Snowbirds playing with prairie fire and rock climbing

I'm surprised to find it has been 3 weeks since my last post. We've certainly been busy in that time. I left off with us arriving in Wisconsin. During our time there we snuggled with Josiah, spent way too much time on Facebook reading political articles/posts/comments, proudly attended the Womens March in Madison, messed with our truck cap multiple times to finally get it close to how it was, got an alignment on the truck (wish that was done before all that driving on ice), visited Madison's state capitol (beautiful building), met Ivan for lunch, enjoyed dinner with friends then headed South back to Missouri.

 Inside Madison State Capitol

 First time trying cheese curds, fried cheese - can't go wrong

Josiah is very serious at his first protest

We are basically backtracking and doing what we should have done, and just headed South for the winter! In our hearts we felt we were doing the right thing, unfortunately we never made it to the Sacred Stone camp to see for ourselves what it was all about (we had and since have heard a lot of different sides to that story).

We reunited with Adam the ecological restoration and controlled burning expert. It was a joy to see him again. We spent our first day at the Botanical Gardens in St. Louis followed by lunch at a wonderful little Thai restaurant and warm cookies from across the street. We spent a few days at Adams house then went to his fathers farm in the Mark Twain national forest. It was burning season and Adam hadn’t done any yet, Lucky us! We were his little helpers and that consisted of Oohhs and aaahs the first evening as watched and were on hand if he needed assistance.

 Cocoa pods

 pretty Orchids

 Great Thai food at a little hole in the wall

 helping Adam process seeds, forgot to mention that part

Lots of fluffy seeds

To explain what little I know, Adam has the land broken up into sections of fields. There are certain fields that burn and some that don’t. The one’s that do are primarily made up of Native grasses and plants that thrive on burning every few years, some reasons are: Certain plants need fire to germinate, for plants to out compete other plants that don’t do well when they are burned, it also effects the soil chemistry. Now, controlled burns start with having the right conditions. Adam spends a lot of time looking at weather conditions to burn on the optimal day and time. There needs to be a few days of no rain. The winds and humidity are key on the day of. Before the burning starts there needs to be a fire break. This he creates by mowing around the area to burn; then, when the burning starts it is done up wind. So if you have a field with consistent west winds you start burning along the eastern edge of the field, this creates an even bigger fire break.

I have a TON of fire photos, here's a sampling from that day...

The aftermath

Burn day was a little too windy, so we waited until evening when the wind shifts and calms down, I think we started around 4-5pm. Since we were there Adam was taking his time and did an easy slow burn. He would gradually go further in and burn another 5-8 feet away from where the fire had burned into. If he really wanted to, once the fire break was sufficient, he could just go along the western edge and use the head wind to burn the field in just a few minutes. He burned 4 fields that evening this way, and it was super fun to watch. We stayed nice and toasty into the evening even as the temperatures dropped to the teens. Well, until the burning stopped at least. Then we crawled into our sleeping bags, me fully dressed in wool, and fell asleep.

The next day he planned on a woodland fire and another prairie field fire. The woodland fire was very different as it didn’t have as much fuel, the flames didn’t get as large and the burn was even slower than the prairie fire the day before. The prairie field that day had a LOT of fuel on the other hand and at one point I felt like the hairs on my cheek were burning off.. it did for a few people. He had a lot more help this day as these fields were larger than the day before. It was a good thing too because a spark did get into a neighboring field that had to be put out.

 woodland fire

End of the large prairie fire

Again, I have a LOT of photos and videos, unfortunately not enough time right now to post them.

That evening we dined on a delicious stew of venison, carrots, onions, cabbage, sweet potatoes and love. The next day we rode to O’reillys to buy a new starter relay, the starter was acting up on the truck. Thankfully that fixed the problem, it could have easily been a longer story. We then said our farewells and continued South to Arkansas.

Our first stop was the Buffalo River National Forest. We stayed at Kyles Landing campsite for 3 days. The weather was a wonderful 60-70‘s during the day, and a chilly 20-30‘s at night. We spent the first two days at the campsite, doing only a short hike on one day. Mostly we lounged around taking in the sun, doing warm day activities. We woke the third morning to an unreasonable amount of smoke. We were planning on driving out to a hike so we just got dressed and left. At the trailhead we talked to locals who told us they were doing controlled burns nearby for the next few days. Matthew has asthma so this was a downer. We headed back to the campsite to get our stuff and leave but that smoke had cleared in the hour we were gone. Matthew thought we should take advantage and take a quick hike then decide if we should leave. We did a loop on a trail off the campsite and noticed smoke in the distance. On this hike we got to cross the river, twice. That means we took off our socks and shoes, walked almost up to our knees in freezing cold water, twice. The first time wasn’t too bad, it was only about ankle deep, until the last bit when it reached calf level. I only cried a little that time. By the second crossing my feet were more accustomed and I didn’t cry at all!

 He found an oak leaf as large as his head!

First time seeing an Armadillo in person

second river crossing

I don’t know for sure why I do this to myself. I guess it goes along with pushing against my comfort zones. As Matthew calls it, this is type 2 fun - the kind that you only call fun after, not during the activity.

So far our impression of Arkansas is crooked and steep. There are many winding roads. The one we took to get to our second campsite is called the tail of the dragon. We went to Sam’s Throne next, about 30 min South of where we were. The next few days were quite cold, only 30-40‘s. We spent the first day at the campsite working some more on projects and trying to stay warm. I bucked a downed tree for campfire. It was an effective way to keep warm. We also did a short workout at the campsite.

view from Sam's throne

The second day we did a hike around Sam’s Throne to scope out some rock climbing spots. This place has over 100 possible climbs. The rock is beautiful sandstone, with several colors in the rock, some orange, black, green and reds in various combinations. We got very excited. Although it was cold, a lot of the rock is facing the sun and it was warm enough to climb. The next day the weather was going to be similar so we planned to climb. That didn’t happen. It was too cold, just barely got above freezing and cloudy most of the day. Instead the day consisted of keeping a nice warm fire going, drinking lots of tea and typing on our computers (me writing, he programming).

 waiting to rappel down, to hike to the rocks in the left of the photo

 Matthew rappelling down one of the climbs

Hiking back to camp with the sun setting and moon out

The following day (yesterday) was gorgeous! It was a clear, sunny, 65 degree day. It was rock climbing day. After months of not climbing we just wanted to climb all day long. We kept it simple with only doing toprope climbs. It was a glorious day of climbing until the sun was setting. The quality of climbing is amazing. The rock is beautiful, there are a large variety of climbs and it has huge jugs that make it really easy... at least the routes we were doing. We saw a few routes that are way out of our level, forget about forearm strength, I would need serious tip of the finger strength to do those.

Ok, that's all for now. I've been on the computer for entirely too long today and we need to get food. I hope all you lovely readers are doing well.

My minimalist wardrobe

I was recently asked about my wardrobe from a friend looking to pack conservatively for a 6 month move. I have some free time on my hands and thought it would be fun to share what my attire consists of now.  I am going through a 'wool' phase. I adore merino wool, particularly the expensive stuff that is more durable that I get from Icebreaker, Ibex and smartwool. The benefits of merino wool are the lack of itch, they are naturally antimicrobial (less stink), and they are good temperature regulators. I know most think wool = hot, but I have a lightweight wool shirt and tank top that work well in the heat. Other benefits include quick drying and it's all natural!  I now have wool underwear and bra. I even own wool Toms so I can be head to toe in wool on the right day lol.

From top left going clockwise: Tank/shirt tops, sweaters, fleece sweater, down coat, down pants, rain coat and pants, long sleeve tops, bottoms (pants and skirt).  This is everything I have access to right now, not including my socks and knickers 😛

My clothing list:
1) Underwear - 5    Although, I go commando often.  This includes the one wool pair, 2 cotton and two synthetic.  I wear the wool most often.

2) Bra - 6    Includes 1 wool sports bra, 3 synthetic sports bras and 2 Victoria secret bras I rarely wear.  I have noticed that I really only wear two of my bras, the wool and one synthetic lightweight sports bra.. again opting on some days to not wear any at all.. mainly when we are far from civilization.

3) Tops - 15    Wow, more than I thought!  5 tank tops only one is wool, 2 t-shirts both lightweight wool, 5 long sleeve shirts (2 wool, 2 cotton and one synthetic), 2 sweaters (1 cotton, 1 wool), 1 'fashion' sweater ie for dressing up nicely with the dress or over other tops to look more civilized should the mood strike me.

4) bottoms - 8    Includes 2 wool tights, synthetic lightweight pants, 5.11 cargo pants, jeans and 2 shorts (1 synthetic, 1 wool), 1 skirt (synthetic)

5) Socks - 8    Way more than I need!  Mainly wool in various weights

6) Dress - 1    I have one for dressing up, but it has come in handy while bathing near a river close to a road.

7) Outerwear - 5    Includes a down coat, down pants, a rain coat and waterproof pants, fleece hoodie

8) Scarves - 2    I have 1 purple synthetic and.. you guessed it 1 wool

Total=50 items

What helps this work for me is that the color of everything I own coordinates together. I can mix and match almost everything, I have one top that doesn't go with one bottom.  Most of my clothes are black, grey or a shade of blue. I have one purple tank, one gold (for fun that I rarely wear), and one t-shirt that is a deep blue/green shade... according to ibex it is 'tidal pool heather' whatever that means. This allows me to have diverse options for outfits... truth be told I often end up in the same things, just as I always have. I end up wearing my favorite items the most, which is why I know of a few things I can just get rid of.

To be clear this is everything for all seasons... so that does account for why I have 14 tops.  Half of them I am not wearing now.  In fact the photo doesn't include a few items ie shorts which I am not using so they are put away in a storage bag in the truck.  I mainly wear some combination of the wool items, as I am now in a wool t-shirt, wool tights and wool socks.

Creating this list has made me realize I have more than I need. I could definitely trim it down even further.  Like the 6 bras!  Goodness.  What's really amusing to me is that I once owned about 15 bras.  Why on Earth did I ever think I needed 15 bras?!  I also once owned about 30 pairs of underwear.  You can really go a long time without doing laundry that way... more ecologically friendly right?  To make up for the daily showers?

As I grow more independent of the idea of needing things, I am becoming more aware of the impact THINGS have on the environment and my life.  I am thankful for the opportunity to live this simply.  To recognize how consumerism effected my way of life and that there is a different, more fulfilling way to live.  The less I have, the more I'm living.

Living in Limbo

We departed from Matthews childhood home to embark on a long trip to get our car back and drive to a friends house in Wisconsin.  First was a train ride from Springfield, MA to Chicago, IL.

We had a 4 hour layover that we spent eating breakfast and walking around the city.  We were only 1 mile from Millennium park.

The next leg was to Fargo, ND.  We then had to wait about 12 hours until we could take the bus to Bismarck, ND.  It took from Saturday to Tuesday to make it to Bismarck.  We arrived having slept very minimally, with the last night getting maybe 3 hours of sleep on the bus.  Once we got the truck back we drove back to Fargo.  Once there we decided we really needed a good nights sleep before continuing.  The trip back to Fargo was stressful, we were anxious having been in an accident and the roads were still horrible, and we were exhausted.

 heading out of Bismarck

not encouraging

We got a cheap hotel and slept for 18 hours, with a short break to eat dinner.  We woke feeling a little off but much better.  We knew we were tired, but didn't realize just how bad it was until the next morning.  From there we went south to Sioux falls, then west.  It was a safer route than going through Minneapolis which was just hit with slush, snow and traffic in the entire city was entirely red on google.  That being said, it was still stressful with icy roads.  Here's a sampling of the cars we saw on the side of the road:

That doesn't include all the ones we saw, I was not able to get every one, but there were a lot and it was, again, stressful! It took us about 15 hours total but we made it safely to Wisconsin.  The work we had on the truck was pretty basic.  It was just enough to be safe to drive.  We are spending some time here to work on a few more things before heading farther south.  I was hoping to go to Colorado to see friends there but the weather was not looking good.  I just saw they got 30 inches of snow recently, so we'll make our way there later.  For now we are safe and warm which makes me very happy!

Home for the Holidays

I arrived at the DC train station and was greeted by my father.  He happens to work just a few blocks away.  I took in the cathedral ceilings of Union Station, it's a beautiful building.  I was really happy to be home.  I missed my family and was looking forward to spending time with them.  They wanted to spoil me as much as possible because they don't get to see me often... not being around does have its perks, hehe.

Dinning out

 

My mom and I got our hair done together, sorry no photos.  It wasn't anything that exciting, it's been 7 months since my last hair cut.  I'm letting it grow long again so I just got a trim.  My mother on the other hand didn't get hers cut at all, the hairstylist just magically changed her hair to all black.  My mother has a few spots of gray on her temples.  I spoke with a cousin who said my aunt grows them in the same place.  With everyone coloring there hair it's hard to know what to expect.  I have zero intention to ever dye my hair.  It's interesting the responses this has gotten.  Some people think it's cool, and others just don't believe me.  They have told me I will change my mind.  I have a few gray hairs already and they are increasing.  Each one makes me happier, I'm excited to one day have all gray/white hair.  We live in a society that looks down on age.  I just saw a commercial that went something like "is your skin sagging?  do you have wrinkles? are you depressed? we can help! just waste money on this product and all your wildest dreams will come true!".  If my lifestyle is any indication, I am not a conformist.  So far, this has made my wildest dreams come true.  No money spent on things have ever brought me true happiness, only finite pleasure.  I have learned the infinite love that comes from within.  Coming back into society, after months in the woods... it's like I come from a different country, with different cultural values.  My hope is to one day find myself  in a world surrounded by people who value themselves and others based on who they are, rather how they look... or dress, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, etc.  That is my Earth Dream.  I would call it an American dream but I realize we are not so closed in anymore, and I don't wish it for just our country. 

Ok, jumping off my soap box, back to the usual.  My first weekend home my niece was with us.  She is one of my biggest joys in this world.  She is intelligent, funny and so full of love.  We always have fun together.  We played with bubbles, read books, went running together and, of course, had tea time. 

 

The one and only Tatiana

After about 5 days at home, everyone was back at work and I decided to make a trip to Charlottesville to visit friends.  Not having a car, I got a rental that was a delightful little Nissan Versa, it was similar to my old Honda Fit.  I forgot how zippy and fast these little cars are.  I got used to a manual truck fully loaded with our gear.  My happiness grew as I drove into Charlottesville with the landscape of mountains in the distance.  I spent time with all of my favorite people (except one family that was out of town).  I talked so much in the span of 3 days my throat was starting to hurt.  My heart was so full of love seeing my friends.  I got so many hugs, laughs and even a few tears.  I spent a little time downtown, slept on the grass at the pavilion (I was sleep deprived), went running with Marissa in the woods (a favorite pastime), and shared every meal with a friend.  It was hard to leave.  Spending those few days, catching up and driving around familiar streets, it felt like home.

The few photos I have..

 Cat's "I don't want my photo taken" face 

 Blue snuggled up with Sonic

Lovely, me and Amanda

The day after I returned to northern VA was Christmas Eve.  We went to Christmas Eve brunch at the Gilhousen's, the host every year.  Again, I was surrounded by friends, good food, laughs and lots of hugs.  On Christmas we went to my uncles house for Christmas dinner, I got to see most of the family that lives in the area.  I had a blast playing Catchphrase with them, I laughed so much it hurt.  My family had the next day off so I got one more full day with them before they returned to work.  The following day was the first time I was alone since I got to VA.  It was nice to have some quiet time to reflect on my visit, and to do some laundry.  My mother took the day off for my last day home.  We watched Hidden Figures, it was excellent!  I cried.  In the afternoon we picked up Tatiana, I was grateful for the chance to see her one more time.  We went out to dinner that evening.

Last night home

The next morning I was back on the train.  I changed my ticket from ND to Massachusetts.  As much as I loved being home, two weeks away from Matthew felt like long enough.  This train ride was pleasurable in that it was on time and stayed on time!  I took a few photos from this trip as well...

 

Now I'm back with the love of my life and the waiting game continues.  We are waiting for the truck to be fixed enough to be safe and running, then we'll take the train back to Fargo, bus it to Bismarck and hightail it South, for the rest of the winter.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying the warmth of being indoors and Judy's scrumptious home cooking. 

The waiting game

I know it's been several weeks since my last post but this will pick up where I left off in Bismark, ND.  Many know the basics but here's the full story.  I got two criticisms on my blog which I will implement.  The first was to break up the writing, I was told of this thing called 'paragraphs'.  The other was to add in my insights and such, rather than just the play by play.  Thank you Marcie and David, I appreciate your friendship and input.  If anyone else has a suggestion I'm very open to ideas.  And we're off...

We walked the 3 miles back to the auto shop on a Monday, exactly one week from the accident.  We had yet to hear from the insurance company, awaiting the appraiser who was supposed to check out the car in 72 hours, so much for that.  We ended up talking to a very nice gentleman at the shop, he told us the car would most definitely be totaled.  He advised it would likely cost $20,000 to fix the car and we ought to buy a new car.  The disappointment was apparent in our sunken faces.  We explained our situation and he offered to come out and take a look at the car himself.  We informed him we were not concerned about looks, we just want it working and safe.  That changed the estimate to $1,400 which is much more manageable!  As we were leaving he introduced himself as the owner of the shop.  It was great to know that after talking very candidly with him about fixing the car, insurance issues and how long we could leave the truck sitting there.

Our next walk was about 2 miles to a hipster coffee shop to crash in for a few hours.  We then found an Irish pub that is open until 1am to waste some time in.  Initial plan was to nap in the bus station but they were only open from 2:15am to 6:30am.  We spent 7 hours at the pub.  It was pretty hard to entertain ourselves.  We ended up asking each other questions you ask on a first date (as suggested from sites online).  We passed over a lot of them because they were either completely ridiculous or we could answer the question for each other.  There were some questions that spurred interesting conversation though and it was fun to learn new things about each other.  I felt bad sitting there for so long but they were never busy and we always had something on the table we were slowly consuming.  A little before 1am we bundled up and started the 2.5 mile walk to the bus station.  Almost immediately we had to dodge a car turning too fast while we crossed the street.  They didn’t even slow down to take the turn, at the last minute I saw them coming and moved faster forward, Matthew was behind me and had to jump back to avoid being hit.  The rest of the walk was uneventful.  We arrived 30 min early so we huddled next to the building to block the wind and again tried to entertain ourselves with conversation to pass the time.  Promptly at 2:15am the lights came on and we were let in.  We immediately bought tickets and waited until 3:45am to load on the bus.  I passed out pretty hard on the 3 hour drive from Bismarck to Fargo.

Only shot from our walk around Fargo

We arrived in Fargo at 7am to -3 degree weather, talk about a rude awakening!  Half asleep I waited in the cold to get my bag, went inside to regroup and bundle up properly, then started walking again.  This walk was another 2.5 miles.  We walked to downtown Fargo to settle in to a coffee shop.  It’s only a quarter mile from the train station.   We struggled on 3 hours of sleep that day.  We hung out at Atomic Coffee until 3pm.  I got tired of sitting so we went for a little walk around downtown Fargo, wandering into shops.  Once we wasted enough time we went to dinner, then walked to the train station.  To our great dismay the train station was closed until midnight.  We then made our way back to Atomic Coffee.  We were there for less than an hour when the lights went out.  All you could see were faces lit by computer screens.  Well, crap.  Next we wandered out again and found a hotel that had the lights on.  The intent was to hang out at the bar until midnight.  We were informed the bar was closing soon since they were not running on a generator.  Great.  Onward we pressed to a lovely place called Vinyl Taco.  They had the lights on and closed at midnight.  We sat there for about 4 hours slowly sipping at our drinks, munching salsa and chips and chatting.  We had a VERY attentive waiter.  He checked in on us about every 5 minutes.  After about 1.5 hours he seemed to get the picture and slowed down to checking in every 20 minutes.

 I blinded Matthew while taking a photo

Like a pro he used his phone to shine a light on me and used mine to take the photo

By the time we walked back to the train station we only had to wait 2 minutes until they opened.  We then found out the train was running behind and instead of boarding at 2:15am, we would board at 4am.  That was not to be, the train got farther behind and we boarded at 5:30am.  If you’ve never been sleep deprived then tried to sleep in a train station on seats made specifically for not laying on, I highly suggest keeping it that way.  I got some sleep sitting up and leaning back with my head against the wall.  Once we made it on the train we both passed out pretty hard.  I got up at noon and felt like I could sleep a few more hours.  We brought snacks but needed a meal so we went to the dining car.  They have community seating and we were matched with another couple.  They were about our age, just a few years older.  He lives in Hawaii working with autistic children and she lives in Minnesota working at a temple.  They too met online, but they met on a spiritual meet up site.  It amuses me the many dating site options we have.  We ended up having great conversation that lasted until the waitress had to hint for us to get out.  We then moved to the observation car for a little while before parting ways.  For the last 2 hours of the journey we watched a movie on Matthews computer.  Even with the train being 3 hours late I was able to make my connection in Chicago, with a whole 10 minutes to spare.  It’s a big station so I said a quick goodbye to my phenomenal boyfriend, was one of the first off the train and walked quickly to the next one.

documenting for the blog on the train

The train was nowhere near full so I got two seats to myself.  I again dined on the train for dinner, I was matched with 3 guys, all younger than me.  It was a little awkward and not as easily flowing of a conversation but we made the best of it and ended up having some interesting dialogue and good laughs.  Two of them were brothers, the third was traveling alone like me.  At some point while we were getting to know each other they asked what year I graduated high school, I said 2002 and the younger of the two said,”that’s a loooong time ago”.  I found that very amusing, that 2002 seems a long time ago.  He was right though, if you think about technology and how much that alone has changed since I graduated... shoot just when I think about how much I’VE changed since I graduated.  After dinner I spent a little while reading then laid down on my two chairs.  Using a trick I learned on the last train I raised both foot rests to make a small bed.  It was nice to have a chair to lay on that didn’t dig into my ribs, gotta enjoy the small things in life.  Overall I would vote for traveling by train again.  I was not happy with the delayed departure time but once on it was a pleasurable trip.  Having a place to eat, the observation car and a quiet area to sleep has been pleasant.  Oh, and the views!  Last night before switching trains the view of the moon was fantastic.  What sticks in my mind is how large it looked, the light copper color with the many houses covered in Christmas lights in the foreground, it made me think of the polar express. On the last day I enjoyed the mountains of Pennsylvania covered in snow, and the slushy rivers flowing between them.

 Photos from the train ride:

rundown train station no longer in use, Martinsburg, WV

Initially this was going to consist of everything in the past 3 weeks, but it quickly became entirely too long.  VA trip coming soon...