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| Thursday, September 28, 2006 |
| Talkin' about Thriftiness |
Went to Savers today looking for a pair of jeans that fits me (I only have 2 now, the rest have somehow become too big, though I don't feel like I've lost more weight and definately have not been trying). Today was a strike-out in the jeans department. Tried on about 20 pair to no avail.
I did however make 2 very lucky purchases (like 2 lucky purchases of a $100 pair of Merrell hiking boots for $5.99 and a $120 REI Gore-tex jacket for $7.99 before I went camping).
One heavy-weight Patagonia baselayer half-zip top (new one goes for $50) - $5.99
One pair of barely worn Birkenstock Pisa slides in size 38 (retails for $90-110) - $7.99
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posted by Jen @ 9:42 PM   |
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| Tuesday, September 26, 2006 |
| "Let me e'splain...no, there is too much, let me sum up." |
Much has happened in my short blogging hiatus. I will attempt to recap for you and there are a couple of posts below. Since miss Amelie's birthday, I have been to church twice, had a birthday party held in my honor, introduced Matt to some of my family, become mostly unemployed, and went on an intense backpacking trip on the North Shore.
And now, more about said backpacking trip. I'd never been before, but with my new-found "time off" I wanted to get up north for at least one more camping expedition before the snow fell. This weekend was prime for colors according to the charts as well. Not to mention Matt's jealousy over my previous camping trip and his own yearning to be outdoors. So, he chose the park (one he was familiar with) and figured out which campsite and so forth. I was in charge of figuring out how to eat like kings without breaking the pack mule on the way to the site (pack mule = me cause the food was in my pack).
We got a really late start and dilly-dallied our way in the Cities, through Duluth and on towards George H. Crosby-Manitou Park. The daylight was waning as we arrived (though very beautiful) and no more than 1/4 of the way into our hike it was pitch black on the trail with only my headlamp to keep us from straying too far. Matt estimated my pack weighed something in the 35lb range and my little body was doing all it could to keep on my feet and trudge along once a mile or so had passed.
I've never ever been backpacking, so I was doing quite well. I nearly made it to our site, but we were without water and this was more work than my body could bear. About 15 minutes from our site (though at this point we weren't quite sure how far we'd come or how far we had left to go), I couldn't go any further. Matt carried my pack to the site and went back to retrieve his. We filtered some river water and I think I drank an entire Nalgene bottle full in about 10 min. That night, I made food over the campfire and Matt set up camp. We slept like logs, wet logs though as a steady rain came in overnight.
The next day we tried to cook, but just got soaked doing so and the rain kept putting out the fire and the stove was acting up. So we took to the tent with a lantern, some cold snacks and a book. It was a good day for learning about each other, napping, trying to dry socks over a lantern and going to bed about 8pm. At least I could see some beautiful colors when I peeked through the door of the tent. It's the colors I was really excited for.
Relieved Saturday morning to find the rain mostly stopped though the sky still dreary. I went exploring first thing to see what surrounded our campsite. It was more beautiful than I could have imagined. The rain had filled a rushing stream running next to our site and created a small waterfall. At the bottom of our stairs, it crossed the trail and then flowed into the Manitou river. Going down to the river, I could look further down the trail and see a large red cliff at a bend in the river. We had blueberry oatmeal for breakfast once the fire was roaring.
After lunch, we attempted to dry a few things (mostly jackets and boots) over the fire. I really wanted to see a waterfall which is rumored to be off the beaten path (literally off any marked trails) far beyond the last campsite (which was only one more than ours). We set off on a hike to find it. The view was breath-taking, as was the climb up a couple steep cliffs. We had to turn back when the trail abruptly ended and there was no clear direction where to go or how far we were from the falls. It was okay though as we were both still tired from our hike in and trying to beat a chilling rain.
We had to remake the fire for dinner as a short stint of rain and our being gone on a hike had let it go out. It's a good thing Matt is good at making a fire even with soaking wet wood. That night, the weather cooperated and we got to spend some time sitting in front of a toasty warm fire talking, drinking wine and looking at the stars.
Sunday morning arrived with the sunshine. Breakfast was blueberry pancakes over an open fire of course. We decided this looked like a good day to pack up and head out. If we felt good, we could always pick a campsite elsewhere to spend one last evening. Choosing to take the river trail on the way out, we saw the only other 2 campers of the whole weekend gathering water in the river. We did stop quite a few times mostly so I could photograph something and catch a quick drink of water. The 3.5 mile hike out was a bit treacherous, but at the same time beautiful, and I was glad to see the car once we finally got there. I was ready for clean clothes, a meal prepared by someone other than me over something other than a campfire and most of all a real bed.
 This was our "potty" way way back in the woods in case I hadn't mentioned it. 
One thing I had saved to see this time instead of my last camping trip was Split Rock Lighthouse. Amazing that growing up in Minnesota, I had somehow never seen this amazing landmark. We arrived too late to go inside (guess that calls for a return trip), but made the most of the grounds by hiking down near the old tramway and onto the rocky beach just as the sun was going down with a warm glow on the cliffs. It really was the perfect time of day to be there. We watched the sun set from the viewing deck in front of the lighthouse itself. Beautiful. Then it was off to Duluth for a short walk, stuffing ourselves silly at Red Lobster and at home, a long awaited shower and soft bed.
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| posted by Jen @ 7:43 PM |
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