Second & third camping trips!

What a study in contrasts! I camped in Lassen Volcanic National Park, which was greatly impacted by the Dixie Fires last year. Then I shifted to the coast and the dense, lush redwood forest. 



A friend asked what I DO when I camp solo? Good question, since camp trips are typically about hanging out with others. My pattern for two-night stays has been: arrive late afternoon, get settled, poke around, eat dinner, read, sleep. Spend the next day on an activity - hike or paddle - plus meals and a book or two. Final day is just pack & go!




Books-wise, my book group is reading The Ministry for the Future, near-term climate change sci-fi. After driving through burned-out landscapes it felt rather too close to home, so I’ll come back to that one. Instead I spent a delightful day reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - so fun! 

I’m happy to report I did paddle around Butte Lake - it’s not so huge but it was neat to paddle right along an ancient volcano flow (I’m a bit vague on the details here..).

Now I’m working my way up the Oregon coast. I actually abandoned my two-nights-per campground plan yesterday - there wasn’t much to do in camp and I didn’t want to have a massive drive day, and I preferred to get home Friday. So I left the redwoods a day early and got a semi-cheap motel in small town Oregon.



One more day of coastal views and highway driving and I’ll sleep in my own bed tonight! It’s been a very full 11 days!


Comments

  1. ClaudiaJune 25, 2022 at 10:04 AM

    Sounds delightful! And I’m so glad you enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJune 30, 2022 at 10:13 AM

    What an amazing experience Beth! I can't wait to go to Lassen!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marissa GatesJune 30, 2022 at 10:15 AM

    ^^^ This comment is me. I am not anonymous. :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

July = Family time

Image
 I’m spending time with family and have been getting some real summer in!  I flew to meet up with my SIL and niblings, and we four went to see my parents. We got in lots of beach, park, and library time, along with some summer food faves like lobster rolls, frozen lemonade, and ice cream. Plus a very successful sea glass-hunting expedition! Then I flew with them to their home in much hotter places, but I get to see my brother and enjoy a few more days with the kids.  One cool game we played is called Dixit. Everyone is dealt a few art cards, and one person picks a card and says a word that their card evokes for them. Then everyone else chooses a card from their hands that evokes the same words or feeling. We didn’t bother with scoring but it was pretty fun, and great to get a glimpse of how their little brains work. This is the set of cards we used for the cue “patience”: And the adults are having fun working on a backlog problem my brother has from a cocktail subscription kit! 
Read more

Elephant visit

Image
  It’s been amazing and I’ll post more later when I’m on better wifi. We’ve stayed at a posh lodge on the Lewa Conservacy, did a walking safari & camped two nights (supported by 13 camels and 8 Maasai tribesmen), visited a school and village, then flew north to the Samburu region.   It’s a lot to absorb! Today, to get something up here, I’ll share about yesterday’s visit to the Retiti Elephant Sanctuary. Young elephants sometimes fall in wells, or their parents die, or they get separated from their herd somehow. Community members spot them and call the Sanctuary.  Sanctuary staff come assess the elephant calf, give immediate assistance if needed (getting them out of the well, for example), and wait 72 hours to see if the mother/herd return to collect the baby.  If not, they’ll take the calf to the sanctuary for as long as 5 years, feeding them, reintroducing them to the wild, and eventually helping them integrate with a herd. They give lots of chances for the younger ones to find t
Read more

Making plans - technology flavor

I’ve saved money, I’ve given notice at work, my sister will be in my house to hold down the home front, I’ve been building up my miles accounts for years, and I’ve started committing to a lot of travel plans in the next few months. What else do I need to think about? Yep - technology. Staying in touch:  looks like I can buy data plans that will work for my iPhone in all the countries I’m planning to hit so far. Switching to some other plan like Google fi might make more fiscal sense but it’s only in beta for the iPhone and I just don’t want to mess with connectivity. I’d rather throw some money at it and keep it otherwise simple. Also open to having a burner phone or swapping out my SIM card. I have an iPhone SE 2020 and intend to stick with it - sure, the newer cameras are even better, but what it has is really very good.  I have an iPad I can bring with me - I don’t tend to watch a lot of videos or shows, but … I might want to?  I gave away my kindle and haven’t decided if I want to
Read more