Protopia

August 31, 2020August 31, 2020 / Brendan / Leave a comment

We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.
— Thich Nhat Hanh

Thomas Mountain seen from Sunset Trail, Cowbell Alley, Idyllwild Calif.

Imagine if we’re heading toward a time when tomorrow is better than yesterday?
It sounds cool right?
The past 4 months have been topsy-turvy– but everywhere you look you’ll see progress, I think, if you look for it.

I was recently interviewed by a young guy who’s doing academic research on the topic of homeschooling, particularly what we can learn from it during the pandemic. The questions he asked me and the thoughts they provoked pretty much made my day.
And, important background: The brave new world of coparenting my children currently involves home schooling. Not distance-learning per se; but home schooling.

The Goal (okay, my goal)
— most concisely, I want to raise children who can solve interesting problems as adults.
I could blather & pontificate on what it means to solve interesting problems but I’ll save that for another post or the ears a random stranger someday.

“Dad, did you know the school system was pretty much designed to train people to work in factories during the Industrial Revolution?”
— boy #001, age 10
“I sorta did know this, yes…. where did you hear about it?”
“I saw it on a YouTube channel I follow about education.”

“Dad, did you know that frequent small breaks are important and can help you learn more?
“Well that makes sense to me… where did you hear about that?”
“I heard it on the Wow in the World podcast.“

The promise of a more comprehensive, open-ended curriculum for these boys sounds very appealing to me.
Satisfy curiosities.
Indulge passions.
Ask hard questions.

Challenges
Home schooling is hard, so far as I can tell. I super sucked at home schooling this last week, and hell it feels like that’s all I did for the week. Not much progress on the work front. I’m hitting a steep learning curve, it seems.

Money– the work front is the elephant in the living room. How can we work less?
I’m not out of the woods on this topic, yet, but I’m encouraged through frugality, practicality, and full application of my own skill set both at work, and at home.
— interestingly, the lifestyle changes we have been making are coincidentally-or-not more responsible environmental decisions, too. So that’s a good indicator, too, I hope.

Socialization– I do feel the supposed problem of “socialization” is to home schooling what “protein” is to people who don’t eat animals– it’s just not really an issue if you’re actually bought in to the program. It’s overstated. That said, it’s perhaps a little more challenging with Covid, but I have a lot of faith in pods and connectivity. I also think that where there’s passions there’s socializing; kinda like those of us who ride bikes all know each other, or really anybody with fire in the belly about just about anything has a way of finding friends who are into these things, too.

— Thanks to my friend Jenn for this add on:
it’s like music, not like traveling:

Summer Vacation 2019

August 18, 2019August 18, 2019 / Brendan / 2 Comments

Our first big road trip family vacation in a few years.
The first major, planned out, long time on the road post-divorce (well, almost) and it was everything I’d hoped it would be: an immersion of our personalities in all the situations. Though we make a lot of Instagram-perfect photos, we know life is rarely “perfect” when the rubber meets the road. It’s those times of togetherness when we grow by working through the challenges of disappointment, minor crises, irritability, and potty breaks.

Instagram Perfect

A background:

My father has recently retired/moved from Chicago, where be bought his house in Wicker Park in the early/mid 1970’s, and relocated with his wife to Fairbanks, in rural Southern Indiana– a region so different and self-identifying I’m compelled to follow AP style and capitalize “Southern.”
He asked if we’d be up for a summer visit. My first thought was “yeah, we’ll take the Argosy” which was shortly followed by ever-increasing gas prices, and the brick-against-the-head reality of the time and discomfort of driving across the country with a camper in tow, especially with an already-strained time budget. And there was also the fact I haven’t made much progress refurbishing the Argosy. SMH.

And, my Uncle Louie, Aunt Laura, and cousins Maria, Julia, and Alicia were due for a visit in Sacramento. Sooo… we planned the trip and made it all happen. I’ve been quite busy this year reinventing my career as a carpenter, taking my licks, and settling into our new house, in Idyllwild.
We made plans for a road trip for the California leg, and a flight to Indianapolis to visit my father and his wife. We recently adopted a new-to-us adventure van– a 2003 Volkswagen Eurovan with very low miles and a degree of disrepair balanced with potential to become a great camper. It’s a perfect match for this family. 😉
I was overcooked and ready to vacate. And I had to bust tail until the very end to make it happen.

We started a day late

And headed out to Montana de Oro State Park, near Morro Bay. We scheduled 2 days here, so as to settle into the groove and not feel terribly rushed. Tessa joined us for this leg of the trip, and we rode bikes, explored the beach, and my little guy took a big spill on his bike.. on pavement. He got up and said “I’m not going to ride my bike so fast anymore… well maybe I will still go kinda fast.”
We were besieged by local raccoons, who attempted to enter our Yeti cooler (that’s bear-proof ya know) but still managed to terrorize an evening. We caught one particularly brave raccoon taking a marshmallow out of our supply bag while we were making s’mores a mere 10′ away.
We prevailed over the trash panda by use of copious quantities of ground black pepper, sprinkled around our picnic table. It seems the pepper works like a sort pepper spray against the raccoon’s sensitive nose.
We enjoyed the glorious ocean views here, and some highlights:
— I forgot to bring the right kind of butane for my camp stove, so 5 stores later we bought a new Coleman.
— My older boy (the mature one) got a Nerds Candy stuck in his ear canal. Yes, a nerds candy. The little sugary pebble things. Pretty deep.
“I didn’t mean to put it in that far” he said. (“how far did you intend to put it?!”)
We prevented a trip to Urgent Care and I eventually got it out via suction (yep… my mouth) and the tip of a zip tie. All part of an ordinary, average parenting skill set, right?
Montana De Oro was pretty great.

Santa Cruz
We enjoyed an easy day on the road to Santa Cruz, stopping for lunch in Morro Bay.
We headed to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. When we arrived at the check-in kiosk and handed over our printed out online reservation, they politely told us we had made the reservation for the wrong week. SMH. Thankfully they found us a spot, and it was beautiful.
We went for a nice walk, the boys rode bikes, and we got some proper showers. Henry Cowell Redwoods is so very, very nice. This place rules. It really, really does. There isn’t a bad campsite in this whole place. Seriously. I can’t wait to go back.

We had coffee with my friend John, a contractor, who gave me a pep talk on all things tiny house. And yes, I would very much like to build a tiny house. Soon. Immediately if not sooner. Anybody want to buy one on spec? I’d be delighted to build one.

After Santa Cruz (did I mention I love this place?) we dropped Tessa off at San Jose Airport and dined at a nearby Chick Fil-A for the first time, in an area with more Tesla’s per capita than anywhere I’ve ever been before, even LA.
Then we took off for Sacramento and experienced traffic unlike anything I’ve ever seen before… even LA. Bay Area traffic, you’ve got game! The little one almost pooped himself in the van. But we worked it out.

Sacramento & Folsom
Really cool town. Bikes everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Not a stupid expensive place to live, yet. But as I understand it, Bay Area equity is changing that, rapidly, with the same effect us Californians have on so many other places. Like Idyllwild. Or Idaho. But I digress. Sacramento, Folsom, area; it’s pretty great. Good vibes up there. It’s worth a look. And it was amazing to see my family and be good to our roots.

My uncle Louie (not his real name btw) planned out an action packed visit for us, with the train museum, a train ride, the fish hatchery, and plenty of time with the cousins. My cousin Maria and her bf, Shaw, hosted a fun grillout, and my ever-extroverted younger son made fast friends with a boy his age there, got rowdy, and had to say goodbye. I went to church with my awesome cousin Julia. My Uncle Louie is the best, and it was so very good to visit with my cousins.

We hit the sites, ate the food, and drank the beer at Urban Roots Brewing where I even broke my no-beef rule for a day, and liked it.

So Cal, So IND
Next, we zoom-zoomed back to Idyllwild, in one big push down the grapevine, then zoom-zoomed the very next day to Ontario Airport, bound for Indianapolis. I was overdue for a haircut, tried a few quick-cut places along the way with no success… so I watched some you tube videos on “how to cut your own hair” and gave it a whirl.

The airport experience was entirely new and exciting for the boys, a highlight in itself despite my own discomforts with TSA and the herd experience of commercial travel.
Boy #1 has been on airplanes before, but he hadn’t remembered it. The excitement of flight and the energy of an airport abuzz in activity has been one of my lifelong joys, and a really fun experience to share with these guys. They took turns at the window seat for take off and landings (we had a layover at the busy-busy DFW, where we rode the tram) and enjoyed our new favorite fast food, Chick Fil-A.
The Grampster picked us up in Indianapolis and zoom-zoomed us down to Fairbanks.

Fairbanks
We had so much fun. For serious. Well, there were bug bites. And poison ivy. And humidity. Like for real, humidity. And crankiness (both child, and adult) and awkwardness and unclear expectations and family dynamics. Ya know, real life. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

We blasted around the property on a Kawasaki MULE, built a bonfire, caught lots of amphibians, visited old barns, shot BB guns, and… this is big for me… drove the Porsche 911 for the first time, ever. I’d been waiting my whole life to drive this car; my father bought it new in 1976, babied it, celebrated it, and loved it. But there were about 17 years when he and I didn’t see each other (the not-instagram-perfect life) and suffice it to say, the next best thing is, chronologically speaking, the best thing. When the opportunity to drive the ’76 Porsche 911S came up, I jumped on it. It was good to visit my father and have the boys spend some time with him; all of us in a new chapter of life.

The Bonus Adventure
We got to the airport in Indianapolis on time, crazy early for our 8am flight (this is EST mind you) and our flight was oversold. Maybe because of the 737 MAX grounding? I dunno. They started offering flight vouchers for volunteers… we ignored it. Then they pressed with urgency, and it turned out our 3-in-1 seats were particularly attractive to the gate agent, so we made some bargains. Long story short, we stayed another day, had a ball, and now have flight vouchers to go pretty much anywhere we want to for our next trip.

We stayed another day, on American Airlines’ dime. We adventured more around the airport, ate “free” food and celebrated the joy of an airport hotel room. (“look dad, they even give us FREE earplugs!”)
The airline lost our luggage, and we took an Uber for the first time (my 3rd time maybe) to go shopping for swim trunks, made fast friends with another traveling family at the hotel pool, and had a ball being together.
Our flight home had one last bonus treat– because of the nature of our rescheduled flight, we had to sit in the very back, last row of the airplane. Naturally, it took a long time to deplane, and by the time we got to the front, the First Officer was apparently done with his postflight, and was accommodating of our request for the boys to get a quick tour of the flight deck. It was our last, unexpectedly perfect twist of events before wrapping up our summer vacation.

Family Camper Project: Selecting the vintage travel trailer

March 11, 2019March 11, 2019 / Brendan / 1 Comment

Selecting the right vintage camper for us was a journey in itself.
This is the first installment of a series that will document the decision making and lessons learned as we pick out, restore, and ultimately take to the road with our family’s vintage travel trailer.

Our new-to-us travel trailer, ready for pick up from the seller.

This last year, we fell in love with ~~our~~ my mom’s 1963 Airstream Bambi. Using it extensively for several months solidified our preference for a travel trailer over the various other options. I had previously considered a truck camper, but I use my truck too much for my day job to deal with the on/off routine. At one point, a converted panel van seemed attractive (#vanlife will do that to you) and we saw plenty of enviable examples, but they can be small, cost prohibitive, and I don’t want to have another vehicle to take care of. We have a reliable truck, and room to store a camper… so a travel trailer made a lot of sense for us. And given our recent history with Bambi– and the fact I’m a carpenter– a vintage travel trailer would be the top choice.

The Bambi: cute as a button, but a little small.

In pulling the Bambi around on frequent camping trips with the boys, I came to understand a few criteria for what we’d want:
— not too big. Coming from a hiking & bikepacking background, we don’t need a huge interior space… and we like to dry camp. A lot of camp spots in Joshua Tree National Park, for example, can’t handle a camper much larger than 24′ judging by my own eyeball work. We don’t spend much time in RV parks, and our working philosophy for camping leans more toward living outside for meals, gathering time, etc.
— not too small. At 16′ the Airstream Bambi is a great size for a couple, over a weekend… but once you increase days, or number of people, and it begins to feel “small” fast. At least for us, anyway. We wanted two “real” sized beds, and a comfortable “living space” where we could all be together for meals or inclement weather.
— dual axles, and heavier duty tires. More rubber on the ground means a wider distribution of load, which I take to mean *potentially* lower risk of a failure that’d stop us in our tracks. Since we’d been pulling Bambi on forest roads, sometimes in remote locations, this became an important factor. Which leads to…
— a little more ground clearance. Because we like to go over hill, and over dale…

So… an Airstream, right?
I’ve long been attracted to Airstreams– their quality construction and elegant style are both timeless… I started looking at 22′ and 24′ Airstreams, and quickly discovered they’re pretty much the most sought-after lengths, apart from the less common, shorter sizes like the Bambi’s. One thing led to another, and I started learning about Argosy’s, the shiny Airstream’s cousin. What’s an Argosy? Most briefly, they were a line of coaches produced by Airstream in the ’70s, aimed to bring a medium price point to the competitive market at the time. Considered the “painted Airstream,” they’re painted rather than polished. This is necessary because their “domes” are made of galvanized steel rather than strips of aluminum. The rest of their shell is made of aluminum throughout (again, painted, not polished) and these models were early to incorporate some of the experimental “new” features that came to shiny Airstreams later– such as the panoramic front window (which is fantastic) and the wider body floorplan. The more I learned about the Argosy line, the more I came to enjoy them.

Making the decision to pull the trigger on an Argosy
In deciding on an Argosy, I considered factors such as “how long do we want to keep it?” and dollars in, to dollars out… time invested, work that’ll need to be performed, etc. In non-restored condition, Argosy’s fetch a little less in initial cost than a comparable shiny Airstream, and can come up in value quite a bit after work has been done. Not as high as a fully decked out shiny Airstream, but then again I’m also not doing this as a “flip” project.
In addition to the work you’d expect of any Airstream remodel, I also had to came to terms with the fact that an Argosy– being 40+ years old– would most likely require a new paint job. I decided to look at this as an opportunity to paint our future camper whatever color(s) we want to dream up, and factor that into the project cost.
Argosy checked a lot of boxes.

Nuts & Bolts
There were a number of considerations for go/ no go in looking at any vintage camper: Does the roof leak? How’s the plumbing? (freeze damage is sometimes easy to fix, other times not so easy…) Is the subfloor in good shape? How’s the cabinetry, countertops, and interior framing holding up? Do the appliances work? All of them? On electric, and propane? How are the tires? (most travel trailer tires expire by age, rather than wear, it seems) Do the electric brakes work?

I resigned to assume that any vintage trailer will most likely require its wheel bearings to be repacked, and new tires to be put on to hit the road with peace of mind. More dollars to add to the plan.

Saying yes, making a plan
Right after we took possession of our new camper, I did a thorough “walk through” of all the work that’ll need to be performed. I did this in a walk around fashion, starting at the front with the propane bottles and walking clockwise, then going inside front to back, examining everything and taking notes on paper. Are the propane valves expired? How are the hoses? Does the exterior light work? How about the awning? And so on. Once I had a list of all the wants & needs, I organized them by type, and made a priority sheet. This started more or less as a “dream” sheet (the one that has the onboard solar power, LED uplightling, etc) and worked into a “right now” sheet, or a “needs to happen before we can camping this summer” sheet.
The next step, which we are on now, is determining how much money can be spent over how much time, and then… setting a goal for our first time to take it out camping!

Ash Meadows & Death Valley

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 / Brendan / Leave a comment

“I heard they call it Death Valley because people DIE out there.” — the little one.

We loaded up the Bambi and took off from Big Bear after school on Friday… accidentally blasted through Barstow (rats, there’s an In N Out there and I’m still on Whole 30 for another 10 days or so) and ended up dining in Baker– that’s the town with the giant thermometer, in case you’re wondering.

From there it was a northerly jump into the desert night. A sky so dark I wondered if I could see my hand in front of my face with the lights off. I didn’t check.

We arrived at Ash Meadows NWR late, with the boys snoozing in the truck.
The next morning we set up Bambi for my mom to stay in, and explored a bit of the refuge. Ash Meadows is home to endangered, and threatened species of Pupfish, and is said to be host the greatest concentration of endemic animal & plant life in the United States– and second greatest concentration of endemic animal life in North America. We learned about the various species of Pupfish that live only in particular spots here, and the fascinating hydrology that supports them. In short order we saw several Pupfish (they’re cute little purple-blue fish maybe an inch long) and saw a Bighorn Sheep, several birds, and some toads.

We stopped by the (super nice!) visitors center and gathered up our Junior Ranger materials before heading out to Death Valley National Park, a short drive away. We took a quick stroll at Zabriskie Point, and I tried not to let my jaw drop too much. I had no idea Death Valley was so beautiful, and here we were just barely scratching the surface. The boys were eager to get their wiggles out, and very much wanted to go “scrambling,” but we weren’t in the appropriate spots for that at the time. We took a drive through Artist’s Palette, and ran around a bit along the way. The desert warmth did not disappoint, with the boys eager to strip off their jackets and relish in the warmth. (ok, all of us)

The boys continued to work on the Ash Meadows Junior Ranger certifications in the truck, and later in the camper. Thankfully, help is allowed and the big brother was able to do some of the heavy lifting!

Sunday morning greeted us with more sun and warmer temps. We had a nice morning with a hearty breakfast and some time talking with God, at our picnic table, but not until the little one taught me to how to play Candy Crush– this was a waking desire he’d asked about the night before.
We stopped by the Ash Meadows visitors center and the boys had their work checked before getting sworn in for their Ash Meadows NWR Junior Ranger badges. After that we hustled back to Death Valley for a special event going on as part of the Dark Sky Festival— Build Your Own Mars Lander, hosted by representatives from NASA Goddard, Maryland.
They explained how “interplanetary geologists” such as themselves have been using Death Valley NP for decades to test landers & rovers, thanks to the area’s “otherworldly” characteristics– high heat (DVNP is a little hotter than Mars, though) very dry, sandy, etc. They explained how features such as sand dunes, alluvial fans, and mud cracks are all common to both DVNP, and other planetary exploration areas. Our “family design team” created a Mars Lander of our own with limited resources, time constraints, and performance requirements (land on the circle)… just like real scientists might do. The big kid wore BOTH his favorite NASA hoodie, and his space shuttle tee shirt for the day.
The big kid took engineering lead, the little one was the art director, Gigi was our legal counsel, and I was the project manager.

We made our way out of the park via the long way, my jaw dropping frequently, making mental notes of things we’d like to see next time we come up.

Thanksgiving

January 24, 2019March 10, 2020 / Brendan / Leave a comment

Yesterday is a gift to today

God– one awesome word: Indescribable.

Children– my little men are like a reflection of a better me. Through them I’m encouraged to persist– urgently– on passing down the best family gifts, and breaking the spiritual chains that will not serve them.

Friendships– through persistent challenge and steadfast support, these relationships hone my spiritual growth.

Family– we come together, messy, looking out for our next generations.

Carpentry– I’m blessed to have gained skills from a life of handcraft, translating into an indisputable force for good, today.

Bicycles– my adolescent freedom. My first job. My tool for competition and building self esteem in my 20’s. My creative outlet in my 30’s, and the lifestyle that introduced me to so many of the friends I have today. Now… wind in my face, and the skills I’ve gained over decades bring me back to my body’s movement, help me talk with God, connect me with my children, my friends, my family, and my clients.

	Martin Rodriguez Rod… on Clearing The Plate– Stag…
	Jon Sagara on Summer Vacation 2019
	Theresa on Summer Vacation 2019
	Frank T Baele on Family Camper Project: Selecti…
	Brendan on Chuckwalla Mountains– 20…

	Martin Rodriguez Rod… on Clearing The Plate– Stag…
	Jon Sagara on Summer Vacation 2019
	Theresa on Summer Vacation 2019
	Frank T Baele on Family Camper Project: Selecti…
	Brendan on Chuckwalla Mountains– 20…

Ordinary Not Average

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