So ... why didn't you get a picture of the awesome custom RV thing you describe on the first page?

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Because of the NINJA SPRINGBOK we met on our journey.

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Bite me. ♥

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So I take it dreamflow is no longer banned?

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No, I just bribed the Livejournal server with lots of chocolate.

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::snerkle:: ....snow phoenixes... "0/1 creatures, 1 green mana to summon".... urge to spurt chocolate milk rising.... suppressed due to the fact that, not actually having consumed any since yesterday, that would be deeply disturbing....

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And that photo was taken by me. {/shameless self promotion}

So while Rob and Bax were stiking their heads in the stream, I was snapping pics of cute trees. And they were adorable, all wee and stuff.

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You guys had a lot of fun, didn't you?

I wish I'd been able to make it up there for it. :-/

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We'd've had even more fun if you were there. We've concluded that the only way we'll ever see you again is if we go down there and kidnap you.

So, one day, when you're least expecting it, you may be kidnapped. :-)

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Great. Another threatened kidnapping of moi.

I'll try to find a way up there around christmas, even if it's only for one evening. I promise.

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I sure hope so.

Also, is there any possibility you can wrangle about a week next April/May? Seeing as how I'm going to be hiking, y'know, right in your area.

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I can try. I should be writing by then, and I might need the decompression time. The problem is, there's a family vacation right in that time frame, too, and I can't just skip out on that.

So the short answer is, we'll see.

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I'll host a pre-hike party for anyone who wants to come, though. And you could probably talk me into doing a food drop at the very least.

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Rob badly needs to stop getting sunburned, methinks, for his own good!

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Eh. People have survived for thousands of years without using sunscreen. I rarely blister, and I actually kinda like the mild discomfort of it.

I like my way better.

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Yes, they have. If they're very lucky, they survived into their late thirties.

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"The object of life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting, 'Holy Shit, What a Ride!!!'"

-- Mavis Leyrer

So let's talk about risk, mortality, life, and health for a moment. Cancer, for example: if I were to submit myself to overexposure in direct sunlight without protection of any kind, say, 100 full days a year, every year, I would be increasing my risks of developing skin cancer.

My grandfather did very much exactly that; he's in his 80's, now, and he's been fighting off the onset of skin cancer for several years. If the cost of living as long as he has, with the sort of life he's had, is the onset of cancer in my late years, then I would gladly accept it.

On the flip side, I had an aunt who lived a happy, fairly healthy lifestyle, following most of the common wisdom about health at the time. She died of a rare form of stomach cancer when she was in her thirties, with so much of her life left unlived.

Speaking of common wisdom on health, aren't the supposed experts now saying that too much sunscreen can lead to other health problems? The fact is, the panel of experts on the Extending Our Lifespan As Long As We Can committee change their opinions on what is and isn't to be considered healthy almost yearly. Look at eggs, for example, and the idiotic Atkins diet craze. Although I'm well aware that this is how the entire scientific method works, I don't see any reason why I should allow those fluctuating opinions to have anything more than the most cursory effect on my lifestyle.

Meanwhile, I'm quite healthy, with a strong healing factor and resistance to injuries or illness; I'm thin, athletic, and I have slightly less endurance than a committed marathoner.

Which is to say, sunburn be damned. If lifestyle guaranteed lifespan, I'd outlive the vast majority of Americans.

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The plural of "anecdote" is not "data". It is not clear that slathering chemicals on your skin is superior to simply putting a shirt on in a medical sense--we are in agreement there. But sunburns represent very real tissue damage, and are relatively easy to protect against for hiking. Goodness, I'm Canadian and totally ill-suited to the kind of weather we get in California and yet I hike wearing dense long-sleeved overshirts in the summer time. You are healthier than I am and so will probably outlive me even with doing dangerous things, but that does not mean you are not exposing yourself to serious long term harm that could be easily lessened.

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Dirty Hippie!

I <3 you :)

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So very amusing. :D Glad you had fun! Tell Kady (& Rob, if appropriate) I said "hi!" and "yay!" and "hugs!"

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Hey, that came out really well.

I hereby volunteer you for all future trip reporting duties.

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Heh. I think that's probably a bit too intrepid for me :) Funny captions.

Btw, I'd recommend:

a) getting a camera that automatically rotates pictures if you hold it sideways

b) using my picstory program - http://www.leafdigital.com/software/picstory/ , Mac/Win/Linux - if you want to make a webpage that basically tells a story of something, with picture thumbnails interspersed, and makes it easy to read the story without being disrupted if you click a pic. Like all the stuff at http://www.leafdigital.plus.com/pics/ .

OK the second one was more a plug than a recommendation, but it *is* free... :)

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I think your camera has an inner ear problem as many of the pictures appear to be sideways. Have you taken it to a vet? ;)

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...Y'know, the you-dunking-head-in-stream picture (I'm only partly through page one so far) really, really needs to be made into a userpic. I'm not sure when you'd use it, but it needs to be a userpic anyway.

Looks like you had fun! Insert jealousy here, of course, because my allergies preclude me from doing anything like that. The best I can do is head to my grandfather's ridiculous quantities of woodland and river land (which he bought to evade developers and has annoyed them greatly by absolutely refusing to sell- and posting tresspassing warnings... and booby traps) and fish in the river. That's actually a lot of fun- might be better if I could swim- but I can't go on the hikes through the woods; I have to use my binoculars from the cabin. And even for that I'm sick with asthma for days, but it's worth it...

Looks like a good journey!

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