Living one shutter at a time
A snake in the tent, a random blizzard, or attracting the undesired attention of a large predatory cat, and yes all of this has happened to me. By its nature Adventure requires random variables which surprise and at times frighten us. I am a meticulous planner, an obsessive details driven, often over-prepared person. Yet somehow Adventure always finds me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Read more
Ecology and Environmentalism are topics I am not qualified to discuss. Yet, after the semantics, who with any sense of conviction doesn’t love nature? I was raised in deep South East Texas a place where hippies don’t chain themselves to trees in protest of deforestation. As a child we burnt our trash in a metal 55 gallon drum; on a side note there is nothing more redneck than throwing aerosol cans into a fire. It is safe to say my views have changed greatly. But, then again no great southern story ever starts with a deeply studied, well dressed gentlemen saying, hold my salad and watch this? Read more
I was one of those lucky kids whose parents took them camping every summer break. Now to context that statement, long rides in a cramped vehicle drive me insane. It was always she’s touching me, and are we there yet. As a ginger before SPF 60 I would smolder and smoke in direct sun light; so I was not allowed to leave the camper from 12pm-5pm. I watched as other kids rode bikes and swam while I took extended classes to combat dyslexia. I would complain but reading and writing is so much better than melanoma. Read more
As the weekend approached we packed our D.I.Y Campervan setting our sights and bikes upon Louisiana. If you have never visited, you are missing out. Louisiana has an attitude and atmosphere somewhere between “no worries,” “southern hospitality”, gambling, and kissing an alligator while buying hard liquor and ammo from a gas station. We wont even discuss Mardi Gras, a party, I will not admit attending …wink….wink… Read more
Charlie, Zach, and Ray, had never been camping, yet for some insane reason they excepted our invitation to car camp and hike Boykin Springs. Ray quickly caught on to the axe wielding lumbar jack bit, as Zac set up tents, and Charlie as our little sister somehow managed to watch as we worked. Around the campfire Lauren and I shared the history of Boykin Springs from the lumber boom to the C.C.C restoration project my grandfather had worked in planting trees. I told one of my many how not to hike stories in which I was stuck in a giant briar patch during sleeting rain with only a compass and an off scale map. Sometime around 9:30pm I emerged upon a dirt road looking as though I had lost a Mortal Combat death match with 1000 crazy ninja cats. Read more
I am a planner: food prep, the right gear, and long range forecast in relation to altitude, distances, and accessibility to water are in my opinion what keeps me from having to use the rescue me” button of shame“ on my Spot beacon. For all my planning and preparation I often overlook the important details. Thus I was wearing a pair of boots I couldn’t remember buying. As I mocked Ben for wearing old basketball shoes. Little did I know upon my feet were a pair of meat grinders ready to enact karma from the ankle down. Read more
To me there is something magical in a small campfire surrounded by a few friends under a star filled sky. Oh how many times I have pitched grand plans into a group of friends who excitedly made pacts and commitments, yet cancel by Monday. Is it me, do I over plan, do I push for too many miles? Perhaps it’s the two hour free style harmonica solo’s? Is it bad breath, or poor camping hygiene, I assumed it was normal to wear a single pair of underwear for a week of back-country hiking. Joking, sort of. Read more
Upon entering Blanco in our homemade campervan we were in the company of luxury motor-coaches. Surrounded by a retired generation nicely dressed and very social within their peer group. Gradually as they began to realize “The hippie kids” would not bite we shared travel stories; we had been to many of the same places, yet always in different seasons. There was something comfortable in being surrounded by grandparents in a sleepy little park with no sense of time. Read more
Enchanted Rock is a formation one begins to experience long before they exit the highway. A solid pink granite dome lifting 425 feet above a terrain of rolling hills seems so foreign some assume it long ago fell from the voids of space rather than lifting from the depths of earth. Like most state parks it’s well maintained and held within the constant balance of public use and preservation. There is a consistency to Texas State Parks, a fluidity in the architecture, and infrastructure, however, each park has its own identity and character. Read more
It is sometimes best to put the guides, and advertisements to the side, go to a dinner and ask the locals where the real treasures are. We have found a fair share of amazing things following maps drawn on napkins and scrap paper. Over and over we were told of a trail on private property. A “fairy-tale trail” which was said to contain a freezing waterfall, picturesque bridges over a frozen stream surrounded by Cypress trees lightly frosted with fresh snow. Read more
Little Adventures 