Spring Breakin'

Jord-o is down in Mississississsissippi working with Habitat for Humanity. I am currently in Breckenridge with the Fam. The weather's bomb, floating on 6 inches of fresh pow-pow. First day down, injury free all around. I'll be updating more in a bit.

I now walk...

Into the Wild is a favorite epic tale here at Basecamp, if for nothing else it's great story about great adventure. If you don't know the story it chronicles the adventures of a college graduate, Chris McCandless on a roaming trek to seek truth in his life- to discover the essential question: What is real?

I love and hate the story. Partially this tale scares me. I've cried every time I've read it. I go back and forth on what I really think about it: Was he stupid or too smart for his own good? How did he treat people throughout his journey? Is he a personal hero or just some wanderlust filled idiot?

The story scares me because I get it. I understand what McCandless was doing. His parents had held high expectations for him throughout his life and he had done all he could to live up to them. It was finally his time to explore, to walk his own path. I don't think I would ever do something to the extreme, but maybe that's part of my love for the outdoors, that searching/seeking/raw/living thing.

I cringe because he breaks hearts along the way. I feel like he disrespects people, using them only to further his own means. McCandless has this unique understanding that humans need other human interaction, and when he has had enough he moves on without any regrets. (i.e. the old man that asks if he can adopt him, if that scene doesn't stir some emotion in you I don't know what will.) I'm never really that upset at what McCandless does because in the moments he shares with people he gives so much of himself.

What truly attracts me to the story McCandless' ability to shake what the world expects of him and find truth.

Bold, stupid, crazy, brilliant, think what you will, but it makes for a damn good story.

Super Saturday

Chalk up another great weekend for the Base Camp Boys. Saturday started out slow but soon picked up speed by spur of the moment activities.

Activity #1: Our first visit to the new Bass Pro Shop in Independence. After finding a relatively close parking spot in a jam-packed parking lot our spirits were high walking into the bass and hunting Mecca. With neither of us being hunters nor bass only fishermen the store slowly lost its magic. Wondering throughout the 180,000 square foot store the only thing that seemed worth stopping at was the Fly Shop. Maybe BPS will be more enjoyed on a less busy day.

Activity #2: Geocaching. The Base Camp Boys and Caitlin ventured to a near by park in search of some treasure! With Jordan having minimal Geocaching experience, and Ryan and Caitlin having none, this was going to be a learning experience. With the new GPS device Jordan got at the REI Garage sell exactly one week ago; we plugged in the coordinates to the cache provided by geocaching.com. We stumbled endlessly fallowing the compass on the GPS and finally we hit the jackpot!

Activity #3: Time to eat! Since we tried out the new GPS… we decided it was only far to try out Ryan’s new MSR cook set. We set up camp inside of the WJC climbing hut, so we (and by we I mean Jordan) could climb and eat. Ryan did do the cooking and it was bomb! Caitlin and Abby even joined for some food and good company.


Activity #4: With good food in our bellies; Jordan, Ryan, and Caitlin wanted another crack at Geocaching. So we got some coordinates for caches around Liberty, put on the headlamps, grabbed the bikes, and rolled out into the night. We spent the whole night tracking the caches like pirates; however we only technically found one of four caches in the area. We like to think that the ones we didn’t find were either not there, or due to the satellites (cue P.O.D.) in the sky preventing the GPS to not do its freaking job.

And that pretty much summed up our Saturday.

What we learned-
Bass Pro Shop is over rated.
Geocaching is sweet, and could potentially become addicting.
Ryan can’t climb in cold weather, or on full stomach.
Jordan doesn’t handle bikes well (But just learned how to ride a bike within the last year).

One week till spring break… hola hola back yall.

Brett Favre made me cry.

It's true, I'm not ashamed. I found myself watching #4's retirement press conference and it dawned on me: This is the end of an era, not as much for the NFL or even the Green Bay Packers, but the end of my child hood sports heroes. They're all gone. Marcus Allen, James Hasty, Brian Waters, Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders, Dominique Dawes, George Brett, Joe Randa, Mark Gubicza, Appier, Craig Biggio, Bagwell, MJ, Pippen, Shawn Kemp, John Stockton, Fred "Crime Dog" McGriff, and so many others.

Some are still great: Smoltz and Chipper. Mutombo.

A few of my childhood icons are still hanging, limping, and lingering on.

Randy Johnson isn't the same pitcher without a 105mph fastball.

Ken Griffey Jr. has never been the same explosive player he once was since he moved to Cincy and shredded his knee (I never really liked him because he never played with passion. It just felt like he played because his dad did and he could make a shit ton of money doing it. The other thing was, he wore long pants. I place the blame of that terrible trend and every other uniform fashion statement squarely on his shoulders, (i.e. C.C. Sabathia and his crooked hat, baggy jerseys, etc).).

Shaq is not the same brilliant, agile dominating athlete that rocked movie theaters with not one, but two great films (Blue Chip and Kazaam). I can hardly watch him crawl through 25 minutes a game trying so hard to catch up with the Suns.

It's a whole other blog to talk about the fact that a majority of my heroes were 'roided up beyond belief.

Brett Favre just closed the door. He was the last of my heroes. A throw back to the type of players my dad grew up admiring. Players like the Chiefs' E.J Holub, a hall-of-fame-caliber linebacker and a larger-than-life Texas rancher in the offseason. A gritty, tough, manly man. Someone who embodied selflessness, passion, and guts. Kansas City's own construction player turned All-Star, Frank White.

The athletes today are great. Maybe better than the ones I grew up loving. But for me, no one's bat will ever make the same crack sound as Brett, play as smoothly as Marcus, run as fast as Jr. or embody passion and toughness like Brett Farve.

Bicycle Dreamin'

Jordan has his fishing adventures, I have my bicycle addiction or collection depending on who you are.

#1My first love: 2007 Specialized Rockhopper. Some Crank Brothers eggbeaters, a ton of embarassing falls, and a good friend with a matching bike- You've got some magic right there.

My loyal #2: Cannondale r700, or Caramel as I like to call her. So smooth, so fast, so clean, I love it. The freedom of the road is priceless. Slap on my LiveStrong braclet and my Team Discovery jersey and I'm Lance Armstrong going for number eight.

And finally, the latest addition to my growing collection #3: My inheritance. Frederick W. Lauer's 1978 Nishiki road bike. Known to me as the dusty bike from the garage, she has transformed for me into...The Gray Goose. A gray and silver steel framed beaut. Sure she has some kinks, shes hefty, the rides not the smoothest, she needs a new handbar tape job, the rear derailer is sketchy at best, but she has character. Newly rejuvinated and in the prime of her life, the Gray Goose and I are looking forward to many commutes and miles of adventure in the years to come. (Pictures on the way)

Jump on the green bandwagon- get a bike.

LYLAS, R.F. Lauer

Fly Fishin' Day Dreamin'

Hello my people~ As I'm sure you have already know... REI/St. Louis weekend was amazing! We snagged some unbelievable gear/clothes, and are excited for the next one ( March 10th).

Now that I am back all I can think about is the recently opened Fly Fishing season. My favorite home state fishing spot, Bennett Spring State Park opened on March 1st and I'm itching to get down there ASAP.




* I was checking out the amazing Tim Keel's Blog today and ran across a quote from Annie Dillard's "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek"

"Thomas Merton wrote, 'There is always a temptation to diddle around in the contemplative life, making itsy-bitsy statues.' There is always an enormous temptation in all of life to diddle around making itsy-bitsy friends and meals and journeys for itsy-bitsy years on end. It is so self-conscious, so apparently moral, simply to step aside from the gaps where the creeks and winds pour down, saying, I never merited this grace, quite rightly, and then to sulk along the rest of your days on the edge of rage. I won't have it. The world is wilder than that in all directions, more dangerous and bitter, more extravagant and bright. We are making hay when we should be making whoopee; we are raising tomatoes when we should be raising Cain, or Lazarus."

J.C+

Deal Grubbin' Bum Rushin'

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Team Basecamp has had a crazy 24 hours. Here's the recap:

• 4:30: Leave Basecamp, pick up the GF, drive to the Lou.


• 8:45: Arrive at REI: Just in time to witness some great reactions from the employees as we set up our tent, or auxillary Basecamp. Now numbers 1,2,and 3 in line. Enjoyed some items from the local Whole Foods
• 12am: I fall asleep at midnight. Jordan and Caitlin fail to do so. Aparently I'm an inconsiderate jackass that snores really, really loud. My two great teammates failed to sleep at all last night.


• 6:30am: Wake refreshed and re-energized along with reciving many grumblings, insults, and curses from the two I shared a tent with. Our good new friend Ray brought us coffee and $5 for saving his spot (#4)


• 7:30: giddy


• 8:30: giddy and excited with a growing line behind us.


• 9:30: pre-garage sale stretching and strategizing.


• 9:59: weeping in joy.


• 10:00: We're in! The three of us sprint after the manager through the store, back into the warehouse and out to the loading dock where the sale that dreams are made of is going down. (gasping for breath): "Breath Ryan." I froze. It was all too much. We were excited and therefore missed the $20 Mad Rock Crash Pad waiting beneath one of the tables. I ran to the bike table and shoes, why the hell did I run to the shoes, then snagged a great little REI daypack. I lost track of Jordan and Caitlin in the intense chaos. Finally we settle down.


• 12:30: First ones in, last ones out. Crazy. Its one big blur of tents, North Face, yelling, and hyperventilation. We can not fully disclose the last details of our shopping. Its all part of the strategy for next time. It wasn't until after checkout that we realized the full extent of the madness. My trunk was full, we were dazed and confused, and we still had 4 hours till home.
  
  
  Stopped by Columbia for what felt like 20 minutes. Sorry if I didn't get the chance to see you, catch up, and brag about my great finds. Great day. Great fun. Great memories.
  RFL