Food, Fellowship, and Freedom with Camp Yoshi:

Oregon Adventure

  Like so many of us, the natural world became a retreat from the social and emotional intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic.  It seemed that now, more than ever before, I began to appreciate the freedom and escapism nature temporarily provided.  I became much more curious about the scenic sites in and around the DMV area.  The pandemic really began to fulfill a new desire in me to explore the outdoors.  I’ve always enjoyed a casual hike through Great Falls Park; or up Sugar Loaf Mountain, but I continued to feel an urge to up the ante. 

      Well, Google must have been reading my mind again (you know how it is- strange internet and the man is always listening type shit).  While I can’t help but to give them the side eye, I’m also giving them the prayer hands because their nosey asses led me to the awesomeness that is Camp Yoshi! 

     Long story short, I had been browsing through several magazine stories sharing how newlywed couples were forced to do the cupid shuffle with their wedding plans.  I came across a story about a couple that had a beautiful wedding at an AirBnb overlooking the breathtaking canyons of Moab, Utah! So if you know me, then you know that meant the door to the rabbit hole officially opened.  Next thing you know I was googling all things Moab Desert:  How to get there?  Where to go? What to see? Where to stay?  Then, sometime after that, I came across an article in Conde Nast talking about this amazing Black-owned and founded outdoor/ adventure company called (drum roll please), Camp Yoshi.  As I read on, I learned of their mission to expose folx of color to the beauty and freedom of the outdoors- in our own backyard- through camping.  

     After reading the article, I quickly went to the website and was even more intrigued by the visuals; and, most importantly, the camper testimonies.  I knew right then and there I needed to experience Camp Yoshi!  And to put the cherry on top (wait for it), they had a trip to Moab- Canyon Country!  Unfortunately, I was a little late on booking so the Moab Adventure was full.  But you know what they say, “There are no coincidences”.  I decided to book the Oregon Adventure, and little did I know, I’d be right where I needed to be.     

Aside from the adventure and the views, one of the other aspects of Camp Yoshi I was really (and I mean really) looking forward to was the food.  Co-Founder, Rashad Frazier, is also the chef at creative food brand, Yoshi Jenkins. Which means, while in Oregon, I’d have chef- prepared meals the entire week!!  I meannn… could the deal get any sweeter for a first time camping experience?  Just the thought of not having to worry about what I was going to eat, how I was going to get it, and who was going to prepare it, was a huge relief.  If I'm being honest, it was one of the main things that made the idea of camping for the first time ever much more inviting.  Also, not having to worry about the heavy duty equipment like tents, tables, chairs, etc. was an additional load off.  Stress free camping me please!!     

      As my adventure approached, many of my friends asked me if I was prepared, excited, and ready to take on this new experience.  Frankly, I was NOT prepared, somewhat ready, and feeling a bit blah.  I loved watching all the highlights from the Camp Yoshi IG, but was still a bit unsure of how I was really feeling.  I realized it was because I had no idea what to expect; and no frame of reference for camping.  Either way, this adventure was happening; and was ready for me regardless of whether I was ready for it.  My saving grace:  I just had to show up- open mind and heart in tow!         

 I touched down in Redmond, Oregon and immediately recognized the difference in the air:  crisp, cool, clean, and light.  After getting settled at the Campfire Hotel, our starting point in Bend, I enjoyed the actual campfire on the hotel grounds, and prepared for an early start the next morning.  After meeting Camp Yoshi staff and fellow campers, we hit the road on a 4 hour trek to our first stop: The Alvord Desert.     

Days 1-3: Alvord Desert

I’ve never been shy of a good ole road trip full of music, junk food, and good conversation. The best part of this road trip- the views!  From the start, the long drive was made smooth with miles and miles of scenic mountain ranges, farmland, and untouched landscapes.  As Oregon’s beauty slowly unveiled and whipped past my window, I enjoyed the light, but intellectual; and organic, but orchestrated dialogue you often find yourself in with people you barely know.  

After choosing our spot on the playa, we started to settle in, unpack our things, and set up camp.  At the top of the running list of firsts on this adventure: learning how to pitch a tent.  Once camp was set up, we got ready to enjoy a simple lunch of Steak Fried Rice for our first official Camp Yoshi meal.  Rule #1 at Campy Yoshit:  Camp is collaborative (in my Uncle Clifford voice, #ifykyk).   I did a stauge as a prep cook and helped prepare the meat and veggie options for our fried rice. 

As night fell, we sat around the campfire, cocktails in hand, with dinner soon to be served.  Somewhere between cocktails and candor, we collectively found ourselves sharing our trials and truths on life, love, and what lies between over garlic bread and smores. 

The next day on the playa we started with a delicious plate of Huevos Rancheros meets breakfast taco.  Think warm, open- faced tortilla with ground bison, scrambled eggs, fresh avocado, sauteed potatoes, and pickled red onions accompanied by a mole sauce.  Did I already say delicious?  An afternoon of YoshiLympics was upon us and we needed the fuel.  After a bit of drag racing and softball, it was time to eat again! This time, chicken satay in a coconut curry sauce with yellow rice and cucumber relish.  After lunch we enjoyed some time in nature’s hot tub- aka hot spring.  For dinner we had smoked chicken with a cabbage slaw and miso baked beans.  It was like, say your uncle with the flannel, gym shorts, bucket hat, and man sandals cooked the meat without saying he cooked the meat!!  You know the one that always gets the ribs just right for the cookout.  Well, dinner was very much so that- just this time the backyard was a desert surrounded by mountains. 

Breakfast emerged simply as a salmon, egg, and cheese sandwich on an English muffin.  I was super excited about this day because I was ready to take in the views of the Steens Mountains.  After about an hour's drive of beautiful cliffs, valleys, and gorges, we parked and hiked a bit to one of the overlooks.  Although ferociously windy, the panoramic views of the mountains and glacier- formed valleys below were breathtaking.  It’s the type of beauty you truly cannot put a price on seeing with your own eyes.  Not to mention, the sheer grandeur of the landscape has a way of reminding you of just how small you are; and that as humans we are a mere paragraph in Earth’s book of existence and evolution.

Beauty on a plate followed, because then there was lunch!  Easily one of my favorite meals of the week.  Turkey sloppy joe sliders topped with pickled onions on buttery brioche buns was the perfect post-summit purse.  Fun fact about me: A greedy child impersonates my stomach.  Needless to say, I wanted more.  Thankfully there was enough for another round.  

After returning to a wind-sacked camp, we quickly regrouped to enjoy our last night on the playa.  Before I tell you what we had for dinner, we must first bow our heads.  As a bonafide meat and potatoes kind of gal, this was the type of meal I would gladly eat over, and over, and over again.  This, ladies and gentleman, was my favorite meal!  Our prayers were answered with short ribs, mashed cassava, and roasted carrots. Wooowee!  That greedy child did a praise run after that one; and shamelessly returned to the altar.  

Our last night in Alvord Desert ended just the way it started:  cocktails, candor, and communion.  We, yet again, through our lenses of trials and truths; debated, agreed, disagreed, and received each other’s honest and insightful thoughts and opinions on life, love, and what lies in between.  Every now and then I find myself in moments of deja vu, and I remember feeling it that night.  More importantly what I found myself feeling was gratitude.  Gratitude for the space, place, and all the things- known and unknown- that diverged and converged to bring me to such a wonderful collection of hearts, minds, and moments in time!  

Days 4-5:  Low Desert/ Painted Hills

The next morning started early with breakfast at a gas station breakfast joint.  Sometimes all you need is the classics.  I shared probably one of the biggest, thickest pancakes I’ve had in a while.  That was the prelude to the hashbrowns served under sausage, fried onions, and melted cheese topped with two over medium eggs and a biscuit.  Sounds good, right!?  That’s because it was!  I can clean a plate, but even that was a tall order.  We gassed up and made the 2 hour descent to the low desert of Eastern Oregon.  I was also looking forward to this leg of the trip because visiting the Painted Hills was on the itinerary.  We decided to save it for our last day in order to set up camp before nightfall. 

 I felt like a pro setting up my tent without assistance.  The desert spoiled us with its absence of rocks and insects (both crawlers and flyers).  I was a bit unsure of what it would be like to sleep on the floor of flat, mid-sized rocks along the creek.  Surprisingly, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  For dinner we devoured shrimp and fish in a coconut curry sauce over white rice with avocado and pickled onions.  To commemorate our last night at Camp Yoshi, we sat around the campfire with cocktails and candor, and shared anything we wanted to release from or attract into our lives.  Informed by our trials and truths, each of us put our personal and collective universes to work- speaking life into our hopes and laying to rest our fears.  Next up was Painted Hills!  

The morning greeted us with camp breakdown and breakfast; I enjoyed breakfast much more!  We had another play on one of my favorite things to eat:  breakfast hash.  This time with leftover sausage and steak, scrambled eggs, potatoes with onions and red peppers, fresh pico de gallo, avocado, and pickled onions.  We loaded up our stomachs and our jeeps, and set out for The Painted Hills.  

Remember I mentioned how viewing these beautiful landscapes has a way of reminding you of how short our article in Earth’s Time Magazine is? The Painted Hills are just that in full HD color.  Apparently, each band of color represents the change in climate over millions of years of volcanic and other deposits settling on top of each other.  Another one of those “you just had to be there” experiences.  I could have easily spent hours just taking it all in, but we had to hit the road for the remaining 2 hour drive back to Bend.  

While the first two elements of Camp Yoshi (food and fellowship) are extremely essential to painting a picture of my experience, the third, and a bit more challenging to express between the lines, is the freedom.  The saying, ‘I am my ancestor’s wildest dreams’, couldn’t ring more true.  Historically and culturally as black folk, we’ve been conditioned to ‘know our place’ and ‘stay in our lane’.  The audacity to explore the world around us and fill in its space with belonging, and without fear, is absolutely an act only of their imagination.  The Camp Yoshi experience is a beautiful reminder of our rite to unapologetically exist- because we can.  A beautiful reminder to unapologetically exist; for as long as we want, however we want, wherever we want, because it’s our space too!  It’s so powerful to walk in those truths, especially when no one else around looks like you.  That air of confidence wrapped in freedom is a feeling of active defiance; a feeling that embodies the reclamation and restoration of what was physically, mentally, and spiritually taken from us.  Auntie Maxine said she was ‘reclaiming her time’, and so did I. 

Through food and fellowship, Camp Yoshi is your front row seat on a reunion tour with freedom you didn’t know you needed!

Camp… or Nah, Champ?!

Have you ever been camping before? If so, would you do it again? If not, would you give it a try?

Drop your questions and comments below!