Month: November 2024

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Planning a Long Road Trip With the Kids? Don’t Over Look Your Most Important Item – The Car

Car Maintenance is extremely important when you are planning to travel with your family. Can you imagine getting on an airplane that had not been thoroughly checked over before departure? It’s a very scary thought, yet we have all driven past vehicles that are broken down on the side of the road either from a flat tire that was so worn it should have been replaced months ago, or out of gas, fluids, or other engine problems.

We’ve seen vehicles broken down in the mountains during snow storms, on the highway near Death Valley, and on a typical sunny day. There are many reasons why a vehicle brakes down, but car owners and especially parents traveling with young children should make every effort to prevent a vehicle brake down at all costs.

Here are some basic steps to take to make sure your car is always in top notch shape and ready for your next camping trip or long road trip adventure with the kids.

  1. Get that oil changed every 3,000 miles or every 3 months along with the vehicle inspection. Which ever one happens first.
  2. Have your tires checked and rotated at each oil change.
  3. Check your vehicle engine, belts, brakes, fluids, windshield wipers, lights and mirrors. Carry extras in your vehicle incase a blinker goes out, or a windshield wiper malfunctions while you are traveling.
  4. Check your spare tire to be sure it’s in good shape.
  5. Replace the thin spare with a reliable regular size tire ahead of time.
  6. Keep up on all routine maintenance checks.
  7. It is also good to have some emergency items for your car such as a 12V tire pump, portable jumper cable battery, tire repair kit, spare tire in good shape, and tools.
  8. Carry a GPS or Road Atlas.
  9. In the winter, it is advisable to carry chains, car wheel grip mats (for ice), 12V heater blanket, and shovel.
  10. Carry a cell phone and/or some payphone spare change with you while you travel to keep your family safe.

Now that you’ve taken the steps required to insure your vehicle has passed the safety check, and you are confident your car is in perfect traveling condition, load it up and head out on the highway for some more great travel experiences with your family. This is one preparation that should be a top priority. Your family is depending on it.

Happy Travels!

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Music, Culture, and Reality

A psychoactive is defined as that which has a profound or significant affect on the mental processes. Although typically used in the context of drugs and substances, this concept is often extended to anything evoking a seemingly ‘mystical experience.’ What people describe as mystical experiences are indistinguishable, neurologically and empirically, from deep and poignant religious experiences. Moments of oneness and insight are typical in both cases. In “The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902),” William James describes mystical experiences as ineffable, noetic, passive (rather, a sense of loss of control), and fleeting. From the remote mystics of Sufism and Kabbalah, to modern day ‘urban shamans,’ psychonauts have sought methods other than imbibement to investigate the cosmos within. Through meditation, breath control, lucid dreaming, sensory deprivation, and a host of other methods, music has stood among cultures in this service probably since early man first danced around campfires.

Ethnomusicolgist Gilbert Rouget explores the connection between music and trance throughout history. Perhaps music is more than simply a mortal construct, rather having cosmic significance. Playing music (and truly appreciating music) forces an individual to focus on the present moment, which in turn is the cornerstone of meaningful experience. This emphasis on the present moment is the consummation of all other psychonautical resources (mediation, entheogens, etc.). Subscribers of the shamanic and mystical often view the passage of time as an illusion of the human mind, and regard a ‘perpetual now’ as true reality. Interestingly this is where science begins to align with the esoteric.

Quantum Mechanics argues that particles move backwards as well as forwards in time and appear in all possible places at once. String theory proposes that the physical world is composed of little, tiny strings of vibrating energy (It seems appropriate to allude to chordophones). Terrence McKenna, recounting a DMT (Dimethyltryptamine) induced experience, asserts that the constant dance of ‘machine elves,’ (entities occupying a parallel world) creates reality as we perceive it. Are the rhythms of music akin to the language of reality? Is music a method of staying in contact with the underlying ‘Logos,’ being the true virtue in which all things exist? Whether it be Spring’s hymn of birds and bees or the elegant, geometrical dance of our physical world, music plays the universal tongue in a reality seemingly ripe with babbling discord.

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Grand Canyon Float Tours Are Adventurous Fun

All-day Grand Canyon float tours down the Colorado River are amazing, unforgettable journeys. They’re a great way to kick back and relax, but at the same time they give you a remarkable number of things to see and do. Here’s some info on what you can expect on one of the South Rim smooth-water rafting tours:

Getting There

You’ll be transported to the base of Glen Canyon Dam – the starting point for all South Rim smooth-water float tours. You’ll get there by bus (if you’re on a standard tour) or plane (if you choose the upgraded, deluxe package which also includes a 4×4 Jeep ride to Antelope Canyon). Just seeing the dam looming overhead is pretty awesome – it’s over 700 feet high and 1500 feet wide!

At the foot of the dam, you’ll board your 19-passenger motorized pontoon raft for a smooth, comfortable 15-mile float down the river. The water segment of the trip ends at historic Lee’s Ferry. The entire tour takes 12+ hours, so you’ll definitely be gone all day.

No rapids are involved, so kids 4 and up can participate. These trips are a terrific adventure for families.

The Experience

It’s hard to accurately describe what you’ll see and experience while you’re on the river. No photos or videos can do it justice. Besides seeing some amazing sights (California condors, anyone?), you’ll smell and taste the air of the canyon and the surrounding cliffs. This is the total package when it comes to Grand Canyon tours.

Floating through scenic Horseshoe Bend is one of highlights of this smooth-water rafting tour. This section takes its name from the horseshoe-shape of the river as it winds its way through some pretty amazing rock formations. A lot of folks camp and hike in this area because they feel like they’ve entered another world. This is a quiet, serene place where time flows slowly – its tranquility is the exact opposite of today’s usual hustle and bustle.

People who live in the area call Horseshoe Bend by another name. I’m not sure how it got started, but they call it King Bend. In this section you’ll be cruising down the river at an altitude of 4200 feet above sea level, which isn’t that much short of a mile high.

Colorado River

The river is ancient and has a storied past. For one thing, it’s responsible for carving out the canyon over countless millions of years. Portions of the river are in 7 different states.

You’ll pull over at a sandy beach during your smooth-water rafting trip. Just a short hike away you’ll come onto some prehistoric Native American rock drawings. We don’t completely understand their significance, so you’re free to interpret them however you like.

Float tours last all day, and you’ll want to make sure you get the most out of the experience. Protect your camera/cell phone from getting wet. Bring sunscreen and wear a cap or hat to reduce your exposure to the sun. Bring some extra water and snacks that are easy to carry. Because you could get wet, you’ll probably also want a change of clothing.