Val in Real Life LLC

Tag: overland expo to tbex

Women’s Rights National Historical Park
At this point in the Overland Expo to TBEX expedition, we’d been living out of the car for three weeks. This trip was unusual for the minimal camping we’d been doing and the hotel-hopping was starting to wear on us. Combined with the blistering pace up until this point, I could see the effects of fatigue. I started pondering what shifts needed to be made to combat the road trip blues but one thing I was not willing to sacrifice was a stop in Seneca Falls, NY.
Faces of the fight for equality.
Understanding the past…
I’ve talked before about the value of experiential education with respect to road-schooling Fred and George but I believe in it for all ages since our value of history and knowledge matures as we do. In particular, visiting historic sites can be quite powerful as an educational tool because being immersed in actual places and having the opportunity to see artifacts of history have so much impact. To walk in the footsteps of historic figures and gaze upon the items they touched themselves is transporting. It gives events the context to leave a lasting impression.
And that’s why I felt I couldn’t miss the Women’s Rights National Historical Park. Given the freedoms and privileges I now enjoy because of the road paved by people greater than myself, I wanted to better understand what they went through to make such a huge difference in society and history. And obviously I thought it was important for Fred and George to have a sense of that as well.
The Women’s Rights National Historical Park
Power players in the quest for equality: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady-Stanton, a tremendous partnership.
Big events in a little town…
Seneca Falls is a charming town. That it was the epicenter of enormous social change seems ill-fitted to the quiet streets we walked during our visit. Small shops and restaurants line the roads and in between are the monuments to the equality movement. The Women’s Rights National Historical Park consists of the museum and four landmarks that that pay tribute to the events here. Two historic homes are located in Waterloo just west of Seneca Falls but the others are in Seneca Falls itself.
The museum itself didn’t have a tremendous number of artifacts but the interpretive displays were
compelling and covered a variety of facets in the struggle for equality. From double-standards to salary discrepancies to textbook biases, the visual representations of inequity that has spanned decades were well-represented and were not lost even on young boys.
As I absorbed the magnitude of this movement myself, I was humbled by the effort and perseverance required by these women and men who took up the cause. I stood in the shadow of the Stanton home and marveled at what she accomplished all while raising a family and facing pressures to conform. The reflection of the house across the street reminded me of what she faced in terms of ridicule and scrutiny, yet she pressed on. And even though much of the traveling and pavement pounding was taken on by Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton did an admirable job of doing what she could from home.
It is has been said that I forged the thunderbolts and she fired them. ~Elizabeth Cady Stanton
For all of the figures involved in forging this social change, her story hits home for me most of all. It inspires to be more and do more. Because even while raising a family she fought for something even bigger than herself. She valued her family but it wasn’t the end-all for her. For some women it is and that’s perfectly fine. I’m just grateful to have the choice. During a time when the prevailing male attitude was that if a woman’s basic needs were attended to, what else could she dare want, here’s what Stanton had to say:
My duties were too numerous and varied to and none sufficiently exhilarating or intellectual to bring into play my higher faculties. I suffered with mental hunger which, like an empty stomach, is very depressing. ~Elizabeth Cady Stanton
The reflection at the Cady-Stanton house gave me pause to consider what she faced in her quest.
For the efforts of those who fought for change, I get to define womanhood for myself.
Impact…
Obviously the Women’s Rights National Historical Park was something I wanted to see for my own inspiration. I wanted Fred and George to understand as well of course, but you never know what they’ll internalize. You just have to take them to the water and hope they’ll drink. After some time in the museum, here’s what Fred had to say:
I knew they had it rough but I had no idea it was that bad. ~Fred
Keep in rolling…
Overall, George isn’t a history buff so he approaches historic sites with only mild curiosity. For Fred though, history comes to life in these settings. Reading a history book or watching a documentary at home doesn’t excite him so I’m always amazed at how engaged he becomes when we stop at historic sites. Suddenly, watching a movie or reenactment resonates with him. For him, a connection is made that simply doesn’t happen in a detached setting. It those moments that make the effort to get there worthwhile and why I wave the experiential education banner so high.
Walking in the footsteps of social change.

December 25, 2013
Overland Expo to TBEX: Toronto Bound
Some places are harder to leave than others. Great Sand Dunes is one of those places for me. Toss in knowing that the next week of our trip was going to be urban rather than outdoors and you can imagine that it took tremendous effort to squash notions of bagging the rest of our trip and staying out west. So with much reluctance, we packed up camp and got down to the business of hauling ourselves back east. After two weeks on the road, it was time to set Toronto and TBEX in our sights… and we had to move quickly. (And yes, I’m dating myself, but the theme song to Cannonball Run is playing mercilessly in my head right now.)
The first of many detours…
Just when we had no time to spare though, we had to make the first of many detours on this trip. First was a stop in Pueblo to get Blubaru an overdue oil change. Next was blasting through the Colorado Springs REI to pick up our new tent, or at least part of it. We’d have to head through St. Louis to get the remaining pieces. Under different circumstances, having to do a tour of REI stores could be fun. Under duress, not so much.
Weather whiplash…
I endured some nasty storms through Arkansas and Oklahoma on the way to Overland Expo but all had been clear since then. Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Colorado were on their best behavior, giving us maximum outdoor play time. Kansas, however, decided the game was over. Little did I know there would only be a handful of dry days for the next four weeks.
After high-tailing it out of Colorado Springs, we began the cross-Kansas trek. Interstate driving was a time-saving necessity at this point so I set Blubaru loose on I-70. No sooner had we crossed the state line when the downpour began. The deluges continued for the entirety of the state, leaving me feeling like I’d swam the breadth of the Kansas.
Obviously the storms slowed our pace tremendously but we forged on. Fortunately even though I was the sole driver, George happens to be a talented navigator. He diligently checked weather reports for me as I drove but as my fatigue grew, the storms worsened, and tornado warnings reached emergency status, I knew the gig was up. By the time we reached Hayes it was time to find a hotel to hunker down in. Since showers were long overdue for all of us after many days at Great Sand Dunes, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to call it quits earlier than planned and rediscover our humanity with things like shampoo and beds.
Turns out this was one of my few good decisions on the trip. Upon checking in we found the hotel to be full of tornado-chasers eagerly awaiting twisters to form. After being briefed on tornado procedures, we set off to our room to de-stench and hope we wouldn’t be wakened by tornado sirens. There was no tornado-induced drama that night and by morning the storms had at least subsided enough that we’d still be driving in the rain but not trying to outrun tornado cells.
REI tour continued…
With intense focus, we barreled towards St. Louis. When we arrived, the good folks at the St. Louis REI set us up with the remainder of our tent, we grabbed an early dinner to minimize stops, and set out once more. And guess what? I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried… we were just in time for rush hour.
As I sat parked on the highway, looking down into Busch Stadium, I found my zen place with the entire situation. In an unfamiliar city at rush hour, there was no rerouting or fancy travel tricks to get us out of it. We just had to listen to our podcasts, talk, and laugh at ourselves. We crossed back over the Mississippi River at a snail’s pace and caught a glimpse of the Gateway Arch as traffic slowly eased back to cruising speed.
Rerouting…
It was in that time of waiting that I slowed down enough to do some more travel math. Our original intention was to swing wide and head far east through Louisville and Lexington, then into West Virginia. One of our goals (and by “our” I mean George’s), was of course the no-state-left-behind geocaching objective. The longer route would give us West Virginia finally. From there we had planned to head through Pittsburgh and into Toronto via Buffalo.
With some time to slow down and consider the realities, I had to rethink that notion. We’d already lost a couple of days by delaying in Taos and with the slow-down of storms and tent-buying detours, we were losing time fast. Trying to take the long way and complete geocaches was simply not going to put me in Toronto in time.
In true George form, he was a good sport when I told him we’d have to reroute. I promised him we’d still get his West Virginia caches, we’d just have to find a way to do it after TBEX. And with that I pointed Blubaru to Indianapolis and Detroit.
Pushing limits…
The push continued. We drove and drove and drove. I think we were somewhere in northern Indiana when I hit another decision point. Do I try to drive through or stop for a few, albeit expensive, hours sleep? Common sense won I’m happy to say and we pulled off for a very short overnight lest we become some horrible traffic statistic.
Getting up and out the next morning was painful. Our stores of energy, both emotional and physical, were becoming more and more depleted. But with Toronto within reach, we made one last push. Keep in mind we knew this would be tough and we were banking on being able to slow down for Stage 2 of this expedition. Was the time in Great Sand Dunes worth the price we were paying now? You betcha.
Border Crossing #1…
The first of our many border crossings went smoothly. We handed over our passports, answered the requisite questions, and were on our way. Being able to say I was on my way to a conference was an infinitely more agreeable purpose to the border guard than last year’s geocaching one that required a lengthy explanation.
The irony of being back at this crossing is how far out of our way we went last year to grab some Canadian geocaches. Of course we had no way knowing we’d be back again so soon and we actually ended up driving right past the places we explored only one year earlier.
Brace for impact…
With calming breaths, I braced for what I knew would be the sensory overload of Toronto. Unlike the granola-groovy setting of last year’s TBEX event, this venue was entirely out of my comfort zone. But I’m not one to shy away from a challenge or an opportunity to expand my experience, so I put myself in urban mode as much as possible to enjoy my time at the conference.
I managed to successfully navigate my way to the hotel which was no small feat for me in general and, in particular, after the ordeal it took to reach Toronto. I pulled up to the required valet at the hotel, prepared to nearly-completely unload the car on the street corner. One of my stressors about the logistics of this trip was that I knew in advance that the hotel couldn’t accommodate the height of my roof box on Blubaru. I’d researched my options though and managed to find an open parking lot somewhat nearby.
You can imagine what the innards of the car looked like after over two weeks on the road, much of that in camping mode. The smell alone was not to be trifled with but the general debris and chaos left the valet with his jaw on the ground. As I chatted with him, hoping to distract from the three-ring circus I just unleashed in his life, he took a good look at the car and assured me it would fit in the hotel parking deck. And with that simple comment my travel life became so much less complicated. I unloaded only the basics, knowing I could easily get to anything else I needed later on.
Decompressing…
You know that feeling when you’ve finally arrived at your destination after a long day? Quadruple that and you’ll come close to understanding the relief of collapsing in our hotel room knowing the hardest days were behind us. Normally I have Fred and George help with a lot of unpacking and such but they’d been such troopers the entire way I let them off the hook.
My original intent was to arrive in Toronto in time for Friday night’s TBEX social event. You’re not going to be surprised that didn’t happen. Technically we arrived in time but I would have had to have turned around and walked right back out of the hotel. My brain was mush, even more so than my entrance into Overland Expo. Three days of driving and all of the time zone changes left me not feeling very sociable.
After a little time to collect my wits, I set off to deal with laundry and the disaster in the the car that awaited me in the bowels of the hotel parking deck. Trash, a skanky cooler, and smelly shoes were the tip of the roadtrip iceberg.
Yet I was relieved. I’d done it. It wasn’t fun but I’d done it and I was looking forward to what lay ahead on this journey. It is a testament to the intensity of this leg of the trip that I have not one photo to share with you. Not even so much as an iPhone shot. But knowing the worst was behind us left me optimistic.
And now for your moment of green…
Who are we kidding… there was no green to be had on this part of the trip. It was this happy memory that kept me going.
October 24, 2013
Overland Expo to TBEX: Great Sand Dunes Edition
The Camp Granola entrance to Great Sand Dunes was anything but smooth. With a few months to ponder my folly I can now laugh at my foibles. In truth, the whole thing went pear-shaped back in the planning stages and I didn’t even know it. One of the problems of not having a traditional schedule is that you forget that most people do have one. The Memorial Day holiday weekend didn’t hit my mental radar until way late in the game or I could have adjusted our travels to avoid it.
This is it folks. This is my paradise, the place I couldn’t miss before heading back east.
Moving forward…
At any rate, after what I can only call a travel wrestling match, I was able to finally enjoy Great Sand Dunes. Our first day included camp setup, tent research, and calls to various REIs around the country trying to get my hands on all the pieces of the tent I picked out. In between all that we got down to Medano Creek for some sand dunes fun.
I was eager to introduce Fred and George to the creek, never before having managed to get them here when it was flowing. They basked in the cool water that insulated their tender feet from the seering sand outside of creek… a day at the beach in the middle of Colorado’s rugged mountains. While they frolicked I broke out my converted 50D to get in some infrared time. The harsh mid-day sun is ill-suited for traditional photography so I love having the IR camera to fill in the gap between the golden hours of light.
All of this delight was just a short walk from our campsite, the hassle of moving from San Luis a faint memory and well worth the effort. The little bit of time we lost moving camp ended up giving me more time to enjoy the dunes fully. When you love a place this much, you need to be in it, not looking through the window.
Fred and George dwarfed by the dunes.
Flashback…
So rewind nearly a year to Camp Granola’s last foray into the joy of Great Sand Dunes. This is necessary to help frame why I was hell-bent on getting a decent few days here this year because last year’s trip ended in disaster for me.
I had allotted us 5 days in the park, our last hurrah of the Geowoodstock to TBEX expedition. Day one involved getting to camp, setting up, running to Alamosa for a long-overdue laundry day, etc. Day two was detoxing from so much driving and just taking it easy knowing we still had several days to hike in the Sangre de Cristos, climb to the top of the dunes, and whatever else we decided. Days three through five should have been more than enough time to feel fulfilled for this visit. Except on Day 3, I had a very bad day at Zapata Falls and all of those plans came to a bone-splitting end. Instead of exploring, I spent three days hobbling around camp (aside from a trip to the ER) in tremendous pain.
Adult playtime… while Fred and George frolicked in Medano Creek, I got to break out the converted 50D and have some fun myself.
Fulfillment, Episode 1…
Unable to climb to the top of Great Sand Dunes last year, I lamented my plight and returned this year to conquer the dunes, albeit now permanently maimed but functional enough. The boys and I chugged up the dunes, aiming for sunset atop the highest one.
Climbing up giant sand piles is fairly strenuous but the boys were determined and I delighted in their vigor for it. We tried to travel light so I carried a small complement of snacks and water but of course, even with my trimmed-down camera gear, the load was stupidly heavy for the task and my current level of road-trip “un”-fitness. I managed though and we played on the dunes, laughing at being sand-blasted.
Alas, I timed us too early. The sun was sinking slowly and the boys had gotten their fill of sand in their eyes. Plus they desperately wanted to slide down the enormous slopes, their reward for hoofing it up the dunes. I tried to stall but in the end set them loose figuring I’d just shoot from the edge of the dunes.
So yes, my longing was requited. Being back up top felt exquisite even if I didn’t get to shoot the sunset.
Yes, it’s very windy up here. And very invigorating.
Fulfillment, Episode 2…
One of my favorite little details of Great Sand Dunes is the gnarly dead tree just outside the entrance. It’s textures and swirls with the dunes in the backdrop just blow me away. Last year I had to shoot it in tremendous pain on our last day there and with a two-day-old throbbing, heinously broken big toe. There were a couple of times I almost passed out squatting low along the roadside to get the right angle… partly due to pain, partly due to sweltering heat. Last year when I left the dunes, I didn’t know I’d have another chance to be back so soon and I was giving it all I had.
What a difference a year makes though. This year not only was my toe as healed as it was going to get, but the temperatures were ever-so-slightly more forgiving and I had a largely revamped photography kit, including an infrared-converted Canon 50D. This meant I didn’t have to sit through long exposures to accommodate the IR filter on the unconverted camera so I was shooting faster, saving a lot of time wallowing on the ground trying to get a shot of this tree. All in all a pretty huge improvement over last year!
The boys missed out last year too. Getting to slide and tumble down the enormous dunes is the highlight of their visits.
Painless education…
Having been to Great Sand Dunes several times at this point in their lives, I had to scramble to find something new to throw at Fred and George to engage them more deeply than just playing in the sand. I try to keep their learning painless and by-and-large their own curiosity drives their discoveries but they do get lazy on repeat visits to places, thinking they know all there is to know as teen & tween are wont to do.
George had already completed the Junior Ranger program here and Fred has largely outgrown the program as a whole so I had to get creative. I set them loose in the visitor center on an educational mini-scavenger hunt for information. Oddly enough, they actually dove in and answered the questions I set them to research. In the dunes themselves I got to let their innate curiosity take over as they questioned the shape of the dunes, watched the sand flow, and raised eyebrows at the patterns created by the flow of Medano Creek.
This is the easy part of experiential education. I could have been sitting in a lawn chair, drinking a margarita, answering a question from time-to-time… one giant science lesson they didn’t even realize they were doing for me. I have to take my victories where I can because let’s face it, getting them here isn’t exactly easy. 😉
I’m a huge fan of this particular visitor center. Great exhibits covering the range of nature at Great Sand Dunes to the history of San Luis Valley. It makes my job so easy!
Reflection…
Like many people, when I find myself in a place of absolute peace, it’s a time to reflect. I was fully aware of the insanity of this undertaking before we set out but given the hectic nature of the first two weeks of this expedition, it was time to step back and ask myself what we were getting out of the effort. I believe in constantly assessing these things to avoid falling into a rut and taking on these adventures because it’s what we do and not because they have value and purpose.
Aimlessly cavorting around the country would certainly be pointless but there were the straight-forward lessons like learning about the sand dunes. Geography lessons were also abundant as we hopped from state-to-state taking notice of changing landscapes and lifestyles. These are all things we discuss in the long hours of driving. In fact, much of our learning happens in the car as we talk and mentally process our experience together.
But beyond the obvious, travel in general requires flexibility and problem-solving. This trip in particular was already proving to be unusually challenging. The boys were getting to see me make (and sometimes struggle with) decisions based upon our situation… some worked out, some didn’t. I almost always involve them in the process so they understand why I chose a particular solution. They often come up with an idea I hadn’t thought of.
To me this may be more important than their exposure to the world at large. Travel is real (sometimes painfully so) and usually fun but sometimes not. It’s unpredictable. Unlike their video games, in travel we don’t get do-overs, we don’t get to push the reset button, we don’t know the cast of characters we’ll encounter, we don’t know what obstacles we’ll face. We just have to make decisions based on the information we have at the time and move forward.
Little did I know how many more challenges were to come on this journey that would continue to test us…
Finally some travel down-time. George cocooned himself in the hammock and read for hours.
And now for your moment of green…
This is way I couldn’t stay on the outside looking in. These textures require immersion…

October 16, 2013
Val in Real Life takes on Overland Expo
The first official destination of the Overland Expo to TBEX expedition was indeed, Overland Expo. Go fig right?
Windy, lumpy OX camp.
This event was big question mark for me. I knew fabulous blogger peeps would be there (more on them later) so I wouldn’t be lacking some face-time with some amazing travelers. But in terms of the Expo itself, true overlanding and off-roading isn’t exactly what I do which left me questioning how much I would get out of the offerings. Not that what these folks are doing isn’t intriguing, I just didn’t know that I would take away anything that would impact my personal travel paradigm.
But since I’m generally open to giving new things a chance and see what sticks, I set off from Atlanta to Flagstaff with only two days to spare.
Two days of hell…
It was a brutal 30+ hour drive… I stopped counting at some point due to the sheer misery of it but basically I covered 1850 miles over two very long days. The drive was filled with monotony punctuated by traffic jams, construction, and horrendous storms. Interstate driving is my idea of torture but it was the most expedient route with my limited time-frame. I knew from the start that’s what it would be so I was mostly prepared to just grin and bear it.
I wasn’t prepared for needing an entire day to recuperate from the ordeal however. Between that and the time change, I feel like I spent the entire first day of Overland Expo in an daze. And you should have seen my tent-pitch on arrival… you know, exhausted, in the dark, on ground not meant for tents… it looked like a bunch of intoxicated, deranged monkeys pitched it. But with no rain in the forecast, it only had to withstand the Arizona winds so I left it as it was and went about my merry business.
The Sportmobile 4WD camper vans were something to behold…
Overstimulation…
Even though I did eventually manage to find my groove taking in everything there was to see and do, there was simply a lot to absorb. Countless vendors, travel roundtable discussions, film screenings, and demos took up the days. Nights were occupied from Happy Hour on with soaking up the awesome of inspiring people. It was all good of course… a party unlike any other to be frank, but it was just a lot to process all at once so I did sneak away for some geocaching and a run in the fabulous Coconino National Forest to balance out the exhilarating-but-vigorous pace of the expo. You might find it hard to believe that I’m actually an introvert and that escaping the fray to have some alone time is entirely necessary for me to handle the overstimulation of an event like this.
No ordinary driving school…
Sneaking off for some down time (and a little gear-testing of the Outdoor Research Redline jacket in Arizona conditions.)
View of the OX festivities from the road.
The high points…
My experience at the Expo was eye-opening in terms of how other people travel and the tools they use in the process. It’s certainly food for thought and there were many setups that would alleviate some of the difficulties we here at Camp Granola face as cross-country car-campers. But of course that’s an entire post in and of itself that will have to simmer a bit longer.
What did resonate with me though was discovering Do Good as You Go (AKA the Muskoka Foundation). They facilitate volunteerism within the independent adventure travel sector by tapping into the skill-sets of these travelers to bring their expertise to local partner communities i.e. using what they know to “do good as they go.”
Yours truly with the engaging and inspiring Alice of Do Good as You Go.
Understanding the possibilities of elevating my travels to include meaningful volunteerism has given me a renewed long-term vision for my own adventures. So aside from getting to hang out with my favorite ATQA adventurers, learning about Do Good as You Go was well worth the visit to OX.
Fabulous folks…
I would be entirely remiss in not pointing you towards the folks who made my time at Overland Expo so memorable. So a big shout out to the uber-fabulous ATQA crew including American Sahara, Wilderness Dave, Overland Nomads, Only Dirt Roads, and Desk to Dirtbag (not pictured since his late self was side-lined by truck woes).
There was no shortage of good company and good drink.
And where else can you be standing in line for a shower and strike up a conversation with some cool ladies only to find out one is a geomorphologist (my former area of expertise) and the other a geology student? There aren’t exactly a lot of us out there so I was quite tickled by the collection of women geologists. Rock on sisters!
Cheers from American Sahara with a grumpy-looking Wilderness Dave and apparently just Desk to Dirtbag’s hand.
Already well said…
For more on Overland Expo, check out Desk to Dirtbag’s post which was not only much more timely than mine but much more detailed as well. Since he did such a great job capturing the events of OX (and I heartily agree with his insights and conclusions), I’ll let you read it over there instead of recreating the wheel here. So enjoy and tell him Val sent you! 🙂
For a few more images of the event, head over to my Overland Expo Flickr set. And if you’re wondering, why yes, I will be heading back next year…
[UPDATE: For more enticement to join the party at the 2014 Overland Expo, check out this post from Overland Nomads.]
And now for your moment of green…
The beauty and serenity just behind the chaos of Overland Expo.

July 24, 2013