My plan for this trip was to camp 90% of the time, reserving lodging for periods of rain, laundry, travel, etc. Due to the abnormally cold weather, basically everywhere, I had to find somewhere to stay for at least a week after leaving Minneapolis. Realistically probably 2 weeks, and from there who knows. Not only did I not really budget for this, but I was really looking forward to camping.
It turns out, staying at Whispering Winds was the best possible way to start the trip.
First of all, the land itself is beautiful, a 3 acre plot nestled between a steep hill and a winding trout stream.
There are horses, bunnies, ducks, cats and….bald eagles. Technically only the first three mentioned actually live here. But a pair of eagles likes to frequent this massive boxwood tree. Also, on brand, the tree hosts the biggest shelf mushroom I’ve ever seen.
To make it even better, the entire place is filled with treasures. Each section of the retreat having its own dedicated purpose and visual flavor. The horses have their area, the bunnies theirs, 3 glamping cabins, communal outdoor kitchen (equipped with granite countertops, pizza oven, outdoor sink, grill, and more), plus at least 5 different sitting or meditation areas. Even after a week of being here, I’m noticing things for the first time as I walk around, which I’ve done daily. The wild part is I’m here in the winter — except for my room upstairs, things are closed down for the season. I think I have to come back in the summer to see it in full force.
However the best part of Whispering Winds has been hanging out with Beverley, who single handedly runs the place. And “Running the place” is an understatement. Beyond taking care of guests, she has dreamed up and executed everything herself, and the work is never complete. Listening to her describe the thought process and time and energy that went into this has left me seriously impressed. I’m talking tearing walls down in the house, building moving bookcases, expanding the bathroom into the garage to build a soaking tub — in addition to everything going on outside. To top it off, she’s still going at it despite pushing into her 70s. Rattling off ideas and brimming with energy, you’d never guess it.
The hours and hours we’ve spent chatting over the past 8 days has been invaluable, not only for ideas and advice but for feeling really inspired. Seeing what she has accomplished has definitely broadened my horizons as to what is actually possible.
Chatting is only scratching the surface though. She is an expert (and highly regarded) fossil hunter, therefore is an encyclopedia of knowledge about the area. Too much to include here, I will elaborate and share pictures in a future post, but so far activities have included:
- Being taught her famous sweet roll recipe (which may be the first time I’ve ever baked something)
- Made edibles with her home grow
- Fossil hunted at several different locations
- Been on 2 driving tours, where she showed me the sites to see (there are a lot out here!)
- Rambled to each other about various heady topics
- Growing weed
- Smoking weed
- Magic
- Different realities / dimensions
- Past lives
- Crystals & healing properties
- Sacred geometry
- Cymatics (which had Bev trying to throw together a chladni plate with stuff around the house)
- etc
- Wednesday we are going to Kinstone, a mystical retreat destination — supposedly it is a very powerful place. It’s normally closed for the season, but of course Bev has the hookup!
Every day has been so packed, I haven’t had time to get it all up here.
Lastly…great cats here. Chance (Bev thought she hit him & had to put him out of his misery, which lead to adoption) is a beautiful white/grey long hair cat with the most striking blue eyes I’ve seen in a cat.
Kelly Cat (calico cat who was a stray that wandered in, and then became adopted) though has been my buddy. She’s a new addition, and Chance isn’t thrilled. They battle a lot haha and Chance is easily 2x her size. Thus Kelly Cat has been seeking refuge upstairs in my area and we been hanging. She’s missing at least 2 teeth and so her tongue is hanging out 75% of the time. 10/10
Beyond the activities with Bev, and Masonic Park, I’ve had two all day hiking adventures which also warrant their own post. I ended up extending my stay 3 days, now leaving Wednesday the 15th. In another synchronistic turn of events, Bev was really into the idea of trading some work for extra days. Which is great since I didn’t budget for this much lodging. So I’ll be doing some computer tasks for her, helping with a project, and wrapping up stories about my time here.
Next stops are Mississippi Pallisades State Park for the two-day break in the cold weather Thursday & Friday. Finally get to climb!! Then booking it to Mineral Wells, Texas (maybe for the rest of January) because another cold front is coming in and basically everywhere is freezing again 🙄
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