Much camping

The end of March and April we took the small boys camping almost every other weekend.  One trip was to celebrate my birthday.  The others were because both boys do so much better outside camping.  One trip, I was the only adult and that worked well.

I am trying to walk someplace new on any other weekend.  My left cornea is not healing.  My ophthalmologist did make me laugh.  I have idiopathic cornea edema.  With a straight face, he told me it means the idiots do not know why my cornea edema has not reduced.  He also floated the idea of a cornea stem cell transplant.  

I am currently on three prescriptions because he and his cohorts do not know.  I have been talked about.  One of the prescriptions is for glaucoma and it can cause more pain.  Outside is a good place to be.  I do not have much energy by the end of the day between this and boys to feel like being creative.  Dinners and dishes are also interesting.  The Tall Short Person broke her wrist on her dominate hand and helps the best she can but....

I have done some nice things for myself like have coffee or lunch with friends.  I have to admit I have tried to keep in it in driving distance.  Driving and reading have become more difficult because of my eye.  I may end up learning more Mandarin and Korean due to this.  It gets back to reading.

I see the doctor again this week.  I am trying to be what be will be.  I currently would love to go to Abiqui Campground just to be.  I may take the next fifth Sunday I have to do that.  Because I am still working all the markets.  My creativity is about pouring knife scales.  Or a few rows of crochet.  It will depend if I can find a campsite.  That is Memorial Day weekend.  I can hope for New Mexico or West Texas.  I would like desert.

But watch the doctor or doctors change my plans.  Or my Beloved's.  My Dad has some early June appointments too.

Life keeps going forward.  And getting more twisty  More walking.  More camping.  More stitches, whether crochet or sewing.  Sanity is the priority.

camping with small people

Late August, I went camping with all the boys.  We decided to rent one of the smallest RVs on the market to see if that was something we wanted.  We have been thinking van and after a week, we agree a van is best.  The layout of most RVs do not work very well.  The best was in the 1963 trailer we had.  Too bad it went kaput.  But we do not wish to tow. 

A van is what we will work best.  A place to get out of the rain and wind.  A mininmal amount of cooking.  We can park it places.  Now finding one and slowly converting it to what we want.  I have ideas for the end layout but that can be something the takes awhile.

The smallest boys loved the camping.  There was working with axes, playing with fire, and protecting the trees.  The adventure bus was a true hit so it will be interesting to see how they like the van.  Part of it was Blue could see out better.

We had the plan of doing a hike with the short people but then realized it was really too far for Blue.  Koda Bear would have made it but not Blue.  Maybe next year.  We went on a much shorter hike and he still had to be carried most of the way.

Since there was so much less hiking, I actually finished this sweater while we were camping.  The inspiration was knitted sweater.  It looks nothing like it but that is okay.  I made up the pattern as I went and it fits well.  I use a lot of sweaters traveling but I also do not wish my backpack to damage it the first time I wear it.  Which has happened.  Especially since it is heavy because it is the only bag I carry.  I am just waiting for it to cool off enough so I can wear it.  Maybe at my Dad's.

My Dad is doing better.  Healing slowly.  But the Tall Short person caught COVID.  I have Bear and Blue during the day.  My Beloved helps morning and night.  She is vaccinated and healing slowly.  It hit her very hard but not so badly she needed to be hospitalized.  I had a nurse friend who gave breathing exercised that I think are helping.  She also tries to move a little bit every day.  I will be glad when she is better.  It has been a very slow heal and she wants to be back with her boys.  It is going to be more days.

wedding and camping

I went to a family wedding in Monterey County, CA.  The wedding was a lovely wedding.  I actually really like Salinas where I stayed with my parents.  I did not realize how much agriculture was done there.  Lots of lettuce and cabbage families.  I had never seen an artichoke plant before.  I thought they were beautiful.  I have to admit that I wish I could grow many of the flowers I saw in yards there.

After the wedding, I headed up to Los Padres National Forest to go camping with my family.  The campground we stayed at was lovely and I feel like I need to go back.  There was just not enough time to go anywhere.  But there was a river running through and Koda Bear loved it!

He turned blue from playing in this water!  There were shivers happening.

Then, it was off to the Rocky Mountain National Park.

The view from our camp site was lovely.  We were sitting in a valley that was ringed with mountains.  We got there a day early and the campground was able to find us a spot for the night even though we needed to move the next day.

Then, it was three days of walking.  My family keeps telling me that we did not take walks but that we were on hikes.  We let Koda Bear decide when it was time to turn around and he was pretty persistent.  We did not make it to the last destinations for two of the hikes we took but we were post holing in the snow.

The above picture is of Loch Lake and it was so pretty.

This is a better picture of the view from our campground.

We made it to Emerald Lake, which was mostly covered with ice.

But I think my favorite was Mills Lake.  It reminded me a lot of the lakes in the Cascades.  It was a bit smaller and felt a bit more intimate.  We tried to hike to Black Lake from here but again, too much snow.  I was actually in pants for this hike and I was more wet then when I walked in a skirt!  Koda Bear turned us around before we got to Black Lake.  Three days of that small boy hiking was almost too much for him.  He walked with me on the way back and I have a tendency to be the slowest.  I just call myself a turtle.  I can get there, but I may be slow.

I went to the Estes Park Wool Market while we were camping there.  It was the point of the trip.  I enjoyed it.  And I saw sheep breeds I have never seen before.  Sheep the size of small cows!  It was fun.  Or at least I thought so. 

I bought a fleece, even though I did not need a fleece.  I loved the color.  And I am thinking I wish to go down the rabbit hole of making hats.  I guess I will see if I have time for that.  Next week, I start a breakfast nook that I am getting paid to build.

I would like to go back later in the summer and try all those hikes again.  At least the one to Sky Pond and Black Lake.  I would like to try them without the snow.  I was thinking August 2020.  

I am now trying to get back into the swing of things and not doing a very good job.  I keep hoping it will get better but two days in, it has not.  I really enjoy being outside that much.  Until next time, I will just keep moving forward.

and I am back for a few weeks

That was a lovely trip!  The only problem was I tried to do too much in too little time!  There were two fiber fairs, time with the Koda Bear and the Tall Short Person, and putting up a wall in the machine shed.  So there are not any pictures of the mountain.  Since I was just there, I chose not to share any.  But it is autumn there. 

We had beautiful weather until the last day.  The mountain is interesting because we share tools with our neighbors.  My scythe took a walk and the funniest thing about that was the one person who everyone said would not have it, was the one using it.  He was all about it was the right tool for the job.  It took longer for him to go get it then for him to use it for the task.  

The fiber fairs were interesting because I had so much company.  Usually it is just my Beloved, who is fairly tolerant.  Or just myself which really is the best.  The first one, I had three boys!  That was interesting.  It was also interesting because I did not think it was all that wonderful but other people did.  I have had different experiences.

The second fiber fair, three more family members.  It was shaken up a bit so two boys and a girl.  Still, I felt a bit rushed.  Next time, I think I will go alone.  But I really did fulfill what I really wanted to do.  Spend time with Koda Bear.

The second weekend we camped in the Columbia River Gorge.  It was beautiful.  And there was lots of autumn.  But where the campground was situated, it was very loud.  I tried to get into a campground a little farther away from the interstate but it was completely booked.  And I understand why!  So, I will probably not camp at this spot again but I will camp in the gorge again.

We also had a lot of rain while we were there.  Koda Bear kept saying he was not cold but he was very damp.  It means that a van conversion or a truck cabin may be in my future sooner rather then later.  It is the main reason I am thinking about going back to a corporate job for a little bit.  Pay off some car repairs and build a van conversion.  Elk hit cars hard.  I was not driving.

Palo Duro Canyon

It has been awhile since I got to go camping at Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

Part of that is that it is a ten hour drive from Houston.  It requires a long weekend to get there.

It is desert so it can be hot.  The day we arrived it was forecasted to be about 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the canyon itself.  It is nice that it cools off during the night.

We did go for one of the longer marked hikes in the canyon.

The rock formation called the Lighthouse was the destination.  Most of the hike is very easy.  The last quarter mile had my bad hip not happy with me.  I had to rest more then I would have liked to wish to let pain stop.  I was at the extremes of movement for my right hip.  But I made it.

I even made it with a crochet project in my pack.  Fruit, water, and crochet. I could not ask for more.  Though one ball of yarn did decide to go over an edge.  At least it was not too far so I was able to have help getting it retrieved.  

I usually do not get to hang out much when I am camping.  Especially when there is someone else with me.

My family likes to go.

This time, with the heat and the drive and what life has thrown at us recently, there was a lot of sitting.  A lot of walking too because we always walk.

Hanging the hammock and having books helped.

It was really hard for me on Monday to say, yes back to Houston.  A large part of me wanted to go west.  Five hours to Taos.  A diner I like.  Mountains.  A yarn store I like.  Maybe soon.