Sunday morning giving back

Sunday July 20, 2014

Julian comes to stay with me on Saturday evening. Just in time for a bath and bedtime. He plays hard all day long and it's been a very hot summer. In the morning I tell him we can go to McDonald's for pancakes, which he is really happy about. When we finish our breakfast, we order 20 breakfast burritos to go. We head to downtown Ogden and St. Anne's Shelter for homeless individuals. There are a few people outside and we ask if they would like some breakfast. Julian seems a little scared - and I can't blame him too much. It's a pretty dirty neighborhood and everyone outside is smoking and looking pretty ragged. He watches as I chat with the woman who sit on the curb. They tell me about the programs here at St. Anne's and at Salvation Army and the soup kitchen nearby. They are very kind women and they are genuinely happy for the short visit and little food that we share.

We drive over to the city park where a lot of people from the shelter are hanging out. There was a Farmers Market here the day before and there is a lot of debris around and cleanup to be done. It's still pretty early in the morning and people there seem tired.

There are a few people sitting near the playground and I hand Julian some food and tell him to ask if they would like some. He's a little timid at first, but when he sees the huge smiles on people's faces, he warms up too. We hand out all the burritos that we have and then we see one man sitting by himself across the park who didn't get any food. Alex hands Julian some money and tells him to offer it to the man. Julian does a hop-skip over to the man and happily holds out his hand with some dollars. The man smiles up at him from his place under a tree and says "God bless you, son."

Captain's Blog - Lava Hot Springs Girls Weekend

After having the date on the calendar for what seems like forever, it's time to break in the Dream Machine with some beautiful goddess energy.

My friends of 20+ years, sisters Amber and Trieste arrive in Ogden so we can climb in the van for a short trip to Lava Hot Springs, just over the Idaho border. It's a place we've all been many times before, but not all together.

I've told them to pack light and they arrive with just the essentials: vodka, fresh watermelon and cherries, red wine, tarot cards, good snacks, underwear and toothbrush. We are all so excited for this little journey together. We've been on many journeys together in the last 20 years and here's another one for the books.

We head North on 1-15, chatting and talking and before we know it, we've crossed into Idaho. We stop for lottery tickets, gas and more wine and head into Lava. We check in at the River's Edge campground and find that the space we reserved is taken by someone. We try to work it out with the woman in the office, but she just seems confused. We go on a scouting mission to find another spot and when we return, different woman is working in the office and she tells us of another, more remote spot that we may like. We go to take a look and it is perfect. Away from the rest of the campers and their kids, boats, inner tubes, bikes, toys and noise. Um...yes, please. We ask the woman her name and she says it's Karma. Of course.

We pull into our space, level the van, pull out the awning, set up our chairs and our paper lanterns, pull out the snacks and begin to manifest what we know is going to be a magical time together. We laugh and say "now if someone would just come and light our fire, and if someone else will bring us food, all will be perfect."

Later, Amber and Trieste go to the office to get some firewood while I make up the beds. We are hours away from wanting to sleep, but I know it will be important to have it ready when we're ready :). Soon, the girls come back with Shawn, the owner of the campground, in his golf cart with the wood. Shawn helps start the fire and we have a nice chat.

We sit around the fire for a few hours, laughing about so many things, gut aching from the force of it, permanent smiles on our faces, and we decide that some pizza would be so delicious. Trieste calls the local pizza place and soon the sweet girl is pulling up with a hot pizza in hand. Delivered right to our campsite. Ahhhhh....pizza never tasted so good.

About midnight, we all crawl in the bed that I've made. I put the two twin mattresses together with a blown up air mattress in between and we sleep three across. We sleep like 3 silly little bugs in a rug and none of us hardly move - we are so comfortable...

Sunday morning we have breakfast at a local diner. Delicious mimosas, hot coffee and eggs. Delightful. We do some shopping and I find the perfect drum. A very small djembe style drum, just right for traveling with.  Trieste finds some wonderful wooden furniture for her Sundance cabin and Amber finds the perfect green, heart shaped stone. We have a great time and all is right with the world in Lava. We spend the afternoon at our campsite, talking and laughing and taking photos while staying cool from the 95 degree heat. At dusk we head over the hot springs at the hotel across the street. We have a magical time floating, relaxing, talking.....a man named Brian keeps trying to talk with us about all things metaphysical but he's not making a whole lot of sense. He lets us know that he will be in room number 9 if we need him for anything. Bless his heart.

We trip back to the van around midnight, dripping with healing water, feeling like freshly cooked spaghetti and we fall into our beds. We sleep like 3 babies in a crib and wake up feeling great. We lay and laugh and talk until we decide it's time for breakfast at the Wagonwheel cafe down the street.  Nothing better than eggs, potatoes and home made wheat toast and raspberry jam on a Monday morning. And delicious hot coffee with cream and sugar. With tummies full, we buy a few more scratch tickets at the liquor store and make our way back to the van so we can pack up and head back to Utah.

Thank you ladies, for infusing your beautiful energy into the Dream Machine. The Gypsy Van. The Alternate Rialta. Here's to many more adventures together!

 

Captain's blog-Trippin' Through Colorado, Part 2

Sunday, July 6, 2014
We wake up in a parking lot near the Wanderlust Festival. A nice woman had told us about the isolated lot in the mountains of Snowmass where no one would mind if we parked for the night. It was a peaceful night with a sky full of stars - until the dogs started howling. It sounded as if there was a doggy prison and at least one hundred dogs would start to moan and howl throughout the night. It turned out that it was a sled dog organization where dogs were kept, but man those dogs sounded so sad....my dreams were full of down doggies. And not the kind we find in yoga....

We pack up our van and decide to head in the direction of Steamboat Springs. We drive up and over Independence Pass, one of the most beautiful and green mountain passes I've ever been on. When we get to the top, we are over 12,000 feet. I'm really feeling it now...we get out to take a walk and I can barely breathe....my feet feel like lead and someone is sitting heavy on my chest. But it is truly magnificent. There is still snow and some people are hiking up (how?) to slide down on the crusty white snow.

We drop down into Twin Lakes and stop to check out the cute little historic town. We talk with the man in the visitors center and go see his wife across the street at the art gallery. I'm still feeling pretty dizzy and dopey from the drive and she gives me delicious hot tea. The grey sky starts to sprinkle some cooling rain and it feels so good. We drive on and end up in Frisco, Colorado where we spend the night. After a few days on the road, we decide it's time for a cheap hotel room, a hot shower and a good long rest.

Monday, July 7
We arrive in Steamboat Springs around noon, find a shady place to park and walk around town. We collect some visitor guides and Alex decides to get a haircut at a little barber shop. We find a lovely park next to the Yampa river, take out our chairs and sketch pads and spend some time drawing what we see. This has been a wonderful thing that we do on the road, and a great time to bring some artistic vision into what we are experiencing.

We go back to the main street and find a restaurant with excellent food and enjoy lunch outside while talking to some locals. They tell us about a wonderful place called Strawberry Hot Springs and tell us we must spend some time there. We head up the steep, windy dirt road and finally end up in the parking lot. We pay our $12 and walk down a steep dirt trail to the most wonderful water experience I might have ever had. Sweet little pools of varying temperatures, teepees, cabins and chairs surrounding them, and the best vibe ever.
We were graced by a beautiful sunset and as the sky grew darker and filled with

twinkling stars, we got even more relaxed. More people filled the pool and it felt like a dreamy playland. All of the sudden we were starved and went to the van to fix some dinner. After filling our bellies, it was time to sleep. But where? We couldn't stay in the parking lot so went to scout another location. A local policeman told us there was no overnight camping in the parks in the city limits so we tucked in behind the Comfort Inn and have a nice sleep. In the morning, we head over to one of the many parks along the river, make delicious hot coffee and scrambled eggs with peppers and cheese and enjoy the new day.

Tuesday, July 8
It's time to head back to Ogden, so we point the van in that direction. We drive on highway 40 through Craig, Maybell and cross the border into Dinosaur and Vernal, where we turn north to drive by Flaming Gorge, hit highway 80 at Rock Springs and are back in Ogden by 4 pm.

Another amazing adventure in the Dream Machine!

Captain's Blog - Trippin' Through Colorado - Part 1

Friday, July 4th

Alex and I pack up the van and head towards Aspen, Colorado for the Wanderlust yoga festival. One of our favorite musicians, MC Yogi is playing on Saturday at 6 pm and that's really about all we know. And that neither of us have ever been to Aspen, so it will be a fun journey.

We don't leave Ogden until about 3 pm and it's about 446 miles to Aspen. (The day before we volunteered at the Michael Franti Soulshine yoga and concert event in Salt Lake City and didn't get home until 1 am. It was a great experience!).


We hit the road and head toward Vernal, Utah. We stop for gas just outside of Duchesne and on the wall of the gas station is a flyer for an Indian pow wow happening nearby and I tell Alex I've never been to one. As we drive up the road, we start to see long lines of cars going to the event and decide to stop and check it out. Just as we walk into the main area, the Calling All Nations event was beginning. We are some of the only white people there, and as the hundreds of Native American Indian people filed into the grounds in their full regalia, I sit on the ground and begin to cry. It was one of the most beautiful and sacred things I have ever witnessed. Stunningly beautiful costumes, drums beating in time with my ancient heart and people singing and chanting....I feel so very blessed to be there. After I gather my composure, we walk around and look at wonderful crafts and I purchase a beautiful dreamcatcher for the van. We munch on delicious Navajo tacos and roasted corn and leave the grounds just as it's getting dark.   We end up sleeping at the visitor center/rest area in Jensen, Utah just outside of Dinosaur National Monument. We have a wonderful sleep and wake up feeling rested and ready for adventure.

Saturday, July 5th
We get an early start and head down highway 139 to I-70 where we head east through Grand Junction, Rifle, then a left at highway 82 through Carbondale and Basalt and finally roll into beautiful Aspen around 2 pm. It is hot as hell. We find a shady place to park the van and stretch our legs walking through town. We ask the visitors center about the Wanderlust event, where to park, and I ask if they know a good place to park the van overnight. There is a woman there who tells us about a parking lot near the event that is out of the way and no one would bother us there (and more importantly, we wouldn't bother anyone else) for the night. So nice when that happens.

Aspen is high up in the Rockies and I am definitely feeling it. We drive to Snowmass, just outside of Aspen and climbed even higher to this little ski resort town. There are lots of yogis everywhere and the event is a huge, corporate 'do. We walk around looking at the many booths selling shirts, yoga mats, Ganesh statues, books, vegan food, flow-y yoga pants, music, water, and so much else. It is a little overwhelming and I am a little high from the altitude. We buy our tickets for the show, get our chairs out of the van and settle in for some great music. MC Yogi and DJ Drez are fantastic. We have seen MC Yogi several times and had the pleasure of practicing yoga with he and his wife Amanda in Provo and at their studio in Pt. Reyes, California.


More people start to arrive for the next two bands, Nahko and Medicine For The People and Jurassic 5. We really enjoy Medicine For The People and the beautiful vibe that is flowing forth. Everyone is dancing and swaying, happy and smiling.



There is a long period of time before the main group, Jurassic 5 and more and more people are filling the hillside. There is so much (now legal) marijuana in the air and the vibe is changing. The hippy-dippy tattooed yogis are gone and young soldiers of party town show up with pipes filled, edibles eaten and dancing shoes on......