happy new year

Last year we had without a doubt the craziest new years ever. I'm sure you've heard me tell the story and/or seen the videos. All I wanted to do was stay home last year but instead we went out and it was terrible.

This year was going to be our year to stay at home, cuddle with Espen (who we've only spent one new years eve with) and lay low. My parents had Espen at their house for one last visit before his winter break was over and the plan was to pick him up from there house and head up north to play in the snow. Now, my parents house got hit pretty hard with snow this year and we could have easily stayed around their house in Yarnell but we thought we'd try Prescott for a change of scenery. After about an hour of driving up crazy switch backs with snow everywhere we finally made it to Prescott around 3:30. How cute is Prescott, by the way? The center of town and the county court house building looked amazingly quaint and the snow and people all bundled up made me want to immediately plan a weekend trip up there. I'm not sure how it happened but Jeremy said we were going to head to Flagstaff without even looking for a place in Prescott to play in the snow. So, I plugged in the info on the navigation and off we went. I was desperately watching the clock because our navigation told us we'd be in Flagg in over an hour and a half and I wasn't sure we'd make it there in time to a) play in the snow and b) make it home in time for a relaxing night at home...well, it turns out I was right. We didn't reach Flagstaff till 5pm. We passed the main part of town and headed towards Wing Mountain, to try to find a snowy spot that we pulled off and played in last year. We couldn't find the old spot so we pulled off in another just long enough for me to use the most disgusting/frozen/stinky public/park restroom. At this point I was getting anxious. I'm normally the kind of girl to just roll with things and make the best of a situation but this time was different. All year I was looking forward to being home on new years, my monthly bitch from hell decided to visit that day (and if you know me then you know that I become completely useless), I was cold and starving. Jeremy talked me down from my mild freak out and the next thing you know we were checking in to a crappy Super 8, ordering pizza & wings and settling into our new digs. We thought at some point we were going to be able to stop by Jeremy's parents on the way home from playing in the snow so we brought a bottle of Glogg to give them and thank god we did, we immediately opened the bottle and started to drink! Espen was asleep by 10:30 and while Jeremy & I waited till midnight to arrive we watched bad Mexican new years countdowns, flipped between Harry Potter and Road Trip and a couple of times, fought the cold long enough for me to grab a quick smoke. By 8pm it was 0 degrees out and by midnight it 10 below. At midnight we watched the ball drop on TV, snuck out for one last smoke and an impromptu photo shoot with my camera (who's battery was about to die since I didn't think we'd be gone all day, I had only charged it half way, ugh).

In the end, after all of my complaining and freaking out about not having a relaxing new years at home we ended up having one of the best new years ever and from now on, we're thinking about heading out of town every year, next year...El Tovar at the Grand Canyon! And, it turned out that staying the night totally worked in our favor. The next morning after weathering the -17 degree temperature, we ate a not so yummy continental breakfast and headed out to Wing Mountain, but I'll save that for another post.









{espen & his icicle or what he calls 'obstacles'}

{before we left Yarnell my dad asked jeremy to help him drag his canoe up a hill on the side of their house and tried to ride it down, somewhat unsuccessfully}

{family portrait with our pizza}

{zero}

{super 8 is totally fun}

{super 8 is totally metal}

{ugh, so mad that jeremy made his weird tongue/eye face and what a lovely background, chevron}

{new years kiss}

{happy new year, it's effing cold out}

{by the time we woke up it, this is what we had to deal with}

How do you stay warm when it's below zero? Layers!!

camping, interupted

We have been itching to try out some cold weather camping for a while now and as the months passed by we figured we better go soon before it gets too cold that we wouldn't be able to. So we planned to go this passed weekend. On Thursday Jeremy and I headed out to Bass Pro Shop, Walmart and Old Navy to gather up the last few items that we needed for a successful trip. We got Espen some cold weather gear including a super adorable pair of all weather, waterproof hiking boots and a little puffer coat and gloves and I had to buy some long johns and a hoodie as well as socks (I know, but I hate socks). We got one extra sleeping bag and we were all set. On Friday afternoon we were going to head up to our favorite campsite near Camp Geronimo. Things were looking good.

It was Thursday night that Jeremy read that Camp Geronimo was having a prescribed burn so the campground was closed. Jeremy spent all night looking up campgrounds and on Friday morning we figured it out, Knoll Lake Campground on the Mogollon Rim was going to be our destination.

We scrambled in the morning to pack up Big Fancy in time to get Espen out of school at noon and head on out. I'm not exactly sure how it happened but we didn't end up on the road till close to 3pm. Normally we go in the summer/spring but during this time of year the daylight hours are shortened considerably. According to my navigation it was going to take us 3.5 hours to get to the site...and it did. About 2 hours into the trip we were on the Rim approaching the forest roads that would take us to Lake Knoll. It was at this point that I sent my mom a text message letting her know where we were heading. As we drove deeper and deeper into the forest Jeremy would periodically ask me where we were and I would laugh and ask him 'do you really want to know' since my navigation said it would be 1.5 hours before we reached the site. The farther back we got the scarier it got since the roads were in pretty choppy condition and there was snow everywhere, all over the road which made me a bit panicky. I think I told Jeremy to slow down (he was going 20 MPH, if that) about 100 times. At this point it was getting dark and right before we lost cell service, about a mile away from where we ended, I sent my mom the last couple of text messages I could, joking about Jeremy putting the tent up in the dark.

After 1.5 hours we turned off the forest road 300 up the 295 towards Knoll Lake. The actual campground at the lake was closed so we didn't end up driving the entire 295. Instead we saw a numbered campsite on the right and pulled in to see what the sites were like. There were no campers, no tent, just a make shift spit for cooking and a pile of fire wood. We weren't sure what was going on there so we turned the car around, bounce over the ice. mud and snow and headed up the road another half mile. On the left was the next numbered site. We pulled on in and Jeremy got to work, scrambling to get the tent up with the sliver of light that was left  through the trees.







Before we knew it the sun was down, the site was dark and all Jeremy had to work with was our lantern, which is an incredibly powerful light source, but for putting up the tent Jeremy needed just a bit more. So while he put the tent up, Espen and I got into our cold weather gear and every few minutes I was kick the headlights back on to give Jeremy a bit more light. The next thing you know, the tent is up and Jeremy is unloading our gear from the back of Big Fancy. All I remember is Jeremy asking why the interior lights weren't on and then asked me to try to turn the car on. I leaned over from the passenger side and turned the key. The click click click from the front of my car was not very comforting. Jeremy yelled at me to shut the doors on the car, pull the cell charger out and try it again...and again, I got nothing. So that was it. We were  an hour and a half into the forest with a dead battery and no cell service. I turned my phone off to reserve all the charge, it was fully charged when I turned it off. At this point we knew there was nothing we could do so we tried to make the most of the incredibly chilly night.

We got our fire going, got bundled up and tried to get acquainted with the site in the dark. Everything looks different at night in the forest and without really knowing the surroundings since we rolled in at night, I felt a bit uneasy, but we still had fun. Espen was beyond excited that there was snow, I was beyond excited that Jeremy bought me a bottle of wine. Espen didn't last very long and before we knew it he was in the tent asleep. I love night time in the forest. Jeremy and I always walk away from our tent with just a flashlight and once we're out of the light from the lantern we turn the flashlight off and look at the sky. Every time I get chills. The stars at night away from the city are just incredible.  After our walk I got super cold and we decided to call it a night.

Jeremy did an awesome job of setting up the inside of the tent as well as the tent itself. He had a down blanket on the ground, sleeping pads on top of the blanket, sleeping bag, pillows and my 2 favorite blankets Puppy Blanket and the Jo Bros. blanket. We changed into our jammies which for me included thermals, sweatpants, hoodie, 3 pairs of socks, hand and foot warmers and a beanie. It got below 30 during the night, we think it was around 25 from what the weather reports said today. We're not sure about Espen but Jeremy & I both tossed and turned all night. I was really warm, except for my face so all night I'd wake up and touch my nose and get a little worried. The next thing you know the sun was up and along with it was Espen. I was dead tired but that didn't stop Espen from jumping all over me asking if he could go out and play.

After breakfast we decided it would be a good idea for me to hike up the road and try to call my mom to let her know what was happening with our car. So, with Jeremy's gun on my hip I headed out the campsite till I reached the road. I remember losing cell service just up the road so off I went. While walking up the road I turned my cell phone on and wouldn't you know it, the battery was drained. This is when I began to panic a bit. With my eyes glued to my phone I walked then ran for almost 20 minutes up the dirt road, which was more like a hill, till I saw one measely little bar appear on my phone...then just like that it went away. I freaked out and dialed 911 thinking maybe somehow I would get through but I got nothing. I knew we would be fine out in the forest for another couple of days, I just wanted someone to know that we had no way of getting back on our own without help. So, as I walked along the bars came back on my phone. I stopped dead in my tracks and called my mom. She took what seemed like for ever to answer and before she even finished hello I blurted out "My phones battery is about to die, our car battery is dead and we are in the middle of no where". My mom was in a bad area and when she told me she'd have to call me back I lost it. I was standing there in the cold, crying my eyes out, repeating CALL ME BACK CALL ME BACK to myself. I grew impatient so I called my dad who answered the phone right away. "Papa! Is Ma with you?" "Ya, somewhere, hang on...(to the lady at jack N' the Box) I'll take 2, uh, no 1 of the chocolate, no make that vanilla..." "PAPA! Where's MA! Did she tell you what's going on!!!" Right then my dad yells at me about finding a car to give us a jump, "We're in the middle of no where, there are no cars!!"...right then my mom grabs the phone, she's almost laughing at my hysterical outbursts as I'm trying to tell her our location. I told her I just need to know that you or someone will send help because when I hang up this phone it's not coming back on. She told me not to worry and I told her I love her and hung up. At that point I felt like I was on the dark side of the moon, in Apollo 13, signing off. A little dramatic, I know, but still, it was SCARY!

That was it, that was all we could do, just sit there assuming someone would come to our rescue. While we were waiting Jeremy decided to head out to the other campsite to grab the unused firewood. While Espen and I waited we built a rinky dink snowman and goofed off while trying to stay warm. After what seemed like over an hour Jeremy came back empty handed. He went the opposite direction of the campsite with the logs and wandered up the road trying to find it...uh, wrong way Jeremy...the other site was only a 10 minute walk up the road. "That's why I couldn't find it!" Oh man. Too funny. I'm not sure how long it took but a couple of hours later the tow truck arrived. A big burly man from Payson and a portable battery charger saved the day. After about 10 minutes and $175 later we were good to go. We left our car running for a while while we made lunch and some much needed coffee and sat around the fire, trying to relax.

Around 3:00pm Jeremy and I were talking about what might happen to the car if we stayed another night. I was convinced that the cold air would suck the life out of the battery and we would be doing this all over again tomorrow, so that was it, we decided to pack up and head home a day early. I was so bummed, I know Jeremy was too. The site was so great, the snow was so much fun to play in but we just couldn't take a chance with our car.

It took us over 2 hours just to get out of the forest. At one point we came to a fork in the road that had 2 signs, both signs had arrows pointing opposite directions that said FR95. We sat there for a few minutes just cracking up, how the hell do you get out of this forest! We took a right, but the road was up hill and treacherous so we turned around and went the other way...we drove for about 9 miles till we saw a sign that said FR300 8 Miles, but the 87 was 24 miles from there so we turned around again, went back to the fork in the road, went up the crazy hill we had turned on before and after another 18 or so miles (30 minutes on the crazy rock road) we found the highway! Once on the highway we thought we were good to go until we started up a hill and the car started clanking. Needless to say, we drove on the beeline highway from Payson to Fountain Hills going 35-40 MPH. We didn't get home till 10PM, 4.5 hours after we left. The whole battery, stranded in the middle of the forest didn't stop us from having a nice time. Here's what we did...

{the view from the Mogollon Rim}


{snow!}
{another view of the sunset on the rim}

{jeremy, keeping warm}

{espen with his cap turned to the side 'like a skateboarder'}

{the gloves didn't fit, oh well. he had to paw at everything, it was pretty funny}

{makin' some eggs. bacon & eggs in the forest, perfection}

{steeeeerike 3, you're out!}

{note: i am packin' heat, watch out elk!}

{espen up to bat during our snowy version of baseball}

{frosty: from the side, he's only about 4 inches thick, but he looked cute from the front}

{frosty's view of Big Fancy}

{we surrounded him in snowmallows}

{hurray for this guy}

{thought for a minute he wasn't coming back. he had to follow the tow truck guy to where he could get service and charge us our arm & leg for the jump}

{a man, a stick, some hot dogs and a beer. this is camping}

{a fancy lunch in our tent}

{this is how I stayed warm, Toasty Toes in my gloves and socks}

{jeremy said i had too many layers, i say, not enough. 3 pairs over thermals}

{espen's lips were turning blue so i was wrestling him to trying to give him kisses and warm him up}

{no more blue lips}

{espen wanted to be a leopard, i did spots on his back and belly too}

{little man in a tent}

{we put this bucket out for aaa to find us, jeremy made the 'directional signage' out of a stick & two rocks, pretty smart if you ask me}

{incredible views up there on the rim, if you've never been you need to, now}

{the sunset as we made our way back home}

i miss you, norway.

I think about Norway often, I think about our trip there, about the people we met and what an amazing time we had. Throughout the day little things here and there will spark a memory, today it was a house.

I'm not sure what the heck happened today but as I was on my way to pick up Espen I realized that it was only 2:30, he doesn't get out till 3:15. If I went back home I would only be there for a few minutes before I'd have to head back out so instead I decided to cruise around the neighborhood near Espen's school and check out the houses. I passed by a house with a rickety old roof and from there my head went spinning. My thoughts instantly went from rickety roof, to grass covered roofs, to shiny black roofs, to Bygdøy and then at last back to our trip to Norway.

While we were there we took a fairy to Bygdøy to see a couple of museums and on our walk I noticed rows of white houses with lacquered black roof tops, I was in love and snapped a picture of one so I'd always remember them. Tonight, for some reason, I got it in my head that I would visit Google maps, travel back to 2007 and retrace our steps from the walk from the fairy to the museums to see if I could find the house...and voila!





View Larger Map

Now, the next time we visit Norge(an we WILL go back again) I'll know that we need to take the Bygdøy fairy from Aker bryyg to Dronningen and walk up Huk Aveny towards Langviksvien and the white house with the shiny black roof will be there to greet us.

camping-part two

Our first day of camping was a success, the night on the other hand got a little weird. After taking a nap once the weather cooled off, we all woke up in time to have dinner, camping style. Jalapeno/pablano burgers covered in chili. Although it didn't look that great it was delicious!

Soon after we ate, Espen headed to the tent to go to sleep. He wanted me to cuddle with him for a bit and once he was asleep I unzipped the tent and saw Jeremy walking off into the dark towards one of the two entries into our camp site. I yelled to him and heard his muffled voice in the distance. I stood there, staring off into the dark for a few minutes when he finally came out from the shadows.

We camp just minutes away from a Boy Scout camp so we typically see cars driving to and from the camp and it's no big deal.  We can't seem to figure out the schedule there, cars drive by day and night. Jeremy saw a car drive down the road from the Boy Scout camp and watched it back into the campsite right next to ours. They backed in, turned off the engine and just sat there. All we could see was their headlights and tail lights. The lights would be on...and then they'd go off. They'd turn their engine on...and then turn it off. It was so dark that we couldn't see anything but these stupid lights but from where they were they could most likely see our site and our set up since we were lit up from our lantern. There are moments when you're camping that you realize just how exposed you are and you have no idea what is out beyond the light of a lantern and this is how we felt the entire time the car was there. Exposed. So needless to say, Jeremy sat on a chair for an hour and a half with his rifle between his legs ready to protect us. He said he wasn't going to sleep till that car left. About an hour after sitting there I became really tired so I went to the tent, zipped it shut but couldn't sleep. Every few minutes I'd hear something and ask Jeremy "Is the car still there?". Finally around 11:30 we heard the engine start, the car pulled out of the site and headed back to the Boy Scout camp. Then it dawned on me. Those were counselors and they were smoking weed. This is how I imagined the conversation. "Hi Boss, Suzy got her period and needs tampons, can we run to town?" "Sure, as long as you go together" "Will do boss, we'll be back in an hour and a half"...and then down the street they went so they could park, smoke a joint and then head back up. Although it is a Boy Scout camp so I'm not sure if there are any girls up there, but that's the story I told myself so I could sleep that night.

Aside from that late night annoyance, the whole day was rad. We trekked in the creek, had scrumptious dinner, roasted 'shmarshmallows' on the Coleman stove (no fires allowed in the summer) and ended up having a great night sleep with the bugs and all.








{dinner didn't look good, so i figured i'd dress up this picture with a lovely border, hahaha}


{i just don't photograph well in the woods}






{just because we're roughing it doesn't mean our teeth have to}


{gross, daddy long leg family moved in between our tent and the rain fly}


{saturday morning, rained on us all night}


{i love bacon & eggs in the morning, the perfect camping breakfast}


{i look thrilled, right?}


{cool kid, on our way to hike the nearby trail}


{this is about a mile and a half up the mountain, just before espen and i called it quits}


The trail we were on is about a 3 mile hike up, it's a fairly easy hike for adults, but not so much for a 4 year old. It was really hot and Espen & I just couldn't hang. So onto Jeremy's shoulders went Espen and down the hill we all went to cool off in the creek.





Espen was running around with dirt all over his face for about an hour before I looked at him and said 'you have no idea what you look like right now, let me take a picture so you can see'. He almost fell over laughing when he saw this picture.





I had to run to town to grab hot dogs and water and while I was there I stopped by the local Habitat for Humanity store to purchase 2 milk crates for a whopping 80 cents, which was all I had in my wallet. They were supposed to be tables/foot rests but I ended up bungee cording one to a tree to make Espen a basket ball 'hoop'. I totally kicked his butt in HORSE.




{photo by: espen  sasquatch: jeremy}


{roasting hot dogs on a stick}


While Espen and I took a nap Jeremy went out and found two perfect sticks for cooking hot dogs. He whittled  the ends to perfect points and was pretty stoked about them. So, Jeremy and I were sitting around, munching on chips when we decided to get things set up for dinner. Out came the ice chest and the Coleman stove, everything was ready. But where did the sticks go? Seriously, he just had them and then they were gone. We looked everywhere around where we were sitting, under the crates, around the ice chest but really, the entire ground is covered in sticks, pine needles and leaves. So we gave up. That's when I saw something, on the milk crate, under a bag of chips. The freakin' sticks. Right where he had left them. What the hell is wrong with us, we were cracking up. Stupid sticks! It's a good thing we found them, they ended up not being stupid at all, they were the perfect sticks for warming hot dogs on a fire.




{hooray for the sticks and for the hot dogs with cheese in them, the best!}


{espen's been working on his smile, this is an interesting version}


{i love you hot dog}


{again, why do i look so angry}

I asked Espen to hold still so I could get a picture of him, this is what I got.










After two days of camping we were ready to head home. We did things a bit different this time. We packed up the tent and all of our gear before we made breakfast. This worked out perfect! We realized what a bummer it is to wake up, stuff your face with bacon and eggs and THEN pack up. This was we were able to eat and relax for a while...then hop in the car and go. We'll be doing it that way from no on, for sure.

On the way out of the campsite we decided to drive around and explore the area. We drove for about 30 minutes on winding dirt roads till we camp across Washington Park. There are amazing homes out there, tucked away in the forest, off of the creeks. I couldn't imagine living that deep in the woods, it's gotta get a little creepy out there sometimes. But maybe that's why these people have a house like this...




How creepy can life be when you live in a little colorful replica of a house in the Swiss Alps.

Thanks to Jeremy for being such a good camper, you always take such good care of us and make the trips that much more fun for me.