I figured I would see the doc when I got back.

I picked up my sis and we started loading her stuff in my truck. The bickering started immediately over where we should put the ice chest:

Sis: Let's put it in last.
Me: No, let's put it in first because we're just going to leave it in the truck anyway. That way we can get all our stuff out without taking the ice chest out.
Sis: You're too bossy. I'm putting it in last.
Me: You brought too much stuff.
Sis: Well you're going to ask to use all my stuff, so good thing I'm bringing it.
Me: When do I use your stuff?
Sis: You always use my stuff.
Me: Whatever. I forgot chapstick. Did you bring chapstick?

We finally got loaded and on the road. It was less than 3 hours away to Zion and we got there before dark.

We stayed in Springdale, a quaint little town outside of Zion National Park that we've been to many times before. It's a juxtaposition of cowboys, vegans, Christians, and New Agers, all united by their love of nature. You hear a dozen different languages and accents around you everywhere you go and everyone is exuberant from their day's adventures in the Park.

Springdale Utah (I didn't have a good pic, so snagged this here)

We wanted to save money so decided to pitch tent a tent at an RV/tent park, and eat our meals in town to simplify things. We didn't want to mess with bringing a bunch of food and cooking gear for just the two of us.

Apparently, before dinner, sis and I had a conversation about "the new fat." It must have been noteworthy, because...well...I made a note of it. No specifics, just a note that says "Before Oscars, our convo about "the new fat."

What the hell was I talking about? Now, a year later, I have absolutely no idea. I do remember we ate at Oscar's Cafe though. It's a unique little place where we dined on pesto quesadillas with pistachios and ice cold Coronas.

Oscar's Cafe in Springdale, Utah (Snagged from their website)

That night we drank wine by our campfire and listened to the sounds of the crickets and the Virgin river.

Then I was introduced to the Pee Can. 

My sister has a coffee can - a regular, 1 lb size coffee can - that she keeps in her tent at night to pee in. Since we were sharing a tent, I had the pleasure of waking up to the sound of rushing water that WAS NOT the Virgin river. It was coming from my very un-virgin sister.

She justifies this tactic by telling me she puts the can outside the tent after she pees in it. But I don't care where the can is AFTER she pees in it, I care that it's right up by my head WHILE she's peeing in it. What about the splash factor? I mean it's a tiny little can, for crying out loud!

So the next morning, I go out to the truck to get the camp stove and coffee pot to make our morning coffee. I grab the can of coffee off the table.

It sloshes.

Coffee grounds don't slosh.

SHE PUT HER PEE CAN ON THE PICNIC TABLE!  WHO DOES THAT, I ASK YOU??

After more bickering about the Pee Can and eventually agreeing to disagree, we ate our leftover quesadillas for breakfast and headed into Zion Park for a hike.

My back was still hurting, so we did an easy hike called the Watchman's Trail. The sun was on us the whole time, so we stopped and rested often. We saw one of these on the way up:

Remember the three stooges? Larry sees a toupee and says, "Ooooh, a tarantula!" I can't help it. I say it to myself everytime I see one (tarantulas, not toupees), which fortunately isn't often. On both counts.

We also saw scenes like this:

And this:

Then we had some of these and hiked back down:

Here we are at the end of the hike:

Not long after that, we were doing this:

Resting felt good, but it was too warm in the tent to nap, so we decided to put our chairs in the river and sit and read. We walked down the slope to the riverbank with chairs, books, and wine spritzers in hand and plopped our chairs in a shady spot in the water.

This looks like a good spot.

Don't let my sister's coffee mug fool you. It's a wine spritzer.

Ahhhh. Delicious wine spritzer, cool water, good book, great view...what more could you ask?

How about for the sun to stop moving? I had to reposition my chair about 6 times because I kept losing my shade. My sister was getting annoyed:

Me: I'm hot.

Sis: Again?

Me: I'm in the sun.

Sis: Well, move then.

Me: I just moved.

Sis: Then get in the water.

Me: I'll just splash some on me.

Sis: You do that.

Me: I can't wait till you go through menopause.

Sis: I won't be as bad as you.

Me: Yes you will.

Sis: I could never be as bad as you.

Me: I'm making note of those words to taunt you with later.

Sis: I know you are.

We watched this little guy for a while:

"Quite your bickering and throw me some of your trail mix, you plump menopausal psychos!"

After a few hours of bickering relaxing in the water, we got ready for dinner. We ate on the patio of a little restaurant called The Spotted Dog. We had fish and a bottle of wine (can't remember what kind of either one) and both were fantastic.

Spotted Dog Cafe. Springdale, Utah. (Photo from their website)

The town of Springdale is lovely in the evening:

We walked to a nearby ice cream shop then back to our camp for a shower (Hallelujah, our campground had showers!) and another evening by the fire. Due to the hiking and walking around town, my fractured back hurt horribly that night, but was better the next morning after I was up and around a bit.

For Sunday's festivities, we decided to take a drive instead of another hike. We drove a Scenic route called Kolob Canyon Road. It was a gorgeous drive:

One of the views from Kolob Canyon Road in Utah

Don't the clouds look magnificent?

The drive reminded me of a quote from The Lord Of The Rings:

Kolob Canyon Road, Utah

At the end of the drive was a lake, where we ate lunch and stayed for a while:

Isn't this just the prettiest spot?

Those clouds again. They make everything so dramatic looking.

Then of course, the Pee Can had to make another appearance. We were sitting on the back of my Tahoe eating lunch and my sister says she has to pee.

Sis: I have to pee.

Me: Me too. Let's find a bathroom.

Sis: They're probly real dirty. I have my Pee Can.

Me: Seriously? You brought your Pee Can?

Sis: Yeah, I didn't know if there would be bathrooms.

Me: Why don't we look for a bathroom first?

Sis: No, I like my can.

Me: You like your can.

Sis: Yes, I'm going in the back seat to pee.

Me: Great. I'll just sit here and finish my lunch while you pee 5 feet away from me.

Sis: (While peeing) Are you going to put this in your blog?

Me: Hell yes.

That night we ate at the Zion Pizza and Noodle Co. Another restaurant with a fun atmosphere and great food. At first we sat at a table way in the back where it was stifling hot. There were other diners all around us that didn't seem to have a problem with the heat, but after 10 minutes, I couldn't handle it. I told my sister we had to move because it was just too hot. She rolled her eyes at me, but helped me pick up our drinks and silverware and move to another table in the front where there was more airflow.

Can you believe I got the eyeroll?

I seriously cannot wait until she goes through menopause.

After dinner we took the shuttle into Zion to see it at dusk. We rode around the whole loop, enjoying the scenery and wildlife. It was a good time to see deer. Unfortunately, I didn't get very good pictures but it was lovely. 

Back at camp, we had another evening drinking wine by the campfire. We resolved to lose weight, take better care of our health, and hike the narrows next year. The narrows is a stream that runs through Zion and you are basically hiking in the water and over rocks. It's supposed to be moderately strenuous, but a gorgeous view.

It may have been the wine talking.

I have this scribble in my Zion trip notes that I can't read and have no idea what it means:

Sorry it's sideways. I loaded it the right way, flipped it, reloaded it, and it just stays sideways. Anyway, it apparently was some thought I had the morning we drove home. It looks to be something about coffee. Oh well, couldn't have been too profound. Again... next time the notes go into my phone. Also, I won't wait a year to write about it so maybe I'll remember.

Despite my fractured back, my sis and I had a great time. Despite the bickering, we resolved (probably over wine) that we would do a Sister's Trip at least once a year. This year it's a cabin in Brianhead and next year it's the Grand Canyon.

I'm sure the Pee Can will come along too.

Hotly yours,

Lori

I Be Fraggin'

It's Friday Frag time and I love it because it marks the start of the weekend!

May the happy dances ensue!

Thanks to Mrs. 444 at Half Past Kissin Time for hosting this every week. Muah!

Here's my bits and frags for this week:

Frag #1
Robin Williams. Like the rest of the world, I was stunned to hear of his death. He was a talented, funny, brilliant, caring soul who will be so, so missed. He made so many people laugh while he suffered on the inside from depression and battles with addiction.

He was quoted from an interview he gave in 2006, after he relapsed following 20 years of sobriety. He was asked what made him fall off the wagon. He said,

"It's addiction - not caused by anything, it's just there. It waits. It lays in wait for the time when you think, 'it's fine now. I'm OK.' Then, the next thing you know, it's not OK. Then you realize, 'Where am I? I didn't realize I was in Cleveland."

My daughter had told me early on in her recovery that addiction is always in the back of your mind, doing push-ups. Waiting for the chance to take over again.

Imagine living like that every. single. day. It must be exhausting. I'm inspired by those that have the fortitude to continually fight that battle. Even though Robin grew too weary to continue, he will be remembered for the joy and inspiration he brought to the world while he was in it. May he have peace.

Robin Williams 1951 - 2014
Image Source

Frag #2

On a positive note, and a little related to the above...I read a quote that I love from a blogger who writes the blog Grease and Glamour. She gave up her job and possessions to just travel and have adventures. She writes about the things she's learned while on the road, and how she appreciates the little things in life more now. She says,

"No matter where you are, watching the sunrise forces you to be in the present moment – your mind isn’t bothered by thoughts of the past or the future. The world speaks to your soul through your eyes, and it costs you absolutely nothing. And you know what they say – the best things in life are free."

I just love that. I'm trying to appreciate moments. Instead of trying hard to have a good day,  I'm shooting for good moments. Or better, I'm trying to recognize a good moment and just sit and enjoy it a bit. If I'm not careful, they pass me by completely because I'm focused on something else. Something bigger, like finishing a task at work, or thinking about what I need to do when I get home, or that chin hair I need to pluck. Good moments. That's my goal.

Frag#3
It was hubby's birthday last week, so the doggies all were chased down and forced dressed up for the occasion:

Don't they all look thrilled?

It was totally worth the chase up the stairs and 20 minutes of coaxing them out from under the bed. After I got the pictures, I brought the birthday hats out for the humans to wear, and the traumatized dogs all scattered and hid. Can't imagine why.

Frag #4
I've mentioned that my daughter, Sissa, is backpacking through Kauai. I finally wrote a post about it, complete with pictures, if you want to check it out here. It's terrifying amazing what you learn about your kids from their Instagram.

Just yesterday she kayaked out from the isolated beach she's been living on, so she'll be in an area with phone reception for a couple weeks. I'm so happy to be able to text and call her! She sent this gorgeous shot of Kalalau, where she's been staying. This is from the beach, looking out to the mountains:

I swear I didn't color boost this picture. This is real, baby!

Frag #4
Lastly, here's a comic I made a while back that I don't think I shared with you. If you're reading this from a reader (cough, Feedly, cough) and there is no comic here, you'll have to click to go to my blog and read it. Feedly strips out the html so it won't show. I'm not sure how it looks in other readers. But anyway, here it is:

That's it for my frags this week. Hope you have many happy moments this weekend.

Momentarily yours,
Lori

Does Every Adventure HAVE to Involve Nakedness?

I love that my kids are more adventurous than I was at their age. I've always told them that if they want to travel, or move to new places, or try out different jobs, that they should do it when they're young. Because if you wait for "the right time" it may never come. You have to make now the right time.

This from a woman who's in pajamas by 7 every night.

What can I say? My kind of adventures are conducive to an early bedtime.

I think I first starting touting the whole live-simple-and-have-adventures-in-life thing after we returned from our first trip to Kauai in 2007. I was enamored with the simplicity and beauty of  the island life and I told my husband and kids I could live in a tent on the beach there and be just fine for the rest of my life.

My husband said he was fine with that too. He'd even throw me down some food from his hotel balcony once in a while.

Yeah, he's real funny.

Who knew my older daughter, Sissa, was actually listening to her mother's ramblings?

It started with her trip to Portland, Oregon, where she stayed with a friend for two weeks and did a lot of skinny dipping. She talked about a bank teller who rode around town on her bike, naked, then would go into the bank, put clothes on, and help customers with their fiances finances (I first typed "fiances". I don't think the engaged ladies of Portland would want a naked teller helping them with their fiances).

Apparently, nakedness is a thing in Portland. She came back with plans to move there by the end of last year. I think I mentioned this a few posts back.

Well, that plan changed. Her and her Portland friend, and another adventurous gal from Phoenix, decided to try something called WWOOFing. WWOOF - it stands for Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms. If you want to travel cheaply, you can volunteer on a farm, just about anywhere in the world, and live and eat for free in exchange for a few hours of work on the farm each day.

I had no idea this existed, but what a unique way of experiencing different cultures and lifestyles! Honestly, I was all for it. Of course, I'm always worried for her safety, but there were three of them and this is an established "thing" and would be a wonderful experience for her.

She wanted to find a farm in Kauai to work on, but the ones she inquired about were full. So she decided to head over anyway, with a backpack full of necessities, and wing it.

My excitement for her adventure quickly turned to "Oh, Dear God, my daughter is going to be a homeless hippie."

So then the plan became, backpack-through-Kauai-and-sleep-on-the-beach-and-if-we-find-a-farm-to-stay-on-great.

Great.

They set out in late January. Here's Sissa (on the right) and her Portland buddy before they boarded the bus (They took a bus to Phoenix, picked up their friend, and then flew to Hawaii):

Look out Kauai - Hurricane Sissa is coming!

I was relieved when they arrived safely in Hawaii:

I was jealous!

She sent me this picture of their "bedroom" the first night. Yup. Those are hammocks.

I have to admit - this looked pretty good to me.

Paradise proved to have a few pitfalls, though. One night a week the beaches close to campers so that maintenance crews can clean and repair things. If you happen to be camping there, you get shooed out in the wee hours of the morning. Sissa's friend posted this on Instagram:

You learn a lot of truths about your grown kid's lives from Instagram.

They camped on various beaches for the first week, then met someone who told them to go to the Farmer's Market because all the local farmers are there and maybe one of them would take them in to work on their farm. So they did that, and what-da-you-know, they met a farmer who had quite a few people just like them, working on his farm. I got this picture from her a day or so later:

My daughter? Working outdoors??

This picture almost brought tears to my eyes. Yeah, yeah, I missed her, but more importantly...she was working outside! I've always had to coerce and cajole my kids to do any kind of yardwork. The last time I saw my daughter working outside, she was picking up dog poos and the hubby was so moved, he took a picture to memorialize the occasion:

You missed one.

Sissa texted and sent pictures often while she was on the farm, but I got the most interesting tidbits of her adventures on Instagram. Here's one:

More nakedness. Perfect.

Apparently, hitchhiking is a common thing on the island. Or so my daughter tells me. Here's another Instagram gem:

She's embraced island life, my daughter, and is like one of the brown-skinned natives. By brown-skinned, I mean she's become a monkey:

Nip or not a nip? That is the question.

When she texted me this picture, I looked closely at it, and could swear I saw a nip. I texted her back to pull up her top. She said it was part of her top I saw, and not a nip. But to avoid posting porn pictures of my daughter online, I covered the questionable area...just in case.

Sissa stayed on the farm for about a month, then decided to hike to a remote area of the island that's only accessible by boat or hiking in. It's an 11 mile hike one way and one portion of the trail is a fun little stretch known as "Crawler's Ledge." Here's a picture I snagged online of it:

Trail? What trail?
Picture courtesy of: http://kalalautrailhike.blogspot.com/

And further, she informed me that there is no cell reception and no phone lines. A boat comes once a week to drop off supplies. You can give a letter to the guys on the boat which they can mail from town, or you can give it to someone who's hiking out and they can mail it...if they remember.

So basically, my daughter was embarking on one of the 10 most dangerous hikes in the world and I had no way of knowing if she would make it to the end of the trail in one piece.

The homeless hippie thing didn't seem so bad because at least I could communicate with her.

As it turns out, she did make it to Kalalau and has hiked in and out of there several times over the last 6 months. She sent me this picture of it:

Wow. Right?

She sent me two letters from there. The first one came postage due. Surprise surprise. And the next was addressed to "Mom", my address, and the return address was just "Kalalau." It was postmarked Portland, Oregon. Her friend from Portland was still in Kauai at the time, so I have no idea how it was mailed from Portland. I can only guess she gave it to someone who hiked out of Kalalau to mail for her from town and they forgot and found the letter in their things when they got home, then mailed it. It arrived to me several weeks after she wrote it. That's "Hawaiian time" for you.

Sissa is still in Kauai, and much of her time is spent in Kalalau.When she hikes out, I get calls and texts from her to update me of her adventures. She's having the time of her life. She's learning about herself, her spirituality, her strength, and how to share and give back to others and to the earth. 

It's a unique community on Kalalau. Some people hike in for a day or two and are gone. Some return again and again, like my daughter. Some never leave. They're either escaping or finding themselves, I suppose. Sissa's Portland friend posted this on Instagram:

Looks a little like Woodstock, wouldn't you say?

Despite some worries her adventures have brought me, I'm happy for my Sissa. She's making memories that will bring her joy and empower her to try new things. She won't be afraid of change and she'll know that if she wants to do something, she can figure out a way to make it happen. She's inspired me to do the same.

Her boyfriend (a good-hearted soul who was her first love in high school and who recently became her love interest again) joined her on Kauai a couple months ago. She posted this on Instagram:

What more could I want for my child?

She's been in Kauai for almost 7 months now. I miss her. So does her dog, Gracie Lou, her other love: 

We miss our Sissa.

I suppose it's partly my fault she's gone, with all my talk of I-can-live-in-a-tent-on-the-beach and give-me-a-travel-trailer-and-I'll-be-fine. But if I helped give my daughter the courage to embark on this adventure and the others that I'm sure will follow, I'm okay with that.

If only she could keep the nakedness to a minimum.

Adventures-in-pajamas mom, signing off.

**So a few weeks after I posted this, Mama Kat sent out her Writer's Workshop prompts and one of them was: "Write a blog post inspired by the word Adventure." Score! I get to be lazy and link up with a post I already had!

It's Freakin' Finally Friday

Yay! It's Friday Frag time! All the silly fragments from the week that can't stand alone in their own post have a home on Fraggin' Friday.

Link up with your frags at Half-Past Kisin' Time!

Frag #1
Hubby got a very bad bacterial skin infection called cellulitis that he contracted from a spider bite. It hit very quickly, overnight and caused the back of his leg, near his ankle, to be all red and painful and hot. At first I thought he was just being a baby about it he had it resting on the metal bar of a chair for too long, but then I googled the symptoms and found they were similar to a blood clot. I made him go to urgent care and fortunately it wasn't a clot, but this skin infection is serious enough that they told him if it didn't improve by the next day he would have to go into the hospital.

Apparently, spiders carry the bacteria for this and it's common to contract it from a spider bite, although you can get it from any open sore or scratch. He responded to the antibiotics well though, so he'll be fine. Except that now he's convinced the spiders of the world are out to get him. I think there's something to that though, because twice he killed a spider and it was a female and baby spiders started spewing out of it and crawling everywhere like a scene from a horror movie. Twice! I've decided I'm not going to sit too near him when we're outside lest I incur the wrath of the spiders too!

Frag #2
Has anyone heard of Designcrowd.com? It's another crowd sourcing site where you can submit a graphics need and graphic artists from all over the world submit their ideas to you and you pick the one you like the best. You can use them for logos, website layout, and any other graphic you need.

The company I work for has two projects for which they need logos so we submitted the projects to Designcrowd and received some amazing logo designs. It's inspiring to see that kind of talent and to think that all the designer has to go on is our description of what we want. And they all interpret it so differently. It's really quite amazing.

Frag #3
Lastly, a comic inspired by my husband as he searched through his sock drawer for two matching socks:

Have a great weekend!

Fraggin' On a Friday

So it's been a bit since I fragged, but I'm going to try to get back at it. A Friday Frag post is about the easiest kind to do, since you just write about the silly tidbits that happened during the week (or in this case...month...or so) and you put them all together for a nice little post. So why can't I manage to do it more regularly?? I so neglect my poor little blog.

Anyhoo, spilt milk. Let's move on.

Frag #1
We went on our annual family camping trip last month and I actually caught fish! It was soooo fun. And we didn't almost start any forest fires this year, so that was nice. Camping always goes by so fast. Except for the no shower part...that sort of bites. Here's a pic of the view from our fishing spot:

I need a beautiful view every day.

Frag #2

Hope everyone had a fun July 4th. We had a shindig at our house, which meant the day before, I was cleaning, cooking, mopping, hosing, shucking, and by the end of it all swearing. That I would never have a big shindig again because it's too damn much work! But everyone had a blast and if you're going to do a whole lot of damn work, it's always a good thing when it pays off and everyone has fun. It would suck if the party was a big flop. 

The highlight of the event was my hubby setting off fireworks. From the pool. He calls it Fire Palooza:

Unsafe and very, very, insane

Frag #3

While we were camping last month, I decided I really need to get my hillbilly butt in gear and figure out a way to make money while traveling around in a travel trailer so I can enjoy a beautiful view with my herbal coffee every morning. This occurred to me while I was enjoying a beautiful view with my herbal coffee. This is what I was looking at:

More please.

So when I got home I started to research ways to make money online, both with writing and with niche websites and affiliate marketing. There's tons of information out there and it's enough to make your head spin, but I'm wading through it.

I made a Hubpages account to try doing affiliate marketing with Amazon and Ebay. And I found a couple writing sites I've signed on with to see if I can actually make money writing. One is Blogmutt, a site that uses crowdsourcing to fill client's orders for blog posts for their business blogs. They pay $8 a post if you write one that sells. That's not much, but they only have to be 300 - 600 words long and I figure it gives me practice writing for someone else.

I've been doing it a couple weeks, writing a post here and there after work and on the weekends. Lo and behold, I sold 7 posts! So maybe I can do this writing thing and actually earn some money. If anyone is thinking of doing the same thing, check them out - I recommend them. They have a writer's forum that is very supportive and friendly.

I've also dug in a bit into making a niche website and selling things through Amazon and Ebay on it. Still working on putting that together, but it's supposed to be a good way to make passive income. A bit of a time investment setting it up, but then it's just maintaining it and trying to get traffic to it.

So we'll see where that goes. I made a goal to do at least one thing every day that gets me closer to my goal of hitting the road with my travel trailer. Whether it's writing, or researching, or whatever...just something everyday.

Anyone else tried this stuff?

That's it for my frags this week. Sorry, no comics this time. I miss my comic making but there's only so much time in a day, right? Hope everyone has a great weekend! TGIF!!!!

To read more frags, or to write a frag post yourself (C'mon...you know you want to!), head over to Half-Past Kissin' Time to see how to link up!

Hillbilly dreamer signing off.

The Clampetts Go Camping

We just got back from our family camping trip. I tell ya, camping is the highlight of the year for me. This trip I decided I need to have my morning coffee while looking at views like this much more often in my life:

I need more of this.

We went back up to Panguitch Lake, Utah. You might remember we went there last year, which is where my sister almost caught the whole campground on fire. It's a wonder we were allowed back.

My brother came with us this time, which was great because he's the master fisherman in the family and this trip I actually caught fish! It's been a few years since I caught anything, so the first time I saw my pole moving (If I were a guy, here is where I 'd say "giggity") I got super excited at the thought that it could be an actual fish bite and not just the wind or my line getting snagged.

I started reeling in like crazy and then I saw the fish jumping and fighting and that was all she wrote. I was reeling and laughing and jumping up and down like a dang fool. And for some reason a hillbilly accent found it's way into my voice and I started yelling, "Ah hooked me a big'un! Come on babee, com-m-m-e to mama!" Like I was some kind of deranged Clampett.

Here's me and my big'un

I have to say...I totally get fishing. And can I just say, it's a hell of a lot more fun when you're catching fish! I caught 4 the first day. Mr. Fishy in the picture there was 16 1/2 inches long, which was a pretty decent size. I know this because my brother meticulously measured each and every fish everyone caught. He'd announce the size like a proud papa announcing the weight of his newborn son, "2 pounds and 16 1/2 inches long. Woooo-hoo!"  I guess that Clampett trait runs in the family.

My brother, the best fisherman I know

When I told my sister my fish was 16 1/2 inches and I felt like I just had a baby, she says, "Or you were with a Jamaican!" 

That's my sis. The Trampett. (Tramp + Clampett. Get it? Hee hee. Just kiddin', sis!)

My sis and her dog, Buddy

Speaking of her dog (well, I guess I wasn't, but that's him in the picture), every dang time she'd come over to our campsite with him, he'd lift his leg and pee on something. It got to where we'd see her and him coming and we'd scramble to pick up sleeping bags, shoes, and anything else we didn't want dog pee on (I know grammatically that should be "on which we didn't want dog pee", but that just sounds completely wrong!).

Speaking of bodily functions, last year when we camped at this campsite, all but one bathroom were shutdown for a few hours one afternoon due to a water pressure issue. I had to stand in line for 45 minutes and swore that I would buy a portable bathroom for this year's trip so I wouldn't have to worry about such things again.

So I bought a Luggable Loo, which is basically a bucket with a toilet seat on it. You may laugh, but it worked quite well. We bought a privacy tent, which we, in true Clampett style, renamed The Poop Tent. And our own personal outdoor bathroom was born. After my hubby put it together, we began looking for the perfect spot to put it. 

I now understand why dogs sniff around for 20 minutes before finally settling on a spot to poo. You should have seen me walking around, trying to find the perfect Poop Tent spot. First I wanted to put it by a tree, then I didn't want it too close to our tent, but I didn't want it too far away either, in case I needed it in the middle of the night. I didn't want it too out in the open, and it couldn't be on a slope because that would be a disaster waiting to happen. I could just see myself tipping over. 

After making my husband follow me around for 20 minutes, carrying the Poop Tent, while I sniffed considered several spots, I finally found the perfect one.

Now isn't this a cozy spot to do yer biznus?

Then some very high winds kicked up and it looked like this:

Not pretty.

Fortunately, no one was occupying the Poop Tent when that happened. And yes, that's cat litter you see knocked over in the picture. I read that you put a scoop in the bucket before and after and it absorbs moisture and cuts down on odor. It worked quite well, actually.

Didn't I talk about poop in my last post too? Sorry about that.

This trip was even more exciting than usual because we bought a new camp stove and I couldn't wait to try it out:

Now that's a serious camp stove!

I loved cooking on this thing! And it came with a dutch oven so we had biscuits and gravy and peach cobbler. Yum! I wrote a review and article about it with recipes over on Hub Pages if you want to check it out.

And then our trip was over. I made a resolution this trip though. Come hell or high water, I'm getting a travel trailer and dragging my hubby and dogs with me across this country so I can have my morning coffee while looking at beautiful scenery. And I need to get my butt in gear and figure out a way to make a living while on the road to make it happen. I've got some plans cooking though which I'll share in future posts. Because this here is good for the soul:

That's it for our camping adventure this year. I hope to go again in September though. My sister and her husband and me and my hubby are thinking of getting a cabin for a few days. Hopefully, that will work out.

Deranged Clampett, signing off.

It's Not Easy Being Green

I've never been a very consistent blogger. From the very beginning, back in January of 2010, when I made a resolution to blog (among other resolutions, a few of which I haven't kept), it has been a rhythmic pattern of surfacing and submerging that continues to this day.

It's kind of like when I tried to keep a journal consistently over the years and I'd write a couple pages in February 2000 and next thing I know it's 2003. Yeah, it's kind of like that.

So...sorry that I've been submerged for the last 6 months, but I'm going to try to surface again now.

I'm not sure what to surface with...a post about my green smoothie every morning, or about my daughter Sissa who's off backpacking in Hawaii.

Guess I'll start with the smoothie thing (Yup, it's all excitement and edge-of-your-seat thrill rides over here). I know you're thinking, oh yay. A smoothie story.

I'll keep it short.

So my last post I told you about how I fractured my back from bending over to tie my shoe right? And I was feeling a little better by late October, but not as good as I thought I should. I was eating better and taking vitamins, had lost a little weight, but I still just wasn't feeling...healthy.

I had even bought some stuff called "Go Ruby Go" from a vitamin catalog that my mom had. It's a fruit powder that you can mix with juice or water and is supposed to give you energy. The ad shows old people riding bikes and Skeedos and rock climbing and stuff. So I thought if it can give old people energy, maybe it would help me too.

Let me just give you a little warning about ordering something from old people junk mail. You will be added to all the old people junk mail mailing lists in existence. And there are a lot of them. A lot. I get vitamin catalogs, gardening catalogs, testosterone replacement ads, reverse mortgage ads, even offers to pre-buy my mortuary plot.

They could save some postage and just send the mortuary plot ads and gardening catalogs together. "Your loved ones will never have to be bothered bringing flowers to your grave again, with our new forever-blooming bulbs!" or "Sow your tomatoes and meet the reaper in one convenient location!"

The worst ones are the ones with pictures of poop in them. Yes, apparently, pooping is a hot topic among old people. I kid you not. Take a look:

Yes, those are supposed to be photos of poop. I know, right?

This was just one page of a 12 page newsletter ad whose topic was poop. So my point is...don't order from old people's junk mail unless you are prepared for a deluge of poop ads.

Your mailbox will be overflowing. (Get it?)

ANYhoo, even Go Ruby Go (and as I typed that I realized that name could very well have been a product advertised in the poop ad.) was not not giving me energy or vitality.

So I went to see a homeopathic doctor. Don't judge me. I believe in medical doctors, but I believe in alternative therapies too. If something works, then it works. Does it matter whether it's homeopathic, chiropractic, psychopathic...whatever? Well, maybe not psychopathic, but you know what I mean. I just wanted to feel better. (Defensive, much?)

The first thing she told me was to drink a green smoothie every morning. Green being...well...greens. Spinach, kale, collards, leafy lettuce, those kinds of greens. I add in a little fruit, carrot or cucumber if I like, and non pasteurized orange or tangerine juice. She gave me other nutritional advice also, but that was the biggest change for me.

And you know what? I finally started to feel better.

I've slowly made some other changes in my diet, like eating less processed foods and less animal proteins and animal fats. I cut out red meat, but I still eat fish and some chicken. I eat a whole lot more vegetables and fruits than I used to and I pay attention to food labels more than I used to. I buy organic whenever possible and try to cut down on the toxins and chemicals that I put in my body. Some we can't control, but many we can.

After about 3 months of doing this, my sister told me I look younger. I've lost 23 pounds and dropped my cholesterol by 33 points. My regular doctor was genuinely surprised that I did that by diet alone. He had been trying to get me to take cholesterol meds, but after seeing my blood test after a few months of my new eating habits, he said, "Just keep doing what you're doing."

I now realize what a powerful thing diet is. It's one of the few things in our lives that we have control over, yet it can be so hard to just take control of it. It doesn't help that processed food loaded with chemicals are cheap and easy and fast to eat while the healthy stuff takes time to wash, cut, and prepare. It's much harder to eat healthy than to eat junk. Hence, the obesity problem in our country.

But that's a whole 'nother post. I guess my point here is...we are in control of our health. And diet and nutrition are powerful, powerful things and the right changes in those areas can make a huge difference in how you feel. It did for me.

I didn't mean to get on a soapbox, really. Just sharing my experience.

This post is going longer than I intended and I didn't even get into the endearing little nicknames my hubby and brother called me while I was wearing that awful brace. Names like Borg and The Metal Menace, to name a few. Nothing like good 'old family support, right?

So that's it for now. Next post will be about Sissa's backpacking adventure in Hawaii. Leave it to my hippie daughter to find a spot in Hawaii with no cellphone service and where supplies come in by boat.

At least they don't get poop junk mail there.

Fractured Fragments

It's Friday Frag time! Yaaay! Time to sum up your month week with a bunch of tidbits thrown in one post.

So here we go:

Frag #1
I've been MIA. I know. Last I wrote, I was getting ready for my Sisters Zion camping trip, then for all you knew I fell off a cliff or got eaten by a bear or something because I didn't write again until now and it's been about a month.

The thing is, the morning of the trip, I bent over to tie my shoe and felt my entire spine shift. Yeah. Freaky! Well, to make a long story short, I went on the trip and went to see the doc when I got back and after a bunch of X-rays and tests, I found out I have a compression fracture. Three, actually, but two are old.

Apparently, I have Osteopenia, a precursor to Osteoporosis. So my bones are week and can just fracture for no good reason. Perfect. Oh, and I'll probably shrink a few inches too. Getting old is a bitch.

ANYwho, to help the fractures heal, I have to wear this brace. No, that's not me in the picture. I don't smile when I wear the damn thing. It's uncomfortable and makes me feel like Robo-mom.

So, I haven't felt like blogging because sitting at my desk was just too uncomfortable. By the time I get home from work, I just want to rip the brace off and lay on a heating pad. I'm feeling better now though, so hopefully I can get back to my Friday Fragging. Unfortunately, I have to wear the brace for another 4 weeks or so.

Frag #2

My male co-workers have told me I share a bit too much of my personal life with them. A manager at my job very politely informed me that all of my doctor appointments were showing on his calendar. I realized that I had put them into my shared google work calendar instead of my personal one. Great. He now knows about my Saturday mammogram at 9AM.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I sent out an email to my co-workers letting them know I'd be in a bit late one morning so I could refit my brace. If you have your phone set to notify you when an email comes in, it will show a line or two of the email, like it does for a text...at least the iphone does. Well, one of my co-workers showed me how the email notification appeared on his phone. Here's what it said:

"Hi Guys, I'll be in a little late because I have an appointment for a refitting of my bra..."

Perfect. Another TMI about my boobs.

Frag #3

My sister and I did go on our Sisters Zion Camping Trip. Yes, that should be capitalized, because I'm going to declare it a holiday to celebrate every year! We had a great time, despite my back. I'll post about it over the weekend, complete with a pee can story or two. Yes, pee can. My sister pees in a can when she camps. Meanwhile, here are a couple of pics:

This was right behind our campsite.

This was the view on one of our scenic drives. 

Frag #4

I've spent the last couple evenings googling Fall crafts to make and found the cutest ways to decorate with pumpkins. My sister, daughter, and I are going to do some pumpkin crafts next week for Fall. Here's a couple of pics of ones I want to try:

How cute is this?? Sequins!

What's not to love about polka-dots and glitter? I want to try to do these in Fall colors.

This website has directions on how to make the polka-dot ones (they're super easy!) and links to a bunch of other easy pumpkin decorating ideas, if you want to take a gander: http://swelldesigner.blogspot.com/2012/09/ombre-polka-dot-glitter-pumpkins.html

Don't you just love Fall?

Frag #5

I haven't been doing much comic making recently due to my back problem, but here's a couple I made before we went to Zion. These are actually recycled ones I had made a few years ago on a different comic making site, but they got no recognition over there whatsoever, so I remade them on my new favorite comic site. Because I like validation.

(Remember, click on the 4-arrow thingy in the bottom right to make it bigger.)

Well, that's it for my Frags this week! Thanks for indulging me once again. If you want to read more frags, or post some of your own, be sure and link up with Half-Past Kissin' Time!