2014 Get-Out-And-Camp Challenge Recap

 Did you take Desert Survivor's Get-Out-And-Camp Challenge? To refresh your memory, the challenge was to set a goal of a number of nights camping out in 2014 and then try to meet them. If you did take the challenge, how did you do?

Our goal was 12 nights of camping.

How did we do?

I'll tell you in a moment, but first some of the camping highlights.

Over spring break we camped at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in southwest Utah. We had a dusting of snow surprise us, but that also provided some excellent opportunities to slide down the dunes.

It was nice to have warmer camping as we entered summer. We didn't have to go far to have fun. We had a super time camping in the yard with visiting cousins.


Desert Girl said her favorite camping trip was with cousins up Snake Creek. She loved spending time with her cousin Lola, below, who she doesn't see often.


One of the things I liked best about camping this year was taking photos of the marvelous night sky. The Milky Way leaped out on long exposures.


Another great part of camping was getting out to places as a family that we otherwise wouldn't have visited. One such place was the Schell Creek Range, an amazing place that most people would never associate with Nevada.


Next year we might even try for a backpacking trip. I imagine Desert Girl will still be dressed stylishly.

 Probably the most dramatic camping spot my husband and I visited all year was on Ingraham Flats on Mount Rainier, where we slept on a glacier.

The view was even better from above, where we could see the huge crevasses opening up below the tents.

Some of our camping had fun amenities, like a fussball table. For kids, those extras can make all the difference!


So how did we do for the challenge?
Desert Boy and Desert Girl camped out 11 nights, I camped out 16 nights, and my husband camped out 4 nights. So we didn't all quite meet our goal of 12, but we sure had a good time getting closer to nature.

We're planning in 2015 to do the Get-Out-And-Camp Challenge again. Maybe you'll join us?

Antelope Springs Cave and More

 It's been a number of years since I've been to Antelope Springs Cave, and I hadn't seen the whole cave the first time. The circumstances turned out right to go again, largely to a caver friend coming for a visit. We gathered three adults and two kids and got the permit and key to the gated cave and headed out on a sunny day (back in October--I'm a little behind on posting!).

 There's a small shelter cave just below the real cave entrance that provides very nice views.

Then we reached the main entrance, with a bat-friendly gate. The entrance drop is about twenty feet. The boys decided they wanted to be lowered into the cave rather than rappelling in.

The adults all rappelled into the chamber, which opened up.

We soon faced choices. Down a little hole in the floor, or down a slope that turned into a climb? We had a map from the BLM, but it was at a small scale so hard to decipher. I knew one passage I particularly wanted to visit, so we headed that way. A lot of Antelope Springs Cave consists of a tube with domes and floors that suddenly drop off.

We found some wonderful colors in the rock and formation.

We also found a lot of tight spots. We had to try some. Here's Desert Boy going through one. A couple adults went through this little hole too. The cave is warm, but when you're belly crawling, it feels even warmer.

There's not a lot of graffiti in the cave, but some. We explained cave conservation to the boys and how it is really bad form (not to mention illegal) to spray paint or write on the walls. We also explained how the arrows usually show the way out of the cave. However, sometimes the people don't know the way out, like shown below.

We spent a fun few hours looking around. This is a challenging cave, with lots of climbing, steep dropp offs, and slippery slopes. At one point I even made a webbing harness and we belayed the boys with another piece of webbing. Eventually we decided it was time to go, particularly when we got to a very slippery spot with a long, steep slope. I wanted to have the boys tied in for that, but we didn't have enough extra webbing or rope with us. So we played it safe and headed back. There are a lot of potentially dangerous places in this cave where it would be easy to break a leg, so we went slow. And as you can see from the photos, we all had helmets, multiple lights, gloves, knee pads, and some even had elbow pads.

To get the boys out we used a traveling haul system. This is a haul system that moves with the patient, and although it's not as quick as a haul from the top, it could be useful in some situations. Plus it's good to practice those rescue skills regularly! For the first boy, we had the boy push up the upper ascender (a Pantin). He could only move it up about a foot at a time, so we had a lot of resets. For Desert Boy, we put a webbing leash on the Pantin that could be pulled from the top, and that worked really well. The only extra gear used besides the regular Frog system were two pulleys and a piece of webbing.

Although Desert Boy enjoyed his free ride up, we'll be doing some vertical training soon to get him ready for the climbing contests at the 2016 NSS Convention in Ely, Nevada.

The light of day is always a welcome sight after a satisfying cave trip.

After we refueled, we went to the public land near U-Dig Fossils and spent some time looking for trilobites. We didn't find many, but we did see a few, including very small ones.

Breaking rocks was a lot of fun.

Another stop on the way back was Hermit's Cave in Marjum Canyon.

We found some supplies there for the Apocalypse. The mice had found them too, unfortunately.

We also noticed some climbing bolts in the area--something we may have to return and try out.

One of our group got a flat tire, so we had to go slow. That let us get some spectacular views of Notch Peak, the highest limestone cliff in North America.

During the whole day I think we saw only one or two other vehicles. These are remote places!

Late Harvest

 This has been the longest season garden I have ever had. I started planting in February, using old windows on straw bales to keep things warmer. It is now December, and I still have beets, onions, and carrots hanging out under leaves and we go and pick cilantro and kale periodically, despite several hard freezes. I've learned that some vegetables are a lot hardier than I had thought.

About mid-November I finally got around to harvesting the rest of my red cabbage, popcorn, some carrots, red beets, kale, and onions.

Popcorn was a new crop to try this year. I had some helpers husk it.

I bought colorful varieties, partly because they might be more nutritious, partly because they're so pretty. It's not easy getting the kernels off, so I just take off what we need. We've had one successful batch of popcorn and one not so successful.

It's strange to think that it will only be a couple months until it's time to plant again--if the weather cooperates! We've actually enjoyed gardening so much we're thinking about putting in a greenhouse. I keep dreaming of year-round cherry tomatoes and spinach. I would love to be able to just go pick my salad daily.

Desert Girl and the Monkey Bars

 One afternoon while we were waiting for Desert Boy to finish his piano lesson, Desert Girl had a chance to play with her friend Ella. Ella started across the monkey bars, and this really impressed Desert Girl.

So Desert Girl took a turn. She's 4 1/2 now and can be quite stubborn. I knew she really wanted to do the monkey bars, because on the way home from our fall vacation we stopped at the great playground in Austin, Nevada, and she gave those monkey bars a try.

She began across, those little hands holding tight, eyes focused on the next bar...

…legs flailed, hair flew, and she became even more determined...

…but sometimes determination isn't quite enough...

…but sometimes it is.

So did she make it across? Watch the video to find out!

Nevada Day Parade

Two weekends ago we watched the Nevada Day parade in Carson City. We had been forewarned that it was a long parade, so we brought chairs and settled in. The first half an hour was watching law enforcement go by.

They had an impressive amount of equipment.

The mounted police had at least 20 horses.

They showed off some old cars.

They brought an airplane.

The SWAT team tank was there, along with fully armed officers walking alongside.

The parade also had lots of veterans--thank you to all of them for their service!!

Because it's an election year, we saw quite a few politicians, including Governor Sandoval and his family and their many dogs.

The best politician entry was Congressman Mark Amodei, who followed some horses with a garbage can and shovel and helped clean up the mess. What a great political statement. I was laughing for a long time.

The bands in the parade were outstanding. They played very well and had some cool marching moves that we never got to do when I was in marching band.

In addition to the 150th birthday for the State of Nevada, it was also the 100th birthday for women's suffrage in Nevada.

Lots of entries celebrated the Sesquicentennial and the many people who make up Nevada.

One of the old fire carts we had admired the day before in Virginia City was in the parade.

For my friends who love horses, there were horses and horses and more horses in the parade. This group all had Arabian horses and were decked out in beautiful costumes.

Special coins were minted for the 150th birthday. For a short time back in the 1860s, the U.S. mint had an office in Carson City.

I cheered loud for the White Pine County High School marching band. That's a long way to come for a parade!

These Mexican riders and horses were perhaps the most talented I saw in the parade, riding a special gait that made it look like the horses were dancing to the mariachi music played from the back of the pickup that proceeded them. (Do you see the snow on the mountains? It snowed that night and was cold for the parade.)

Rotary Youth Exchange had a good contingent. I have a special place in my heart for them, as I was able to see more of the world via Rotary.

The Shriners had their small cars and had a good time driving them around. They do wonderful work supporting Shriners Children's Hospitals, where they treat children for free.

The parade kept coming. We had been there two hours and were getting hungry, so we went for some lunch, then walked up the parade route until we got to the Capitol building.

We found some beautiful leaves to play in. The kids were so happy to move around and goof off and take turns getting buried.

On a side street we found Smokey Bear. Desert Girl has been trying to work up her nerve to hug Smokey for two years, and she finally did it. She was ecstatic.

We passed a law enforcement vehicle that hadn't been in the parade: the gang unit. Yikes, something I pretty much never have to think about.

We rejoined the parade as the last group went by, shooting very loud rifles. About the same time, Desert Boy got something in his eye, maybe from the powder being shot into the sky. The firefighter/paramedics were very close and helped rinse out his eye with saline. They were super nice and helpful, and Desert Boy's eye turned out fine.

The parade lasted more than four hours. The kids liked some of it, but realized that they get more candy in the 20 minute parade in Baker than the super long one with 80,000 spectators. I was okay with not so much candy, after all they had just trick-or-treated the night before. Seeing the Nevada Day parade for the Sesquicentennial was a special experience. I overheard someone from California saying, "I sure wish we had a California Day!"