Trans-Catalina Trail Prep

[Outpost, 2.  Outstepping] [Make it Easy, 7.  Let's Get Physical] series

Just 2 days from the 4-6 day Trans-Catalina hike!  (40 miles across Catalina Island, California)

My bag is packed, aside from daily electronics and fridge pita.  Now that restless sense of disorganization sets in.  I thought maybe a blog post would have a calming effect, or at least amuse Future Me in retrospect.  

Sunset over my 1 person tent that took 2 people to set up on hard-packed Lower Moro Campground

Party:  Historically, I have been a lone adventuress, assuming that no one enjoys my company or brand of masochism enough to tag along.  This time, MIL encouraged me to invite SIL and DH made enough rumblings that our semi-annual friends might be interested.  As luck would have it, they all wanted to go!  What other adventures have I been too shy to make co-operative activities?  Sadly, SIL dropped in the final stretch with a back problem, but I was so impressed with her on the Moro Canyon gear test overnight.  How did she track down such a respectable kit without blowing thousands at REI?  I need to consider if I can borrow equipment for future projects rather than being such a quick draw with the credit card.  Hopefully the homework her PT gave her speeds her recovery.    

  

Itinerary:  I stole an itinerary and max budget from an REI excursion.  $2,699 to rough it?!  Plus the gear sherpa, meals and outsourced planning felt like it would rob some of the fun and sense of mastery out of the undertaking.  Then I bought a TCT book to study thoroughly only to ultimately arrive at the same REI itinerary.  Thankfully, I now had recruited project manager guru Kim to my party to sanity check rules that had changed, glampy hotel and restaurant alternatives to full campgrounds, feasible ferry schedules, and generally make sure I executed the prep I had vaguely vowed to do.  

12/26 [Thurs] - Arrive Avalon, check into respective hotels (Seacrest), check in with Catalina conservancy on our hiking plans, meet for dinner at M's, rest up and charge electronics.  

12/27 [Fri] - pack up with easy access hummus snack and water bottles filled, meet at Kim and Frank's hotel bistro for burritos and coffee, and get a start on a 11 mile of big rolling hills day, fully loaded to Black Jack campground (BJ01).  

12/28 [Sat] - Leisurely decamp from Black Jack to stop for brunch at Airport in the Sky for notoriously tasty bison burgers (locally sourced?) then continue the 8 mile downhill to Little Harbor which is touted as the most worthwhile campground on our itinerary (Shark C).  Try not to think about how much more epic this would have been if DH had managed to boat camp and support us with DD.   

12/29 [Sun] Determine when to decamp for 2 Harbors as it is only a 5 mile hike and Banning House Lodge check-in is 4PM.  That said, this would be the opportune time to try to run a load of laundry at "the restroom" I had contemplated when booking a placeholder cabin in 2 Harbors campground and do some town shopping.  

12/30 [Mon] leave the tents and make an early pitch for Parson's with a relaxing lunch there to celebrate having arrived.  Then hustle back to 2 Harbors in hopes of arriving before the restaurant closes.  14.5 miles.  

12/31 [Tues] clean up and catch a cab back to Avalon and from there, civilization.  

Planning:  We built a google drive doc with our itinerary and packing lists.  This was enough to get us to the Moro Canyon gear check campout.  This is my nerdy favorite aspect of camping -- finding the most minimalist/lightest/cheapest/multi-purpose things to pack.  The dopamine jackpot is finding that thing that breaks the "functional-light-cheap" tradeoff, like substituting smartwater plastic bottles from Target instead of an ancient leaky camelbak or a fresh new bamboo toothbrush instead of a mildewing plastic travel one from the Before Times.  From there, I took the shakedown concept even further with a lighterpack list which I compared to other Trans-Catalina posters on the ultralight subreddit.  This was constructive.  I discovered my base weight isn't that brutal vs bodyweight (22.5-30 lbs, 18-24% bodyweight depending on water carried).  I also learned to start appreciating things I considered necessities (stove, meals and snacks, a tent) could be considered luxuries for more light-headed folks.  

Meals:  A close second favorite aspect of camping because of the "good-light-cheap" breaking potential is meal planning.  The redditors were euphoric about Mary Jane's Farm but pretty much everything was out of stock while they refactor this business (this launched a wonderful side quest into joining the sisterhood and reading the books).  Outdoor Herbivore was next best, though it didn't taut organic anything.  I ordered 2 mac 'n 'cheese'  not fully heeding the implications of the scare quotes and found the test batch at LM campground was very nutritional yeasty,  a Pac Trail vinagrette which reconstituted surprisingly well and could work as a no-cook lunch break but wasn't mind bogglingly good (the marmot that rushed under the table to appropriate a fallen broccoli begged to differ), and dehydrated hummus which was both cheapest and most impressive-- a definite no-cook lunch option.  I also bought some clear boil bags for diy and was relieved I did because my concoction in the repurposed mac 'n 'cheese' continued to wreak of yeast.  

From there, I moved into this wonderful reddit thread and have been revising their classic beans and rice recipe with my camp stove from the comfort of my driveway.  Mine has powdered cheddar because we still had some left over and real cheddar seemed messy to clean up, some extra flax meal (fiber).  These run an impressive $3.72/meal vs $12 for an OH prepack.  These aren't strictly organic as indicated for Outstepping Expert level, so I will look for organic instant rice and dehydrated beans (or try MJ's fave quinoa for days hack and diy dehydrated beans).   

For TCT, I've thrown my lot in with as yet untested OH Basil Walnut, OH hummus with pitas, 2x beans and rice, a chia overnight soak (with raspberries I dehydrated after reading about it in MJ ideas book), a couple protein bars, beet chips, roasted edamame, LMNT, instant coffee, espresso beans (1/mile), gum, and s'mores fixings.  This looks like a lot listed out, especially when also planning to avail ourselves of restaurants in town...  I keep thinking of that Patagonia quote-- "The more you know, the less you need."  How little I know.  

Training:  When I started training in earnest, I had resubscribed with my old triathlon trainer to get ready for HIM Oregon (the true expert level 7.  Let's Get Physical challenge).  She had experience training athletes to Rim2Rim the Grand Canyon that she ported over for the TCT.  This is my 2nd month of almost complete adherence to her cardio and strength plan (I substituted one run workout for a comparable stationary bike and did 2 extra credit strength sessions).  Take that!  Let's Get Physical Beginner Level- set exercise goals and stick to them for a month.    

Prior to her input, there was a lot of summer rucking with increasing numbers of water bottles for resistance on days when I could drop DD in a camp and into the days she has in-classroom instruction.  I had recruited Kim and Frank to join on one hike that, without any preamble went up the most wicked climb I could find in any online trail selection site, just to assure myself it was doable without hazarding missing a school pick up.  That might have been when Frank and Kim's training began in earnest.    

Coach Ingrid's plan eventually persuaded me to splurge on a Parks pass and put in some long fully loaded hikes in Moro Canyon after our practice overnight camp.  2 were 9 milers, with 2 clocking in at 4.5 or so.  These day hikes could qualify for the Outstepping beginner-visit three places you've never seen before because I managed to find all 3 back country camp grounds in the park and hike 5 trails I had never been on.  Deer canyon was my favorite campground, it didn't have expansive coastal views but felt so secluded under towering oaks with a dry creek bed running alongside it and since getting there required a single track trail rather than fire roads, it seemed to have potential for more solitude.  These training hikes were good for testing food, water consumption rates, and different gear configurations.  I am still not a hiking pole convert-- if they weren't necessary for my tent, they would be the first gear I would ditch.  

My favorite memories of these training sessions were 1.  managing to get the radio to work and hailing my MIL, DH, and DD on the catamaran in the bay and hearing my kid squeak "Hey, Mommy?  What's your 20?"  (I had to google what my 20 was later when I got back in cell range).  2.  Searching for the eerie distinctive "footprint" my brand of Altra trail shoes leaves in the dirt roads I knew I had never walked.  There was also a misty day where I got a face full of what I think of as eau d'creosote but might actually be damp sage of desert after rain.  Either way, I wish it could be bottled, intoxicating.  

Gear Check: A little over a month out, Nov 16, we 4 hikers loaded up packs to camp Lower Moro backcountry campground.  I had timed it so we would arrive at about sunset, having camped the Upper Moro ridgeline in summer and finding it brutally hot in the afternoon, not an ideal place to hang.  Sadly, LM was a much more popular destination and so even though the booking tool made it look empty, there was barely any flat ground to pitch one tent let alone our 3.  I was uncharacteristically grateful for Frank's curmudgeonly demeanor that evening because eventually a solo backpacker took pity on us and let us have the bulk of his area (if only to put an end to Frank's indignant muttering).  

It was here I learned the wonders of backpack strap water bottle holders, jetboil stoves and how tippy cooking on picnic tables could be.  Low-key envy can be a pretty good indicator of what areas of your kit (or life) could use an overhaul.  I also worried I might be a pretty lame hiking buddy because it got dark early and we pretty much all turned in.  What we lacked in plush mattress oblivion, we made up for in total hours of shut eye attempted.  

Death grip on my eternity-to-boil stove after half the water I packed in catapaulted off the wobbly picnic table creating this lovely mud feature and soggy bench I am hovering next to.

Budget:  REI offers this experience for $2,699.  This wouldn't have included Express ferry or restaurant splurges.  I'm chuckling at my TCT book's suggested budget of $254/person.  Our bill is going to land closer to the REI price point but we sprung for a lot of glampy upgrades and the author assumed you had a complete kit.  

$132. Cata express (commodore lounge for priority seating and snack)

$157.12 campsites (2 people--so with omniscience or lots of chutzpah, I could try to clawback the amount for Judy-- but it's a good cause)

$35 conservancy membership  (not mandatory and while it says it offers a discount on campsites, I didn't pursue this either, it just seemed like a relevant charitable contribution)

$38 switchback sleeping pad 

$217 (86.09 after gift card) 2x darn tough socks, knife, fuel, spork 

$106 outdoor herbivore

$212 seacrest inn

$581 banning lodge

$25 Morro campground for gear check (but Kim reimbursed me almost the full amount)

$195 state parks pass (not necessary, but helped motivate me to do the extra 5 long fully loaded hikes on comparable terrain)

$130 jetboil gift (technically already had a serviceable stove, but this is so much better designed it sips fuel)

$60 backup tights, fuel can, marshmallows 

$100 lip protectant ($6), possums gloves ($28), wool gaiter ($22), flat water bottle ($15), blister first aid ($12), Leukotape ($9), Target smartwater bottles 

So that prices me out at about $2,000 before the restaurant stops and other incidentals.  Which seems like a fair deal in that there are new items I plan to wear weekly-monthly (gaiter, gloves, socks, tights) and upgrades to my camping kit (jetboil, spork, pocket knife) and a parks pass that DH has big diving plans for after the lobster season wraps up.  

Frank was joking we hadn't seen much wildlife on our hike, but we turned a corner and stumbled upon this taxidermized display as we exited... 

Worries:  what am I still anxious about?  

Being uncomfortable-- will it be cold, hungry, bored without devices, will I have to do the majority of a 10 mile hike needing to poop? 

Social anxiety-- Am I boring company?  Will I be self-consciously stinky?  

Body composition going in the wrong direction-- my weight is up 10 lbs since the notes I was taking this time last year.  Sure, I've been moving and lifting more, but I don't think it is all muscle.  I left a shirt in the REI dressing room because the muffin top situation it accentuated was startling.  What will the stats look like after an uncharacteristic number of meals out?   

Shark week.  I have no experience with managing flow in back country--hygiene logistics, the cramps that can present as hunger or as coming down with a cold, and the generally not feeling in peak fitness state.  

DH solo'ing the kid and dogs for that long, that is a different kid of endurance he hasn't been training as much for.  How detailed of a to do list does he need? 

Worry worry-- am I worrying too much?  or about the wrong things?  how much of this detail can/will/should I remember?  I feel a bit less present in all the holiday festivities.  Or daydreaming too much about how to up the ante and do Rim2Rim next...   But looking over this list, the rational side of me can't think of anything more I could do to mitigate my concerns, so here goes nothing!  

Garden Gate 3. Gaining Ground

Our last vermi bins worked ok but they were plastic totes with air holes drilled it them.  They didn't drain perfectly and what they did drain was annoying to siphon out.  Fruit flies were always an issue.  The plastic eventually got brittle and deteriorated.  So we have taken a couple year break from this operation, but the kid is fascinated with bugs and crawlies and I've managed to keep a couple carnivorous plants alive indoors, so it might be time to get back into it.  

I've just finished a library copy of The Earth Moved and before that, Worms Eat My Garbage.  The former was much more practical.  I have a copy of Secrets to Great Soil for Expert level but haven't cracked it open yet.  

Appelhof's first tip was to weigh your kitchen scraps to get a sense of how much worm food you generate.  I'm posting 3 weeks of home compost weighing.  This covered Thanksgiving and the run up into Christmas with a big banana rack coming ripe in this interval so this maybe slightly more bountiful than truly average.  That said, we generate 11.2 pounds of compost/week.  So we'd need a system that is about 11 square feet with 11 pounds of worms in it to process all of that.  I have my eye on a Worm Factory but am waiting until the Christmas and through hike settle us back down to a routine.  I'm not sure one system would fully cover the load so we may continue to slow compost in the yard.  

Fairy Gardens Brain Dump

From: Gardening in miniature: create your own tiny living world.  Janit Calro.  

Each Other 25 Bibliophile Week 1

 Another Farmgirl Sisterhood badge I was excited to work on is Bibliophile.  

Week 1:  

• Cleaned up my goodreads profile.  Now my currently reading accurately reflects what I'm reading.  Like this blog, I consider goodreads my external hard-drive.  More than once I have stumbled across I thorough review that I posted there on a book I was contemplating adding to my To Be Read pile.  
• Finished MaryJane's Ideabook, Cookbook and Lifebook.  In the process, I restarted my countertop sprouts project and tried dehydrating some raspberries while contemplating how to rivet suspenders onto my Levi's and adding a Duluth gardening/foraging vest to my wishlist.  Love this and could see myself returning to it for several seasons to soak up a few extra tips whenever I'm craving something coffee-table big, bold, and glossy.
• Picked up Glamping from the library as an inter-library hold.  Wow, I had been dreaming about Tumbleweed Tiny Homes but maybe a wall tent or vintage trailer is a more affordable getaway vehicle.        
• Ordered some titles on AbeBooks to support other badges if there wasn't a title available at my library to put a hold on through interlibrary loan.  Have you all discovered Abe?  I stumbled upon them researching the inventory of rare book sellers in places we were visiting since old books/maps are a favorite souvenir.  Their contemporary stuff usually warranted a cross-check with Amazon, but lately, unless it is a new release, abe almost always haswhat I'm looking for in great shape (i.e. hardcover with dust jacket) for less than a new AMZ paperback.   

Make it Easy: Let's Get Physical Week 1

I joined the Farmgirl Sisterhood!  One of the first badges I am working toward is the Make it Easy Section.  #7 Let's Get Physical.  My Expert Level challenge will be to participate in the Salem Oregon Half Ironman on July 20th, roughly 9 months away.  

Exercise:  I've connected with my former triathlon trainer who has build a workout plan for me.  My aim is to make at least 85% of the workouts prescribed.  I am 8/8 so far.  The highlight was a 40 mile ride in Palm Desert that MacGyver (hubby) joined as our support vehicle and the first time I have clipped shoes into bike pedals in 7 years.  We did a cooper's test running to baseline my vo2 max which depending on the calculator was somewhere in the high 30's while my Garmin is estimating at 48 and 46 cycling.  We used the new smart bike trainer and Zwift membership to do a bike power benchmark at 109 watts.  

Weight:  I'm in a healthy range but am creeping toward new heights and thinking my metabolism isn't as forgiving as it once was.  I've subscribed to go in for a quarterly Dexa scan to more precisely corroborate what I'm seeing on the scale at weekly weigh ins.  Last quarter, I focused on eating lots more plant-based protein (100+ g/day on workout days) to see if I could build muscle mass.  I did, 1.1 pounds, but also put on 1.7 pounds of fat...  

Diet:  ...So now I'm pumping the breaks on things I consider Processed Protein (bars, powders) when I don't feel hungry.  My mind seems to obsess and undermine restrictive food rules, so this week I focused on just seeing how many different plants I could eat (not counting carby grains).  Total was 45 and a great incentive for eating through freezer burning and produce languishing on the countertop.

Nov election selections

 As part of my regeneration.org punch list, I have a directive to vote in support of initiatives and candidates that promote education and family planning...  This is confusing stuff, but I did the best I could.  Let's check back in November and see what carried the day.  

President/VP- Harris/Walz.  Have the Sierra Club endorsement.  Trump drilling track record and Project 2025 did not look very eco-friendly.  Anyone else would not have a chance of winning the election.  Trump won.  I think not going on Joe Rogan cost it for her.  

Senate- Schiff-  Looked more qualified and has a "protecting our environment" plank in his platform vs. a  MLB retiree. Won!   

46th District- Correa.  Correa has Sierra Club endorsement and is the incumbent.  Of all the Republican ticket, Pan is the most the most compelling in his reminiscence to Andrew Yang and the ideas of UBI, school choice, gut lobby power, and curbing national debt...  That said, Correa is leading by a large margins in the polls and even though he has no express environmental objective, looks like he has a voting record against raising national debt.  Approval vote for both.  Won!  

68th Assembly- Valencia.  Incumbent.  Tardif had some appeal for his pro-school choice position, but then I looked at the one review of his sheet metal small business and figured Valencia was the safer choice.  Won.  

SAUSD Area 3- Suarez. This sucked.  The incumbent looks like he got involved in a drunken hit and run after doing an Elks Lodge pub crawl of some sort.  The other candidate to offer a statement basically said their agenda was to defund the school.  I went with the 3rd option no statement wildcard and while curious about the brief 2 month stint at a private school we considered sending the kid to, thought her current employer (teen mom support org) seemed more sane than my other options.  Incumbent won.    

SA Mayor Amezcua- someone I thought was a polling service called me about my plans and ended up seeding doubt about the qualifications of Vazquez.  At any rate, if she's working on homelessness and affordable housing, I feel like I'm seeing less people on the street and more developments going up, so keep up the work.  Won.  

Proposition 2- yes.  Especially in that includes Charters in scope.  

Proposition 3- yes.  It is hard to find your person these days, let's expand the pool of viable matches.

Proposition 4- yes.  These are 2 apocalyptic scenarios I find most plausible.  Let's avert if we can.  

Proposition 5- no.  If this were geared toward infrastructure, sure, tax us >1% assessed value to keep utilities in good working order.  The affordable housing component they are leading with gave me pause though.  How is this not the equivalent of asking the government to buy mortgage backed securities?  

Proposition 6- yes.  uh, sure, as a Quaker, this looked a bit like slavery, even if I'm not sure how prevalent it is in practice.  This went no.  

Proposition 32- no.  IDK if increasing minimum wages work and couldn't find compelling data to show that they do?  

Prop 33- no.  Lots more googling on efficacy of rent controls.  Having lived through rent hikes when I moved here, I can sympathize with renters.  That said, that hike drove me into long term homeownership which was a win.  Control could keep people in their spots longer which is probably better for the local social fabric of a neighborhood.  But then delving into Brookings stuff (admittedly giving off a conservative think tank vibe), it could also disincentivise landlords from keeping the properties in good working order and create gentrification if they can convert the space to condo designation to avoid the controls and squeeze the housing market even more.  So I basically fell back to my free market roots of thinking property holders will do a better job maintaining the building if they have greater agency over how it is priced.  Plus the discussion of this prop made it look like its initiation might have been an over-reach of an HIV interest group.   

Prop 34- yes.  See above.  Discussions didn't talk much about this, but a statewide negotiation for drug prices seems like something that should have been done already.  

Prop 35- Yes.  This looks like a step in the right direction of making healthcare accessible for more/all.  No one is even formulating an argument against.  

Prop 36- No.  The idea of commuting sentences for possession/substance abuse if people completed therapy was pretty intriguing.  I didn't like that it was bundled with and people focused on this repeat offense harsher penalty.  I couldn't find any evidence that this would do anything to deter the crime and we might just incur more costs keeping people incarcerated... but maybe that is one way to ensure housing for all?  I think this passed, which is fine.  

Prop G- Yes.  Some arguments against along the lines that they hadn't been transparent enough with their spending of the last bond, but in general, it seems like community colleges/trade school are a good investment in the community and an employable workforce.  No, but kind of relieved when MacGyver pointed out how much they were asking/tax payer.  

Prop I- Yes.  For the above reasons, and that they had a lot more detail about what they needed to spend it on.  A little sore that this wouldn't support infrastructure charters could use, but hey.  

Prop CC- No.  See prop 33.  

Prop DD- Yes.  Not sure how this will be verified, but I don't think saying it costs the city too much is a reason to keep slightly under half he population disenfranchised. Didn't pass, so kind of relieved not to have to sort out the implementation.  

Prop EE- Yes.  No arguments against, this is a documentation thing.  

Prop FF- No.  General dislike of something worded to sound like it is a restraint but is actually a huge raise.  I would like to believe that giving council members larger compensation would mean there would be less graft, but I don't actually think that's how that works.  It might make it possible for more working class people to serve, particularly if this is a role that is more than part-time.  But decline this one and see if they revise it to be more explicit next time.  

10/10  and ballot's in the mail, but this was an interesting infographic, I am a libertari-crat, it would seem?  ... https://igs.berkeley.edu/library/california-ballot-proposition-guides/november-5-2024-general-election/november-5-2024

Math momentum and general Q3 2024 routine recap

 I asked the homeschooling forum on Reddit for tips on how to maintain momentum on math curriculum this year.  Here is a snapshot of the tweaks suggested.  

I photocopied the table of contents in the Rightstart math curriculum (not consumable, needs to be returned when finished).  I've been scribbling dates a lesson was completed here to have a quick view of our velocity.  It looks like this fall, we have been averaging 1 lesson/calendar day.  This is full calendar-- we often do 3 in a sitting, skip a day while she is at the learning center.  I am also experimenting with annotating with which kinder learning standard it might cover for uploads to the teacher, but based on the first upload, I may just give my daughter a quick busywork worksheet to fulfill that requirement since she is in a text that is a bit above expected grade level.    

Based on that velocity, I skimmed the next 7-10 lessons ahead to see what worksheets, games, and manipulatives were called for.  I made copies of the worksheets.  If I'm ok with a little visual clutter, I sometimes leave the worksheet book directly in the photocopier since this is the main thing I am photocopying.  I suppose I could use the worksheet book as a consumable and not worry about copies at all, but we went through a perfectionist season where a small mistake would result in tears, torn and crumpled worksheets, etc.  And it was nice to have the "insurance" we could make a copy and return to this in a calmer moment.  Based on other Reddit feedback, I gave myself some grace to not beat myself up if I don't attempt to cover every card game or manipulative activity if my daughter seems to grok it with a quick discussion.    

I crammed the said 7-10 lessons worth of materials in with the table of contents tracker and leave the spiral bind open to whatever the last lesson was.  Redditors suggested doing this prep weekly.  I had a "prep math" weekly action item but it would often fall off my to do list.  I can put it back, but I don't feel like I've done anything that would massively increase compliance...

I have contemplated the productivity approach of block scheduling to dos rather than working off a list, but find that in general in this season of caregiving, my work is too interruptive to plan on a reliable increment of time to sit down and work without being asked  to prep a snack, play a game, etc.  Plus the to do's themselves are usually pretty quick to execute (move the laundry) and wouldn't make sense having a management system that takes longer to keep up to date than it would take just to knock the task out.  

Above is my general tasking approach now.  I have the left 2 pages in a Keep app on my phone, but sometimes find it satisfying to cross off a physical page.  Also Keep cross referencing can send me down a media rabbit hole that analog would not.  Finally, in printing these lists out, I have a better sense for "yeah," I can crank through a column of stuff today versus the more amorphous anxiety induced by a doom scroll through the Keep app.  Page 1 are daily habits copy pasted off a fixed list.  There is 1 for 15 mins ELA, 1 for 15 mins Math.  Page 1 also has appointments occurring that day.  Page 2 is the backlog that I've grouped loosely into cleaning/cooking/yard/errand/desk work contexts.  I chip away at that where I can but have no illusions I'll ever zero that one out.  Page 3 is a weekly quad coloring page with a bunch of fitness activities.  I use this as a general proxy for how much fitness and movement I've incorporated into my life.  There are some gross discrepancies-- like a 2 mile walk or 4 mile bike are a bigger effort than knocking out 5 push ups, but so far, this is better than nothing.  I have an end of day habit to reconcile these lists and print a new 2 pager since I've usually scribbled follow up actions or shopping list items on the hardcopies throughout the day.  

Right, back to math.  So skimming the next lessons revealed that even in a manipulative-heavy curriculum like RS, you aren't using all of them at the same time.  In fact, some, we may never need again (i.e. Yellow is the Sun song book, flashcards holding up hand signifiers for numbers 1-10).  All this other math manipulative stuff I was keeping in a grande Ikea tote close to the kitchen got shunted under the bed.  I will dig out new pieces the next time I'm planning a couple lessons out.  

This left me with a svelt art cart basket of abacus, dry erase board, place value cards, and 100's cards for the upcoming lessons.  

I stuck the teacher text and the handwriting text on the next tier up.  An audited set of most reached for art supplies are at the top.. and dice, we always need dice for something.  We are experimenting with "wampum" currently.  I give a bead for 15 minutes of a task completed.  We have a 15 min sand timer, but I would keep my eyes peeled for 2 more since sometimes we get 5 good minutes in, need to tip it sideways to pause it, and then start working on another subject that would also benefit from being timed.  

Some redditors mention no screens or excursions until their big 3 R's are covered.  I love this in theory.  In practice, we have just clawed back from a summer of "All iPad All the Time."  I started by offering bonus bead/bribes -- 2.5 hours of youtube time budget/school day, but if it wasn't spent, the minutes could be cashed out for shopping at Target.  Yeah, I know, I felt gross about enabling the consumerism too.  We ended up spending a lot of the day negotiating about when school would end and the beads would not need to be turned in because Daddy could unlock the iPad as wind-down to bed for free (yeah, I know blue light before bed, gah!) but what of the days when he works from home?  etc.  So I moved to a new rule of "youtube is open for scrolling between the hours of 7 and 8 (AM and PM)."  That has been a lot more seamless to enforce and I am impressed that even with the ancient iPad doing a system update that completely broke my ability to parental control lock it, my daughter has stuck with this guidance.  Sidenote- she does have free access to Khan Kids all day when she wants to take a more passive learning break.  A Redditor mentioned our car school math experiment (Beast Academy) has an online option as well.  In this season, we don't have any curriculum that *needs* online access, but as she gets older or more fascinated with the Minecraft charter club we might consider exploring that because we've hacked the Khan settings to the highest grade level they will go and she doesn't seem to find much challenge there anymore.  But I digress, so yes, on the less scheduled days (M/W/F) I will follow the Redditing consensus to start with math in the AM and limit fun discretionary activities/screen time until it is done.  When she starts to lose it, I will switch to 15 mins of handwriting.  I'm not worried about reading so much because she did that precociously, and have you seen our backseat?    

We are forever driving somewhere for piano, gymnastics, swim, water polo, girl scouts.  So the arrangement I have for carschool is: A. Let her free range at the library periodically and leave a stack of books in arms reach of her seat to read while we're driving.  I've also seeded it with a couple library holds on topics we are studying like Mesoamerican civilizations and social emotional learning.  She doesn't really spontaneously read while in the house, but she does a lot of spontaneous list making and game constructing.  B.  keep a clipboard with storage compartment loaded with Beast Academy math, doodle paper, pencils, erasers, and a compact crayon.  This is what we reach for in those awkward situations where we've arrived somewhere early (because I'm compulsive like that) and need to wait/cause as little disruption to others while doing so.  

So that's where we're at at this point in our homeschooling-math journey.  Hopefully I'll look back on this in a couple years and laugh at how earnest and intense I was about the whole thing.  Bonus photo-- the math balance doesn't really fit that great in under bed storage, but is quite a hit for working on math facts in the backyard pool.  If she's having a really off day, I'll chuck the hanging tabs in the deep end and have her dive to retrieve them and make an equation that balances.  This might be a segue into what some Redditors said about they do math subject home school year round.  I found with morning camps and with telling her she was on summer break, it was hard to keep hitting the textbooks last summer.  But I did find myself annoyed that there were so many lessons of review in the beginning of the Level B text, almost like they expected the student to have forgotten everything.  Maybe going year round and giving ourselves permissions to very lightly skim/skip the first 15-20 lessons of Level C is the way to go.