Bonus Episode: Mining Rainbow Obisidian

On my way down to Tahoe I stopped in Davis Creek to collect some rainbow obsidian and when I got there it turned out I had arrived at a knap-in, where knappers gather and make arrowheads and such together.  In this day and age the majority of knappers or older folks so it was really neat to meet up with these old timers that knew where all the best rock was and who were absolutely generous.  I didn't even film any while I was there because I was so consumed with interacting with these people and learning.  This was such an important part of the trip so I decided to drive the 4 hours back up on one of my two days off.  I mined all day and got a bucket load of obsidian.  This is more than enough to last me a few years.  All in all I'm glad I seized the opportunity to get some material that I will likely never have access to again.

Episode 1.32: Critters in California

This episode has some interesting back story.  You'll notice my hair goes from short to long and back to short.  I was looking for work starting in Oregon and wasn't getting anything interesting as I went so I had made it to California and kept looking.  I was on my way out of Tahoe about an hour where I caught that scorpion then after that I got a call for an interview back in Tahoe so I drove back and got a hair cut and landed a sweet gig as a valet for some fancy hotels.  At that point I had decided to stay in Tahoe for the Summer because everything was just so perfect there for living in a van.  In the two months of working there I paid off the entire trip and had about 800 bucks left over when I got home.  I was glad I got to work in such a special place and really stay in an area to explore it and get to know it on a little bit of a deeper level.

Episode 1.31: Crater Lake Cliff Diving

I'm in love with mountain lakes.  They're clear, deep, and absolutely gorgeous.  The only drawback is that they're always freezing cold!  Even on a warm day the lake will have you turning purple in a matter of minutes.  It was almost comical how quickly I forgot about this because Every lake I came across I just had to get in it.  This attraction may have been partly due to my need to for clean water to bathe in.  I pretty much bathed in every mountain lake that I came across and each time I was jumping out just as soon as my lather was rinsed off.  

Crater lake is amazing and everyone needs to go there.  There's a 15 foot cliff at the end of the trail that goes to the water's edge and you have to go take a jump.  There's usually a fit group of people hanging around there on a warm day jumping in.  A few of the alpha males will have to keep one upping each other on their jumps.  I just walked up and did a gainer to assert my own dominance... which, was quickly revoked as I whimpered like a puppy due to my inability to withstand the sub-sixty degree water.

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Episode 1.30: How to get free food plus SEALS!!!

As I drove into a small coastal town in Oregon I glanced at the church sign and at the bottom it had an announcement about their free breakfasts on Saturday morning.  I decided that was something I had to check out.  I met the pastor and she was super welcoming and told me all about the history of the church and showed me around.  With the little fishing port town being regulated out of the fishing industry many residents were struggling in every way imaginable.  The church served two other meals during the week and that's about all they could afford.  With the town dwindling the church was also dwindling but the pastor was keeping focused on what a church's role in a community should be.  She kept the main thing the main thing and that was a refreshing thing for me to see.  

I didn't really think about seals being around but I kind of just stumbled across some and it was really pretty neat.  This is an animal that I had never seen in the wild before.

Episode 1.29: Slugs, Salamanders, Newts, and MORE!

Oregon and my home are divided by a few mountain ranges and thousands of miles.  This geographic separation will inevitably produce completely different types of wildlife, especially when it comes to the creepy crawlies.  I had such a blast finding animals that I had never seen in my life and some that I didn't even know existed.  This trip was all about discovery and that is certainly the theme in this episode!

Episode 1.28: Waterfalls

I'm a water lover.  Since I was a kid I growing up in Florida, I was always near water and learned to swim at a young age and water has been a constant in life.  However, I never did see many waterfalls.  I saw more waterfalls in one day in the Columbia Gorge than I've seen in my entire life.  This was a really neat experience seeing the power of these free falling streams and rivers and among such a beautiful landscape was the cherry on top.

Episode 1.27: Sailing the Columbia

There are a few things that I just don't like.  Cold water is one of them and I would certainly consider the Columbia River as cold.  I was visiting a friend that I knew from my hometown who has relocated to Portland and when he invited me to go sailing with him and some friends I was hesitant but I don't get the opportunity to sail often so I said sure and I hopped on the boat.  I got wet, it was cold, and we got second to last in the race but I had a lot of fun and that's what matters!

Episode 1.26: Sustainable Trout Fishery

I love seeing and interacting with animals that I've never seen before.  Trout are definitely very foreign to a Floridian and learning about how Oregon is ensuring their future trout fishery was awesome.  I wish every state was that diligent about their fisheries.  In Florida we don't have chipmunks and being able to hang out with them was awesome.  They were so cool and very different than any rodent I'm used to seeing.

Episode 1.25: Into the Mind of the Caveman

Sometimes I just go into the woods and let me mind wander and I take natural materials and explore the possibilities of their individual properties.  Now, I come from a land that has almost no old growth trees and when I found this huge fallen pine tree what to do with it was obvious but I had neither the time nor the means of making a dugout canoe from it.  

Out west they struggle with wildfires so it's illegal to build a fire in most of these forests but I had found so much pine resin and I thought it would be fun to make some pine pitch but without fire that's impossible so I had to give it a try with mixing the resin and its ingredients but really I just ended up with a black play-doh like substance.  Regardless, it was fun!

Episode 1.24: Glass Buttes

Glass Buttes, Oregon is the obsidian Mecca for all flintknappers, so of course I had to pay a visit.  This place has miles and miles of obsidian everywhere.  I actually didn't even do any digging because people had just left so much behind to be gleaned.  Then a fella' came by and we started chatting and he gave me a few chunks of obsidian just cause he liked me I guess.  In this video I take you guys from a rock, spall out a large flake and work it down into an arrowhead.  

Episode 1.23: Craters of the Moon

A while before I had gone on my trip I had noticed this place on google earth and it looked so cool!  Idaho is one place I wished I had stayed a little longer but I was dealing with an issue with my van and as soon as it was good again I wanted nothing more than to just take off.  I saw zero potatoes which was a little disappointing but I guess that wasn't the season for them.  Idaho is cool though and don't let anyone tell you different :)

Episode 1.22: Idaho Dunes

One thing that I love is the unexpected... especially when it's a good thing.  It had been rainy for the last wee and still was but I saw a small brown sign along the highway that was titled, St. Anthony Dunes.  Dunes in Idaho???  I had to go check them out!  These are the first dunes I've ever been to and they were awesome!  How cool is it that these giant piles of sand were just everywhere!  Well, I enjoyed them thoroughly :)

Episode 1.21: Old Faithful

The USA has many icons but the one that I've known about since I was a little kid was Old Faithful.  As I kid I didn't really know what the big deal was but when I went there and watched it shoot off I knew what the big deal was.  To be completely honest though, I thought there were a lot of other geological oddities that were even cooler than ol' faithful.  Watching this video doesn't do this place justice though at all.  There are so many crazy things in Yellowstone and I only got through about a quarter of the park before I let the rain run me out.  I got a little goofy some of the foreign tourists and just had fun in an awesome place!

Episode 1.20: Yellowstone; the Serengeti of the West.

There are so many animals in Yellowstone!  I could have stayed in Lamar valley months.  This is where all the animals are at.  Wolves, bison, pronghorns, like everything.  The best thing you can do when you come here is to talk to people that seem like they know what they're doing.  They're usually pretty nice and will tell you where what is.  Some of these people spend the whole season following the pack of wolves and tracking their activities so they are a wealth of information.  There are a lot of cool people there.  When I was there it was raining off and on the whole time so I wasn't really able to take my camera and get into the back country and explore on my own.  I was okay with that since there was so much right in front of me all along the roads and sometimes in the roads.  I'm definitely going to need to revisit Yellowstone but that will be another adventure!

Episode 1.19 : Mountain Man Zig

Just north of Yellowstone lies the Beartooth Lodge.  It's several modestly sized cabins built by Zig and Mallie from lumber from their own land.  I think that is so cool!  I just kind of randomly heard about them through the internet and contacted them and they told me to come by for a day.  Then we made fast friends and I ended up staying for several days.

I got invite to come back next Summer and work building cabins.  Getting paid to learn new things is something that is very interesting to me.  Learning to go from trees to a log cabin would be awesome to learn.  Don't know what I'll be up to at that point in time but I'd love to spend the Summer building cabins.  I feel like this is how education should be.  We should get paid for it rather than paying for it.  Hmmm....

Episode 1.18: Bighorn National Park

This is one park that really surprised me.  I had never heard anything about it before but it was on the way so I figured I'd stop in and check it out on my way through.  I saw moose, elk, a badger, and many other furry animals.  Back home you just don't see so many animals and the wilderness is so thick that if you're close enough to see the animal then it's usually able to smell you and take off.  The one thing that disappointed me was that I didn't see any bighorn sheep.  That's alright though, since I did find a mountain lion kill. Definitely a sweet place to visit if you're ever in eastern Wyoming.

Episode 1.17: Raptors

Birds of prey/raptors are my favorite kinds of birds.  They're big and they're predators and their athleticism is just amazing.  Watching a hawk fly through dense woods after a squirrel is simply mind blowing.  John is an educator and shows these awesome birds off to thousands of kids.  For many of these kids, it's their first time seeing a raptor up close.  I was lucky enough to get a  private display of these amazing animals and share it with all of you!  John helps run the Black Hills Raptor Center.

Episode 1.16: Jungle of the West

I visited my friend John Halverson in Rapid City, SD.  He got me into Reptile Gardens for free and I did some filming.  This place has a huge collection of insane animals.  There were many snakes I had never seen before in real life.  I had read about many as a kid but to see them in real life was something really special.  

Episode 1.15: The Turkey Hunt (no turkeys harmed)

Hahaha oh gosh this was a fun trip.  It actually rained a lot and nobody shot any turkeys.  My favorite thing about the trip was figuring out the bolo.  I had never thrown one but I understood how they were supposed to work so after a little bit of practicing we got it figured out.  The next step was to test how well it worked.  It worked pretty well and was pretty easy to throw.  

In the end of the video I visited Mt. Rushmore which basically I don't anything about except some crazy guy carved it.  It had been raining and the way Washington's face looked really struck me.  He looked like he was crying and even the expression on his face was very serious.  To me he was looking over the land and saddened.  Obviously we have a lot of political and environmental issues here in the US.  He made me feel like I had to change the world.  I think world change should start in the US and would influence the rest of the world.  This is crazy but I'm going to do everything to change the world.  Otherwise, I'm just another drop in the ocean.  

Episode 1.13: The Bat Cave

This may be the only place worth going to in all of Iowa.  People have a lot of bad things to say about Iowa and from what I could tell, it's a weird place.  There's a lot of corn everywhere and just hundreds of miles of it.  This experience made me realize the importance of localizing our food sources.  

The caves were cool and the had some neat history behind them but they've basically been pillaged of all their stalagmites and such.  Nonetheless, there were a lot of coo minerals in the walls that shimmered in the light.

My favorite part was easily the two little bats that I found sleeping.  They were so tiny and fuzzy looking!  I believe the were common brown bats.  Having only found two, I wonder how many these caves might have hosted historically.  Hudreds? Thousands?

Episode 1.14: The Badlands

If you're in South Dakota then you have to go to the badlands.  It's insane!  I only had a day to do the badlands which is unfortunate but it was a ton of fun.  I feel like I hit the major points of this place but there are still miles left to be explored.  My favorite part was definitely the great horned sheep that were all over the road and not afraid of me at all.  The animals here were just not afraid of people at all which was kind of neat and not something I'm used to.

One  thing I want to point out is that in the timelapse of me running around climbing on thing I climbed up on top of point on the right of the screen and there were little cacti growing on half of it so I didn't have much room to move around on it.  I was being cautious but I was so afraid of getting stuck by a cactus.

Episode 1.12: BMX Racing my cousins

I visited some family on my way through Illinois and I got to do some BMX racing.  It was a lot of fun and I beat my little cousin.  I'm pretty sure he let me win though cause he didn't really look like he was trying but I'll take it :)

Living the Dream

 So here's basically what's happening with my life:  I'm in South Lake Tahoe living out of my van.  I got a job as a valet.  It's decent work especially for the money I'm making.  I was a little disappointed that I was working for minimum wage at $9/hr until I got on tips.  I'm making at least $15/hr with tips and it's nice going home with a pocketful of cash.  They've got me working some over time as well so I'm working a little over 40 hrs/week.  Do the math :) Living the van life is ridiculously cheap too.  The entire purpose of being here is to make money and save up a lot.  I have dreams for the future which include buying land, building a house (wife, kids, sustainable living etc), getting a sailboat and sailing across the vast oceans.  Of course all of this would be recorded for the world to see.  I just want to discover it all and share it and change people's lives and at no point be owned by anyone.  I want to show the Glory that is embedded in nature and make people realize what's important in this life and inspire to live the fullest life that you can.  I don't know maybe I'm crazy but whatever :)  We all die and the only thing that's left of us is what we've done.

Episode 1.11: Runnin' Wild!

Ok, so I lived in Turkey from 8th grade to 12th and one of my good friends back then was Sarah.  I had only seen her once since then so I had to visit her on this trip.  We found some local forests in Indiana and had a good time running around exploring.  Sarah had never caught snakes before but she did really well and showed no fear.  I even got her to hold the big black racer and she didn't get bit... like I did.  Sarah is super cool and I suspect I'll have to swing by Indiana on the way back ;)

Episode 1.9: Off grid in Kentucky?

A good friend of mine up in Kentucky let me stay out on his farm for a few days.  He's working on sustainable living and hopes to be off grid soon.  This is also a dream of mine.  I want to learn how I can depend on nature to sustain myself and I want to figure how everyone else can do the same.  It's going to be difficult but I think I'm up for the challenge.  Not really sure when or where this will fit into my life but hopefully sooner rather than later.  Step 1: buy land :)

Episode: 1.10: This is how I clean myself. It's fun :)

I traveled up through Kentucky and into Indiana.  I took my first primitive bath in a lake with the soap that I made with Mr. Mike.  The water was cold and it was windy but I really needed a bath and the next day I was planning to see a lady friend so I figured I ought to be fairly presentable.  The bees were weird, no idea what was up with them but they tickled my feet a lot.  The salamander was probably my favorite thing of the day.  You almost never ever see them up on the surface on their own and it was only up there because something moving around in the leaves scared it up.  That was a solid good day though :D

Episode 1.8: Cave Painting

Ok so we weren't actually in a cave but we did replicate some cave painting that primitive people did thousands of years ago.  I met up with the pros at the spirit station and they started mixing up some paints and we got busy with it.  What's so cool is that they used charred shells to help the paint bind to the rock which is important if you want your art to last and that's why we have cave paintings that have lasted so long.

Episode 1.7: The Tennessee Classic

This place is insane.   I spent most of my time flintknapping and hanging out in the knapping pit.  I just love knapping and when I get a chance to knap with other knappers I'm going to choose that above anything else.  I wanted to give y'all an idea of the atmosphere at the classic.  Yes, it's basically a caveman gathering.  The people here are not primitive at all.  They're the most generous and delightful people you'll ever meet.  It's amazing and I plan to try and go every year.

Episode 1.6: Native History and being on the Radio

One of the most important things I want to do on this trip is to reach out to people and really connect with some of the people that watch my videos.  When I was in Georgia a guy tweeted me and asked to hang out.  If at all possible, and I don't have any reason to think you're a serial killer, I'm going to do what I can to make it happen.  So I met up with a guy and his lady and they showed me around the Ocmulgee Indian mounds.  It was really cool to hang out with them and just chat about stuff and really connect.  

Then, I went up to Atlanta and I got to hang out with my aunt and my cousins.  They're super cool and I helped my cousin out with some math and she got an A on her final and I'm so proud of her... and I'll take some credit for that ;)  The next day I left and headed off to Tennessee but first I stopped in with Skip from Happy Camper Radio and did a quick segment about my trip and the camping I'll be doing and such.  That was a lot of fun and I got to hang out with Skip and chat some.  This whole sentence is a hyperlink to the podcast if you want to listen to it.  

I hope you enjoy the videos!  As I head west into uncharted territories things will get more and more exciting!

Episode 1.5: I got to Stay Clean!

I do got to stay clean :) well, I'd like to anyway.  One issue we have here in some parts of America is water.  We're not managing it well.  So I went and hung out with Mr. Mike and helped him make some soap.  I'm about to tie water and soap together:  I want to bathe in natural bodies of water whenever a shower isn't available.  So far I've done it twice since I have a lot of friends and family in the east.  Now I didn't want to use a petroleum based soap like the stuff we buy at the store because, while I haven't done much (any) research I figure it's probably not a positive thing to put in the water.  So with natural lard based soap I can bathe and wash without having to worry about polluting the water.  The last lake I bathed at there were fish nibbling on my feet while I scrubbed my body down.  They obviously did not mind the natural soap.  Also, I love the idea of making soap on your own at home and I wanted to learn how and promote doing things on your own and hanging out with cool older people :)

Episode 1.4: I have some Explaining to Do...

I went herping.  Herp comes from Greek meaning something that creeps (along the ground) so it generally refers to reptiles and amphibians and that's where we get the word herpetology which is the study of reptiles and amphibians.  So, I met up with a herper and herped up some herps.  We both prefer to find snakes so we looked and looked for hours on end with no luck.  My friend, Josh, found a couple little ground dwelling snakes and that was cool but the real treat was finding a mud snake and that we found it during a really weird time.  Persistence pays off.  I want to focus on the personality of the mud snake though.  They are the honey badger of the aquatic snake world.  They just don't care.  They generally hunt in muddy water at night for a vicious species of salamander (sirens and amphiumas), some species getting three feet in length.  Then when you catch them they're super chill, slowly wriggle, and poke you with their barely pointy tail.  That coupled with their stunning black and red pattern makes them a really awesome snake in my opinion :)

Episode 1.3: No, I Seriously LOVE Water!

Yup, I love it.  I love to drink it, be in it, it be on me, jump into it, and there are so many more things I love to do with water.  I know I sound obsessed, but who can blame me?  It is the life blood of life :)  

Ok, so I want to talk about free diving for a moment because it's dangerous and I do it.  What I do is not dangerous in my opinion because I'm very careful about it.  Yes, I was free diving alone, miles from anyone and that is a really foolish thing to do but to be honest I have never had a consistent free diving buddy and I learned alone.  The way I free dive now is much safer than what I used to do.  I used to want to go deeper and deeper and impress people with my diving skills.  I don't do that anymore because going deep is not part of the purpose that I free dive.  I free dive to experience nature and wildlife in a natural way.  It is the single most simple way of getting up close and personal with aquatic or marine animals and the only gear I really need is a dive mask.  There is no room for egotism in free diving and I'm proud (is that egotistical?) to say that I have left that behind.  I hope you try it and experience the freedom of it and the challenge it presents your body but please please be safe!

Episode 1.2: Our Springs are DYING!!!

Yes, it's true and it's very very scary.  Springs are where ground water in the aquifer flow up to the surface due to pressure underground.  This water has been filtered through the ground and is super clean and clear.  Florida also has the highest concentration of natural springs in the world.  Basically, we have a natural wonder and we're killing them by pumping too much water up out of the ground.  Unfortunately on this trip I experienced some of these springs first hand.  The flow was slow which allows algae and vegetation to grow up around the spring and sediment and organic material are able to settle in.  Some springs were like this and some of them were still clear and clean.  It makes me sad just thinking about this.  Anyway, you should go visit some springs and see how awesome they are and learn a little more about them and don't waste your water that you pump out of the ground.

Episode 1.1: I hate junkyards

I don't really hate junkyards, it's just that I never seem to have a simple and easy experience at them.  There was about 20 or 30 minutes of confusion after telling them time after time what kind of van I had and that they were pulling up the wrong wheel.  So I got on my phone and pulled up the stocking number and they were like, "oh!  A Toyota Van..."  Yeah, like I said probably 6 times.  After I grabbed my spare rim I was out of there and headed north along the west coast of Florida.  Weather looked iffy that evening so I decided to explore some local wilderness and hang out til the next day when I could explore some natural springs.  All in all it was good start to the trip and I got things done.  Also, if you ever have to pay tolls, learn from me and have fun with it :)

Intro to the Big Trip

So I'm making and releasing videos as I go.  This video will give you a gist of what to expect in the following episodes.  I want to promote an appreciation for nature and low impact living.  No two episodes will ever be similar but they will all show what is happening in this trip.  I'm excited and the possibilities are limitless!

It's Coming Soon and Fast!

I'm leaving on my road trip across the US in 3 days.  To be honest, I'm not really that nervous.  This feels like something I have to do.  There's no other option.  It's the natural and obvious thing to for me to do at this point in my life.  No wife, no kids, no steady job that is going to take me to great places. I've saved up and ambition as at an all time high so NOW I'm doing it!

There are many reasons for this trip but I think the main reason is simply this: I want to.  I want to discover.  I want to get in crappy situations and figure my way out of them.  I want to discover who I am at the core of myself.  Will I crack and crumble or will I stand strong?

Of course I will be releasing videos during the trip.  I will try to release at least a couple videos a week and at the same time I will be shooting episodes for AnimalBytesTV.  Now, I'll make some money off of that but it's primarily for education and publicity.  I want to get people interested in more than the animals because while they're awesome, there is so much more to nature and it all needs to be conserved.

My planned route is basically a big loop.  I'll go from Florida to Tennessee, to South Dakota, to Oregon, to Arizona, then loop back around to Florida.  Also, this entire plan could change in a second so we will see what happens and where I go.

I could make this an insanely long blog post with lots of details and stating different goals but I'll end it with stating the greatest of the goals and that is to find true love and sustainability :)

Maiden Voyage in the Camper Van

I am a man of many interests and they all are rooted in nature in some way.  I've made videos on the topics of my various interests but this is the first one where I throw them all into one video.  I've got foraging, freediving, primitive archery, and wildlife all in one video.  I took the van out to Ocala and was able to do all of these things.  This is a huge forest in the upper peninsula of Florida and it's a strange place with mostly scrub for miles.  It also has several springs and is oddly hilly.  I think it's really important to have many interests because it helps us not be ignorant.  For example, I've always been into reptiles so that helps me to be aware of the importance of spiders and centipedes, even though I may not be particularly interested in them.  My goal is to figure out the best way modern society can get along with nature without destroying what diversity we have left in nature while improving the lives of everyone.  So here's my maiden voyage, just a small step in my journey of discovering the wonders of this earth!

Survivorman Video Contest

Survivorman (Les Stroud) is holding a video contest to have someone come join him in an episode of Survivorman.  So I made my video and submitted it and I think I have a pretty decent chance at winning.  However, the timing isn't ideal because if I'm chosen it would interrupt the road trip I'm planning but the money I'm paid would mean I could go on an even cooler road trip later!  It should be interesting, regardless of what happens so here's the video down below.  Enjoy!

You can vote for my video here: http://lesstroud.ca/survivorman-competition-videos
#survivormanvideocontest

South Florida - The Cherry on a Pile of Dung

There's not a lot of people that are willing to deprive themselves of sleep and look for reptiles and other animals all night long.  My friends Alex and Rhett are freaks (hence why they're my friends).  Even after hours of finding nothing they will not stop looking for snakes, lizards and whatever else they're after.  Rhett's friend Taylor came along as well and she was a bit new to all of this but was an absolute trooper, mostly for putting up with our idiotic shenanigans that plagued the entire trip.  I'll be honest, I'm not quite as intense as they are.  Also, I'm happy with finding anything that sparks my interest and I tend to go at a much slower pace.  When you're in South Florida for only a weekend though, you've got make hay while the sun shines... or find chameleons before the sun comes up.  I was going to film everything but a few hours in I realized if we wanted to be productive then there was no way I could film because to film you must go at a much much slower pace.  So I left the cameras in the truck and got out my cell phone.

The first night was slow and we were finding things that I could find back home.  We really wanted to focus on species that we don't have in central Florida.  The second night is when stuff started getting exciting for me.  Alex and Rhett have seen mangrove water snakes galore before but it's not a species that I've ever seen much.  I think this little one may have had some N. fasciata influence.

After doing some night cruising we got bored of that and decided to do some shining in a new spot.  It wasn't terribly productive but I found my first find of the trip which was big rough green snake.  I say my first find because Alex and Rhett found most of the snakes.  I've found these in my yard before but they're just beautiful snakes and I don't see ones this size too often.  A couple minutes later I hear Rhett yell something incoherent so I go check it out and he's got a red rat snake.  It's the furthest south I've seen one. I took the opportunity to get a quick photo of these two vibrant snakes together.

After quite a bit of more shining in this area we decided to go look for chameleons.  We got to the spot around 12:30 AM.  I've never found an oustalet's chameleon and the night before we didn't do so hot looking for veiled chameleons since our previously productive spots had been partially cleared and it appeared that a lot of collecting had occurred.  I was a little disappointed with that since chameleons are some of my favorite things to find and the veileds are especially attractive.  We started shining and we started seeing a lot of knight anoles and cuban treefrogs.  At one point Alex found a small lizard about 30 feet up in a tree.  We all thought it might possibly be a baby chameleon (wishful thinking) so I got to climbing.  When we got it down it turned out to be a juvenile knight anole, which I hadn't seen one like this before.  he was one feisty little lizard!

We were a little bummed it wasn't a chameleon but I thought it was pretty cool anyway.  We continued our search for a few hours and didn't turn a single chameleon up.  Rhett and Taylor were starting to turn into zombies so they went back to the truck to get some rest.  Alex and I kept shining for another hour or so.  Up to this point we still had no luck.  We had been searching the same kind of spots so I figured we had nothing to lose by mixing it up and searching a different kind of area.  Alex agreed and we started shining without any expectations.  At this point we were just zombies wandering around with a head lamp strapped to our foreheads.  We had many false alarms as so many of the leaves in the trees looked just like sleeping chameleons.  I saw one of theses leaves and stopped and looked at it for a few seconds.  I was absolutely sure it was a big female oustalet's chameleon but after so many false alarms I figured I'd get a second opinion.  I stood there, barely awake and called to Alex to come look at this.  He stumbles over and looks at it. "That's a chameleon!" he exclaimed.  I just stood there with a smug face for a moment enjoying the victory of finding a chameleon, especially before Alex.  I reached up grabbed her and we continued looking.

A few minutes later I hear Alex yell for me that he's got one.  Carrying my beautiful prize I wander through the trees where I see his light.  He's found a juvenile about chest high.  She's a real cute one.  

By now it's about 3:30 AM and we're only running on a chameleon high.  Alertness has returned to us and we're both psyched to find more chameleons.  I duck under a tree and look up and among the branches I see the third chameleon of the night.  It's a big male, which was what I really wanted to find!  This is the second largest species of chameleon in the world.  This dude was the most chill chameleon I've ever come across and he was perfectly content to perch atop my head... and steal my glasses :)

                                            

By now we only had about an hour and a half before the sun started to come up so we went to gloat about our finds to Rhett and Taylor and make sure they felt dumb for sleeping.  Seeing the chameleons they wanted to find some too so they came with us to the same area and looked for a while but none of us could turn up another chameleon.  Alex found a red rat snake to finish up the trip.  Here we are with our plunder.

I know someone is going to ask so here's your answer: All native species were returned where they were found after photos and Rhett kept the little oustelet's and the adults were released where they were found.

Discipline

Discipline makes me feel good.  Strict discipline increases productivity by an insane amount.  Today I realized that.  I made a list of things I needed to do today.  I did them and had time left over before I had to go to work.  I could have slept in and piddled around until work today but I didn't and it feels great.  I've done that sort of thing so many times before.  Another thing that helped was that I organized my goals, made them concise and clear, made a plan to efficiently complete them and went and did them.  One of my biggest struggles to productivity is just getting around to doing something because I don't plan it out and see where it will fit into the day.  Productivity must be prepared for so that means I need to go to bed in the next 20 minutes.  Good sleep helps but today the most important part was taking 30 minutes this morning and having quiet time getting my thoughts, focus, and mental state right.  I've got a goal in this life and I'm competing with a lot of other people for success so I must accomplish my goals.  My life purpose has to do with rejecting fear and pursuing my purpose.  I don't know if that is the key to success but we shall see, and I'm feeling pretty confident.  Read this in 5 or 10 years and see where I am then.  Keep in mind there are spiritual practices along with the morning routine that I believe are very important.  You can ask me more about that if you want.  I'm going to sleep right now :)

I Must be Trippin'

Bear with me as I seek to explain why life seems to go by exponentially faster.  When we first grasp the concept of time and we measure it without any set time we base lengths of time compared to our own life span so far.  When I was 6 and I had to wait another year for Christmas to come again that was an added sixth of my life I had to wait.  Now that I'm 24 that's only another 24th of my life, which 1/24 is considerably less than 1/6.  As we get older we base a year's length relative to our lifetime so as we get older a year starts to approach zero so it gets smaller and smaller.  I hope that makes sense.  It's something my dad told me once and I think there is some merit to it.

That all is relative to me "trippin'" because pretty soon I'm gonna be old and I have to do awesome things now.  I've been working hard and saving my money like a miser for something for several years now.  I save for things that I haven't thought up yet so when I think of them I have the funding to do them at that moment.

Anyway, I've decided to go on the most ridiculous trip of my life (hopefully not).  I will of course be starting in Florida and I will roughly head north, then west, then at some point come back to Florida.  That has to do with how far I've gotten and how much money I have left.  Thus far I'm planning on leaving in Late April.  That will get me lined up good for the Tennessee Classic and a Turkey hunt that I was invited on.  I'm making a map of friends in North America and this is what I have so far.  I guess I'm a little thin out west but I'm sure I'll make plenty of new friends out there!

So the plan is to do this in the 86 Toyota van that I got for $800.  That's the main reason that I say this trip is ridiculous.  It's only got about 82k miles on it so I have high hopes. 

The purpose of this trip is to see friends, see nature from all over this beautiful country.  It's amazing to be able to travel such long distances in relative safety and I'm blessed to be in a place and time where that is possible.  Along the way I want to hit huge expanses of wilderness and just head out into them for a couple days and see what's out there.  I'm interested in finding animals, natural materials, and anything beautiful in nature.  I want to capture what is so amazing about nature on my camera and put out videos during my trip.  So here's what's bouncing around my head at the moment:  Film and edit as I go and release videos, these wilderness trips will be for AnimalBytesTV, I'll also film other shenanigans which will go on my personal channel, like the Turkey hunt, and go on adventures with old friends and new.

Videoing and documenting everything that happens is really important to me so I have already started with documenting the process of transforming my van into a camper van.  The first two videos are below.  Be sure to subscribe to my channel and join me on my adventure!

When I Fail

I hate failing.  I hate failing at anything I attempt no matter what it is.  I think I am like this because I am athletically inclined and can pick up most activities pretty quick so I am not used to putting the hard work necessary to acquire proficiency.

My latest failure hit me pretty hard.  I felt ashamed that I had failed, most because I was so confident I would succeed.  I went about 8 miles up a river and was filming a nature/survival show.  I had all day to collect materials and craft a hand drill set for making fire by friction.  It was evening and I had a few hours before it got dark and I had to make a fire and there was no backup plan for fire.  The purpose of fire was to keep me warm and help ward off mosquitoes.  So, I got to drilling and I started getting smoke.  I knew better than to quit there so I began yelling loudly "DON'T STOP!" to psych myself up.  I repeated it over and over and kept drilling.  By this time smoke was pouring out from the base of the drill but I just kept drilling and drilling until my arms were so fatigued that they were no longer coordinated enough to spin the drill.  My drill fell out of the socket I had burned and the smoke slowly started to fade.  If the smoke stays for a little while it means there's a coal, if not then no coal.  The smoke all faded out and I was left with no coal.  I tried several times, each time failing.  I had some cordage I had made so I tried the bow drill method.  I had finally got it going pretty well until my string broke.  I started feeling hopeless.  At this point I was so exhausted and felt defeated.  I had choice to make.  Do I stay out the rest of the night as planned or do I head back and paddle a few hours through the dark.  If I stayed it meant certain discomfort from the cold and mosquitoes and if I left I had just had to paddle in the dark.  I paddle in the dark all the time for work so I figured it wouldn't be that bad.  I went with the latter option and only ran into one log on the way back.  I'll be honest though, it was one of the creepiest things I've ever gone through.  Moving shadows, weird noises, and the whole kit and caboodle.  I was pretty exhausted after that.

Now what?  I went to shoot a video about the wilderness and survival and stuff and I failed.  I copped out on the second night.  That's so lame.  I've built a friction fire before so why couldn't I do it this time?  It's the most frustrating thing in the world.  I'm supposed to be good at this sort of stuff but it just didn't work out this time!  It made me want to throw in the towel and say screw it.  I even thought for nano-moment about getting a normal job.  However, my purpose in life is to do something great.  I want to change this world in a big positive way.  I think that means I have to fail sometimes but I cannot, under any circumstance, lose my vision and my drive.  When I fail I must keep trying until I master!

Trading

I love trading!  When I got into this primitive archery stuff I vowed never to spend money on natural materials and so far I haven't.  It's a pretty good hobby when you don't have to spend money.  I've really been getting into flint knapping and I'm starting to get confident with it.  My material was getting smaller and smaller and I was slowly but surely reducing it down to a pile of gravel.  I needed some rock and I found myself messaging a man with a good reputation out in Oregon and he wanted an arrow made by me.  He likes to collect arrows from different people that he respects and I was flattered that he wanted one of mine.  So I made an arrow and sent it to him and he must have really liked it because in return I got a huge box of obsidian with a knapped blade included.  I've made 3 points from it so far and I'm really pleased with the material and over time I'm sure I'll get some points that I really like as well.

New "Toy"

My brother texts me and says he found a really good deal.  So I open the link he sent me and it's an 85 Toyota van.  I've been flirting with the idea of getting an old van, stripping out the inside, and making it into a camper van.  When I saw this deal I had one of those moments when I was like, "Crap, I have to act now or this opportunity is gone forever."  So I went out and bought the van that night.  I'm pretty excited  and it's a trip to drive.  I'm sure that excitement will wear off but for now it's just kind of fun to drive.  So far I've stripped everything out of the back  and I'm about ready to start outfitting the inside.  To be honest I'm not too concerned about the color but I have some friends that want to paint it for me so we'll see if I let them.  I kind of like the primer gray.  As of now the plan is to get it outfitted for camping and take it across North America!  I've got some ideas that I'm pretty excited about but I'll update y'all as they're implemented.  This should be interesting :)

Georgia Hogs

My mom's side of the family is from Georgia and my dad's side is from Florida.  I kind of like it that way because it's almost like having a secondary home.  Just before the new years I headed up to Georgia with the goal to hunt and kill a feral pig. There's some family land that's got pigs on it so I wanted to harvest and process one with my primitive bow and arrow and a stone knife, all of which I have made with my own two hands and all the stone worked with antler tools.  

When I got here I was eager to hunt the morning and every single day.   The first morning I got up early and got in the woods before the sun came up.  I stalked through an area that had good wind and I saw nothing.  I spooked one deer when I wasn't paying attention and the wind began to get shifty on me.  I decided to go scout another area and as I headed down the hill I saw a feeder.  There's another guy that hunts that land that traps the pigs.  As I got closer I noticed there were 4 pigs under the feeder.  I was instructed not to shoot pigs under the feeder as the others will get feeder shy and become difficult to trap.  So I watched for a little then decided to see how close I could sneak up on them.  Finally they spooked and ran off into the woods.  I'm not really interested in shooting pigs off of a feeder anyway.  I might as well use a rifle if I'm going to do that.  

I decided I'd come back that evening and hunt back in the woods where I saw them flee.  That way I could get them when they were on their way to their food source.  I waited and waited that evening until I heard some commotion behind me.  The pigs were beginning to move.  They came closer and closer. Behind me and on my right I was covered by two palmettos so I wasn't really visible from those directions. The pigs were so close but I couldn't move until one came around the side or in front of me.  I half expected to feel one sniffing my leg.  Finally one comes up on my right.  Just a few more steps and it would be out in front of the palm frond and I could take my shot.  It stops and sniffs... then turns away from me and walks away.  My heart had been beating almost out of my chest and I wouldn't be too surprised if the pig heard it.   

The following days I continued to hunt but either the wind was finicky or I just wasn't getting myself into the right scenario so I was unsuccessful.  However, it's not all about making the kill.  I still continue to learn and one day I even gathered up a bunch of river cane for arrow shafts.  I found a few rocks that may produce a sharp edge as well.  It was a good time in the woods.  When I get home I will hunt the small game season.  I need to make a kill soon, otherwise all this work in making my primitive bows and arrows is almost useless.

Thanks for reading and I will have some more videos soon.  Until next time, find a new way to appreciate nature!