Matrimony Spring in Moab Utah
The last time I was in Moab, Utah I was with my brother, his daughter, my wife, and my daughter.  It was June 2008 and we were about to embark on the White Rim Trail for three nights.

We ate lunch at some cafe in Moab and our server was a short, fit brunette girl no older than 22 years or so with a spunky smile for our daughters. Maybe I'm lying about her, maybe it was some grungy college dude with a barely-growing goatee and a wafting stench of sweat and pot.  Either way, the server asked us, "So what brings you to Moab?"

"The White Rim Trail."

"You're taking your kids? That's so cool."

Then she - okay, again, maybe it was a he, but I like to remember local beta coming from a sporty 22-year-old local girl, or that happy thing on the side of Provo Girl Pilsner, yeah? - went on saying, "Hey, do you know about the spring?"

gps tracking device
Our urban, plastic coated lives are fooling us. We're used to small luxuries presenting themselves throughout our daily activities and we take them for granted so easily: Starbucks drive-thrus, dishwashers, trash pick up, the ability to order lunch delivery via Twitter and Facebook, free Wi-Fi everywhere . . . hell, what would Alexander Graham Bell say about mobile phones?

Speaking of mobile phones, National Park rangers are reporting hikers calling in from trails and ordering hot chocolate to be delivered to them. Cute.

From an office building, sure, we can order lattes for the whole office through Twitter and I find that fascinating, efficient, and smart. From the top of Half Dome or from under Rainbow Bridge the story is far different. How do we define that difference?

And then how do we teach our kids the difference between convenience/technology-reliance and self-reliance? I'm all ears.

Let's do what Friday's were meant for: screwing around. You're going to love this.

All due respect to Les Stroud and Bear Grylls - television entertainers with shows about (questionable?) wilderness survival tactics - but Gavin McInnes gives us exactly what we want. Something gut-bustingly funny.

Watch.  Enjoy.  Two-and-a-half minutes of your day well spent.  Teva made a few more videos of "The Naturist" as well. See them on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TevaVideos

Between you and me, I can't wait to see one about dealing with poison oak . . .

Can you feel the burn? The ripe itching? Yeah, it's totally awesome
The life of an outdoor adventurer is all about those small things that leave a lasting impression: finding a creek side rope swing, that cold beer after a solo afternoon ride, hiking in a summer sprinkle, campfire time after the kids are asleep, morning songbirds, hot coffee, and . . . DRUMROLL . . . the fantastically orgasmic relief of a humongous morning camp pee.

Then there are the small inevitable bummers that we find funny.  Like slipping on your convertible pants and seeing that what was once a nice looking, water-shedding pair of Columbias that can be zipped off as shorts are now disappointingly expensive two-tone snazzy pants because you've failed to wash the legs. Then there's always the obstinate, indomitable example of Chaos Theory known as campfire smoke. And chiggers in your ears.

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Modern American Rule #1: The road is no place for a person who's paying attention.

Let along one who's on a bike. With a little baby in a trailer. But we did it anyway and enjoyed an evening of wine, women and song (more like beer, family, and jazz, but whatever) by bicycling down to the Chandler Jazz Festival way back when Chloe was just a little 8 month thing.