Apart from the transmission going squirrely, the radiator blowing up, and the brakes going out while going down New Priest Grade, we had a fabulous camping trip! (Those moments were hair-raising and we won't take the trailer out again until we get the car fixed, but we made it safely home, white-knuckling it all the way.)
You know what I love about camping? How you can't do anything but relax. Our favorite camping trip every year is the Strawberry Music Festival, up in Yosemite. It's really glamping, not camping. We bring eggs, bacon, and booze. We make breakfast, but we purchase lunches, dinners, and snacks from the food vendors, making the difficult decisions between samosas, gyros, and artichokes stuffed with crab and shrimp.
The site where Strawberry is held, Camp Mather, has absolutely no cell reception, so even if I wanted to tweet, which I did, I couldn't. The phone stayed off for four days. Four full days.
It's interesting, though, how even with big, empty days full of nothing to do but listen to music and lie by the lake, the days still fill up. Sitting in a camp chair, I can waste an hour wondering whether I'd rather read or spin (I brought my spinning wheel as I usually do. I don't know what it is about camping, but I love spinning in the open air under the pines). And then the day is over, and you've done next to nothing, and you're tired. You're exhausted from all the resting! It's pretty wonderful.
I also knitted a lot, mostly on a simple shawl.
I loved reading while lying in the trailer with its little windows open (that thing makes us superheroes! Everyone wants to talk to us about the teardrop trailer! It's like sleeping in a chihuahua! We were actually woken from a nap by a guy who wanted to talk to us. Um. Give us a minute?). I read The Age of Miracles while there — have any of you read that one? I liked the book but thought it might have missed the point. Without spoilers, I can't say much more, but I'd be curious to know what you thought if you read it.
(While I'm thinking of books, I also just finished The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns, which I absolutely loved. About a rather cranky rose-loving teacher who needs a kidney transplant, I couldn't put it down. And Laura Lippman's new book, And When She Was Good, about a suburban madam, was also good fun, and as always, well-written and tightly plotted.)
Best part of the festival? k.d. lang, all the way. She was amazing. I stood in the front row under the stars and screamed with all the other ladies. Worst part? The stress of driving home (we were prepared to stop at any point and get a tow, but after the brakes cooled off, the car just kept on going. I literally kissed it when we got home).
Now we're back at home. I'm finishing a book revision and doing copy edits on another while working a lot of hours. I'm looking forward to fall, always my favorite season. I smelled it in the air while we were in Yosemite, and it can't come soon enough for me.
Ah, the season of new pencils and handknit scarves.
You saw and heard K.D.Lang????? I have been in love with her since she was country. I think I have every album she has ever made. Talk to me about Hallelujah and I will start crying–it has to be the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. O.K. I am under control again. I am looking forward to the new book. You always seem to write what I need to read at the time. I don’t camp, but that is the cutest trailer ever.
So do you go to the memorial day one too? BECAUSE I MIGHT WANT TO COME.
oooooh! what Linda said. k.d. gives me chills…Glad you had a good time and even more glad you made it home safely. wowza. I use gears on steep downhills but if the tranny was acting up you got nuthin’. what shawl are you working on? hugs.
Isn’t k.d. lang amazing? I first saw her millions of years ago and have been a fan ever since. You two look really relaxed and happy. Good for you! Four whole no phone days? And you survived? 🙂
kd lang? No sh!! Finally I have a reason to go to a music festival! 😉
I know where you were, and I’m glad I could text to help! If you had looked off to your left while going down New Priest Grade you would have seen Old Priest grade. It is half the distance of New, but it is twice as steep. While going down it in my Honda I ruined my passenger brake pads and caliper. There are about 100 gallon bottles of water along the side of the road because people usually over heat while going up it. Scary roads! Glad your home safe!
Other than the car troubles, it sounds like you had a fabulous time! You had me with the last post about your teardrop trailer and we’re seriously considering getting one. What kind is yours? I love sleeping in a tent but these days my body isn’t so keen about sleeping on the ground. 🙁
Glad you made it home safe and thanks for the book recommendations!
Teardrop trailers are such a hot topic of conversation that I have literally used YOUR teardrop trailer to hold up my end. As in, “Oh, I have some blog friends who have a teardrop trailer, and they said such-and-such.”
And people are interested to hear it! They ask me follow-up questions! Like what kind it is, how old, where you bought it, etc. This third-hand information about an internet stranger is fascinating to them. That’s how crazy the situation is!
Have been listening to Constant Craving and singing to my baby. How awesome you saw her in person
Sounds like great little vacation, I’m a bit envious I don’t know when I will be able to chill for a few days or even get to a fair or festival this year…..oh well I plan on doing alot next year.
we have a “cube” Fun-finder x-139 – instead of a teardrop, but basically the same sort of floor plan. we pull it with a V6 toyota Rav 4, up over the highest point on I-80. does fine!
and, yes! the hardest thing is talking your self into it! it’s such a piece of cake to pull it up to the high prairie and stop at the grocery on the way out for quick food, but there is this expectation that it has to be a fabulous adventure to take it out. When really, the fabulous thing is that you are out there in the freshness, and maybe you are grading quizzes, but you are doing it outside, instead of in your office.
sometimes, the ordinary day, in an un-ordinary setting, is the way more amazing than you think.
but, yeah, we have a hard time getting ourselves there, too.
skubitwo
Love KD Lang. And camping. And spinning. And knitting. (And drinking beer 😉 As well as home cooked breakfasts and buying vendors lunch and dinners. Sounds like it was a wonderful getaway for you two. Well done 🙂
I read The Age of Miracles earlier this summer and had the same reaction as you. It was a good read and a really interesting premise for a story, but I felt vaguely disappointed after finishing it. Sort of a “That’s it?” feeling.
Glad you made it home safely! And I LOVED The Age of Miracles. I read it while on vacation two summers ago and literally could not put it down. Had to finish it.
I believe that k.d. lang’s voice can perform miracles. I saw her live some years ago, and I think the roof of the building lifted into the air from the power of her vocals. “Down to my last cigarette.”
Have you read Before I Go To Sleep? Great read.
Do you use the Smart Car to pull the trailer? I’m having a hard time picturing that…
You and Lala are so darn CUTE! Keep up the love, happiness, and magic.