Living With Lady Philosophy

The Professor Goes West//Days 21, 22, 23//There and Back Again

2019-06-15T18:54:00.001-05:00

Day 21—Saturday, June 9, 2018

Today we slept in—the kids slept until past 8AM and the professor and I read and journaled in the tent so as to not wake the children. We had a leisurely morning at the campsite. The kids climbed up the hill behind the campsite and played on a huge rock. Once again nature was a superior playground! I followed them up the hill to see what I could see and I saw a lovely view of Long’s Peak.

We then set out to find a place to hike—but as Rocky Mountain National Park is a very crowded park it took a while to find a place to hike. First, we tried the Beaver Meadow for about half an hour and then drove up to the Lawn Lake Flood waterfall. It was a short but steep, rocky trail, but the waterfall was lovely. The girls and I put our feet in the water which was quite cold. T found it to be too cold.

I especially liked the aspens quaking beside the stream with their airy cages. We then drove around a bit to find other places to hike but parking was all full. Afterwards we went back to the campsite and had tuna and apples for lunch. The professor took the kids to Fern Meadow where they played in the stream for a while and then looked at a herd of elk including a mother elk and her fawn.

I stayed at the campsite to catch up on my journal and have some quiet alone time. It was quite refreshing. When they returned, we dressed and went to Mass at Our Lady of the Mountains for the anticipatory Mass where we sang all of the classic songs I sang as a child when my father was the music director. For supper I made “pizzadillas” in a frying pan (tortillas sandwiching pizza sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni) and we had ice cream for dessert. Then we had the last campfire of the trip.

Day 22—Sunday, June 10, 2018

We woke early to break camp making it out in less than two hours from wake up to departure, which was a record for us. The tourist town of Estes Park was traffic-free for once as we made our way over US-36 and followed the North St. Vrain Creek through a mountain canyon. We came out quite suddenly onto the endless flat plains of Eastern Colorado. They went on the rest of the day.

The land got greener and greener as we went further east approaching the lush Mid-West spring. All was flat and all was green.

We listened to Return of the King as we went along and made lunch at a rest stop. About 6PM we arrived at our Omaha Embassy Suites where we checked in, hauled out things upstairs, and then went down for cocktails and appetizers. Still hungry, we ordered Dominos Pizza and ate it while taking turns showering off the last dirt of our trip. We went to bed tired but clean.

Day 23—Monday, June 11, 2018

The Embassy Suites has by far the best hotel breakfast a person could ask for. The kids ate from the hot breakfast buffet but the professor and I both had omelets made to order. They were delicious and filling. We then headed back out for one last day on the road. The plains gave way to the soft, rolling cornfields of Iowa, which we asked whether they were Heaven. They were just Iowa.

We came after a couple of hours to Des Moines where we picked up lunch from a deli and brought it to my sister and her new baby. He was a sweet newborn with red hair whom the professor put right to sleep. We had a nice visit and then got back in the car for our last leg of the trip. The fields of Minnesota had rows of little green plants where they had only plowed rows of dirt three weeks before. The warm, green summer had fully arrived while we were away and we were happy to be back home.

Ending odometer: 175453
Total Trip Mileage: 6258.1

The Professor Goes West//Day 20//Camping Safety

2019-06-14T18:56:00.002-05:00

Day 20—Friday, June 8, 2018

We ate a nice hot breakfast in the hotel before our eight-hour drive to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was nice to be on I-70 again and see all of the buttes, canyons, and the San Rafael Reef. We came back into Colorado and drove through the canyon road I-70 runs along until we turned off towards Granby, Colorado. We then took the Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. Our van made it over the pass without incident—unlike my family 20 years ago.

At the top we parked to climb a stair to the top of the tundra. It was a very breezy spot and had giant rocks for climbing which the kids took advantage of. We had a spectacular view from the top. T hopped down each step—one-by-one—all the way back to the car. We then savored the mountain top views with their snow-streaked peaks, and I remembered my fondness for Long’s Peak from all those years ago.

We went into Estes Park for dinner at a place called “You Need Pie!” where we all loved the shaved Brussel sprouts with bacon and onions. The kids loved the mac and cheese, and the professor and I were not super into our pot pie and Rueben. We had dessert first in the form of 2 huge chocolate shakes.

We rolled into the campsite a little before 8 PM and began our final tent pitching of the trip. We then got ready for bed and laid down about 10 PM with the promise of sleeping in.

——-

Today is the last day I will talk about our camping prep and supplies. There are just a few odds and ends.

First, we made a point to travel with three one-gallon jugs of water which we refilled everywhere we slept, either campsite, hotel, or friend’s house. This was helpful for when the kids needed a water-bottle refill and gave us peace of mind when we were driving through the desert for hundreds of miles. Did I mention we each had our own water bottle in the car plus a couple of extra for hiking?

Second, we had a great hiking backpack which used to carry shared Nalgene water bottles for hikes, bug spray, sunscreen, and a first aid kit including a snake bite kit. We did not bring bear spray, but that is also a good safety option to have.

Third, permethrin. If you have been following my blog or social media accounts you might know that I got Lyme disease last summer. I did not get it on our camping trip. I got it in Minnesota off to the side of the path in a wooded, grassy park near the Mississippi River—just across the river from St. Paul. The day I got it all my family was wearing permethrin sprayed hiking shoes. My hiking boots fell apart in Rocky Mountain National Park—which is why I was not wearing them. I got bit by a tick, they did not. Permethrin is an insecticide that you spray on your clothes and shoes while you are not wearing them. Let it dry entirely. It will last for 40 days and through 6 or so wash cycles.

Be safe. Be smart. Use the bear boxes when they are provided. Keep interesting smells out of your tent. All will be well.

Happy Camping!

****This post contains affiliate links.****

The Professor Goes West//Day 19//How the Professor Plans Trips

2019-06-13T18:57:00.001-05:00

Day 19—Thursday, June 7, 2018

We woke early to break camp and get the professor and the girls ready for their cave tour of Lehman’s cave. The all enjoyed the ancient caverns with all of its stalactites and shields and cave popcorn and bacon. T and I went through the gift shop, played house in the old guest cottage, hiked a lower montane desert nature trail, and had coffee and ice cream in a café.

We then drove 13 miles up Wheeler Peak to the trail to the Bristlecone Pine Grove. The trail was nearly 2 miles up hill with rocky pathways and snow along the sides. We threw snowballs at each other the whole way up. At the top we met the Bristlecone pines—trees thousands of years old. I loved their grotesque beauty as they twisted around for millennia holding on to the rocky mountainside. Living parts coexisted with dead parts and it was hard to fathom that these trees lived before Christ became incarnate and still live now.

At the grove we met a young couple who had just become engaged and claimed that they wanted 6-7 children. I will pray for them and their future marriage. We said goodbye to the trees and then hiked back down mindful of our steps and careful of the steep drops down the hillside.

Back at the car I made lunch and we began our three-hour drive to a hotel in Richfield, Utah. The road went through a bleak, dreadful desert past the dried Sevier Salt Lake. We were on the loneliest road in America, US-50, where the professor walked on Crossroads back in college.

At length, we came to Richfield where we shopped for groceries, took showers after five days without and did all of our laundry. The kids watched Mulan as we ate chicken salad for dinner.

I asked the professor to guest post today about how he went about planning our road trip. Cue “the professor”:

In order to start planning the itinerary of a camping road trip, I need two things: a main destination (or set of destinations) and a time frame. For this trip, we began with a desire to make a pilgrimage to the Franciscan missions in California—that was the initial main destination of the trip. We’ve found from previous experience that three weeks is about our psychological limit for time spent away from home. So, I began planning this trip with that time frame in mind, though the trip ended up being a little over three weeks.

I then fill in the details of the trip. This involves considering what we want to see between home and the main destination. There are lots of places out west I’ve always wanted to see, so I examined, on Google Maps, various routes that could be taken to reach the main destination and saw which of these places would be reasonable to visit en route to that main destination.

I plan trips using a Google Spreadsheet. I put various itineraries on the spreadsheet, seeing how long the drives are between potential stops, and in this way, I narrow down the list of possible stops until I arrive at the final list of places to which we will go on our road trip. Basically, I try to maximize the number of places we can visit within the give time frame, while abiding by a few criteria. The number of days spent driving more than ten hours should be minimized. At least two nights should be spent at most stops, so as to maximize the amount of time spent at each location.

On a long-term camping trip like this one, we try to spend at least every fourth night in a motel or at a friend’s house. Contacting friends and asking to stay with them and finding cities with motels that had rooms or suites large enough to accommodate our family further determined the route that this trip would take. For example, early itineraries this trip had us travel from Grand Canyon to Los Angeles, spending time in the Mojave Desert and Joshua Tree National Park along the way. But then friends in San Diego invited us to visit them; this allowed us to see more of the Franciscan missions (our main destination) than we had originally planned, which we wanted to do, but it meant cutting those stops, and taking a new route from Grand Canyon to San Diego. Getting lodging with friends in various places allowed us to discover new places to visit that we had not previously planned to see, like Muir Woods near San Francisco.

Once all these stops were determined, I began making camping reservations. For this trip, I did this mostly on the National Park Service’s website, though we also camped in state parks in South Dakota and California, so I used those state park service websites to do this. This was my family’s first major camping trip, so I tried to find campgrounds that had running water as much as possible. Once my family is more used to camping, we will probably camp more in National Forests, which are preferable to Parks because they are cheaper, have fewer people, and often have preserved the natural setting of campgrounds better than in Parks, but also often have more primitive facilities.

Some Parks require that you make reservations far in advance. For example, to reserve a campsite in Yosemite for June, I had to be on the website at a certain time on January 15. Even though I was on the site only a few seconds after that time, most sites were already booked! If you intend to camp at such parks, make sure you read the website and find out the reservation process well in advance. Other Parks, like Great Basin, are so little visited that they do allow reservations; campsites are first come, first served.

After reserving all of our lodging, I completed planning the trip by spending time on each Park’s website, looking at various activities and things to see. We didn’t make the final decisions as to what we would do at each Park until we were there, but this way we had a good idea of what to do well before we arrived. This helped us not waste time figuring things out while at each Park, and it also helped heighten our excitement to go to each place! But it’s certainly necessary to be flexible when on a trip like this and be willing to stop at things you see along the way if they seem to be worthwhile.

The Professor Goes West//Day 18//Efficient Stops

2019-06-12T18:59:00.001-05:00

I got behind on these posts because we had a busy weekend celebrating a family wedding! Now we are home and I will finish up the series:

Day 18—Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Today was a sad day as we bid farewell to the fair Yosemite—loved of the sequoias and other towering pines—even the orange cone pine. The drive to Nevada took us the length of the park further into the wilderness where we were met with spectacular mountain views, lovely lakes, and John Muir’s favorite Tuolumne Meadows.

There was a stark change as soon as we crossed to the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas. The wooded magnificent domes were now rocky, shrubby mountains as we took a long road into a desolate valley filled with Lake Mono—a salty lake with volcanic rocks sticking up out of it. We then came to a road that went up and down like a roller coaster for miles and miles as we went through a red-brown mountain land. There lived wild horse which we saw grazing in the distance.

Then the land became flat and desolate. There we passed a tower surrounded by mirrors which we are pretty sure was an alien base. We got gas and Subway sandwiches in the desert town of Tonopah, Nevada and then passed through a US testing range area. After hours of desert we came to the lovely Spring Valley which gave us a view of Wheeler Peak where we would be camping.

The desert made us feel a sense of dread until we came into the gorgeous Great Basin National Park. There we nervously went through the first-come, first-serve campgrounds until we found a lovely sight bordered by a mountain stream lined with quaking aspens and pine nut trees. The kids called the stream our sound machine to give us white noise for the night—it also brought us a cool breeze. We had chili for supper which I prepared while the professor set up the tent. After supper we brushed our teeth and then had a campfire until. The sun went down. The night sky there was incredible. We were far from the nearest city and saw millions of stars—everyone was multiple shooting stars. We watched them up in the sky until the kids were way too tired and our necks hurt from looking up. Then we went to sleep to the sound of our mountain stream.

I remember when my Ohio relatives came to St. Louis for my sister’s wedding. They caravanned in a few cars and their were about 7 kids total. Their trip took several hours longer than it needed to because they stopped so many times⎼sometimes just for one person. My family drove to Cleveland every summer, and we had one rule for rest stops: everyone has to go in and use the facilities no matter what.

I have continued the tradition of efficient and quick stops on road trips. We have a system that keeps the time stopped to a minimum for every minute we save is a minute less of traveling. The goal is for everyone to go to the bathroom, refill on gas if necessary, to get out any food for eating, and to get back on the road as fast as possible. When we have a nursing baby, we add this in as well. The nursing baby stop is usually 20 minutes. The stop where we don’t get out food is 10 minutes.

This is the typical gas stop:

1) Pull up at pump.

2) Females exit the car and all go to the restroom.

3) The Professor pumps the gas then parks it. (If we have baby or toddler the diaper change happens here at the car.)

4) Ladies come back to car, the guys go to the restroom. (If there is a nursing baby—this happens here). The driver often buys caffeine.

5) I get out lunch food, prep it, and hand it out.

6) Everyone is buckled up and we go.

All other stops are variations on this. We do not normally take a long break or rest for too long unless we are taking a shorter drive. For example, if we are not getting gas we all go in quickly to the rest area together and try to get out before the guys do.

On our road trip Out West, while we made some of the stops efficient, we purposefully determined to not always make efficient stops. We took the trip for the whole experience. On days we only had a few hours to drive, we stopped at overlooks on a whim. We stopped at tourist traps occasionally. We grabbed food to go as a treat. Though on days we had 9 hours to drive we went back to our normal efficient travel schedule–sometimes stopping to blow dandelion seeds.

The Professor Goes West//Day 17//Screen Free Road Trip

2019-06-06T19:02:00.001-05:00

Day 17—Tuesday, June 5, 2018

We woke early and cold—excited to go back to the valley of Yosemite. By the time we got there it was crowded and we spent awhile searching for a parking spot—but we did not mind as we had a great view.

We parked alongside a meadow with a trail and boardwalk that lead us through the grasses and over the Merced River—Merced means “mercy” and all the beauty we saw there was certainly a mercy.

We took a short trail to the lower Yosemite Falls which were so pretty as white water poured over the gray rock spraying our arms and faces. We sat on large rocks facing the falls and just felt the view. Then we took a trail to the visitor center and bought a new water bottle and some postcards. We ate a snack lunch of popcorn and fried chick peas and carrots before looking at the Ansel Adams gallery and purchasing a few prints to frame.

We then took the valley shuttle to the Mirror Lake trail which was a rocky, tree rooty trail through stunning scenery with Half Dome to the right and another rocky face to the left. The lake was mostly dry with Tenaya Creek running through it. We followed the example of others and all waded through the clear freezing water to the other side. T rode on the professor’s back. The girls enjoyed the cold water so much that they waded much longer than I liked to. The whole experience was fun and a bit thrilling. Once we were all dry, there was a paved easy bike path road we hiked back to the shuttle stop. While we waited to be picked up, the kids played on a giant rock that was smooth and big enough to be used as a slide.

The bus ride was long and crowded—when we got dropped off we walked back across the field to our car and then headed up the Glacier Point Road to get a view of the whole valley. The view was quite breathtaking as we could see all the sights we looked at below from above them and even more. We saw the Nevada Falls and distant peaks. I loved just sitting on a rock close to the edge and feeling the view. The kids delighted in climbing on the huge rocks at the point pretending to be mountain goats. We ate a picnic dinner out of the cooler before heading back to cap to have a fire and s’mores.

There are a number of things that I think are Very Important Parts of Childhood. One of them is the long, boring road trip where one has to make oneself happy with one’s own imagination and enjoy/annoy each other. That being said we have never, ever used the DVD player in our car to entertain our children on trips. We have also never let them use a tablet or other handheld entertaining electric device.

When our children are little we give them things like a magna-doodle to use over and over again for coloring and a few favorite stuffed animals and other toys for imaginative play. When they are older they bring a notebook or journal for drawing and coloring. They bring books to look at or read.

Unfortunately, half of us suffer from motion sickness making car-reading difficult. Because of this we do a lot of audiobooks. Books are better than movies because they give our imaginations room to illustrate scenes in our minds. It has been fun to share favorite books with our kids and discover new ones. Now, the littlest kids do not always like a long audiobook, so we take breaks with music along the way as well. Our favorite books have included: all of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder read by Cherry Jones, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, Tarzan and the John Carter books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and The Lord of the Rings, which we listened to on our three week trip.

We start off each drive with a driving prayer for safe travels and a family rosary. Then we either listen to music or our audiobook of choice. When we are doing music the kids all usually play and talk, but when we are doing a story, we ask them to listen quietly. We give them a snack a couple of hours into the trip and lunch out of the cooler on the road. Stops are minimal (more on that later). If we have a long day of driving, we grab a quick dinner and supplement it with cut veggies from the cooler. Otherwise we try to arrive at our destination before dinner time.

These techniques have worked for us as a family on road trips for over ten years!

The Professor Goes West//Day 16//Laundry and Showers

2019-06-04T19:07:00.001-05:00

Day 16—Monday, June 4, 2018

Today we left the crowded west coast and turned east toward the fabled Yosemite. The central valley of California had fields and fields with rows and rows of food growing to ship all across the country. We stopped at a fruit stand and bought peaches, which were quite delicious. The whole day we talked about T’s birthday—he turned three and was happy to say so.

Our road led us up into the Sierra Nevadas along windy roads until finally we reached Yosemite. The roads were lined with various pine trees. Though in some places the trees stood empty and blackend providing us with a beautiful mountain view. We parked at the trailhead of Tuolomne Grove, ate lunch at the car, and then hiked down the Old Big Oak Flat Road to an ancient grove of sequoia trees. They stood tall, thick, and noble. They like fog and forest fires. The bark was soft and springy as we hugged and smelled their woody-pine scent. I was sad to leave the grove—but we had more things to do.

Our way to our campsite lead us through Yosemite Valley. There we had our first view of El Capitan, Half Dome, Bridal Falls, the Cathedral Spires, and Yosemite Falls from below and then from above as we oohed and ahhed over the tunnel view.

Wawona campground was pleasant as we were near a bubbling brook—it was our first encounter with bear lockers as well. We had a little fire after the macaroni and cheese birthday dinner and birthday cookies with candles for T. All in all, a great third birthday.

I bet by now you are wondering when and how we showered and did laundry. While we could have found laundromats along the way and used showers at various campgrounds, this is what we did. I agreed to this three-week vacation only if we stayed with friends or at hotels every couple of nights. The first thing we did when we got to a friend’s house or hotel was start the laundry. For the six of us with five changes of clothes, laundry took about three loads each time. Everyone would take a much-needed shower before going to bed, and then the professor and I would stay up folding the clean laundry into the suitcase. If we were staying at a place two nights, sometimes we would get to shower two days in a row!

A note about hotels and kids. I am not sure what most people do to keep their kids happy and quiet in hotel rooms, but we could not convince our kids to sit around and look at books. There are no toys, no friends or relatives, a fairly small space, and lots of bouncy furniture. This was the only time on the trip that we caved to the entertainment of screens. For some reason none of our hotels had Netflix available on their televisions so the children all squeezed around my 4-inch phone screen and watched a movie. I do not trust normal TV stations to show my children anything worthwhile or considerate of their innocence.

The Professor Goes West//Day 15//Camping Bedtime Routine

2019-06-03T19:08:00.002-05:00

Day 15—Sunday, June 3, 2018

We went to St. Joseph Basilica; it was the feast of Corpus Christi and a first Mass of Fr. Mario. We then packed a lunch and headed across a bridge into Murin County to Muir Woods. The professor says that Muir Woods was one of his favorite places that we saw—it felt like a holy place. The Cathedral Grove was full of tall, dark, noble Redwoods and people walked around with quiet reverence. It was also a wood reminiscent of dinosaurs—dinosaur land—because of the ferns.

When we departed the woods we took a detour to the Muir Headlands—which was the furthest west we are going on our trip and our last view of the expanse of the ocean. Once we looked at a map we went back towards San Francisco and crossed the iconic Golden Gate bridge. We then went to Baker Beach for a last touch and smell and feel of the ocean and its air. We hiked up a sandy slope back to our car and met Samantha and her children at Mod Pizza where T had his birthday dinner early of a whole mini pepperoni pizza. The rest of us had modifications of the family favorite while sauce pizza with bacon adding lots of toppings and pesto drizzle. Back at the house we made ice cream sundaes and chatted a bit before we all went to bed tired.

On our long trip we often did not have access to showers at our campsites, but I did not want to put the kids to bed dusty. Most sites were super dusty since they were in a drought. So, our bedtime routine involved bringing soap and washcloths to the bathrooms and wiping down arms, legs, and faces of dirt. We would all use the toilet and brush our teeth. I took care of the girls and the professor took care of the boy. When everyone was clean we would go straight to the tent, take off their shoes, and the children would change into their pajamas on their side of the tent.

Once everyone was ready for bed, the professor would run the dirty laundry to the car to keep any food smells out of our tent. In campsites with bear boxes (metal containers with an anti-bear handle) we would load all food containers, any scented soaps, bug sprays, sunscreens (basically all our toiletries), and dirty laundry into the bear box. This was to prevent bears from trying to break into our car since they recognize food containers, especially the plastic tubs and coolers.

After family bedtime prayer in the tent, we tucked the kids in for the night. This was usually about an hour after their normal bedtime. The professor and I would lie down in our sleeping bags with dim flashlights and books and ready for a while until we were sleepy. It was a nice cozy way to end the day.

The Professor Goes West//Day 14//Breaking Camp

2019-06-02T19:10:00.001-05:00

Day 14—Saturday, June 2, 2018

We broke camp right away and then took a hike on Eagle Creek trail which led us into the heart of the redwoods. We climbed into a hollowed-out redwood. The tree’s roots are very hardy—if one tree is killed in a fire, other trunks will grow out of living roots—we saw many fairy circles of redwoods around mossy stumps.

Our next step was the Santa Clara mission on the campus of the university of the same name. There was a lovely, fragrant rose garden where we overheard a student advising a friend, “If you are going to smoke, smoke a pipe.” From this we concluded that all university students are the same. In the church at a side chapel under a grotesque crucifix was buried Padre Magus Cataler O.F.M., a missionary who has a cause for canonization.

We then when to the San Josè Mission where there was a wedding—so we stayed in our car and said a quick prayer to St. Joseph—and continued to In-N-Out Burger where we guzzled lemonade while waiting for our burgers. From there we sat in an hour of traffic on the Oakland Bay bridge and made it to the San Franciscon de Asìs Mission with 15 minutes to spare before closing time. The old church was preferable to the new one. There were lots of statuts of Franciscan saints, including the professor’s friend St. Bonaventure.

From the mission we proceeded to Chinatown past classic San Francisco houses down the trolley tracks and steep streets. We had a great dinner of soup dumplings, pork and noodles with gravy, Chinese broccoli, with fried sesame balls and sesame dumplings for dessert. T ate one soup dumpling at dinner and then ate PB&J in the car. An hour later we arrived at my friend Samantha’s sweet home in Alameda in Oakland where we showered and did laundry and visited with the family.

We tried to make leaving the campsite as efficient as possible. We usually left camp around an hour after we got up.

On mornings we broke camp we all got up early. After we got dressed, we all rolled the sleeping bags and pads together and put these items and suitcases in the car. The professor swept out the the tent while I took down the clothes line. He would break down the tent on his own while the kids got water, we refilled water bottles, combed the girls’ hairs, put away the tablecloth, and folded up and packed the chairs. When the professor was ready to roll the tent up, I would sweep off the dirt and leaves while He did the rolling. When the tent was rolled we put it in its case and put the tent in the car. The professor did the finished touches of packing the car and I made sure everyone made it to the bathroom and brushed teeth. When we were ready to go, I would hand granola bars and cups of milk for breakfast. We would purchase coffee and gas on our way out of camp.

That was it!

The Professor Goes West//Day 13//Big Sur Coast

2019-06-01T19:13:00.000-05:00

With a long journal entry today there will be no camping tips.

Day 13—Friday, June 1, 2018

We woke 10 hours late having been lulled in our dreams by the mountain brook and the fresh sea air. The old air of the Redwoods refreshed us in our sleep.

After we broke camp we walked back to the beach and climbed on the rocks in the mouth of a stream while watching the crashing waves. Jagged rocks framed each side of the dark sandy beach as the sun shone down on us from behind.

We then went back to the van and began our drive up the Big Sur Coast. Words cannot describe the beauty of the blue-green water and foaming waves crashing against the black-grey rocks of the coast. We wound our way alongside a cliff with the ocean on the right. At every pull off cars were stopped as people got out to feel the view. We stopped to feel the wind, hear the waves, and soak in the beauty. The blue-green and bright blue water crashed into white foam against the rocks as we looked down from the rocky overlook.

At noon we stopped to take a short trail to the overlook of a waterfall. It fell from 50 feet up gracefully onto the sandy beach oblivious to the craggy ocean rocks beside it. The trees crowded up to the edge of the cliff, and little black birds with a white marking on each wing played in the water below. With great effort we pulled the professor from the scenc.

The road curved to the “town” of Big Sur where we stopped at Fiffer-Big-Sur State Park and hiked amongst the Redwood trees. They towered up into the sky with their rich woody-pine smell below. We later passed the Point Sur Lighthouse which sits out on a cliff of its own on a round hill with a road winding up it. We stopped down the coast from the lighthouse to look at the rocky shore again, and prayed together the canticle from Daniel:

Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
You heavens, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
All you hosts of the Lord, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Sun and moon, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Stars of heaven, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Every shower and dew, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
All you winds, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Fire and heat, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Cold and chill, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Dew and rain, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.]
Frost and chill, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Ice and snow, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Nights and days, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Light and darkness, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Let the earth bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
Mountains and hills, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Everything growing from the earth, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
You springs, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Seas and rivers, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
You dolphins and all water creatures, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
All you birds of the air, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
-Daniel 3:58-80

As we reached Carmel we stopped at Point Lobos and looked out over the ocean. Seals and sea lions were sunning themselves and barking as waves crashed about them against the rocks they were laying on.

We then met my friend Bobbie at the Carmel Mission where St. Juniper Serrra is buried. We lit a candle—F lit it—to Our Lady of Perpetual Help for our family. There was a side chapel to Our Lady of Bethlehem that Pope St. John Paul II visited in 1987 with an inscription from the address he gave:

“Much to be envied are those who can give their lives for something greater than themselves in loving service to others. This, more than words and deeds along, is what draws people to Christ.”

The courtyard there was particularly beautiful. The kids really liked the museum which shared the living and dining quarters of St. Juniper Serra. We camped that night at Henry Cowell Redwoods outside Santa Cruz.

The Professor Goes West//Day 12//Setting Up Camp

2019-05-31T19:15:00.000-05:00

Day 12—Thursday, May 31, 2018

We woke up early to say goodbye to our friends. We then headed north stopping at missions along the way.

We arrived first at Santa Barbara Mission. It was packed with tourists, so we just slipped into the back of the church behind the barrier to pray. We renewed our Marian consecration in the back of the dark church to the sound of the tour guide in the front. The chapel for adoration was locked, though there was a beautiful view of the California landscape out the front door.

Our second mission of the day was Santa Inès—Saint Agnes—where my friend Gina met us with her two little boys. We prayed for our home parish, and the kids enjoyed the cemetery and the fountain. There was a remnant of the first seminary of the missions there as well.

We then drove quickly north to get to our campsite before dark. We slowed down to see the San Miguel Mission and then stopped to get gas and ice in the town. It was an old crumbly looking mission from the outside and was situated in the middle of a dry, golden valley. We headed further into the wilderness of central California. The San Antonio de Padua Mission was situated beside Ft. Hunter Liggett in the middle of a dry field. We drove up and took a quick look at the mission which was closed. From there we took a 13-mile winding road over a mountain. The road was narrow and super curvy going first through a dry savanna and then into a forest. It was 6 miles up and then the landscape suddenly changed from forest to dry, wavy grass with the endless sea at the base of the mountains. The drive down was terrifyingly beautiful as we navigated around sharp rocky curves with oncoming traffic. At the bottom we found the Big Sur Coast of steep cliffs ending in a cerulean blue ocean.

At last we arrived at Limekiln State Park where we drove into our campsite beneath the timeless Redwoods. The professor put up the tent while I made a supper of macaroni and cheese with summer sausage and salad. When we had things washed up, we walked down to the beach for the sunset. The repetition of the waves on the jagged rocks was peaceful and lovely. After a roaring campfire, we all when to sleep to the sound of a bubbling brook.

By the end of our trip, the professor had the campsite set up down to a science. The first order of business was planning where the tent would go. Some campsites had a designated tent spot, raised with fine rocks underneath—others left us up to our own judgment. When we picked a large enough, level enough spot the children would clear away any sticks, pinecones, and/or rocks. We then gave them the job of setting up chairs around the fire pit and staying out of the way. We usually had one of the girls keeping the toddler boy out of trouble while we worked.

We always stored the tent at the bottom of the trunk with suitcases above them and the lighter bedding on top. He would throw all of the pillows and sleeping bags into the back seat, stick suitcases on the picnic table. Then he would lay the tarp on the tent site and begin to set up the tent. When the tent was up, he asked a child or two to help him carry sleeping bags, pillows, and pads into the tent and lay them out in the right spots. We also brought our suitcases into the tent since we had a lot of space. He then used his Eagle Scout knot skills to hang a rope line between trees for wet towels and rags.

If we were eating a meal at the campsite, we would get out the materials I needed and I would work on the table and dinner while the professor pitched the tent. For the table I always clipped on our vinyl tablecloth on the whole table except for about 18 inches at the end where we used the propane stove. If it was buggy out, we would light a citronella candle to keep the bugs away from our meal prep. I often had the girls help me set the table, heat up food, and fetch water for dinner. After we ate, we would boil water on the stove and wash the dishes in soapy water in one tub and rinse them in the next. We put the kids in charge of the rinsing and drying. Then we could relax and and enjoy the campgrounds!

The Professor Goes West//Day 11//theprofessorsdinner

2019-05-30T19:17:00.000-05:00

Day Eleven—Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Today is our errand day. We got an oil change and groceries for the cooler. The car said that the vintage Vavoline oil was delicious. Then we spent a quiet hour at the San Buenventura Mission where the professor and I took turns praying. The professor talked to St. Bonaventure about philosophy while the kids romped in the garden. I prayed with the intense, bloody crucifix about our recent loss and received new courage to carry it with joy. We lit a candle for our family and writing before the crucifix.

We lunched at the car by the Ventura pier which used to be wharf. Walking out on the thick wood boards was exciting, yet scary when we peered through the cracks to the ocean below. Several fishermen were standing at the end with their fishing rods. Two of them had lowered a jug leaking blood into the water—they said that it was to attract sharks. The professor may have seen a dolphin out in the ocean. All I saw were dozens of surfers out at the point. We stood there digging them from afar and hoped the sharks would stay away. I liked watching the waves from the side. We could stand on the pier right where the waves crashed before they hit the shore.

In the afternoon we met our friends we are staying with at a playground in Libby Park. Back at the house, we got ready to go on a date. The kids got to have delicious organic hotdogs and play with our friends’ chickens. The professor and I went to the Nest in Ojai with a chef from LA as its founder. The professor drank “The Ventura Fog,” an Earl Grey infused gin with egg whites and rosemary and lavender sprinkled on top. I had “The Cuban,” which was plantation rum with coconut, lime, pineapple juice, and garnished with mint. He ate fancy anchovy pizza and a giant salad with bleu cheese while I had a brisket on a baguette with cheese and chimichurri sauce with a side salad with fresh berries. After dinner we walked through the downtown to a cute little bookstore. We found a children’s book by Graham Greene, several books on art, and a paperback by Nathaniel Hawthorne. For dessert we went to a vegan restaurant and got wine and vegan “cheese” cake. It was a nice way to celebrate our anniversary a few weeks early.

We tried to make the dinners on our camping trip easy, but more interesting than the lunches. Our goal was foods that were portable with non-perishable storage (meaning no raw meats) and easy to cook.

Here is a list of things we did at the campsites:

Canned chili topped with cheese and yogurt and served with tortilla chips and bagged kale and brussel sprouts salad
Hot dogs over the fire, chips, and bagged salad
Boxed macaroni and cheese and summer sausage (from the ¼ cow we purchase every year) and bagged salad
A just add water Indian lentil dish from Trader Joe’s and bagged salad
Tortilla pizzas with a tortilla on top and bottom, canned pizza sauce, mozzerella, and pepperoni plus bagged salad

When we stayed at hotels we tried to have food that required no cooking:

Chicken salad wraps with grapes, mayo, and dill
Our last night we ordered pizza

Other nights we just grabbed food on the road for dinner. We often did this on nights we were coming into campsites close to dark or after dinner time. We did not want to have to deal with washing up. Though there were a few campsites where we arrived and the professor pitched the tent while I made dinner. Having a quick and easy meal option made things a lot simpler and saved us money since we did not have to eat out a lot.

The Professor Goes West//Day 10//You Gotta Eat (Lunch)

2019-05-29T19:37:00.000-05:00

Day Ten—Tuesday, May 29, 2018

We woke up in Ojai and prepared to spend the day at the beach in Capistrano. We ate lunch and played on the beach in the sand and waves. It was cloudy and cool, but the kids still enjoyed the water. L found a long strand of kelp and wrapped herself in it making herself look like a mermaid. We collected sea shells and T finally found that he likes the ocean. He said that with each wave the ocean said, “Hello, Mr. T!”

After we left the beach we got ice cream from a shop in the cute little “downtown.” In the afternoon we showered and got ready for 5:20 PM Mass at the chapel at Thomas Aquinas College. The chapel was reminiscent of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, but simpler. Both were designed by the architect Duncan Stroik. The Mass was quick and in Latin. Campus was lovely and serene with well-manicured gardens. Our hostess made us delicious Mexican style rice and lettuce bowl buffet. We ate on the patio, and the kids enjoyed playing outside with their new friend and the chickens.

On our trip out west, our plan for lunches was to have an easy plan ready to make whenever we needed to have lunch whether on the road or at a campsite. We kept our cooler in the car with all of our lunch food. We decided that we would not bring bread but make all of our sandwiches out of tortillas, and the kids complained when I made them eat whole wheat ones. We had options of lunch meat, cheese, with leafy greens or peanut butter and jelly. I made sure to have mustard and mayonnaise in bottles with and squirt lid to make the process faster. For the peanut butter and jelly we just used a plastic knife. On Fridays we opened cans of tuna, drained them and mixed mayo into each person’s wrap without dirtying a bowl.

When we wanted lunch we would simple find a park or rest area, open up the sliding door and made everyone sandwiches on plastic plates we kept handy. We had a paring knife readily available to cut up apples—our fruit of choice on the trip—and one adult would slice fruit while the other made sandwiches. Often we just made everyone eat in the car so we would not take too long on our stops.

Sometimes we did this for dinner if we had a different lunch to make things easier. Everyone got fed, but most of us were tired of meat and cheese wraps or pb&j tortillas by the end of the trip!

Tomorrow? Campsite and hotel dinner foods!

The Professor Goes West//Day 9//Camping Breakfasts

2019-05-28T19:40:00.000-05:00

Day Nine—Monday, May 28, 2018

We left San Diego for the first leg of our mission touring pilgrimage through the city of Ojai about 9 AM. Our plan was to go into four missions with a stop at Burrito La Palma for lunch in Los Angelos.

We arrived first at the “King of the Missions” San Luis Rey de Francia near Oceanside. It as founded in 1798 and Franciscans live there today. We particularly liked the painting of the Last Judgment with its incredible detail and a lovely painting of the Assumption. The white walled cemetery was also quite beautiful with a skull and cross bones over the entrance and a cemetery plot for babies.

The second missions was San Juan Capistrano—it was a busy, well-ordered mission. Fourth graders in California have to do a project on this mission. It had extensive grounds. The first church had fallen down in the 1812 earthquake. My favorite part here was the Serra Chapel where St. Junipero Serra had celebrated Mass with a beautiful gold altarpiece. T. really liked the gold chair in the mission treasure museum and noted the tabernacle and vestments also in the museum.

We had a delicious lunch at Burrito La Palma at the recommendation of Jacqui. We had burritos, la plata especial, and a torte sandwich with Mexican Coke. Her uncle, who owns the restaurant was very generous with our bill. It was nice to feel taken care of so far from home.

We then drove to the San Gabriel Mission. It had a neat little baptistry with a painting of the Baptism of Our Lord. I was especially moved by the painting of Our Lady of Sorrows from Mexico. The gardens had a giant trunked grape vine that was planted in 1774—the vine extended up and over the walkways all along the plaza.

Our next stop was the crowded park around Griffith’s Observatory to look out over hazy Los Angelos. We could barely read the HOLLYWOOD sign. We made a last stop at the San Fernando Rey Mission, but it was already closed so we only saw it from the outside.

Then we drove up through the sunny, hazy evening back into the mountains. Our road lead us into the Ojai Valley to the home of friends who lived in St. Paul our first semester in Minnesota. They welcomed us with wine, chocolate, and clean beds.

——

Let’s talk about camping/road trip food.

We traveled with an 18-gallon tub full of dry food and a large cooler full of cold food. We refilled the plastic storage containers with ice from the gas station or hotel every two or three days. This worked to keep everything very cold—even milk!

For camping breakfasts our goal was simple and easy clean up. When we have camped in Minnesota I have done things like pre-made pancake mix, but this leaves you with a pile of dishes and an hour of cleanup before you can get out and have fun. So for our three week trip we decided on simple foods. We brought granola and granola bars—I actually made enough for the whole trip. The kids drank milk out of disposable cups. If you have yogurt eaters, individual yogurt cups would work well here as well. On mornings at the campsite the professor and I would percolate coffee. On days we were breaking camp and leaving we would buy coffee on the road to save time on dishes.

Tomorrow I will talk about lunch and dinners!

The Professor Goes West//Day 8//What to Wear

2019-05-27T19:41:00.000-05:00

Day Eight—Sunday, May 27, 2018

We woke up early to go to 9 AM Mass at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, a parish of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter in San Diego. The church was packed, but a good usher managed to seat us. It was nice to assist at Mass after a week of being in the wilderness—it is somewhat like being a pioneer I suppose.

After mass we set out for Coronado Island to find coffee, pastries, and the ocean. We sat on the beach with huge chocolate chip muffins, and then had all but the professor’s first feel of the Pacific Ocean. The kids played in and out of the ocean as the waves lapped at their toes.

One of the professor’s philosophy friends invited out family to join his for a lovely brunch and I think the kids enjoyed each other as much as the adults did. It was wonderful to spend the afternoon with like-minded Catholic people. The N. family is one that we would love to live closer to, but alas, half the country separates us!

We went with them to the first Franciscan California Mission of San Diego to inaugurate the pilgrimage portion of our trip. Then we had a picnic supper in Balboa Park. It is interesting to think about the Franciscans building their missions, baptizing, and spreading the Gospel over 200 years ago. While the churches in Europe are even older it is neat to see a Spanish style church in America.

——

I was surprised the first time I heard that the virtue of modesty in dress does not just deal with covering our bodies, but it also has to do with wearing the appropriate clothing for the occasion. For example, a swimsuit is appropriate for a beach, pool, or backyard sprinkler time, but not for church, the orchestra, or a restaurant. And in our case, perhaps our Sunday Mass clothes were not ideal for the beach. Having appropriate clothing is just as important for camping.

We camped in a variety of temperatures, and since you are always outside, some mornings you wake up freezing and want pants and a sweater. But as the day goes on you are warm and want shorts and a t-shirt. Here is a list of clothes we had for each person of our family—we planned for laundry at least every five days:

Hiking shoes with good treads (all sprayed with tick-repellent permethrin before the trip—more on that later)
Sandals and church shoes
2 long pants pairs jeans
4 skirts/shorts
6 short sleeve shirts
2 sweaters
5 changes of undergarments
5 pairs of socks
2 long sleeve PJs
2 short sleeve PJs
Knit hats
Sunday church outfit
Rain jacket
Hat for hiking
Swimsuit
Towel

Everyone also packed their basic toiletry necessities, obviously, and we brought laundry detergent and quarters. This set up of clothes work really well. I think we were only cold one or two mornings, but once the sun rose higher, we were fine. The goal was to keep it as basic as possible. The kids clothes all fit in one large suitcase and the professor and I shared a medium suitcase. We use the rolling clothes method so the kids’ clothing was packed in 4 rows, one for each of them and was easy for them to find. And that is about it for clothing!

Tomorrow I will start in on how we did meals.

The Professor Goes West//Day 7//Campsite Necessities

2019-05-26T19:42:00.000-05:00

Day Seven—Saturday, May 26, 2018

Today was a long day in the car. We woke up at 6 am and left the camp about 8 am. We did not stop until we got to Phoenix. The drive out of the North Rim park gave us stunning views of the canyon mostly due to a recent forest fire. We descended from the plateau to a vast “painted” desert. Our road led us along the Vermillion cliffs. When we crossed the Colorado River to go south it was just a medium river in a small ravine. The desert was hot, flattish, and bleak.

Flagstaff was mountainous again and reminded us of Up North. As we came out of the mountains, we finally saw a saguaro cactus—the classic ones—they grew in a little forest. We met our old friend Greg H. for lunch at Rock Springs Cafè. The green bean fries and the bourbon pecan pie were particularly good. It was nice to see Greg again and chat about everyone we knew from Ann Arbor. Phoenix (from our view) was a desolate wasteland of cacti, sand, and sunshine. All the rivers were dry—we were not sure why one would voluntarily live there (though we are open to arguments why it is a great place to live).

The south western desert of Arizona was bleak with oppressive sun through the California haze. We grabbed a fast-food supper in Yuma. At the border of California we had to stop and list our fresh produce to an inspection agent. Then we hit the real sand desert with blowing sand across the highway. In Imperial Valley we were 64 feet below sea level, and then at it grew dark we entered into a treacherous 64 mile wind tunnel over the Santa Rosa Mountains. Halfway through the mountain wilderness we were stopped at a border patrol checkpoint that woke all of our children with a flashlight. We were let through since we are all U.S. Citizens. We finally arrived at La Mesa, California at the home of some friends. They have a lovely yard full of succulents and cacti and an elaborately decorated home.

——

Today, I just want to give a basic list of campsite necessities besides the tent and things that go with it. These are things that we have needed to cook meals, make coffee, wash dishes, and other items that make things go smoothly. The dishes we chose based on the food we planned to eat. Most of them came straight from our kitchen, though some we bought just for camping. We fit all but the Coleman stove in an 18 gallon tub:

Wash cloths
Towels
Bar of soap
Coleman Two burner stove with propane
Two lighters
Oven mitts and hot pads
Percolator Coffee pot
Tea kettle for boiling dish water
Sauce pot
Large pot for pasta
Mesh strainer
Wooden Spoon
Rubber spatula
Plastic spatula
Tongs
Can opener
Wine screw (we forgot this and bought one at the Grand Canyon)
Paring knife
Enamel or Travel mugs
Washable plates and cups
Forks, Spoons, and Knives
Disposable paper and plastic products (for an easy breakfast on mornings we left early)
Paper towels and napkins
Two tubs for washing and rinsing dishes
Dish soap and sponge or rag
Long skewers for marshmallows
Vinyl tablecloth with a flannel backing for the picnic table
Tablecloth clips
Rope for hanging wet towels and clothes
Clothes pins
Trash bags for dirty laundry and trash
Citronella candles

Here is a short list of things that we also brought for camping, but that we ended up keeping in the door pockets of the car. They were easy to grab when we needed them, and hard to lose since we always had a spot for them!

Sunscreen for hikes
Bug spray for hikes and the campsites
Hand sanitizer for before meals or for after using facilities
Baby wipes for wiping dirt of hands before using hand sanitizer
Lots of flashlights for walking around at night at the campsite**This post contains affiliate links.**

The Professor Goes West//Day 6//The Perfect Tent

2019-05-25T19:43:00.001-05:00

Day Six—Friday, May 25, 2018

I woke up a half an hour before everyone else today, prayed my morning prayers and contemplated that I was laying on the ground on a ridge just a short walk from the depths of the Grand Canyon. We hiked over mid-morning to the lookouts near the lodge on the North Rim along the Transcept Canyon. Bright Angel point gave us a spectacular view of the Roaring Springs Canyon and Transcept leading into the Grand Canyon. We all found the 1.4 mile hike to be long and hot, but it was worth it to be sitting on that rock at the point where the two canyons meet and simply feel the awe of the moment.

After our afternoon quiet time we drove out to Cape Royal and the Angel Window. It was here that we saw the depths of the majesty of the canyon. We could see down to the seemingly insignificant Colorado River that carved this great canyon over the course of so many years. We went out over the Angel Window and had the canyon on both sides of us. There was a railing here so the kids seemed more secure. There was a lovely desert garden—the kind of the higher elevation with juniper, gooseberry, currant and other high desert plants.

At Cape Royal the children took great pleasure in being mountain goats as the professor and I admired the depths and grandeur of the canyon and Wotan’s Throne which was topped with trees and who knows what animal life. The North Rim campsite was a conifer forest with the occasional birch grove. Ravens flew about, but we saw no other wild animal.

—–

Again, the professor is the one who did all the research for out trip. After childhood experiences of tents blown across the prairie, those that did not keep out water, and ones difficult to set up, he spent days scouring the Internet for the perfect family tent.

It needed to:

Have a full rainfly that went all the way down on all sides except for the entrance
Have a water-proof bottom that extended several inches off the ground
Be engineered in a way that one adult could to set it up and take it down alone
Be large enough for our six person family with room to grow

We chose the Coleman Octagon 98-2 Room Tent. It was perfect. It is tall enough for all of us to stand up inside. We ended up putting the children all on one half of it and putting up the divider down the middle. The professor and I slept on the other side, and we stored the suitcase with our clean clothes opposite where we slept. We would tuck the kids in about an hour later than normal and then read with flashlights until we were ready to fall asleep. We received compliments about our tent at almost every campsite as well. It was definitely worth the investment.

Other important gear to go with the tent included: a small broom and dust pan, a rubber mallet, a tarp to go on the ground under the tent, and extra stakes. These things come in a handy tent kit.

Coming up tomorrow: dishes and cooking gear!

**This post contains affiliate links**

The Professor Goes West//Day 5//What to Wear at Night

2019-05-24T19:44:00.000-05:00

Day Five—Thursday, May 24, 2018

We woke up early to drive out to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I thought we were done with the mesas but they followed us West across the desert into Arizona. We stopped at a scenic viewpoint in the San Rafael Reef which was a ridge of uranium rich rock and sand. The crumbly rock was the real desert. It was still dotted with sage brush and fir trees. What never ceases to me surprise is how the canyons and ravines just appear in the surface of the desert and range land. It is so desolate, beautiful, and awful at the same time.

We stopped for lunch in Richfield, Utah. We found a friendly mechanic to take a look at and repair a few cracks in the windshield from the hail we had encountered in Wyoming.

In the afternoon, we drove through Zion National Park where the Virgin River has formed a deep canyon. We went up a steep windy road and drove through an unlit mile long tunnel which was built in the 1920s. We hiked briefly and then got in the car again for the last leg to the Grand Canyon. We grabbed buffalo burgers and corndogs at Al’s Burger Joint in Kanab, Utah and after another windy drive through the wide open range bid farewell to the mesas of Utah and said hello to the tall pines and white birches of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

—-

Even though we were well equipped with good sleeping bags, the professor emphasized to me that warm sleepwear at night was very important. We all brought long sleeve pajamas or t-shirts, pants, and warm socks to wear at night. Many nights I wore a short sleeve shirt underneath—and on warmer nights I took off the long sleeve one if I got warmer. I guess the point is that layers are helpful for camping, especially at night!

A friend suggested to me that we also bring knit winter hats for the cooler nights. These made all the difference for keeping warm at night—thought if you have a mummy bag, no hat needed! For my son we put him in a fleece lined jacket with a hood and/or a fleece sleep sack every night since he often scooted his way out of the bag.

Another interesting thing we figured out about sleep was to pitch the tent and lay out the sleeping bags according to the slant of the ground. If we had to sleep on even a slight incline, we all did much better if our feet were pointed downhill. My son always rolled out of his sleeping bag if he was angled any other way.

Tomorrow I will talk about family sized tents!

The Professor Goes West//Day 4//Sleeping Bags

2019-05-23T19:45:00.001-05:00

Day 4—Wednesday, May 23, 2018

We arrived at our hotel in Moab, Utah late last night. The dark drive down into the valley on US-191 with the ominous ridges on either side filled me with a sense of dread. In the morning I read in On the Road about Sal’s dream of a shrouded traveler following him through the desert:

“Something, someone, some spirit was pursuing all of us across the desert of life and was bound to catch us before we reached heaven. Naturally, now that I look back on it, this is only death: death will overtake us before heaven. The one thing that we yearn for in our living days, that makes us sign and groan and undergo sweet nauseas of all kinds, is the remembrance of some lost bliss that was probably experienced in the womb and can only be reproduced (though we hate to admit it) in death. But who wants to die? In the rush of events I kept thinking about this in the back of my mind.” (Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Pt. 2, Ch. 2, p. 124)

This is what the desert stirs up in me—the awareness of death—but for every dead tree and bare branched bush there are hundreds of living sagebrush and juniper bushes, cactus flowers, red ants, and little lizards.

The red rock of Arches National Park made my heart swell with emotion and a kind of ecstasy when we climbed up into the North Window, stood under it and looked out over the rocky canyons below. The full breeze swept through the arch and I simply felt my prayer of awe and praise and desire for God.

We lunched after a hike to view the less mighty but iconic Delicate Arch. Later we drove up the cliffside to the Island in the Sky. I have longed for years to go to the top of a mesa, mostly because of the story of Tom Outlander in Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House. Tom falls for a mesa while cattle herding:

The hillside behind was sandy and covered with tall clumps of dear horn cactus, but there was nothing but grass to the south, with streaks of bright yellow rabbit brush. Along the river the cottonwoods and quaking asps had already turned gold. Just across from us, overhanging us, indeed stood the mesa, a pile of purple rock, all broken out with red sumac and yellow aspens up in the high crevices of the cliffs…It was the sort of place a man would like to stay in forever. (Pt. 2, Ch. 2)

Our mesa was a red-orange rock which they had cut a road in up the less steep side. When on top it just looked like normal range land except for the steep drop and the canyon beyond. We sped along through the park with mountains and canyons and mesas on the horizon. We hiked out to the mesa arch, and then just sat on the yellow rock in awe of the steep drops and the maze of canyons of black and red below. It was incredible. I think I will long for it even more now that I have seen it. With reluctance we left and returned to our hotel for showers and supper.

——–

Besides having a good sleeping pad, a good sleeping bag is essential. The professor has a mummy bag from his scouting days rated to some crazy temperature below zero. I used it once sleeping outside in the Fall on a retreat college, and it was extremely warm (but as I did not have a good sleeping pad my sleep was not so great). He is super happy with it.

I asked the professor to pick out sleeping bags for the rest of the family. He did quite a bit of research and settled on the Coleman Palmetto Cool Weather Sleeping Bag. We decided on the adult size bag all of the children, since we figured it was worth the investment. It is designed to be used in 30-50° F. We do not currently plan on doing extreme winter camping as a family, but the Minnesota summer nights often drop below 50°, especially if we camp up the North Shore. This range was perfect for the high elevation camping we did at the Grand Canyon and Great Basin National Park, but also worked well for the campsites near the coast in California. The coldest night we slept out in was upper 20s in Custer State Park, South Dakota, and we all stay plenty warm.

In case you were wondering we used our own pillows. I put them all in washable pillow protectors to keep them free of outside dirt and bugs. The covers worked well—we still use them inside for the kids!

Tomorrow I will talk about nighttime sleepwear.

**This post contains affiliate links**

The Professor Goes West//Day 3//Sleeping Pads

2019-05-22T19:47:00.000-05:00

Day 3—Tuesday, May 22, 2018

We woke up at 6 AM to find that T (almost 3) had rolled halfway across the tent and was sleeping at F’s (5) feet. We broke and left camp shortly after 8 AM. In Custer, South Dakota we stopped at the old historic bank which has been converted to a coffee shop to get caffeine. The old building was restored but maintained the Old West feel combined with the smell of coffee beans. Fortunately there were no fights or shooting while I filled the coffee cups.

We entered Wyoming on US-18. The Black Hills dropped away to wide open rolling grasslands covered in scattered sagebrush. Every creek out here has worn away a small canyon and is surrounded by trees—cottonwoods. They are the only trees in the vast landscape except for the firs growing on the jutting hillsides. Rocky buttes and grass-topped mesas arise out of the rolling, open fields.

At 11:25 AM in the small city of Douglass, Wyoming (home of the jackalope) we crossed a sturdy bridge spanning the North Platte River sparing us the worry of waiting a week for the water to get low enough to safely ford.

After passing through Casper, we came to the Oregon Trail crossing of the North Platte. The ferry is no longer under operation so we took the bridge across. We made it to the famous Independence Rock about 1 PM. It was a very breezy spot as a thunderstorm loomed in the distance. We walked out to the rock from the rest area and admired its large size. The professor and I could not help but touch it and sit on it as the travelers who came upon the Oregon trail must have done. It was an inspiring, unifying moment to feel the rock which so many had felt and etched their names into.

On the way back to the car things almost took a turn for the worst as we came upon a yellow snake with black markings. We made our luncheon and got back into the car and passed through Muddy Gap in the rain. We pulled over during a hail storm and then passing into the Red Desert in the Great Divide Basin faced a strong cross wind. We got gas in Rawlins and saw the old frontier prison where many outlaws must have been incarcerated. After a long, lonely stretch we finally came into Colorado where we followed a curving road through the western mountains of the Rockies.

—

My biggest opposition to camping was that I had never spent a comfortable night on the ground. The professor claimed that all I needed was good cushioning between me and the ground and I would be totally fine. I was skeptical and our first camping trip I slept in a camping cot raised above the ground. This was fine, but awkward and time consuming to put together.

For our big trip, I agreed to try this 3 inch thick self-inflating Therm-a-rest mattress. Let me tell you, it was very comfortable—more comfortable than our ten-year-old mattress on our bed. They are super easy to set up. We simply opened their valves once the tent was set up and unrolled the rest of the bedding. After about 10 minutes of self-inflating, we gently blew them up to our preferred firmness. The professor sleeps on his back, so he liked his on the firm side. I am a side sleeper, and as a woman happen to have hips. I made mine firm enough to keep me from feeling the ground but with enough give to accommodate my curves comfortably.

The kids all used the Therm-a-Rest RidgeRest Classic Foam sleeping pad. They all slept great, though our nine year being a light sleeper said that she felt the ground sometimes. I think we will probably upgrade her to a self-inflating for future trips. The older children were able to help set up and roll up the foam pads whenever we made or broke camp respectively, which was a great help.

I feel like this has turned into an advertisement for Therm-a-Rest, and maybe it kind of is! They make a great product! The professor tells me that he has friends from the Boy Scouting days that bought an off-brand and regretted it.

Tomorrow I will talk about sleeping bags!

**This post contains affiliate links**

The Professor Goes West//Day Two//Camping with Little Ones

2019-05-21T19:48:00.000-05:00

Day Two–Monday, May 21, 2018

We woke up to a cool, crisp morning, sunshine streaming through the trees in Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The mountains are covered in tall pines. Our campsite is right above a beautiful, sparkling lake that we have to climb a hill in order to see.

We spent the morning driving through the Black Hills to get to Mt. Rushmore–the American Icon of four presidents’ faces carved into the granite of a mountainside with dynamite. T, the two year old, was not impressed. We later all agreed that the stunning natural beauty of this landscape surpasses the work of dynamite and calculated blasts.

We lunched at Sylvan lake which sparkled reflecting the stunning blue of the sky. We hiked a trail that curved around the lake and took us over and through giant six storey tall rocks.

It took the professor years to convince me to go camping with him as a family. My only previous experience had been as a Girl Scout with an inadequate sleeping bag on the hard ground. He, on the other hand, is an Eagle Scout with much experience in pitching tents, camping cooking, roughing it, and knew all the supplies we might need. I eventually agreed on one condition, that I be neither pregnant nor breastfeeding.

We made our first attempt when my youngest was two years old—our others were four, six, and eight. He slept in a travel crib. It went surprisingly well. He did wake up for a stretch and needed to be resettled—but we made it through the night. I personally would not attempt taking ones younger than two camping. Even at two we had to keep close tabs on him as he charged around the campsite, close to the road, and made mad dashes towards the nearby river.

Our trip this past summer was much smoother with the kids three, five, seven, and nine. The older ones were able to help with the setting up and breaking down, but most of all with helping the little ones stay happy and out of trouble. And all the kids slept and stayed in their sleeping bags.

The reason I like to wait has more to do with how my babies sleep—in cribs out of my room after they have outgrown the co-sleeper bassinet. I suppose a co-sleeping family might do well on a queen air mattress. I have a friend who told me about using a camping rocking chair for breastfeeding at night while camping. Other ideas for taking babies camping would be to bring a Pack ‘n Play for the baby to go in at the campsite outside or a travel baby jumper.

I am glad that I gave it a try when I did. I look forward to many adventures to come!

**This post contains affiliate links.

The Professor Goes West//A Year Later//Day One

2019-05-20T19:49:00.000-05:00

I have an exciting blog series to kick it off.

Last May-June my family took a three week camping trip Out West. We traveled for 23 days, camped 11 nights, visited 10 National Parks, and saw 11 of the Franciscan California Missions. I kept a handwritten daily journal of our trip.

Since Lyme disease thwarted my plan to write about our family camping trip last summer, I will be posting my journal entries from the trip on the anniversary of each day of the trip. And include some family camping tips along the way.

Today is day one!

—

Day One–Sunday, May 20, 2018

We pulled out of our driveway at 7:50 am on a cool, sunny morning. The Minnesota river was full and glittering. Someone had built a bridge so we were able to cross without incident.

Bloomington at 8:11 am–we crossed the Ferry Bridge–if we had come this way before 1996 we would have had to take a ferry. At 8:50 am we crossed yet another bridge over the Minnesota River. We followed the southern western shore of the river for many miles after that. At 10:12 am we passed a freight train with three engines next to a grain elevator. Around elevensies we passed by many wind farms and large plowed fields.

We entered South Dakota on I-90 at 11:30 am. We took a 60 minute stop at Falls Park in Sioux Falls at 11:45 am. The kids climbed all over the pink rocks out into the river. The rapids created beds of fluffy foam. We saw the ruins of an old granary.

Later in the afternoon we came to the rolling, soft green hills of the muddy Missouri. Trees and black cows dotted the hillsides and the giant expanse of the sky spread wide around us. We crossed safely over the smooth, paved bridge thankful that we did not have to caulk the wagon and float since we have forgotten the caulk.

We spent the later afternoon exploring the Badlands. We hiked through them climbing a ladder up and down a steep cliffside. No one fell and there were no sprained ankles.

We saw some game–a few buffalo, antelope, deer, and a few mountain goats. Our food stock is still high so we decided not to hunt.

We further spotted 20 head of elk on the mountainside in Custer State Park. We got into camp around 7:45 pm, and had everyone tucked in by 9:45 pm. The night promised to be cold, yet quiet. We heard coyotes, which I mistook for yelling teenagers, howling in the night off in the mountains.

Big Announcement!!

2019-05-20T16:40:00.000-05:00

I have a big announcement to make! I have a new website! From now on all new posts will be over there! Don't forget to sign up for the RSS feed emails on the new site!

I have an exciting blog series to kick it off.

Last May-June my family took a three week camping trip Out West. We traveled for 23 days, camped 11 nights, visited 10 National Parks, and saw 11 of the Franciscan California Missions. I kept a handwritten daily journal of our trip.

Since Lyme disease thwarted my plan to write about our family camping trip last summer, I will be posting my journal entries from the trip on the anniversary of each day of the trip. And include some family camping tips along the way.

Today is day one!

Click on over to read!

I Co-Wrote a Book! /Rise Up--A devotional on virtue for kids!

2019-05-01T16:06:00.001-05:00

Over a year ago my eldest daughter mentioned to me that she was interested in having a new prayer book for devotional reading. This lead to my idea of collaborating with Blessed is She to create a beautiful prayer book for children rich in the Catholic tradition of becoming holy through growth in virtue. Further, I wanted to have a book for my children that taught them how to pray by learning to place themselves in God's presence, make an an examination of their daily lives, and then received inspiration from the Holy Spirit.

After a lot of writing and editing and waiting, this book has finally come together. I am pleased to introduce Rise Up:Shining With Virtue. It has 15 chapters broken down in seven days--with Scripture or a saint quote and a reflection for every day. Each chapter is written by a different Blessed is She writer and covers a different virtue.

My role in Rise Up was to choose the virtues and then explain them to the reader. The book begins with my introduction, which explains what virtue is and how to grow in virtue in general. Each chapter focuses on an individual virtue. I based the introduction for each chapter on St. Thomas Aquinas' explanation of the virtue in his Summa Theologiae taking the language down to the level of a child.

It starts with the three Theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. These are followed by the four main Cardinal virtues prudence, justice, courage/fortitude, and temperance. The other virtues are parts or subvirtues of the Cardinal virtues: gratitude, generosity, obedience, perseverance, patience, humility, studiousness, and honesty. The book is written in such a way that children can unpack and apply growing in virtue to their daily lives, but also decode the more abstract ones that are more difficult to understand.

Then comes my favorite part in each chapter: a passage from one of the Gospels which demonstrates this virtue and a reflection on that Scripture leading the reader into imaginative prayer. Fifteen different Blessed is She writers wrote the five middle days of the week for each chapter based on a short Scripture selection or Saint quotation. On the final day of the week, the reader is encouraged to reflect, pray, and make resolutions on how to live this virtue out.

We were super excited to get an Imprimatur for this book. The Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat means that a Church official has read over the book at the bishop's request and has declared that nothing in the book contradicts or is opposed to the defined body of Church doctrine or goes against the moral law. As a parent, I look for this on Catholic books for my children. It helps me to know they are reading the truth.

It is so, so beautiful. If you have a kid in your life ready to grow in holiness or who has just received a Sacrament and needs a great gift. Check out this book. I can't wait for my kids to pray with it.

*This post contains affiliate links.

NCRegister: Christmas Joy is for the Suffering

2019-01-03T15:26:00.001-06:00

Have you ever noticed how often joy is paired with suffering in the Scriptures? Abraham and Sarah long for a child into their old age before they are given the joy of a son. The Israelites only experience the joy of being freed from slavery, after having suffered for many years at the hands of the Egyptians. Job loses all his worldly goods, his children, his health, only to have it all restored back to him. Further, in the letters of St. Paul, we hear again and again the urge to rejoice in our sufferings: “Even if I am to be poured as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.” (Philippians 2:17-18)

We should not be surprised, then, that when God became man, the Christmas joy of the shepherds comes after years of waiting for a Savior while suffering at the hands of oppressive governments. Or that the very reason for our joy at God become man can only be realized after this God made Man suffers and dies for us on the Cross...

Read the rest at the National Catholic Register...

NCRegister: The Secular Christmas Season is Actually the Secular Advent

2018-12-20T15:31:00.000-06:00

It was usually the last Sunday of Advent, and sometimes even Christmas Eve, that my parents would put up the tree. The familiar crackling sound of the antique record player and Andy Williams crooning Sleigh Ride in the background always filled me with that warm Christmassy feeling. My father was a liturgical musician, and the one thing he was strict about was not listening to or singing Christmas music in the home or even decorating until it was nearly Christmas.

So, we embraced the Advent traditions of the Advent wreath and Jesse Tree. My mother always put up an outdoor Advent wreath complete with pink and purple bows, which got switched to red on Christmas Eve. Some well-meaning neighbor would always stop by the first week of Advent and let her know that three of her candles were burnt out.

Read the rest at the National Catholic Register...