REI Novara Safari Touring Bike

September 26, 2014BikeAvid BB7, Novara Safari, REINick Gatel

You may ask, “What do bikes have to do with backpacking or camping?” Well, we often take our bikes when we go camping. I have a lot of experience touring and camping with a motorcycle, and a bike can be used for that too.

For our 12th wedding anniversary I bought Joyce a bicycle. I have to admit, it was a truly romantic gift, if I don’t say so myself.

At the time, I decided to buy one for me too. Women like that kind if stuff. You know, matching his and her stuff. So this is our first matching his and her purchase. But I have to make this public. I am drawing the line at bikes. There will not be any matching his and her clothes, or any other kind of matching stuff.

Aside from my wonderful attentiveness to Joyce’s wants and needs, and my propensity to pick out the best and most unique gifts for birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries – I thought I might share a little about my bike research, selection, and the purchase itself. We bought two REI brand Novara Safari bikes.

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Packing Our Fears (and an apology)

September 23, 2014BackpackingalligatorsNick Gatel

There is a term that I have heard other backpackers use which is, “Packing Our Fears.” I am not sure there is an exact definition to this statement. To me it infers that people have a fear of certain things in the wild because they don’t have good knowledge of what they fear. Perhaps it means we fear things that, in reality, have a very small chance of hurting us or even killing us. But the fear is there.

When people ask me about the dangers of sleeping in the desert, such as rattlesnakes or scorpions, I dismiss them as silly. Same goes for black bears or mountain lions. Today I realized that this is unfair and perhaps I am judgmental. The proper approach would to share as much knowledge about these things as I can and communicate why they should be of less concern. I should also reassure others that these fears are normal.

Today I decided not to take a trip because of a fear.

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You can’t play every weekend

September 22, 2014General TalkHouse remodelNick Gatel

“You can’t play every weekend,” is something one would say to a child.

Children need to be assigned tasks, duties, and responsibilities. It is what parents should do – parent their children. Guide the children. The parents do this. The parents decide how children will allocate their time. Children can’t spend their entire childhood playing. Nor can children make the important decisions in their lives – they aren’t the parents.

If you have done a good job as a parent, your children will become self-sufficient and no longer need your help. They will leave home and not come back to live with you. This is the mark of good parenting – the children grow up, and leave the nest for good. Of course, a parent wants the children to come back to visit, but not come back to live.

My children are grown, self-sufficient and successful. I see no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed to play every weekend.

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On the Buckeye Trail (again)

September 19, 2014Backpack Trip ReportBuckeye Trail, S24O, Stealth CampingNick Gatel

S24O

An s24o is a sub 24-hour overnight backpacking trip. I have been doing s24o trips for decades, but never knew they needed a special name or, more surprisingly, that someone had already gone through the trouble of identifying and cataloging this kind of hike, developing a name, and even creating an acronym for said name.

But here it is. It exists and it is important, because I read it on the Internet. A while back I mentioned the s24o, but am too lazy to go back and check it. As far as the acronym, I like it, have consciously added it to my vocabulary, and will use it when deemed appropriate – assuming I remember it and do not misplace it in one of those little used crevices in my brain.

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Anniversary Camping Trip

September 8, 2014CampingAnniversary Camping, Camping, Novara SafariNick Gatel

Our wedding anniversary is September 7th and it was the 11th (out of 12) anniversary we spent camping. We would have been 12 out of 12, except last year we were sans camper after vandals destroyed it.

I am lucky (or I chose well) because Joyce loves to go camping. It doesn’t matter when or where we camp, camping almost always takes a priority. She doesn’t camp to make me happy, she does it for herself.