Did you see the signs?

Did you see the signs?

by | Dec 10, 2019 | hang videos, Highlights, Live Performances, New Music, News, Tour, Travel/Boondocking

Throw Back Story – circa 2015

Before we got our van we traveled to Oregon in Hollis’ car, a Honda FIT. A small gas-friendly car that was fun to drive in the mountains, especially as roads wind around in the Rocky Mountains and then the Cascades in Oregon. Even in the desert the car offered great views and excellent gas mileage although its ability to hold the both of us was often best done by applying the lessons of puzzles like Tetris. We worked hard in our travels and we love to reward ourselves with fun things to do in nature, especially Hot Springs. We noticed a sign about a Hot Springs, although at 65mph it’s hard to read the whole thing. We decided to check out the dirt road indicating the way to the hot springs, noticing it was also part of the National Forest. Hollis was learning about camping for free in the National Forest. Public lands, ‘our lands’- supposably as American citizens we have the right to be on these lands, although that freedom is certainly subjective. 

We proceed down a well-traveled dirt road, going slow in our Honda FIT. Boon-dockers begin to appear on our right, placed out in the meadows with no one else around. About a half a mile apart we pass one, two, three and even FIVE campers pulled back into these beautiful spots well enough away from the road to not be bothered by our dust. With a cliff to our left, we forge forward with envy in our hearts to have a home on wheels. We notice something standing in the roadway ahead, where the flat land of the valley begins to fold into the pine forest ahead. Both of us look at each other with wonderment, anxiety, and curiosity as to what huge animal we are approaching ahead. We had just seen bison in the National Park, right up next to our vehicle and wondered if that’s what we see. We slow down a little, lean forward, squinting further down the road. Wow, they look as big as the car itself, maybe bigger. We slow down a bit more and we realize we are approaching a herd of cattle in the road ahead. As we draw closer we see that it could be hard to continue past these guys with the forest to the right and a steep uphill forest to the left. These cows were taking up the entire two-lane dirt road and moving very slowly. We are grateful they were moving slowly, some of them where bigger than the car! As we slow down we suddenly realize that we are all about the same size and we think we have been mistaken as one of them. A weird version of them, but one of them. Maybe it was Bright Hawk vocalizing towards the bovine, in their own language, that we come in peace and just want to move through. Assuring them that we are vegetarians! Slowly they part as if we are Mother Cow moving our way through the herd. As we slowly move through the herd in our car Bright Hawk begins taking pictures and we notice the BULL! Hollis is nervous as they know that bulls will sometimes decide to stampede all sorts of things. After a moment of moving past them, Hollis says, “Thank goodness this little car isn’t red!” 

  • The love to be with Nature, too!
  • Slowly they part as if we are Mother Cow moving our way through the herd.
Lots of Cows on BLM land, Nationwide.

We continue on down the road looking for a campsite, maybe like the ones we had seen before. We notice a pay campsite tucked into the forest and it is completely full. The sun is setting and we need a place to sleep for the night, we need to set up camp, cook and eat our food and get tucked into a cozy bed for the night. We both knew that delaying this process often kept us up into the darkness cooking and setting up camp, which is not desirable. When you’re having to set up a tent and bed, set up a kitchen, cook, eat, clean up, pack up for bear aware and sleep – we just know it takes a while. We continue past the campsite, crossing our fingers and hoping to find something ahead. 

We come around the bend and suddenly the forest opens back up to a wide open meadow. The meadow was gently littered with tall tall pine trees scattered around. At any moment you could imagine David Attenboro’s voice narrating the horizon and a huge grizzly bear emerging while the cameraman zoomed in. There where mountain peaks in the distance that reminded us of our visit to Grand Teton National Park earlier that day. Tucked back away from the road, opposite the meadow, is a huge waterfall! In all its beauty the water is flowing and as we roll down our window we can hear the water rumbling. The flow of the waterfall is unmistakable! Hollis’ absolute favorite is a waterfall! 

  • A Spectacular Waterfall for us to sleep beside

The meadow is open and looks meant for us. We really need to set up camp and we have a nice pull in and spot to camp just close enough to the falls. With eagerness and intention, the two of us begin to set up camp, quickly as we are racing the sun. We can see and hear the waterfall from our spot and can almost feel the water droplets in the air. As we are setting up we notice that a truck parked at the circle on the edge of the waterfall has a beer on the bumper. It’s chilly outside and we wonder what could locals be doing down at a waterfall, with the chill in the air? Hot springs of course! We could hear occasional laughter coming from below and occasionally a truck would pass us from further on down the road. We decided that staying here seemed to be the best idea. As we enjoyed our camp dinner and could smell the minerals in the air, we where continuously validated that a Hot Springs was nearby. As we settled for the evening we knew it was just a matter of time till we could have the entire thing all to ourselves. 

  • Pop-up tent + Honda = Wilderness Fun
  • The Falls into the River

Bright Hawk knew that Hollis would pop up with the sun, so it was easy to settle into our beds as the stars popped out of the darkness. We could look up through the top of the tent at the stars twinkling in the sky as we fell asleep in our cozy bed. As the sun peaked over the horizon Hollis was reliably out of bed, Bright Hawk rolled over and decided she would meet Hollis later. Hollis walks down to the waterfall to explore and look for the hot springs. A large deer with a full rack on his head stood at the edge of the river, on the other side, taking a break from his morning drink looks Hollis eye to eye. We stare at each other as if to say, “I see you, you see me. We can live peacefully beside each other.” Hollis projects to the deer “No problem my friend, this is your home, I come in peace and mean you no harm.” The deer returns to his morning drink and Hollis walks up the mountain a bit to the top of the waterfall. Hollis looks around from the climb upwards and sees no one, just our little yellow dome tent, and the car and Bright Hawk climbing out of the tent. 

  • A Hike to the top of the Falls

Heading back towards the tent Hollis can hear Bright Hawk call. She had seen the deer in his morning drink and now was heading down towards the water. Hollis caught up and Bright Hawk explained “Look, see the steam coming up, smell the rotten eggs? That’s a hot spring, and we are getting closer.” Since Hollis had never done anything like this before they followed along, it was now time to follow Bright Hawk. We took turns leading because we knew we both had strengths and as a cooperative team, we are better together. Hollis began to follow Bright Hawk down to the river and we stood directly across the river from the steam billowing upwards.

  • Hollis Preparing to walk across
  • Steam from The Hot Spring

We watched the deer decide that WE could now have the river and beach to ourselves. He took off up the hill on the other side. Bright Hawk pointed across the flowing river and spoke loudly to get over the roar of the waterfall. “Right there beside the waterfall, see it? Steam!?” Hollis sees the steam and then realizes that now Bright Hawk had taken off her shoes and began to step into the river, with ice cold water flowing quickly in front of her from the waterfall. Hollis watches as Bright Hawk moves across the river with intense focus and Hollis begins to pray. “Bright Hawk will make it across the river I know, in a good way!”

  • View of Falls from the Top
  • Falls + Hot-springs = HAPPINESS

Hollis staying focused on Bright Hawk landing across the river in the hot springs having traversed this flow in a good way. Holding her phone and shoes above her head she only stumbles once. She makes it, with a sigh of relief and accomplishment Bright Hawk yells “I made it!”

  • Hollis Considering the Cross of the River

Hollis realizes it’s their turn and is willing to explore other options. Hollis can follow with a deep heart but Hollis knows what is good for them. Hollis takes off their boots and listens to their inner voices, ancestors, and trees inviting Hollis further downriver, just about 500ft. Hollis walks gently on the earth with bare feet and traverses the river at the sandbar where it has slowed down and is only about shin deep. Hollis smiles as they reach the other side and walk along the beach where the deer was towards the hot spring. Bright Hawk hugs Hollis as they reunite on the other side. As they both sigh in relief at their early morning adventure–a sunrise soak before they embark on their driving journey of the day.

Are You Sure About This?

Are You Sure About This?

by | Nov 29, 2019 | stories, Travel/Boondocking

After a beautiful and beyond our expectations visit to the Grand Canyon North Rim we had to find a place to sleep for the night. There are many campsites just outside the National Park in the National Forest but the cold temperatures overnight push us down the mountain to lesser altitude and higher temperatures. Plus, getting a little closer to Phoenix, AZ was a good idea, it was Sunday night and we needed to be outside Phoenix by Monday night. On our way out we stop into Jacobs River Inn and purchase of a few more postcards for the grandchildren and friends that love to get them. After a little cozy break in their comfy chairs next to their warm roaring fire, we carried on down the mountain to a free campsite.

Grand Canyon North Rim

While sitting beside the fire Hollis had scouted a place just a little over an hour down the mountain. Since its Fall it’s dark by 6 pm and we drove out of the park in dark. We pulled out at 7:30 in hopes to be in place by 9 pm. Sometimes Hollis just trusts, doesn’t think too much about it and in the end, they discover that their ancestors have usually guided them to something magnificent, yet at times we have found ourselves searching for a parking place much later than we want to be. Likely we learned something on those nights, but that’s a different story! Over the years we have gotten better, now in year 4, we are pretty confident. Hollis read the details the previous scout left online “This place is a real gem, the roads tough so you need good clearance and there is a broken gate at the entrance, it says to keep it closed. Be sure to visit the end campsites!”

Vermillion Cliffs – Northern Arizona – Near Page, AZ – View from Marble Canyons

This was another public land in Marble Canyons, just beside the Vermillion Cliffs in Northern Arizona. Hollis scouted out the site online and drove for the last 75 mins. We were grateful to see the temperature come up to the 40’s as we went down in altitude. It was dark when we left the Inn. So the view was limited but after about an hour of National Forest and BLM land in the distance, Hollis could see a Motel and the navigation was showing the gate was coming up on the right. As Hollis pulled off to the side to the gate we could see the sign on the front that said, “Please Close Gate”. Hollis looks at Bright Hawk and smiles. This place looks like just another ranch but it was obviously public lands with little markings, just this little sign that was barely legible on the gate. Bright Hawk jumps out to open the gate so we can pull in and is immediately challenged by the fence. The hinges had broken and it was hard to lift and carry, but she manages the gate opens and closes it up after Hollis pulls in the van.

As we continue down the road we are slowed to 1 and 2MPH to manage the tossing around of all our stuff behind us. Slowly creeping down a road that seems barely manageable except that this van has great clearance. Hollis traverses large rocks and huge ruts in the road slowly and with great patience. Both of us taking deep breathes, to release the stress, after each challenging piece of the road. The coordinates for the actual campsite were at least 1.5 miles down this dirt road, it was late and both of us are tired. We traveled several hours today, had a several hour hikes, plus the excitement of getting to see the North Rim Grand Canyon! We hoped it was not taken by other boon-dockers and that is was the gem that was promised, but really we didn’t know, we rarely do.

Hollis was nervous about how the road actually got worse with a huge deep sand bar in the center of the road and very sandy paths for our tires. In the past, Hollis and Bright Hawk got the van caught in deep sand in Louisiana, but we did manage to get it out. With that experience, we know our van does not handle well in deep sand, so we both hold our breath as we move through sand. Hollis can feel the tires losing traction beneath them and realizes that its essential they do not touch the center at all, not even a little as it could pull us out of the path. We wonder aloud, “Are you sure this is okay?”

Driving very carefully we find ourselves returning to more huge rocks in the road and ruts along the way to be avoided. A one-lane dirt road in the desert, we cannot see any trees or much of anything in the distance. We carry on driving very slowly to avoid the tussle of the large rocks in the road. Hollis is grateful for technology telling us that we are getting closer and that it’s just a matter of time before campsites begin to pop up. Should we take the next one? A campsite on the right, fire ring and all, but the scout before us suggested taking the end campsites. We are both growing tired with this added stress of traveling such an intense road but with determination we move forward, trusting in a stranger’s comment online.

Soon the road turns and we pass a very large campsite with 2 fire rings and Hollis is aware that there is likely a body of water, nearby. It looks like this campsite might be up against running water. We carry on to see if we can get the very last campsite but as we approach we can see other boondockers. Hollis decides to drive in reverse back down the road, turn around in a small campsite and go take the other huge one, a bit of driving skill in this large Ford Transit Van. We wanted to work tomorrow and since we still had signal we may have found the perfect space. Only dropping into the 40’s overnight, we knew we would be okay. As we pulled in, set up our privacy curtains, and set up the bed for the night, Bright Hawk suggests we step out for a look at the stars.

Together we step out to see where we have landed and as we inspect the now very dark sky we see very little lights, including that Motel way off in the distance as now we were over a mile away. There were some other notable lights and as we looked up we see a clear beautiful star-filled sky. We both gasped in wonderment at the intensity of the Milky Way. As we stood beside each other we held hands staring up at the stars. Agreeing just how small we are and how the stars always remind us that we are just a speck of sand. Reminding us that we are just a tiny being on the planet earth among all the brilliance of our universe and beyond. A shooting star streaks the sky to our delight! As we hold hands and stare at the stars we are also reminded of how together makes us stronger. Reminding us that taking care of ourselves is the best we could do for the world. Our sleepy eyes take us off to bed while we dream of what our world might look like in the morning.

GOOD MORNING! Vermillion Cliffs from Marble Canyon, coffee with a view!

Hollis is up at dawn, peaking out the privacy curtains to see where we had landed. Bright Hawk steps out to catch the sun’s rise to power and we are in awe at the beauty all around us. The vermillion cliffs on one side of us in their brilliant shades of red and just next to our van were the marble canyons. Deep canyons that seemed impossible to get to the bottom, we both wondered out loud if someone had ever been down there. We decided that SOMEONE probably had. The river rushed through the center of the canyon and we heard nothing but the quiet of the wilderness and the rush of the water. We were surrounded by beauty and we realized we had the place to ourselves as the other boondockers made their very slow exit from the campsites. We set up our solar panel and set in to get a little more work done. Even in our adventures, we work hard to stay focused on sustaining our lifestyle. We are grateful to work among such beauty and we give thanks to such a beautifully preserved campsite. We could see ourselves returning here in the future as we had it to ourselves, had a great connection, and the views where marvelous. Trusting we were being guided we surrendered each time we took a deep breath along the road. Now we reaped the benefits of surrender and trusting the universe. Our gratitude grows as we manifest a life of our dreams.

A fantastic view of the Canyon and Cliffs