Camping 101: Taylor Park Reservoir, CO

Sometimes you need to throw your priorities to the wind and climb a mountain

Successful camping is an art form of combining organization with spontaneity.

Really all I want to do in this post is show you the beauty of Taylor Park Reservoir and send you on your merry way, but I did learn something from my last excursion and have a few basic pieces of advice.

1. Buy a map
Thankfully on my last trip we had a veteran camper in this area, so while we bought a map most of our campsites, hikes, and other activities were guided by Ranger Jordan. If you don't have this type of insight handy go beyond buying a map at the local park information office--call ahead to ask which campsites are open and which are closed. Where are the more isolated sites vs. areas with hookups? Is there any fee for camping? Map out potential sites you want to set up so your glorious arrival isn't spent driving late into the night searching for a site. The same is true with hiking trails. While you want to have the freedom to change your plans it's always beneficial to have a back up.

2. Camp near water
For so many reasons. If you are going rustic that's one less water bottle you have to use. Your dishwasher, bath, and most importantly coffee water are all within walking distance. And there is nothing more calming than being lulled to sleep by the nearby gurgling river.

3. Bring kindling
So easy to forget, but just by bringing newspaper or small pieces of wood you save yourself the initial scavenging of burning materials for your campfire. On that same note, check empty campsites for left over firewood from your friendly, neighborhood campers.

4. Pack tarps...and extra tarps
Tarps and clothes lines will become your best friends on a camping trip. You need it for the waterproof base under the tent, that makeshift lean-to when it rains, and to cover the top of the tent if a tear or unexpected downpour happens. There really is no such thing as too many tarps.

5. Pack extra blankets and warm clothes
This was a new one to me as an Oklahoma camper. I slept outside on top of my sleeping bag on one excursion to the Wichita's in western Oklahoma, but Colorado is a different story. Every single night I was cold. I even went to bed fully clothed wrapped in a blanket and zipped up tight into my heat retaining REI sleeping bag and still had the shivers. My advice is pack two pairs of wool socks, two thick blankets, a sturdy, heat retaining bag, and long sleep pants.
***Tip: A quick warming solution is to hold your blanket around you in front of the fire for about five minutes before going to bed. Then quickly zip up in your bag to keep the blanket warm.

6. Get more water than you think you need
Also a newb mistake (made by yours truly). You think you will be able to judge what your drinking habits will be, but you will always drink more. Always. And since water is somewhat of a life source it really doesn't hurt to stock up.

7. Plan out your meals
Other campers may like to just grab the essentials and throw it all in the trunk, but once I learned this concept it highly improved my camping experience. Reason one, you don't overpack your food. If you know what meals you have available to you, you don't have to ration or moan post-camping because you could have done without that jumbo case of Pork n' Beans. Keep your utensils in an easily accessible Tupperware, organize your cans and your condiments, and make an easy to grab snack bag for those side backpacking trips.

8. Sharp objects required
I'm talking an ax, saw, and/or pocketknife. Chances are you will run into a situation where you wish you had something sharp--a log that needs to be chopped smaller, a sudden diy camping project, or you simply forgot your can opener. Also, it never hurts to have some form of barrier between yourself and a furry being, also armed with sharp objects.
***Tip: Bear spray and/or whistles might work a bit better than an ax

9. Think outside the box
Even though we didn't go to Colorado to play croquet, it was crazy fun to set up a course over the rocky ground of our campsite and spend the last night engaged in some friendly competition. Don't forget that deck or two of cards, guitar, or dirt bike. It's like an upgrade to your trip.

10. Bring a camera
iPhone or Canon 5D, it really doesn't matter. It's Colorado, and it will be beautiful. You'll wish you had captured that double rainbow going all the way across the sky.

And speaking of...here are my Colorado moments.

Don't forget to adventure today!

-Ray

Are you in the Wilderness or the Workshop?

 

   I'm pretty harsh on the ancient Hebrews, post Red Sea experience.
   They have a first person encounter with a miracle that defies natural laws and effectively wipes out their opposition (See Exodus 14), yet as soon as the desert comes so does disbelief. 
    Oh ye of little faith.

    I've had my own desert experience this year--literally. I travelled to the United Arab Emirates and had my eyes opened to a beautiful menegerie of cultures. That desert land was rich with promise, community, purpose and vision. I felt more alive in 115 degrees than I have anywhere else.

   Then came a different type of desert experience.

   The kind where you wake up in the morning devoid of purpose. Where reformed workaholics like myself cling to the schedule, filling up their lives so they know who they are by what they do. 
    The funny thing is, this was in the wake of a year of Red Sea miracles.

    From August 2013 to May 2014 I attended a discipleship school called Equip at Antioch Community Church in Norman, Oklahoma. It was a leap of faith into the sea of unknown...something I don't do well with as a person who struggles with needing control.
   But oh does God act for those who wait for Him (See Isaiah 64:4)
   I prayed, Lord, I need a home.
   A friend approached me and asked if I needed a place to stay.
   I prayed,  Lord, I need a job.
   Another friend asked me if I was job searching and offered me a position 10 minutes from where I lived.
   I prayed, Lord, I need community.
   This past year I've found a deep well of community and family, hungry for God's purposes.

   I could go on and on with testimony after testimony, but basically I experienced a year of response to an act of faith--God's tangible provision, again and again.

 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him -Hebrews 11:6

   Then I walked out into the desert or as I like to call it, the waiting period.
   This season is something equivalent to standing in line at the DMV. You know someone has your number and you know you have to practice patience, but it never does meet your expected time line. Before you know it your positive attitude is tested and you're tempted to turn into one of those fist-pounding, agitated individuals who is just wondering why everyone seems to have forgotten about you.

   Praise God for grace. Praise God for Holy Spirit encounters.

   I was am that person.

   I came down from the mountaintop experience, ready for my next immediate answer to prayer. Instead I went through four months of unemployment, no secure living situation, slowly watching my savings deplete after months of padding my account.

   I grumbled. I stressed. I squeezed my spiritual stress ball of several note cards of verses over and over again. Recite, remember, repeat...recite, remember, repeat.
   God where are you in my wilderness?

   Then I had one of those gut wrenching moments of Holy Spirit conviction. Oh, you know what I'm talking about. One moment I'm planning my escape from job uncertainty and instability, engaging in a full-frontal attack on a house infested with fleas, and staring at split ends I've been dying to cut but can't afford to and WHAM!
 
   Remember my people in the desert Rachel? They took control to. They made their own god when I seemed absent and forgot who I was, am, and will be. They let go of the promise over their lives...
  What response are you going to have?

   Oh, Lord! What a tender place of conviction. How can I, in the wake of so many instances of God's grace, deny myself the season of growth--of trusting. That's when I realized the desert, as we often call it, is not a season of wilderness but of workmanship. You can't exercise faith without having a period of believing without seeing. (See Hebrews 11:1)

    So I took a step back, shifted my perspective to holy.

   I was blessed with a home for a season of insecurity.
   Thank you Lord for the fleas, that I can grow and learn in a place of love and peace.
   A job came to me before I looked for it.
   Thank you Lord for growth in my field, that I can do what I love and get paid for it, and that I can grow in faith by depending on you financially to provide...because you always do.
   
   When you shift your perspective of your environment, you allow hope to clear your vision.
   So I have healthy respect of the Hebrews now. Insecurity is the food of fear. So let's learn from history and hold fast to the promises, because we serve a God who has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, and who will fulfill His great promises for our lives (See 2 Peter 1:3-4)

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   We can allow the bitter aftertaste of suffering to overwhelm us, or we can have faith that God can use suffering to transform us --Sarah Young

Don't forget to adventure today.
-Ray

   

Destination Dubai: Trip Highlights from the Middle East

   So familiar, yet so incredibly different. That's how I describe my journey to the Middle East. Highways that replicate our American road systems with traffic signs I cannot even begin to interpret. Malls with stores like Sephora and Zara, Tiffany's and Gucci. A metropolitan paradise with luxury cars, a seven star hotel, and a desert oasis ushering in thousands of people from around the world.
My time in the UAE barely scraped the surface of the oil rich country, but I do have some highlights from my journey to the east.

5. Good Eatin'

    I'm a total foodie. Just follow my Instagram and it will become very apparent. When the perfect expression of love on Valentines Day is a food processor and a paleo cookbook there's really no room to question that fact.

    Food is a cultural expression. It tells so much about a place or person. What type of texture do they like, what takes the majority of the plate--meat, veggies, starches? Is quantity important or is the focus on three bites of a sensory explosion.

    Dubai, like any major city, offers a wide variety of experiences. The cuisine was a mix of Asian fusion, mediterranean, and western influence.

    I tried many eateries in several of the elaborate malls across the city and found, what I consider, the best eating experience in Dubai. The TWG tearoom. A friend recommended it to me and it surely did not disappoint. Every food item is infused with a different tea, and my smoked salmon eggs benedict is the type of breakfast you dream of. Combine insane food with a picturesque waterfall and gracious servers with a wealth of stories to share--worth ever durum.

   Every once in a while you also need to just pick a random metro stop, walk into a local Philippine restaurant, and tell the server you'll have what the man next to you is eating. I still have no idea what I ate, but it sure tasted good. 

  However, my favorite was no doubt the Lebanese food. Truly, I'm converted. The pita, the tabouli, the hummus...the goat. I'll never be able to eat chicken and rice happily again. It combined all my favorite mediterranean flavors and couldn't have been more authentic unless I had journeyed to Lebanon myself. 

                               

4. The Malls

    The word "mall" is not an accurate term for these arenas of cultural expression. With over 60 currently standing and several others in construction you could spend days walking through just one climate controlled complex. The Dubai mall with it's extravagance, 1 mile circumference, and fountains; the Mall of the Emirates with the famous ski center; Ibn Battuta being my favorite mall ever. Dubai knows how to turn shopping into an experience.

   And truly, anything with an aquarium wins points in my book.

3. Desert Safari

    There is nothing more freeing than running through a sand dune.   

   There is also no better tourist experience than a desert safari. I saw my life flash before my eyes on the jeep ride across the desert dunes. I also realized that a two minute camel ride was all I really needed to get the iconic desert picture. Any longer and I'm pretty sure the camel would have turned on me. Between henna, tanoura and belly dancers, and a buffet of amazing middle eastern barbeque, this tourist trap is one worth falling into.

 2. The Burj Khalifa

   I'm sure within my lifetime another colossus skyscraper will be erected, it's peak scraping the ozone layer, but I'm still staggered at having stepped out onto the viewing area of the Burj Khalifa and seen what a city looks like from the 124th floor. They say the best time to go is at sunset. I say any time is worth it. You don't want to regret checking off this bucket list item.

   

1. Sunsets

   I can't help it--I'm a sucker for that explosion of color across the horizon. You may always notice a sunset wherever you go, but there are some sunsets you just don't forget. 

   Truly, my favorite experience in Dubai was standing in the dunes, on the beach, in the mountains, or just in the city and watching the orange, desert sun melt into the ground.

 

That caps off my top five Dubai moments.

Don't forget to adventure today!

-Ray

    

Water You Waiting For?

   It's mid August here in Oklahoma, usually the time when the pretty farm land and waving wheat transform into Satan's sauna.
   However, something beautiful and mysterious happened in central America this summer.
   The weather has been...nice.
   Blissful even.
   I think this summer may be a fluke, but when I walk outside at noon in arguably the hottest time of the year and feel a cool breeze race up to hug me as I walk to my car, I don't question, just accept.

   This summer I've enjoyed not just being in the water but on the water. Chances are there's probably some nearby, and all you have to do these days is google water near where I live...or maybe something a little more specific like your state's travel website.

   Even those of us here in the land locked states can pretend to be coasters by whipping out the kayak, canoe, or even stand up paddle board. 

   If I can brave SUP'ing on the raging river of rank that is the Potomac (at the beloved Jack's Boathouse...is that place still going strong??) you can enjoy your chosen water sport in whatever agua suits your style. 

Back when I was a young'n interning in D.C.

   Ah, I'm still basking in the glow of a sunset kayak ride around Summit Lake, courtesy of housesitting--but more recently, this week I spent my Tuesday night learning the art of patience.
   You may call it fishing.
   Oh, the perfectionist in me wants so badly to be so amazing at this sport of catch and release, but while I've mastered the cast I'm still waiting to be considered worthy of a bass bite.
   Look for an upcoming post on novice need-to-knows for fishing.

  Sometimes you need to spend some time and money out at your local state park...sometimes you just need a friend with a kayak.

   Don't forget to adventure today,

   -Ray

There's Something About Trees

In this place of green, limbs reaching in greeting,
Welcoming me back--why did you leave?
Stay a while with us,
Nudging each other out of the way,
Trying
To sneak a peak.
Like a grade school picture,
From a distance all order and peace.
Close up each a personality to be seen.
I want to know more

My heart flutters as we race by.
How you cling to such precarious places,
all balanced in the sky.
What have you suffered? 
What have you seen?
The wizened ones nod their heads.
So much has changed around you...
There's too much to be said

I could brush through their skirts,
Cling to their strength and never let go.
But as I breathe in their life,
Their scent,
They tell me...
We know

Why Everyone Should Visit the Middle East

Mosque on the road to the Mall of the Emirates 

No, I'm not trying to guilt you to hop on a plane and parachute into war-torn Syria to experience what life is like for the less fortunate. However, I would tell anyone before planning their next trip to London or Paris to consider visiting an area that will probably impact your life beyond your 4-5 day stay.

I have been fortunate to have travelled to friends up north (eh?), down south (thanks for ruining Taco Bell forever), the motherland (our humor is still not up to British par), that French country we love to hate (but secretly envy with every fiber of our being), and even a brief jaunt to the Swiss Alps (okay one Alp...and I'm not even sure if it was an Alp. Someone Google Mt. Pilatus for me.)

Nothing, absolutely nothing impacted my life more than venturing beyond the familiar green into the desert sands.

Desert Safari stop on the sand dunes

Why? Because as Americans we have prejudices we don't realize we have. What's even worse, as someone who professes to be a Christian, I had additional prejudices I didn't realize until walking outside into the blinding Dubai sun.

I'm not prejudice. I accept all cultures, religions, behaviors, etc 

You may say that but here in the loving embrace of the red, white, and blue it's easy to disassociate the culture from the person. We think everyone here, if not American already, wants to be a U.S. citizen, which means they are seeking something of the same values we are.

Stepping out my first day in Dubai was quite a shock to my western mindset. I mean, why would you force women to wear long black veils, let alone pants, when the heat index is 115? I found myself looking for my culture, being drawn to people who looked like me, and allowing everything else to fade into the background. It's pretty easy to do in Dubai. The western culture has pretty well saturated the coast and you can find anything from a Starbucks to an IHOP in the city.

Waterfall in the Dubai mall

But as my jet lagged body dragged through the Carrefour in the Mall of the Emirates and up to the register to check out groceries I stopped to smile at the red headed, freckled man with the name tag that read, "Mohamed."
We struggled through our language barrier (most of the barrier I claim since everyone there seems to know at least 4 languages, and I'm just chilling with my English), but he ended up telling myself and the friends I was with that he was a refuge from Syria, fleeing the destruction and constant bombings ripping up his nation. His family is still there, but he is working to send money back to them.

My heart breaks...and it's just the start.

I began opening my eyes, engaging, looking through the veils, past the culture and the religion to see the person. I heard stories. One worker from Egypt, another from Pakistan, this Indian man left home 17 years ago to provide for his family, the phone he carried his only connection back home. This Philippine woman stuck in a job, unable to leave the abusive working environment cultivated by her superior, an Emirate woman studying for her masters, her background on her computer showing her warmly embraced by the Sheik.

Egyptian musicians at the desert safari

I wouldn't tell you to go to the Middle East simply to go sight seeing. There are incredible structures, which destroy our concept of skyscrapers--but there are the men who clamored from around the world to be employed for the behemoths' construction.

Metro view of the Burj Khalifa

I wouldn't tell you to try all the delicacies of the Middle East without talking to the person behind the counter and hearing their life story.
And my final piece of advice would be to forgo the tourist traps and find a local that will unlock your explorer within by taking you up path less travelled so you can experience a world you've never seen before.

Desert mountains in Oman

I was told by one of the women I met to consider Dubai my second home.

I think I'll be back.

More stories to come.

-Ray

What's in a Name: Defining Purity in My Life

Rachel Allison Morse

   

   My first memory of realizing the meaning behind my name goes back several years to when I was around 6 or 7. We were in our first duplex in Tyler, and I remember talking to my mom about all the different meanings of names. I remember her saying my sister's name, Amy, means Beloved. My mother's name, Cathy, means pure--and my name, Rachel, means innocent, or little lamb.
   Ever since then, I have loved my name (although I did go through a phase where I though my middle name, Allison, would suit me better). There is something about being called a lamb, which makes my heart erupt in joy . . . although for the longest time I really couldn't tell you why.
   Then, about a year ago, I became obsessed with names.
   I had came across a book called "The Names of God," and as I explored the unending facets of my heavenly Father, I realized how each name He was given relayed a message to me of who He is. Abba Father, Jehovah Jirah, Jehovah Rapha, Lord Adonai, Yeshua, I AM, on and on, continuous, never ending. He is the God of names, who knows the importance of the intrinsic name. Did He not change Abram's name after making the covenant of a chosen nation? (Gen. 17) Abraham: the father of a multitude of nations. There was a deeper identity within Abram that God spoke out and named.
   Jesus was named so to convey a message as well. An angel spoke to Mary the name which the world would soon resound: Jesus, Jehovah saves (Luke 1:31-32).
   So where does little, innocent lamb come in? Am I putting intrinsic value in something my mother simply thought was pretty and my father liked because it spelled out his school mascot?
(Quick back-story, my dad went to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and their mascot was the ram. Rachel Allison Morse . . . R.A.M. . . . RAM)
   As I have begun the process of stripping off worldly identity, my Father has begun identifying the things I  am not defined by: I am not defined by my attitude, I am not defined by my past, I am not defined by my parents, money, background, talent, beauty, abilities, personality, job, organization, friends, a boy--and as these things were stripped off, my true identity began to be made known.
   Rachel, you are my precious one, the one I am enamored with. I see the way I crafted you, and though the world may not see, I AM does. How beautiful is the heart I gave you--how tender I made it. I see what beauty drapes you and I am in awe of my creation. What a beautiful facet of myself you are--you reflect a piece of my glory.
   Just to sit and know the God of the universe thinks this about me is a little intoxicating--I dare you to sit and let Him spill out His love over you.
    So what role does purity play in all this? Pretty much my whole life people have perceived me differently then I perceived myself (isn't that true for everyone?) When then world looked at me and sneered, "naive, pure, too innocent, ignorant, you have never known pain or suffering," I looked and said, "defiled, hurting, ugly, weak, lost, worthless, devalued, unloved." I had the world's defiled purity stamp on my forehead, while inside all I saw was trash.
   But as Jesus drew me deeper into His heart and His love, I couldn't resist shedding the coat of insecurities and drawing on the robe of purity. I am embraced my name--innocent lamb--and let it fuel the fire inside of me. I claim that identity. I claim that no matter what I have done, thought, said, or contemplated, the blood of The Lamb has washed me clean and made me just as innocent before the Father's eyes. That is the purity that I cling to:
   Purity that doesn't make me afraid of what's dirty, but Purity that reminds me that I am already clean.
   That's my identity--my name. Rachel . . . one like the Lamb.