Month: June 2018

Jun

2018

How to Make the Ultimate Coffee – On or Off the Grid

A few months ago, someone posted a request on one of my group Facebook pages:

“How do you make the best camp coffee?” At the time, I had not learned of this technique, taught by Mellow Traveler.

For decades, Mellow Traveler wracked his brain for a better way to brew a perfect cup of coffee as he made his way through the wilderness. Finally he arrived at this technique, which uses a few common bar staples and a tea strainer. He and his partner, Mademoiselle du Monde, use this technique every day, whether at home or off the grid.

Mademoiselle gifted me this setup as a launch cadeau de bonne chance and I have used it every day since—whether I’m camping or in a friend’s home. It’s truly the best brewing method I’ve used – and deserves every ingredient be of the highest order.

Consider adding my special supplement: Jing Herbs Reishi Mushroom with cracked spores! Here’s what Jing Herbs has to say about it:

‘This Reishi Mushroom extract powder is a wild crafted tonic herb for cultivating Spiritual energy, modulating immune function, and promoting health, longevity, and peace of mind.

According to Shen Nong’s Divine Husbandman’s Classic of the Materia Medica: “Long term consumption [of Reishi mushroom] will lighten the body and prevent aging, extend one’s life, and make one an immortal.” We at Jing Herbs agree. As a matter of fact, if you were given the choice of taking only one herb for the rest of your life, from all the herbs in the world, we belileve Reishi should be your choice.”

You can purchase coffees infused with reishi; however, I don’t think you’ll be getting a therapeudic dose. Reishi in this form is not cheap, but I’ve have a sense that it’s working for me, especially as I attempt to ease off pills and capsules and get more superfoods in whole forms. I have led an especially stressful life, and still feel half my age. As I work toward continuous improvement, eliminating stress and easing off the habit of stressing seems to go along with my Reishi habit!

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Jun

2018

Meadow Hot Spring: “The Girls” See Some Sun!

Meadow Hot Springs is on an expansive private acreage about two hours south of Salt Lake City. Its owner allows people to soak and accepts donations from those who wish to show their appreciation. Now that it’s been seen on various blogs, the springs are still wonderful but sometimes trashed by unconscious party-types.

This was an easy segue from the city back into a more natural environment. Driving on Highway 15 brought back memories of the LA Freeway! It had been widened to 5 lanes each direction to accommodate the 2012 Olympics. Yikes! 70mph just wasn’t enough for these people. I had cars, trucks, and motorcycles passing me on each side.

I purposely arrived at Meadow Hot Spring on a weekday at 9 a.m. to avoid heat, crowds, kids, and nighttime party animals. There was a friendly couple in the first pool that gave me some reasons for changing today’s travel plan along with a few hints for camping in Yosemite once I get there. This pool was beautiful, and a perfect temperature. After a nice soak with casual conversation I decided to check out pool number two. The second pool was trashed with beer cans, charred wood, and an overflowing garbage can, so I walked on to pool number three.

This last of the three pools felt wonderful and had no obvious remnants of party animals or floating garbage, probably because it was full of fish! I had read that they would nibble my skin like the Japanese skin cleaning fish at spas, so took a chance. The combination of perfect temperature water, friendly fish tickling my legs, giant dragonflies lazily buzzing by, and the crickets singing a background lullaby was relaxing enough to make me think it might be time for “the girls” to come out and see the sun.

Pool three was a bit of a distance from the others. Nobody was around – just me and the wild things. I relaxed into a nook in the rocks and softly paddled my feet. The calm peacefulness here dropped me into a distant memory: It was 1987, in the South of France, near Aix-en-Provence. My husband was singing the opera Der Rosenkavalier at the Aix Festival and we were staying with Anna. Isabelle’s brother Peter drove a bunch of us, me and a gaggle of Parisian friends—all piled into his too-fast and tiny sports convertible—to a rugged cliff where we lost our clothing and dove into the glistening azure water, naked and happy.

Not since then had I bared my breasts in the light of day, and in public. Today was my chance to let “the girls” out for a while, silently asking the fish to stick to my legs and feet. I moved to the wooden dock to dry in the sun, but when I heard a group of young scouts arrive at pool number two, I had to abort the sunbath early, tuck the girls in, and hike back to Sparky for a lunch of radish, snap peas, carrots, cheese, and smoked salmon. It was time to head for my next stop, and I wasn’t sure where that would be.

All-in-all, I give Meadow a thumbs-up. I’ll stop in again if I’m in the area for sure.

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Jun

2018

Dirtbag in the Driveway

Note: In case you’ve never hung out with a rock climber, the term, “Dirtbag” is an affectionate term for one who lives in his or her car. Climbing magazine ran a hilarious glossary of terms that parce out dirtbags of all types. According to their definition, I would be considered a “Classbag” because I’m living out of my car, but have a variety of outfits along, including a business suit just in case I have the opportunity to meet a new or potential client.

Princess Shiatsu and I became lifetime friends back in the ‘80s when I lived in Salt Lake City. Princess, now with Smiley Curmudgeon, her wonderful mate, remains a constant source of healing for me. It is seldom I can hang out with another person who actually feels the impact of every food she eats – and is willing to go without the ones that make her feel bad. I am the same (at least part of the time), but I am lucky that can eat a much wider variety of foods than she can without getting sick or feeling pain.

Because of their home configuration I slept in Sparky by night and lived in and out of their home in the daytime. Between trips back and forth to the library for work, I raced home for lunch, served (!!) promptly at 12:30 and consisting of organic meat or wild-caught salmon with a “green drink” – a homemade simple soup consisting of watercress, kale, avocado, and chicken broth, steamed and blended into a smooth drink. YUM! We also usually ate two or three whole radishes with each meal.

I wish I could replicate the soup out here in the wilderness, but don’t have the kitchen prep tools so I’m eating very simply: mostly crudité (rainbow carrots, snap peas, radishes, and radish leaves) plain and raw, along with either salmon or eggs – and some fruit.

Princess introduced me to the concept of eating whole, fresh radishes at most meals, which have wonderful health benefits. Their leaves contain 5 to 10 times the benefits of the actual radish! She finds the leaves too pungent but I really like nibbling on them especially while I’m driving. I appreciated the radishes’ anti-inflammatory characteristics most. After having injured my hip and shoulder, then re-injured myself the day of my launch, I had arrived in Salt Lake City exhausted and hurting. I think it’s remarkable that I’m feeling great again only four days later!

So here I am, a Dirtbag at 63, in the driveway for now but heading out in the morning. I’m headed for Meadow Hot Springs to have a soak. Stay tuned for news from “the girls”!

Jun

2018

LAUNCH DAY – Into the Desert!

Well, I’m finally out! Launch day, night, and next morning have been spectacular.
On the way to visit Princess Shiatsu, I took a detour into the Utah desert. Drove several hours through some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve seen – and gained a new appreciation for this habitat I’ve heard is the best for camping. Thoughts ran through: It looks desolate at first, but I know the desert is brimming with life. Stunning. Humbling. I rustled up an antelope, and by nightfall had seen a total of nine antelope and a fox. The only humans I ran across in this desert paradise were a leathery-tanned man who flagged me down to ask if I was lost. “No,” I said. “Are you?” He smiled widely and said in what I can only guess was a Southern Utah accent, “No. We’re out here just chasin’ lizzards.” He was with his son. He knew the land well, and gave me some insider directions to my destination and out, which proved true.

I had planned to see the views and then continue on to civilization. Not having shopped for food or re-packed Sparky (my 2005 Forester), it seemed a non-decision to drive straight through to my long-time friend who once brought me back to health. Sparky was a mess due to the ridiculously complicated move out of my apartment and into a storage shed 2 hours away. That trip to storage happened two weeks before leaving my apartment, so it had been tough deciphering which stuff to hang on to for the trip. At the final hour, turning over my keys, there was a mountain of odds and ends I shouldn’t have brought along. Must lighten up the load as I go.

THE BEST part of launch day was making a decision to camp on the rim of this canyon. I had no wine (Dear God!) or fun food, and dined on one meat stick, my last handful of gogi berries, and water. Thank goodness, I had plenty of water! I also had some heavy cream in the cooler and tons of coffee for the morning.

* * *

This morning (day 2) I busted out the stove and made Mellow Traveler’s amazing coffee. That’s a future video, as I know my fellow travelers appreciate an awesome cup of coffee. As I sit here typing I sip the best coffee (heavily creamed) as I gaze out over the warming canyon and contemplate how long I might have stayed here had I brought along some food…

Note to self: triple-check the cooler plug so that it doesn’t drain into shoes and clothing next time!