What about the Trail?

Thanks Angela and Jo for reminding me to actually use my blog for 'real life stories!' YES, I miss all my friends from Idaho!!! As per your request, here is an update about last week...

Well I have finished the third week on the trail this year. First two weeks were with adult men (Sinagua) and the last one was with the girls (Badgerstone). It sure was an interesting week for me. It was the first all-girl group I have been in for the entire 8 day trek. At first I was mostly quiet... I knew that any ordinary sarcasm I was used to from the boy groups would not fly well in a girls group (learned that from experience last year). The thing about girls is they rely on each other a lot for support. In other words, they love to have something to brag about, something for someone to feel sorry for them for, and someone to share a secret or two with. It's also a social status to state how long you've been with your boyfriend and what type of vehicle he owns (and how often you guys ride in it together). Nevertheless, amongst all the emotional and social turmoil, there lies a strong center withing the girls band. They are better hikers than the boys group by far - never complaining because the hike gets too difficult or because the bushes have thorns. The guys complain a lot about hiking. Ironically, the men are better cooks around the campfire, but the girls are better hikers :) Not what society today portrays gender roles as being.

Nevertheless, by the end of the week I loved being with the Badgerstone Girls. Everyone was progressing and there was a great spirit of friendship before I left. One of the girls who would do push ups with me beat me in arm wrestling! (But I won when we did left hands). Another girl did a 24 hour primitive with me. This is how it worked... we decided that all the food we would eat that day must be gathered from the land, and that night we would have to sleep without sleeping bags (next to the campfire of course, and on opposite sides of the fire). We ate popago lilies (stuff you have to dig up to get), miners lettuce, wild rhubarb, watercress, and prickly pear pads. We didn't hunt anything because it was only 24 hours, but if we were going for longer we would have set traps for pack rats or other rodents (yes, rodents. You can eat everything on them except for their teeth. They are a good source of food). Insects are also good if you can find decent ones. Wood worms are good as well. Rabbits are too quick for traps and are caught with large nets, which we don't have unless we make one. Anyways, I learned an important lesson about eating prickly pear: don't eat the adult pads! Only the young ones! I ended up being fatigued and dizzy for the next day and a half because I ate a prickly pear pad. The fruit is fine, but the pads aren't really good for a meal. Sleeping next to the fire was fine, a little cold though. Well, that was last week on the trail! I leave again this Wednesday. Who knows where I will be working this time!

One last thing for those interested, David H. wife is expecting a baby girl soon. Actually she was due four days ago! I saw her then and she looked fine. It's pretty exiting - a bathtub birth. Everything has been carefully planned and prepared for. I wish them the best!

Im cool

Restaurant artwork

How to long board

Coffee Rush

I've been at the "Coffee Rush" for the past few hours finishing up the next week's worth of online homework before I head back on the trail tomorrow. I'm looking forward to this week for two reasons: 1. I'll be working with friends I already know and hang out with, 2. I will be with the girls group which may be a nice change since I don't normally work with them. I'm updating my blog right now for a break from homework.

Next week I am going with some other trailwalkers to help teach primitive skills at a Boy Scout convention. I am especially exited since I am an Eagle Scout. It has been a long time since I've done anything with the Boy Scouts, other than teaching First Aid at a Jamboree in Rexburg a few years ago.

Down in Tuscon there are some people who live in an "effecient neighborhood." That means that their houses are positioned to harvest rainwater, warmth from the Sun, and coolness from the earth, etc. Kat and Scooter went down to Tuscon to volunteer services in exchange for a friendly tour and information on the process. I couldn't go because I was feeling sick that day, but I hear it was great. I think I'll get to go next time soon. I write this because I think that most of my friends reading this would love to do the same thing. Hey... we should start our own effecient neighborhood! ;)

There is another guy who is an herbalist and I think I'm going to visit him after the Boy Scout Conference I mentioned earlier.

By the way, it sure is nice to be typing on my own laptop right now. I haven't had access to the internet before coming to the Coffee Rush, so I've had to use a crappy computer at the Office. My laptop is a Ferrari compared to that slow office beast of a computer.

This place has great hot chocolate, and the guy here is really cool with long black hair and goes by the name of "Mo." One lady saw my longboard and said she was a pro-skater for VANS back in the day. Then she winked at me. I asked her if she'd ever been to So-Cal but she hadn't. I asked her if she could do a hand stand on a skateboard and she said "no" (I saw someone do that at my Junior High School when they toured that area). Then she told me it would be pretty hard to do an Ollie on my longboard. "Um... yep, it would, but I can ride off of curbs pretty well." (longboards aren't meant for stunts like ollies). The conversation ended. I don't know why, but older women are more attracted to me than ones my age. Or really short girls. No big deal. I wasn't even interested anyways. I dated a trailwalker friend here for a bit and we still kinda like each other. Well, I gotta go bowling before going to the trail tomorrow :) Hasta!