For the love of the outdoors...
4 days before our adventure cycling in China, my random thoughts:
We already loaded the packed bikes into our car.
Our personal packing is almost done....
After a busy morning, I spent the rest of the day yesterday in the studio, working, packing, painting, and as the day gave way to early evening, I continued painting while sipping wine...
I tell myself that the open bottle of wine, will not be any good after our return in two months... but I am not fooling anyone.... I know better...I am nervous...
Dinner was a mishmash of everything we have in the freezer and the fridge... we are trying not to leave any food in the fridge, that will surely rot.
We are down to basically nothing,...... Just a few lemons, two red beets, a bit of garlic and left over soup.
Yesterday night, Instead of watching the royal wedding....I watched a GREAT Documentary movie called "180° South."
Rent it and watch it, if you like outdoors adventures....it is inspiring.
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson, as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
It also includes his time spent with these men, and interviews with them.
He said in it, that "Adventure, begins after everything goes wrong..."
It made me feel less nervous about our upcoming adventure...
I know that some things will go wrong... But this is when the real adventure will begin... Not when my butt meets the bicylce seat...
Years ago, when cycling in China, we encountered closed mountain roads, blocked by fallen boulders.... We simply loaded our bikes on our shoulders, and hiked our way out of the construction zone.
Anyway.... Back to the movie...
Many people think that some major corporations today, started and are run by suit clad, cold, dry, money loving business men.
In this movie, the two men who hiked up Patagonia, are Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins.
These are the men who started two of the biggest outdoors equipment and clothing companies in the USA today; "North Face," and "Patagonia."
Both men started as tiny outfits, because they loved the outdoor....
They were surfers and mountain climbers who simply needed equipment and gear, for their own adventures...
They made everything they needed themselves...
They hired a bunch of relaxed surf bums like themselves, to work in the workshops...and when the surf was good, they would close the shop and go surfing...
Now they are older, but their spirits are sunny, smart and sharp...plus they use their wealth to purchase land in the Patagonia area, as conservation land.
At first the Chileans, were suspicious of their motives....
They could not believe or understand, that wealthy people will spend their money buying millions of acres of land, just to protect it from development, and then proceed to give it to back to the people, as national parks....
They planted endangered trees and are working on reforesting and protecting wild life in the area.
A big development to dam the area is in progress.... The world need more power....
Would you believe me if I told you that the power consumed in the USA to support people playing video games, is equal to that which is consumed by the entire city of San Diego yearly?....amazing... But true.
The spirit of the people who love the outdoors, never grows old.
They are daring because they know no fear...
It is not that fear is not there, it is just that it does not guide them, nor prevents them from living a life of adventures, and adoring Nature....
They love and trust their fellow humans, thus they encounter friendliness and help along the way.
if you want to learn about adventure, look to undestand the spirit of the adventurers....
Ask not the gossiping doves, how the eagle soar.
They would not mind telling you,
After all...they love to talk...
It is just that they have no clue...
If you want to learn to soar,
Ask the mighty eagle,
Ask him how he does it....
And LISTEN as he flaps his wings into the wind....
We already loaded the packed bikes into our car.
Our personal packing is almost done....
After a busy morning, I spent the rest of the day yesterday in the studio, working, packing, painting, and as the day gave way to early evening, I continued painting while sipping wine...
I tell myself that the open bottle of wine, will not be any good after our return in two months... but I am not fooling anyone.... I know better...I am nervous...
Dinner was a mishmash of everything we have in the freezer and the fridge... we are trying not to leave any food in the fridge, that will surely rot.
We are down to basically nothing,...... Just a few lemons, two red beets, a bit of garlic and left over soup.
Yesterday night, Instead of watching the royal wedding....I watched a GREAT Documentary movie called "180° South."
Rent it and watch it, if you like outdoors adventures....it is inspiring.
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson, as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
It also includes his time spent with these men, and interviews with them.
He said in it, that "Adventure, begins after everything goes wrong..."
It made me feel less nervous about our upcoming adventure...
I know that some things will go wrong... But this is when the real adventure will begin... Not when my butt meets the bicylce seat...
Years ago, when cycling in China, we encountered closed mountain roads, blocked by fallen boulders.... We simply loaded our bikes on our shoulders, and hiked our way out of the construction zone.
Anyway.... Back to the movie...
Many people think that some major corporations today, started and are run by suit clad, cold, dry, money loving business men.
In this movie, the two men who hiked up Patagonia, are Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins.
These are the men who started two of the biggest outdoors equipment and clothing companies in the USA today; "North Face," and "Patagonia."
Both men started as tiny outfits, because they loved the outdoor....
They were surfers and mountain climbers who simply needed equipment and gear, for their own adventures...
They made everything they needed themselves...
They hired a bunch of relaxed surf bums like themselves, to work in the workshops...and when the surf was good, they would close the shop and go surfing...
Now they are older, but their spirits are sunny, smart and sharp...plus they use their wealth to purchase land in the Patagonia area, as conservation land.
At first the Chileans, were suspicious of their motives....
They could not believe or understand, that wealthy people will spend their money buying millions of acres of land, just to protect it from development, and then proceed to give it to back to the people, as national parks....
They planted endangered trees and are working on reforesting and protecting wild life in the area.
A big development to dam the area is in progress.... The world need more power....
Would you believe me if I told you that the power consumed in the USA to support people playing video games, is equal to that which is consumed by the entire city of San Diego yearly?....amazing... But true.
The spirit of the people who love the outdoors, never grows old.
They are daring because they know no fear...
It is not that fear is not there, it is just that it does not guide them, nor prevents them from living a life of adventures, and adoring Nature....
They love and trust their fellow humans, thus they encounter friendliness and help along the way.
if you want to learn about adventure, look to undestand the spirit of the adventurers....
Ask not the gossiping doves, how the eagle soar.
They would not mind telling you,
After all...they love to talk...
It is just that they have no clue...
If you want to learn to soar,
Ask the mighty eagle,
Ask him how he does it....
And LISTEN as he flaps his wings into the wind....
