Twelve people on a canoe trip makes for a rather different trip than two or three people on a trip.  Even though it meant one and a half food packs, eleven packs total, and five canoes, we survived and had a pretty good time all told.  I couldn't help being a little nervous as the comfort and enjoyment of the canoe trip (the first for several of our crew) was at least somewhat dependent upon me.

( Many pictures below the cut )

It was a great trip, and probably the last trip that the family is going to be able to all make together for several years with mom and Burnell going to Egypt.  Next time, Sarah will have to make it, and so will our little boy and maybe even other little children too.  A houseboat might be a nice welcomed change, though.

Simple pleasure - lots of good memories
Peace

Not long after I started working at the CLC, I approached the lead teacher and inquired about possibly teaching a class during the last tri that would culminate with backpacking or possibly a canoeing trip.  The idea wasn't met with a negative, so I more or less filed it away for another time.  Then earlier this week, I got an email from Greta containing a flier about a youth leadership program through Wilderness Inquiry.  I passed the flier around to staff and talked about it in class a little bit and gave copies of the flier to a few interested students. 

A little later that day, the lead teacher said something about me possibly teaching a summer school class with an outdoor component.  We'd have to look into gear, cost, enrollment, salary, etc, but it was a possibility.  Cool.  In the next day or so, one of the school administrators is all over this thing.  She's already talked with someone with the district foundation about funding.  The district already has some camping gear.  The CLC has two minivans that we could use, and would I put together a short proposal for a class.

Whoa.  Very cool.  So over winter break, I think, I will be putting together a proposal for a class where I'd teach outdoor skills, and some related things - ecology, environmental issues, people's relations to the environment, etc.  I think a short backpacking trip on the Superior Hiking Trail is more likely than a canoe trip, but either way would be great.  I'll keep you posted.

Simple pleasure - Friday and we're headin' up to the Nort'woods of Wisconsin in a few short hours
Peace

Sarah and I got back home last night around 10:30.  It seems a little strange being back in the city after being up in the woods for a few days.  We got to my family's place in Wrenshall in the mid afternoon yesterday, showered, and then we all went out for giant greasy burgers and beer at The Anchor in Superior - perfect post-canoe trip food.  But I'm starting at the wrong end of the story...

( trip report, with pictures )

Sarah and I just made an entry point reservation for the Boundary Waters at the end of this month.  We spent a bunch of time looking at different entry points and possible routes.  Being as that the time we wanted to go isn't that long from now, many of the points were already full.  I wanted to go in Mudro, but it was full.  Little Indian Sioux was full.  Stuart was full.  We did Moose River last year.  There are always permits available for Fall, it seems, so that's where we are going.  We talked about going somewhere east of there, but without talking with people who have been there or doing a bunch of research I am a little leery about visiting new water.

Without having someone to pick us up at a different entry point, we had to figure out a loop route to do.  We talked about going up into Basswood to Crooked, then down into the Fourtown/Horse area then back into Jackfish Bay and out Fall, but that would be a pretty long trip for 4 nights - more than twelve miles each day.  It's a route that would allow us to see lots of great things, but it's almost too much.

So the plan is to go from Fall over to Jackfish Bay, Sandpit, Tin Can Mike, Horse, Horse River, Crooked to see the Pictographs, Basswood River, then Basswood back to Fall.  It'll be a nice route through a few pretty nice areas.  Tin Can Mike is a very pretty little lake and the Horse River is fun.  My concern about the river though, is that the water might be a bit low requiring getting out of the canoe and pulling it through shallow/rocky areas.  When water is up, there are some fun little narrows/chutes to paddle through, but low water could make it a bit difficult.  The pictographs up on Crooked are always nice.  Hopefully we can get to that area early enough not to have to worry about finding an open campsite.  Basswood River is a nice paddle as well, though I don't think I've ever gone upstream on that river. 

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about this.  It'll be a lot of fun, and now I get to start thinking about packing, food, and gear over the next couple weeks.

Simple pleasure - watching obscure Olympic events
Peace

It's been in the upper 50s to lower 60s in the last few days since we got to San Diego.  Even when it isn't warm, the sun feels very good.  We've seen seals, sea lions, dolphins, pelicans, lots of other birds.  We went to a great brew pub, and a pretty good pizza place... that also happened to brew good beer.  Yesterday before going to a local winery, we went to a wonderful farmers' market and picked up some vegetables among the piles of great looking and smelling produce that we won't see in the Twin Cities for probaly half a year or more.  Today it's back to the beach for a while.

Tomorrow, on the other hand, it's back to winter.  I saw online that the high for St. Paul tomorrow will be 8 degrees.  BRRRRR!  I can see why people move here.  It'll be hard to get on the plane.

Simple pleasure - cooking for my dad
Peace 

Sarah and I have taken a few nice trips in the last year - Seattle/San Juan Islands, San Diego, England/Ireland, and even up to Northern Minnesota.  She quietly remarked to me today that she could see herself living in just about any of these places, and would absolutely love to live in a few of them.  That's not the case with Sierra Vista (the town her parents are retiring in).  It is a town cozied up to a large army base in the desert.  There are 40,000 people in town and the town is in a very broad valley between small mountain ranges that rise a few thousand feet above the valley floor. 

The first thing I noticed about the area was the color, or lack thereof.  Everything is a shade of brown.  Then I noticed a lack of things.  Aside from some scrubby mesquite trees, various types of cactus, and other small ground plants, there is very little to see where land hasn't been developed.  You can literally see mountains about 80 miles away over on the horizon, and you can see almost every inch of land  for about 40 miles.  It is a bit unsettling.  It just seems so empty.  There are plenty of mountains on the horizon, but they all look pretty bare too (though as you get closer and higher in elevation, you see that there are trees on the mountains... at least to an extent).

All of that I could probably get used to in time.  In fact, there are parts of the land that are quite beautiful, but I will get to that later.  Sierra Vista, though, seems to have nothing to offer me.  First, since it is so close to a large army base, there is a HUGE military presence and mindset in town.  Second, the town itself was only founded about 50 years ago.  It is remarkable that it has grown so much in 50 years, but it grew in the era of suburban expansion.  The result is that the whole town looks like a big suburb even though it is the largest town for probably 60 miles.  It is full of big box stores and chain restaurants.  The "neighborhoods" all look like suburban neighborhoods with cul-de-sacs, and cookie-cutter houses.  Since it's in a desert, there aren't big trees nor any green areas that give neighborhoods any character... or privacy.

I just could not live here.

Now I should say that I've had a good time visiting Sarah's folks.  We've gone hiking each day and gotte to see some of the land in the area.  Getting up into the mountains can actually be very nice and wooded.  The town of Bisbee (though divided into very different and separate parts by a huge pit mine) is historic, quite pretty, and fun to walk around.  And Chiricahua National Monument just begs to be hiked and explored on foot.  There will be pictures coming later.

Tomorrow is the 8-hour drive to San Diego.  Ugh.

Simple pleasure - a dinner recommendation from a local
Peace

Skis were waxed, it was time for Sarah and I to get out and go skiing.  I don't know when Sarah last went skiing, but it's been about six years for me.  The winter after I graduated college, I had a job so I had money and I bought a very nice air of skate skis.  I also had a vehicle and I was living in Duluth.  The only thing I didn't have that year as far as skiing goes was snow.  I went out once that year.  I had a heck of a time staying upright.  Since then I have either had no snow, no wheels, or no time.

Well tonight, Sarah and I went skiing.  It was dark at Como Park, and we had no idea where the trials went, but we set out anyway.  We wound up splitting up, and each skied for about a half hour.  Neither of us landed on our butt, but it wasn't exactly a graceful affair either.  I was happy to find that there were a few times that I got into a good rhythm and moved along at a pretty good pace.  I also found that that cross country skiing stuff is hard work.  It felt great, but dang I got tired quickly.  Further I am discovering that the same sore back I got from when I was speed skating in a tuck.  Ouch.

Verdict - I'm can't wait to go skiing again!

Simple pleasure - watching a show about that awesome crazy radical, Ralph Nader
Peace

Joe and I went sledding last night with Connie and Kressen at a city park in St. Paul that I used to go sledding at when I was in elementary school.  I don't ever remember getting hurt or anything like that when I was little, but in the few times I've gone back there since I moved back to the Cities I haven't been so lucky.

A couple years ago I went with Joe and a few others and landed really hard after hitting a jump and I'm pretty sure I cracked my tail bone.  It still occasionally hurt even a year after the fact.

Last night wasn't much better.  While riding in a train, I got bowled into by a following sled and got a boot to the face bending my glasses, and leaving a mark on my face.  Later while riding down the hill on my knees, I must have hit a rock or something, 'cause my knee hurts quite a bit and has a little scab on it.  Ouch.

I also lost my wedding ring.  It's not an expensive ring at all, but it's still my wedding ring.  Yeah, it's been loose lately, but that doesn't really make me feel better about it.  I'm not all depressed about it, but it kind of sucks. 

All that being said, I still love sledding.

Simple pleasure - lazy weekends
Peace

This was a relatively lazy weekend in terms of productivity.  We didn't do any big projects around the house.  Sarah did some cleaning for a while yesterday evening, but aside from that we didn't do a whole lot that would be noteworthy of a busy weekend.  We didn't just sit around the house though - although we did sleep in on Saturday and watch a fair amount of cooking and travel shows in the am.

On Sunday we drove first to Stillwater and then to Taylor's Fall.  We stopped at Aamodt's Apple Farm in Stillwater and picked up a pile of apples, some cider, and a few very good apple donuts.  Sadly, that will probably be the last time that we will get to go get freshly picked apples.  At least we have apples to make some sauce and maybe a pie with now. 

After feeding the goats at the apple farm, we made the very pretty drive north to Taylor's Falls.  We stopped and had a picnic on top of a big rock above the rapids in the St. Croix.  Sometimes it seems like a meal of fresh fruit, bread, and cheese is the best meal there is, especially when you're surrounded by beautiful trees, a nice tannin-brown river, and some good company.  After lunch, we crossed the river and did a little bit of hiking in Interstate State Park. 


You know, though I am ready to get out of the Midwest before too long, we've really got it pretty good here in Minnesota.  Nice parks, nice little farm towns, nice cities, bike trails, a decent education system, appreciation for the environment.  Yeah, Minnesota is nice.  I am sure we will find ourselves living in another time zone, or even another country, but I will probably always call myself a Minnesotan.

--------------------------

Sarah will be home soon, which should be just in time for dinner.  Today has been the coldest of the fall, with some strong winds and our first snow flurries, so it seemed like a good day to make some soup.  Here's what I made (more or less):

Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    1 lb lentils
    1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
    1 cup diced onion (Vidalia if available)
    3-4 stalks celery - sliced
    32 oz vegetable broth
    3 - 4 cups water
    (optional - other soup vegetables)
    1 tbs+ oil (I use Canola)
    organic raw sugar (to taste - 1-3 tbs.)
    2 teaspoon salt
    basil to taste

Directions:

Sauté onions in oil until soft. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil.  Simmer until tender (about an hour).  This soup tastes best if left to sit on the stove a couple of hours before serving.

The vegetables tend to disappear in this soup so if you prefer them more firm, add them 1/2 hour after the lentils.

Preparation time: 1 hour+

EDIT:  I added some cinnamon to the soup as well, and that was a really nice addition.

Yum yum!

Simple pleasure - bay leaves!
peace

Tuesday night, Joe and I had a fire on the bank of the Mississippi for the first time in way too long.  That is, we had a fire after we fawned over his new bike, smoked a hookah, and just sat for a while.  It is funny just how nice it is to have a little fire now and then.  A short scramble down a rather unmaintained trail towards the river, and it is almost hard to tell that you're even in the middle of a city any longer.  We just sat there, enjoying our little fire, passed  bad bottle of wine back and forth, and talked about this and that.  I think escaping (at least nominally) development and staring into a fire every now and then is good for your health.  I know I feel good, after I have a fire.  I just wish the shirt I wore smelled more smoky.

While talking with Joe, he convinced me to start a facebook account.  There are a few people from camp that are there that I would like to keep in touch with, but I'm not convinced that facebook is really any different that myspace.  We'll see. 

Teaching today involved watching The Nightmare Before Christmas... with Spanish subtitles.  Now there's some good teachin' goin' on.  Sure is.  I'm in an econ class tomorrow, so hopefully there will actually be a lesson of some kind - and one I could steal at that.  This will be my first week where I will have had sub assignments each day.  That's a good thing, but I still want to turn in some applications to a few other districts to ensure weeks like this are more typical. 

I wish I hadn't finished the last of the left-over Halloween candy already.  Nutrageous bars are good.

Simple pleasure - prep periods at the end of the day
Peace