9/8/07 Camping trip with Oregon Unschoolers

Knowing that we'd be hangin in Portland for awhile, I joinded an unschool group hoping to find out about trips, happenings, etc.. and we got lucky and discovered a 5 day camping trip staying in cabins, on an island, near Lincoln City Oregon, which is on the coast 2 hours from Portland. We camping with about 100 folks, 15 families or so and anyone who wanted to led activiites from dancing, hooping (of course we led this), tons of art and crafts, beading, capture the flag, hiking, & discussion groups.

My favorites were a dad who talked about the theory that the lunar landing was a fake and he had photos and theories that were very convincing and the game of assassin. We played Assassin everyday and everyone started out with a name of someone they had to "kill" which you did by tapping them on the shoulder and saying "you're dead" but no one in the game could witness it or the kill was not valid and you had to try again. So it was a bonding game, you had to stick like glue to someone else and watch each other, it really provided lots of laughs and you did get to meet lots of folks as you moved from kill to kill. after you killed someone they gave you their name and you moved to that person. On the other hand it did make you a bit jumpy and once you got killed it was kind of a relief and you got to chill out for awhile, haha.

We got everyone hooked on bananagrams our favorite game, enjoyed amazing ocean and sunset views from the deck of the lodge, did henna tatoos, listened to guitar playing, cooked our meals and cleaned up for the group and walked on the beach everyday.

The boys made loads of friends and when we headed to Portland after our stay there we had some friends inviting us over, so nice. I actually read 2 books, i have not had much down time what with rolling into a new town every day or so and driving time. But when we crossed back over on the ferry and walked through the parking lot to our motorhome, Reese walked in the door and said "Gosh it feels good to be home" . I felt the same way, the RV really feels so homey, and I love that i can spend 90 minutes and clean the whole thing.

9/7/07 Pet a Tiger Lately?

What a find, today we headed south 5 miles or so and found a wild life petting zoo, I have never heard of such a place, no way would they have this in California, to much liability baby. But here in Oregon anything goes..
www.gameparksafari.com in bandon oregon, really amazing, we pet and held in our laps a 6 week old baby White Siberian Tiger!
Also we pet a 5 month old black bear and a 3 month old Lynx. We also got to hold ferrets, skunks, possum, and we got to see a whole slew of other critters, tigers, lions, panthers, 4 horned sheep (that was a site), white peacocks, and many others.

When that baby tiger is about 4 yrs old, they will put him in the cage with the female and let them mate, she is already there waiting but the can't put him in now or she would kill him. Apparently they seperate him asap from the mom beacause when his eyes open at about 2 weeks old he will bond with whatever he sees and they want that to be a human if they ever hope to handle him as an adult. As cute as they are when they are babies, you really never forget that they are wild animals and they will hurt you in a playful way if you are not careful. They let us pet the bear while he sucked happily on a bottle of milk, but when the milk ran out, the petting was over and he was wild again.

Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me, all of life is so thrilling to me, humans, animals, trees, oceans and rivers, the beauty surrounds us at every turn. It really feeds me, i don't feel like i am in need so much of home, community, familiarity, in the same way, instead I feel fed everyday by the beauty all around, nature talks to me, holds me, loves me, inspires me. I really feel at one with all of it more than ever before and deeply in appreciation.

Everyday i must say 20 times. oh my god, look at that tree, wow, unbelievable, that moon, those clouds, oh look a hawk, a squirrel, oh my a train, oh look at the lights, it is so beautiful! Look Reese, look out the window, oh my god, look at this bridge, it is so amazing.. yeah, i'm loving it all!!

Did i mention the Oregon Dunes, 100 miles of coastline, giant white sand dunes, rugged jagged coastline, driftwood galore, and desolate, uncrowded, ok it is mid sept already, most of the crowds are gone, and it is pristine, peaceful, gorgeous landscape. Thank god steve wanted to play golf!

I got to visit an old friend today, Lily who i met in Maui 12 years ago, a girl as obsessed with pursuing the spiritual path as i was, we hit is off right away. And it is that same fuel that keeps us in touch today, Lily took us to some of her favorite beach spots to hunt for Agates and introduced us to her friends and we felt like locals for a few days. She also mentioned that there was a 3 bedroom house on a lake with a dock for rent for $1000 monthly just outside of Florence where she lives, sounds good to me.

9/6/07 Bandon - The Oregon Coast

We had planned to head towards Eugene.. but Steve wants to play golf.. so we are going to Bandon, just South of Newport, apparently it is rated the #2 public course in the US. We blew through Roseburg (the town i was born in, i did stop to get a coffee, it took 3-4 hours to get to the Pacific Ocean. It is slow driving in the MoJo mobile, but all the better to see the countryside. Having always been one who likes to drive 80 on the highway, is is an adjustment to drive 55-60, i feel like my mother if you want to know the truth, but most things seem to slow down as time marches on.

We lucked out, we found an RV park with a hot tub, sweet! I must admit, i do miss taking baths, that is not found while camping, but some of the upscale parks do have jacuzzis, and it is very nice to soak. So we drove through Banden a very cute town with incredible beaches, they have massive jagged rocks all along the coastline and there are dozens of rivers that run into the ocean which makes for great rock collecting and treasure hunting. It was too windy to even get out of the car much less play on the beach, so we headed for the hot tub instead and hoped it would be calmer the next day.

9/4/07 Lava Beds and Crater Lake

On the way to Klamath Falls and our nice hotel with a jacuzzi we stopped for the afternoon at Lava Beds Nat'l Monument and hiked down into several caves and tunnels underground that were created by Lava moving beneath the surface. With our headlamps we headed down 12 feet or so into the earth and in some spots the caves were only 18 inches high, so the kids of course loved the adventure of doing the duck walk to get really low to the ground. Yes we quacked to be fully immersed in the full duck walk experience.

Several times there was a fork in the road and we had to make a choice which way to go, this turned into a discussion about life and the seeming choices we make and how really we are just following the way the cave takes us.. i was giggling at least.

That night I did 6 loads of laundry, took a nice long soak and slept like a baby!

It is the season of cleaning, the playa dust is everywhere and we are trying to get it out before we bring the clean
clothes and bedding back in, took Steve and I about 4 hours to strip it out. We shopped and took care of all our internet business and finally headed to Crater Lake in the late afternoon. First we passed by Klamath Lake, huge, very beautiful and it is starting to look like Oregon, very green.

Only about an hour to Crater Lake Park, another 30 minutes until we could actually view the lake. What was an exploding
volcano about 7000 years ago is now the deepest lake in the US, almost 1900 feet deep. The view is remarkable, i had seen
it prior only from an airplane and really looked forward to a closer look. It was a brief look because it was 5pm and it was cold, it felt great to be cold after a week in the desert! We enjoyed the view from all around the lake and then headed out of the park to Diamond Lake for the night.

We have pulled out all our warm clothes and we don't have many but it is cold!! It's nice actually, i am ready for fall in Oregon, rain, colder days, layers!!

9/2/07 Finale Day 7 at Burning Man

Chill mellow day, relaxing morning hanging out playing with the kids in our village, it really feels like a village here, you know it takes a village to raise a child, that line has always appealed to me. I think sometimes about living in community, kids all running together, communal meals and gatherings, one one hand it sounds really lovely. I think i would be great to do like one week a month, to look forward to, miss the group, but then i really enjoy alone and quiet too, being just with my kids. I guess that's why i like the homeschool camping trips so much, community for a week, once a month would be perfect, isn't it great what you're looking for is available.

Of course the community at Burning Man is a bit more colorful.. Reese remarked to me that he does like it better than the "real world" because anything is possible, you can do anything! It really does rewire your brain when you are here, I got very inspired creatively, I got very opened, and the celebration of diversity and expression is transformational truly! Everyone is so expressing their individuality that the possibilities for expression really get stretched out, you go way beyond tolerance to a state of real appreciation and celebration for each and every person you see and meet, it is hard to describe the experience but i can say it feels like magic.

We got to hang out with several of our friends today at center camp including Megan the Cat who we met at High Sierra she is a new teacher on a cool private school in Ojai and she feel in love with the boys! Reese hooped for the masses with 2 and 3 hoops, got his body painted with flames, played cards with new friends while Luc handed out ice (by the cube) and candy to anyone and everyone, he just love to give things away. I tell Reese he is going to make all the money and Luc is going to give it all away, they are a perfect pair!

In the afternoon we went to the Temple of Forgiveness where folks were still writing poetry, letters to parents, ex lovers, friends who died that they wanted closure or healing with, it was a pretty emotional place. Reverand Billy Bob somebody was there with a choir and they had a service of sorts.. he married two women, that was a sweet exchange and gave a great talk on forgiveness as a practice of unconditional acceptance. I forgive you, i allow you to be as you are, i don't have an idea of how you should be, or a role you must play for me, rather i discover you and celebrate you as you are.. it was very good.

Reese in the meanwhile was drawing.. i had gotten him a few big boards and a marker and he was going to town, he had 10 or so drawings and had made a sign saying Drawing Tatoos, want one? and sure enough folks were coming up interested, some picked his drawings and some asked for custom jobs, and after he drew on them, they usually gave him a gift in return. Many people came up and asked if they could photograph him saying he had captured the true spirit of Burning Man, it is similar to another organization i belong to that says their motto is love and service.

That night they burned the Temple and with it Reese's drawing boards, he really wanted to bring them with us but they were big and heavy and we are living in an RV.. so it was a great chance to talk about why they burn it at the end, how it symbolizes the impermanance of everything and how when you let go of what is now, you allow for what will be..
ok Reese said reluctantly..

We packed up, got 3 hours of rest and headed out at 2am, it took us 2.5 hours to drive the 9 miles back out to the road, we were grateful to be doing the road at night when it was cool instead of 95 degrees in the daytime. We drove to Klamath Falls and got a nice hotel with a pool, spa, and internet of course!

9/1/07 Burning Man Day 6

It's pretty amazing, it seems everyday is sweeter than the next, we play, we roam, we meet cool folks, we endure heat, wind, & dust galore loving every minute, we set out sporting goggles, dust mask, camelback and sunscreen and see what the day brings us. We wave as we pass the theme camps, stop and dance, hoop, chat, eat, drink, whatever and it is always a fun adventure!



Steve arrived last night from his 5 day silent retreat with Adyashanti looking very relaxed and happy, i was happy too, I got the morning to myself and he got to cuddle with the boys all morning. I ventured out early, didn't quite make sunrise, but close. I rode the playa, took in the amazing views of as the desert took on the morning colors and happened upon a mini meditation center and cruised right on in.. I sat for 20 minutes or so, feeling very peaceful and serene and then i headed out to see some sights. I stopped at several camps to look at the art work, mostly paintings they had displayed. I danced a bit and then checked my program for a yoga class.



15 years of doing yoga pretty regularly but this last year it has fallen away, but oh did the 90 minute class feel great! Our teacher arrived dressed like a cat in fishnet tights and leopard danskin, he was from SF (as are a huge population of burners) and we said we were gonna burn cause today was burn day (they burn the man tonight, the main event). After class i headed across the street to another camp who was offering coffee, tea, juice and muffins, very nice.

It is all about gifting at Burning Man, everyone is giving something, giving massages, healing classes, cooking, hooping and dancing classes, lots of classes about how to be more green in your life, making smoothies, snowcones, lots of cocktails and dance camps, the program of activities was quite thick and there is a lot going on all the time, in addition to just walking around and looking at art exhibits, art cars and playing and climbing on everything. It really is like a playground for primarily adults, although my kids enjoyed everything very much and everyone was so glad to see them and play with them.

At noon I got a massage which was fantastic and on the way back to Kidsville I spotted my favorite structure, botton floor was living room and entertaining center, mid level bedroom and top level view deck to see the playa, very creative and fuctional.

Roaming the playa there were parties everywhere cause it was burn day, we found a talent contest and Reese did a little hooping and was gifted with a necklace and lots of applause and love!

We danced on stage and saw a few dance acts at The Cowboy Bar called the Deep End, we swung on 80 foot high swings, we chased down a few art cars for rides, we played a game on the playa with giant dice, we watched 20 or more sky divers jumping with colorful banners on their parachutes -what a show that was, and we had dinner at Camp Carp and the boys got rides on their remote control dog and entertained the crowds!

The evening was an extravaganza! Fire spinning galore and the Burning of The Man, all the amazing arts cars were out and the energy was high, we fell into bed very tired after all that, the kids fell asleep in the bike trailer half way through..

8/31/07 Day 5 of The Burn

We chilled out today and it was a good thing.. around mid day we finally left Kidsville and headed for Center Camp which is a
giant circle of amazing paintings, shade, music, and performers. A giant storm blew in, apparently the biggest storm in over 6 years, we got hurricane winds, total white out conditions and rain that lasted in total for a few hours, we stayed right where we were and still had our goggles and dust masks on.

It is quite a site to see Mother Nature do her thing in the desert, it brings about a feeling of emmense respect and awe as well as bringing about the experience of being right sized, you feel small and yet part of this massive expression of all that is.

It also is a reminder of the impermanence of all that you can see, it is all so transitory and that is part of the beauty and the mystery. Watching the desert is like seeing the whole picture; life & death, storm & quiet, light & dark, intense beauty & desolation, and in the end it delivers you to the silence, totality, everything and nothing.. quite an experience..

At the end of the storm the show continued and we had art in the sky.. a double rainbow that was a perfect half circle covering the entire sky, the cheering on the playa was like a song, we climbed up on a 12 foot tower to take in the view of the playa celebrating Mother Nature showing off.

While hanging at Center camp we sat in on an awesome drum circle, saw dancers, listened to poetry, did some beading, saw our friend Andrea from the South Bay, saw our friend Mike that we met camping in Tahoe who is from Scotland, twirled some poi balls, climbed on this giant yellow metal structure that is a maze that you drop golf balls into and then twirl it to try to get them out, and made some great trades. There was a guy setting up this alter of necklaces, stones, and he told the kids that could offer a gift and take a gift, they had train whistles and necklaces to offer and found some amazing treasures. They visited the site later and another patron took a gift and offered $20 which somehow got handed to Reese, who was as you can imagine amazingly happy!!

We later headed out to roam the playa and see what we see, that is really my favorite thing, it is always a new adventure and seeing the oh so extravagant constructs of the playa through the eyes of the boys makes it all the more magical for me. We went to the giant chill dome and had a 2 hour wrestling and tickling session on the pillows and then got to dance and climb on the big cages in the dome, we missed the big circus and acrobatic shows that don't start till 11pm or so, but what a full day of adventure and wonder.