Trip Out Category
I like to go places. Sometimes far (annual expat experience in France) and sometimes near (I bounce up and down the Left Coast several times a year). This is where you can read stories about my travels.
The Last Best Place
9
Aug
2005
In: Trip Out
The Last Best Place, originally uploaded by .Ariel.
We’re back from Montana.
Be watching for a flood of photos.BRB: Wildhorse Island
5
Aug
2005
In: Trip Out
Wild Horse Island, originally uploaded by .Ariel.
The spousal creature known as Andreagleasaurus and I are heading to Montana for four days. I’ll be completely unplugged from all phones, computers, etc. Could someone please feed the Internet for me while I’m gone? Thanks.Anniversary Campout
4
Aug
2005
In: Trip Out
I realize I’ve been promising a write-up for days, and I just can’t really do it the way I intended. I’m such a documentarian, and I’ve written a scattershot version of the weekend for myself, but it’s not in any form to share, and you’re probably just better off looking at the photoset and enjoying this disjointed collection of thoughts:
• The weekend was about people mixing. A crew of friends from LA. A crew of folks from DC who quickly became friends with everyone. A pair from Eugene. A friend of a friend from San Deigo. Even a coworker. Kids. My cousin and his 16 year old friends. Friends from high school. My friend from when I was 6 months old. Lots of friends from Seattle, not all of whom hang out regularly. Everyone just mixed and mingled and there was little regard for age or lifestyle differences. We were all there in the woods, and we were all friends and honestly it was just about heaven. You know that feeling of being a different person around different people? There was none of that for me, and I’m the one who should have felt it the most going from young family to old friends to old family to coworkers to everyone in between but you know what? They’re all the same, really.
• I am an obsessive planner and I did not plan. I made several friends promise to make me stop if they saw me running around project managing, and they all held me to it. Rather than plan out a schedule; rather than obsessively budget; rather than hover over introductions and social coordinations … I just let things happen! And it was amazing! Things happened! If something needed doing, either someone did it, or I found someone who was willing to do it. I made my peace at the start of the weekend that I wasn’t keeping track of who owed what for food and various other things. I just accepted that I was hosting a party and that means I’m going to spend some money. The up side of this? People were handing me money all weekend long, and rather than bookkeeping who’d paid what for what, I just accepted it graciously. As we’ve done laundry this week, tens and twenties keep appearing out of wet wrinkly pockets. We’re certainly not going to break even, but it was worth every cent to share that experience with people. And Sacred Groves even made money! Cool.
• I may not buy fully into my mother’s spirituality, but whatever she’s got going over there at Sacred Groves has a strong effect on people. About half the folks there arrived and immediately fell asleep … many of them saying it was the best sleep they’ve had in ages. It’s a really restful place. I’m so happy to be able to share it with my extended circle of friends. Pretty much I have about the coolest family ever (EVER!) and this weekend just made it even more clear, for a lot of reasons that I can’t even talk about here. There are stories I would like to share, but they’re too special and more importantly you wouldn’t believe them anyway.
•As I rode the cab home from a long weekend of community bonding and playing and relaxing and bliss, the cab driver asked me why I was so tired.
“I just hosted a campout for 50 friends,” I croaked.
“What is amazing,” says the cabbie in his broken English, “Is that I don’t think I even HAVE 50 friends!”
What a blessing it is that I have even more than that (so many beloveds couldn’t be with us this weekend), and that we can share such beautiful experiences! It was exactly what I wanted and needed and hope to have in my life for ever and ever amen.
PS: Even more photos over here.
Silence of the Frogs
3
Aug
2005
In: Trip Out
The craziest moment of our peaceful, amazing weekend hit mid-afternoon on Saturday. There was a large group of us relaxing in the shade when all of a sudden we heard a very loud squeaking. “Snake!” Erin said, and I looked and shouted “Frog!”
There was a relatively large frog (perhaps 5″ from nose to tail) with a garter snake the thickness of my thumb (small!) latched onto its leg. The frog was facing us, screaming with all its might. Its eyes bulging with terror, its mouth as large as it could get, Squeaking! Squeaking! Squeaking! Oh lord, the squeaking.
Our guests almost immediately dissolved into varying states of freak out. The general consensus seemed to be “It’s just nature doing its thing — but oh fuck, I can’t watch this!” Many of us scattered, and I ran up to my mom and Tere’s cabin to get away from the awful frog squeaks of death. When I told my mom and Tere what was happening, their response was the opposite: “OH COOL!” they squealed, and ran down the hill to watch.
Apparently, they found Andreas with a stick trying to scare off the snake. He was quickly admonished for messing with the natural pecking order, and he soon appeared at my mom’s, shaking and sweaty, his heart racing and on the verge of tears. “I tried to save it! No one would let me!” he panted. Poor thing was seriously traumatized. Aww.
The frog death went on forever, too. Half an hour later, I went down to see what was going on, and the snake had worked its way up to the frog’s armpits. The frog had stopped screaming (but was it dead? I saw it blink!) and on an academic level it was pretty fascinating to watch how this small snake managed to inhale this frog. In. Sane. Never seen anything like it.
Luckily, all our guests were still relatively sober at this point — otherwise, the experience could have inflicted some major psychic scars.
This Weekend
26
Jun
2005
In: Trip Out
1. We spent a lot of time driving to and from the Oregon coast for a family wedding. 13 hours of driving for 20 hours of being there. Wheeze — but fun!
2. We managed to catch the International Kiting Contest, and watched a guy fly three separate kites at the same time together in an awesome choreographed performance.
3. I described this one time I vomited as “like a manwich, but without the bun.”
4. We considered eating breakfast at a place called The Sea Hag, but decided on The Whale Watcher instead.
Back from LA
16
Jun
2005
In: Trip Out
Sorry for the silence this week: I had all sorts of connectivity issues at my hotel in Los Angeles. If you want to hear about my trip to LA, it’s probably easiest to just look at the photos.
The Last Best Place
9 Aug 2005 In: Trip OutThe Last Best Place, originally uploaded by .Ariel.
We’re back from Montana.
Be watching for a flood of photos.
BRB: Wildhorse Island
5 Aug 2005 In: Trip OutWild Horse Island, originally uploaded by .Ariel.
The spousal creature known as Andreagleasaurus and I are heading to Montana for four days. I’ll be completely unplugged from all phones, computers, etc. Could someone please feed the Internet for me while I’m gone? Thanks.
Anniversary Campout
4 Aug 2005 In: Trip OutI realize I’ve been promising a write-up for days, and I just can’t really do it the way I intended. I’m such a documentarian, and I’ve written a scattershot version of the weekend for myself, but it’s not in any form to share, and you’re probably just better off looking at the photoset and enjoying this disjointed collection of thoughts:
• The weekend was about people mixing. A crew of friends from LA. A crew of folks from DC who quickly became friends with everyone. A pair from Eugene. A friend of a friend from San Deigo. Even a coworker. Kids. My cousin and his 16 year old friends. Friends from high school. My friend from when I was 6 months old. Lots of friends from Seattle, not all of whom hang out regularly. Everyone just mixed and mingled and there was little regard for age or lifestyle differences. We were all there in the woods, and we were all friends and honestly it was just about heaven. You know that feeling of being a different person around different people? There was none of that for me, and I’m the one who should have felt it the most going from young family to old friends to old family to coworkers to everyone in between but you know what? They’re all the same, really.
• I am an obsessive planner and I did not plan. I made several friends promise to make me stop if they saw me running around project managing, and they all held me to it. Rather than plan out a schedule; rather than obsessively budget; rather than hover over introductions and social coordinations … I just let things happen! And it was amazing! Things happened! If something needed doing, either someone did it, or I found someone who was willing to do it. I made my peace at the start of the weekend that I wasn’t keeping track of who owed what for food and various other things. I just accepted that I was hosting a party and that means I’m going to spend some money. The up side of this? People were handing me money all weekend long, and rather than bookkeeping who’d paid what for what, I just accepted it graciously. As we’ve done laundry this week, tens and twenties keep appearing out of wet wrinkly pockets. We’re certainly not going to break even, but it was worth every cent to share that experience with people. And Sacred Groves even made money! Cool.
• I may not buy fully into my mother’s spirituality, but whatever she’s got going over there at Sacred Groves has a strong effect on people. About half the folks there arrived and immediately fell asleep … many of them saying it was the best sleep they’ve had in ages. It’s a really restful place. I’m so happy to be able to share it with my extended circle of friends. Pretty much I have about the coolest family ever (EVER!) and this weekend just made it even more clear, for a lot of reasons that I can’t even talk about here. There are stories I would like to share, but they’re too special and more importantly you wouldn’t believe them anyway.
•As I rode the cab home from a long weekend of community bonding and playing and relaxing and bliss, the cab driver asked me why I was so tired.
“I just hosted a campout for 50 friends,” I croaked.
“What is amazing,” says the cabbie in his broken English, “Is that I don’t think I even HAVE 50 friends!”
What a blessing it is that I have even more than that (so many beloveds couldn’t be with us this weekend), and that we can share such beautiful experiences! It was exactly what I wanted and needed and hope to have in my life for ever and ever amen.
PS: Even more photos over here.
Silence of the Frogs
3 Aug 2005 In: Trip OutThe craziest moment of our peaceful, amazing weekend hit mid-afternoon on Saturday. There was a large group of us relaxing in the shade when all of a sudden we heard a very loud squeaking. “Snake!” Erin said, and I looked and shouted “Frog!”
There was a relatively large frog (perhaps 5″ from nose to tail) with a garter snake the thickness of my thumb (small!) latched onto its leg. The frog was facing us, screaming with all its might. Its eyes bulging with terror, its mouth as large as it could get, Squeaking! Squeaking! Squeaking! Oh lord, the squeaking.
Our guests almost immediately dissolved into varying states of freak out. The general consensus seemed to be “It’s just nature doing its thing — but oh fuck, I can’t watch this!” Many of us scattered, and I ran up to my mom and Tere’s cabin to get away from the awful frog squeaks of death. When I told my mom and Tere what was happening, their response was the opposite: “OH COOL!” they squealed, and ran down the hill to watch.
Apparently, they found Andreas with a stick trying to scare off the snake. He was quickly admonished for messing with the natural pecking order, and he soon appeared at my mom’s, shaking and sweaty, his heart racing and on the verge of tears. “I tried to save it! No one would let me!” he panted. Poor thing was seriously traumatized. Aww.
The frog death went on forever, too. Half an hour later, I went down to see what was going on, and the snake had worked its way up to the frog’s armpits. The frog had stopped screaming (but was it dead? I saw it blink!) and on an academic level it was pretty fascinating to watch how this small snake managed to inhale this frog. In. Sane. Never seen anything like it.
Luckily, all our guests were still relatively sober at this point — otherwise, the experience could have inflicted some major psychic scars.
This Weekend
26 Jun 2005 In: Trip Out1. We spent a lot of time driving to and from the Oregon coast for a family wedding. 13 hours of driving for 20 hours of being there. Wheeze — but fun!
2. We managed to catch the International Kiting Contest, and watched a guy fly three separate kites at the same time together in an awesome choreographed performance.
3. I described this one time I vomited as “like a manwich, but without the bun.”
4. We considered eating breakfast at a place called The Sea Hag, but decided on The Whale Watcher instead.
Back from LA
16 Jun 2005 In: Trip OutSorry for the silence this week: I had all sorts of connectivity issues at my hotel in Los Angeles. If you want to hear about my trip to LA, it’s probably easiest to just look at the photos.
Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
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